Chapter 292: Cat and Tail

"Here, take this, Shin."

After parting ways with Mikoto, Shido was called into Reine's room. Waiting for him inside was Reine, along with Kotori, who was currently in full cat girl mode.

"What is this?"

Shido looked down and saw that the book Reine had handed him was titled [A Guide to Pet Care.]

"If you want to keep animals happy, how about learning a little bit about them first?"

Reine suggested.

"Even if you say that, everyone is still different from actual animals, right?"

Shido flipped through the pages. It looked like a completely normal, everyday pet care manual.

But considering his recent interaction with Mikoto, rather than treating the Spirits like actual small animals, it was probably more accurate to say they were girls who had just picked up some animal like habits and temperaments.

"Well, until we find a real solution, just give it a read. Or do you have a better idea, meow?"

Chewing on her Chupa Chups, Kotori retorted in dissatisfaction.

"No... then I'll give it a try."

Shido thought about it. There really didn't seem to be any other options at the moment.

"By the way, how about having Kotori help you test out the contents of the book, Shin?"

At that moment, Reine spoke up.

"Wait a second, why do I have to... ugh..."

Kotori blushed and tried to refuse.

But thinking about it carefully, she actually agreed with the idea of having Shido use knowledge from a pet care book to try and please the anime ears Spirits. However, whether it would actually work was still a complete unknown. If it backfired and caused the Spirits's moods to plummet, it would be a disaster.

Reine had likely considered that as well, which was exactly why she asked Kotori to help Shido test it out.

"F-Fine, I get it. I'll keep you company for a bit, stupid Shido, meow."

Left with no choice, Kotori reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"In that case, let's see... For cats... scratching them under the chin makes them very happy..."

Shido read the contents of the book aloud.

"Wait... being scratched under the chin is absolutely not going to make me happy! You don't even need to test that to know it! Is your brain entirely stuffed with stick insects, Shido!?"

Hearing Shido's words, Kotori scolded him angrily.

"Ugh... But according to the book, a cat's tail sticks straight up when it's happy."

Shido tilted his head in confusion. Unlike dogs, cats signaled a good mood by sticking their tails straight up. Wagging their tails usually meant they were annoyed.

"Ugh..."

Hearing Shido's observation, Kotori stiffly turned around, only to see that beneath her cute skirt, her slender cat tail was pointing perfectly straight up into the air.

"Kotori..."

"I-I'm not looking forward to it at all! I absolutely do not want to be scratched under the chin, meow!"

Before Shido could finish his sentence, Kotori's fur bristled, and she protested loudly.

"Even so, it is still better to test it. Practical experimentation yields more accurate results than subjective judgment."

Reine interrupted their conversation and stated calmly.

"Ugh... G-Got it."

Hearing Reine's words, Kotori's voice grew quiet. Blushing furiously and looking away, she eventually crawled over to Shido on her hands and knees. Even though she wore a completely pouty, rebellious expression, her cat tail remained sticking straight up the entire time.

"W-What's wrong? Hurry up already..."

Arriving by Shido's side and seeing him hesitate, Kotori urged him impatiently.

"O-Oh... Here I go, then."

Looking at his little sister's fair neck, Shido nodded. He gently reached out and gave Kotori a few light scratches under her chin.

"Nyaa!"

Accompanying Shido's movements, Kotori's face flushed bright red in an instant. The girl trembled slightly and let out a tiny, sweet yelp.

"Umm... how is it?"

Shido asked cautiously.

"I-I don't feel anything at all..."

Kotori looked away in embarrassment. However, her tail stuck up even higher.

"Strange. The book says it's highly effective. Should I try scratching a bit more?"

So, Shido reached out his hand once again.

"Eh? Wait... Nyaa!"

Caught off guard, Kotori let out another meow.

"E-Even though I don't feel anything, I g-guess you can scratch a little more..."

It seemed it was actually quite effective.

"Alright then..."

Scratch, scratch.

"Nyaa! A m-mere Shido... daring to... Well, I'll give you a little praise this time, meow."

"Yeah, it really is effective."

Scratch, scratch.

"Huh? Nyaa!"

"W-Wait a second, stop it... Nyaa!"

"I told you to stop... Nyaa!"

"Ugh... Shido, you idiot, meow!"

In the end, the continuous chin scratching resulted in a completely flustered and embarrassed Kotori leaving several red scratch marks on Shido's face with her cat paws. And Shido finally learned the true meaning of a cat's fickleness.

A few minutes later, with bandages taped to his face, Shido looked at the book and said:

"Aside from scratching the chin... Hmm, a cat teaser toy? Come to think of it, Kotori was trying to grab Senpai's tail earlier."

Shido thought about it and figured this might actually work.

"Wait, absolutely not..."

"Ah, I have a cat teaser prepared right here."

Just as Kotori was about to object, Reine pulled out a pre prepared cat teaser toy and handed it to Shido.

"..."

"..."

For several seconds, the older brother holding the cat teaser and the cat girl little sister stared at each other in complete silence. Then, Shido gave the toy a gentle shake.

"Meow!"

Tiny cat paws instantly pounced on it.

"What the heck, it actually works."

Shido swung the cat teaser back and forth, and Kotori held up her little fists like cat paws, pouncing wildly wherever the toy went.

"It's not working at all! My mood is going to drop, meow! It's definitely going to drop, meow!"

With tears forming in the corners of her eyes, Kotori shouted with a bright red face.

"But your tail..."

Shido pointed at the girl's tail, which was sticking straight up into the air.

"That's an illusion! The book is definitely wrong! Yes, that must be it, meow!"

Kotori defended herself loudly.

"Ugh..."

Shido hesitated. Maybe Kotori really did hate this after all.

"It is fine, Shin. Kotori's mood is currently rising steadily."

However, in the very next second, Chief Analyst Reine dutifully reported Kotori's true status.

"Hold on a second! Ten limited edition cream puffs, meow!"

Kotori spun around and yelled frantically at Reine.

"My apologies, Shin. It appears the equipment is malfunctioning."

"Ahaha, so there's absolutely no problem, then."

However, such a blatantly obvious bribe naturally didn't fool Shido.

"In that case, want to try out the motorized toy mouse?"

Shido grinned wickedly while continuing to tease Kotori with the toy.

"Onii-chan, you—idiot—!"

"Bwaha!"

As a result, he took a beautiful, clean hit right to the face from the cat with the raised tail.

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