Chapter 293: The Squirrel and the Hound

Pant... Pant...

(This should be a good hiding spot.)

Inside a dark, cramped closet, Natsumi panted softly, her heart pounding violently from sheer terror.

"Oh my? Where did Natsumi-san go? Fufufu, it's me, your cute Miku."

A voice chilling enough to freeze Natsumi's blood rang out. Next came the sound of a sliding door opening, followed by soft footsteps stepping onto the tatami mats.

(Calm down, Natsumi. There's no way Miku will find me in here.)

Not daring to breathe loudly, Natsumi curled herself up into a tight ball inside the closet.

(But...)

Even though she desperately wanted to reassure herself.

(With my terrible hiding skills, there's no way I won't be found!)

Her deeply ingrained pessimism simply wouldn't allow her to self comfort.

Slide!

Just as Natsumi's heart was in her throat, the closet door was pulled wide open.

"Oh my, found you."

Wagging her tail and flashing a radiant smile, Miku looked exactly like a terrifying apex predator in Natsumi's eyes. Right now, Miku was covered in hickey marks, her clothes were a complete mess from too much hugging, and her giant, fluffy tail was completely puffed up.

"Eek... Iyaaa—!"

And so, the pitiful little squirrel let out a tragic scream.

"Phew... feeling much better."

Meanwhile, Mikoto stretched her arms and lazily crawled out of her warm futon after a short nap.

After washing up, she sat at the desk bathed in sunlight, flipping through the local historical documents provided by the village headman.

"Rather than ghost stories, this is more like an urban legend."

After reading for a while, Mikoto sighed in disappointment. According to the documents, this village didn't have any legends involving animal spirits at all. Instead, rumors about evil oni living in the mountains were much more well known.

"I didn't like the idea of animal spirits from a lab, but I really don't like the idea of oni living in the mountains either."

Mikoto shook her head helplessly. Her plan to find clues from ancient texts was a total bust. Transforming into animal eared girls was an entirely unprecedented phenomenon.

Even though the village had been complaining about animal spirits before they arrived, normally, a person possessed by an animal spirit would completely lose their sanity—biting people, barking, and running around wildly in the middle of the night. Ironically, that sounded much more like a normal possession than whatever was happening to them now.

"Whatever, I'll eat something first."

Mikoto put the old books down and picked up the chestnut yokan that had been delivered alongside them.

Even though the exorcism failed, the village headman still treated Mikoto with immense respect. Naturally, Mikoto had completely bluffed her way out of explaining their animal eared forms, telling him: "The exorcism failed, but I successfully sealed the animal spirits within our own bodies. That's why we grew ears and tails, but we haven't lost our minds."

"Mmm, the smell of chestnuts..."

The young girl savored the sweet taste of the chestnut yokan and smiled happily.

Thump!

Suddenly, the door slid open, and a tiny figure collapsed into the room.

"Na... Natsumi!?"

Mikoto rushed over and found the squirrel Natsumi lying flat on the tatami mats.

"Uuu..."

The girl had swirling spiral eyes. She was covered in hickey marks, and her clothes were completely disheveled.

"A pervert? No... a female pervert, I guess..."

At first glance, it looked like she had been attacked by a degenerate. But looking closely at the hickeys, there were clear traces of lipstick. The culprit was incredibly obvious.

"Mikoto..."

Looking at the girl in front of her, Natsumi, who had barely recovered a tiny bit of strength, spoke weakly.

"Umm... want to eat some chestnut yokan? I have tea, too."

Seeing Natsumi looking like her life force had literally been drained away by a witch, Mikoto couldn't think of any better solution than offering her some sweet snacks.

"Mhm... want to eat..."

Natsumi nodded. Mikoto picked up the yokan from the table and gently fed it to her.

"Here, say ahh..."

"Ah... nom nom..."

After eating some yokan and drinking some tea, Natsumi finally regained some energy.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Actually..."

According to Natsumi, dog girl Miku had been relentlessly chasing her since morning. Even though Natsumi tried to run away, she always ended up getting caught.

"As expected, someone like me can't even hide properly."

While saying that, Natsumi used her massive, exaggerated squirrel tail to wrap herself into a tiny, fluffy ball.

(I think I kinda understand why Miku won't leave Natsumi alone.)

Looking at the fluffy little ball that was cute enough to make any girl squeal, Mikoto thought to herself, caught between laughing and crying.

"But even so, cute little animals should be treated with care. Miku acting like this..."

Looking at the pitiful, completely exhausted Natsumi, Mikoto tapped her chin with her finger, thought for a moment, and said

"She needs to be punished."

"Eh?"

Hearing Mikoto's words, Natsumi peeked out from behind her massive tail and let out a confused squeak.

An hour later.

"Oh my, oh my, where did Natsumi-san run off to?"

Miku paced through the hallways, searching for any trace of Natsumi. The reason she kept finding her wasn't because Natsumi was bad at hiding. It was because, having turned into a dog, Miku had gained a sense of smell rivaling Tohka's.

Not long ago, Natsumi's scent had suddenly vanished from the area, meaning she likely went outside. Miku really wanted to chase after her, but she happened to run into Shido, so she quickly switched targets instead.

And now, Natsumi's scent had reappeared. Tracking the sweet scent that reminded her of pinecones, Miku walked into a room.

The room was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything. The windows were shut tight, the lights wouldn't turn on, and for some reason, the light switch wouldn't budge.

But that didn't matter...

"Natsumi-san's scent..."

Following the scent, Miku arrived at a familiar closet. It was the exact same place Natsumi had hidden in before.

"Found you!"

Miku yanked the closet door open, only to find... Natsumi's shivering clothes.

"Huh?"

Staring at the pile of clothes, Miku's eyes widened in shock.

She never expected that Mikoto would have Natsumi take a bath, and then hide her old, scent covered clothes inside the closet. Naturally, because Natsumi had bathed and used a different body wash, she completely evaded Miku's tracking by smell.

Plop!

Not only that, the moment the closet door was opened, something slid out from a tightly sealed plastic bag.

"So stinky—!"

Miku covered her nose and let out a scream. To a dog's heightened sense of smell, the stench was absolutely unbearable.

"Operation successful. Next step, Natsumi!"

Hiding outside the door, Mikoto and Natsumi exchanged a glance after hearing Miku's scream.

Aside from the clothes, Mikoto had also hidden dried fermented fish—which she specifically went out to buy—inside the closet. The moment the door opened, a small trap tore the plastic bag, causing the foul-smelling food to drop out.

"Leave it to me!"

Perhaps because she had been bullied so mercilessly, Natsumi aggressively flipped the main circuit breaker back on. In the next second, the light switch inside the room—which had been glued into the ON button—lit up the room.

Light flooded the pitch black room, illuminating the walls, ceiling, and floor. Covering every inch of the room were posters of muscular, macho bodybuilders wearing nothing but underwear. For Miku, who suffered from severe androphobia, this was absolute poison.

"Kyaaa-woof—!"

In the very next second, a tragic, ear piercing scream echoed from the room.

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