[Level One Alert! Level One Alert! All lords go to the east side of the school area to be on guard. Groups of dark creatures are gathering. Danger level: Tiger...]
Kusuko woke up with a start.
Great, it was just a dream... If it's a dream, then it's a prophetic dream, right!
Kusuko looked up and saw the main body looking at the scenery outside the window. He created a white cat doll in its place and teleported away.
On the bus, the bus driver looked at the passengers in the car from time to time through the rearview mirror: "Hey, in the back, students in the back?"
Is he calling me? Saiki Kusuo turned his head to look at the driver in front.
"I turned the air conditioner up a bit. You can pick up the doll. It's dirty on the ground, right?"
"It's okay... he's a real cat."
"You don't need to worry about it. This is a tolerant city."
Isn't that intolerant of even cats being on the ground? Saiki Kusuo pulled his leg back to block Kusuko's body a little. "We'll be getting off in a few stops."
"Ah, what I mean is..."
"Driver! Start driving!" [That human might be a fetishist, treating the doll as a real cat. Don't meddle in other people's business! Driver!]
[Okay, okay, strange human.]
I think I heard something.
Saiki Kusuo looked up and stared ahead. The driver was already focused on driving.
Well, he was probably just talking softly. Although I didn't use pure hearing much before, it's obvious that my hearing is very good without even thinking about it.
My superpowers haven't recovered that quickly yet.
When the bus arrived at the station, Saiki Kusuo got up from his seat.
Kusuko followed behind, panting, which caught Saiki Kusuo's attention.
Do you not like crowded places?
Indeed, telepathy is very complex in shopping malls. He didn't like it before either. He didn't think it through.
Saiki Kusuo suggested: You can go back. And you probably can't bring a cat to work anyway.
Kusuko shook his head frantically. The problem has been solved. Although the voices in the shopping mall hurt his ears, and he felt so tired that he could fall asleep on the spot at any time! But it's okay. Not being able to bring him to work is perfect. He can lie down at the entrance of the workplace and wait. No problem. Thinking about it this way, the break is just around the corner!
Kusuko followed closely behind.
And for Saiki Kusuo, this was the first time entering a shopping mall without telepathy. Without the noisy voices, he could hear the mall's music and people's conversations. Occasionally, there were a few announcements. Other than that, although there were many people, he could still feel like an individual.
Although there were many people around, their eyes wouldn't meet yours for more than a second. There were many groups of people, especially couples. The combination of one person and one cat looked more like a homebody group that had been kicked out of the house by their parents after staying at home for too long.
Saiki Kusuo glanced at the shopping mall's directory and remembered the locations of several buffet restaurants.
This is my first time working. Let's find a few stores that aren't too crowded.
The first one was a sukiyaki buffet restaurant. The sign for hiring servers was very clearly written next to the store's entrance. Saiki Kusuo stepped forward to ask.
Kusuko curled up on the chair at the door and closed his eyes to rest...
["This store looks good."
"The business isn't very good. The boss just wants to eat something sweet, right? Are we going to eat something sweet for lunch?"
"Well... there are other kinds of hot pots to choose from here. Don't you want to eat it? We can change it."
"Let's try it. And for some reason, my intuition tells me that there's something here that makes people care..."]
"Everyone, look at the cat at the door."
At the same time, Kusuko also looked up and met the eyes of the group of people. There were four of them, Chrollo and the three female members of the Phantom Troupe. The first thing he saw was the ugly, bulging-eyed vacuum cleaner that wanted to eat him.
Kusuko woke up with a start. At that time, Saiki Kusuo was taking over the store's exclusive apron to take office, but Kusuko hurriedly pulled him away.
Saiki Kusuo: ??
"I predicted an accident. Let's change stores!"
Saiki Kusuo accepted this reason.
The second one was a barbecue buffet restaurant. Compared to sukiyaki, it had more of a smoky atmosphere. After a day of work, he might have the smell of barbecue on his body.
Saiki Kusuo went up to ask. Kusuko lay down on the stool and felt a headache again.
["Men should eat barbecue. They actually opened a buffet restaurant, haha. Uvogin, let's give him a lesson!"
"I'm not going to the buffet restaurant. Eating a free meal at the roast whole lamb restaurant next door is the act of a thief."
"Ha! Are you going there? That's fine, too. Wait, look at that cat..."
Nobunaga and Uvogin instantly surrounded Kusuko. Uvogin's big face with a strange smile quickly approached.]
Nightmare!!
Kusuko stood up. With too much force, he broke the stool under his feet.
Saiki Kusuo ran out in surprise: "What's wrong? You..."
Because he had to speak to communicate with the store manager, Saiki Kusuo also spoke.
"I had a nightmare!"
Nightmare? Doesn't a nightmare mean a prophetic dream?
"We can't stay here! Let's change places!"
Saiki Kusuo could tell from Kusuko's state that nothing good would happen if he stayed here. He took out money to pay for the stool and left with Kusuko.
The third store was a roast duck buffet restaurant.
A buffet restaurant featuring roast duck. As soon as he entered, he smelled a very fragrant roast duck smell.
This time, Kusuko hid inside the table at the front desk and dozed off again.
["Oh, I smelled a very fragrant roast duck smell as soon as I entered. Not bad here."
"The money I stole yesterday is just enough for two people to eat a meal. I guess it's still considered stealing."
"Then let's eat at this one."
"Hey, waiter, the store has two levels. What's on the second level... This table feels wrong when you knock on it."
"Hey, hey, look what I found here. We've been looking for it for so long..."
"Bang!" The sound of the table being destroyed!]
Kusuko woke up with a start! He broke the table with one strike of his tail!
What's going on? This group of persistent Phantom Troupe members were supposed to be looking for the chameleon cat. Are they just here to cause trouble?!
Saiki Kusuo walked out after hearing the noise and saw Kusuko and the frightened receptionist.
Who exactly is facing a nightmare?
Saiki Kusuo took out the little money he had left to pay for the table and left with Kusuko.
Kusuko had a gloomy look on his face. Hiding all the time wasn't a solution. Since the Phantom Troupe members were going to come to this shopping mall, he might as well take this opportunity to eliminate the Phantom Troupe in one fell swoop and uphold justice on behalf of heaven.
Saiki Kusuo: Are you worried?
Kusuko stopped and realized that he had unknowingly walked several steps ahead of Saiki Kusuo.
What exactly did you foresee? Is it that I'll regain my superpowers today?
Kusuko shook his head frantically: "How could that be? Ordinary days will last for a long time!"
Did I mess up every job?
Kusuko: No, the Phantom Troupe messed it up. It's better not to talk about this.
"That's right! Mascot costume staff!" Since the Phantom Troupe members want to eat, let's just change jobs!
Mascot costume staff are usually on the first floor. It's already close to noon. Those Troupe members are likely to appear around.
Kusuko was on alert for people coming up and down the various elevators and escalators in the shopping mall while taking Saiki Kusuo to the emergency exit.
The emergency exit is very civilized. He should be glad that he chose to have emergency exits in the shopping mall even in the dark continent where there wouldn't be fires.
Kusuko looked around like a thief, using his tail to push open the door of the emergency exit while facing away from Saiki Kusuo to be on guard.
Saiki Kusuo: Wait a minute, Kusuko. I noticed you just now...
"Let's go to the emergency exit first. It's dangerous here, main body."
Saiki Kusuo: But that thing on your body is really intriguing. Can't you feel it?
"What thing?" Wait, why are there footsteps in the emergency exit?! Above, below too!
As soon as the door closed, Kusuko immediately stretched out his tail to open the door.
Saiki Kusuo squatted down and held Kusuko's neck.
Kusuko was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by fate.
"Huh? Main body...? I didn't mean anything else by bringing you here. If you want to find a mascot costume job, the service station is on the left side of the emergency exit on the first floor..." What do you want to do? What do you want to do here in the dark? What do you want to do, touching the scruff of my neck in this deserted and dark corner of the emergency exit?!
Kusuko became nervous, lowered his tail, and ignored the approaching footsteps from above and below. Even closer than that was the main body's heartbeat, and his own heart was beating faster and faster. Wait, why is there another heart beating even faster?
Saiki Kusuo grabbed the fluffy "accessory" from the scruff of Kusuko's neck.
[I've been discovered! I was hidden so well by the change of color that it was like camouflage, the long shape makes it seem like a scarf. That's it!! Waaaaa, the world outside is so dangerous, I miss Nobunaga's chest, how I miss the boss' chest, how I miss Uvogin's chest, and I long for Paku...]
Saiki Kusuo held a small white ferret from it's tail, Kusuko looked glared at it, since it was now covered in his scent, crying.
He then "bit" the head of the ferret.
Rage. So this is what made the Phantom Troupe come straight at him every time they met! Throw it in the trash. Let him go back to the stinky Meteor City and let all the Phantom Troupe members go back to that stinky Meteor City! ...Where did that murderous aura come from?
Kusuko looked up and saw Chrollo walking down the stairs above. The female members of the Phantom Troupe were walking up the stairs below.
Oh, they were just meeting in the emergency exit to go eat, right?
Why are criminals and thieves walking through the emergency exit? Do they want to turn the emergency exit into a dead end?!
Kusuko suddenly realized that Machi's threads were everywhere. Paku was holding up a black hole gun below. Chrollo had a book in one hand and his other hand behind his back. The protruding-eyed fish was drooling and sticking out its big tongue, ready to be used by Shizuku in the back.
The spiders had surrounded them.
And they were all filled with murderous intent.
Kusuko raised his tail and arched his back.
Heh, don't think that my side is easy to bully. Today, I'll show you the power of a psychic...
Saiki Kusuo gently tapped Kusuko's nose with his index finger.
"Spit it out. You can't just eat rats."
Kusuko obediently spat the thing out on the ground.
Of course it didn't die. He wouldn't eat raw animals either. Although he turned into a cat, he's still a human being, right?
The white ferret, no, chameleon cat, shook the saliva off its face on the ground. It was convinced the end of the world had come today. While not forgetting to wash its face with its paws, it suddenly saw dress shoes in front of it.
Dress shoes with buttons on the surface, unparalleled strange dress shoes, pants with straps that are very suitable for climbing! This is!
The chameleon cat's eyes turned into teardrop bubbles, and it quickly climbed up Chrollo's pants, grabbing the straps and waistband, pulling the two belts and came out of his shirt, lying on his shoulders.
"Wow?!" The exclamation came from Saiki Kusuo.
Saiki Kusuo's eyes followed the escaping mouse before he found a row of people standing behind him. He was shocked like any ordinary person and almost sat down on the ground.
"The xx bullied me! xxx bullied me too! And xx and xxx kept chasing me and bullying me! It's good that I met a big cat with a subtle familiar scent. It was so nice, it even marked me with saliva! Protect me! Waaaa!"
Kusuko: Who protected it with saliva? Put it down. I'll eat it right now.
"Okay, okay, it's good that you're back. We can't understand you if you don't turn into a parrot." Chrollo stroked the white ferret's head. The white ferret's head was buried in Chrollo's palm, and tears were falling.
"I'm sorry. I misunderstood just now. I thought you didn't know this was Mimi and were going to use it to feed the cat." Chrollo reached out to Saiki Kusuo, who was squatting on the ground.
Don't scare people. Really.
The Phantom Troupe's footsteps were especially light because they were looking for a lost pet.
Kusuko: Who would eat something that's snotty and teary like a mouse? Does he even remember that I'm a psychic cat?
Ten minutes later, the chameleon cat turned into a parrot and persistently told Chrollo about its great adventure.
"Thank you for helping me find him, Saiki," Chrollo said.
No, I didn't do anything at all. Who knows when this thing got on Kusuko.
Saiki Kusuo patted Kusuko, signaling that Chrollo should thank the cat.
Chrollo looked at the cat and found that the cat was staring at the parrot-shaped chameleon cat on his shoulder and was emitting a subtle murderous intent.
Was it really this cat who saved him? Anyone would only think of cats looking at birds...
"Hey, I was originally human," Kusuko said, speaking human language.
"Oh, I remember. But what kind of person would hold an animal's head in their mouth?"
Kusuko searched his vast memory: "People who suck on cats?"
Chrollo: I see. So it likes small animals.
"I'm saying that some humans suck on cats like that, I'm not talking about my actions just now!"
"Your personalities are still similar," Chrollo commented and said to Saiki Kusuo, "Since you helped me find Mimi, I'll treat you to a meal."
No need. I just had breakfast not long ago. I'm going to work now.
"You can't hear voices? Should I use telepathy? You should get used to talking, right? It's been so long." Chrollo took out a brooch from his pocket. The brooch was crushed by a tail before it even saw the world.
Chrollo looked at the remnants of the brooch on his fingertips and was silent for a short time.
He understood it.
"I think it's necessary to treat you and the cat to a meal. I'll be disciplined by the cat if I don't express my gratitude."