After sending Patchouli back to her room, Zeroy returned to her own.
Then Kuroka and Shirone followed her inside.
The two little cats came to snuggle with Zeroy again.
Shirone sincerely wanted to stay close to her, rubbing against her affectionately, while Kuroka deliberately sought to please her.
In short, as soon as they came in, they began climbing onto Zeroy, rubbing up against her.
At first, they remained in their cat forms. They loved to cuddle, and Zeroy was happy to indulge them.
So she played with them on the sofa.
She had nothing else to do anyway.
The matter of challenging strong opponents had to wait for Sirzechs and Rias to reply.
The simulated world experiments had to wait for Patchouli to wake.
Even going out to kill pests for distraction was out of the question—she was a guest in someone else's territory and couldn't just go on a slaughter spree.
So… petting cats it was.
Before long, all three grew tired.
Zeroy lay back on the sofa, and the two cats naturally rested on top of her.
Perhaps feeling they had interacted enough in feline form, they wanted to change shape to get closer.
Shirone was the first to shift into human form, lying atop Zeroy.
At this moment, Zeroy was in a languid, listless state, tired from playing. Unsurprisingly, she was on the verge of dozing off.
Shirone was petite, her build matching her small form. Even in human shape, lying on Zeroy, she barely registered.
Zeroy even absentmindedly stroked her head.
Albeit once Shirone transformed, Kuroka, not to be outdone, followed suit.
She, too, shifted into human form and lay on Zeroy.
Her figure, however, was nothing like Shirone's—curved and soft, sensuous.
Neither of them wanted to move away; both clung close to Zeroy.
And since Zeroy's body was slender, with both of them pressing down, it was less lying atop her and more like sandwiching her between them.
To avoid slipping off, they instinctively pressed closer.
Kuroka squeezed against her twice, and Zeroy instantly woke up.
That alone was enough to remind her of her orientation.
"Wait a minute, you two kittens, get off me first."
Zeroy sat up, placing the catgirls at her side.
With Patchouli, because of their deep bond, she worried about rejection and wanted to find the right moment to confess.
Yet, with these two, it wasn't necessary to be so careful.
Their relationship hadn't developed far enough yet. Even if they pulled away because of it, she could accept that.
"Though I'm happy you like clinging to me, there's something I need to make clear to you."
Zeroy raised a finger, speaking earnestly to them.
"To tell you the truth, I'm actually into girls—my orientation is toward women. So when we're together, in some respects, you should think of me as male…"
Before she could finish, the sound of a door opening came from the entrance.
"—!?"
Her voice cut off instantly.
Her neck stiffened as she slowly turned toward the door.
And there she saw the worst-case scenario—the one person she least wanted to appear at that moment.
"Pa… Patchi… why…?"
Children, whatever you do, always lock the door.
"What's wrong? Not going to continue?"
The witch stood there with her usual calm expression, eyes on Zeroy.
"N-no, it's not like that, I…"
Zeroy panicked, at a loss for words.
What kind of excuse was "It's not like that"? Was she deliberately stalling, hoping Patchouli would just walk away?
No—it was all too sudden. She truly didn't know what to say and blurted it out only to buy time for her brain to start working.
"Go on, I'm listening."
"Ahem… Kuroka, take Shirone outside to play. I need to talk with Patchi."
"Okay~."
Kuroka smiled, pulling Shirone toward the door.
Before leaving, she even made a little gesture of encouragement toward Zeroy.
"Good luck, Lady Zeroy~."
"Ghh…"
Once the door closed, Patchouli was the first to move.
She walked over, sat beside Zeroy, and waited.
"Well… first of all, about my orientation, it's just as I said—it really is unusual…"
Seeing Patchouli wasn't leaving, Zeroy realized she was still calm. That meant she herself needed to calm down and explain properly.
She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves, and began.
"In any case, please believe me, up until now, in all my interactions with you, I've never had impure intentions."
"It's true! Whether it was hugging or cuddling, there were no impure thoughts. At the time my heart was filled only with other feelings. I wasn't thinking about such things, I hadn't even realized my own orientation—I had… temporarily forgotten?"
"If anything… we're best friends, aren't we? So hugging and clinging is normal, right?"
"And when I realized my orientation—"
"—You started deliberately avoiding contact with me, didn't you?" Patchouli finished her sentence.
"Y-yes, Patchi. Will you believe me?"
Zeroy asked cautiously, then quickly added:
"If you feel uncomfortable, don't worry—I'll keep my distance, and I'll get rid of those thoughts that shouldn't be there. I'd never do anything to harass my best friend!"
"I really was looking for a chance to confess this to you. But I was afraid… afraid not only that you'd be disgusted, but even more that our friendship could never go back to what it was. That's why I kept delaying…"
"I hope that even if you dislike this, we can still remain best friends. We can talk about what will put you at ease."
"Please, give me that chance!"
"I see…"
Looking at Zeroy pleading before her, Patchouli lowered her gaze.
So that was the truth. She had almost entirely misunderstood… and in fact, they had been thinking the same thing all along…
She, too, had wanted this not to damage their friendship. And Zeroy had been thinking the same, even fretting over how to find the right opportunity.
...
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