Chapter 14: The Mystery of the Cat-Person Soul Swap
A mixed smell of old wood and dust filled the Paranormal Investigation Club's room.
Natsume Yu casually pulled over a chair and sat down, calmly watching the "perfect" woman before him, who wore an anxious expression. Yuigahama Yui stood nervously behind him, curiously sizing up Yukinoshita Haruno and Hozuki Eiko.
Hiratsuka Shizuka leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, her brow furrowed. She felt that the day's events were far beyond her scope of understanding as a teacher.
"Haruno-san, please tell me the specifics," Natsume Yu said, breaking the silence.
Yukinoshita Haruno took a deep breath. Her signature composed smile was long gone, replaced by deep worry and fatigue.
"It started last night," she said slowly. "Yukino... suddenly became like a different person. During dinner, she went berserk without any warning. She became incredibly strong; even two maids couldn't hold her down."
"And the most... the most outrageous part," Haruno's voice was laced with disbelief, "was that she jumped onto the dining table and, like a wild animal, started grabbing the grilled fish from the plate with her bare hands... Her movements were countless times more agile than usual."
This description made everyone present suck in a breath of cold air.
The eternally cold, rational, elegant, and even borderline germaphobic Yukinoshita Yukino, jumping on a dining table to eat fish with her hands? The image alone was enough to make one's skin crawl.
"After we forcibly sent her back to her room, she wouldn't sleep. She just curled up at the foot of her bed like a frightened cat, making a 'purring' sound in her throat and watching every one of us with wary eyes," a trace of pain flashed in Haruno's eyes. "This morning, she refused to leave her room at all."
"Actually, before I came to find you, Natsume-san, I also asked Eiko and her sister for help," Haruno glanced at Hozuki Eiko beside her and gave a bitter smile. "But they couldn't figure it out either, only that Yukino's 'aura' was strange. That's why Eiko recommended you to me."
Natsume Yu listened quietly, his index finger tapping rhythmically on the tabletop.
In his mind, the image of the ice queen in the Service Club, always holding a book about cats and showing a rare gentleness when talking about them, appeared.
Likes cats, has increased strength, is agile, eats fish, curls up like a cat to sleep...
The clues were clear.
"What Yukinoshita-san is experiencing is a 'spirit collision'," Natsume Yu calmly gave his diagnosis.
"'Spirit collision'?" Haruno repeated, confused.
"It's a very rare supernatural phenomenon," Natsume Yu explained. "To put it simply, under certain specific circumstances, the souls of a human and an animal have accidentally collided, resulting in a swap."
He paused, then delivered a conclusion that stunned everyone present:
"What's occupying your sister's body right now is the soul of a cat. Your sister's soul is probably inside some cat's body, completely bewildered."
"A human-cat soul swap?!"
The one who exclaimed this time was Hiratsuka Shizuka, who could no longer stand to listen.
She abruptly stood up straight, walked over to Natsume Yu in a few steps, and scolded him with a stern expression, "Natsume! What nonsense are you spouting?! What era is this, still pulling this feudal superstition stuff? Spirit collision, soul swap... I think you're nothing but a charlatan!"
As a teacher, she would never allow her student to deceive a worried family member with such absurd reasons.
"Hiratsuka-sensei!"
However, before Natsume Yu could respond, Yukinoshita Haruno stepped forward, blocking Hiratsuka Shizuka with a serious expression.
"This is a Yukinoshita family matter. Please do not interfere," she said, each word deliberate. Although her tone was polite, the authority it carried was undeniable.
Hiratsuka Shizuka was stunned, not expecting this young lady, who always seemed to be smiling, to be so assertive.
Haruno ignored the teacher and turned to face Natsume Yu. Before this, she had consulted several famous "exorcists," but they had either said Yukino was possessed by an evil spirit or was having a mental breakdown due to stress. Not a single one could give a reasonable explanation, let alone a solution.
Only Natsume Yu, the one and only person, could perfectly explain all of Yukino's abnormal behaviors.
This allowed her, in her endless despair, to see a glimmer of hope again.
"Natsume-san," Yukinoshita Haruno's attitude became unprecedentedly respectful. She gave Natsume Yu a deep bow. "Please forgive my earlier rudeness. I am frantic with worry over Yukino's situation. I implore you to help."
"Please... could you come to my home now to check on Yukino's condition?"