HLnovel Chapter 179 Niou Who Annoyed the Cat
Chapter 179 Niou Who Annoyed the Cat
"Still so clingy."
Yukimura's voice was soft and gentle. He straightened the bagel around Luna's neck with his fingertips, then gently scratched the cat's chin. His movements were very tender. "Luna, did you cause any trouble today?"
Luna gave a soft, sweet moan and buried her face in his palm, as if answering, "I'm very good."
"He was just secretly licking his injured paw, how was that well-behaved?" Atobe stood with his arms crossed, watching the affectionate interaction between the human and the cat, feeling a little annoyed, and muttered a sour remark under his breath.
Renji happened to overhear this and leaned over to comfort her, saying in a smooth, soothing manner, "Kei, Luna isn't clingy to you, but Alexander is super clingy! Try to think positively."
Reminded by this, Atobe remembered his overly clingy, big-sized "whiny monster" at home, and suddenly felt relieved.
"Hmm~ What a short-sighted kid. Oh well... the match is still going on."
Other students from Rikkai University also came over one after another.
Marui curiously approached Yukimura, looking down at the kitten in his arms with sparkling eyes. "Wow, this must be Ryo's eerie little witch cat! It really does have heterochromia, so cool!"
As he spoke, he reached out to touch the kitten's head, but halfway through, he hesitated, afraid of startling it, and froze in mid-air.
Luna tilted her head and glanced at him, neither dodging nor moving closer, completely ignoring him.
She has a very aloof appearance.
Marui looked a little aggrieved, withdrew her hand, and pouted, "Hey, why isn't it paying attention to me...?"
Niou leaned against the railing, hands in his pockets, and whistled, "Pupina~ Needless to say, it only recognizes the Minister. Look at how clingy it is, like the Minister's pet."
Sanada frowned as he watched them, and whispered a reprimand: "On the field, focus on the game. Don't tease the cat."
Despite saying that, his gaze unconsciously drifted towards the kitten in Yukimura's arms, and his ears turned slightly red.
Kirihara excitedly went over and stared at the kitten for a long time, finding it very novel: "Wow, its eyes really are two colors! It's even cooler than that Street Fighter raccoon in my back alley! Captain, what's its name?"
"Its name is Luna, the moon," Yukimura replied with a smile, his fingertips tracing the kitten's fur. "It's not timid, so you can touch it gently without any problem."
Marui, after hearing Yukimura's words, dared to reach out and gently touch the kitten's fur, exclaiming in surprise.
"It's so soft. Like a marshmallow."
Jiro also came over and squeezed together with Marui to watch the cat. The two of them were head to head, quietly discussing how soft the kitten's fur was and what flavor of canned food it liked to eat.
Niou also stretched his neck and leaned closer, looking down at the little black cat in Yukimura's palm. His eyes darted around, and a mischievous thought popped into his head again.
"Oh, so this is the legendary little civet cat."
He reached out and gently tugged at the kitten's Hyotei-style team uniform, touched its little gold lock, and pinched the tips of its ears. "The little guy is dressed quite nicely. I heard you can also spy and transform into a human? Transform and show me."
Luna immediately flew into a rage when a strange two-legged creature touched her inappropriately.
When the ears are pulled back, the hair on the back stands up slightly.
It shook its head vigorously to dodge Niou's hand, then raised its uninjured left paw and slapped at him.
The little paw pads are so soft.
It patted Niou's hand, like tickling him, posing no threat whatsoever.
Niou pretended to be in pain and hissed.
"Wow, you've got quite a temper."
As he spoke, he reached out and touched the tip of the kitten's tail, deliberately tugging at it. He continued teasing it with a smile, his tone slow and leisurely, "Just as fierce as your owner, huh?"
Luna's tail was pulled, and she understood that the other person was saying bad things about her human, which made her even angrier.
The little claws swung even faster.
It slapped Niou's hand repeatedly, meowing as if it were scolding someone. But its paws were too small and its nails too soft, posing no real danger; instead, it looked cute and fierce.
After trying for a long time without seeing any results, the kitten started to sulk.
She turned around and snuggled into Yukimura's arms, burying her head behind his arm, leaving only her bouncy little bottom sticking out.
Two seconds later, it couldn't stand it anymore and poked its little head out from under Yukimura's arm, pointing at Niou with its little paws, looking at its Yukimura father with a pitiful expression, meowing incessantly.
Her voice was soft and trembling, as if she were crying out that she had been bullied.
His acting skills are so good that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a child prodigy.
Yukimura chuckled, raised his hand to protect the kitten, and gently stroked its fur with his fingertips, his voice as gentle as if coaxing a child.
"Okay, okay, don't be angry anymore."
After comforting the cat, he looked at Niou with a hint of helplessness in his voice, but without any sense of reproach, "Yaji, don't bully Luna. She's still small, and her claws aren't fully healed yet. She can't take your teasing."
"Piyo~ Hiroshi, look, the minister is protecting the kitten and talking about me."
Niou rubbed his nose, feigning grievance as he nudged Yagyu beside him, sighing, "I only touched it lightly, how could I dare to bully it? And I got blamed for it! Are all kittens these days so good at tattling?"
Yagyu pushed up his glasses, the lenses reflecting the light, and uttered a sentence expressionlessly.
"Yaji, you provoked it first. Bullying a cub is not in accordance with gentlemanly conduct."
Sanada, standing nearby, frowned in disapproval and said in a deep voice, "Niou, be mindful of your words."
Atobe watched the whole thing with his arms crossed, then scoffed, "Niou, only you would bully a kitten. Aren't you ashamed?"
Marui puffed out his cheeks, and Jiro nodded in agreement, joining in the condemnation of Niou.
"Exactly, what kind of skill is it to bully a kitten?"
"Yes, Luna is so small, how could you tease her like that?"
Seeing that everyone was speaking up for Luna, Niou helplessly raised his hands in surrender and apologized to the kitten with a smile.
"Okay, okay, it's my fault. You little cat ancestor is amazing, I admit defeat, alright?"
Luna understood that everyone was backing it up. It stood up on Yukimura's arm, waved its little paw at Niou, and meowed in a mocking manner, as if to provoke him.
Its tail was held high, as if it were a victor.
After provoking him, he quickly retreated to his "safe house," peeking out with half an eye behind Yukimura's hand, while the two "Doritos" on his head swayed happily.
They're masters of using someone else's power to their advantage.
But its series of dramatic little actions completely melted the hearts of the onlookers from Hyotei and Rikkai.
Marui was the first to be hit; the bubble he was blowing halfway burst and stuck to his face, and he didn't even have time to wipe it off. He pointed at Niou, taking the cat's side.
"Haha, Ren-ou, you've finally met your match! Now the cat involved has gone to his parents to complain and punish you. How embarrassing! Don't ever say you're from Rikkai University when you go out."
"Exactly! Niou-senpai, it's shameful to bully a kitten." Kirihara nodded vigorously, his eyes sparkling as he looked at the kitten, his curly hair swaying back and forth.
As she spoke, she took out a kitten meat strip from her handbag and waved it at the kitten.
"Luna, come here, I have some kitten treats for you."
Luna's ears twitched immediately when she heard the word "snacks".
Peeking out from behind Yukimura's wrist.
It glanced at the bag in Kirihara's hand, then looked at Niou, making sure the two-legged creature wouldn't bully it anymore, before slowly crawling out, squatting in Yukimura's palm, and meowing at Kirihara.
"I have one too."
Jiro also came over, took a small cookie out of his pocket—a cat treat that Mochizuki Ryo had given him earlier. He held the cookie to the kitten's mouth, "Chicken flavor, it's delicious."
From the moment Liu saw the cat, she meticulously analyzed it from every angle, scribbling notes in her notebook while muttering to herself:
"Wang Yueling's cat is a Munchkin cat... um... its legs are a bit long, so it might not be a purebred. It has heterochromia. It looks to be less than a month old. It has an external injury and is bandaged on its left front paw, but its mental state is good."
"The fur density is lower than that of a typical domestic cat, suggesting some malnutrition. The ears are set low, and the facial features are rounded, indicating excellent quality."
Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he paused, then added:
"According to rumors, this cat is extremely intelligent and can sense people's emotions. Considering its recent display of intelligence, it has most likely undergone socialization training and is very affectionate towards people. From a biological perspective, pets do indeed become more and more like their owners."
"So it's reasonable that its affinity for Yukimura is much higher than for others."
As Liu spoke, she tilted her head towards the kitten again, studied it carefully for a while, paused for a few seconds, and then continued her analysis:
"Hmm... the paw pads are a lighter color. Kittens' paw pads should be more pinkish, but its paw pads are light gray, which is uncommon."
"Furthermore, the probability of heterochromia (different colored eyes) appearing in pure black cats is very low. I haven't checked specific data on the proportion of cats that simultaneously possess black fur, heterochromia, and light-colored paw pads, but it should be quite small."
After he finished speaking, he added, "Of course, this is just the result of observation."
Everyone was somewhat astonished as they listened to his earnest analysis.
Kirihara stared wide-eyed for a long time, his face full of admiration. "Senior Yanagi, you can even analyze cats? That's amazing!"
Liu closed his notebook and nodded slightly.
"Data collection knows no species. It never hurts to learn more."
Sanada stood to the side, looking at the kitten in Yukimura's palm with a gentle expression. He silently reached into his sweatpants pocket and took out a small packet of kitten-specific meat puree, handing it to Yukimura.
The packaging was all pink and cute, which clashed terribly with his serious and tense face.
I bought it on a whim at the pet store.
His voice was lower, lacking his usual seriousness, but instead showing a touch of gentleness, "The shop assistant said the kittens really like to eat it."
Everyone looked over, their eyes filled with surprise.
Sanada carries cat treats with him all the time?
Feeling a bit uncomfortable being stared at by his teammates, Sanada raised his hand to adjust the brim of his hat and gave a stiff explanation, "I just saw that you guys all bought some, so I grabbed a bag too."
Seeing his awkward expression, Liu Sheng mischievously took out a bag of freeze-dried cat food from his bag and placed it next to him. "I saw you all bought some, so I bought a bag too. I checked the brand, and this one is quite palatable."
Liu nodded, closed his notebook, and added, continuing Liu Sheng's words: "Data shows that kittens can eat small amounts of cat treats around one month old. The one you have, Mr. Hiroshi, is indeed accepted by over 80% of kittens, and the ingredients are relatively safe."
"Of course, the bag that Genichiro casually grabbed is also a very popular kitten food this year."
They all deliberately emphasized the word "smoothly," clearly implying a teasing tone towards Sanada.
No one called them out; they all held back their laughter.
Marui's shoulders trembled even more violently, and he only managed to stop after Kuwabara quietly tugged at him. He also followed suit and took the bag from his partner, pulling out a huge pile of colorful freeze-dried cat treats.
"Luna, these are gifts that Kuwabara and I brought for you!"
He waved the cat treats in front of the kittens, "I've bought all the flavors! Come find me whenever you want some! This genius provides feeding services."
Niou moved from the fence to his partner's shoulder, looked at the pile of cat treats next to Yukimura's chair, and sighed, "Puri~ So half of our team came here to watch the game, and the other half to feed the cats, huh?"
The others pretended not to hear and continued to take things out of their pockets.
Luna understood. Her two little ears stood up, her eyes instantly became round and watery, and she meowed at the Rikkai group, even making a lucky cat gesture.
I thanked them in a proper manner.
Then it turned to Niou, who was making sarcastic remarks, and hissed, "Little Thunderclap!" Its heterochromatic eyes looked like two glass beads in the sunlight, exceptionally dazzling.
The face-changing was so smooth, without even a hint of pre-cast preparation.
Niou looked at its smug little face, feeling both annoyed and amused. "I've already apologized, and you're still provoking me. You're such a vengeful little cat... And yet, so many powerful figures are helping you take sides. I can't afford to mess with you."
"Here, this is a small gift to make amends, okay?" he said, taking off the tennis bag from his shoulder and pulling out a small yellow and blue polka-dot fabric fish, which he then handed to the kitten.
Luna's eyes lit up when she saw the little fish. She reached out her paw and probed it a couple of times. After confirming that it was given to her by a bipedal creature, she happily took the fish.
Finally, like a kitten that doesn't hold grudges, it quickly rubbed against Niou's fingers to express its gratitude.
Holding the fish, she excitedly stomped her breasts twice with her little paws, then turned her head to aim at her father, Yukimura, and leaped back into his arms.
The little head rubbed against Yukimura's wrist, and only after it had had enough did it settle down leisurely, hugging the little fish and shaking the golden lock bell around its neck.
He would occasionally show off his possessions to those around him, such as little fish, a gold lock, little ears, and a little tail...
In short, it wants to show off everything that two-legged animals don't have.
He's incredibly narcissistic.
Just like when Wang Yueling is smug.
Yukimura looked at the pile of cat treats on the bench and couldn't help but smile. He gently tapped Luna's little head with his fingertip.
"Look, so many people brought you food. You're really popular."
Luna meowed, rubbed against his fingertips, then looked down at the snacks, wagging her tail even more enthusiastically.
……
The spectators around the stands were a little stunned by what they saw.
"Why are the Rikkai students playing with the cats in Hyotei's rest area? Didn't they come here specifically to watch the game?!"
"Isn't that kitten the coach from Hyotei Academy?"
……
Saori Shiba held up her camera and kept snapping photos. After she finished, she cupped her face in her hands, her mouth stretching almost to her ears in a wide grin.
"Today was totally worth it!"
"There are handsome guys everywhere, from Seigaku and Hyotei... I even got a shot of the entire Rikkai team petting cats! This issue's sales are definitely going to be a hit!"
Inoue Mamoru saw her start to swoon again, shook his head helplessly, but did not stop her.
The Rikkai University group quickly took their seats.
The location was reserved in advance by Mochizuki Ryo, right next to Hyotei's rest area, with a great view, where every move on the court could be seen clearly.
Yukimura held the cat, and sunlight fell on his profile, gilding his features with a light gold edge that was dazzlingly bright.
Mochizuki Ryou turned to look at him, smiled, raised her chin, and mouthed to Yukimura, "How's the position?"
Yukimura nodded and mouthed back, "Not bad...you guys played well too."
Wang Yueling raised an eyebrow, her smile deepening. Just as she was about to say something more, the whistle blew to signal the start of the serve.
He had no choice but to turn his gaze back to the field.
-
The game on the field resumed.
Mukahi and Taki stood in their respective positions.
This time, the two players' auras were noticeably different from the previous two rounds. The first two rounds were about probing and attrition, with a leisurely, cat-and-mouse game feel to them.
In this round, their true strength will be revealed.
On the Seigaku side, Kikumaru and Momoshiro were a little nervous, probably because the Rikkai students were there, and they wanted to perform well.
The serve was in the hands of Qingxue.
Momoshiro wanted to strike first, so he used his signature move, the "Bullet Serve," right from the start. As the name suggests, the ball was as fast as a bullet, heading straight for the opponent's inside corner.
He had calculated that Taki, in this position in the backcourt, would have difficulty generating power and could only return the ball as a transitional shot. At that point, Kikumaru could volley it at the net, and they would be able to break the deadlock and score.
The imagination is wonderful, but the reality is cruel.