Asahi, Fumiko and Mayumi sat down to have breakfast, while Kanin was finishing his meal.

They had bright smiles on their faces as they watched Kanin, who was enthralled by how good the food tasted.

A few minutes later, Kanin finished, leaving a clean plate on the table. As soon as he did, the little mess left on his face and paws vanished.

Asahi patted his head. “Good job. Are you satisfied, or do you want more?”

Kanin rubbed his head against Asahi’s palm, wagging his tail. < I’m full. >

While they finished their breakfast, the girls stroked Kanin’s fur and gave him many head pats.

Reluctantly, Mayumi and Fumiko left to attend their classes, but only after giving Kanin a few kisses.

Lying on the living room couch, with Kanin on his chest, Asahi stroked his fur. “What do you wanna do today?”

< Learn things. >

“What kinds of things?”

< All the things. Things about the world, what people do every day, things like that. >

Asahi chortled. “Alright, but before that, I need to tell you something. I can’t take you outside if you don’t change your appearance a little bit. There is nothing wrong with your appearance, okay? It’s just that no one has ever seen a creature like you before, so it could bring us a lot of unwanted attention, and probably a lot of trouble. So, would you be willing to change it while we’re outside?”

Kanin nodded. < Yeah, I don’t want to cause you any trouble. >

Asahi embraced him and gave him several kisses. “You’re such a good boy. System, is there a way for Kanin to learn how to disguise his colors to look similar to a normal ferret?”

[ Yes. ]

“Then, please buy whatever you need to and show it to him.”

A little screen with text appeared in front of Kanin, with the information he needed and the picture of a normal ferret.

In less than three minutes, the blue on his fur changed to black, while the silver changed to white, and his eyes went completely black, looking like those of a ferret.

Asahi smiled, patting Kanin’s head. “That was so fast, you’re amazing. You still look super cute by the way.”

Kanin wagged his tail.

“Does it tire you out staying like that?”

< No, I barely even notice it. >

“That’s good. When we’re home, there is no need for you to do that if you don’t want to. If I ever bring home someone that you shouldn’t show your real appearance to, I’ll tell you beforehand.”

Kanin reverted to his original colors. < Okay. >

Asahi got up, with Kanin in his arms. “Let’s go to my room. I’ll show you some of the world from there before we go outside, so you don’t get overwhelmed.”

In Asahi’s room, he put Kanin on his desk, and showed him videos and pictures of the world outside. While doing so, he also told him a bit about the System, how it was an absolute secret, and how only Fumiko, Mayumi and Trish knew about it.

After half an hour or so, looking at how mesmerized Kanin was by everything, something dawned on Asahi.

He paused the video, then brought Kanin to his arms.

Kanin looked at Asahi with a mix of curiosity and worry, because he could sense that Asahi was feeling a sad about something.

Asahi stroked Kanin’s fur. “I forgot to tell you something, it’s about talking to people outside.”

Kanin rubbed his face on Asahi’s cheek.  < I already know that I shouldn’t go around talking to people. It’s okay, I’m not sad, so you don’t need to be sad about that either. >

Asahi’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”

< I assimilate languages from those around me, and with that comes a lot of information, including the person’s definitions for those words. Between you, Trish, Fumiko, Mayumi, and the way that the four of you initially looked at me, I understood that most people will see me as a pet. I just didn’t know that I would need to change my appearance. >

Asahi gave him a few kisses. “You’re so smart. You’ll probably get along greatly with Fumiko. Oh, there are still four more people that I want you to meet, one today and three others tomorrow. They’re all good people.”

Kanin wagged his tail. < Yay, more friends! >

Asahi embraced Kanin, with a serene smile on his face. He felt that Kanin was almost an amalgamation of some aspects of his friends in a little bundle of cuteness.

After another half an hour of videos and pictures, Kanin switched to look similar to a normal ferret, and they walked out of the building.

Asahi wore his usual jeans and a hoodie, with Kanin sitting comfortably on his shoulder.

They walked around, stopped by a few shops, and bought a couple treats for Kanin. Everything was interesting to him, with his little head darting around, looking at everything and everyone.

He also took Kanin to a nearby park, but Kanin stayed on his shoulder. Feeling that Kanin was still taking in the world, and was a bit nervous to actually run around on his own, Asahi just let him be. Once in a while he caressed the back of Kanin’s head, and gave him a little kiss, just to remind him that Asahi was there if he needed.

It was quite clear to Asahi, that despite Kanin being hyper-intelligent and having a decent amount of knowledge due to his language assimilation, he was still a child in many ways.

With Asahi being a tall and handsome man, with an incredibly cute animal on his shoulder, they attracted quite a bit of attention wherever they went.

Asahi had to politely refuse quite a few invitations from people in the little over an hour that they spent outside.

After entering their building, walking towards the elevator, Asahi picked Kanin up from his shoulder, and started to stroke his fur. “Did you like the world outside?”

< Yeah! There are so many things, and so many different people. There were some people that I didn’t like so much, but there are also so many nice people. I really like the cars moving around, I want to ride in one of those one day. >

Asahi smiled. “We can do that. The friend that you’ll meet today loves cars and driving them, really, really fast.”

Kanin wagged his tail.

Upon closing the door of the apartment behind them, Asahi asked. “Is there anything in particular that you wanna do right now?”

< Yeah, walk around a bit. That’s something that I haven’t done yet. >

Asahi chortled, kissed his forehead, and gently put him on the floor. “Just be careful to not hurt yourself.”

Kanin patted the floor a few times with his fluffy little paws, before walking slowly in a circle. He then walked a little faster around the apartment, with Asahi just observing him.

He jumped on top of the center table, then on the couch. He ran to the kitchen, jumping on top of a tall stool, then onto the kitchen counter, where he stood, like a child waiting to be praised.

Asahi sat on one of the stools, and patted Kanin’s head. “That was great.”

< I can go a lot faster, but I don’t want to break anything. >

Asahi smiled. “Good boy. Is there anything else you’d like to do?”

Kanin wagged his tail. < Yeah. Can we play video games? It seems to be something really important to you, or at least is what I felt. >

“Of course. System, can you please make a controller with the appropriate size and shape for Kanin to use?”

A thin small pedestal appeared on the table, and on top of it, there was a curved rectangle, with several buttons and two short analog sticks. The sticks were almost like directional spheres with extra grip. Its colors matched Kanin’s fur.

Kanin sniffed it, then stood on his rear legs, and tapped the buttons with his right paw, wagging his tail. < It’s so pretty, thank you. >

“You’re welcome, let’s go play then.”

He picked Kanin and his new controller up, and went to the living room so they could play some video games.

 

A while later, Mayumi and Fumiko arrived together at the apartment.

Upon entering the living room, they saw a scene that they for sure weren’t expecting.

Kanin was standing on his rear legs on top of the center table, operating a strange controller, playing a racing game on the big TV.

Their mouths went slightly agape.

Sensing them, Kanin paused the game, jumped to the back of couch, and waved his fluffy little paws at them. < Welcome home. >

Asahi just looked at them with a grin on his face.

Putting their backpacks on the floor, the girls approached Kanin, then Fumiko gently picked him up and kissed his forehead. “I was counting the minutes to get back home. You can play video games too?”

< Yeah! >

Mayumi kissed the back of his head and stroked his fur. “Did you two have fun while we were gone?”

Kanin happily wagged his tail while gesticulating with his paws. < We did! Asahi showed me a lot of the world on his computer, then we took a walk around the neighborhood, and then started playing video games. I only played two so far, but I really like it, it’s so much fun! >

Kanin looked like a ten-year-old kid that just had the best day in their entire lives.

Mayumi patted his head, smiling brightly. “Awesome.”

Asahi got up, and gave each of the girls a light kiss. “What do you want for lunch? I bet you’re both starving.”

Fumiko chortled. “That’s the understatement of the century, my stomach is close to entering its berserk phase.” She then looked at Kanin. “Oh, that’s sarcasm.”

Kanin nodded. “I know, I can tell.”

Fumiko blinked. “Already? That’s amazing.”

Mayumi gave Kanin another head pat. “The cutest and the smartest.”

Asahi extended his arms to pick Kanin up, smiling. “Go change so we can eat.”

Fumiko handed Kanin to Asahi. “I want a tonkatsu sandwich and a Caesar salad.”

Mayumi thought for a couple seconds. “Curry rice and karaage.”

“Got it.”

As the girls went to their rooms to change and put their stuff away, Asahi stroked Kanin’s fur. “Do you want me to pick something for you again?”

Kanin nodded, filled with expectation.

Asahi put him on top of the kitchen table, as the plates, and everything else started to appear. “System, please make something that can help Kanin eat rice and other foods that are hard for him to pick up.”

On the table, a small device that looked like three mechanical arms, one with a spoon, one with a fork, and the last one with a knife. On its base, there seemed to be four motorized wheels.

[ Just put it beside the plate and Kanin will know what to do. ]

“Thank you.”

A small plate of mushroom risotto appeared on the table.

“Wanna give it a try?”

Excited, Kanin approached the plate and sniffed it. The spoon arm descended upon the risotto, scooping a bit of it, then taking it to Kanin’s mouth. Kanin ate it like he was eating form a tiny bowl, then wagged his tail.

< I like it! >

Asahi smiled, sitting on one of the chairs.

Soon the girls came back, wearing their usual home attire, and sat in front of their dishes, which appeared as they walked to the table.

Fumiko looked at Kanin. “That’s a nice gadget. Speaking of which, how did you disguise Kanin when the two of you went out?”

Mayumi slightly widened her eyes. “Right, there’s that.”

Asahi made a bowl of spicy pork tenderloin with rice and veggies appear in front of him. “The System taught Kanin how to change the color of his fur and eyes, so he would look more like a regular ferret.”

Fumiko smiled. “And of course, he learned it super quickly.”

Mayumi nodded. “Just Kanin being Kanin.”

The three of them chuckled as they watched Kanin, quite focused on his food.

Asahi Patted Kanin’s head. “If you wanna try some of my food, you can, okay?”

The girls spoke almost in unison. “Mine too.”

Kanin looked at the three other plates with sparkling eyes.

 

After they were done with their meal, and the table was cleared, Asahi picked Kanin up. “Kanin, the three of us will have to work in our own rooms for the next three hours or so. What do you wanna do during that period?”

< Can I watch you work? >

Asahi kissed Kanin’s forehead and smiled. “Yup.”

Each of the girls gave Kanin a kiss before going to their rooms to work.

Asahi went to his room, where he sat in front of his computer.

“System, please make a little bed or something like that, so Kanin can comfortably watch me work.”

What looked like a small black bed-shaped pillow appeared on Asahi’s desk.

He then gently put Kanin on top of it. “Is it comfy?”

Kanin snuggled on top of his new bed. < Yeah, thank you. >

Asahi patted his head before starting to work. “You’re welcome.”

Kanin watched him with immense interest.

Once in a while, Asahi stroked Kanin’s fur, but still took care of everything he needed to take care of regarding his group project, and made some strides on his solo one as well.

After he was done with everything, Asahi stretched his arms. “I’m done. How was it to watch me work?”

Kanin wagged his tail. < Learning is fun! >

Asahi chuckled and patted Kanin’s head.

He then remembered something. “Kanin, there is someone that I forgot to introduce to you. Aurora, say hello to Kanin. She is an A.I. that helps me out a lot.”

– Hello Kanin. –

Kanin looked around, looking for the source of the voice.

Asahi patted his head. “There are invisible communicators spread around the place, so she can communicate via voice.”

< Oh. Hello Aurora, nice to meet you. >

– Likewise. –

Having Psionic capabilities due to her hardware, and having part of her hardware nearby, Aurora could obviously receive Kanin’s telepathic message.

Asahi smiled. “If you ever need anything and we’re busy or not around, just ask Aurora and she’ll do her best to help you. She’s linked to the System, so she can make stuff appear as well.”

Kanin nodded. < Okay. >

“Our friends should arrive in an hour or so, wanna play video games while we wait for them?”

Kanin wagged his tail. < Yeah! >

He picked Kanin up, and went to the living room to play some games with him. Sure, he could very well play in his room, but Fumiko and Mayumi would soon join them.

 

A little over an hour later, with Fumiko and Mayumi have already joined them, the doorbell rang.

Asahi opened the front door.

Both Thea and Trish wore light dresses, with their hair loose, and their backpacks on their back.

He hugged Thea, and gave Trish a light kiss. “Come on in.”

Thea looked at him with sparkles in her eyes. “Why do I feel like something incredible is about to happen?”

Asahi just smiled, gesturing for them to go in.

When they arrived at the living room, both Thea’s and Trish’s mouths went agape at the sight of Kanin playing an adventure game.

Kanin once again paused the game, and jumped to the back of the couch, waving his fluffy little paws.

< Hello. >

Thea didn’t question anything, just approached Kanin. “Hello, I’m Thea.”

Kanin extended his right paw. < I’m Kanin, nice to meet you. >

Without being startled at all, Thea smiled, and gently grabbed Kanin’s paw, giving it a little shake. “Nice to meet you too Kanin.”

< Do you want to play games with us? >

Thea gently picked Kanin up, and embraced him. “You know I do… you’re like me.”

Her smile while holding Kanin, was incredibly bright, and Kanin seemed to enjoy being picked up more than usual.

< Oh, you can feel it too. >

Thea stroked his fur. “I can.”

While Fumiko and Mayumi enjoyed the scene, Trish looked at Asahi. “Did he learn Telepathy, or is it the little bracelet?”

“It’s the bracelet, but he’ll probably learn it soon.”

Trish then approached Thea and Kanin, and patted Kanin’s head. “Hi Kanin, I missed you.”

Kanin rubbed his head against Trish’s palm. < Hi, I missed you too. Do you want to play video games with us too? >

Trish smiled brightly. “I really do.”

They didn’t ask anything about how Kanin existed, only asking non-intrusive questions, and directly to Kanin himself.

The five of them, especially Thea, had a blast playing with Kanin and watching him experience things for the first time.

Asahi and Thea made dinner together, while Fumiko, Mayumi and Trish played with Kanin.

While Thea cut some veggies and Asahi watched the pots on the stove, he spoke. “So, did I manage to surprise you?”

Thea chuckled. “You did. He’s so incredibly cute and smart, I adore him.”

Asahi smiled. “And you’re not gonna ask how I got him?”

Thea shook her head, smiling. “It doesn’t matter, does it? The fact that he exists and I can give him a lot of hugs and kisses is more than enough. Oh god, he’s so fluffy and soft, I need a Kanin plushie.”

Asahi nodded. “And thus, Kanin’s fan club begins.”

Thea chortled. “What do you mean by begins? You probably founded it as soon as you got him.”

Asahi laughed. “I can’t really deny that. I think we can all agree that he’s a massive improvement in all of our lives.”

Thea nodded. “Indeed.”

The dinner went remarkably well, and the rest of their night even better.