Tsubaki_X

Less than 2 days have passed, and I've already reached 1k views across all the chapters I've posted! Due to this and since I'm writing the arc I'm most excited about, I figure I'd release an extra chapter for you guys. Thank you for reading Aster!

“Shion, do you wanna try going out for a bit with me?”

Ayano had suddenly asked Shion this one day after she had finished her study session with Takanashi-sensei. Shion hadn’t really given a thought to actually stepping outside the estate due to her situation being so luxurious as it was. But now that Ayano had said it, Shion looked thoughtful.

“Hmmm, why..?” (Shion)

“I mean, it’s been a couple of weeks and you’ve done nothing but study, eat and read 24/7. Don’t you ever get bored of this?” (Ayano)

“Not really… compared to before, every day is already happiness for me” (Shion)

“But aren’t you curious about the outside world? We could go shopping, eat out somewhere, play at the arcade, karaoke… does none of it interest you at all?” (Ayano)

“...Shopping? Arcade? Karaoke?” (Shion)

Shion had a confused look on her face. Ayano suddenly facepalmed as she remembered suddenly,

“Oh wait… I had gotten used to you being in this mansion already, so I completely forgot that you don’t know anything about what you’ve studied with Takanashi-sensei. Okay! You are going out with me tomorrow and you are not allowed to object!” (Ayano)

“Okay…” (Shion)

Shion felt a bit apprehensive about the prospect of going out. It was only about a month since she had first come to this world, and the security and comfort of the Kojou estate still hadn’t faded. But Ayano had done a lot for Shion, so Shion thought that she at least owed it to Ayano to go out with her, unaware of Ayano’s nefarious plans…

The next morning, Ayano entered Shion’s room cheerfully as she threw the blinds open, scorching the poor catgirl omega’s eyes.

“It’s too earlyyy…” (Shion)

Shion buried herself in her covers as Ayano glanced over.

“5 more minutes nyaaaaa~” (Shion)

Ayano suddenly felt her heart hurt at Shion’s words. She didn’t know who taught Shion how to say that, but whoever did created a monster. An unbelievably cute and adorable monster. But Ayano shook besides her feelings of pity and pulled the blankets off the bed.

“No 5 more minutes! We promised to go out together today, remember?” (Ayano)

“Mmmrrrgh…”

Shion sat up and rubbed her eyes. She started trailing to the bathroom as Ayano helped to get her ready for the day. She used to be able to be alert at any second, taking intermittent naps throughout the day in order to stay safe. But ever since she started living at the Kojou estate, the comfort and softness of the bed pulled her in, and she found herself sleeping in more and more.

Ayano kept her smiles to herself as she dressed Shion for their outing. It was a simple outfit consisting of a navy blue beret, white blouse, and matching navy blue skirt that was easy to change in and out of. After Shion got ready, the two of them ate a quick breakfast before heading out together, being driven by Tomoya to Harajuku.

—

Shion had her face glued to the window the entire time; this was her actual first foray into the world she had been thrown into. The first time didn’t count since it was night, and she was more focused on what exactly was happening rather than looking at the scenery outside. But this time she got to fully appreciate the new world outside. There were many things different and similar to her old world at the same time, and it caught Shion’s attention.

Shion no longer felt the faint hum of magic ever present in the world. This world operated on electricity, with magic having only ever existed in stories. The tall skyscrapers in Tokyo contrasted to the shorter buildings in her world; this world had no need to worry about monsters and dragons after all.

Soon enough, they arrived at Harajuku. Although Shion started to get excited during the car ride, once they stopped, she started to shake in anxiety. She got a few flashbacks to the times when she was beaten for wandering onto the main streets for being dirty and ugly. But as Shion started spiraling, she felt a hand lightly pat her head. She looked up and saw Ayano give her a gentle smile.

“It’s okay, I’m here with you.” (Ayano)

Shion took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. Ayano took Shion’s hand as Ayano gently led Shion out of the car. Ayano waved out to the greater area,

“Welcome to Harajuku! This city is where a lot of younger people shop, with many expressing their freedom of choice and dressing up in wild outfits. So you don’t have to worry about sticking out here because there are bound to be a couple other cat girls besides yourself; although you will be the only real cat girl here.” (Ayano)

Shion listened to Ayano’s spiel as she blankly looked around the street. There were an incredible amount of people present here, far more than she had ever seen before. Ayano gently tugged Shion forward as Ayano stepped forward.

“I know it’s all impressive and new to you, but there’s a lot to do today~” (Ayano)

—

Their first destination was a clothing store aimed at omegas; there were a lot of cute skirts, tops and dresses present throughout the shop, and Ayano excitedly dragged Shion forward as she started picking out outfits. Soon, she ended up with a small mountain of clothes before shoving Shion into a nearby changing room.

“Try all of these on! I already organized them into different outfits so you don’t have to worry about mix and matching. Just put them on and open the curtain for me to see how you look~” (Ayano)

Ayano had picked out so many outfits in such little time that Shion didn’t really have an opportunity to see what was in the pile. But Shion could’ve sworn that Ayano had an evil smile when picking out some of the clothing, so Shion was slightly apprehensive when trying the clothes on.

The first item on top of the pile was surprisingly innocuous given the expressions Shion noticed on Ayano’s face. Trying it on, it was a beautiful white sundress that dropped to around Shion’s knees. There was a little purple bow at the top of the neckline with a couple frills adorning the fabric and overall looked extremely cute on Shion. Shion opened the curtain.

“Awwww I knew that would look amazing on you! The white sundress perfectly harmonizes with your innocent appearance and cute figure; it has just the right amount of exposure to show how lovely you are without being overly exposing. I knew I made the perfect choice!” (Ayano)

Shion flushed lightly at the rush of words that immediately came out of Ayano’s mouth, before Ayano spoke up once again.

“Ok now try on the other clothes! There’s still a lot to go through!” (Ayano)

Next up was a black dress with a white apron and black bowtie. It had a matching black headband with white frills and looked awfully similar to the outfits that Ayano and the other maids usually wore…

The instant Shion opened the curtain, she was greeted by a thousand flashes coming from some sort of device that Ayano was holding.

“There’s just something different about the appeal of a young cat girl omega in a maid outfit that we real maids just can’t compare with!!!!... I’ll be sure to save these for bargaining with the other maids later tonight hehe” (Ayano)

“... pervert” (Shion)

“You break my heart Shion… cat girl omega maids are an art form!” (Ayano)

The two of them then proceeded to go through the rest of the clothes… Most of the outfits were more innocent, cute and casual, but every once in a while there was something unusual that Ayano slipped in for her own evil purposes. A red cheongsam dress, miko outfit, nurse outfit… Every time Shion stepped out in one of Ayano’s strange outfits, Ayano was ready with the strange device yet again, blinding Shion with more and more flashes. Eventually however, they finally made their way through all of the clothes that Ayano had chosen, and Ayano decided to purchase them all.

“It isn’t expensive..?” (Shion)

“Nope~ Hirokichi-sama gave me permission to spend as much as I need to when it comes to you! So I get to have fun dressing you up AND have fun spending money that isn’t my own!” (Ayano)

“...Oh” (Shion)

The two of them left the store, handing all the purchased clothing to Tomoya so he could bring it back to the car. When he returned, Ayano once again grabbed Shion’s hand and led the way forward.

“There’s a place that I wanted to bring you to, hehehe… this was actually my destination all along ever since I thought of bringing you out!” (Ayano)

Shion had a slightly confused expression on her face, but allowed Ayano to continue leading her forward. Eventually, after entering an elevator and getting off at a certain floor, Shion could smell some familiar animals. Cats.

“Yep! I have brought you to a cat cafe mwahahahaha… I can’t lie that most of this is my own desire, but I hope you can find the time to relax here since you’ve been doing nothing but studying recently.” (Ayano)

After paying and entering, Shion saw a wide room with large windows facing the street. In the middle of the room was an extremely large cat tree, with many cats napping on the branches. Surrounding the cat tree were several bird cage-like platforms suspended from the ceiling, each also with cats napping on them. Looking around the rest of the room, there was a small library with a couple manga and many seats and benches.

As soon as Shion entered, a few cats immediately approached and sniffed at her curiously. Shion held out her hand as she let them sniff her. In her old world, there was a cat that came by every once in a while to play with her, and these cats made her slightly nostalgic.

“Nya…?” (Shion)

Ayano held back a slightly squeal as she saw Shion interact with the cats. Shion’s own tail hovered upright, with its end slightly bent in a hook. Slowly but surely, more and more cats started to come and buried Shion with their floofiness.

“She’s certainly popular with the cats, isn’t she?” (???)

Talking to Ayano was one of the caretakers. The caretaker had noticed Shion when the cat whose fur she was brushing suddenly ran away to join the kitty pile.

“Ah yeah… I can’t say this was unexpected” (Ayano)

“Why do you say that? Is it because of her surprisingly realistic cat ears and tail? I wonder where she got those…” (Caretaker)

“Something like that~” (Ayano)

Not wanting to reveal more, Ayano turned silent and gave a gentle smile as she saw Shion falling asleep amidst the cats. The cats started loafing on top of and next to Shion to join her.

“Well, they certainly look comfortable at least.” (Caretaker)

“That they do~ She’s been so busy lately so I’m glad that today she can finally take the time to relax.”

Ayano grabbed a cup of coffee and sat nearby Shion, playing with one of the few cats that hadn’t swarmed Shion until their time was up.

“Shion-chan~ It’s time to wake up~ Our time is almost over…” (Ayano)

Wading through the cats, Ayano gently woke up Shion. Shion rubbed her eyes and yawned cutely,

“Nyaaa it’s already time to go..?” (Shion)

“Yep~ It’s time for lunch so say goodbye to all of your new friends~” (Ayano)

“Mm. Goodbye nya~” (Shion)

Shion bid the cats farewell as she stepped out of the cat cafe with Ayano. She stretched herself, showing off a nearly inhuman flexibility.

“Urgh, I don’t know how you do that, Shion. It makes my own body hurt every time…” (Ayano)

“I just stretch..?” (Shion)

Ayano laughed lightly,

“That wasn’t a question I expected an answer for Shion. I already know you’re part cat, so it’s not unexpected for you to also be made out of liquid~” (Ayano)

Shion tilted her head in confusion.

“It’s okay if you don’t understand~ Let's just get lunch now, I made a reservation at a nice teppanyaki place.”

Heading back to the car, Tomoya drove the pair to Shibuya before dropping the two of them off once again. Ayano led the way into a slightly fancy looking place.

“Do you know what Teppanyaki is?” (Ayano)

“No..?” (Shion)

“So we’re going to sit at a long counter with a super hot metal flat top grill in front of us. There’s going to be a chef standing behind that cooktop making delicious food right in front of us~ I hope you’ll enjoy the experience!” (Ayano)

“I look forward to it” (Shion)

Entering the restaurant, Shion and Ayano were quickly seated by a waitress before being given drink menus. Ayano got herself a simple ginger ale highball, while Shion got some grape juice. Soon enough, the chef appeared and started preparing their food.

The two of them enjoyed some fish, scallops and shrimp before the main course was pulled out. A delicious looking piece of well marbled A5 wagyu ribeye. The chef expertly grilled it up, before slicing and serving it to Ayano and Shion, alongside some pepper, wasabi and garlic chips. Shion drooled slightly as she picked up the first piece and put it in her mouth.

Shion had never tried anything like it before. If this was steak, then the burnt and dry piece of beef she had before she transmigrated was a piece of cow leather. The beefy scent of the expertly grilled wagyu ribeye filled her mouth. When she bit down on it, there was a slight crispy feeling as her teeth went past the crust of the steak, before cutting through the rest, allowing rich and delicious juice to burst out.

 As she continued to chew, the rich fat of the A5 wagyu continued to melt on her tongue, coating it with a thick luxurious feeling that Shion had never experienced before. She then subconsciously swallowed it, before realizing what she had done and felt a slight regret that she didn’t chew longer. She picked up her chopsticks that she hadn’t realized that she had put down, and reached out for more.

Thoroughly entranced with the flavor, Shion tried the rest of the pieces with the condiments given to her. The pepper had a slight sharp bite that counteracted the richness of the meat, the wasabi was spicy and fresh and cleansed the greasiness from her tongue so she could keep eating, and the garlic chips added a slightly rich and pungent flavor on top of the already perfect meat. It was heaven.

“It’s so good nyaaaaa~” (Shion)

“Well… I’m happy you’re enjoying it Shion” (Ayano)

Ayano had a light smile as she watched Shion eat, but it slowly turned into abject horror as she started to notice a certain scent. Normally, only alphas and omegas would really notice the scent of each others’ pheromones. Betas could sometimes smell them as well, but it was usually nothing more than a faint whisper. But what she was smelling was not faint at all. Her nose was overwhelmed by the scent of warm milk, almost overpowering everything else.

Ayano had completely forgotten about Shion’s estrus period, because she hadn’t had one since she had arrived. Her shock was shaken when Shion suddenly hugged her and rubbed her face into Ayano’s chest.

“So warm nyaaaa…” (Shion)

This was bad, very bad. Ayano was stupid this morning and hadn’t brought any inhibitors with her because she didn’t think it was necessary. The chef spoke up,

“Please get her out of here… even though I’m an alpha I can barely hold myself back… but get her out before it gets worse!” (Chef)

There was a small trail of blood leaking from the chef’s lips, he had clearly bitten himself so that the pain would prevent him from doing anything he would regret. Ayano quickly tossed a stack of cash on the table as she made a dash for the car. As soon as she arrived, she contacted Hirokichi and Hideki, but was told that they would take a little while to make it to the estate due to unavoidable circumstances.

“Tomoya! Drive back to the estate as fast as you can! Shion is in her estrus period!” (Ayano)

Shion ignored what was happening around her and continued to nuzzle into the warmth that she felt from Ayano. She started sniffing for something instinctually, but Ayano didn’t have it. But her warmth was keeping Shion satisfied for the time being.

Knowing that it was an emergency, Tomoya rushed for the Kojou estate, where Ayano quickly grabbed an inhibitor that Hideki had been wise enough to prescribe beforehand.

Tsubaki_X

I don't know why, but it's so nice to be standing at the cliffhanger for once... c: