"It looks like Anon has already walked out of the shadow of her past."
Looking at the girl in front of him who had basically untied her emotional knot, Kamijou Mutsuki revealed a smile as well.
"Congratulations, Anon!"
And then he actually started clapping.
"Anon-chan, congratulations!"
Although she had no idea why Kamijou Mutsuki was clapping, the lively Mana instinctively followed along and began clapping too.
"Congratulations!"
That was Mutsumi. Though a little confused, since her fiancé was doing it, she joined in as well.
"Congratulations!"
That was Soyo. Even though she didn't understand how things had developed into this, clapping along was the right move.
And so Anon watched as, led by Kamijou Mutsuki, the other girls in the living room all congratulated her while smiling and clapping. The air instantly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
No, why are you clapping? What is there to congratulate?!
Anon, who found this hard to endure, forcefully held her tears back, her mind going blank.
She had originally been moved.
Now all that remained was embarrassment and speechlessness.
Wasn't this a kind of public execution?
In the end, it was Cat who saved her.
You took my candy, huh?!
A white blur flashed past. Kamijou Mutsuki, who had been standing there clapping, was instantly pinned to the ground by Cat.
This is bad—Mutsuki got Cat'd!
Mutsumi was the first to notice Kamijou Mutsuki being sat on by Cat, and instinctively moved to pull the Persian cat away.
But this time Cat was unusually stubborn. Facing Mutsumi's attempt, she didn't budge at all.
That was the candy she had just bought!
Watching this scene, Taki looked somewhat gleeful. Serves you right for always stealing Raana's candy—now you've been Cat'd, haven't you?
"Cat, get up first. I'll treat you to snacks."
In the end, Kamijou Mutsuki bribed Cat with food.
However, having finally gained the upper hand, Cat didn't let him off so easily.
Holding the cucumber-flavored potato chips Kamijou Mutsuki had given her, she still treated him as her personal seat, sitting on his lap.
While eating chips, she would occasionally rub her head against him.
This was Cat's punishment!
Beside them, Mutsumi stared at Cat in Kamijou Mutsuki's arms.
She had never done such intimate actions with Kamijou Mutsuki before!
However, Mutsumi quickly came to terms with it and stopped dwelling on it.
After all, it was just a cat. What could a cat possibly do to Kamijou Mutsuki?
To think that demon king would actually do something like that in front of so many girls…
How shameless!
A certain donut lady watched this scene with flushed cheeks, covering her eyes—though the gaps between her fingers were wider than her eyes themselves.
No, Cat, what are you doing?
At this moment, Taki finally realized something was off.
Cat was, in the end, a cute girl—how could she sit on a boy's lap?
Weren't they afraid a soft seat would turn into a hard seat, and a hard seat into an outlet?
Wasn't this a bit too impure?
"Stray cat, what are you doing?"
In the band, Taki was probably the one closest to Cat—one could even say she was her band guardian in a certain sense.
Looking at the scene in front of her, she immediately tried to correct Cat's behavior.
"How can you just sit in a boy's arms like that? That's way too lacking in self-respect!"
"Cat, Taki's right!"
What Taki didn't expect, however, was that after hearing her words, Kamijou Mutsuki actually nodded solemnly.
"You mustn't casually get close to boys. Other than me, all men have ill intentions toward Cat."
"They don't mean well. They all just want to bully Cat. Stay far away from them!"
"Only I like Cat. Only I treat Cat well. Cat just needs to be close to me!"
"What kind of weird ideas are you instilling into the stray cat?!"
Taki had originally been curious about what Kamijou Mutsuki was going to say. By the end, her face had completely darkened.
Fortunately, Cat didn't seem to be bewitched by his nonsense.
"Mutsuki, bad!"
Cat tilted her head back and declared.
Kamijou Mutsuki didn't mind and instead turned his gaze toward Tomori.
"Tomori is the same, okay?"
"I—I'll remember it properly!"
Compared to free-spirited Cat, Tomori was much more cooperative.
"Tomori, he's talking nonsense! Don't actually believe him!"
Watching her beloved Tomori have strange knowledge forcefully injected into her right in front of her, Taki couldn't help but cry out in anguish.
Tomori, remembering everything will only harm you!
"Stray cat, come here!"
In the end, the only thing she could do was pull Cat into her own arms.
Cat didn't struggle against Taki's movement.
Changing seats to Taki wasn't unacceptable. After all, these thighs were indeed soft and bouncy—quite comfortable to sit on.
But very soon, Cat frowned.
What was poking her head?
"Stray cat!"
Taki's somewhat embarrassed and indignant voice seemed to provide the answer.
"Too big. Uncomfortable."
Apparently, Cat didn't like Taki's impressive physique.
The feeling of her head being completely wrapped up made her uncomfortable.
So she muttered that and got off Taki's lap.
Then she looked around, and finally went to sit in Mutsumi's arms.
Feeling a touch similar to Kamijou Mutsuki's, Cat showed a satisfied smile.
"Big, bad!"
"Small, good!"
And just like that, Cat happily swung her legs back and forth while eating her chips.
Mutsumi: ?
Mutsuki, I want to eat cat!
How about we have cat soup tonight?
Eh?
Shouldn't it be my turn?
Is my segment over that quickly?
Off to the side, a certain Anon who seemed to have been forgotten blinked in confusion.
But she didn't need to worry, because very soon it would be her turn again.
-----------------------------------
["But I'm already done…"
After recounting her dark history, the Anon in the animation clearly showed signs of completely shutting down.
"It's not over yet!"
Finally, it was Tomori's turn to speak. This girl who looked like a small animal finally revealed her determination.
"You were the one who told me that as long as we try again, it'll be okay."
"And yet, I…"
Tomori suddenly ran off, then ran back.
"What are you—"
Tomori handed a sheet of paper to Anon.
"This is…"
"Lost."
Anon read one of the words written on the paper.
"Anon has always been moving forward."
Tomori took a breath.
"Even when you hit a dead end, you try hard to find a way out and keep going."
"And you brought me along with you!"
"That's how we got the band."
"You made me realize that ahead of us, there isn't only an ending!"
"I also…"
"I'm the same."
"Even if I'm lost, I'll keep moving forward."]
Watching the progression of the animation, Taki finally realized that something was wrong.
....