Meng Xingyao: ﾍ(;´Д｀ﾍ)
"Nooo, I don't want to!!!"
With a sharp cry, Meng Xingyao snapped her eyes open, staring blankly ahead.
However, what met her eyes wasn't those slippery, slimy tentacles, but a beautiful Cat Girl focused on grilling fish.
The latter clearly noticed the movement behind her and turned her head to look back.
Meng Xingyao: (◐ o ◑ )?
Cipher: (=ↀ⩊ↀ=)
"Meow?"
Just as their eyes met and the atmosphere began to freeze into a thin layer of awkward ice...
the very "intelligent" Xue spoke up first, skillfully breaking the tension for her owner.
Cipher blinked, and as if a light breeze had passed, the awkwardness on her face vanished in an instant, replaced by her usual composed demeanor.
On the other hand, Meng Xingyao, who had just woken up, still had traces of lingering embarrassment in her eyes, clearly unable to shake off the awkwardness.
Seeing this, Cipher didn't bother with her and continued her great mission of grilling fish.
After the Magical Girl had been dazed for a while, her brain finally finished booting up completely.
Before she could even wonder about the Cat Girl, memories of what happened before she lost consciousness flooded into her mind.
Meng Xingyao: (;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
Memories rushed back like a tide.
Those face-reddening scenes made Meng Xingyao's pretty face heat up instantly. She subconsciously bit her lower lip, trying to suppress the panic in her heart.
Her eyes gradually reddened, and tears welled up. She wished she could disappear immediately.
But in a flash, she seemed to realize something was wrong.
She seemed to be alive, and...
Thinking of this, she tremblingly reached out and felt around her body, her movements slow and weak, as if confirming the reality of a nightmare.
Her originally gorgeous Magical Girl outfit was now covered in wrinkles, losing its former crispness.
Her fair thigh-high socks were now riddled with scars, with holes spreading like spiderwebs.
Her blue hair was a mess, strands tangled like a ball of hemp. Her whole body exuded a desolate sense of brokenness.
But none of that was the point.
Meng Xingyao (๑•. •๑)?: Don't they say a first time is painful?
How come, besides my wrists and ankles hurting a bit, I don't seem to feel anything else?
Cipher: (๑˙ー˙๑)
"Don't worry, little sister. Barring any accidents, you should be fine."
Although Cipher couldn't read minds, the girl's thoughts were practically written all over her face.
So, she kindly offered a reminder.
More importantly, it was to prevent the girl from overthinking, especially in case things were revealed in the future.
Meng Xingyao (ﾟρﾟ): "Abba abba..."
Cipher (•᷄ࡇ•᷅): Is this girl really broken?
Immediately after, the Magical Girl seemed to become even more depressed upon learning the truth.
At this moment, although her life was safe, the problem was that the other person seemed to know what happened just now...
Thinking of this, Meng Xingyao remained curled up, only showing a pair of watery big eyes.
She whispered softly, "This... beautiful sister... did you... did you see everything?"
Hearing this, Cipher nodded very sincerely, her jade-like finger lightly stroking her lower lip.
"Hmm... if you mean being locked in a dark room and then..."
She stopped there, leaving the rest to the other's imagination.
In a sense, she wasn't lying.
However, Meng Xingyao felt like she had been struck by lightning upon hearing this, and she immediately felt terrible.
She had been successfully saved, but at the thought of performing a "tentacle play" in front of someone else...
her cheeks instantly burned, and she wished she could find a block of concrete to bash her head against.
Why am I still here? Just to suffer...?
In that instant, it was as if Meng Xingyao's entire life flashed before her eyes.
Suddenly, she felt that this life wasn't worth it.
"Ahem, little sister, don't be so quick to feel dejected. Let's talk about something else first."
Cipher interrupted without skipping a beat.
Mainly because if she didn't speak up, she was afraid the girl would really do something drastic.
As she spoke, Cipher kicked away Xue, who was trying to steal food again.
She handed a skewer of grilled fish to the Magical Girl and squatted beside her, eating nonchalantly.
Cipher (=ↀ⩊ↀ=): "It smells so good!"
Meng Xingyao: (๑˙ー˙๑)
She looked at the steaming grilled fish in her hand and then glanced at the happy-looking Cat Girl beside her.
Suddenly, she felt that there was actually still some fun to be had in this life.
Not wanting to rebuff the other's kindness, Meng Xingyao began to taste it in small bites.
After a moment...
Meng Xingyao (✪ω✪): So delicious!
Having exhausted a lot of energy, Meng Xingyao couldn't help but eat another one.
Seeing that she was in a good mood, Cipher took out a pen and a piece of paper and handed them to her.
"Alright, please sign your name here."
"Oh."
Hearing this, Meng Xingyao obediently took the pen and signed her name.
After all, the beautiful sister in front of her felt very gentle and kind.
But she still asked out of curiosity.
"Sister, are you cosplaying a Cat Girl? And what's written on this paper?"
Meng Xingyao had clearly recalled the identity of the beauty before her; wasn't she the cosplayer she had been following earlier?
Except, unlike before, she now seemed to have a pair of ears and a tail.
Her whole vibe felt much more...mischievous.
Hearing this, Cipher tucked away the signature and didn't hide anything.
"Nope, I'm a real, genuine kitty. As for this, I don't know if you've read any novels or biographies, but this is a slave contract from my hometown. So from today on, I am your master. Got it?"
"Oh, so it's that kind of slave contract. That means from now on, I'm your..."
Mid-sentence, Meng Xingyao's mouth suddenly fell wide open, and the half-eaten grilled fish in her hand slipped with a "whoosh."
Just as it was about to hit the ground, Xue lunged like lightning and caught the grilled fish, her movements as neat as if she were highly trained.
But Meng Xingyao had no time to worry about the fish.
She stiffly turned her head, staring in shock at Cipher's half-smiling lips.
As if to confirm her words...
Meng Xingyao watched with her own eyes as the other's pair of furry cat ears twitched playfully.
Then, a fluffy tail lightly tapped her cheek, its movement as soft as a feather brushing past.