Chapter 20
Home. The key from the landlord. Up the stairs. To the front door.
Denji had originally planned to mooch a meal off Aki.
But seeing Power in her current state, that clearly wasn't happening anytime soon.
After saying goodbye to Aki, Denji brought Power home.
Door unlocked. Lights on.
A quick scan of the place—wow, not bad at all. Someone had already cleaned it top to bottom. Hell, even all the household essentials were stocked—and brand new!
Pretty decent. He carefully sensed the surroundings.
No issues inside the apartment. The external surveillance was gradually being pulled back too.
Heh Makima moves fast when she wants to
Shoes off.
He gave a light pat to Power's butt—she was still koala-clinging to him like a tree.
No reaction.
?
He adjusted his hold to peek at her face.
Oh. She'd fallen asleep.
Mouth downturned in a pout, brows slightly furrowed, tear tracks still glistening at the corners of her eyes. The whole expression screamed wronged, pitiful, and unbearably cute.
Seriously… this wasn't the Power he knew—the arrogant, silly one who spent every day cackling like an idiot~
Even so, he understood: this emotional mess was his doing.
He was already able to sway her heart and mood this strongly—way faster than last life.
He didn't feel proud about it.
Only a deep sense of responsibility.
"Jeez… treating me like your emotional anchor? Then you'd better be happy every single day from now on~"
Denji murmured softly into her ear, voice gentle.
As he spoke, he reached up—smoothed her furrowed brow, wiped the lingering tears from her eyes.
His index finger poked at the corner of her mouth, experimentally trying to lift it into a smile.
Up.
Down.
Up.
Down.
After a couple tries—not only did the smile refuse to stay, her brows and eyes started shifting into full cry-face mode…
Denji facepalmed in silence.
After a moment of quiet, a few better ideas surfaced in his mind.
First—he carefully extracted the little cat sandwiched between him and Power.
"Meow?" (So love really does disappear, huh?)
But Meowy was sensible. She knew Denji-sama needed to comfort Power-neesan first—so she didn't fuss, just padded off to the side to wait patiently until he had time for her.
With the barrier gone, Power instinctively pressed even closer.
Denji slid his hand down along her calf, gently removing the shoes still hooked around his waist.
Looking at her pitiful pout, he tentatively tickled the sole of her foot—hoping to force a laugh.
Aside from reflexive foot-curling and toe-wiggling, her expression stayed miserable—tears even threatening to well up again.
Okay. Tickling clearly wasn't working.
After stopping, his hand unconsciously drifted under his own nose.
Sniff…
?
The moment he realized what he was doing, Denji yanked his hand away!
Too late… he'd already smelled it… (tragic)
A "bitter" smile crossed his face—but after savoring that faint trace, he thought:
"Huh? Actually… no stink at all.
If anything…
Kinda nice? Sweet?"
Denji's brain felt fuzzy. (Forcibly fuzzy.)
What the hell kind of scent even is that?
Driven by pure curiosity for truth, Denji adopted the solemn expression of a martyr sacrificing himself for knowledge~
Cry about it!
He'd already brainwashed himself into feeling moved.
With a heroic, ready-to-die face, he lowered his head, raised his hand, and welcomed the scent once more.
Got it.
Deep inhale.
Denji's expression grew even more solemn.
"As expected…"
He paused, exhaling slowly.
"It's sweet.
A perfect fusion of hormone-compatible pheromones and Power's body-specific scent—something faintly like blood…
Splendid! (10/10!)"
All the theatrics aside—he'd actually been smelling it the whole way back.
Only earlier it had been diluted by distance. This time he was right at the source—stronger, more concentrated.
He leaned closer to Power's soft cheek, took another light sniff.
"Mmm~~ Now that's the real thing."
Alright—playtime over.
The foot-touched hand got two quick wipes on his own shirt. Then he swapped hands—new one supporting her butt while the other smoothed her brow again, wiped the fresh tears.
The koala-hug position was undeniably intimate—bodies pressed tight, stimulating in all the right (wrong?) ways—but right now Denji's mind held almost no dirty thoughts.
He just wanted to take care of Power first.
Like a kangaroo mom, he carried her to the fridge.
With a mix of anticipation and nerves, he opened Schrödinger's refrigerator.
Result:
"Yes! They actually stocked it full of ingredients!"
He hadn't decided on dinner yet, but first he pulled out eggs and a can of tuna (checked the ingredients)—this was for Meowy later.
As for Power…
Fine. Spoil her just this once.
Denji already knew what to feed her.
To the bathroom—he ran a shallow layer of cold water in the tub, then turned on the heater for hot.
Back to the kitchen—quickly boiled the eggs, ate the whites himself, left the yolks mixed with the tuna, and set the bowl in front of Meowy.
Seeing him approach, Meowy slowly blinked in that deliberate cat way.
Noticing the odd behavior, Denji thought for a second—some random knowledge popping up:
Cats slow-blink at you as their version of "I love you." If you slow-blink back, they often do it again. Conversation complete.
Not sure if he remembered right, but he tried anyway—one slow blink.
"Meow~ Aoo~"
A soft, slightly high-pitched chirp-scream. Then she arched her butt high, front half lowered, tail waving in big happy loops~
She was clearly delighted.
Head pats~
Meowy pressed her head tight against his palm, rubbing sideways with her whole body, purring a low, contented "mrrrr——"
The sound was like milk simmering on low heat—tiny bubbles popping at first, then merging into a steady, gentle gurgle. Each soft wave poured straight from ears to heart, melting everything inside~
While petting her, Denji thought with a quiet laugh:
"Heh~ Never thought my first confession and love declaration in this life would come from a cat…
Guess I really do have animal magnetism~"
He felt a little smug about it.
"Don't eat too much, okay? Not good for you. Water's ready over there. Finish up and rest early."
"Meow Meow"
Meowy responded obediently~
Okay—Meowy handled.
Now he could finally focus entirely on Power.
Back to the bathroom—timing perfect. Tub was filled just right.
Now—Denji looked at Power…
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