Chapter 24: A Morning Melee and a Tail’s Trouble
Jiang household, 5 a.m.
Knock knock knock!
Dawn barely breaking.
Jiang Ning pounded on her sister’s door, knuckles red. “Ugh… who’s there?” Jiang Cha’s sleepy grumble came through. “It’s the weekend, have some humanity…”
“…”
Jiang Ning’s teeth ground audibly. That lying sister! They’d agreed to team up, but she went off gallivanting with the little succubus, forgetting their pact!
She shoved the door open,
Pouncing like an angry kitten, pinning the groggy Jiang Cha for a tickle assault.
“W-wah!”
“What’s your deal this early—hahaha, stop!” Jiang Cha twisted in the blankets, nightgown bunched at her waist. “I’m gonna die… haha, I’m sorry!”
“Hmph!”
After a while, Jiang Ning stopped, plopping on the bed’s edge like a wife catching a cheating husband. She hugged a pillow tightly. “Spill it!”
“What did you two… do last night?”
“???”
Jiang Cha rubbed her red eyes, mumbling, “What do you mean…” Facing Jiang Ning’s resentful stare, she jolted awake. “Wait! She didn’t come to me last night!”
“…?”
Jiang Ning paused, seeing no lie in her sister’s eyes. Thinking back to being drained two nights ago… “No way, did that little trickster find a new target?!”
“Hold on!”
Jiang Cha’s face darkened, scrambling for her phone in the blankets. “I’m calling her!”
Beep beep beep…
The ringtone echoed in the dark.
In a messy cat nest, a round orange cat sprawled hopelessly, belly up, with a tiny loli sprawled across it, sleeping crookedly. Her cute face pressed into the cat’s belly, a suspicious glint at her lips.
“Umm…”
Stirred by the ringtone, Luo Su groggily opened her eyes, realizing she’d rolled under the bed. Her oversized clothes bunched above her belly, exposing a sliver of pale waist.
“Meow~!”
Hulu mewed in relief, shaking its flattened fur. Heaven knows how this heavy little gremlin used it as a cat-shaped pillow all night!
“Who’s that…”
Luo Su’s head spun, feeling like she was floating on cotton. Propping herself with her tail, she crawled back to bed, fumbling under the blankets for her phone.
“Where are you!”
The sudden voice from the phone
Startled Luo Su, nearly sending her tumbling again.
She raised her head, scanning her room, then yawned softly. “Mmm… sleeping at home…”
“…”
The sleepy, cotton-candy voice drifted into Jiang Cha’s ears, melting her anger. Her tone softened. “So… did you do anything naughty last night?”
“Last night?”
Luo Su burrowed deeper into her blankets, yawning like a sleepy kitten. “Nope… just… sleeping at home…”
“Eh?”
Jiang Cha blinked innocently at Jiang Ning, then asked curiously, “I mean… in dreams. Didn’t sneak into anyone’s dreams to ‘cause trouble’?”
“Nuh… it’s the weekend~”
Luo Su’s righteous muttering came through, mixed with rustling blankets. No breakfast to chase, so she’d sleep in—who’d bother with dreams!
“You’ve got that weekend job, right?” Jiang Ning cut in.
“!!!”
A earth-shaking crash came through, like the whole bed flipped.
“W-wah!!”
Luo Su sprang up like a spooked kitten. “I’m doomed, forgot the job!”
A flurry of clattering followed,
Mixed with Hulu’s “meow” protests—clearly, the little slacker was scrambling for clothes.
“…”
Jiang Cha shot her sister a guilty glance, whispering, “It’s… a bit early, no?”
“Eh?”
Luo Su stared at the pitch-black sky, her face puffing like a bun—these bad women! Couldn’t sleep, so they pranked her!
“I’m going back to sleep!”
Luo Su huffed, hanging up and clicking off the lamp. In the dark, she noticed her tail’s glow dimmer, blinking in confusion.
“Could it be…”
“No ‘dream work’ means… less energy?”
Her tail flicked anxiously, tracing faint light in the dark. Ugh… no way, how could she keep up full attendance!
Phew… life’s tough, a succubus selling her charms…
Luo Su drooped her tail, glancing at the pillow she’d reclaimed from Hulu, yawning again.
She shuffled to the bathroom.
Catching her loli self in the mirror, she puffed her chest proudly. “Hmph, as expected, super cute!”
But… oddly frail.
She raised her tail overhead; the pink glow was dim. “What’s the deal with this…”
Luo Su held her breath hard.
Her face reddened, but the “nightlight” didn’t turn off. “Phew…” she sighed. “Is this passive?”
So weird…
But there had to be a way to shut it off, like that random sweet scent… which hadn’t shown up lately.
“…”
“Wait!”
Her face flushed. Maybe she knew how to trigger that scent.
“Gulp…”
“Just… an experiment. A pure kid like me doesn’t get these adult things!”
“Ugh…”
After a while, Luo Su, red-faced and dizzy, sat on the floor, her tail wagging happily.
“It… really works like that!”
She rubbed her burning cheeks, teary, then her eyes lit up. “But… maybe not bad?” No more surprise scents!
Just hide the tail~ Giggling, she hugged it and hopped back to bed.
“It’s only…”
She glanced at the clock, eyes sparkling. “Not even six! One more hour~”
She hugged her soft pillow, feeling like she’d stolen extra time, bubbling with happiness.
“Night… good morning, Hulu~”
The little loli’s tail swayed softly in her sleep.