"I must have been possessed by a monster!"

  An hour ter, Shizuka, now curled up beside Ryuji, could barely move as she muttered this pint under her breath.

  Wasn't this exactly like being possessed by a monster?

  "What about yirlfriend?"

  Suddenly calming down, Shizuka's mind drifted back to reality. What was she now? Some kind of mistress?

  "Shizuka, you know I'm a sorcerer. You 't be that naive, right?"

  Ryuji's tone was light, almost pyful. He didn't seem to think much of it, and given that Shizuka didn't resist in the first pce, it had beey clear what she wanted.

  "Tsk!"

  Shizuka clicked her tongue, annoyed but not denying the truth. Sorcerers were different from ordinary people, and their lives often followed different rules. In the world of sorcery, things like bloodlines were essential just look at the famous families like the Gojo, Kamo, and Zenin s.

  Sorcerers would do anything to eheir bloodlines tinued, and some families would eveheir children inted marriages to ehe geion had sorcery talent.

  Given that, could she really be mad at Ryuji? Sorcerers teo have plicated personal lives, and Ryuji wasly breaking any unwritten rules.

  "Well, I'm the st one in my family, so I do o expand it," Ryuji said casually, as if expanding his lineage erfectly normal versation topic.

  "..."

  Shizuka didn't reply for a while. After a moment of silence, she raised her hand and lightly swatted him.

  "The nerve!."

  "Haha," Ryuji ughed, clearly pleased with himself."

  "Oh, and you still haven't fixed my problem!" Shizuka suddenly remembered the main reason Ryuji had e to her house to deal with the barrier cat that had possessed her.

  "Don't worry, I've got this."

  Now that she was his, Ryuji had no iion of letting any harm e to Shizuka.

  With a wave of his hand, Ryuji activated Soul Dev, and a of spiritual energy shot from his palm, ing around the spirit of the barrier cat hiding inside Shizuka. The spirit ulled out effortlessly, still looking fused as it hadn't realized it had been exposed.

  Shizuka, not having the Yin-Yang Eyes, couldn't see the spirit, but she immediately felt lighter, as though a weight had been lifted off her body.

  "Ah, much better!" she excimed, feeling the tension in her body disappear.

  "Wait a sed!"

  Suddenly, Shizuka's expression ged, and she gred at Ryuji with suspi.

  "What's wrong?" Ryuji asked, still a bit fused.

  "If it was that easy to solve, why did you e to my house?" Shizuka demanded. She had just seen Ryuji wave his hand and resolve the problem with ease so much for the "troublesome process" he had mentioned earlier.

  Had she been tricked?

  Seeing the realization dawn on her, Ryuji didn't bother trying to e up with an excuse. Instead, he ughed and leaned back. "If I hadn't e to your house, how else would I have had the ce to get close to you?"

  At this point, there was no use iending. He didn't o lie about his iions.

  "Hmph!"

  Despite her annoya being tricked, Shizuka couldn't help but feel a little proud. He had wanted her all this time? She must still be quite attractive, then. The thought brought a small smile to her lips, and her mood lifted.

  She shifted slightly in bed, her newly grown cat tail swishing pyfully behind her.

  "Wait... my tail?"

  Shizuka suddenly realized that despite Ryuji exorg the barrier cat's spirit, her cat ears and tail were still present.

  "What's going on?!" she demanded, armed. "Why am I still like this?"

  "Rex," Ryuji said calmly, as if he had expected her rea. "I only removed the spirit of the barrier cat. I left part of its spiritual power inside you. Now, you trol the appearance of the cat ears and tail at will."

  "trol it at will?"

  Shizuka took a deep breath and trated. Sure enough, after a moment, she was able to make her cat ears and tail disappear, and then bring them back again with just a thought.

  "...But why leave its power inside me?" she asked, still feeling a bit fused. "What's the point of keeping it?"

  Ryuji sat up slightly, looking at her seriously.

  "The world isn't as safe as it seems, and I o make sure you're protected, even if I'm not around. The power of the barrier cat left inside you should give you enharength and reflexes. It's harmless to you but will help you defend yourself if anything happens."

  For a moment, Shizuka was silent as she absorbed his words. She tested her rength, feeling the lightness in her body, the agility in her movements. She had bee something more than an ordinary human. She was now... different.

  A rare look of tenderness crossed her face as she g Ryuji.

  "What? Are you touched?" Ryuji teased with a grin.

  Shizuka didn't deny it. She was iouched by his thoughtfulness.

  Without waiting for him to say anything else, she suddenly rolled over and pinned him down.

  "Let's start round two!" she decred boldly.

  And so, they began again. This time, Shizuka's new physical capabilities gave her the stamina to keep up, though even she was eventually worn out.

  ---

  The m, Ryuji g Shizuka, who now y pletely exhausted beside him, uo even turn over.

  "Good thing I've got some tricks up my sleeve," Ryuji muttered to himself, feeling grateful for the enhas to his own stamina.

  After a quick wash, he returo the bedroom to find Shizuka still sprawled out in bed, looking like she couldn't move a muscle.

  "I'm heading to school. Take the day off a, okay?" Ryuji said, slipping on his shoes. With her current abilities, he was fident she'd recover after a full day of rest.

  "Mmm..." Shizuka could only give a weak response before slipping into a deep sleep, pletely exhausted from the night before.

  Ryuji smiled and shook his head before heading out the door.

  ---

  Stretg zily as he stepped outside, Ryuji walked toward the school, cheg in with his system along the way.

  He hadn't had a ce to look at the ehat were triggered the night before. Two golderies had appeared in total.

  "Hmm, let's see what we've got here," Ryuji said to himself, pulling up the system interface.

  Goldery: Reactive Nerves!

  Goldery: Fearless!

  Ryuji chuckled. The "Reactive Nerves" must have been triggered by Shizuka's cat-like reflexes during their time together. Cats were known for their incredible speed and agility, after all.

  As for "Fearless," that robably an attribute of Shizuka herself. Her boldness arong nature made her pretty mushakable.

  "Fits her perfectly," Ryuji thought with a smirk.

  Still, while these entries were iing, they weren't particurly useful to him. His owion speed had already been enhanced by his soul dev abilities, and fearlessness was only helpful if backed by real power.

  "Let's just depose them," Ryuji decided with a wave of his hand, verting the two golderies into points.