Little Cat - Chapter 1

I hadn’t expected Lu Peiran to refuse me psychic guidance during the competition.

My psychic power had gone completely berserk. It churned through my brain like a blade with a rolled edge, sending sharp pain through my skull.

My face was deathly pale, but I still tried to smile at him and reassure him.

“Look, A-Ran. I can control them now.”

Lu Peiran didn’t like my tentacles.

A while ago, I’d been careless and let the playful things wrap around him.

He’d been furious.

It had taken me a long time to coax him out of his temper.

Now the tentacles around me were materializing again, beyond my control.

They wanted to destroy everything in a near frenzy.

But just before they touched Lu Peiran, they forced themselves to stop.

*Mustn’t hurt him.*

*Be careful when you touch him. More careful still.*

*Don’t make him hate you.*

Those rules had been carved into my bones.

Even so, Lu Peiran stepped back in undisguised disgust.

His voice went cold.

“Are you going to force yourself on me again?”

I froze and instinctively tried to explain. “I’m not—”

Before I could finish, the smallest tentacle gave in to temptation and brushed lightly against him.

It withdrew at once.

That faint ripple of psychic power from its tip was enough to ease a little of the pain caused by the frenzy.

But it was nowhere near enough.

I panted, struggling desperately to stay lucid.

When I raised my eyes, I met Lu Peiran’s impatient gaze.

His lip curled in a sneer.

“Shen Bei, this is what you call having them under control?”

“I’m sorry.”

I apologized out of habit.

But I really didn’t want to lose myself to the chaos again.

So I asked in a small voice, “Then, A-Ran… could you spare me a little psychic power? Just a tiny bit.”

Our psychic compatibility rate was ninety percent.

I thought even the slightest soothing would be enough to help me hold on until the end of the competition.

But he still refused.

“I know you’re doing this for the prize money.”

He sounded increasingly irritated.

Then something seemed to occur to him.

He paused, and his manner abruptly softened. “Actually, you’d still come second if you withdrew now. If the prize money isn’t enough, I’ll compensate you after the competition. But Xiaxia isn’t like you. She needs first place to prove herself to her family.”

Xiaxia?

The name brought a little clarity to my muddled brain.

I suddenly remembered the beautiful girl who’d come to see me before the competition.

She’d said her name was Ming Xia.

She’d also said a whole lot of strange things.

I wasn’t very bright and hadn’t remembered much of it.

Only when she mentioned Lu Peiran had I looked up at her warily.

“You really do like A-Ran, don’t you?”

The girl had suddenly laughed.

Her sweet, puzzled voice concealed a deep malice.

“But can a synthetic even understand what it means to like someone?”

I’d stopped in my tracks as I was about to leave.

Frowning, I’d turned back to her.

Only Lu Peiran was supposed to know that secret.

How could she—

“Oh, well. It doesn’t really matter.”

Before I could speak, Ming Xia had waved a hand, her smile bright and lovely.

“I just wanted to see what the person I was going to beat looked like.”

She’d looked utterly certain of victory.

Her words had made no sense, so I hadn’t taken them to heart.

Now, though, I remembered every single one.

I looked up at him blankly as an unbelievable suspicion took shape.

“So you’re refusing to help me because you want her to come first?”

Then had he also been the one to tell Ming Xia I was a synthetic?

As though his last shred of cover had been torn away, Lu Peiran’s fair face flushed scarlet.

Embarrassment turned to anger. “Anyway—anyway, missing one guidance session won’t kill you! You just won’t be able to finish the competition. What’s wrong with taking second place? You’re only doing it for money. I’ll give it to you!”

The longer he spoke, the more justified he sounded.

So it really was because of Ming Xia.

My tentacles slapped loudly against the ground.

Still, not one of them went anywhere near Lu Peiran.

I lowered my head. After a long while, I said, a little sadly, “It will kill me.”

“What?”

He hadn’t heard.

“My core crystal is badly damaged. I really need first prize—”

“Ah!”

A short scream nearby cut me off.

Lu Peiran’s expression changed instantly.

“I’ll transfer the money to your account.”

He had no patience to hear me out. Without hesitation, he turned and ran toward the sound, leaving one hurried sentence behind.

“You’re almost at your limit anyway. You might as well withdraw now.”

So he knew I couldn’t hold on much longer.

Out of habit, I tried to lift the corners of my mouth, but I couldn’t manage a smile.

The smallest tentacle was already showing faint signs of disintegration.

Pain had numbed my whole body.

There was a suffocating tightness in my chest, too.

“Just a little longer, all right?” I soothed it quietly.

Then, expressionless, I injected myself with a large dose of calming serum.