The cat had pure white fur, on par with the pegasi from earlier in radiance.
The pure white combined with her golden eyes gave her the appearance of an angel in feline form, but the mischievous gleam in her eyes and the noticeable sway of her hips made it clear that it was no angel.
The cat stopped a foot away from the wooden fencing that contained the special enchantments, plopping down on its rear as it drank in more of Cait's Mana. As she did so, the cat lit up like a beacon, licking her paw as the grass around her grew taller and taller.
When the grass was so tall that the cat couldn't even be seen, a yowl rang out. In moments, the grass withered and died, falling to the ground in piles of dried blades and revealing the Magical Beast once more.
The feline stopped licking her paw and nodded, not bothering to look at the kitsubus. The Mana from the tablet was sucked into the beast, forming an unbreakable bond between the Familiar and her master.
With a light hop, the beast jumped over the fence and followed Cait to the corner with the other students without a word.
'A Kaleido Cat, huh?' Kravoss said. 'Interesting for one of them to find so much in common with a human.'
'Why's that?' Fate asked his Familiar.
'They're assholes,' the Dracok replied plainly.
'Those two have more in common than you think, then.'
'I know your memories from earlier. Perhaps you should check mine once more. With how arrogant those cats are, you'd think they have dragon blood flowing through their veins.'
Fate knew the many memories Kravoss spoke of, but couldn't find the heart to break the news to the poor thing. The Dragon Chicken had been pestered and peppered by that specific Kaleido Cat in the past, but didn't have a clue about the many insults' hidden meanings.
When Kravoss caught Fate's train of thought, he narrowed his eyes at the oncoming cat. 'No, that couldn't be. I refuse to believe that. Why would one of their kind ever see fit to mate with those they see as beneath them?'
'Believe whatever you want,' Fate told the chicken. 'I'm just saying that the clues are pretty easy to spot.'
Unlike Tier 0 animals, Magical Beasts could mate with other species, provided they had the proper 'tools.' While it would be awkward for a cat and a chicken to have a child, they did have similar-enough equipment to try.
The problem with doing this was that the child would be a wildcard. It could have the strengths of one parent and the weakness of another, the weaknesses of both and the strengths of none, or all the strengths with no weaknesses.
And with parents like a dragon and a chicken, the new species born would be hard-pressed to get a mate from one of its parent species.
Unless it won the genetic lottery, it would be horrendously ugly to both cats and chickens, although perhaps not so to humans, who seemed to find cuteness in everything.
And as Fate lived through Kravoss' "grievances," he had no choice but to conclude that it was almost blatantly obvious that the cat, who Kravoss knew to be named Pospo, had taken a liking to the Dracok.
'No, no that's not possible,' Kravoss shook its feathery head in denial, eyes never leaving the approaching Kaleido Cat. 'She loves teasing me, taking my food, covering my nostrils while I sleep. How could she possibly like me?'
'At least I'm not the only one with girl trouble,' Fate smirked as his Familiar experienced an early mid-life crisis.
The Dracok pulled himself together as Cait and her Familiar joined the group of students. Cerec gave her an approving nod, but she didn't see it, too focused on giving Fate a harsh glare.
"Happy that your little plan worked?" she hissed upon noticing his smile.
That same smile turned to tired indifference when he registered what he said. "Do you really need to take everything out of context? Are people not allowed to smile anymore?"
"When the smile is as big and dumb as yours was, anyone is bound to be suspicious."
"If you must know, my Familiar had an epiphany a second ago that I found extremely hilarious. Not that it's any of your business."
"Whatever, just remember your promise." With that, she huffed and went to the edge of the group, arms crossed as she leaned against the wall.
'Is that another example of females hiding their affection behind scorn and ridicule?' Kravoss asked.
'No, she just hates me.'
'Hmph. This "love" thing is harder than I thought. Where I come from, when you wanted to mate, you just did it. No unnecessary courting rituals or roundabout phrases.'
'Kravoss. You're a rooster.'
'And?'
'I don't think roosters can experience love.'
'Nonsense. I love myself, I love my beautiful feathers, I love food.'
'Not the same thing. Maybe we'll buy you a book on the subject.'
'Right, because you don't know either.'
'I – ' Fate sighed in defeat, earning weird looks from the Febenochi triplets and their Familiars. 'No, I don't. But even I can tell that Cait just doesn't like me.'
'No, I think she likes you.'
'Please, your one example was from your own life, and you didn't even get it until just now. You've been in my mind for less than an hour and now you think you're an expert?'
'Love finds a way, Fate,' Kravoss said sagely, his attention stuck on the Kaleido Cat, Pospo.
The cat's big gold eyes flicked in his direction before she turned her nose up, licking her paw with a snide flick of her tail. Every now and then, her eye would peek open, just a sliver, to check and see if Kravoss was still watching her.
Kravoss continued to stare like he was a great philosopher moments away from a breakthrough, pondering the mysteries of the universe and his role in it.
'Love finds a way,' the Dracok repeated.