“Tonight,” Rias began, her voice commanding, smooth, “we work as Devils. Every single one of us.”

  I couldn’t help but feel like I’d just walked into an exam without having studied. Everyone else was already looking sharp and ready to go, as if they’d been waiting for this day for a while now.

  “So… am I picking partners again?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “If you keep giving me this kind of special treatment just because I’m pretty, Kiba might start getting a little jealous.”

  Of course, nobody took my words too seriously. Akeno chuckled, Koneko pretended not to hear me, and Kiba just flashed his usual cool smile, but Rias—well, she wasn’t one to go through life with a cool head, and instead jumped to defend herself.

  “I-I had everyone hold off on their requests all week so we could do this together, okay?” she huffed, clearly a little annoyed as she tugged at the collar of her shirt. “That way, we’ll all be out all night, and you’ll get a chance to experience what different kinds of clients can be like before having to work on your own.”

  I held up my hands, palms forward. “Alright, alright, I get it. No need to be so defensive. I’m not complaining.” I glanced around at the rest of the group. “So, who’s up first on the schedule? I’m not picky.”

  Eyes darted around the room as everyone exchanged glances before Akeno took a small step forward. There was a flicker of excitement in her eyes, a slight glint that made her seem even more mysterious than usual.

  “President, if it’s alright,” Akeno began, her voice a purr, “before we commence, I’d like to take care of an important client on my own tonight. After that, I should be free to provide some… private lessons.”

  The way she lingered on the words, slowly licking her lips, made it feel like she was offering something sweet and worth the wait. Although it wasn’t hard to read the barely hidden message—she didn’t entirely trust me with her high-profile clients, which was still pretty fair. I’d been with them for a few days now, but my position as an outsides was still new and somewhat distant.

  What caught me off guard was how quickly Kiba joined her. “If that’s the case, President, I’d like to do the same.” He stepped forward, respectful. “I’ve been working with some of my clients for months now, and while some wouldn’t mind me bringing along a partner, I’d prefer to handle some of them alone for now.” Surprisingly, he looked a little flustered. “Some of them prefer a more… personal relationship.”

  Rias gave a nod, thoughtful. “I understand. That’s an important factor to consider. While we cover for each other as much as possible, there’s a reason certain requests are made specifically to individual Devils, and we should try not to disappoint our clients.”

  With that settled, Akeno stepped into the Magical Circle, casting a flirtatious glance my way before blowing a kiss, leaning forward low enough for her full cleavage to come into view. A second later, her figure shimmered briefly, then vanished in a flash of light. Kiba followed closely behind, leaving me with just two remaining options—or maybe even less than that.

  “So…” I began, letting my words hang in the air as I glanced at the two last girls.

  Koneko met my gaze with the flattest, most deadpan expression I’d ever seen. She shrugged casually, her voice monotone. “I can’t promise coming with me will be fun.”

  Before I could respond, Rias intervened firmly. “No, I agree with Nyx. It wouldn’t be wise to pair him with me on his first mission—after all, I won’t be there to hold his hand forever. Koneko, I’d like you two to work together for this one.”

  Koneko offered no protest, merely stepping forward and grasping my index finger with her small hand in an oddly childlike gesture, pulling me along. “Hold tight.”

  Her touch was delicate but firm, and I followed her lead as we stepped into the circle. Rias gave us a final nod of farewell as the light enveloped us. A moment later, the world shifted, and when the glow faded we stood in a different place entirely—a particularly well kept and decorated Japanese apartment. It was a bit small—probably not fit for more than a single person—but it still managed to look like a very comfortable place.

  The petite catgirl moved with familiarity and confidence, casually approaching the man who had summoned us. It clearly wasn’t her first time here.

  The summoner was kneeling on the ground, holding the summoning key in the form of a paper pamphlet, his thin frame tense with anticipation. He looked up, his face lighting up with recognition as he gave her a wide smile.

  “Koneko-chan!” His voice was filled with excitement, but the smile vanished as soon as he saw me. His hands adjusted his glasses nervously. “K-Koneko-chan? It appears that some weird Devil has followed you here… Quick, get behind me! I will protect you from the touch of this pervert, my Moon Prism Goddess!”

  Strangely, this near-anorexic scarecrow of a man did seem more than ready to fight me, immediately taking on a… stance. Not a defensive stance, not an offensive stance either… He raised both arms into the air, as if asking me what I wanted to punch first—it was pretty funny.

  Koneko only reacted with a tired sigh. “It’s okay, nyan. This is my Senpai, pion. I’ll be teaching him the business today, desu.”

  She tried to inject some enthusiasm into her explanation, even going so far as to mimic cat ears with her hands, flicking them up and down in an attempt to appear animated and excited. But, honestly? The not even half-hearted effort only made it more obvious how little she cared about the entire situation. The energy she gave off was pure underpaid night-shift worker on a rough Friday—a level of no fucks given I could almost admire.

  "I see, I see..." The man stepped back, hand on his chin as if deep in thought. His frown quickly returned, though. "But how am I supposed to enjoy my weekly night with Koneko-chan if some guy is watching us?! Ah, I never thought Devils would be into this sort of thing… No, I suppose I should have expected it. Hell has finally sent an agent to investigate the power of our bond!"

  Yep. There was no way she was getting paid enough for this, and frankly, neither was I. Rias would have to do a lot more if she wanted me to sit on the invisible cuck chair and watch some weaboo roleplay his love story. So, while he was busy working himself into a delirious tantrum, I silently ruptured a few blood vessels in my throat, forcing a change.

  “Who are you calling a guy?” The voice that emerged was unmistakably feminine, though deliberately rough and raspy, the kind of tone that would make anyone second-guess themselves.

  In the brief moments it took to speak, I also adjusted my face. I didn’t need much—just a mental blueprint of my own features and a little manipulation to thin and stretch them into something softer, more feminine. A proper shapeshift or stealing someone’s identity would have required fresh blood, but for this? A subtle change was enough to throw off someone who hadn’t seen me before.

  It wasn’t that hard to pass myself as a tomboy—I was already pretty androgenous to begin with, not being able to grow a beard to save my fucking life—and most people’s brain would rather go into a full blown panic and apologize than assume you’re lying to them.

  Now, why did I have this level of expertise reshaping myself? Well, that comes with the job when you’re a shape-shifting, blood-sucking skinwalker. And every man has, at some point, wondered what he’d do in his room if he could be a girl for a few hours, so…

  Our client, meanwhile, had gone ghostly pale, blinking rapidly as if trying to process what just happened—a pretty normal reaction. He cleaned his glasses and took a second, third, and fourth look at me before mumbling, “I-I’m so sorry! Eh…”

  “Nyx.”

  “Nyx-chan!”

  At that moment, I wanted to make a contract for a shotgun so I could blow my own brains out. If you’ve ever felt second-hand embarrassment while living as a man, believe me, it can get a lot worse on the other side.

  Thankfully, Koneko stepped in, expertly redirecting the attention away from me. The man—Morisawa— apparently summoned her every now and then to indulge in his bizarre but ultimately harmless requests, dressing her up in cosplay, taking photos for his album, having her carry him around, and then playing cards or watching anime until he inevitably passed out from exhaustion.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  At first, I assumed he was just another fucking weirdo—one of those types who would end up on a long watchlist I’d rather never read unless it’s in an obituary. My idea to shift into a woman was purely to mess with him, to see if I could bait him into signing a contract that would conveniently shorten his lifespan by a good chunk. Fewer visits, fewer headaches. A win-win for everyone involved.

  But as the minutes passed, something strange caught my attention. There was an undeniable sincerity in the way he treated Koneko. He wasn’t trying to push any boundaries. In fact, it became clear that Koneko was the one setting the pace, dictating the rules of this odd arrangement as she pleased. Her blank expressions didn’t betray much, but the fact that she willingly came back time after time told me all I needed to know—it looked to me like she was having fun with all the dress up and dancing like an anime character.

  It was kind of… sad, really. The man wasn’t just paying for cosplay or a few hours of company; it felt like he was clinging to the last threads of social interaction he could afford. The photo sessions? Sure, still weird. But sitting on the sidelines and watching them have their little playdate, I just started to think about how bad life has to be for you to actively pay for company every week. In my experience, even the worst of weirdos ended up finding kindred spirits eventually, but I could see that this one was clearly the exception.

  I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity. I hated it.

  “Hey, Morisawa,” I called out.

  He turned to face me, his eyes showing genuine surprise that I’d addressed him directly after making it very clear that talking to me was outside his price range. “Y-Yes, Nyx-chan?”

  Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes—or give him a lobotomy—I forced a smile. “You know… we offer other services, right? I’m sure we could help you find a few more friends. For a price, of course.”

  A shadow of sadness crossed his face. “Oh… yeah. We talked about that before, didn’t we? But it turns out my life isn’t worth much in terms of… you know, contracts. The exchange wasn’t very reasonable.” He let out a small, resigned laugh. “That’s why I stick to the things I can afford with cash these days.”

  It hit me harder than it should’ve. It was one thing to know some lives were worth less than others, but hearing it said aloud—especially by someone who fully accepted it—was a bit rough.

  He wasn’t wrong. People like Morisawa—the lonely, the disconnected, the ones whose life essence barely registered on our scales—didn’t have much bargaining power. They’d likely end up in a Devil’s debt sooner or later, so their souls were essentially discounted. We treated them as fruit waiting to be harvested, there was no point in offering much for them, eventually they would become desperate enough to die for some breadcrumbs.

  “Koneko, did you bring the commission device?” I asked, turning to her.

  Without a word, she nodded and crawled over, placing the small, phone-like device on my lap. Her eyes showed curiosity, but she stayed silent as I started scrolling through the options.

  I thumbed through the device, mentally running through dozens of possibilities. You could ask for nearly anything on this thing, and it would calculate the exact amount of life energy needed to make the wish come true. Then, with the right application of Magical Power, a strong enough Devil could manifest it into reality. It was a simple enough process, but Morisawa’s life—his essence—barely moved the needle.

  He wasn’t lying. In terms of pure value, it was hard to even categorize him as human. The soul of an animal was worth almost as much as his.

  But still, we weren’t entirely out of options.

  “There,” I said, holding the phone out for him to see. “I managed to squeeze you a deal that’s not too bad.”

  Morisawa’s hands shook as he took the device from me, his eyes darting over the terms on the screen. His expression shifted from disbelief to wide-eyed shock. “I-Is this even possible?!”

  Koneko, meanwhile, tilted her head at me in confusion. “What did you…?”

  I shrugged, trying to play it cool. “Well, it’s not much. We can’t just give you friends or make people love you, but we can give you a shot at earning it. As long as you shower, dress well, show up to work on time, and make an effort to actually talk to people, they’ll be more receptive to you. It’s nothing too crazy, but it should be enough to make you likeable, maybe even get you a few promotions over the years. You can think of it as a plus one to charisma.”

  Morisawa blinked rapidly, his mouth hanging open as he processed what I’d said. “I… I don’t know what to say…”

  “There’s a cost, though. It’ll still take about five years off your life. That’s the best I could do, and that’s only because talking to people is clearly not something you do—so the device just assumes you’ll fail and won’t get any value out of this.”

  His hands gripped the machine tighter as he nodded. “Thank you, Nyx-chan,” he said softly. “Really, thank you!”

  I didn’t say much after that—I just… didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like I wasn’t disgusted anymore, and him bawling his eyes out didn’t make it any more comfortable to be there, so… After a while, as the time of the contract came to an end, we made our way back to the Occult Research Club the same way we had come.

  Once we were safely out of Morisawa’s view, I took a deep breath and stretched the lingering tension from my shoulders. That form was familiar enough, but still a little uncomfortable if I kept it going on for hours.

  “I guess you were right. That guy was pretty lame, huh—”

  I didn’t get to finish. Koneko suddenly wrapped her arms around me, squeezing with unexpected force. It felt like my ribs were being crushed under the embrace of a silverback gorilla. I thought, for a split second, that maybe she was trying to kill me for ruining her masterful plan to slowly drain the guy out of every penny he had in life, but then I felt her face press against my side, her soft cheeks dampening with tears.

  “Thank you,” she whispered

  I stood there for a moment, frozen, not sure of how to respond. To me, it hadn’t been a big deal—just a contract. He was so pathetic I just felt the need to try and to something, like when you fix a crooked painting just so it will stop bothering you with its presence. But Koneko, clearly, saw it differently. I hesitated for a beat before awkwardly patting her head, hoping to calm her down. My hand brushed through her soft, white hair, and her body relaxed, though her arms remained tight around me.

  “Hey, hey… it’s alright. It’s okay,” I said, trying to soothe her. “Let’s sit down, alright?”

  With a gentle pull, I managed to guide her to the couch. She settled into my lap, curling up like a cat seeking warmth, still clinging to me as I continued to run my fingers through her hair. “I… I didn’t know he was so important for you.”

  Koneko shook her head in denial, a little shy now. “Every time I leave, he tries so hard not to look sad. But today… he smiled. It made me happy.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “You’re a good girl, Koneko.”

  She puffed her cheeks in protest at the remark, her pout deepening. Still, she didn’t move from my lap, a silent invitation for me to continue playing with her. My hands roamed carefully, feeling out the softer side of this kitty. It was easy to find a few particularly sensitive spots beneath the short hair. When my fingers brushed just above her forehead, her large cat ears twitched, springing to life and begging for some attention.

  She didn’t say anything, didn’t give me any verbal cue, as if waiting for my next move. It was the first time I’d seen her like this, but I already knew what I was getting into, so there wasn’t much surprise. With deliberate slowness, I pressed the pad of my thumb against the base of one of her ears, tracing the delicate inner curve. Her skin was warm beneath the fine layer of fur, and I made sure to cover every inch, filling it with gentle friction.

  At first, it was hard to tell if Koneko was enjoying it or simply tolerating it. She kept her head down, hiding her expression entirely from my view, leaving me to guess. But then, her body began to hum, a low vibration of purring that resonated through her chest. The sound grew louder, and I took it as a sign that I was doing something a bit more than right.

  This was new territory for me—handling non-human body parts—but I was going to make the most of it. Deep down, I always wanted to pet a nekomata, but looking for a girl of a specific race to pet was a little weird.

  “Kitty, kitty, kitty…” I whispered, just for her. “Do those ears come with a tail? Or is it too shy to come out for me? I promise I don’t bite… hard.”

  Koneko didn’t respond immediately. She took her time, as if weighing whether or not to indulge me—maybe even trust me. But after a moment, her hands slipped behind her, adjusting her shorts and releasing her curled tail from where it had been trapped under her clothes. The fluffy appendage flicked out and twitched as if testing the air, and at that point I just couldn’t resist.

  I started by placing my hand at the base of her tail, my fingers hovering just above the curve of her lower back, applying the slightest pressure as I circled around it. The softness of her skin beneath my touch was incredible, and I could feel her body stiffen in response. It was clear that I had her full attention now—her every thought hanged on the tickling pace of my fingers.

  So I teased her and tortured her, going in circles, scratching all around the base of her tail until she was wiggling her hips back into my hand, annoyed at my feather-light touches constantly pulling back.

  But just as I was about to give her what she wanted and close my hand around her beatiful tail, the room lit up with the familiar glow of the Magical Circle.

  Rias stepped through, her expression one of concern, but her eyes widened when she saw the scene unfolding in front of her. Koneko, in a flash of agility, snapped herself upright, pulling her clothes back into place with lightning speed. She quickly positioned herself between my legs and sat straight, which only made the situation look even more… questionable.

  “P-President…” she huffed, looking for words. “We were just… kitty biscuits.”

  Rias looked completely thrown off, and honestly? I couldn’t blame her. If someone had told me earlier in the day that I’d be sitting there with Koneko purring in my lap, I would’ve thought they were crazy. Koneko was always so distant, so reserved—I honestly would have assumed I had better odds with Kiba. But now, here she was, practically burrowing herself back into my lap, her petite body falling into my chest.

  For a moment, all I could think was how wrong—or right—this must have looked. As a Devil, I couldn’t even pray to keep my body in check, and if Koneko kept shaking on top of me I was going to need to control my blood.

  “S-Sure… I received the logs. Good job,” Rias managed to say, though her voice sounded as if she was an NPC stuck in a glitch while just walking forward.

  I opened my mouth to offer some kind of explanation, but before I could come up with anything remotely helpful, the others returned.

  Koneko, however, stayed perfectly still, her entire body tense as she remained perched on my lap. I could feel her freezing up even more, the heat from her embarrassment practically radiating off her. It wasn’t like her to show this much vulnerability, and for a moment, I wondered just how deep this side of her went—how much she normally kept buried beneath that tough exterior.

  Instinctively, I shifted my arms around her. It wasn’t much, but I hoped it would at least make her feel a little safer—if she wanted to act like this was just normal, I could play along with that. I tried to shield her from the curious gazes that were sure to follow, but there wasn’t a lot I could do.

  Akeno was the first to step in, and for the first time, I saw her usually flawless fa?ade crumble to dust. Her jaw fell to the floor, her shock clear for a split second before she composed herself, wiping away the look of confusion and replacing it with a knowing smirk that screamed satisfaction. Kiba, on the other hand, looked like he’d just walked in on something he couldn’t process. He actually paused, taking a half step back before awkwardly regaining his footing, as if he didn’t know whether to sit down or leave the room altogether.

  "Nyx..." Kiba's voice carried a tone of genuine concern as he took a seat across from us, his brow furrowed. "Did something happen? You look a little..."

  "Pretty," Akeno interjected with a teasing lilt, her smirk growing as she inspected me from afar.

  My hands went to my face, and that’s when it hit me. I’d forgotten to change back. I was still wearing the mask I’d taken on during the mission. So, to everyone who had just walked in, it looked like some blonde tomboy was sitting on the couch, petting Koneko like a cat, right in the middle of the Occult Research Club’s room.

  Yeah… no. I have no idea how no one burst out laughing.

  "Let's just say our client wasn't too keen on having men over at his place, and leave it at that," I muttered, knowing it wouldn’t be enough.

  Akeno’s eyes were fully closed now, but I could feel her gaze piercing straight through me, like she was staring right into the depths of my soul. Her calculating mind was probably running a thousand scenarios, all sorted by their erotic potential and whether she wanted me for herself or if Koneko had just become part of the del. Right then, her processing of imaginary what if’s far exceeded any theoretical engine ever designed, to the point where I could swear to hear her heavy breathing.

  I took a deep breath, about to undo the transformation and get back to my usual self. But before I could shift back, Rias spoke up from behind her desk.

  "Wait, Nyx." There was something almost hesitant in her voice. "Would you mind keeping that form for a bit longer? I just received a request from a big client, and I was trying to think of a way to include you in the deal."

  I stopped, caught off guard by the request. “And you think this is going to make the difference?”

  “Well…”

  I should have never asked.