Story:

“Second round,” Shiki announced, reaching for the cards.

Reika gathered the discarded slips before somebody could spill juice on them. “Yes, let’s keep going.”

Peach looked between them in disbelief. “You’re both enjoying this far too much.”

“You helped establish the rules,” Reika reminded her.

“Apparently not enough of them.”

Ai selected a folded paper from the bowl. Still a little flustered from the previous round, she smoothed it carefully against her knee before reading.

“The loser must be hugged and pretend to be a kitten for two minutes.”

A moment of silence. Then Butterfly laughed.

Irina leaned back against the sofa. “Oh, that’s a good one.”

Peach slowly turned toward Violet.

The witch met her stare with an expression of wounded innocence so accomplished that it immediately seemed incriminating.

Of course. Who else would—

“I wrote it!” Mai raised her hand.

Peach stopped. Violet’s smile blossomed.

Mai looked pleased with herself. “Irina-san told me about the kitten performances at the café. I thought it sounded funny.”

Peach shifted her stare across the table.

Irina pointed at herself. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“That doesn’t look like nothing.”

“You have certainly introduced us to a remarkable number of activities.”

Irina grinned. “You’re welcome.”

“That was not gratitude.”

“Pretending to be a kitten is manageable.”

“Provided nobody gets scratched,” Butterfly said.

“No scratching,” Reika agreed. “And the hug is optional, like everything else.”

Mai nodded earnestly. “It can be a cushion instead.”

Peach relaxed a little.