My chest felt heavier than normal waking up this morning. It was too light to be Cresta who sometimes snuck in, and Ange had slept in her own room last night.

Rubbing the crust from my eyes and expelling an unflattering yawn, I threw the sheets off and was treated to the sound of thuds hitting the ground. Like something had fallen off the bed. Glancing down, I saw why right away.

All lying dead on the floor were a couple of birds and a squirrel. Their feathers and fur laid strewn on the sheets and ground.

"What the…"

My door creaked open, and Cresta tiptoed in with another dead bird in her mouth. She locked eyes with me only two steps into the room.

"Morning, Akira!" Cresta exclaimed, the poor animal slipping from her mouth as she greeted me.

I watched as the bird dropped with a gross thud to join the other dead ones.

"CRESTA, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Downstairs in the living room, I had Cresta sit on her knees with her kills in front of her.

"Uu… I'm sorry! I can't help myself. When I get the urge to hunt, I gotta hunt!" Cresta cried.

"You didn't even think to spare the family of finches!" I scolded her.

"Oh! I made sure to leave the eggs untouched," she quickly added.

"And who's going to incubate them? Or even if they hatch, who's going to feed them?"

Cresta opened her mouth to answer, fangs still bloodied and a small feather stuck between her teeth, then clammed up looking me in the eyes.

Hunting the wildlife to extinction wasn't the only problem. There was also the rest of the dormitory. The bottom of stools and counters were scratched up by claws marks the size of daggers. Stuffing spilled out the back of the couches and underneath the cushions. Her seventh box had been ripped up and its pieces scattered everywhere.

Not to mention…

Standing next to me was Ivory, arms folded and glaring at Cresta just as hard.

"S-So… Why is Ivory here?" Cresta asked.

"Show her." I gestured for the mimic to turn around.

Ivory turned around to reveal deep grooves along the length of their back. Although mimics didn't bleed, it looked like someone had taken a knife through some dough. I could only imagine how painful that must have been.

"If I have to snap awake to ten claws on my back again, I'll go nuts!" Ivory exclaimed.

"But you look so scratchable as furniture— uguu!"

Sighing, I squished her cheeks together.

"Don't go scratching your dorm mates."

Maybe I should buy Cresta some cat toys. If I remembered right, there should be a pet store in the city. Would she even play with them? Cats ignored toys all the time, and a lion-sized monster like her would decimate anything I buy her.

It was probably better than leaving the status quo.

"Alright, Cresta. Get your shoes. We're going shopping. Ivory, you want to come with?" I offered them.

"Nah. You guys go ahead. I need to work out these kinks," Ivory said.

The mimic began to shapeshift into multiple different items in rapid succession. Cresta's eyes dilated as she watched the transformations occurring.

"Oh, no you don't. Let's go, Cresta!" I dragged her away by the armpits before she went feral on Ivory.

We drove out to the pet store and got there around opening. A few people were outside, waiting to be let in with their own pets to get some grooming done, purchase supplies, or acquire pet toys like me.

As soon as we walked inside, Cresta zoomed over to the small pets section and planted her face against the metal cages containing lizards.

"Are we getting live toys for me to hunt?!" Cresta excitedly asked.

"No! That would be cruel and unusual! We're here to buy toys of the non-living variety." I pointed to the other aisles lined with a plethora of toys.

When Cresta followed my gaze, her excitement waned in an instant.

We went over to browse the selection. At the very least, the incredible variety piqued her interest. This might be the only time I'd say thank you to capitalism.

While Cresta looked through the toys and trinkets, a pet store employee peeked into the aisle. A young woman, though definitely a few years older than me, wearing thick-rimmed glasses and cheeks dotted with freckles, called out to us.

"Hi! Would you like any help finding something?" she asked, filled with the bubbly energy of someone who hadn't yet been disillusioned by their soul-sucking retail job. Or maybe she was just that passionate about working at a pet store.

"No, we're fine," I said. "Just looking for literally any toys."

The woman, whose nametag read Sara, patted the dust from her blue-apron and beamed at me.

"I'd be more than happy to help! Are you searching for toys for a puppy? Kitty? Or maybe some smaller animals like hamsters, lizards, or rats?" Sara asked.

The oppressive weight of Sara's eagerness to please a customer left me in a bind. How was I supposed to tell her?

"It's… for her." I thumbed behind me.

Sara peered over my shoulder and went pale.

"Oh, a ca… big cat… n-netherfolk?"

"Akira, none of these are interesting." Cresta pouted. "Can we get some live toys instead?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that those aren't toys. They're actual pets not meant to be hunted!" I retorted.

At this rate, we would have come out here for nothing. I should have known a fickle cat like Cresta wasn't going to be easily impressed.

"Wait! I'm sure we can find something. How about I show you some of our most popular toys?" Sara offered.

The three of us walked around the store just chucking things into a basket. Money wasn't an issue. Finding something that Cresta could be interested in was. While Sara was explaining to me how a remote-controlled mouse worked, Cresta up and disappeared.

We found her in another aisle, on all fours and sizing up a black cat whose owner was too afraid to break up the fight. They were hissing at each other, hair standing on end and fangs bared.

"Cresta, down! No fighting!" I shouted.

"Tell that to this punk," Cresta said, unwilling to back down. "You're brave, I'll give you that. But you should know I'm a trained assassin!"

The other cat hissed again in response.

"What? I'm not lying! Akira, he doesn't believe me!" Insulted, she turned to me with tears in her eyes.

"You can understand cats? Wait— that's not important. Cresta, I'm taking away your burger privileges if you don't come back here this instant!" I warned.

"Kuh… Fine. It's your lucky day, small fry."

We managed to avoid a catastrophe at the pet store and purchased a treasure trove of toys. I drove us straight home to avoid any more potential for a fight.

Back in the relative boring safety of the dormitory, Cresta and I scoured through everything Sara had picked out for us. The first toy I pulled out was a remote-controlled mouse.

"I don't get it. What's the point of getting something fake when you could get a real one instead?" Cresta asked, picking the toy up by the tail

"Because I don't want you gifting me more dead animals! Besides, I'm sure this will trigger your hunting senses just as well." I snatched it back and placed it on the ground, then turned it on with the remote control.

The robotic mouse zipped around the living room, and I could already tell by Cresta following its every move that she had taken interest in it.

However—

Smash!

A powerful, downward swipe destroyed the toy.

"I liked that one! Is there another?" Cresta asked.

"No… We do not." I squinted at her.

The next toy I fished out was a laser light. It casted a thin green beam that ended with a circular dot on surfaces.

"What do you think about this one, Cresta?" I asked, but received no answer from her.

It was then that I realized she was dead-focused on the dot. I flicked it to one side and so did her head. She twitched everytime I pointed the laser somewhere else. This toy seemed to be doing the trick.

Cresta pounced on the laser sight, pawing at the ground where the dot was. Since it wasn't a physical toy, she couldn't destroy it like the remote-controlled mouse.

"You like it, Cresta?" I asked again.

No answer. The cat was concentrating solely on catching the laser.

Suddenly, Cresta lowered herself flat to the ground, ass shaking in the air and the rest of her body as still as a statue. The only other part of her moving were the dilated eyes, following the laser wherever it went. A gut feeling told me I should stop, but Ivory snuck up from behind and made me jump.

"Whatcha doing?" Ivory asked.

The second I flinched, Cresta launched herself head-first into and through the wall. Everyone in the dorm clamored downstairs to check what the commotion was.

"What happened?" Irapesha asked, then noticed Cresta in the process of wrenching her head out of the hole.

"That was fun!" Cresta finally popped her head out and saw everyone else. "You guys should try it, too!"

"Nope. This toy is also a no." I tossed it into the trash bin, much to Cresta's disappointment.

Since the entire dorm was in the living room now, they each picked something out of the bag to mess with. It started to seem hopeless. Cresta was essentially a giant cat playing with toys designed for things ten times smaller and a thousand times weaker than her.

Irapesha found a teaser wand that was like a small fishing rod with a feather toy attached to the end of the string. She flung it around curiously, unbeknownst to her that doing so had caught Cresta's attention.

"Is a gimmick like this supposed to excite Cresta?" Irapesha asked.

"Well, it's already working." I pointed at Cresta just in time for her to tackle Irapesha.

The bone-crushing, football lineman of a charge knocked the unsuspecting dragonewt rolling across the living room. Ange magically opened the sliding door for both of them to crash outside instead of through the glass.

"I don't think these toys are conducive to the wellbeing of the dormitory," Ange concluded my exact thoughts.

"Agreed." I sighed.