Honkai Impact 3rd: Catching the Herrscher of Sentience at the Start

"I'd rather jump off from here and die than wear that!"

Fu Lin, still in Mei's arms, turned pale with horror as he saw her pick up the dress, seemingly intending to put it on him. His tiny, chubby paws pushed against it in resistance.

Seeing his obvious rejection and hearing his frantic meows, Mei had no choice but to give up on dressing him in the frilly outfit.

Fu Lin lay sprawled on the table, watching as Mei put the dress back. His face showed a look of relief.

"Saved... That was close. Almost lost my dignity."

---------------------------

"Mei, the things have been bought and will be delivered home in the afternoon."

Raiden Ryoma's voice rang out. Fu Lin turned his head and saw Raiden Ryoma walking over with a bag of cat food and dried fish.

Then, he looked at Mei, who was still picking out pet clothes, and couldn't help but hold his forehead. She probably wouldn't give up until she picked one for him.

Casually, Fu Lin grabbed a pet hoodie that looked decent and called out to Mei, "This one! Stop looking at skirts, I won't wear them anyway."

Hearing Fu Lin's call, Mei turned around, looked at the clothes in Fu Lin's mouth, and shook her head in disapproval.

...

"Sir, are you giving this little cat a bath?"

"Yes."

Inside the Raiden family's villa...

Raiden Ryoma stood on the balcony, hung up the phone in his hand, and paced back and forth in front of Mei's room door with a conflicted expression.

After an internal struggle, he slowly pushed open the door. Seeing Mei playing with Fu Lin, he walked up and gently ruffled Mei's hair.

Then, with a slightly awkward expression, he said, "Sorry, I have something to take care of and need to go out..."

A hint of disappointment flashed through Mei's eyes, but she quickly shook her head and sensibly replied, "It's okay, the little cat is here, it will keep me company."

"Hmm, if there's anything you want, just give me a call, okay?"

Looking at his understanding daughter, Raiden Ryoma felt even more that he was not a competent father—especially thinking back to the incident a few years ago when Mei was kidnapped...

Then, his gaze fell on Fu Lin, who was meowing non-stop, and he revealed a satisfied expression.

Perhaps having it accompany Mei wasn't so bad—at least she wouldn't be lonely.

But if he knew that this cat would one day steal his daughter's heart, he might not have shown such a satisfied expression or had such thoughts.

"Okay, I got it. Goodbye, Dad."

Mei pushed Raiden Ryoma out the door, waved goodbye, and then shut the door with a bang.

Raiden Ryoma looked at the closed door, rubbed his nose, and after giving some instructions to the newly hired maid, packed his things and left the villa.

Meanwhile, Fu Lin's actual situation at this moment was that he was staring blankly at the phone screen displaying the year 2009, muttering to himself,

"Looking back, tears still flow... Isn't this timeline a bit too early? Kiana has probably just been taken away by Siegfried. I'll have to wait at least five years to see her..."

Through the glass, Mei watched her father's departing figure with a somewhat lonely expression. But when she turned to look at Fu Lin on the bed, she wiped the corners of her eyes and said:

"From now on, your name will be Min. Be good and listen to me, okay?"

"Meow!" What a lame name!

Just as Fu Lin was organizing the timeline in his head, he heard the name Mei gave him. Instantly, he rolled over, his fur bristling, and let out a protesting meow.

Seeing Fu Lin's reluctance, Mei started counting on her fingers and listed several other names before looking at him expectantly,

"You don't like this name? ...Koko? Mugi? Sakura?"

Fu Lin sat on the bed, stretched lazily, yawned with a wide-open mouth, and looked at Mei speechlessly.

Seeing that Fu Lin remained unmoved, Mei crouched down, met his eyes, and said,

"You don't like any of them? Naming is so hard... If only you could name yourself."

Fu Lin's eyes lit up. He raised his two tiny pink paws and gestured, but when he saw Mei's confused expression, he looked toward the desk.

Imitating the way he remembered cats moving, he lifted his tail, wiggled his rear, and then kicked off with his little legs, aiming to jump onto Mei's desk.

But under Mei's astonished gaze, he crashed heavily onto the floor. He simply lay there, covering his head with his paws.

A perfect demonstration of "fall where you trip, stay where you fall."

'So embarrassing!' "Meeoooowww"

"Pfft! So clumsy."

"Meow!" You're the clumsy one! I just need some time to adjust!

Fu Lin slowly peeked out his bright, round eyes and glared at Mei's amused expression, protesting angrily.

"...?"

"Can you actually understand what I'm saying? Are you a legendary youkai?"

Mei covered her mouth in surprise, feeling as though Fu Lin had understood her teasing words. She suddenly felt a little guilty.

"Meow." Yup.

Fu Lin nodded, then pointed at the desk, signaling Mei to place him there.

"Ah, you really can understand! Then, can you use magic?" Mei crouched down, poked Fu Lin's head, then picked him up and placed him on the desk.

"Meow." Nope.

Fu Lin looked at Mei in exasperation, then grabbed a clean sheet of paper and, holding a pen awkwardly in his little paws, began writing.

After using up all his strength to finish a single character, he lay on his back, belly up, breathing heavily, his pink tongue sticking out.

Mei, who had witnessed the entire process, gazed at him with sparkling eyes and clapped her hands. "Wow, so amazing!ヾ(????)?"