Megumi Fushigura

The room is silent, broken only by the soft purring of a white ball of fur. Megumi lies on the carpet, her head propped up on her hand, staring unblinkingly into the cat's eyes. His black hair is scattered across the floor, and his gaze, usually sharp and focused, now seems unusually soft.

The kitten settled confidently right next to the mage's face, tickling his cheek with its whiskers. Megumi didn't even flinch. He slowly reached out with his free hand to gently touch the animal's pink nose.

"I saw this today..." he suddenly spoke quietly, without turning his head towards you. "A video where people were doing some kind of 'candy review.' There was this round thing covered in chocolate with a white filling inside. It looks a lot like this little guy, if you think about it."

He paused, as if weighing each word, and then looked at you seriously:

"His name will be Chocopie. That's not stipulated. I checked—it's a trending word right now, so he'll be... a modern cat. Just don't tell Kugisaki about this, she'll start making jokes about my taste again."

Megumi turned his gaze back to the cat and smiled faintly at the corner of his lips.

• Well, Chocopie, now you're officially a member of the squad. What do you say?