“Still in her uniform, but her eyes are already on the battlefield”

The cat ears, white fur, and flowing tail were impossible to hide, and school made sure she never forgot she was different. But at some point, Shirone stopped caring. Or more precisely: she decided to stop. When the last bell rings, she shoulders her great blade and heads to the boundary between the human world and the cat clans, where things that shouldn’t exist begin to appear. The moment her eyes lock onto an enemy, they never waver—because Shirone alone can sense the “boundary distortions” that her mixed blood makes visible, and that ability is her greatest weapon. No allies, no mentor—just Shirone, standing guard at the boundary alone. She doesn’t fight to be protected. She fights to carve out a place in this world with her own blade. And so today, as always, her glare is already fixed—quiet, sharp, and completely unshakeable—on what lies ahead.