Light Novel Chapter 24

ウサギさんのなかのモノ (Usagi-san no Naka no Mono, lit: The Thing Inside the Rabbit) is the twenty-fourth chapter of the light novel series of The "Hentai" Prince and the Stony Cat.
==Plot==
The chapter opens with Youto humorously reflecting on the "rules" for safely navigating an outing with Emi, a feisty and mischievous grade-school girl. He jokingly creates a mental guide, including rules like "Don't hug the girl," "Act like a kind older brother," and "Stay away from suspicious places." However, despite these precautions, their outing would start in a chaotic manner.
Only a few minutes after they meet up, Emi decides that it's time to go home — Emi's family apparently haven't rented a house in Japan, and the hotel they stay at just happens to be located in a red-light district. Walking Emi home, they attract the attention of an off-duty police officer. The officer's suspicions escalate as he notices Youto carrying Emi in an awkward manner, and Emi exacerbates the situation with misleading claims that she's being taken to a hotel. With an arrest imminent, Youto makes a desperate escape, outrunning the officer thanks to his track-and-field training.
With the danger passed, dismisses the incident as boring, complaining about the overly serious Japanese police. Youto tries to lighten the mood but only worsens her irritation. When Youto questions the reason for her anger, she accuses Youto of being emotionally distant and distracted. She hints at her preoccupation with "someone," which strikes a nerve as Youto still can't take his mind off the letter addressed to the Tsutsukakushi sisters. She insists that if Youto cannot dedicate his full attention to her, he should take care of his own matters first, and that she can take care of herself.
After parting ways with Emi, Youto sets his sights on addressing the unresolved tensions surrounding the Tsutsukakushi sisters and their possible move to Italy. Arriving at the Tsutsukakushi estate, he is greeted by the Steel King. Initially, she tries to dismiss him, insisting that the matter is a private family issue and that outsiders should not interfere.
As Tsukushi begins to close the gate, Youto has no choice but to make use of a trump card — he convinces Tsukushi that he is in fact the younger brother Youto. Taking advantage of her shock, he brings up "rumors" of what happened between Tsukushi and his older brother in their club meeting some time earlier, flustering Tsukushi even more. Citing their promise to be family, Youto insists that he needs to hear their family member's struggles, and is eventually allowed in.
They sit down in the banquet hall alongside Tsukiko. Tsukushi confirms that their grandparents have been pressuring them to move overseas, citing their supposed Italian heritage, with them having not yet given an answer. When Youto asks which side said grandparents are from, Tsukushi answers wrongly that they're from their mother's side, but is corrected by Tsukiko. However, when questioned whether it's okay for her to forget her bloodline like this, she explains that it was on purpose — she considered her family to only be their late parents and Tsukiko, and she chased out of her mind anyone not in this house and could not grant them warmth.
Tsukushi speaks passionately about the importance of the house, reminiscing about childhood moments like her mother carving height markings into the veranda and praising her growth. She admits to calling her grandparents to decline their request but reveals that the conversation took an unsettling turn. Her grandparents disputed her memories, claiming that the sisters lived in Italy during their early childhood, a claim Tsukushi finds impossible to believe.
Tsukushi questions whether her grandparents' advanced age might be affecting their recollection of events, but the possibility that her own memories are incorrect still can't be ruled out. She reveals that she has been searching for old photographs to validate her memories but has found only limited evidence. Some photos confirm their presence in the house during certain periods, but none provide definitive proof for the years in question.
Instead, she came across a photo of a young boy who resembled Youto. She recalls telling him during the school sports festival that he reminded her of an old friend, and now she is certain it was him. She describes feeling an inexplicable sense of nostalgia and emotional significance tied to the image, as if it represented something important she had long forgotten.
An ominous aura builds around Tsukiko as Tsukushi speaks. Tsukushi questions Youto whether he remembers anything about their past, but Youto can no longer trust his own memory after the Emi incident. Tsukiko also expresses interest in learning more, believing that there would be a high chance that Youto had met her as well, since she was always with her sister. Thus, they decide to continue searching for photos, but still make no significant discovery in the end.
Around evening, Tsukiko and Youto take a break from the search to shop for groceries for dinner. Waiting at the bus stop, they have a brief run-in with Azuki Azusa, who is confident as ever, as well as her mother who is an editor for a fashion magazine. She reveals that she has been doing modeling work and invites Youto and Tsukiko to try it out as well, but is interrupted when the bus arrives.
Instead of the grocery store, they end up at a children's park near Youto's house — seeing Youto talking to Azusa, Tsukiko had simply hopped on a bus on a whim. As they walk into the park, Tsukiko's true emotions begin to surface. She confesses to having a bad personality, criticizing her own envious and manipulative nature. Feeling a deep sense of inadequacy, she fears that she has nothing to offer to stand out in Youto's eyes.
She explains that she thought the best way to establish an emotional bond with Youto was to be the person he had known the longest, but she was devastated to discover that Emi had taken her place. "I thought that if we found a picture of us together, it would make me special," she confesses, her voice trembling. "Even if you ended up happy with someone else, I could still have the past, something that couldn't be taken away from me. That way, I could always stay Senpai's number one."
Youto reflects on her words, feeling that he can't possibly label girls as "number one" or "number two." However, feeling bound to a certain debt to her that he can't quite remember, he feels that he should at least find a way to confirm the past. However, Tsukiko begins dismissing what she said, claiming that failing to find any photos has worsened her mental state, and mentions that it would be convenient if they could confirm their past directly.
They are suddenly interrupted by an ominous voice. The Stony Cat, now possessing the rabbit Yaji-san, appears atop the jungle gym. It grins mischievously and mocks the scene, offering to grant Tsukiko's wish to confirm the past. Before either of them can react, the Cat begins unraveling their surroundings. The playground and everything around it dissolve into a surreal void as the Cat's powers reshape reality. Youto desperately grabs for Tsukiko's arm before falling unconscious.
==Characters==
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