PSW Chapter 5: The One That Glows When Bess was little, something happened to him
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When Bastet was little, something happened to him.
Because he looked adorable—fair-skinned, big-eyed, with chubby pink cheeks—and was shy and timid, his mother, Ms. Ailey, loved dressing him in pink, ultra-cute outfits. In kindergarten and elementary school, he was always the "girl" every boy wanted as a seatmate or the one they teased by pulling on "her" ponytail.
Bastet was bullied to tears almost every day at school, which made him dread going. To him, the classroom door seemed like the gaping mouth of a monster, waiting to devour him.
Luckily, his teacher was very kind, often buying him candy and holding him while telling stories.
To Bastet, his teacher was like a superhero who defeated the monsters lurking in the dark. He loved clinging to his teacher because, as long as the teacher was around, the other kids wouldn’t dare bully him. He wished he could stick to his teacher’s side all the time.
One rainy day, the sky was dark and misty, with occasional rumbles of thunder rolling through the clouds.
All the other children had already been picked up, leaving behind the small, candy-like Bastet. He sat with his teacher in the office, which was covered with children's messy drawings.
Bastet listened as his teacher spoke gently on the phone. From the other end, his mother, Ms. Ailey, sounded apologetic and anxious, explaining that she was caught up with something and couldn't pick him up right away. She asked the teacher to look after Bastet a little longer.
The teacher agreed and even offered to personally take Bastet home, telling her to focus on her tasks.
Overjoyed, Bastet's mother thanked him repeatedly.
After hanging up, the teacher walked over to turn on all the lights, locked the office door, pulled the curtains shut, and then returned to the little boy who was staring at him with pure, innocent eyes.
Kneeling down, he kissed Bastet on the forehead and smiled.
"My dear, do you like your teacher?"
In the era Bastet grew up in, people liked calling their loved ones "dear." His mother’s affectionate nickname for him was "my sweet little honey," which was so unbearably cheesy that Bastet had long since gotten used to being called such things.
"I do," Bastet replied shyly, his chubby cheeks blushing.
The teacher smiled too—then, still smiling, he pulled down Bastet’s little denim overalls…
Outside, the thunder grew louder. The howling wind carried the rain, slamming it against the windows. The old iron window frames let in the storm’s wailing cries through their rusty gaps.
The heavy, stained curtains billowed. The childish, scribbled drawings on the walls rustled.
Little Bastet bit his tiny hand, trembling all over in terror, on the verge of convulsing and fainting.
His teacher had changed. He was no longer gentle, no longer kind. He had cruelly peeled off his human mask, revealing the hideous face of a demon, grinning with a bloodstained mouth!
Bastet trembled, not knowing how to fight back. His world crumbled as he sobbed, his heart screaming: Help me! Help me! Help me…
Then, suddenly—BANG!
The office door was kicked open!
A tall, strong man—Bastet’s father—stormed in, his massive fist nearly the size of Bastet’s head. With one punch, he knocked the frail teacher unconscious and pulled his terrified son into his arms!
He hadn’t felt at ease leaving his son at school in such weather, so he had told his wife to focus on her work while he rushed over in the rain. Through the slit of the wind-blown curtain, he had caught a glimpse of that scrawny male teacher holding his boy's private part, rubbing it over and over…
Bastet was both unfortunate and fortunate.
The scent of his father’s cold, fierce sweat, along with the tobacco smell he used to dislike, wrapped around Bastet, bringing an infinite sense of security.
Bastet’s body convulsed for a long time before he finally managed to cry out:
"Meow—!"
Papa—!
Yofar: …
The shrill, cat-being-murdered scream made Yofar freeze in place while holding up the little black cat. The usual wicked smirk on his lips solidified into a block of ice.
Still shaken from being chased, Bastet hadn’t regained his senses yet. Eyes tightly shut, he kept struggling and meowing frantically, "Meow meow (Papa! Papa!)"—forcing Yofar to put him down and check if the poor, mischievous little thing was injured.
The moment Bastet touched the ground, he bolted toward the man with the familiar scent, panicking as he scrambled into his arms. His four paws tensed, claws hooking onto the man’s white robes as he swiftly climbed up to his chest. His small head kept burrowing into the fabric, desperately searching for a hiding place.
Getting clawed through clothing was painful.
Yofar’s expression darkened as he pried the black furball off him with effort, lifting it by its front paws.
He stared at it.
The little black cat wailed miserably, its wet, cold pink nose bubbling with snot. Its gleaming green eyes were misted with tears, tiny ears folded back in distress, tail tucked against its belly as it struggled desperately.
To be honest, this pitiful sight made the heart of the cruel and beautiful Pharaoh—who had never known mercy—soften for just a fleeting moment.
Yofar didn’t see any bleeding wounds on the little creature.
"Calm down." He held the cat up to his eye level and said indifferently.
Bastet (frantically flailing): "Meow meow meow!" (Papa! Papa!)
Yofar: "I will protect you."
Bastet (heart-wrenching wails): "Meow meow meow!" (Papa! Papa! Papa!)
Yofar: "Stop screaming."
Bastet (miserable sobbing): "Meow meow meow!" (Waaah—Papa!)
Yofar: …
The Pharaoh’s handsome, shadowed face darkened even further as he pressed the wailing cat against his chest, silently vowing that if it continued screeching, he would become the first Pharaoh—no, the first human—to personally bite off a cat’s tongue.
Terrified out of his mind, Bastet wriggled desperately toward Yofar’s neck, where there was a gap in the fabric that could be lifted.
The moment the soft, paw pads touched warm skin and inhaled the strong, steady scent of the man—
‘Duang!’
As if under a spell, Bastet, just like before, immediately calmed down and relaxed.
Shivering, he curled into a tiny ball, soaking up the warmth from the man’s neck.
His damp, cold nose nudged around, ticklish and affectionate, searching as if looking for something.
Like a newborn kitten seeking milk—so endearing that it made the most exalted man in all of Egypt feel inexplicably pleased.
The neck and face were the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Ever since Yofar had become aware of the world, he had never let anyone touch those areas—including his own mother.
Bastet had no idea how great an honor it was to be allowed to do so.
Yofar didn’t stop him, though. Instead, he playfully poked at Bess’s tiny balls. When the kitten tensed up and puffed out in alarm, Yofar chuckled, then smoothed his hand over its spine from head to tail.
He understood why this little thing was so scared.
The order to “cleanse” the royal beast garden had been issued by him. But after leaving in frustration, he suddenly recalled a report from Nephthys mentioning, "The cat god awaiting coronation is temporarily residing in the beast garden."
Remembering the proud little thing, he had hesitated, frowned, then hurried back with a white cloth draped over him to prevent getting cat fur on his robes.
And sure enough, he had run into the little one fleeing for its life.
"There’s no need to be afraid." He wasn’t sure who he was explaining this to. "An assassin infiltrated the royal menagerie, so we had to ‘cleanse’ it. You are the cat god awaiting coronation—there’s no need to worry. The royal guards won’t harm you. I will protect you too."
"Meow?"
—Really?
Yofar gently wiped the tear-dampened fur around the black cat’s eyes and nodded. “Really.”
"…Wu!"
Hearing this, Bastet tilted his head up to look at the guy—still dressed like a Saudi Arabian woman, his face completely indistinguishable.
And yet, in that moment, he suddenly felt like there was a glowing savior’s halo hovering above Yofar’s head, with an Ultraman-style "bilingbiling" lightbulb shining from his chest!
Bastet: From just some annoying guy… to—A GLOWING annoying guy!!!
T/N: Please give support on my ko-fi page, thank you🍊🍊🍊
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