Haruka blushed and lowered her head to let her hair hide her face as she brushed past him into the cozy shop. This wasn't the first time she had wandered into the cat's tea house. Somehow her feet seemed to find it more consistently than any destination she actually tried to get to. It had taken three visits before she got up the nerve to talk to the cat but since then they had chatted periodically. She wasn't sure when he had started calling her Haru-chan, but she liked it.

"Home I guess..." She hesitated. "I have to be back for the feast at least. I have a bit of time to get there." She shrugged, her usual laid back personality making itself known. The shrug caused her hair to fall back from her face, giving Negi a clear view of her scarred features. An angry red line crossed from above one eye to the opposite cheek and several smaller scars adorned her face as well. A particularly nasty one ran down beside her left eye. That blow had nearly taken the eye with it.

She liked Negi because he never looked at her like her scars made her a freak. 'I guess turning into a monster makes you redefine freak.' She mused.

She hadn't told the cat where her scars came from. Putting off the painful conversation for as long as possible seemed like a good idea to the shy cow but she would tell him if he asked.