Esper Harem in the Apocalypse

"What?"

Lucy leaned forward and said, "I said try the collars on me and tell me which one do you like the best."

"Why? It's not even my cat. And why would I try on you? You are a human, and the cat is a… well, cat. It doesn't make sense."

"I know it's my cat, and that's why I am asking you to try the collars on me so I can know which collar feels like what."

"...."

Rudy wasn't convinced by her answer and simply stared at her in response.

"If you don't want to do it, then it's okay." Lucy shrugged her shoulders and said, "If you don't want to try on me, then I will try on you."

"Wait, what?" Rudy raised his brow and said, "I will try on you."

Lucy grinned and pointed her gaze at the different kinds of collars on the counter.

"Go ahead and try it."

"..."

SIGH!

Rudy grabbed a red collar and tied it around Lucy's neck.

"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Hmm. I don't really know. Let's try more."

He tried five more collars and asked her how it felt. And Lucy's answer was the same as before:

"Let's try more."

It seemed as though she was enjoying that.

After trying two more collars, Rudy grabbed the last collar and said, "You better choose one of them."

He tied the last collar around Lucy's neck and locked it.

"Hmm~" Lucy hummed in amusement and said, "This one feels better. It also has an adjustable lock and grip so I can loosen and tighten it when in need or when Freya's grows more."

Rudy squinted his eyes with a judging look on his face and asked, "The other collars have the same functions. So why did you not select them?"

"Uhh… I like the grayish color of this collar," Lucy responded awkwardly.

"Oh? There were two other collars with the same color too."

"I… like how this collar feels."

Rudy gave up and let out a weary sigh.

"Let's take it off now."

Rudy unlocked the collar and took it off, or he wanted to, but it was stuck and wasn't getting off.

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"It's not getting off. It's stuck."

"Stuck…?" Lucy's face suddenly flushed after uttering the word 'stuck'.

"Can you turn around? I can't see where it's stuck."

"Okay."

Lucy turned around and lifted her hair in a ponytail.

"....!"

No man could resist a glance at a girl's slender nape, and Rudy was one of them.

Rudy inspected the collar and noticed that it was still locked even though he had already unlocked it.

'I am not cut out for this delicate stuff. if I try to force it, it will break into two.'

Rudy felt something between his legs, so he looked down and saw a dog was rubbing its head on his leg.

"...."

"I am so sorry for my dog. Please don't—"

Rudy recognized the voice in an instant. He turned around and saw John looking at him with a baffled look on his face.

"What's with you? Wherever I go, you are there. Are you following me or something?" Rudy asked with a judging look on his face.

"Of course not! I am a regular customer here!"

"Right."

John looked past Rudy's shoulder and saw them around her neck.

"...." He pondered for a few seconds while staring at Rudy and suddenly took out his communication device.

Rudy grabbed his hand as his face twitched.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"You are clearly involved in some illegal activity."

"I am not. Seriously, how did you become a cop?" Rudy sighed. "I was just testing out collars on her."

"Why would you even need a collar for a girl? If you are into this kind of stuff, then go to an adult shop. Leave the pet shop alone," he remarked.

"You are misunderstanding something. This girl is my sister."

"Uhh…" John looked back and forth at Rudy and Lucy and said, "You sure don't look like one."

"Obviously." Lucy hugged Rudy's arm and said, "I am his step-sister."

'Step sister and a collar… This guy has weird kinks…'

"Rudy, take it off now," Lucy said to him.

"Ah, yeah. It's stuck, but let me try."

"Oh. This collar has this issue," John interjected. "I had the same one for my dog, but the lock is faulty, and it was annoying to struggle every time, so I got another one for him."

"If it's faulty, then why are they still selling it?" Rudy sighed and turned to Lucy to say, "It seems this collar is a bad choice. Select another one."

"I will suggest the one I have for my dog. It's super soft and light," John quipped.

Rudy ignored him and tried to take off the collar from Lucy's neck, but it wasn't budging.

John stepped forward and said, "Let me help. I have dealt with that collar for three months, so I am kind of used to it."

Rudy furrowed his brows and said, "No thanks. It's almost off."

Rudy forcefully ripped the collar from Lucy's neck and said, "See?"

"...."

"You… just ripped it. And how did you even do it? Even my dog couldn't damage it after chewing on its belt all day."

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" Rudy asked with an oblivious look on his face. "I just unlocked it. I didn't rip it."

"No, I heard the sound of it ripping."

Rudy showed the collar to John and said, "See?"

John carefully inspected the collar with a confused look on his face and muttered, "But I…"

Of course, Rudy had ripped the collar forcefully, but he restored it the next second.

Rudy turned to the man at the counter and pointed his finger at the collar John's dog was wearing.

"Give me a similar collar with the name Freya on it." He turned to Lucy and asked, "What else do you need on the collar?"

"Only the name. We can add a tag or a sticker later."

"Okay."

"It will take around ten minutes for the name. You can walk around the market if you want," the man at the counter said.

"Hmm. How far is the vet?" Rudy asked Lucy.

"Uhh… around a five minutes walk?"

"Then let's go there in the meantime."

"Okay."

'I am looking forward to meeting Freya again. She hated my guts and snarled at me whenever I went near her.'

===