Yume-Neko's Past (Part One)

She walked or rather she hobbled through the streets of Edo (Tokyo is still Edo). One of her eyes was closed due to an older injury that had left a scar over her left eye. She knew that the humans who were kind enough to look at her were disgusted by her ugly appearance. She turned left into a side street where children were playing. As soon as they saw her they started screaming.

"Iiiihhhhh! What's that thing?", one of them asked the others.

"I don't know but it certainly isn't good.", one of the boys said.

'No, that's not true. I never have done anything to humans.', she tried to say but everything that could be heard was a faint 'miao'.

She then felt hard things hitting her body. At every contact she twitched and moved back.

"Go away!", the boy from before yelled while he threw another stone at her.

'Stop it. It hurts.', she complained but...

"Miao!"

She ran away when she realised that they wouldn't stop throwing stones at her. SHe didn't knew where to go and when she hadn't any streght left to run further she collapsed on the ground.

'Is this it? Will I finally die?', she asked herself before she drifted to sleep.

The time she opened her eyes again she thought that she already had died. She didn't felt the pain anymore. She also lay on something soft and warm. Without thinking she snuggled nearer to the soft, warm something.

"Your awake? Thank god, I already thought that you won't make it.", a soft and gentle voice reached her ears. She was startled by the sudden voice and looked towards the source of it causing her to look up. What she saw took her breath away. Before her still intact eye there was a girl around 12 years smiling gently at her. She was a beautiful girl with brown hair and brown eyes.

'Pretty. I've never met someone as pretty as you.', she said but again only a miao was heard.

"Your hungry right? Here I've made something for you.", the girl said before she sat the little cat she was holding onto down and gave her a fish.

"It's not much but at least something.", she said again.

"Miao." - 'Thank you', the cat replied before starting to eat.

The whole time the girl watched her with gentle eyes and a smile on her face.

"Say, do you have a home or are you a stray cat?", she asked.

"Mia~o." - 'I'm a stray one.'

"Mi~ao." - 'Nobody would want an ugly cat like me.'

Somehow it seemed like she understood her because she now was caressing her gently.

"If you like you can stay here with me.", she said causing the cat to look at her.

"Miao?" - 'Really?'

She nodded.

"I'm Ayumi. Oh I need to give you a name, let's see..." She put her right hand to her chin and thought for a while before she looked at the cat again and said cheerfully.

"Yume, I'll call you Yume from now on."

Years passed after their encounter and Ayumi grew up to be a beautiful women. The prettiest in town. Every male wants her to be his wife but she's not concerned of those things. She already had someone whom she loved dearly even though it was not the love of lovers.

As Ayumi walked through the streets the most popular man in town approached her and proposed to her in front of everyone.

"I always have been in love with you, Ayumi, since we were still children. Be my wife.", he said. Ayumi looked into his face with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry but I don't want to get married yet nor in the near future.", she answered him causing him to stare at her in shock. She then bowed and walked away.

The whole event was watched by another female who was jealous of Ayumi's beauty. That person followed her and saw her together with an ugly cat. Much to her surprise she caressed that cat lovingly.

'Now I know how to make her suffer.', that female thought.

The next day after Ayumi had prepared food for Yume and herself she went to call for her best friend.

"Yume, the food's ready.", she called out. But despite her call the one-eyed cat didn't came like she always did. Confused about this Ayumi went out in search for her.

"Yume? Yume, where are you?"

Her search lead her to the nearby river where she saw one of the villagers standing. In hope of asking that person if he/she had seen her friend she hurried towards him/her. But on her way she found something lying on the ground. That something was covered in blood and the ground around that thing was covered with splashes of blood too. When she realised that that thing was a cat, no, her cat she started to run to her side.

"Yume. What happened to you?", she asked the cat but didn't get a reply.

"Yume!"

She turned towards the person who was towering above her. With glasy eyes she asked that person who turned out to be a female. "What happened here?"

Instead of a reply she received a kick into her stomach causing her to fall to her side. Surprised by the strange action of the female she looked up to her while holding her hurting stomach.

"What... are you doing?", she asked with a heavy voice. Again she didn't get an answer but received another kick this time into her face. The next kick came right afterwards, followed by another. Without being able to catch up to the things that occured to her she was hit constantly by that other women.

"Why? Why are you always receiving the love of everyone? What's so special about you? You only got your pretty face, nothing more!", that women screamed at her like a lunatic still kicking her.

After a while the female was exhausted and stopped kicking her. But due to the injuries she already had received from the other Ayumi was unable to move or even to stand up. She was only lying there trying to breath without it hurting to much.

"Soon, you and your wicked beauty will perish.", the other women exclaimed before approaching her. "A beauty like you should have a grave just as beautiful as yourself. Be happy that I was kind enough for choosing this river to be your tomb.", she said before shoving the unmoving body into the flowing water. With a splash her body sank into the crystal blue water before the stream took her away. Away from town.

Yume opened her eye just to see how her master and best friend was shoved into the river. Trying to stop the lunatic female she tried to stand up but failed.

'No, don't do that to my master!', she screamed in her thoughts. Without success. She was only able to see how the body covered in bruises was floating away from her into the forest. The other female walked away laughing without giving her another glance.

'Your going to pay for this. I swear.', Yume swore to herself before closing her eye lifelessly again.

The next time she opened her eyeshe felt different than before. The sun was about to set and she tried to stand up. This time without much effort.

"I thought I was covered with injuries.", she said but clutched her hand above her mouth after she heard herself speak. Wait her hands? SInce when did she have hands instead of paws? Confused she walked towards the river to look at her reflection but what she saw wasn't her usual ugly cat face but the face of a beautiful women with purple hair and golden eyes that still resembled that of a cat. She wore a traditional kimono in the same purple as her hair but with lighter purple lines at the bottom.

"Is that me?", she asked no one in particular. 'Seems like. But why aren't I dead? I thought I died earlier.', she thought really confused.

"Maybe the hatred I had towards that women made me come back to life. But then why do I look like a human? Could it be that what my master told me once is true?"

- Flashback -

"You know what? I heard from some wandering onmyouji that if someone dies with hatred in their heart they might return back to life. But not as theri old selfs but as yokai."

The cat on her lap raised her head to look at the face of her master in a questioning way.

"It's kind of scary but if I where able to meet you again that way after one of us dies I wouldn't mind being a yokai.", she stated with a warm smile on her face.

- Flashback End -

"Have I turned into a yokai?", she asked again. Then she smirked before she turned around and walked towards the town she had lived in in her former life.

A women covered in blood walked along the way. In the back there could be seen a town burning down. That women had an evil smiked attached to her pretty face that said 'Finally there dead.' Still she had something left to do. She walked into the nearby forest and looked for something that might be there. After a while of search she finally found what she had been looking for. At the shore of the river there was lying a body of a women dressed in a normal kimono. When she approached the body she felt how her heart began to hurt. Her face fell and as soon as she reached the cold, wet body she sank to her knees.

"I came back just like you said someone would when they die with hatred in their heart. I'm sorry for not being able to protect you master.", she said in a sad tone while small tears fell down on the ground. She took the body of her once beautiful master and burried it near a tall oak tree.

"I'll be going now. See you in another life, master.", she said before turning around and walking away into the darkness.