The Girl, the Cat, and the String

by Ryououki

After getting a mysterious object from a claw machine, Sakaki sets out to find something she didn't know she was looking for.

The Girl, the Cat, and the String

Alone on a bench, Sakaki was, once again, applying bandages to her hand after another failed attempt to pet Kamineko. She just couldn't understand why that gray cat was so opposed to her petting it. Each time, it ended either with the cat running away or a nasty bite. Worse still, it seemed that the cat was getting more and more aggressive. Standing up, Sakaki tried to remember what she had been doing before running into Kamineko, but she couldn't seem to remember at all.

Easily resigning, Sakaki instead opted to pursue her favorite pastime: to seek out all things cute. It didn't take the tall girl long to find herself at a familiar arcade. Quickly approaching the claw machine, she eyed the small stuffed animals within. Sakaki instinctively dug around in her pockets for change. Sighing at only having found two coins, she separated the 100 yen coin and replaced a five yen coin into her pocket. "Just one chance," Sakaki mentally noted as she stared into the machine.

With a look of fierce determination, Sakaki dropped the 100 yen coin into the machine. The game roared to life with annoying lights and chimes as the tall girl did her best to guide the claw to the cutest stuffed animal she could find: a black cat with a cute, little bell around its neck. Signaling the claw to descend, Sakaki watched earnestly as the claw slowly lowered itself to the stuffed animal. Sakaki's hopes fell dramatically when the claw disappeared behind her target, missing it entirely. As the claw rose, however, the doll rose with it. By some miracle, one of the claw's prongs managed to loop through the ribbon that tied the bell to the stuffed animal's neck. Sakaki's luck didn't hold out for long. As the claw reached its apex, the jarring caused the ribbon to slip and begin to unravel. The small doll kept slipping lower and lower as the claw moved back towards the chute. Just as the doll approached the prize chute, the ribbon finally came free and dropped the doll before falling off of the hook itself. Luckily, it was close enough for both items to apparently fall into the chute.

"On your first try, too! Nice!" a familiar voice praised as Sakaki reached into the machine to retrieve her prize. Sheepishly looking up with her arm still inside the prize slot, Sakaki found a smiling Tomo, who was, at the moment, leaning on a slightly irritated Yomi and flashing Sakaki a victory sign.

Sakaki withdrew her hand from the slot to reveal only the silver bell and ribbon. "Why…?" the tall girl wondered aloud as she stared at the trinket.

"Hmm? What happened to the stuffed animal?" Yomi wondered as Tomo eagerly stuck her arm in to find it.

"It's not here," Tomo pointed out as she jumped up and pressed her face against the glass to find the missing doll.

Growing curious, Yomi joined Tomo in searching out the missing object while Sakaki continued to stare at the bell. "It has to be somewhere," the brunette reasoned.

As best as Sakaki could remember, the stuffed animal did fall into the chute, and she was also certain that it wasn't there when she reached in. How could it have just vanished? Sakaki didn't have time enough to ponder the possibilities before she was brought out of her thoughts by a man's shouting.

"Oi! What'd'ya kids think you're doing?" a man who had to be an employee of the arcade shouted as he came out to find Tomo shoulder deep in the claw machine trying to find the missing stuffed animal.

"Ah-ah I just—" Tomo stammered as she tried in vain to wrench her arm free from the prize slot.

"Time to go!" Yomi insisted as she forcefully pulled Tomo from the machine before taking off.

The employee tried in vain to catch the wildcat but failed as she took off in a different direction from Yomi. When he turned his gaze to Sakaki, she also panicked and left the scene in a hurry. "Damned kids," the employee complained as he reluctantly disappeared back into the arcade.

Sakaki ended up fleeing a couple of blocks before stopping. No matter what, it looked like the doll was lost forever now. Had she not been in public, there is a good possibility that she would have openly mourned the loss of the stuffed animal. Instead, she did her best to bottle her volatile emotions as she plucked the bell from her pocket. Strangely, despite having no ball inside it, the bell rang as it came out of her pocket. Perplexed, she held the bell up and shook it with a flick of her wrist. Predictably, the bell emitted no sound since it was hollow. Giving it a flick with her free hand, it made a small 'tink' sound. However, it didn't make the musical sound Sakaki heard a moment ago.

Dismissing it as a fluke, Sakaki replaced the bell into her pocket as she looked around to figure out just where she had run to. As soon as she looked up, she found the karaoke shop that she and her friends had recently spent Christmas at. She took solace in the pleasant memories the sight triggered, and decided to relax nearby.

Finding a convenient bench, Sakaki sat down. As she did, however, she heard another chime come from her pocket. "Impossible," Sakaki mumbled aloud as she absentmindedly reached for her pocket. Her hand was interrupted, however, by something undeniably fuzzy. Sakaki jumped up and away at the unexpected sensation. As she looked to the bench where she had been sitting, she found… nothing. Absolutely nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Sakaki stared at her hand as she recalled feeling a small furry thing. If she didn't know any better, Sakaki could have sworn it was a cat.

"Ya look like ya seen a ghost."

Already spooked, Sakaki nearly jumped as she heard the familiar voice. She rapidly spun around to find a grinning Osaka. "Ah… No…" Sakaki tried to articulate what she had just experienced but failed miserably.

"Ah! Tomo said that ya'll got thrown outta tha arcade," Osaka pointed out as she recalled her encounter with the enraged wildcat a few moments ago.

"You saw Tomo?" Sakaki inquired.

Osaka nodded. "She was lookin' for Yomi," she elaborated. "Somethin' about gettin' revenge for tryin' ta rip her arm off."

Tomo had to be the only person that Sakaki knew who would hold a grudge towards the person that had just saved them. "Yomi…" Sakaki simply stated in an effort to ask if Osaka had come across the brunette as well.

"Dunno," Osaka replied, easily understanding Sakaki's cryptic speech. "So what happened at tha arcade?"

Sakaki shook her head, dismissing the subject.

"Eh?" Osaka acknowledged with a grin as she witnessed Sakaki shy away from the subject. "Ya musta done somethin' really embarrassing then, huh?" As soon as those words left her lips, Osaka's imagination sparked to life, and her mind flew a million miles away as it played out the possibilities.

At first, Sakaki blushed as she tried to stammer out that Osaka had gotten the wrong idea, but it didn't take her long to figure out that Osaka had gone off into her own little world yet again. The reprieve granted by Osaka's wavering attention span was bittersweet. It kept the spacey girl from seeing Sakaki make a fool of herself, but it also let her mind imagine something that was probably much worse. Sighing, Sakaki decided to move on and leave Osaka alone since it wasn't likely that the girl would move from that spot anytime soon.

Purposefully moving away from where she figured Tomo and Yomi were, Sakaki ended up window shopping in a plaza nearby. In the thick crowds, Sakaki failed to hear the bell in her pocket as it periodically rang out with a whimsical chime. What she didn't miss, however, was the feeling of something being amiss. No matter how hard she tried to immerse herself in the indulgent things she couldn't have, Sakaki couldn't shake the bizarre feeling that there was something that just wasn't quite right.

As she half-heartedly glanced through store windows, Sakaki came across a fairly ornate mirror. Although it wasn't the mirror she was interested in. The reflection showed a cute black cat. Sakaki instantly moved to the mirror to try and get the best possible view of the undeniably adorable feline. Getting right up against the window, it seemed as though the animal's reflection was staring right at her. Relishing in the moment, Sakaki couldn't help but smile as a small blush touched her cheeks.

The wonderful situation came crashing down, however, as that uneasy feeling crept up again. It was then that Sakaki realized something very, very important. Her face was only centimeters from the mirror, and yet the feline dominated the majority of the reflection. Suddenly, Sakaki realized that her own face reflected was behind the image of the cat on the mirror! As if sensing Sakaki's sudden apprehension, the image of the cat got up and seemed to move closer. After only a few steps, the cat walked through the surface of the glass as if it were water!

The tall girl recoiled as the cat approached the store window and meowed, although Sakaki heard no sound. Panicked, Sakaki looked about the crowds of people who were completely oblivious. When she turned back to where the mysterious feline was, she saw nothing. With a hint of trepidation, she gazed again into the mirror only to find her own, normal reflection. Sakaki opted to leave the site of the bizarre incident. She quickly darted away as she tried her hardest to convince herself that she had just been seeing things.

It didn't take the distracted girl long to slam into one of the countless people in the crowd. "Sorry!" Sakaki quickly apologized as she moved to help the other person up. As she extended her hand, Sakaki found another familiar face, although she couldn't quite place the name.

"Sa-Sakaki!" the girl with a bob cut exclaimed as she timidly accepted Sakaki's hand.

Sakaki easily pulled the smaller girl to her feet. "Sorry," she apologized a second time as she offered a small bow.

"D-Don't mind! It-It didn't bother me at all! Not at all!" The flustered girl babbled out as she failed to relinquish Sakaki's hand.

"Okay," a befuddled Sakaki dismissed as she gently tried to pull her hand free. The girl, however, still wouldn't release it. "My hand…" Sakaki finally spoke up after a few awkward moments.

The girl instantly recoiled as she let Sakaki's hand go. "I'm sorry!" she apologized as she bowed.

Sakaki dismissed the gesture with a shake of her head before waving to her classmate as she disappeared into the crowds of people.

As soon as Sakaki had vanished from sight, the girl cradled the hand that had touched Sakaki's in her chest as she stood there and smiled like an idiot. "I held Sakaki's hand!" her mind screamed as a deep blush washed over her cheeks.

Sakaki was somewhat happy to have run into that classmate of hers. If nothing else, it took a good bit of the fright that lingered away. It was no longer just a feeling, though. Sakaki now knew that something was unquestionably wrong although she had no clue what to do about it. As she wandered through the streets, Sakaki was left pondering what to do and praying that she was somehow out of the woods.

It didn't take long for the tall girl's long strides to take her away from the thicker crowds. As the crowd thinned, the melodic sound of the bell in Sakaki's pocket once again reached her ears. Reluctantly, Sakaki moved into an alley and timidly slipped the bell out of her pocket. It seemed completely benign as it dangled from the sleek ribbon. However, that appearance was quickly shattered as it mysteriously rang out again. Catching movement in the corner of her eye, Sakaki timidly glanced down the alleyway to see a black cat identical to the one that had come out of the mirror. As it sat there, it once again made the motions of a meow, but no sound came from the creature. Instead, in the moment the cat opened its mouth, the bell dangling from Sakaki's hand rang out.

"It's connected!" Sakaki blurted out as she finally managed to put two and two together. As soon as Sakaki spoke out, the cat seemed to blur before vanishing completely. No longer as spooked by the mysterious events, Sakaki quickly approached the spot where the cat sat to find any signs of the feline. Try as she might, Sakaki couldn't find even the slightest hint as to what happened to that black cat. It had somehow just completely vanished without a trace.

Just as Sakaki started to despair, the bell rang again. The tall girl quickly snapped to attention and easily spotted the cat down an adjacent alleyway. Without any hesitation, Sakaki began to approach the animal. Predictably, the feline quickly did an about-face and darted away, eliciting the tall girl to give chase. Despite trying her best, Sakaki managed to lose the cat after just two turns, ending up back on a main street.

Even though the feline had eluded her, Sakaki didn't lose hope. She was certain that as long as she held onto the bell, that same black cat would appear without fail. In anticipation, Sakaki absentmindedly just stood still in the middle of the sidewalk as she dangled the bell in front of her face and stared intently at it. After all, that cat would show up when it rang, and Sakaki wasn't about to miss that chance.

And this is how a certain tomboy stumbled upon the tall girl; standing still as a statue staring at a bell right in front of her face. "What on earth is she doing?" Kagura thought to herself as soon as she spied Sakaki from across the street. While such behavior was business as usual for a certain Osakan, it was bizarre to see Sakaki just standing and staring. Without any hesitation, Kagura crossed the street and approached the taller girl.

"Oi! Sakaki!" Kagura loudly greeted Sakaki as soon as she got close to her. Despite the obnoxious greeting, Sakaki didn't even flinch as she continued to stare at the bell. Curious, Kagura waved her hand in front of Sakaki's face. Sakaki, of course, didn't react. Finally fed up, Kagura tried to pull the bell free from Sakaki's hand.

The ploy worked, sort of. Sakaki instantly recoiled and managed to pull Kagura down on top of her as she fell. Kagura ended up face down in Sakaki's breasts, although Sakaki didn't seem to notice as she wrenched the bell free from Kagura's dazed grip. And, just as it came free, the bell rang out. Sakaki was on her feet in an instant, and, having spotted a certain feline, dashed across the street and down another alleyway.

"What…the hell was that?" Kagura muttered as she struggled to her feet with Sakaki nowhere in sight.

This time Sakaki wasn't about to lose sight of the cat. She just sprinted after the feline with complete abandon as the critter led her through a maze of back alleys. Just as Sakaki was reaching her limit, the cat darted into a hovel with nothing but a hanging blanket for a door. Confident that the cat had been cornered, Sakaki took a minute to catch her breath before approaching the makeshift shelter. As the tall girl reached for the sheet, another hand appeared and pulled it to the side revealing what appeared to be a middle-aged woman holding the black cat. Quite bizarrely, the woman seemed to be dressed something like an old-fashioned, western fortune teller.

"Ah, I can see why you were frightened of this girl," the woman cryptically spoke with a thick western accent as she stroked the cat. "I wouldn't pay her fierce aura any mind, though. She seems to have a very gentle soul."

"Um…" Sakaki hesitated as she stepped aside to let the eccentric woman out of the shack.

"I'm sorry," she apologized with a slight bow. "I've been terribly rude, haven't I?" the woman asked rhetorically. "It would seem that my name is rather difficult to pronounce in your language," she explained, "so everyone seems to call me 'Obaasan'."

"Sakaki," the tall girl simply introduced herself with a bow of her own.

The cat seemed to mew again, and again the bell rang. "I see," the woman said as she looked between the cat and the bell. "This creature has visited me a few times before," she cryptically explained as she saw Sakaki's apparent confusion. "She has told me that she lost something very precious to her, and she has been searching relentlessly for it. It would appear that the bell you possess is that precious thing."

Had it been anyone other than Sakaki, they probably would have been suspicious of the woman claiming to have spoken with the animal. But since it was Sakaki, she believed every word without a thought. "She…wants it back?" Sakaki asked as she reluctantly held out the trinket.

"I think she would very much appreciate it," the woman replied with a smile as she held the cat out towards Sakaki.

Sakaki smiled a bit as she realized she would get to bell the cat. Amazingly, the cat made no move to neither escape from Sakaki nor to bite her as she drew the ribbon around its neck and tied it in place with a bow. As soon as it was on, however, the cat jumped free of the woman's arms and darted a couple of meters away. Somehow, the bell rang with each movement as if it had its ball returned. The cat then turned and sat down as it stared at Sakaki. The feline's mouth moved once again, however, this time neither the bell rang nor did the cat make a meow. Instead, a seemingly disembodied voice boomed from the small creature. "Although I do not remember why, this bell is quite precious to me," she explained as she seemed to grow larger and larger with each second. "I lost it some time ago, and with it most of my power left me as well." The creature only seemed to stop growing once it was roughly twice the size of a tiger. "I thank you for returning it to me," it said as it looked down at a surprised Sakaki.

"You're…welcome," Sakaki responded as she looked the beast over. Although it was jumbo-sized, it was still a cat. And for Sakaki, that meant it was still cute despite being so big. "Excuse me, Neko-san," the tall girl started as she looked up to the overgrown cat. "Can you tell me why most cats don't like me?"

The beast was actually taken aback. Most people would run at the sight of her, but this girl didn't seem to be unnerved at all. She was even trying to strike a conversation with her! "You are an interesting one," the cat spoke as it leaned in close to Sakaki. "I cannot speak for most cats," she started to explain the answer to Sakaki's question, "but even I was more than a little intimidated by your fearsome aura."

Undaunted by being right next to fangs as long as her forearm, Sakaki continued the conversation as if she were talking to a regular person. "My aura?" she asked, completely oblivious.

Convinced that she wasn't about to intimidate this girl at all, the beast once again sat down and gazed at Sakaki. "Your presence," she explained as simply as she could. "Even at a glance you appear to be as frightening and powerful as a dragon."

It was disheartening for Sakaki to hear that. Even cute little animals could only see her as someone who is 'cool'. "I…see," Sakaki responded with a hint of disappointment evident in her voice.

"You look awfully sad for someone who just received a grand compliment," the behemoth of a cat observed. "Is it because you intimidate my cousins?" she asked as she recalled Sakaki's original question.

"Sort of…" Sakaki dodged, unwilling to admit that she desired all things cute.

The giant cat let out a chuckle. "So it is true then," she observed as she turned from Sakaki to the gypsy-looking woman. "I find it amazing that you could tell that her heart belies her presence," the beast complimented. "Quite a feat… for a human."

Unlike Sakaki, this woman carried the scent of fear, even if she didn't show it. "It's because my profession is largely dependent on my ability to read people, Bakeneko-sama," she explained.

"Bakeneko?" Sakaki asked as she never took her eyes off of the giant cat. "You're a bakeneko?"

The beast sweatdropped at Sakaki's obliviousness. "You…really failed realize that?" the bakeneko inquired.

Sakaki shook her head to affirm that she was completely in the dark. "Does that mean this is your real form? Or were you a normal cat?" she asked, hoping that the latter would be true.

The monster let out an amused chuckle. "I cannot seem to read you at all," she admitted as she began to rapidly shrink. In just a few seconds she was back to the size of an ordinary cat. "This is my true form," she asserted as she approached the duo. "Though I wonder how you saw through my illusion."

Sakaki barely heard a word the monster said. She was just happy that it really was a normal sized cat. As soon as the bakeneko got close enough, Sakaki brazenly crouched down and reached out to pet the animal. As her hand approached the bakeneko's head, however, Sakaki lost heart and hesitated. "It's okay?" she sheepishly asked as she peered around her outstretched arm.

"Go ahead," the bakeneko allowed as she lowered her head in anticipation.

That was all Sakaki needed to hear as she eagerly stroked the cat's head. The soft fuzzy feeling was all it took to make Sakaki adopt a small blush and a serene smile. "This is heaven," Sakaki thought to herself as she stroked the cute feline.

Sakaki continued to pet the bakeneko for several minutes before the foreigner finally spoke up. "Um…so is there anything I can help you with, miss?" she directed her words at the entranced Sakaki. "I can help guide you to whatever your heart desires; be it fortune, fame, or even love."

Never ceasing her perpetual petting of the would-be feline, Sakaki turned her head to the woman wearing a goofy smile and the slightest of blushes. "Love?" she repeated in a daze, as she barely registered a word the woman had said.

"Ah, that is a very popular choice," the woman noted with a small smile, "especially of people your age." Despite having short sleeves, the fortune teller somehow managed to make a deck of cards appear in her hand with a flick of the wrist. "For a small fee, I can divine your future love life, read your palm, or for a more substantial donation, I could even cast a spell to help you find your true love."

Still not paying too much attention to the woman, Sakaki kept one hand petting the bakeneko as she rummaged around in her pocket only to produce the single 5 yen coin she'd had before.

The would-be fortune teller stared despairingly at the single coin in Sakaki's outstretched hand. "That's not…" she started, but stopped short as a voice echoed inside of her mind.

"Be kind to this girl," the bakeneko telepathically communicated with the woman, "I seem to have grown rather fond of her."

"I-uh…" she stammered out as she caught the cat's glare. "This coin is supposed to bring good luck, is it not?" the woman insisted as she took the coin from Sakaki's palm, and with another flick of the wrist, it vanished. "If it's this that brought here, then its luck must be quite powerful. I'll accept this in lieu of payment. I may be able to make a powerful charm with it."

Finally paying the foreigner some attention, Sakaki responded as she continued to pet the would-be cat. "You'll…read my palm?" she asked as she outstretched her free hand towards the gypsy-like woman.

"If that's what you would like," the woman offered as she bent down and took Sakaki's hand in her own. As she looked the appendage over, however, she couldn't see any of the natural lines in the girl's hand. Instead, several scars, fresh scratches, and band-aids obscured any semblance of any recognizable lines in Sakaki's palm. "This…Your hand is too chewed up to read anything," the foreigner insisted, "Let me see the other one."

Reluctantly, Sakaki diverted all of her attention away from the feline as she held her other hand to the fortune teller. "Chiyo said something like that, too," Sakaki informed her.

One glance at Sakaki's other hand and the woman knew that there was no hope of reading this girl's palms. "You should…really take better care of your hands," she sincerely lectured. "They're way too scarred up for me to see anything."

Sakaki withdrew her hands and stared at them herself. To her this was almost natural. A small price to pay in order to gain the trust of the felines she adored so much. "It's…impossible?" she asked as she looked back up.

"P-Perhaps I could do something else for you," the woman eagerly offered as she caught the bakeneko's glare again. "A magical spell, perhaps?"

"Magic?" Sakaki skeptically asked, seemingly oblivious of her proximity to a mystical creature.

"A human that can perform magic?" The bakeneko scoffed. "Even I find that hard to believe."

As soon as the cat spoke up, Sakaki's attention was once more locked onto on the fuzzy critter as she adopted another small, serene smile. The fortune teller wasn't nearly as amused. "Allow me to impress you," she boasted as she turned around and entered her small shack.

The cat laughed as the woman disappeared. "You two are some of the most interesting humans I have ever come across," she praised as Sakaki cautiously approached her once again.

"Can-May I pick you up?" Sakaki warily inquired.

"All right," the bakeneko allowed as she kept an eye on the shack.

With shaky hands, Sakaki could hardly believe it as she lifted the critter to her bosom. "You're so cute," Sakaki dazedly praised as she hugged the monster in cat's clothing.

It laughed again. "Now that is something that no one has said to me in many, many moons."

"Why not?" Sakaki earnestly inquired. "You're really cute."

"You truly are something else," the bakeneko noted as it began to purr. "There really is something…endearing about you."

Sakaki's smile widened, more at the action of the cat purring than the praise. It was something she had never been able to experience before. While petting a cat wasn't entirely impossible for her, actually having one purr seemed totally out of reach. "This really is heaven!" Sakaki thought as she stroked the feline in her arms.

"I have been waiting with baited breath," the cat spoke out as it stopped purring, much to Sakaki's dismay. At first Sakaki was more than a little confused, but after a few moments she finally realized that the gypsy had reemerged from the shack. She had with her a small sack and a few candles.

"This is a trick I learned in China," she informed the monster in Sakaki's arms. "I've also added my own flavor to the spell, as well." Setting the candles aside, she reached into the sack and pulled out a handful of ashen dust. First drawing a seemingly flawless circle, she then drew five careful lines forming a pentagram. The strange woman then retrieved the candles and carefully placed one at each point of the pentagram.

"That is a very fine piece of artwork," the bakeneko berated, "but I still have yet to see any magic."

"In due time…," the foreigner assured as she rose up from her careful work. "When I came to the far east, I learned of a very interesting tale," she suddenly started as she watched Sakaki dote on the bakeneko. "Tell me, Sakaki, do you know the story of the red string of fate?"

Sakaki nodded. "It's supposed to be an invisible thread that binds someone to their soul mate," the tall girl recalled.

"That's right," the woman praised. "While I was in China, I learned to use this spell," she explained as she motioned to the encircled pentagram. "While it isn't strong enough to reveal the actual string, this spell will allow you to see the ends of the strings. All you have to do is find the person who has a string to match yours, and you will have found your soul mate." The woman then produced a deck of cards with a wave of the hand before fanning them out and gesturing them to Sakaki. "Pick a card and place it face down in the center of the array without looking at it," she instructed, "It will help guide you in the right direction."

Obediently following directions, Sakaki picked a card at random and carefully placed it in the center of the pentagram. As soon as she released the card, the candles in the array burst to life, causing Sakaki to quickly backpedal away from the pentagram.

"The spell needs but one more ingredient," the fortuneteller informed Sakaki as she held her hand out over the arcane arrangement. "Your hand, please."

Reluctantly, Sakaki approached again and warily offered her hand out to the foreigner. As soon as the woman took hold of her hand Sakaki felt a sudden burst of pain and let out a little yelp in surprise as a single drop of blood dripped from her hand down onto the pentagram. As soon as the crimson liquid touched the mysterious powder, the entire trail lit up with an eerie glow. It quickly built up to a blinding flash, causing Sakaki to shield her eyes with her free hand.

Sakaki blinked several times as she recovered from the bright spark, and the first thing she saw was a small red thread tied to her pinky. She could hardly believe that it seemed to have worked. Lowering her hand, she spied the fortune teller wearing a sagacious smile. She held up a hand, revealing a small red thread to Sakaki's eye. "You can see them now, can you not?"

Although it looked exactly like the thread on her own finger, Sakaki could somehow tell that it didn't match her own. "I-I can," the tall girl breathlessly spoke as she stared at her hand.

"Really?" the bakeneko inquired.

Sakaki nodded as she made an affirmatory sound.

"On its own, this spell doesn't do much," the woman explained as she held up the card that was at the center of the array. "This is to help you find your way to your soul mate," she explained. Deftly flipping the card over in fingers, she revealed its face. It showed an ornate mask with a pair of eyes peeking out from behind. "The mask."

"What…does it mean?" Sakaki inquired as she stared at the seemingly creepy card.

"In the context of this spell, this card has two very simple meanings," the gypsy informed Sakaki. "First off, is that you have already come face to face with your soul mate today," she claimed. The woman then took a moment to gauge Sakaki's subtle reaction before continuing. "The second meaning is much more useful. Considering that in a city this size, you've surely come face to face with a thousand people or more already. Simply put, that, like a mask, the solution is right in front of your face."

Sakaki blinked once, then twice. "…But, I don't even know you," she honestly replied.

The woman nearly fell over from the stupidity of Sakaki's comment. "You've…got the wrong idea," she choked out. "This card means that your soul mate is someone that you know. Perhaps you have someone you already have feelings for?"

After a moment of thought, the tall girl shook her head. "Not really," she admitted.

"In any case," the fortune teller continued with a sigh, "you should make haste. This spell will end at sundown."

Alarmed, Sakaki set the bakeneko down to retrieve her cell phone. A glance at the display told her that it was already 15:22.

"One last hint," the woman interjected as she noticed Sakaki's distress. "The pentagram will point you in the right direction."

Sakaki obediently looked down to the array to find that, while most of the white dust had turned black during the spell, one arm of the pentagram remained white. Although a bit crude, it made an arrow pointing Sakaki back the way she had come.

"My, my," the bakeneko spoke up. "Now that is an impressive spell, for a human."

"Really?" Sakaki wondered as she tried to pull at the string on her hand, only to learn that the object was completely intangible.

"Not that," the bakeneko countered as it pointed with one paw. "That."

Following the paw, which she found to be absurdly cute, Sakaki found that where the fortune teller had been standing, there was nothing. In just a moment she also registered that the entire hut was gone as well! Looking down to the array, all she saw was dust blowing in the wind. It was as if that woman had never been there at all. "It's…gone," Sakaki stated obviously.

"You had best be on your way, girl," the cat advised as it started to walk away. "Your time is limited."

While Sakaki couldn't argue that she was fighting against the clock, the last thing she wanted was the first cat she got to hold to walk away. "Wait!" she urged, "Where are you going?"

"This is something you must do without me," the cat informed Sakaki as it kept its slow pace onward.

"Ah, um…" Sakaki stammered aloud as she realized that the cat was going to leave her alone. "Name!" she finally shouted, an action that made the bakeneko pause and look back at her. "I…didn't get your name."

The creature audibly laughed. "If I ever had such a thing, it has long been forgotten," she informed Sakaki. That tidbit didn't seem to put the tall girl at ease at all though. The pitiful look on Sakaki's face managed to pull at the beast's heartstrings. "You can just call me whatever you like, girl." It offered as it started strolling away again.

Put on the spot, Sakaki drew a complete blank as she frantically tried to think of a name. Just as the monster began to turn down a different alley, the chime of its bell prompted Sakaki to come up with the first thing that came to mind. "Rin!" she shouted to the bakeneko.

The bakeneko let out an amused chuckle. "I like the sound the sound of that," she joked as she slipped out of sight.

As soon as the cat left her line of sight, Sakaki felt a pang of melancholy. She didn't allow but a few moments of lamenting, though. The clock was against her and time was already running out. Looking once more at the string attached to her pinky, Sakaki set off in the direction she remembered the pentagram pointed at.

It didn't take long for her to come to a main street and, as soon as she got there, Sakaki was able to spot the red strings on everyone's hands. Wading through the crowds with her eyes on people's hands, Sakaki was able to spy dozens upon dozens of strings that didn't match her own. In fact, she only found a few matching pairs on some happy-looking couples. Most of the couples she passed were mismatched, and it definitely gave the tall girl an uneasy feeling.

Stumbling through crowds looking randomly wasn't getting Sakaki far, but the hints left behind by that mysterious woman didn't help much either. Someone she knew, and someone she had already seen today. It must have been someone that she didn't recognize. After all, she was more than a little preoccupied with chasing down that cat. The only people she saw that she knew were Tomo, Yomi, Osaka…and…

Sakaki sighed as she realized she couldn't remember much at all. Having little other option, she decided that maybe Tomo or Yomi saw someone in the area from their class. The only problem was how to find them. Sakaki didn't know their phone numbers offhand, and there was no telling where the duo could have gotten to by now. Pulling out her cell phone, she found the time to be 16:08. Time was definitely not her friend.

Was wondering around aimlessly really the only option she had? Sakaki was actually starting to feel a bit bitter at that mystery woman for disappearing like that. The arrow left by the pentagram clearly wasn't enough, especially considering that Sakaki no longer had any clue where she was in relation to where the thing was pointing anymore. Feeling rather helpless, Sakaki opted to stay there on the bench and just keep an eye on passerby's hands.

And so she sat for quite some time as she kept a sharp eye on the red threads that passed by. Even though hundreds of people passed by none had a string to match her own. Just as she began to despair again, a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Hi again, Sakaki," A memorable drawl sounded.

Looking up from hand height, Sakaki found a familiar girl staring back at her. "Osaka," Sakaki greeted before she let her gaze fall back to the passing hands.

"Ya seem kinda down," the spacey girl noted.

Sakaki didn't even look up this time. "I'm searching," she vaguely explained.

Taking Sakaki's cryptic words into consideration, Osaka did her best to figure out what she was looking for. Following Sakaki's gaze, all Osaka saw was passerby's hips. "Are ya lookin' for a boyfriend?" she guessed.

Honestly, that wasn't too far from the truth. "S-Sort of," Sakaki admitted.

"I ain't an expert, but I don't think that starin' at people's asses is a good way ta go about it," Osaka obliviously informed Sakaki, eliciting a deep blush from the tall girl.

"N-No, that's not…," Sakaki tried to explain as she finally relinquished her gaze back to the Osakan.

"So what kinda guy are ya lookin' for?" Osaka interrupted, not even registering Sakaki's protests at all, "Aside from one with a nice butt, that is."

Sakaki sighed as she realized that she wouldn't be able to reason with the quirky girl. Nonetheless, she might prove to be a blessing in disguise after all. "Have you seen anyone from our school today?" Sakaki seriously inquired.

"Ya have a crush on someone?" Osaka practically demanded in a manner that was hard to determine if she was just surprised or if she was actually angry. "That's not like you at all!"

Sakaki firmly shook her head. "I'm looking for…the match," she tried to explain as she held up her pinky.

Osaka who, like everyone else minus Sakaki, couldn't see the thread just assumed that Sakaki meant that she was looking for her soul mate. After all, how could she have possibly known that Sakaki had gained the ability to see the fabled thread binding soul mates together? "Ya think yer soul mate is someone in our class?" Osaka queried after a bit of thought.

Sakaki nodded, "That's…what the fortune teller said."

"You gotta be careful around people like that!" Osaka suddenly and unexpectedly scolded. "What if ya got a bad fortune? Ya could even end up dead if ya got the wrong fortune!"

Sakaki paled a bit. She had never even considered those sorts of possibilities. "It… wasn't bad, though," the tall girl reasoned as her gaze wandered back to watching hands.

After a few moments of silence, Osaka spoke again, "So… d'ya think I could get my fortune, too?"

Sakaki's gaze slowly trailed back to Osaka as she gave her a quizzical stare. "Didn't you just say that it's dangerous?"

"Never mind that," Osaka easily dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Where can I get my fortune?"

"The fortune teller…vanished," Sakaki tried to explain.

"Vanished?" Osaka asked. "Like in a puff of smoke?"

Sakaki shook her head. "Just… vanished."

"Do ya at least know where she went?" Osaka asked after a few seconds of contemplation.

Again, Sakaki shook her head, although she didn't say anything.

Resigning herself to the fact that she wouldn't get a fortune herself, Osaka opted to take a seat next to Sakaki. "So," Osaka started after watching Sakaki seemingly watch the rear ends of every passerby for a few moments, "what'cha gonna do, then?"

"I need to find it," Sakaki simply replied as she watched string after string go by.

"Find it," Osaka repeated in her usual spacey tone, "You mean someone from our class, right?"

Sakaki nodded to affirm the spacey girl's question.

"How'd'ya plan on doin' that?" Osaka continued to prod.

"I don't know… where to look," Sakaki admitted.

Osaka seemed thoughtful for a moment before replying. "If it's a classmate, then ya should look at school."

"It's Sunday," Sakaki pointed out, "there's no one there."

"Just wait 'til tomorrah," Osaka offered.

Sakaki shook her head. "It… can't wait," she claimed.

Osaka seemed thoughtful as she tried to come up with another answer. "Maybe another fortune teller could tell you where to find him," the quirky girl offered.

For once, it seemed like Osaka had a good idea. But for all the good it was, Sakaki still had another problem. "I don't have any money," Sakaki mournfully explained.

"I see," Osaka replied as she stared straight ahead. "Well then," she continued as she stood up and brushed her dress off, "I guess I should be going then."

"'I give up', huh?" Sakaki thought to herself as she responded to Osaka's goodbye wave in kind. As soon as Osaka assimilated into the crowd, Sakaki breathed an animated sigh. Things really were looking to be rather hopeless. There were millions in Tokyo, and Sakaki couldn't even remember where exactly that magic symbol was pointing to anymore. Not that it even mattered all that much anyway. By now they could be halfway across the city. "Where would my soul mate be?" Sakaki mumbled to herself as she looked to her own string again. That's when it hit her. It was her soul mate. Surely her soul mate would be in a place that Sakaki loved. A place full of cute things they could enjoy together. Finding a resolve in that train of thought, Sakaki got to her feet and started off for a good place to resume her search.

Sakaki quickly made her way to a nearby pet store. This particular pet store was her favorite, since they always had kittens in the window. Unfortunately, the irresistible kittens served as too cute to pass up for Sakaki as she pressed herself up against the store window. She ended up wasting several minutes staring at the super cute felines before a voice broke her out of her stupor.

"Sa-Sakaki!" A familiar voice practically shouted.

Finally snapping out of her stupor, Sakaki spun around to find the girl she had collided with earlier next to another girl she recognized from her class. "It's you," the tall girl observed as her eyes darted to her hand and that of the girl next to her. "Sorry… for knocking you down before," she apologized yet again as she noted that neither string had a match, even though this girl's was strangely similar to her own. While it didn't match, it seemed almost nostalgic.

Seeing Sakaki staring at her hand, Kaorin raised her hand above her head and watched as Sakaki's gaze followed it. She then moved it as far left as she could reach, and then as far right. The whole time, Sakaki followed it with her eyes. Kaorin then brought the hand to her own face and turned it over to see what got Sakaki's attention so easily, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. "Is there something wrong with my hand?" Kaorin finally spoke up, breaking Sakaki out of her daze once more.

"It's… nothing," Sakaki dismissed as she finally came to the conclusion that it definitely didn't match her own.

"You're sure?" Kaorin asked as she looked the hand over again.

The tall girl nodded in response. "I thought I saw something, but it was a mistake," she assured.

"Saw something?" Chihiro asked as she too, took an interest in Kaorin's hand. "Like what?"

"Backwards… like a mirror… maybe?" she wondered aloud as she tried to discover what seemed odd about Kaorin's string.

At that, both girls held out both their hands as if somehow they would discover one of their hands to not match. "Everything seems fine," Kaorin stated obviously as the duo looked back to Sakaki.

"Like I said, it was a mistake," the tall girl defended herself.

No longer interested, Chihiro started off. "Come on, Kaorin," she urged as she offered Sakaki a wave.

"Wait!" Sakaki urged as Kaorin reluctantly started after Chihiro. Both girls stopped as they expectantly looked to the tall girl. "I-uh… have either of you seen anyone from school today?" she asked, still hoping for a clue to find the string that matched her own.

Chihiro looked thoughtful for a second before she answered. "Didn't we just run into Osaka a little while ago?" she asked Kaorin.

"Not her," Sakaki quickly interjected.

Kaorin shook her head. "We haven't seen anyone, then," she sadly informed Sakaki, disappointed that she couldn't aid her idol.

"Never mind, then," Sakaki replied, also disappointed that she had no clues to follow. As Kaorin and Chihiro melded into the crowd, Sakaki pulled out her cell phone and read the display. "17:49," she mumbled aloud. "I wonder when sunset is…" she continued to speak in little more than a whisper as she looked up to find the sun's position. Although the golden orb wasn't low to the horizon, it was still a far cry from being high in the sky, as well. "No time to waste," Sakaki decided as her mind raced to find an answer.

After a few moments of frantic thoughts, Sakaki started to despair. Finding her soul mate was turning out to be harder than finding a needle in a haystack. After all, at least you know that the needle is somewhere in the haystack. There was no guarantee that Sakaki's soul mate was in the same neighborhood, in the same city, or even in the same country! "What should I do?" Sakaki wondered to herself as she walked aimlessly, making sure to check all the passerby's hands. As her anxiety mounted, Sakaki went from a walk, to a jog, and finally to a run as she felt as if she would never be able to find a matching string before the sun sunk behind the horizon.

Several blocks later, Sakaki ended up coming across her two friends that were there when this whole mess started. While Tomo wouldn't be of any help to anyone in any circumstance, Yomi was a smart girl. Sakaki made a beeline to the duo to talk to the brunette. As she approached, Sakaki discovered that Tomo was sporting a shiner while Yomi had her arm in a sling. "Yomi… hah… Tomo…" Sakaki greeted as she struggled to catch her breath.

While it would be alarming to see anyone in as frazzled a state as Sakaki, it seemed especially bad considering how stoic the tall girl usually is. "Is everything okay?" Yomi asked with a bit of concern in her voice.

"It's… hah… I'm all right," Sakaki assured as her eyes immediately wondered to her friends' hands. While Tomo's string was nothing special, Yomi's string was obstructed by the sling. "Your arm…" Sakaki pointed out as she finally started to catch her breath.

"This idiot pulled it out of socket," Yomi spat with as much malice as she could muster as she glared at Tomo.

Tomo just grinned, knowing that it would irk the brunette. "Guess Yomi's not as tough as she boasts," she teased. "Gyaa!" the annoying twit suddenly screamed as her head suddenly lowered and she stumbled forward a couple of steps as she immediately covered the back of her head with both hands. "That really hurt!" she whined as she rubbed her aching head.

"Your head really is thick," Yomi growled as she shook her hand in a feeble attempt to alleviate the pain in her knuckles.

"You can't hit me if both your arms are in traction!" Tomo retorted as the pain in her head started to ebb away.

Seeing the duo descend into another one of their violent squabbles, Sakaki decided to put a quick end to it. Grabbing one of Tomo's wrists and Yomi's free wrist, the two girls immediately stopped fighting as they timidly met Sakaki's stern glare. "S-Sorry," both girls fearfully apologize as all the heat of their fight was chilled by Sakaki's icy stare.

Suddenly feeling more than a little guilty for scaring her friends, Sakaki quickly released their hands. "D-don't fight," she requested. Tomo and Yomi nodded in unison, although neither said anything. "I… ah… wanted to ask for your help," Sakaki finally spoke up after several awkward seconds of silence.

"With what?" Tomo spoke up in a daze.

Sakaki hesitated as she organized her thoughts and tried to think of the best way to articulate what she needed. "I'm looking for… someone from our class, I think," she reluctantly informed the awaiting duo. "Maybe our school."

"Which is it?" Yomi prodded, confused as to what exactly Sakaki was talking about.

"I'm… not sure," she honestly replied. "But I'll know it when I see it."

"If it's someone from school, why don't you wait until tomorrow?" Yomi argued the same point that Osaka did.

Sakaki shook her head. "It… can't wait."

"Do you even know who it is you're looking for?" Tomo impatiently interjected.

Once more Sakaki shook her head. "I don't."

Yomi sighed as she tried to make sense of what Sakaki was talking about. "Do you have a photo? Is it a boy or a girl? Any clues at all?" Yomi grilled in an attempt to narrow things down.

"The fact that it is someone from our school is the clue," Sakaki explained. "The only clue."

Finally Yomi seemed to be making some progress. "Clue to what, exactly?"

"My soul mate," Sakaki seriously replied.

Both Tomo and Yomi's mouths fell open at the statement. "I-Is that a joke?" Yomi stammered out.

Sakaki shook her head to indicate that she was completely serious. "I need to find it," she asserted.

While Yomi continued to stare at Sakaki completely dumbfounded, Tomo seemed to have a eureka moment. "I get it," she announced in her annoying know-it-all tone. "Sometime at school, someone bumps into Sakaki in the hallway and books go flying. As they apologize and reach for one of the fallen books, their hands touch and they simultaneously look up into each other's eyes. As Sakaki becomes lost in the alluring eyes of the mysterious stranger she knows in the depths of her heart that this is 'the one', but before she can get his name, the bell rings and they part ways without saying a word." Although it was a picture already painted a thousand times, Tomo managed to describe it well. "It's something like that, right?"

Although Sakaki kind of wished that is was, she shook her head. "Not at all."

"Of course it isn't," Yomi scoffed in a deadpan tone. "This isn't some lame TV drama."

"It's based on a true story," Tomo countered.

"Like hell it is!" Yomi retorted.

"Um…" Sakaki spoke up, trying to redirect things back in the right direction. "So… can you help me?"

Tomo and Yomi looked to each other to turning back to Sakaki. "Help with what, exactly?" Yomi inquired.

"Help me find my soul mate," Sakaki restated.

Yomi sighed as she quickly ran over everything in her mind. "The school might be a good place to look, if you hurry," she advised. "There might not be any school today, but we have a lot of clubs, so there might be some people there now. Aside from that, I can't think of anywhere to look."

"It's too late for that," Tomo quickly corrected. "It's already almost 18:00," she pointed out, "even with Sakaki's speed it'd be 18:30 by the time you get there."

"That late already?" Yomi mumbled aloud as she fished her cell phone out of her pocket. "I guess it's no good after all," she admitted as she caught sight of the time. "Well, if we come across anyone from school, we'll give you a call, okay?" Yomi asked as she held up her phone for emphasis.

"S-Sure, thanks," Sakaki appreciated, although she couldn't completely hide the disappointment in her voice.

"See you around," Tomo dismissed as she and Yomi started off to continue whatever it was they were doing in the first place.

And just like that, Sakaki was back to square one with little more than an hour to spare. Although she considered running to the school grounds for the slim chance that she would find someone there, Sakaki dismissed the notion as hopelessness took hold of her. "Maybe it really is completely impossible," she thought as she sat down at another bench and reverted to watching passerby's strings.

"So you have given up then?" a familiar voice echoed inside Sakaki's head as a bell sounded, nearly causing Sakaki to jump.

"R-Rin!" Sakaki recognized as she looked down to find the black cat sitting next to her on the bench. It didn't take long at all for Sakaki to forget the task at hand. "Is it alright… if I pet you?" she tentatively asked as she struggled to restrain herself.

"I think I would enjoy that," Rin telepathically replied as she climbed into Sakaki's lap and lied down.

Sakaki couldn't help but to blush and smile as she slowly drew her hand across the soft, black fur. "You came back," she marveled.

"I was curious, so I checked something out," the bakeneko dismissed. "I was also curious as to how far you had gotten after all this time. You have yet to find her, I see."

"Her?" Sakaki repeated as she hesitated in stroking the feline for a split-second.

Rin had to restrain herself from chuckling aloud and giving her existence away to the crowd. "A slip of the tongue, if it were," the monster explained. "I guess you could just consider it another clue to your goal."

"My goal?" Sakaki asked aloud just before her mind caught up. "My soul mate?" she realized. "You know who my soul mate is?"

"Not all eyes are as imperceptive as those of you humans," Rin reminded Sakaki.

"Who is it?" Sakaki practically demanded.

"It is rather unwise to keep shouting questions at an ordinary cat," Rin warned Sakaki at seeing all the attention the tall girl was garnering. "Just speak to me with your mind. I will be able hear you."

Looking up, Sakaki couldn't help but to blush in embarrassment as she found dozens of eyes on herself as those in the audience whispered amongst themselves. Avoiding their stares, Sakaki looked straight down at the cat in her lap. Pushing her embarrassment aside, the tall girl did her best to ignore the onlookers. "Who is my soul mate?" she restated her question, this time just focusing on the thought of saying it.

"It is not my place to say," the monster countered. "It is something you must find on your own… and speaking of which I should probably take my leave," she explained as she stood up and jumped to the sidewalk below. "I have already wasted a lot of your precious time. You should get going."

"Wait!" Sakaki stood as she shouted, forgetting the scolding she had just received. Rin seemed to ignore Sakaki's desperate shout as she dashed into the crowd and vanished into thin air. Letting out an exasperated sigh, the tall girl flopped back down onto the bench. Rin knew exactly who her soul mate was, but she refused to divulge who it was and Sakaki was at a loss as to why. As Sakaki contemplated the cat's words, one thing stuck out: Rin definitely said 'her'. Did that mean her soul mate was another girl? That thought elicited unease in Sakaki's stomach.

Doing her best to push the thoughts from her head, Sakaki tried to put things back in order. It wasn't so important who her soul mate was at this point, just finding them before the spell wore off. Thinking back to gypsy's advice, she remembered the card and the woman's words. If what the fortune teller said was true, then her soul mate had to be someone she knew. But who could it be? After all the number of people she knew by name was fairly small. In fact, outside of her homeroom, she really didn't know anyone's names. And she didn't really know anyone she'd be compatible with outside of school, either. So that left her with only a couple of dozen people. The problem was how to find them before sunset.

As she thought about her timeline, Sakaki cast a gaze at the sky. It wasn't even really blue anymore. The sky was already darkening as the sun flirted with the horizon. Pulling out her cell phone, Sakaki was surprised to see how much time had passed. "18:42 already?" Sakaki mumbled aloud. As she stared at the device, it rang to life, literally, as it began to play a musical chime. Finding a new message from Yomi, Sakaki opened it to find out that Yomi and Tomo had already come across a boy from their class by the name of Ohyama, and Yomi sent a picture of him to her. Opening the picture, Sakaki found the boy she recognized as the first term class president apparently waving to the camera, but that wasn't what caught the tall girl's attention. On his hand, Sakaki could see his string plain as day. After quickly texting back the fact that he wasn't 'the one' and her thanks, Sakaki jumped to her feet and took off in a sprint. If she could find the string in a photo, all Sakaki had to do was take one look at one of the class photos and she would surely find her soul mate. The only problem was making it to her home before the sun sank below the horizon.

As Sakaki dashed full speed towards her house, she kept casting glances at the red sky to try and spot the sun between the buildings and trees. Since it was so low, the tall girl couldn't seem to find it anywhere. To reassure herself that she still had time, Sakaki looked down at her hand. Finding her string still there gave the tall girl a bit of hope since she was starting to get close to her home. Caught up in looking at the sky again, Sakaki managed to run headlong into someone causing both of them to hit the ground hard. "Sorry!" she quickly apologized as she scrambled to her feet.

"Sakaki, what's the rush?" a familiar voice asked, causing Sakaki to hesitate instead of taking off towards her home.

Turning around, Sakaki found Kagura pulling herself to her feet. "I'm… I'm in a… a hurry," Sakaki breathlessly dismissed as she quickly eyed Kagura's hands over. What she saw, however, made her rapidly beating heart skip a beat. To affirm what she saw, she looked to her own hand as well.

"You get bit again?" Kagura surmised as she saw Sakaki staring at her own hand.

"The string…" Sakaki mumbled as she looked back to Kagura's hands again.

"String?" Kagura repeated, completely baffled.

"It's…gone," Sakaki sadly noted, despite Kagura not understanding what she was talking about. "I… ran out of time."

Kagura shook her head. "I don't get it," she admitted.

"I guess… it doesn't matter, now," Sakaki admitted as she kicked herself for failing so miserably. "I'm going home," she bitterly announced as she turned on her heel and started off.

Had Sakaki not sounded so upset, Kagura would have pried further, but considering that the tall girl seemed so very upset Kagura just let her go. "What on earth was that about?" she mumbled aloud as she watched Sakaki depart.

Later that night, Sakaki was still lamenting her failure as she flopped down onto her bed. Even though she had already had a good cry as soon as she got home, the tall girl still felt miserable. If she had only known about photographs ahead of time she could have found her soul mate without fail. Because of her own ineptitude, her one and only chance to find her soul mate with one hundred percent certainty was gone forever.

"My, my, my," a familiar voice boomed. "You seem to be awfully forlorn."

"Rin!" Sakaki observed as she sat up and found the mystical creature sitting on her windowsill. As Sakaki was about to go and open the window, the bakeneko simply walked through the glass as if it wasn't even there.

"I take it that you failed to figure it out," Rin sagaciously observed as she jumped down into the room and hopped up onto the bed.

Sakaki nodded to affirm that the cat's assumption was right as she reached out to pet the monster. "You know who it is, right?" Sakaki recalled. "Can't you tell me?"

"I can, but I am not going to," Rin curtly informed Sakaki as she curled up next to the tall girl. "Every other human has to find out on their own, so you do, too. It is called fate for a reason."

"You mean… the spell was doomed from the start?" Sakaki seriously inquired.

The beast chuckled at how astute the girl was. "That is why I called it a neat trick," she explained. "I am sure it gave you quite the experience, though. As I am sure you managed to find out something about yourself as well as a few clues as to who your soul mate really is."

As Sakaki contemplated Rin's words of wisdom, she realized the bakeneko was right. "I guess so," she admitted.

"Well, I am glad you are in a better mood," the catlike creature admitted as she suddenly jump up and free from Sakaki. "I think I shall take my leave now," she informed Sakaki as she started to fade from the girl's view. "I shall be around, so if you are ever in need, all you have to do is seek me out." With that last statement, the bakeneko faded away completely, leaving Sakaki alone in her room.

Sakaki couldn't help but feel a powerful pang of sadness as the monster-cat faded away, even if its words put her mind at ease. Looking back to where Rin vanished, Sakaki caught a glimmer of light. Curious, Sakaki got up and checked it out to find a small, silver bell where the cat had vanished. Although it was the same size and shape as the bell she had picked up out of the claw machine, Sakaki could somehow tell it was different. "A gift?" she wondered aloud as she carefully rolled the trinket in her hand, eliciting a soft, soothing chime as the bell rang out. Somehow the benign object managed to bring a serene feeling that overshadowed her befuddled heart.