The TV in the dimly lit room blared the entrancing lyrics of a popular Japanese music group. A feminine silhouette of a woman intently watched the singers dance across her screen and a thoughtful gleam began to shine in her eyes. "Alice 9 is full of such attractive men." A contemplative sigh escaped the lips of the small gothic dressed lady. "I wonder…" Smiling with ideas for a plot, the lady turned off her TV and called her favorite travel agent.
"Well done Shou!" Hiroto patted his lead singer on the shoulder as the group headed back to their dressing rooms.
"Did you see all the cute girls screaming for us?" Saga with his usual flirtatious gusto smiled at his bandmates.
"Unlike you Saga, the rest of us were concentrating on producing good music." Nao teased their lead bassist. Shou smiled at the antics of his group and opened the door to the dressing room for everyone.
"Great show boys." Gakki, the group's manager smiled as he opened the bottle of champagne in his hands.
"Champagne?" Shou looked curiously at his manager as the man poured five glasses of the bubbly liquid.
"Yes, apparently Alice Nine's fan base has increased over into the States. A lovely young lady dressed in black brought this as a thank you for your work. She came from the States just to watch you boys sing. I thought it was a very sweet gesture and it was a perfect topper to tonight's performance." The manager smiled and passed the glasses out.
"Hmmm…this lady was cute wasn't she?" Saga took his glass and gave a knowing look to his manager.
"I neither confirm nor deny." Gakki smiled and raised his glass. The rest of the group laughed before raising their glasses to join the toast. The boys left their flashy show clothes on as they took their places around the room and discussed the show.
Outside the door of the band's dressing room lurked the young woman dressed in her best gothic gear; black lace corset, black ballet skirt with skull fringe, mid-thigh lace up boots, and black lipstick completed her ensemble. She heard the pop of the bottle and the clink of glasses and a smile crossed her lips. Things were going according to plan and she waited for the sleeping spell on the drink to take effect. The woman didn't have to wait long as she heard the sound of people collapsing onto the floor.
Not wanting to waste the spell, she used another spell to open the door and enter the room. The sight before her was a mishmash of men collapsed on the ground. Saga was snoring lightly across the table, his glass still in his hand and tilted to spill over the dark wood coffee table. Hiroto was asleep curled on the floor with his glass strewn to the side. Gakki and Nao both lay collapsed across the couch with their glasses spilling on the floor. The woman's prize was lounging across an overstuffed chair.
"My beautiful man." The woman coed as she gently brushed the brown bangs from the sleeping singer's face. Her eyes lit with dark joy as she saw his face and her fingers trembled at the closeness of the man. "You'll be coming home with me my sweet, sweet man." She practically purred as she continued to gaze at the man asleep before her.
Shou was asleep in his tight fitting show outfit. The black leather pants fit perfectly on the man's well-formed legs and the red vest had a few of the black straps open. A teasing amount of the singer's chest fell into view as the straps pulled the corners of the red fabric further down. Black lips pulled into a soft smile as the witch's eyes caught sight of that masculine chest peaking from the clothing. "I will make you my pet, my dear, lovely Shou."
The soft smile on her lips stayed as pulled a piece of chalk from her purse. Carefully, the woman drew a circle around the chair and drew various symbols along the circle. Once the spell was set, the woman took a small sheet of paper from her purse and began reading off the words. Slowly pools of smoke formed along the lines of the circle and grew in intensity as the woman's words also gained intensity.
Before too long the singer was covered in a thick white fog. The fog shifted and moved over the man's body before beginning to clear. The black clade woman finished her chanting, put the paper back in her bag, and watched intently as the fog began to clear. Shifting wisps of smoke solidified and pulsed before dissipating. Once the smoky atmosphere cleared the form of Shou was nowhere to be seen. Instead, curled up on the couch where the singer was, lay a cute brown cat.
Soft sounds of the other boys waking up caused the witch to leap into action. She quickly lifted the sleepy cat from the chair and held him close to her chest as she made a quick exit. Leaving the room, the gothic dressed woman quickly hurried down the hall and out a back entrance. The cat in her arms barely stirred as she exited the building and hopped into a waiting cab. At the command of the woman, the cab drove off to her hotel.
With a yawn and stretch, Hiroto began to wake up. Opening his eyes he assessed the sight before him. "Hey, what happened?" His sleepy voice stirred the others.
"I didn't think the champagne would be that strong." Nao stretched as well and surveyed the scene.
"You did get that bottle checked out before serving it didn't you?" Saga asked their manager as he lifted himself from the table.
"Hey, where did Shou run off to?" Gakki asked and ignored the question the lead bassist posed to him. The group looked around for their singer, but the man was not in sight.
"His clothes are here." Hiroto moved over to the chair and lifted the red vest for emphasis. "Shou's pants are here too so he didn't go far."
"Maybe the girl who brought the alcohol for us ran off with him." Saga jested with a leering look and was rewarded with a collective withering glare from his bandmates. The group continued their search and when the adjoining rooms didn't have any evidence of their lead singer, Gakki called security. Security teams scoured the building, but to no avail. Cameras around the entrances only showed the young woman who brought the champagne for the group exiting out the back door with a brown cat in her arms. The search for Shou ran on for months, but he was never found and no one knew what happened to him. Several people speculated the singer was only taking a hiatus from singing to do some meditating and that he'd be back.
The woman turned off the TV as she watched yet another Japanese news cast speculating what became of the infamous singer, Shou. "Oh my dear kitten how they'd cry if they knew you were mine." The woman laughed as she pet the brown cat held in her lap. The cat didn't make a sound and the look in his eyes was one of both longing and sadness.
After the woman, Mona as the cat would learn her name later smuggled him from the studio she took him to her hotel. There she put him in a cat crate, packed her bags, and took another cab to the airport. Shou slept off the effects of the sleeping spell and did not wake up until he was on the plane. When the former singer awoke, his vision was blurred by the sight of bars. In a panic he tried calling out for his bandmates, but his voice came out as a loud meow instead of human words.
"Shhh… my little Shou. We are just flying home." A female voice called from next to him. He couldn't see who the voice belonged to because a plastic wall was obscuring his view. Confused and still sleepy, the pop star did remember drinking some alcohol before passing out, so he figured he was probably just having a bad dream. Deciding the best course of action was to go back to sleep, the singer curled up in his crate and fell back asleep.
Unfortunately for the former singer his predicament wasn't a dream. The plane landed and woke up the cat. To his dismay, he was still caged and any attempts at speech came out as a meow instead of a human voice. Loudly meowing failed to attract any of the attention since no one knew he was really a singer be spelled into a cat. Mona merely excused his loud meowing as agitation from flying and instead of getting help, he got sympathetic looks from various citizens of the foreign country. The voices didn't make sense to him since the speakers were using English and he didn't understand a word being said.
Mona brought the cat to her simple home in California and kept him close. Many times Shou tried to escape through a window or out the door as it was being opened, but Mona the ever watchful always caught him. After too many attempts, the witch put a seal on her home and try though he might, the former singer could not get out of the house.
Most of his days were spent staring longingly out the window or meowing sadly when he heard news casts of his disappearance or when his music played over the Japanese radio stations. The singer missed his bandmates and the antics they pulled. He missed being on stage and hearing the roar of the crowd. Most of all, he missed being able to sing. Mona kept him fed and gave him all the necessities for a cat, but he still felt like a prisoner.
"Japan is still looking for you Shou. No one is going to find you though." Mona cooed as she scratched the sad cat's ears. Shou didn't look at her or acknowledge her words. He lay across the woman's lap and waited until she would get ready for work. The witch ran a palm reading shop and on the weekend nights she held a gothic festival in a local club. Tonight was Friday night, so Mona would be out for a long time and if Shou had any luck, she'd return drunk. Drinking weakened the witch's power and he might find a chance to escape.
The witch watched a few more news casts covering the disappearance of Shou before turning the TV off and putting the cat on the floor. "Now you behave while I'm gone my sweet pet." Mona stood up, grabbed her purse, and headed out the door. The brown cat waited 'till he heard the witch's car drive off before moving from the spot she set him on. With his soft steps Shou made his way across the carpeted house and padded into Mona's bed room.
Mona's house had lots of red and black décor. Most of the decorations were garish and gothic themed items. Lots of chandeliers, candelabras, coffin furniture, and crosses lined the walls and ceilings. Shou desperately wanted out of the garish house and return to his signing. The bedroom held a coffin bed and thick red drapes framing the window. That window was the cat's goal. When the witch returned from her nights out she cracked the window to let in fresh air before passing out drunk on her bed.
With a quick jump, the brown cat landed on the windowsill and curled up behind one of the curtains. Just enough of the sill was covered to give the former singer a spot to hide. He curled up and began the long wait for the witch to return. His plan was simple and he hoped it'd work. When Mona returned and opened the window, Shou planned to sneak out from the opening and run as far as he could from the home. He still didn't know where he would go to find someone who could return him to his human form, but one step at a time. If there was a witch that could make him into a cat, there had to be a witch to turn him human.
After a long wait and a battle with the natural cat urge to sleep all of the time, Shou was rewarded with the sound of a car pulling in. His sensitive ears heard the stumbling gait of the witch as she strode across her gravel drive. A key turned in the lock, the door squeaked open, and Mona entered her abode. The soft thump of her purse being dropped on the floor hit the cats ears before the shambling sound of a drunken person entered the room. "Shouuu, here kitty, kitty." The witch called to him and he ignored the call. "Oh I'm too tired to look for you. I really shouldn't have cast that spell." The woman mumbled as she began to fumble with the latch on the window. "It'll be worth it though my sweet kitten. We'll have your friends if the spell works." Mona whispered as she collapsed on the bed and fell asleep.
Not wasting his chance, Shou used his claws to rip through the screen and scrambled out the window. He landed quietly on the ground and waited for the familiar excruciating pain that normally accompanied an escape attempt. A few minutes and the pain did not hit him. Confident that his escape worked, he took off like a shot and ran as far as he could.
The brown cat ran through the back streets until he was too tired to run anymore. Finally slowing down, Shou took stock of the area he was in. Lots of iron gates and trashy houses lined the street he was running down. Not someplace a human should be in the dead of night, but as a cat he felt he could handle it. He scanned the scene for a place to hunker down for the night and before long a cardboard box came into his line of sight.
With a last burst of energy, the cat ran to the box. He wormed his way into an opening on the side of the box and curled up for the night. The box was the perfect size for him. Large enough for him to move around as he needed and yet small enough he could stay warm. The night passed too quickly and before the sun was fully up, something was pushing against the box. Shou could hear a sniffing sound followed by a low growl.
Shou sat perfectly still in his box and tried to wait out the animal that was sniffing at his box. He had no such luck as he heard a loud bark and the animal started tearing at the box. Quickly the brown cat shot out of the exit and ran off. Two large dogs caught his scent and gave chase. Still tired from his run the night before, the former singer took several twists and turns down the alleyways to throw off the dogs.
Finally, a chance appeared before the cat. The feline darted into a hole in the fence next to him and effectively cut the dogs off. A nearby bush provided an added shelter and Shou crawled under it to try sleeping for a few more moments. He circled around a few times and curled up for a nap. Again, the tired cat didn't get much sleep as something else crawled under the bush. Slowly, Shou opened one eye to see who and what the intruder was.
Creeping into the bush with him was another cat. Shou began to relax again until he heard the other cat give a loud, angry hiss and claws swiped against him. The brown cat gave a painful cry before wiggling his way out from under the bush. He didn't have the energy to fend off the other cat and made another run. The other cat chased him out of the yard before making his way back under the bush.
Discouraged, Shou made his way slowly down the streets. He was tired and now thirsty, so instead of seeking out a place to sleep, he sought out a drink. The brown cat slowly made his way through the streets and a sudden crack of thunder caused his spirits to drop further. In all of his running and dodging he failed to notice the darkening sky above. Pausing in his quest for a drink, he glanced up at the black clouds above him. Another crack of thunder warned that rain was coming soon. At least the rain would give him something to drink, but he'd want shelter first.
Wandering the streets held no obvious shelter for the small animal, and large drops of water began to fall on the cat's fur. A flash of light and one more loud crack from the sky seemed to be the signal for the entire sky to rain down on him. A torrent of water poured onto the cat and he started another desperate run. The streets quickly filled with water as the torrential downpour let loose. Shou ran through the flooding streets and before finding a shelter a strong wave of water washed over the already soaking cat and knocked him over.
Carried by the water, the already exhausted cat had no strength to fight the current. His peripheral vision caught sight of a bright light approaching him, but he was too tired to care what would happen next. The light drew ever closer and the feline closed his eyes to resign himself to his fate. As the light engulfed him, Shou thought this was the end and didn't bother struggling. A sense of falling caused the former singer to open his eyes. The light around him cleared and he found himself in a dry ally. Unsure of what was happening, but thankful to be out of the rain, he picked himself up and walked down the alley.
Tiffany split the tip jar with the other members of the orchestra before leaving the hotel's restaurant. He hotel maid doubled as entertainment for the weekends. On Saturday and Sunday nights a small three man orchestra played soft music for the young woman to sing to. Singing was a dream for her and this was a good way to start and get recognition. Tonight's tips were good and she'd be able to save it toward adopting a student.
The local Gijin Labs perfected a way to give animals a chance to become human. The humans in the city could take on these animals turned human as their students. The goal was to raise the animals into proper humans. Tiffany wanted to adopt a cat student eventually, but she wanted to make sure she had the finances to support the student. There were jobs and things students could take, but she wanted to be sure any student she had didn't need to work too hard. In fact, some of the other workers in the hotel were students. Most of them just did the gardening and simple tasks, but a few had a knack for cooking and worked in the kitchens.
A smile on her face, Tiffany made her way to the locker room. She collected her things and headed out for home. "Goodnight Tiffany. Have a safe walk home." The security guard opened the door for her.
"Thank you. It's a pretty evening so I'll be fine." Tiffany smiled at the guard and left her job to head to the company housing she lived in. The world she lived in was safe as far as crime goes, but there were other dangers. If she wasn't paying attention she could get hit by a car, or fall and hit her head, but nothing life-threatening from another person. The stars above her head shone brightly and Tiffany smiled up at them as she turned down the street leading to her home.
Exhausted, hungry, thirsty, and wet Shou poked his head out from the alley. The landscape was unfamiliar and he had no idea where he was. Bright stars shone above him and there was no sign of the torrential downpour he left. If the singer didn't know better, he'd say he was in another dimension. His tired eyes caught the movements of someone approaching, but he was too tired to try running. He let out a weak meow and collapsed onto the sidewalk.
Tiffany heard a soft meow and looked to her right. There was a dark alley and in the entrance of the alley was a very wet cat laying there. "Oh no." Tiffany hurried over to the soaking brown ball of fur. The cat didn't register her presence and she feared the poor thing was dead. To her relief she saw the slight rise and fall of the cat's sides. One side of the cat did have marks from what appeared to be another cat, but this little guy was still alive.
With a strong sense of urgency, the caring woman picked up the brown ball of fur in her arms and changed her direction. Holding the feline close to her body, Tiffany headed off to the Gijin Labs. The labs turned animals into humans, but they also had the best veterinary department in the world. The rescued cat needed help and the labs were the best place to go. She tried not to admit to herself that she secretly wished the Gijin Labs would deem the cat appropriate to change into a human. If that happened, she wanted to be the one to take him in. Hopeful steps led her to the labs.