MMMOOOORRRRWWWW!
'What the hell is that?' Nami wondered, getting up from the couch.
The awful howl permeated her house again alerting her that the maker of the sound was on the back porch. The full moon always brought out the neighborhood stray cats. One had found its way onto her back porch tonight. Stopping by the sink to fill a glass with water, she planned to get rid of the cat right quick and in a hurry. Opening the door, she was greeted with another loud yowl. The cat was sitting on her welcome mat as if it was supposed to be there.
"Hey!" she yelled when the white fur ball calmly padded into the house as if she had opened the door just for him. It was not hard to tell it was a 'him' once he turned his behind to her. She watched in stunned disbelief as he made himself at home on her living room couch.
"Hey, you! You don't belong here!" she shouted at the cat.
'Oh, god! I don't want to be the crazy cat lady down the street! It's not even my cat and I'm talking to it,' she thought with frustration as she stomped into the living room.
Nami stared down at the cat as if she could intimidate him to leave. The cat was white with black tipped ears and black paws. He looked up at her with his turquoise blue eyes and blinked.
"Meow." His eyes slowly closed then reopened. It was as if he were begging her to stay.
"Poor kitty," she cooed, she stroking his back. "Do you want to live with me?"
"Meow."
She giggled because it was as if he were trying to communicate with her. Sighing deeply with resignation, she went back to the kitchen to close the door. Looking down at her hand, she saw the glass of water and drank it. The bold kitty had saved himself from an impromptu bath and gotten himself a new home. She sat the empty glass down on the counter refusing to allow the worry to blossom that she was completely losing her mind. Cats were her favorite animal yet she had harbored no real desire to own one for a pet. Her main reason was because of the stigma attached to single women with cats. Returning to the living room, she sighed indignantly to see the large cat stretched out on her sofa asleep. Her home was his home, and he had not wasted a minute before getting comfy.
Nami had a soft spot for cats so there was no way she could throw him back out now. Besides, he was a beautiful creature. Massive for a cat, he stretched across half of the couch. Why was such a spoiled feline running loose? It was apparent he was well taken care of and someone had owned him. Sitting beside his large head, she noticed a thin, sky blue collar around his neck. Not caring if she woke him, she tugged on the collar to check for a tag. On a round silver disk attached to the collar she found bore a single word and no address.
"Grimmy," she read out loud. Grimmy? What an odd name for a cat. "Well, Grimmy, welcome to my home."
...
Nami awoke with something soft, warm, and very heavy on her chest. She wriggled around a bit and heard the grinding sound of a loud purr. Opening her eyes, she was greeted by the intense stare of two sky blue cat eyes.
"Good morning, pretty boy. Did you sleep with me last night?" she asked, scratching him behind his black tipped ears. She smiled when he pushed his head into her hand and purred louder.
The cat pushed past her hand and nuzzled against her cheek. Nami sighed as he happily rubbed his cheek against hers as if he were thanking her for a warm home to sleep in instead of having to endure another cold night outdoors. She laughed again when he curled up on her chest and attempted to go back to sleep.
"Oh, no, you're not going back to sleep, Grimmy," she informed, picking him up.
Nami placed him on the floor next to her feet before she stood up to walk into the bathroom. She did not expect him to follow her, but he silently walked behind her right into the bathroom.
Grimmy sat at her feet, staring up at her as she got undressed. He waited for her as she showered, meowing at her when she reappeared from behind the moss green shower curtain.
"Pervert kitty!" she admonished him when he mewed lowly at her while she dried off.
Nami began to mentally plan her day. It was her day off from her paper pushing job so she would have to go shopping today to get him a few things. Maybe she should go to that expensive pet store where pets were allowed to accompany their owners inside.
"We're going shopping, Grimmy," she announced as she walked into the bedroom to get dressed in jeans and a slouchy orange pullover sweater.
Fashion was not a word in her vocabulary. Clean and comfortable were the words she lived by when it came to her clothing choices. She continued to talk to the cat and occasionally he would meow in response as if he were actually listening. Damn. It was official. She had already succumbed to the insanity of being a single woman with a cat.
Grimmy sat in the top basket of the shopping cart like he was king of the world. He nuzzled her hand sporadically as she pushed the cart down the aisles to show his gratitude for her kindness and the fact that he liked her. This won him a full body stroke or a scratch behind the ears each time he rubbed against her hand. He loved her already.
Nami had gathered the basics such as food, a bed, and bathroom essentials. She was now perusing the toy aisle. Just like any good cat lady, she would present the toys to him for a show of interest and approval. She soon got the distinct feeling she was being watched and raised her head to look around. Her eyes met a pair of friendly brown ones under a cap of spikey orange hair. Orange? Despite the odd colored hair, he was very nice looking.
"Hi," he said, offering a shy smile.
"Hello," she returned, putting back the toy she was holding. Grimmy did not seem to like that one anyway.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. It was just so…cute. You're treating him as if he were a human and not a cat," he remarked, his smile growing with amusement.
"Well," she began, clearing her throat as the heat of embarrassment rose to her face. "A lot of people do that. It's really not that unusual."
"You're right. It's not. I just couldn't help noticing you. That's all," he assured her, still smiling.
Why would he notice her? There was nothing special about her. Mousy brown hair that was flat as a board and barely drifted past her shoulders, dirt brown eyes, and skin as white as a sheet would hardly deem her as a beauty queen or noteworthy by a man with his looks. Smiling self-consciously, she bowed her head and went back to searching for suitable toys.
"My name is Ichigo," he offered, waiting for her to reciprocate.
"I'm Nami. Nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand. Grimmy rubbed against her other hand then turned to hiss at the man when he shook her presented hand. "Oh, I'm sorry. Grimmy, stop that," she admonished, stroking his back to push down the raised fur.
"I have a dog. He must smell him on me. He's a shiba inu named Renji," he told her.
"Meow!" Grimmy bawled, pawing her hand.
"I suppose I should be going. I just found him on my doorstep last night, and he's still a little nervous," she offered in excuse. She was the one who was extremely nervous. Talking to the handsome man had set her nerves on edge, and she was ready to leave anyway. Men frightened her. No wonder she was single.
"Maybe I'll see you here again sometime," he said, as she walked away.
"Possibly," she returned, disappearing around the corner. She took several deep breaths to steady her ragged breathing. Honestly, she should be ashamed for being such a coward. Hopefully one of these days her awkwardness would be cured. Some kind of miracle had to happen to her.
...
Nami was lying on the couch with the cat stretched across her body as they watched television. His head was tucked under chin and his back paws extended past her waist. She still could not believe the size of this cat. He was probably nearly as big as Ichigo's dog. She blushed from thinking about the attractive man. If she had any courage at all, she would have asked for his phone number. Alas, she was too bashful therefore she was in her early twenties and still without a boyfriend. The saddest thing of the matter was that she was completely aware of how pitiful it was that she could hardly talk to a man much less date one.
"But you love me right?" she asked the cat. Her answer came in a deep, rumbling purr that vibrated through her chest from the cat. "I thought so."
Grimmy became her ever present companion when she was at home. He slept with her at night, stood guard while she showered, then dutifully followed her out the door when she left for work. When she returned home, he would be sitting on the welcome mat at the backdoor waiting for her. He would eat his dinner from his special bowl with his name on it while she sat at the table and ate hers. Then they would watch television together until she went to bed. She had a boring life, but since he was a cat he did not care. It suited him quite well. She suited him quite well.
~\0/~
Nami came home and did not find Grimmy sitting on the back porch waiting for her like usual. Apprehension tugged at her gut, but she pushed it aside. He had appeared a little over a week ago so maybe he had gotten comfortable with his surroundings and decided to go exploring. She went on into the house to get dinner prepared for when he did come home.
It was dark, cold, and a half-moon lit the night sky. Nami sat on the back porch anxiously calling the cat that had wiggled his way into her home and her heart. Where could that darn cat be? Why wasn't he home yet? Nervously wringing her hands as she paced across the back porch, she called him again. It was getting late and the chill was getting worse. It was near the end of October after all. Pulling her sweater around her tighter, she sniffed because she wanted to cry and the frigid air was making her nose run anyway.
Nami refused to allow the thought into her head that he had simply ran away. He had showed up as a stray on her doorstep and he was a male cat after all. The term tom catting around was made for a reason. Maybe he had gone to seek gratification elsewhere. Just like a man. She suddenly remembered why she was in no big hurry to push past her fear of the male of the human species. She was afraid for a reason. When she was only four years old, her father had abandoned her and her mother for another woman. As she entered her teenage years, her mother was swift to inform her of the evils of men to keep her safe from the demons and their nasty tricks.
"Oh, Grimmy, please come home," she whimpered, feeling a tear slide from her eye. It was instantly cooled by the breeze and traced a cold path down her already freezing cheek. She had to give up and go in before she got sick. There was nothing else she could do but hope and wait for his return.
Grimmjow leaned against the side of the house, holding his head in his paw. He could not let her see him like this. She would never understand. He could not explain it since he did not understand it himself. He had always been like this. Since it was the half-moon, he had morphed into his half human form. He was now half man, half panther and like always, he was hopelessly confused. Why was he like this? Was he born this way or was he an escapee from some weird science experiment? Catching his reflection in the window beside him, he wanted to smash the glass. He had the body of a cat but stood on two legs and was as tall as a human man. His face looked like a man's but he had the sharp, feral teeth of a feline and blue furry ears. Streaks of blue under his eyes looked as if he had applied eyeliner. By Halloween, he would be changed into a man when the new moon was hidden in the sky from view. Too bad he would not be like this. He could walk among the people and no one would notice.
The sound of her crying inside met his sensitive ears. Grimmjow dropped to his knees beneath the windowsill when the light inside her bedroom flicked on. Curiosity got the better of him, he was a cat after all, and peeked above the windowsill. Her curtains were open a tiny bit so he could see her as she got undressed. Smiling, his sharp incisors poked into his full bottom lip. He had seen her undress many times. He liked watching her take a shower too. She allowed him to follow her wherever she went, and he most certainly did. His favorite place to sleep was on her chest, snuggled between her sizable but not overly huge breasts. His big body in cat form fit perfectly between them. She was not the most beautiful owner he had ever had, but she was by far the kindest. That alone made her unusually lovely to him.
Grimmjow felt a pain in his heart as he observed her sitting on the side of her bed sobbing after she put on her favorite (and his) pair of fuzzy pajamas. He liked sleeping on her belly when she wore those. The desire to go to her was almost irresistible. What would he say? 'Hi! I don't know what the hell I am but sometimes I'm a cat, sometimes, I'm a human, and sometimes I'm both. Can I live with you forever?' Then he could go visit her at the insane asylum she was sure to be taken to after she promptly lost her mind. No, he had to be careful. He wanted to stay with her, but he could not be seen like this by anyone – particularly her. Glancing around the yard, he noticed the large shed in the backyard. He would have to find somewhere to hide and that looked like the best place. He would be safe and still be near her.
"I'm sorry, Nami. Please, don't cry. One day I'll explain," he whispered, reaching out to place his claws against the window. "Just not today."
Every night Nami would go to the porch and sit for hours. Sometimes she would call for him. Other nights she would just cry. It was getting to be more than he could take. Grimmjow looked down at his body. He was almost fully human now. Tomorrow night was the new moon, and the transformation would be complete. He would have to stay hidden for another week until he was a cat again. It was obvious he was breaking her heart, and she was definitely breaking his. When would he tell her what he really is? How would he tell her?
Curling up on the old blankets he had found in the shed she used for storage, Grimmjow shivered until he fell into a fitful sleep.
