Hey guys! Chii here! Wanted to take a break for a while from Ghost Hunt and take a shot at another anime. I was poking around one day at Studio Ghibli works and came across The Cat Returns. Having seen Whispers of the Heart and noticing that they made a built off of Baron, I was thoroughly intrigued. When I watched the movie, I INSTANTLY fell in love with it! So, I decided to write my own FanFic; building off of where they left off, with a slight twist. I could go on and on about my life story and bore you to tears, so I'll just stop rambling now. Without further adue, I give you "Life Goes On."
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The Cat Returns. All wrights go to Studio Ghibli.
It's been approximately six months since the incident that changed my outlook on life for as long as I shall live. The time when I wouldn't have believed in myself or have as much confidence as I do now. If it wasn't for that incident, I'd still be a shy school girl, who always second guesses her decisions and wouldn't know what to do with herself. I have one person to thank for that: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen.
As the familiar tone of my cow-shaped alarm clock started chiming away, I lazily rolled over in my bed, groped around for the large snooze button, and reluctantly got up to get ready for school. I shivered as I quickly put on my winter school uniform, and went downstairs to start breakfast. As I walked over to the fireplace to light a small fire, I looked up at the mantle and smiled sadly. I was admiring the small urn that had positioned itself proudly on our fireplace mantle for the last few weeks.
'Breakfast just isn't the same without you, mom.' I thought to myself. 'Hope you're doing well in heaven…' Not long after I returned from the Cat Kingdom those few months ago, mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. They claimed that it was too far into the stages to do anything to treat it, and said that mom only had a couple more months to live. It seemed so surreal, and I didn't want to believe it. Mom made the best of the last few months of her life; up until the very last breath she took.
I had been so lost in thought, that when I glanced at the wall clock, I only had about 5 minutes to get ready. As I reluctantly gathered my things and ran out the door, I glanced back once more to make sure to say good bye to mom.
"Good-bye Mom!" I cried out with a sad, but soft smile. I shut the door behind me, and started my long trek to the school.
I was about half-way there, when I heard someone calling my name.
"Hey! Haru!" cried the voice. I smiled widely as I recognized the voice immediately. I turned around to see Hiromi running towards me, slipping every few steps on the icy sidewalks. As she came to a blatant stop, she ended up sliding further than anticipated, and ended up taking me down with her. When we landed, we burst into a chorus of laughter that filled the entire neighborhood.
"Whoops, sorry!" Hiromi said, helping me up in the process. I laughed a bit before replying,
"No, it's fine. It's not the first time it's happened, after all." I retorted with a smirk. Hiromi's face flushed a bit, before we both continued to the school. While we were walking, Hiromi decided to strike up a conversation. She talked about how her and Tsuge were doing great together, and how she goes to every one of his matches. I figured that they would end up together in the end. The week after I came back from the Cat Kingdom, not only did Tsuge confess his love to Hiromi, Machida did the same to myself. While Hiromi excitedly accepted Tsuge's offer, I politely turned Machida down, stating that I wasn't ready for anything like that yet. I was so lost in thought, Hiromi had to say my name a few times to snap me out of it.
"Haru? Haru!" She exclaimed. I jumped back a bit at the sudden snap back to reality, slipping a bit in the process. "Are you sure you're ok? You've been kind of spacey…" she asked.
"Of course! I'm fine. Sorry, just a bit tired is all." I said, forcing a smile. While Hiromi could obviously see that wasn't the case, she decided not to push the matter any further.
When school left out, I told Hiromi that I wanted to take a bit of a walk before I headed home.
"You sure?" She asked, concern filling her voice. I nodded.
"Mmhm. The walk will do me good. I'll see you tomorrow!" I exclaimed before enveloping my best friend in a tight hug. She reluctantly accepted it before walking off. I turned around and started my walk around town.
I was walking for so long, I hadn't realized it when I came to the Cross Roads. I decided to take a seat after walking around for so long. When I sat down, I hadn't realized it was the very seat where I had first met my large feline friend, Muta. I smiled sadly as I thought to myself,
'Ever since that day, I haven't seen head nor tail of that fat cat.' Chuckling to myself, I thought I caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of my eye.
"Hm? That was odd…" I thought out loud. "Just now, I could've sworn I just saw…" I hadn't even finished my sentence when I found myself subconsciously walking in what seemed all too familiar of a way. I turned down various ally-ways and climbed various roofs, to find myself staring at what seemed like a 'Blast From The Past'.
"Could it really be…" I said out loud, as I stood at the all too familiar white arch that held one of my most exciting memories. I walked slowly up to the arch to find myself shrinking with every step I took. When I finally got through the arch-way, I gasped at the dramatic change in height I had just witnessed. I took a deep breath as I scanned the village-like area, whilst memories flooded my head.
"Hm…I wonder if Baron would be home…" I said out loud. Without even thinking, I slowly strolled up to said feline's door. I hesitantly raised my hand to knock on the green-colored door, when a sound resonated behind me. I whipped around just in time to see the statue on the pedestal change from a statue, to a live crow.
"Toto!" I exclaimed with a wide grin. The sudden shout of his name made the bird jump a bit before recognizing the very human who had helped those many months ago.
"Haru?" He said with a bit of puzzlement in his voice. "Is that really you?" My smile widened as the crow gently glided down to greet me.
"Yep!" I exclaimed. "It's me!"
"Hey, Chicky!" I heard the familiar, rough voice of Muta sound from behind me.
"Muta!" I exclaimed as I ran up to him to greet him. "I'm so glad to see you both!"
"As are we." Toto started. "But, how did you end up so small?" He asked. I just looked at him.
"Your guess is as good as mine…" I said. "When I walked through the arch-way, I felt myself shrinking in size, and before I knew it, I was as small as a cat again." I explained. Remembering that we were missing one person from this equation, I turned to Muta. "Is Baron home?"
"Yeah, he's inside." Muta said with a grin, which I returned before walking up to the small building where the orange feline resided. I opened the door as quietly as possible. Sneaking in, I stayed out of sight quite well. When I shut the door quietly, I walked in a bit further as Baron was busy making himself a cup of tea. Grinning, I politely said,
"One cup of Baron's own personal blend of tea, please! With milk, if you would." I grinned as Baron whipped his head around.
"Haru?" Was all he managed to say. He smiled lightly at me as he came over to give me a light hug, which I gladly accepted. "Why are you here? And how are you so small?" He asked. I smiled.
"Good to see you too, Baron." I chuckled a bit before making myself at home on his couch. I missed this place so much.
Ok, so not much of a great intro, but I just wanted to get the intros and the reuniting back together all in one chapter so I could continue with the actual plot. Hope to see all your reviews! R&R and Review please!