Since I'm not popular, I'll dodge death!

Tomoko was at that point in her life when she was neither a kid or an adult. She was simply stuck somewhere in the middle of the road: The awkward phase known to many as being a teenager. The way she saw it, she was mature enough to play dirty games and know about sex but still young enough that she could get away with being lazy whenever she got the chance. After all, she wasn't a full-fledged adult yet and no one she knew was really relying on her. Her teachers, however, did not share this ideology.

Thus, the girl was forced to spend most of her time inside a large jail cell of a classroom, learning things she didn't give a damn about with students that while innocent and tolerable enough were extremely forgettable. When free time came around, they'd all talk about love or fashion or other things she wasn't interested in. True, Tomoko had managed to befriend one or two of her homeroom friends and she could at least speak to Komi-something and Yuu without throwing up but as far close friends went, she was still stuck with Yuu. It didn't help that Nemo, the one other girl she knew that liked anime refused to talk about it in front of others.

She must think she's too good for that kind of thing. What's that mean for me though? She thought to herself at least once a week.

Amongst her fantasies of gang-bangs, gaining the powers of a god or simply blowing up the planet, Tomoko had once or twice thought about what life would be like had she been born an animal. Out of all those, daydreams in which she took the role of a housecat, seemed the most appealing to her by far. By day, she'd lounge around the house without any responsibilities, be free to sleep until noon if she so desired and would be waited on hand (Or rather, paw) and foot by a loving owner. By night, she would prowl the neighbourhood, making friends with other felines and living each day to the fullest.

If she had to be a cat, she most likely be a black one. Not only would she look cool and mysterious but it reminded of that nickname she'd tried to give herself in middle school: Kuroneko. She wasn't a furry by any means, but this fantasy had become something of a recurring one. Things like this gave her escape from her everyday life: The wrath of her brother's face-grab, the stress of having hormones racing through her body like race-cars...

The report she had to do tonight.

Tomoko tried not to think about that as she strolled along the pavement on the way home, once again by herself. Those two other girls she sometimes walked with had been absorbed into a larger group of maidans today, letting her spend some quality time with her thoughts.

"How the hell are you going to get all of this work done?" Her inner voice asked her.

The second-year didn't know the answer to that one.

"Meow."

The truth was, she didn't want to do the assignment at all if she could help it.

"Meow."

She had that new video game to finish and there was that manga she had fallen beh-

"Meow."

Ok, what the hell's making that noise? Tomoko thought to herself, glancing around.

A fourth and final meowing caught her attention, making the mojyo drop to the ground and glance downwards, eyes already weighed down by the bags she obtained through countless late nights. Right in front of her was a small ginger cat with eyes as green as grass and a tail swishing back and forth behind it. Much as she hated to admit it, Tomoko had a certain fondness for cats: They were easy to talk to and they didn't require you to get up at god-knows-when in the morning to walk them.

Slowly, a thin finger scratched under the cat's chin, digging deep into its soft orange fur. The feline purred happily and obediently lifted its head, allowing for the scratching to be continued. A small blush popping up on the mojyo's face brought with it more scratches, bringing more purrs, which expanded the blush and... You get the idea.

After a time, Tomoko found it within herself to take the cat into her arms, albeit with some caution. With cats, you could never tell whether they wanted to be held or if they were going to scratch your face off should you even try and touch them. Thankfully, this one fell into the former category and let itself to be held.

"Pretty little kitty!~" Tomoko sang, cradling the cat in her arms and rocking it back and forth with a little more force than necessary. It wasn't often that a stray cat didn't want to screech at her and run for the hills so she wanted to take full advantage of this moment.

"Mew..." Whimpered the cat, enjoying the attention.

Tomoko had quite a history with felines. One had kept her company during the fireworks last year, another had given her a pat on the head when she craved it and then there was the pair that had sex right in front of her. True, they weren't having sex for her amusement but still...

"Wait here." Tomoko smiled, placing the cat down and walking towards a nearby convenience store. The feline tried to follow but Tomoko wasn't having any of that. She bent down and pointed right at the mammals face.

"STAY." She commanded.

The tiny creature froze, sitting down obediently. Getting up with a small groan, Tomoko made her way towards the store.

The doors parted ways with a faint "Ding!", allowing for the girl to enter the building. She knew she had to act fast, lest the cat run off somewhere. Browsing the shelves, Tomoko wondered what she would buy for the feline. She'd fed half a rice-ball to the one at the fireworks and as for as she knew, he was fine. Not wanting to take a chance, she went over to the aisle where they were usually situated, only to find it empty.

Some fatso must have bought them all!

That left the question of what else she could feed it. Racking her brains, Tomoko tried her best to remember what cats on TV ate. She'd never actually owned one of these animals but if it wasn't from a cartoon, she'd be fine.

I could give it milk...But I don't have a saucer. I suppose I could try Fish.

That sounded like a plan. She'd seen people on TV feed real cats fish and cartoon ones couldn't get enough of the stuff.

As if by magic, Tomoko bumped right into an aisle full of cold food. Clutching her nose, the girl looked up to see an ample collection of fish, resting in a large cold box to keep it fresh. Scanning the food, she tried to decide what to give her new friend. Trout? Cod? Kipper?

"What the hell's a kipper?"

Reading the packaging, Tomoko soon found out. Apparently, it was a cooked herring commonly enjoyed in a place called "Scotland" and could be cooked in the microwave rather easily. And what was that in the corner of the store?!

Plucking the packet out of the cold, Tomoko quickly strolled over to the cashier, thanking her graces that it was a rather plain looking woman instead of an attractive man. True, she'd made progress in composing herself in front of the opposite sex but she still didn't want to take any chances.

"I can't believe how much this was..." Tomoko mumbled as she left the store, the hot, smelly fish wrapped in a small paper bag.

Wandering out of the store, she found the cat still sat there, licking its small paw. Carefully, the girl took the fish out of the paper bag and placed it on top of it, as if she were dishing it onto a plate. It smelt like an unwashed trash can and as far she was concerned, probably tasted like one too. The cat didn't seem to think so. In fact, it was gobbling the fish up in record time! Something had to be said for table manners but still, it seemed to think the world of it.

Before long, the kipper was nothing more than a few bones and scraps scattered across the paper.

"Good boy." Tomoko smiled, scratching the kitty under the chin with her clean hand. "Or girl?"

Lifting the cat, she stared down at its crotch for a brief second.

"Girl."

Tomoko was still thinking about the cat the next day at school. Most of the time, she'd be imagining something burning down to cinders or a harem of attractive gentlemen of all shades, heights and waistlines all lusting over her but today, the cat was the one thing on her mind. Even though she had terrible taste in food and had made her hand stink all the way home, she did look rather cute.

"Maybe I'll see her again today..." Tomoko thought. "If it's a stray, I should at least give it a name."

She knew that her mother wouldn't allow a street animal in the house but she could always have it as a secret companion. The cat might even repay her in kind with a dead bird or something.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

And who should walk into the room but Yoshida, the class delinquent? Her usual look of indifference was not there, being replaced by a cocktail of a frown and the look of a devastated girl. Silently, she took her place at her desk, shaking like someone trying not to cry.

What's up with her? Tomoko thought.

She'd never, ever seen Yoshida look so pathetic. Heck, she didn't think she had any other emotions aside from indifference and anger. Maybe she got kicked out of her gang? Perhaps someone close to her died? Whatever the case was, Tomoko couldn't help but stare.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

Oops, she'd been too careless. Quickly, Tomoko yanked her phone out of her pocket and stared deep into the screen to avoid Yoshida's glare. If looks could kill, she had enough power to become a mass-murderer.

Tomoko spent the rest of the morning and most of her break staring over at Yoshida. She didn't dare talk to her: With a mood like that, she'd most likely beat her into a coma. Still, she wondered what had gotten her so wiled up. Theories began to flood her head, ranging from somewhat plausible ideas such as her pet dying to obscure, completely ridiculous ones such as her house burning down. Come to think of it, if that WAS the case, would she even be at school today?

"Kuroki-san?"

"Huh!?"

Snapping back to reality, Tomoko looked up from her packed lunch to see Yuri and Mako looking at her.

"You spaced out again." Yuri sighed, stuffing an octopus hot dog into her mouth.

"O-Oh, right." Tomoko stuttered, laughing a little.

"Is something funny?"

"Oh, no... I'm gonna go wash my face."

And before either of the girls could stop her, Tomoko marched out of the classroom and into the empty hallway.

"Great, now I've just embarrassed myself..." She thought.

Come to think of it, what was she doing, thinking about the delinquent so much? It wasn't her problem after all. Heck, if she tried butting in, she'd most likely choked to death. Yoshida DID have strong hands after all. That was when she decided that she wouldn't think about it anymore.

"Yoshida-san, is something the matter?"

What?!

Tomoko dived into the girl's bathroom, keeping the door opened by a crack just so she could see. Peeking her eye out, she caught Yoshida and another girl, most likely one of her friends, walking down the hallway together.

"It... It's nothing."

"Come on, tell me!"

"Alright..."

This was it, the moment of truth. Tomoko kept her ears peeled and hung onto the door for dear life. She'd never hear the end of it if she were discovered snooping.

"My cat...had to go to the vet last night. She ate something weird while she was out and she spent the whole night throwing up. Thankfully, it was nothing serious but..."

To her surprise, the mojyo saw the delinquent girl shed a tear, wiping it away with her sleeve before it even left her tear duct.

"I see...Well, I..."

Silently, Tomoko shut the door.

She was in DEEP trouble now. If what she thought was true, then she'd been the one who poisoned her cat! If Yoshida found out, she'd have her skinned alive in five seconds flat! Either that or buried alive. Heck, she might even call her delinquent friends to smash all her house's windows! She had to have a gang, right? She'd be just the person to do something like that!

No, it'd be ok. If she kept quiet, it'd be the perfect crime. Composing herself, Tomoko opened the door and walked out. The delinquent girl and her friend were gone, she was safe. For now, anyway. The only problem was that she'd forgotten to wash her face, evident by the small particles of rice that hung on her cheeks for dear life.

After a mostly uneventful afternoon, Tomoko was glad to be in the sanctuary of her own home. Nothing bad ever happened to her here. Well, most of the time at least. Sighing to herself, the girl spread herself out on her bed, her face planted firmly into her pillow, a small river of drool running down onto her sheets. True, she was safe for now but there was just one problem. Just one tiny, insignificant problem: She had to go back to school tomorrow!

It was only a matter of time before that girl found out what she'd done; either through investigation, Tomoko cracking under months of pressure or simply her jumping to conclusions. She'd had been choked by Yoshida several times before. True, none of those instances had left any scars (mental or otherwise) but those were just over trivial things such as accidentally grabbing her crotch or making her take the fall for something she did back at the hotel some time ago. If that delinquent found out that she'd killed her cat she might as well dig her own grave and write a will. It'd save that violent beast of a girl the bother of writing a slapdash one to cover up the murder. Although, she might not even use it and just throw her corpse into the river. Turning Tomoko into a buffet for the wildlife there would be one last slap in the face. There had to be a way to avoid that fate.

There was always the idea of running away. That would allow her to escape punishment entirely and give her a sense of freedom beyond anything she'd felt before. She'd be just like that red-headed girl, stealing apples and sweets to survive. She wouldn't even have to worry about dying in a battle with a witch since those didn't even exist! It was a good plan, a great plan even, until she accounted for her mother. If that woman knew she'd run away, she'd have half the police in the country on high-alert. Sooner or later, she'd be brought back home, kicking and screaming. If that delinquent didn't finish her off, her mother most certainly would...

She could play sick; she hadn't done that in a good while so her mother may believe her. It could work but it would only net her a few days off at best, then she'd have to face the beast herself. She could take martial art classes so if push came to shove, she could resist somewhat and perhaps escape a fight with her life. Then again, she'd read it took years to get anywhere with stuff like that. Knowing that girl, she'd find out within a year and then box her black and blue, regardless of how many hours she'd spent getting hot and sweaty in a set of white pyjamas.

But if she couldn't escape her punishment and she couldn't fight back, she could always soften the blow. Grabbing her purse, Tomoko strolled downstairs and out of the house, heading for town. If she feigned sympathy and gave that girl a few gifts, then maybe, just maybe, she'd let her live.

The next morning, Tomoko couldn't stop herself shaking. If all went well, she'd manage to get off with just a few bruises. If it didn't, she'd end up six feet under. Slowly descending the stairs for what could be the last time, Tomoko gripped the bannister as hard as she could, as if she'd fall down the wooden hill at any second.

"Eh? Tomoko, are you ok?"

Staring up at her mother with eyes that trembled almost as much as her body, the girl smiled. At least, she tried to. It wasn't genuine and it looked more like she was going to start crying but she was doing her best.

"Y... Yeah..." She mumbled and went over to the breakfast table.

Tomoki, also dressed for school, was halfway done with his breakfast. Before starting on her own, his sister leaned in close, her lips nearly touching his ear.

"I love you, brother."

Leaning back, Tomoko smiled at her little brother. There he was: young, full of life, that disapproving look he always had plastered on his face. Normally, she would have paid no notice to his facial features but impending death always made people look at things in a different light.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Tomoko simply gave her brother a wink as she started on her toast. Oh, how she'd miss him. Still, if she did die, he'd better give a good speech at her funeral.

The walk to school had been mostly uneventful like it had been for the past year and a bit. As the girl sat down on her chair, a small plastic bag fell over. Gasping, she lifted it by the handles to see if anything had smashed. Thankfully, nothing had broken. She couldn't remember how much this gift had cost her but she did remember taking the good part of an hour to pick it out. All that was missing was...

There she was.

Yoshida seemed to be a slightly better mood than she had been in the day before. The look on her face was once again the one of indifference that she usually wore, instead of the sullen, disappointed one she had the day before. As she sat down at her seat, Tomoko saw her opportunity. It was now or never.

"Uh...Um...Hey."

Yoshida looked up from the pencil she was twirling on her fingers. Standing before her was an ugly, trembling classmate with a waterfall of sweat dripping down her forehead. She was twitching like mad, as if she was going to explode any second like a time bomb.

"Yeah?"

Quickly, Tomoko thrust the small, pink bag at her classmate, almost hitting her in the face. Yoshida didn't flinch and simply took the bag from her. It was mostly empty, save for a small box-like object inside. She thrust a hand in, fingers rubbing over it for a brief second before plucking it out.

It was a box full of tiny rubber animals, each with cheeks pinker than a peach and a little smile on their face. From what she could see in the transparent box they were encased in, each of them had a little hole at the bottom.

"You…Err, put them on your pencils."

Tomoko studied the other females face carefully, trying to pick out her reaction. She didn't seem displeased but she wasn't smiling either. Wait... she was! She was actually grateful!

"Huh, thanks."

Yoshida put a little monkey on the end of her pencil and slid the box into her bag. Tomoko would have called her out for not using all of her present right away but right now she was happy just to be breathing.

"There's a card too..."

Reaching inside the plastic bag one last time, Yoshida picked up a small white envelope. It only took her a second to tear it open, the noise making the other girl shudder like she was tearing apart a human spine. Shielded by the envelope was a card with a snow-white background and a tiny black cat looking up at her. Its small green eyes seemed to stare right into Yoshida's heart, evident by her blush.

Flipping open the card, she found a small message inside:

I'm sorry about your cat.

-Tomoko

There was a silence. A brief, second-long silence. Despite how short it was, it felt like it lasted a lifetime. Then, the blonde girl turned to Tomoko, who promptly shuddered.

"How did you know about my cat?"

Crap. She hadn't imagined her saying that. The next few seconds were precious: She could either bullshit her way out of this, run for dear life or tell her truth. The first option would be easiest, the second was the safest and third one was the right thing to do.

Of course, she chose the first option.

"I heard it from your friend."

"What?! She told you?!"

"Sh... She just thought that you needed someone else to talk about it with. A problem sha...Shared is a problem halved after all..."

The delinquent opened her mouth, only to close it.

"I... I guess you're right," she mumbled, looking at Tomoko like she was a dear friend. "Besides, Haruka's going to be ok."

"Who?"

"My cat."

Bringing out her phone, Yoshida showed the other girl a picture of the cat in question. It had bright green eyes like the stray but it's fur was brown with the odd white spot littering it's body. Plus, it looked a lot bigger than the kitten Tomoko had seen the other day.

It was like the weight of a thousand sins had been lifted off her chest as a wave of relief washed over the innocent girl. She wasn't even sure if this was the work of a god or simple luck but right now, she'd be equally happy with either.

"I'm glad she got better."

And that I didn't do it. She thought to herself.

"Thanks."

Yoshida smiled at Tomoko. Perhaps she'd misjudged her after all. Sure, she was a pervert with little to no shame but she didn't seem like an awful person. Maybe she'd been a little too harsh on her over the past year? Heck, they could even build their relationship up from just "classmates" to an actual bond!

"Of course, it's pretty stupid how one little bite of food can make a cat sick."

And at that moment, all positive feelings that Yoshida had towards her vanished from this dimension; Tomoko had sealed her fate.

"What did you say?!"

With near-superhuman levels of strength, the blonde girl had picked up Tomoko by the collar and held her in a choking position, months of practise on her side. She didn't even have a chance to resist, her fate of being shaken like a rag-doll being one that could not, won't not be stopped. The poor girl tried to wriggle free, only for the delinquent to grip tighter. Her face turned a horrifying shade of blue, oxygen escaping her body to get away from Yoshida's wrath.

"I…I'm sorry…" She coughed.

From the other side of the classroom, Mako and Yuri watched the fight unfold, none of them looking particularly bothered.

"I'd better go stop them." Yuri sighed, getting up to once again break them up.

(And if you think Tomoko was suffering now, wait until Yoshida finds out she was lying about how she found out about her cat…)