A/N: It's been a while, but finally I have the next chapter ready. I wrote a large part of it while drunk, so I had a lot of cleaning up to do and it still doesn't read well in the second half, but I really don't want to have to work on it anymore. I'll go back and fix it later on.
Kaorin sat restlessly in a small room. Kei had informed her to wait there until a nurse arrived to take her blood. She really, really wasn't looking forward to this. "I really hate needles," Kaorin whined aloud in the empty room. "Why couldn't that bastard just take the blood himself?" Kaorin wondered as she reluctantly looked about the room. Nothing in sight gave even the smallest bit of comfort. The poor catgirl sighed for what had to be the tenth time since she had been left alone. Kaorin suddenly perked up as she retrieved her vibrating cell phone from her pocket. At first she thought it was her mother, but when she looked at the display it was a number she had never seen before. Reflexively her finger moved to the ignore button, but she decided that anything that could get her mind off of the imminent loss of blood would be a good thing. She clicked the phone and held it awkwardly to her mouth. "Hello?" she asked before quickly moving the phone up to one of her cat ears.
"Kaorin?" An unmistakable voice echoed from the small device.
"Sa-Sakaki-san!" Kaorin exclaimed as she nearly dropped the phone in her excitement. She got a dreamy look on her face as she took in the situation. "Sakaki-san called me!" Her mind screamed as she nearly forgot the situation at hand was real and not some fantasy. "H-How did you know my phone number?" Kaorin stammered out as she realized that she hadn't ever given her idol the number to her cell phone.
"Um…Chihiro-san gave it to me," Sakaki awkwardly explained. "I'm sorry if I shouldn't have."
"No!" Kaorin exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm. "I'm glad you called! You can call me anytime! Anytime!" She rambled on elatedly.
Despite the over eagerness of the catgirl, Sakaki was relieved that she was indeed welcome to call her new friend. But that wasn't the issue at hand. "Um…Are you busy?" Sakaki prodded.
"Actually, I'm in the hospital right now." Kaorin regretfully informed Sakaki.
It was Sakaki's turn to nearly drop her cell phone. "The hospital?" Sakaki anxiously asked. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine!" Kaorin quickly responded. "They're just doing tests to figure out what's going on with my ears and stuff."
Sakaki let out a sigh of relief. "Will it be over soon?"
"I'm not sure." Kaorin admitted. "I'm sorry."
Sakaki remained silent a moment as she considered what to say. "If you get a chance," she proceeded with trepidation, although Kaorin didn't pick up on the uncertainty in Sakaki's voice, "can you meet me at the cats' house?"
"Sure!" Kaorin thoughtlessly responded. "I'll come as soon as I can!" Only after she answered Sakaki did the entirety of the tall girl's request register. "Um…Where is the cats' house?" She sheepishly asked as soon as she realized she had no clue what Sakaki was talking about.
"The house with all the cats…" Sakaki answered her with disappointment evident in her voice. "You've forgotten already?" She couldn't put much of a reason to it, but just the thought that the catgirl had already forgotten the seemingly magical experience they had shared at that place caused Sakaki a strange pain in her chest that she couldn't identify.
"I haven't forgotten!" Kaorin insisted. "I just didn't realize what you were talking about." No sooner had those words left her mouth did the door to the small room give a click as it started to open. "I have to go now," Kaorin remorsefully informed Sakaki. "I'll meet you there as soon as I get a chance."
"Okay," Sakaki replied, "thanks."
When Kaorin looked up she saw, instead of a nurse, none other than Kei. "The nurse hasn't arrived yet," Kaorin informed him as she snapped her phone closed.
"Nurse?" Kei asked. He was baffled a moment before he let out a chuckle. "Oh," he said as he remembered, "that was a lie." "I just needed you to wait here until I finished dumping most of my other patients on some of my more gullible colleagues." He explained without a hint of remorse.
A vein on Kaorin's head began to throb. "You really are shameless aren't you?" She irately asked.
"I will be needing quite a bit of your blood though." He said, serious for once, as he dug around in a nearby drawer to reveal a needle and several vials that needed to be filled.
Kaorin paled as she saw the multiple vials, six in all. "You-You really need that much?" Kaorin stammered as she subconsciously scooted away from the not-so-average doctor.
"I'll probably need more than this." Kei informed her as he brought out a strip of rubber, a bottle of rubbing alcohol, and some cotton balls. "But I suppose it'll do for now."
Meanwhile, Sakaki had contented herself to simply watch the cats come and go from the condemned building as she awaited Kaorin's return. She wished she had gotten at least some kind of estimate as to when Kaorin would be finished at the hospital. While Sakaki could have easily called her back and asked for one that would be not only rude, but may interrupt something important for her new friend.
She let out a lonely sigh, but almost immediately her mood turned around and a goofy smile appeared on her face as she watched a kitten clumsily fall out of one of the houses windows and flop down to the ground. Of course it landed on its feet. Sakaki was tempted to chase after the extra-cute cat, but dismissed the feeling as nothing more than a pipe dream, as it was already scampering away.
"Maybe I should have offered to wait for her at the hospital instead." Sakaki mumbled to herself as soon as she recovered from the overwhelmingly cute sight of the kitten. She dismissed the thought. Hospitals were scary and nothing in them was cute. When it comes to places she didn't like, hospitals had to be near the top of the list. Still, Sakaki felt as though she was abandoning Kaorin somehow. "I wonder what she's doing right now." Sakaki thought.
"Hmmm," Kei mumbled as he removed the last vial from the needle, "maybe I need a little more practice at this."
Poor Kaorin was pale and unmoving on the examination table. Several Band-aids dotted both of her arms and there was a copious amount of her blood here, there, and everywhere. "It-Is it over?" Kaorin wearily asked.
"Yeah, we're done with this part." Kei informed her as he considered changing into a less blood-soaked lab coat. "You really need to not squirm so much." He chided as he snapped off the bloody gloves and replaced them with a new pair. He then tidied up and labeled the various blood samples while Kaorin lay motionless on the examination table.
"I-I think I would have preferred a nurse." Kaorin wearily stated.
Kei chuckled as he rummaged around in a nearby drawer. "I'm just a little rusty," he claimed.
"You just said you needed practice!" Kaorin accused, finding her strength.
"I wonder," he dodged as he approached Kaorin. "Now, I need a few samples of your DNA." Kei claimed, quickly changing the subject.
"Fine," Kaorin begrudgingly agreed as she allowed Kei to swab her mouth and take a small sample from her ears as well as her tail. After he finished, Kei labeled and bundled the samples with her blood. "This will really help to find a cure for me?" Kaorin hopefully asked as she watched Kei assemble the samples.
"Not at all." He bluntly informed her.
Kaorin nearly fell off of the table. "W-What?"
"At best, this will help to understand your condition," Kei informed her, once again managing to sound like a real doctor. "As to the cause, and the cure, it probably won't help at all."
"Then what will?" Kaorin desperately questioned.
"I have my theories," Kei dismissed as he gathered up the samples and made for the door. "After I get these situated we can discuss them."
Kaorin gave him a quizzical look. "Just what do you know that all the other doctors don't?" She skeptically asked.
Kei paused and turned around after opening the door. "Maybe not so much knowing, as believing," Kei cryptically responded with a charming smile before exiting the room and letting the door shut behind him.
Kaorin let out a sigh as she stared despairingly at the door. "Maybe I should have thrown in the towel after all," the catgirl pessimistically mused. "Ah!" Kaorin exclaimed as her most recent phone call came to mind. She quickly whipped out her cell phone and stored Sakaki's number, even though odds are she'd never have enough guts to call it.
"The cats' house?" Kaorin wondered as she put replaced the phone in her pocket. That place did hold one of Kaorin's treasured memories. It was unlikely that Kaorin would ever forget the serene look on Sakaki's face as she petted that cat. Kaorin shook her head to try and keep her thoughts focused. Why did Sakaki want to meet her there? If Sakaki wanted to see her wouldn't it be more prudent to meet at her house, or better yet, Sakaki's house? Kaorin quickly fell into a dreamy state as she imagined Sakaki and herself at Sakaki's house.
It was several minutes later when Kei returned, now in a clean lab coat and munching from a bag of chips. "A'm back," he mumbled with his mouth still full. At seeing the dreamy, faraway look on Kaorin's face he followed her gaze to see nothing more than a blank wall. Not wanting to miss the chance, he quickly whipped out his cell phone and took Kaorin's picture. Unfortunately for Kei, the obnoxious click noise his phone made to indicate the picture had been taken seemed to snap Kaorin out of her daze.
Kaorin blinked a couple of times before glancing around a bit. "You're back," she observed with a little malice.
"Indeed," Kei confirmed as he put his cell phone away. "So, what were you thinking about?" He prodded and somehow teased at the same time. "Was it a little fantasy about an incredibly handsome doctor?"
"Hell no!" Kaorin vehemently refuted.
Kei chuckled, though stopped halfway through when he reached into his bag of chips only to discover the bottom of the bag. "Damn it all," he cursed as he stared angrily at the bag, blaming the inanimate object for its emptiness.
"Focus!" Kaorin scolded. "Aren't you supposed to be trying to fix me?"
"Eh?" Kei asked with feign concern, "But don't you want to have children someday?"
If she had something within arm's reach, Kaorin would have thrown it at Kei's head with enough force to make him glad he was in a hospital. Instead she settled on a piercing glare. "That's not funny!" she angrily growled.
A familiar 'click' sound echoed as Kei took another photo with his phone. "Your angry face is even cuter than your dreamy face." Kei sincerely informed Kaorin with a grin before putting the phone away again.
The sound of the final straw was audible in the form of a battle cry as Kaorin lunged at Kei. Somewhat accustomed to being assaulted by his patients, Kei was able to dodge the initial attack and got a smug smile as he watched all of Kaorin's anger evaporate almost instantly as she fell limply into his arms. Kei laughed as he gently laid Kaorin back down onto the examination table. "You shouldn't exert yourself after losing so much blood," he chided as Kaorin opened her eyes and glared at him.
While Kaorin wanted to tell the bastard off, no words came to mind. "Hurry up and do whatever you need to do," Kaorin scoffed and looked away from the object of her scorn.
"Straight to business, huh?" Kei observed with a little disappointment. In truth toying with the catgirl was some of the most fun he'd had in some time. Though, on the other hand, her case was quite unique and he did indeed want very much to figure it out. Kei let out a sigh as he put his fun aside in place of business. He produced a small book from one of the lab coat's pockets and opened it up. "There were quite a few questions I needed to ask you."
"If it's anything perverted or stupid, I refuse." Kaorin bluntly informed him.
"I'm done teasing you," Kei said with sincerity, "so you don't need to worry."
"Fine, shoot."
"Well, physically, it would appear as though your ears and tail are the only changes that you have undergone," Kei observed with all seriousness, "but that's all that we've found. It's your body, can you tell me of anything else that's changed since you got your...accessories?"
Kaorin was a bit surprised at Kei's seriousness, although skeptical to how long he would behave himself. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not teasing you, Kaori." Kei started with a nervous chuckle. "Anything out of the ordinary would do. I kind of envision the cliché kind of thing, though. When you think of catgirls, you think of increased agility and flexibility, cravings for fish, feeling nappy in the sunlight, and stuff like that."
"You're really not teasing me?" Kaorin skeptically asked.
"Honest," he assured, though, coming from him, it wasn't at all reassuring. "Is there anything that's changed at all?"
Kaorin sat up as she fought back a blush and refused to look at Kei. "Well now that you mention it," she started nervously, "a few things do seem different from before."
"You don't say," Kei urged as he put pen to paper in anticipation.
"I-I guess I am more flexible now," Kaorin admitted, "but none of that other stuff is true."
Kei's disappointment was clear. "That's all?"
"Well sorry for not being a freak!" Kaorin outburst as she cast another glare at Kei.
"I didn't mean it like that." Kei explained as he held up his hands. "It's just that something that minor—it doesn't really help much."
"I don't see how any of my personal life is of any help anyways," Kaorin bitterly retorted.
"Fine, fine," Kei dismissed with more than a little disappointment, "I won't push you." The not-so-good doctor put the small book away. "I'm just trying to help you."
Kaorin once again looked away from Kei. "You have a funny way of showing it."
Kei let out a sigh. "I apologize, for everything before."
"You don't mean that." Kaorin accused.
"Of course I don't," Kei shamelessly admitted, "but I do want to get to the bottom of this just as badly as you do. Isn't that enough common ground to stand on?"
"Why do you care so much about me?" The catgirl questioned as she stared Kei down.
"You're fun," Kei claimed with a dashing smile. "And besides that, your case is just the kind I've been looking for."
"And just what kind of case would that be?" Kaorin continued to prod.
"What kind?" The strange doctor mused. "Something that is inexplicable. Something that is impossible. In a word: something supernatural."
Kaorin gave him a blank stare. "Supernatural?" The catgirl asked in a deadpan voice. "Don't most doctors scorn things like superstition and the occult?"
"Most doctors are idiots," Kei scoffed. "They think that they can explain everything away so easily, but one look at you and they all have nothing to say. That's why I'm the only one that is going to figure this out"
Just by looking at him, Kaorin was at a loss as to whether or not the nutty doctor was serious or not. Having little other choice, she decided to play along. "So," she started in an accusatory voice, "what is the genius doctor's opinion then?"
With another grin he produced the small book again and after flipping through a few pages he found what he was looking for. "I have several theories," he claimed as he pointed his pen at the top line in his book. "First off is the most obvious: have you done anything recently that would anger any cat gods?"
"You're serious?" Kaorin scoffed. Upon receiving an enthusiastic nod from Kei, Kaorin had no choice but to play along. "I haven't," she derisively spat.
In response Kei scratched out the top line and moved to the second. "Well have you upset any living cats and acquired some sort of curse? Or anyone for that matter."
"I'm pretty likeable and I'm not mean either," Kaorin complained as she started to get fed up with humoring Kei.
"Well then, have you ever been abducted by aliens?" Kei asked casually as he scratched off another couple of theories.
"No, and I'm done playing this stupid game." Kaorin grumbled as she got up. "If you have something serious to talk to me about then spit it out, otherwise I have someplace to be."
"I am serious," Kei asserted, though his protest did little to calm Kaorin's frustrations. The catgirl trudged to the door, but as she tried to open it, Kei slammed it shut. "Fine," Kei begrudgingly spat as Kaorin sent him yet another glare, "let's hear your theories, then. What do you think has happened?"
Kaorin was taken aback. She surely had no prepared response. While she had fretted and wondered about her condition she had never once took to the time to try to think of how it happened. "I-I don't know," Kaorin admitted.
Once more, Kei adopted a smug smile that immediately wanted to make Kaorin slap it off of him. "Then how can you so easily dismiss my opinions?" He told her in a tone that echoed superiority.
"Because your theories sound more like something that would come from a homeless person with tin foil on their head than the serious thoughts of a doctor." Kaorin scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and sent a pointed glare in Kei's direction.
"Oww," Kei mockingly complained, "such cruelty." Kei let out a sigh seeing as how it didn't appear as though Kaorin wasn't going to budge on this. "You want answers from proven tests and official diagnoses, but I'm pretty sure you're not going to find anything down that route. I already told you the blood and DNA tests might show some insight and that whatever good they do, it's not going to make this go away."
"And wild flights of fancy are going to help?"
Kei scoffed. "Just because you don't believe doesn't make it untrue. Although, if it puts your mind at ease, I am doing everything I can by the book as well. Humor me, and I'll humor you."
"Fine," Kaorin begrudgingly compromised as she reached for the door again, "but I wasn't kidding about having someplace to be."
"I'll be in touch," Kei sincerely informed Kaorin as she left the room. As soon as she left he pulled out his cell phone and changed its wallpaper to that of Kaorin's angry face. "The proof is in the pudding," Kei mused as he put the cell phone away, "and I've finally found the cup I've been looking for." Kei's train of thought evaporated quickly as he was distracted by his own metaphor. "I think I still have a pudding cup in my mini fridge." Kei mumbled to himself as he made a beeline for his office.
A/N: Totally not happy with this chapter, but either way I finally finished up the lingering hospital trip and next chapter will be (finally) focusing on Kaorin and Sakaki again. Honestly I just want to be done with Kaorin's hospital trip. I did away with the preview of next chapter for several reasons. It was just an experiment anyway. Kei will be returning in later chapters, although his part will be much more of a background character. Since next chapter will be almost entirely Sakaki/Kaorin progression, Kagura's effects from the meteorite won't be seen until the chapter after next. No more writing while under the influence for me, so next chapter should read much better. My apologies again.
