Morning came quickly, and as usual, Tatsumi was up bright and early. He hardly slept… he just kept thinking about what had happened, and after waking, he got onto his laptop to do research. Three hours… and not one piece of information on how this strange event could have occurred. Well, he didn't expect to find anything, really. But he did get a good idea and left on his own for a while. At 8 am, he returned and let himself into Hisoka's apartment. It was quiet… Hisoka was probably either still asleep or hiding from Tsuzuki in his room. And speaking of which… when Tatsumi checked the sofa, Tsuzuki was nowhere to be seen. This worried him, but when he headed towards the door to Hisoka's bedroom, he spotted him, all curled up next to the boy's door. It was strange… seeing him that way. It was so… human…

Curious, Tatsumi reached out to touch Tsuzuki's head but before he could, that head shot up, a look of surprise and almost fear met him, completely taking Tatsumi off guard. But once Tsuzuki recognized who he was, Tsuzuki's expression softened, though something about him still looked… so sad.

"What's wrong, Tsuzuki…? You knew he wasn't going to let you in, didn't you?" Tsuzuki didn't answer. He couldn't… He wanted to, but there was a language barrier between them. Kneeling down, Tatsumi put himself at Tsuzuki's level.

"You… do you know who I am?" Tsuzuki nodded. He did know him.

"Remarkable…"

Hisoka was awake just beyond the door. He heard Tatsumi enter and quickly dressed. His hand reached out to turn the knob when he heard Tatsumi right at his door talking to…. Tsuzuki. He paused, hand suspended in the air… Tatsumi couldn't help but stare at the man before him… He was handsome… tall and slim… but he looked strong, too. Strong and… somehow gentle. Those strange eyes could only belong to the Tsuzuki he knew, and those fluffy ears and tail… If you ignore those, however, he was a very good looking young man. But… reaching out, Tatsumi touched Tsuzuki's cheek softly, noticing dried trails from tears.

"Tsuzuki, have you been crying?" That tore at Hisoka's heart for some reason. He'd been crying, too…? Was Tsuzuki just as confused and hurt by this crazy event as him? Tsuzuki… this was probably beyond anything he could imagine, being just a dumb cat… Hisoka had been avoiding him, too. For a moment, Hisoka recalled something the vet had said about animals thinking they're going to be abandoned. Is that what Tsuzuki feared? That Hisoka would abandon him because of this? Well, it wasn't as though he was a cat anymore and how strange would it be to keep him in his house? But… what was he supposed to do? Tsuzuki had no one else….

"Tsuzuki…" Tatsumi reassured, "I'm going to do what I can to help both of you… So don't cry, okay? Why don't you go into the bathroom and wash your face?" Tsuzuki, not sure what he meant, tried licking his paw, but Tatsumi stopped him.

"No, no… humans don't clean themselves that way. Remember? I showed you yesterday." Oh yeah… they use the sink and a washcloth… but… Tsuzuki shook his head.

"Mm…? No? Why not?" Suddenly, the bedroom door opened and it caused Tsuzuki to jump when Hisoka walked out. He didn't make direct eye contact….

"He knows… my routine. I use the bathroom in the morning." Tsuzuki nodded slowly… he wouldn't want to get in Hisoka's way.

"Is that so…?" Tatsumi rose. "Forgive me then. I suppose he would know you more than I would." Hisoka blushed at that…. Yes, Tsuzuki knew him… intimately. N-no! Not intimately! It's not the same! Tsuzuki was a cat before! His face was burning by now and he rushed off to the bathroom. When he returned, he saw Tatsumi and Tsuzuki sitting by the sofa. Tatsumi had a bunch of books spread out over the floor and a small kid's toy.

"What's with all these…?" Tatsumi looked up and smiled.

"They're children's books. To help with reading and understanding words. And this electronic device actually speaks when you type something in."

Tatsumi demonstrated by typing "cookie" into it and the device said the word aloud. Tsuzuki was instantly amazed by this contraption and he recognized the word, too! His tail swayed behind him excitedly. Hisoka almost smiled at that. Almost.

"You didn't have to get these things, you know…" If there was one person you didn't want to owe a debt it was Tatsumi.

"I wanted to. I thought it might help."

"Right…" Suddenly, Hisoka's stomach grumbled and not long after, so did Tsuzuki's. Tatsumi was suddenly faced with a problem. He knew that Hisoka didn't keep much food in the house… He wanted to take the boy out to eat, but it wasn't a good idea to take Tsuzuki out into public.

"What to do…" Hisoka was thinking the same thing… He wanted a real meal, but all he had were breakfast bars. Tsuzuki looked hungry… he wouldn't last on what little he used to eat before… but for now, it would have to do. Hisoka went to his little kitchen and got a plate, unwrapping several bars and brought them out to Tsuzuki.

"For now, you can eat these." All of them? Tsuzuki was amazed!

"Tatsumi…. Could we go out…?" Tatsumi understood this and rose.

"Right. We'll get you fed and I'll help with groceries. You'll need some real food now." Hisoka nodded, but he felt eyes on him and looked down at a concerned Tsuzuki.

"Don't worry… we'll… bring you back something more than that." That seemed to brighten Tsuzuki's spirits and Hisoka reached down to pet him….. but stopped. It… it was too weird… so he backed up, got his coat and left quickly. Tatsumi frowned, seeing a disappointed cat-man left sitting on the floor.

"Give him time…. We'll see you soon." Tatsumi followed Hisoka and Tsuzuki heard the click of the door locking. He was alone… he wanted so much to reconnect with Hisoka… Somehow, being a cat brought them closer than being human. But maybe there was a way to reach him… if he could only speak! He looked down at the books…. He understood most of the words, as Hisoka had read to him on many occasions, but the electronic device was what he was most interested in. If he could figure out how words were said… maybe he could learn it. But there was only one word he wanted to know and… well… he didn't know how it sounded! Looking around the apartment, Tsuzuki searched and searched for something that had his human's name written on it. He wanted to put it into the machine and hear it…! It took him a while, but he eventually found Hisoka's book bag and a paper with his name so neatly written on it. Now, Tsuzuki couldn't spell, but he was able to recognize what letters things were by matching them up on the machine. H… I… S… O… K…A… That was it… his human's name! He found the button that Tatsumi had pressed before and got close.

/Hisoka/ the device said aloud. Hisoka…Hisoka, that was it! Wow, it sounded so pretty! Hisoka, Hisoka! Oh wait, he was supposed to be trying to speak. How did it go…? Like a meow, only… using those human words, right? Hisoka spoke to him a lot… he spoke…. So Tsuzuki could, too.

"H….. H…." it was hard… he wasn't used to this sort of thing… but he couldn't give up!

"H…..i…." Oh! Another one! He said another letter! He tried over and over for an hour or more, until the letters became easier to say… he had to remember what he'd heard and to use his feelings and thoughts….

"Hi…so….ka…" He did it… he really did it! "Hiso..ka…. Hisoka….. Hisoka….!" He was so very excited! He spoke! He did it! Now, what else could he say? He wasn't sure how the other letters were pronounced…. He saw an alphabets book sitting nearby and opened it. A…. what did that sound like? He typed it into the machine and heard it aloud.

"A…. A!" Well that was easy! He repeated this for every other letter in the book, repeating them over and over until it seemed like second nature to him. He was learning… and speaking as though he knew how to all along. Hisoka… would he be proud of him? Would he be happy?

Tsuzuki practiced for a while later until he got through some of the kid's books. During that time, he almost forgot to eat, so he grabbed his snack which seemed less filling than usual and sat on the floor in front of the tv watching soaps. For the first time, he had a greater understanding for the words they spoke... before, he mostly looked at their faces and movements, but now he could understand what they meant… he started trying to repeat after them until he heard the familiar sound of keys at the front door. Tsuzuki wanted so badly to run to the door and meet HIsoka there, but it was too soon… so he stayed put and kept on watching. Hisoka entered first with a bag of groceries and Tatsumi followed with two others.

"Are you sure we need this much…?" Hisoka asked, sighing heavily as he set the large bag on the counter.

"You're feeding two now, and a human body requires more food than a cat." Hisoka sighed again. He nearly forgot… he was hoping that it was all just some bad dream, but when he glanced into the livingroom, there sat the man-cat known as Tsuzuki, calmly watching tv… and he was holding a breakfast bar not in his mouth but… in his hand. He was learning, adapting…. Hisoka was strangely entranced by him… fascinated, perhaps…. But then Tsuzuki looked at him and smiled, which brought a flush to Hisoka's face. He wanted to hide… but he couldn't keep doing that… He caused this mess so he couldn't act like it was Tsuzuki's fault. Clearing his throat and taking a moment to calm himself, he went into the livingroom with a forced stern look.

"You best not have made a mess while we were gone." Tsuzuki shook his head, still smiling.

"….Good." Hisoka went past him to set his coat on a rack in the corner, and that's when Tsuzuki did it.

"Hisoka." The blonde froze, suddenly stricken still by the unfamiliar voice behind him. Tatsumi, who had just then entered with drinks was frozen as well. Tsuzuki looked at Tatsumi and then at Hisoka's back several times, wondering if he'd chosen the wrong time to speak. Slowly, Hisoka turned, almost all color draining from his face and eyes wide as saucers… like the kind Hisoka would pour milk into.

"Wh…what….?" Had he not been heard? Well, he decided to try again, saying the name softer, the deep tone of his own voice strange to him.

"Hisoka…"

The boy's heart pounded in his chest. Who was this speaking his name…? Such a deep reverberating tone, such soft expressions… somehow it cut deeper and deeper into him. It was… almost alluring the way he spoke. Wait.. Tsuzuki couldn't…

"Did you… did you just… say my name…?" Happy that he was heard and understood, Tsuzuki nodded and his smile only widened again. Tatsumi set the drinks aside and sat in front of Tsuzuki.

"Maybe… maybe it's the only thing he knows…. Tsuzuki… tell me… am I Hisoka?" Tsuzuki shook his head.

"How about that over there? Is that Hisoka?" He pointed at the sofa, but again Tsuzuki shook his head. Then he pointed right at Hisoka and said it again so clearly…

"My…Hisoka…."

Hisoka nearly fainted right then and there. He felt like his head was spinning. This was all too much… Tsuzuki spoke… he said his name…. he knew who he was…. Perhaps it was the shock of it all and the lack of sleep, but darkness crept up on him and he collapsed. Tatsumi was about to step in, but Tsuzuki got to him first, catching the boy and cradling him in his strong, warm arms. Hisoka's consciousness waned for a moment and his eyes opened halfway. He couldn't hear… but he felt warm all over… warm and safe. And above him was a worried face…. A face…. He almost didn't recognize save for those ears and those brilliant… unmistakable amethyst orbs…. He was calling his name over and over worriedly… but Hisoka couldn't hear… he just needed to rest…