Betraying My People Chapter 25:
The Reason
Lettuce went back to her room after dinner to find Kisshu and Ichigo curled up on her pillow. They blinked when she turned the light on. "Nya?" Ichigo asked.
"Um… if you're asking if I'm done with dinner, than yes," Lettuce said. She sat down on the bed, and Ichigo and Kisshu scrambled over and jumped onto her lap. She giggled and started petting them. They purred at her and settled down.
Mrs. Midorikawa came in a little while later, and sat down with Lettuce. "I thought kittens were more hyper than that," she commented, looking at the two on Lettuce's lap.
"Maybe it's because they're not meant to be kittens," Lettuce said. "I'm just glad they stayed until I got back. They're very well behaved."
"That's good," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "Do you think they'll let me pet them?"
"You can try," Lettuce said. "I'd suggest trying Ichigo first, Kisshu takes a while to get used to people."
"Okay," Mrs. Midorikawa said. She reached out and scratched Ichigo's ears. Ichigo purred and leaned into her hand. Lettuce smiled and petted Kisshu, who seemed very content. Ichigo looked at Mrs. Midorikawa and hesitantly walked over, then started rubbing her. Mrs. Midorikawa giggled.
"I keep wondering what it is about me that attracts them," Lettuce commented softly.
"I hate to say this, but what if it has something to do with your Mew animal?" Mrs. Midorikawa suggested.
"Maybe Kisshu can tell us," Lettuce said. "I'll get the laptop." She gently dislodged Kisshu from her lap and went to get the laptop. Then she opened up the Word document from before and said, "Kisshu, do you know if you're attracted to me because of my Mew animal?"
Kisshu came over and typed in, 'No, it's not that, or we'd be trying to eat you. Something about having you nearby is calming to us, and we don't exactly know why. Maybe you should ask Keiichiro.'
Lettuce showed her mother the computer, and said, "Maybe I should call Keiichiro." She got her cell phone and dialed the number. When she got a response, she said, "Hi Keiichiro, it's Lettuce."
"I hope the kittens aren't too much of a handful," Keiichiro said.
"No, they're fine," Lettuce said. "But Kisshu typed that having me nearby is calming to them, and they don't know why. Do you have any ideas?"
"It doesn't have something to do with your Mew animal, does it?" Keiichiro asked.
"Kisshu says no," Lettuce said. "He said if that was the case, they'd be trying to eat me."
"Good point," Keiichiro said. "I've actually been trying to figure this out myself, and Pai's helping. And now he's waving at me. Maybe he found something. I'll put him on."
Lettuce waited, and then heard Pai say, "Lettuce?"
"I'm here," Lettuce said. "Did you find something?"
"Hai," Pai said. "It seems that in cat form, those two can sense people's auras. Since you have the most calming aura out of all of us, their senses are telling them that you're the safest to be around. They sense that you're calmer, and I think that that sense tells them to go to you. I guess you could say they think of you as home, and home is wherever you are. Keiichiro and I are working our hardest to get the equipment needed to turn them back, so hopefully we'll have it done by Sunday or Monday. In the meantime, I hope you don't mind staying with them. They might try to follow you around, but they understand human speech, so it shouldn't be too hard to get them to stop. We'll contact you as soon as we have the equipment ready, so until then, please take care of them."
"I'll take good care of them," Lettuce promised.
"Thank you, Lettuce," Pai said. "Ja ne."
"Ja ne," Lettuce said, and hung up.
Her mother looked at her and said, "What was that about?"
"Apparently they're attracted to my aura," Lettuce said. "And Pai says they think of me as home. Judging by the way they've been acting, I think I can't go shopping tomorrow. Can you go?"
"Sure," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "I know it's important that you take care of them. Though I must say, the clinginess kind of reminds me of you as a baby. You wouldn't let anyone but me hold you for a long time. They act a little like you're their mother."
Lettuce looked down at Kisshu and Ichigo, who were on her lap. They looked back innocently, and Kisshu said, "Myu?"
Lettuce sighed. "They really are kittens, not just people- or Cyniclons- turned into kittens," she said. She looked at Kisshu and said, "You do realize that I'm not really your mother, right?"
"Nyaaaaaa!" Kisshu wailed. Ichigo joined in after a second.
Mrs. Midorikawa sighed. "I think that was the wrong thing to say," she said.
Lettuce sighed again, and said, "Okay, you two, calm down, I can be your mom…"
Ichigo and Kisshu perked up, and got off her lap, then started rolling around on the bed. "I hope there's a way to reverse this, they keep getting more kitten-like," Lettuce said.
This was proven correct when Kisshu discovered Lettuce's braids, and started batting at one. Ichigo saw what he was doing, and started doing the same. Lettuce didn't really mind- until Ichigo bit one, and it HURT. "Ichigo, did you have to?" Lettuce said.
"Maybe you should let your hair loose," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "It looks nicer that way anyways, and it should keep them from biting it."
"Okay," Lettuce said. She started unbraiding her hair, and then shook it out. Her hair came down to her waist, and Kisshu and Ichigo looked at it- then lost interest and curled up together sleepily. "I guess it is pretty late," Mrs. Midorikawa said. "Lettuce, you should go to bed too, kittens can be energetic in the morning."
"Okay, Mom," Lettuce said. Lettuce gathered up her nightclothes and went to change. When she got back, Kisshu and Ichigo were curled up on her pillow in a small ball. She carefully moved them to the other side of the bed, and climbed in. As she pulled the covers up, they started purring, and Lettuce smiled as she fell asleep.
HA! Bet you didn't expect me to have another reason! And for people's information, no matter what Kisshu thinks, Finless Porpoises are NOT fish, they're mammals. Review! (And I'm on sugar high, which is why I'm typing like this!)