Chapter 8- A Few Encounters
Neko rubbed her velvety black head against the rough wool blanket. She had been taking a very luxurious catnap. She hadn't slept for three days, there just was too much too do. Since changing departments she had to make sure all her stuff was moved into the right office, magical abilities was being transferred properly into a new account (they had only managed to transfer 20%...they screwed up anyway even though she had been watching over them), and basically learning about the job. It seemed that every day a cat girl bounded in front of a train, or was dangerously close to sending a poor guy to jail for being a pedophile. Being a neko was easy enough. She had most of their traits already.
Wait a moment…a gray wool blanket? Through half lidded eyes Neko surveyed the room as best she could. Figures, she couldn't be in nice, pink, soft girl's room with a goose stuffed blanket. This room was bare though, except for some simple furniture. It was probably the wolf's room.
Changing back into her human form, she opened the nearby closet.
Let's see here. T-shirt...t-shirt...socks...underwear...won't get into that...a bra @_@. I think I'll just close the closet door now, and not even grab what I was looking for.
It bothered her a little some of the stuff the wolf had in his closets. But then it was his own business.
If it's his own business then why did you go into his closet? Because I wanted another blanket. You shouldn't snoop. Don't tell me what to do. Shut up! Also, stop talking to yourself then :P
Neko was glad nobody was in the room. Often out of habit she talked to herself. She had a sneaking suspicion that everybody would think she was crazy. Of course they could only do that if they even got close to her.
That's because you don't LET them get close. Didn't I tell you to stop talking to yourself? That's your problem. You always are so cranky and annoyed at the world, why don't you be nice for once? Because I don't know how, and they don't understand.
The loud snoring of a certain wolf's interrupted her thoughts. And was that the sound of slobbering also? She wrinkled her nose in distaste. Thank god she didn't snore.
Following the loud gargling sounds she found the source of the snores. In the wolf's sleep he had changed back into human form.
She stared at the guy lying on the couch sprawled.
At least he doesn't smell as badly as before.
I wonder if they have any tea in this house. And maybe...just MAYBE after a cup of tea I will tell him about what's going on with the Department of Werewolves. I need as much help as I can get. Even if he is one of their species.
*******
Tanetris looked dubiously at the man who had introduced himself as Gorion. Transforming into half-wolf form to be understandable, he spoke warily, "My name's Tanetris. I don't know what was happening back at the docks, and I don't know the kitsune, but I saw her arrive on the scene after me, so I don't think she had anything to do it, though she certainly seemed to revel in it. And thank you, it was a gift."
Gorion nodded thoughtfully, "Why did you seem so intent on defending the man with the cat then?"
"He reminded me of someone I knew, a relative."
"So that's also why you took the blood-spattered hairs off the cat for a tracking spell? To tell him he reminded you of someone?"
Dammit, this guy doesn't miss much, Tanetris thought. I just wish I knew his agenda in all this...
"What's your agenda, and what's it have to do with me?" he blurted out, for lack of a better response.
Gorion chuckled, "An honest question, I'll give you an honest answer. I'm from the US Supernatural Division, I've been sent to MegaTokyo to look into some strange occurrences and stem a few growing problems. Whether or not that has anything to do with you, we'll find out, won't we?"
Just as Tanetris opened his mouth to respond, a passenger carrying a load of baked goods suddenly tripped on a beer can someone had carelessly left there. One particular whipped-cream filled pie went flying and hit ther werewolf in the face, while Gorion got a cake in the head. The human slipped, hit his head on a pole, and went down like a sack of bricks.
Tanetris was uncertain if this was kitsune mischief-making, random good luck, or something else entirely, but he decided to take the advantage. He ripped open the ceiling of the train-car with his claws and climbed onto the roof. He leaped from the train onto the tracks and climbed up a service hatch onto the street.
Once on street-level Tanetris spared a thought for the poor human in the train, probably still unconscious, I hope he's okay. Of course, with the luck I've been having, I'm sure I'll see him again soon enough, and he'll probably blame me for his headache.
Looking around and taking in his surroundings, Tanetris realized he was outside Ann Miller's again. Now how the heck did that happen? Shrugging it off, Tanetris thought back on the run in with the three girls before this whole mess started and decided he should check on them before he forgot completely. He shifted to full-wolf form again and went back to where he remembered running into them. Yes, there were their scents. They went this way. For a half-hour he followed the scent-trail which doubled back on itself and went in circles at least 2 dozen times. The wolf idly hoped it wasn't a sign of concussion. Finally he found where they were staying, a hotel which was coincidentally enough just across the street from his own home.
Tanetris paused. Should he go in half-wolf form which they would recognize, or human form so the gaijin girls wouldn't be frightened? After several minutes inward debate, he went into half-wolf form and knocked on the door. He heard shouting from within.
"Was that the door?"
"Yeah, I think someone's knocking."
"Who would knock on our door? No one even knows we're here."
"How should I know?"
"Try answering it!"
"Would you both shut up and someone answer the door! I'm trying to watch Gundam!"
Finally the door opened, and the oldest of the three girls stood before him. Peering around her was a somewhat short redhead with pocky hanging out of her mouth. The third was not in sight, but the unmistakable sounds of Gundam Wing could be heard in the next room.
Clearing his throat, Tanetris spoke, "Hello again. I bumped into you earlier, remember? May I come in?"
*******
AC paused for a moment, then noticed the sword the werewolf was carrying.
"Oh yeah, I remember. Sure, come on in."
As he walked by she noticed some remains of whipped cream still clinging to his fur. She was puzzled for a brief moment, then realized that it was also the same guy she'd just pulled that prank on. Or one of them at least. She hadn't bothered to follow what'd happened beyond the initial incident, as she'd had to stop Na-chan from completely turning the room into a Shinji/pocky shrine.
The werewolf, however, seemed not to suspect a thing, and merely took AC's hesitation as shyness or something like that.
"Sorry I didn't introduce myself before," he said. "My name's Tanetris."
"Um, I'm AC, and this is Na-chan, and the girl over there watching Gundam is T-ko." Na-chan grinned rather foolishly (probably had too much sugar and Shinji...) and T-ko waved without taking her eyes away from the tv screen.
There was a brief silence, then AC continued.
"Uh, how did you find us here? It was hours ago that we ran into you..."
Tanetris hesitated a moment to think of a good reply, but AC spoke first.
"Oh, of course! You're a werewolf, so you have a wolf's sense of smell, right?"
Tanetris nodded. "I followed your scent from where we met earlier. Were you guys lost or something? Because you certainly seemed to be wandering in circles quite a bit."
"Well, you see, we were going to go visit a friend of mine in Tokyo, but Na-chan messed up and we ended up coming here to MegaTokyo instead." She glanced around, and finally spotted the redhead busily paging through an Evangelion manga and kissing every picture of Shinji she came across. "So we're stuck here for the time being, though we don't really mind that much." Again she glanced at Na-chan, who was still drooling over the Eva manga, and at T-ko who was practically glued to the tv set (there was currently a scene involving Duo on it).
Tanetris followed AC's gaze, and decided it was probably best not to comment on anything. True, weird stuff happens in MegaTokyo, but the way Na-chan was staring at the images in that manga was just wrong.
"Well, my house is just across the street from here, if you ever need any help or advice or anything..." he trailed off, a little unnerved by the whole situation.
"Okay," AC replied. "I figured that T-ko, Na-chan and I should just take a day or two to think things over before we decide what we're going to do or anything. If we need help with anything, I'll be sure to ask."
"All right." Tanetris got the distinct impression that the conversation was over, and took the opportunity to leave. While apparently AC was quite used to her friends' obsessions, he certainly wasn't, and while it retrospect it really wasn't that bad, the initial shock is something else.
As AC watched him go, she wondered if maybe she should have told him about the little prank. But then again, it would've taken a very long time to explain, and well, she'd never been good at handling that kind of unexpected twist. Sure, she could write about them, but actually encountering them was something else.
Ah well, she thought, I'll just be sure to avoid hitting him with my little "pranks". Besides, there's still that other guy from the train, maybe he'd be some to interfere with. Or the kistune. Playing games of tricks with tricksters is *always* fun...
*******
Bravo, Karu thought to herself, grinning back at the other werewolf. Well done.
The silver wolfie shifted, and ran right past the rest of the dock guards. Karu, naturally followed-not that kitsunes needed rail passes-she leaped right through the turnstile, and into the car behind the wolf. Hrm. This won't do. Need t'get into th'next car. Karu backed up, then took off running at the door in front of her. Just before coming to the door, she leapt up, grabbed the rings hanging from the ceiling, and swung at the door, bashing the two of them open, and arriving just in time to get thoroughly covered in whipped cream splatterings. Whups, there goes the wolfie again! Before leaping out of the subway to follow him, the kitsune left a little something for the human, when he woke up.
A fox plushie.
With that, the six-tails bounded out of the hole so conveniently left by that wolf, continued following him. When he turned around after closing the apartment door, Karu was there, grinning as always.
"Soooo....what's howlin' wolfie?"
Neko rubbed her velvety black head against the rough wool blanket. She had been taking a very luxurious catnap. She hadn't slept for three days, there just was too much too do. Since changing departments she had to make sure all her stuff was moved into the right office, magical abilities was being transferred properly into a new account (they had only managed to transfer 20%...they screwed up anyway even though she had been watching over them), and basically learning about the job. It seemed that every day a cat girl bounded in front of a train, or was dangerously close to sending a poor guy to jail for being a pedophile. Being a neko was easy enough. She had most of their traits already.
Wait a moment…a gray wool blanket? Through half lidded eyes Neko surveyed the room as best she could. Figures, she couldn't be in nice, pink, soft girl's room with a goose stuffed blanket. This room was bare though, except for some simple furniture. It was probably the wolf's room.
Changing back into her human form, she opened the nearby closet.
Let's see here. T-shirt...t-shirt...socks...underwear...won't get into that...a bra @_@. I think I'll just close the closet door now, and not even grab what I was looking for.
It bothered her a little some of the stuff the wolf had in his closets. But then it was his own business.
If it's his own business then why did you go into his closet? Because I wanted another blanket. You shouldn't snoop. Don't tell me what to do. Shut up! Also, stop talking to yourself then :P
Neko was glad nobody was in the room. Often out of habit she talked to herself. She had a sneaking suspicion that everybody would think she was crazy. Of course they could only do that if they even got close to her.
That's because you don't LET them get close. Didn't I tell you to stop talking to yourself? That's your problem. You always are so cranky and annoyed at the world, why don't you be nice for once? Because I don't know how, and they don't understand.
The loud snoring of a certain wolf's interrupted her thoughts. And was that the sound of slobbering also? She wrinkled her nose in distaste. Thank god she didn't snore.
Following the loud gargling sounds she found the source of the snores. In the wolf's sleep he had changed back into human form.
She stared at the guy lying on the couch sprawled.
At least he doesn't smell as badly as before.
I wonder if they have any tea in this house. And maybe...just MAYBE after a cup of tea I will tell him about what's going on with the Department of Werewolves. I need as much help as I can get. Even if he is one of their species.
Gorion nodded thoughtfully, "Why did you seem so intent on defending the man with the cat then?"
"He reminded me of someone I knew, a relative."
"So that's also why you took the blood-spattered hairs off the cat for a tracking spell? To tell him he reminded you of someone?"
Dammit, this guy doesn't miss much, Tanetris thought. I just wish I knew his agenda in all this...
"What's your agenda, and what's it have to do with me?" he blurted out, for lack of a better response.
Gorion chuckled, "An honest question, I'll give you an honest answer. I'm from the US Supernatural Division, I've been sent to MegaTokyo to look into some strange occurrences and stem a few growing problems. Whether or not that has anything to do with you, we'll find out, won't we?"
Just as Tanetris opened his mouth to respond, a passenger carrying a load of baked goods suddenly tripped on a beer can someone had carelessly left there. One particular whipped-cream filled pie went flying and hit ther werewolf in the face, while Gorion got a cake in the head. The human slipped, hit his head on a pole, and went down like a sack of bricks.
Tanetris was uncertain if this was kitsune mischief-making, random good luck, or something else entirely, but he decided to take the advantage. He ripped open the ceiling of the train-car with his claws and climbed onto the roof. He leaped from the train onto the tracks and climbed up a service hatch onto the street.
Once on street-level Tanetris spared a thought for the poor human in the train, probably still unconscious, I hope he's okay. Of course, with the luck I've been having, I'm sure I'll see him again soon enough, and he'll probably blame me for his headache.
Looking around and taking in his surroundings, Tanetris realized he was outside Ann Miller's again. Now how the heck did that happen? Shrugging it off, Tanetris thought back on the run in with the three girls before this whole mess started and decided he should check on them before he forgot completely. He shifted to full-wolf form again and went back to where he remembered running into them. Yes, there were their scents. They went this way. For a half-hour he followed the scent-trail which doubled back on itself and went in circles at least 2 dozen times. The wolf idly hoped it wasn't a sign of concussion. Finally he found where they were staying, a hotel which was coincidentally enough just across the street from his own home.
Tanetris paused. Should he go in half-wolf form which they would recognize, or human form so the gaijin girls wouldn't be frightened? After several minutes inward debate, he went into half-wolf form and knocked on the door. He heard shouting from within.
"Was that the door?"
"Yeah, I think someone's knocking."
"Who would knock on our door? No one even knows we're here."
"How should I know?"
"Try answering it!"
"Would you both shut up and someone answer the door! I'm trying to watch Gundam!"
Finally the door opened, and the oldest of the three girls stood before him. Peering around her was a somewhat short redhead with pocky hanging out of her mouth. The third was not in sight, but the unmistakable sounds of Gundam Wing could be heard in the next room.
Clearing his throat, Tanetris spoke, "Hello again. I bumped into you earlier, remember? May I come in?"
"Oh yeah, I remember. Sure, come on in."
As he walked by she noticed some remains of whipped cream still clinging to his fur. She was puzzled for a brief moment, then realized that it was also the same guy she'd just pulled that prank on. Or one of them at least. She hadn't bothered to follow what'd happened beyond the initial incident, as she'd had to stop Na-chan from completely turning the room into a Shinji/pocky shrine.
The werewolf, however, seemed not to suspect a thing, and merely took AC's hesitation as shyness or something like that.
"Sorry I didn't introduce myself before," he said. "My name's Tanetris."
"Um, I'm AC, and this is Na-chan, and the girl over there watching Gundam is T-ko." Na-chan grinned rather foolishly (probably had too much sugar and Shinji...) and T-ko waved without taking her eyes away from the tv screen.
There was a brief silence, then AC continued.
"Uh, how did you find us here? It was hours ago that we ran into you..."
Tanetris hesitated a moment to think of a good reply, but AC spoke first.
"Oh, of course! You're a werewolf, so you have a wolf's sense of smell, right?"
Tanetris nodded. "I followed your scent from where we met earlier. Were you guys lost or something? Because you certainly seemed to be wandering in circles quite a bit."
"Well, you see, we were going to go visit a friend of mine in Tokyo, but Na-chan messed up and we ended up coming here to MegaTokyo instead." She glanced around, and finally spotted the redhead busily paging through an Evangelion manga and kissing every picture of Shinji she came across. "So we're stuck here for the time being, though we don't really mind that much." Again she glanced at Na-chan, who was still drooling over the Eva manga, and at T-ko who was practically glued to the tv set (there was currently a scene involving Duo on it).
Tanetris followed AC's gaze, and decided it was probably best not to comment on anything. True, weird stuff happens in MegaTokyo, but the way Na-chan was staring at the images in that manga was just wrong.
"Well, my house is just across the street from here, if you ever need any help or advice or anything..." he trailed off, a little unnerved by the whole situation.
"Okay," AC replied. "I figured that T-ko, Na-chan and I should just take a day or two to think things over before we decide what we're going to do or anything. If we need help with anything, I'll be sure to ask."
"All right." Tanetris got the distinct impression that the conversation was over, and took the opportunity to leave. While apparently AC was quite used to her friends' obsessions, he certainly wasn't, and while it retrospect it really wasn't that bad, the initial shock is something else.
As AC watched him go, she wondered if maybe she should have told him about the little prank. But then again, it would've taken a very long time to explain, and well, she'd never been good at handling that kind of unexpected twist. Sure, she could write about them, but actually encountering them was something else.
Ah well, she thought, I'll just be sure to avoid hitting him with my little "pranks". Besides, there's still that other guy from the train, maybe he'd be some to interfere with. Or the kistune. Playing games of tricks with tricksters is *always* fun...
The silver wolfie shifted, and ran right past the rest of the dock guards. Karu, naturally followed-not that kitsunes needed rail passes-she leaped right through the turnstile, and into the car behind the wolf. Hrm. This won't do. Need t'get into th'next car. Karu backed up, then took off running at the door in front of her. Just before coming to the door, she leapt up, grabbed the rings hanging from the ceiling, and swung at the door, bashing the two of them open, and arriving just in time to get thoroughly covered in whipped cream splatterings. Whups, there goes the wolfie again! Before leaping out of the subway to follow him, the kitsune left a little something for the human, when he woke up.
A fox plushie.
With that, the six-tails bounded out of the hole so conveniently left by that wolf, continued following him. When he turned around after closing the apartment door, Karu was there, grinning as always.
"Soooo....what's howlin' wolfie?"