DREAMING OF SPRING
Kei Machida looked at the trendily-dressed girl seated across from him at the kissaten table.
"Hiromi, I don't know where she went and she never told me anything," he said earnestly. "I thought you of all people would know."
"I wish I did." Hiromi angrily gazed at Machida. "Maybe I ought to let Tsuge beat some sense into that hentai skull of yours."
"Hiromi, please! I feel bad enough–"
"Well, you should! Trying to force her to give herself up to you like that!" Hiromi's brows came down over her dark brown eyes. "That's what I hate about you Japanese men."
They slowly became aware of the people in the shop looking at them. Hiromi lowered her head and apologized meekly.
"Trust me, Hiromi, I'd gladly let Tsuge-kun beat me up, if it would bring Haru back. I feel like a scumbag."
Hiromi bit back a cruel rejoinder and sighed. "I just hope she lets us know where she is and how she's doing."
Machida nodded in agreement and looked out the large windows at the people passing by outside. The police interview two days ago didn't help, Haru's mom—naturally—was mad at him, and this conversation with her friend and confidante was going nowhere.
Haru, where are you now? If you were trying to make me feel guilty for what I did and said, you didn't need to. Please, come back. Everyone misses you.
------oOo------
"Tell me again why we're heading this way instead of going with the others," said Seiji.
It was three A.M., and the first contingents of Lune's task force had left the castle. One battalion of Army cats would head out to the northwest; the King was with them. The little group consisting of the humans, the Cat Business Office agents, the small Stormy Cat commando team, and a couple of quartermaster staff were to take a vastly different road, to the southeast, towards the border with the Oriental duchy that paid tribute to the Cat King. Because of the nature of the excursion, Seiji was dressed in his green polo, jeans and rubber shoes, while Shizuku wore a red blouse with white collar paired with yellow pantaloons and her old sandals. Haru was in an open-necked cream shirt with long ruffled sleeves, and sported dun-colored leggings and black boots. All of them had a duffel and a backpack each. In addition, Shizuku had a small pouch hanging from her belt, while Haru had a smallsword stuffed in her duffel. The Cat medallion she used to decorate her epée was now hanging round her neck on a fine chain Yuki gave her, a talisman of sorrow resting near her heart.
"You'll see," the Baron replied vaguely, tossing his carpetbag from one hand to another. His cane was trapped between its handles. "It'll save us some time, since we need to get to New Lorum ahead of King Lune and the rest of the troops."
"Then why didn't we leave earlier? At least then we could take our time getting there," pointed out Toto, still squatting astride Muta's shoulders like a living version of Edgar Allen Poe's eponymous bird in The Raven.
"Oh, we still can, don't worry about that. This way we'll arrive there at the day of the new moon without wasting any time."
"What does that have to do with anything?" asked Seiji, more confused than ever. He turned to look back at Gabriel, who was leading the silent Stormy Cats. The Swordmaster shrugged.
"I think I know," Shizuku said with a little smile. "The day of the new moon, huh? It'll be a real surprise for you, anata."
"That's what worries me," admitted Seiji. "I've been cultivating my dislike of surprises lately." He pointed in Muta's direction. "Some of them have been dangerous to my health."
"Hey, I don't have to take that from you," growled Muta. He had been extra grumpy ever since they left the castle, complaining about having to set out on extremely short commons. "It wasn't my fault you decided to open the door to Lune's snapdragons."
"You could've warned me, Egg," Seiji answered back, "that 'snapdragons' here weren't the same as the flowers back home."
"How was I to know? I didn't know that either."
"Oh, pipe down, you two. You're giving me a headache," complained Toto. "Anyway, off I go to scout. See you in a little while." He flew off into the dark sky, buffeting everyone nearby with the portable windstorm off his wings.
Baron turned around and beamed at Shizuku. "So you do remember."
"Sir Cat, how could I forget the first tale I had ever written? I just wish," she added in a lower tone, "the story of your search for Louise was as happy."
Beyond Shizuku the Cat's eyes discerned the pale, composed face of Haru. She was walking by herself near Muta and Seiji.
He sighed. "So do I, Shizuku-chan. So do I."
------oOo------
It was a little past daybreak on that very day when the Cat King's Castle had a very special visitor. Or rather, three of them. Two came riding on the back of the third, and they landed on one of the balconies without so much as a 'by-your-leave,' to the consternation of the Secret Service cats assigned to guard Lune's erstwhile substitute, his father, the former Cat King.
Natoru wasn't so surprised when their approach was announced to him; he had been expecting them, ever since the day Haru had drunk the potion that turned her back to a human. Two of them he had seen before: one was a fourteen-year-old girl in a sailor uniform, with small, wide-set eyes, a ready smile, and dark-brown hair that reminded the Secretary of Haru's; the other was a horned dragon with silver-white scales and a serpentine body. The last person he was unfamiliar with, although he guessed she was related to the woman used to come to the palace, since she also wore a free-flowing black dress.
As they landed on the balcony, he raised a paw in greeting. "Miss Chihiro, Master Haku, welcome back. I'm surprised at seeing the two of you here. I was expecting only Master Haku and Miss Lala..."
"Hrmm, hrmm." The sound caused the Secretary to turn around. His eyes widened.
"Your Highness!" Down he went on his knee.
"Get up, Natoru, don't act like the cheerful, simpering idiot you used to be when I was King," boomed the old purple cat with the long, frizzy fur, brocaded red robes and jeweled circlet on his brow. As the Secretary got up, he asked, "I was taking my morning constitutional when I heard the hullabaloo and decided to investigate. Who are these people?" He peered at the young girl who had accompanied Haku and Chihiro as Natoru introduced them.
"Can't be... Kiki-san?"
The girl laughed. "No, I'm sorry, Highness, that's my grandmother. Everyone keeps telling me how much we look alike." She pointed to her shoulder-length black hair. "You'll notice I'm not wearing a red bow."
The Cat Duke rubbed his forehead. "Mmm-hmm. Sorry, my mind tends to confuse past and present nowadays. It's hard not to notice the resemblance." He looked over her some more. "How old are you, dear?"
"Fifteen, sir."
"So you've been away from home for quite a while, I assume?"
The girl shook her head. "No, Your Highness. It took me a while to leave home because I couldn't find a city of my own." She pulled her shoulder-slung gray satchel in front of her and produced an ornate long-necked bottle from it. "Here's what you wanted, Mr. Secretary."
"Thank you." The cat with the Scottish Fold ears accepted the bottle and handed over a thick red envelope to the teenager, who stuffed it in her bag. "Why are you here instead of Lala-sama?"
"Lala's my mom, sir She was feeling under the weather and asked if I could do this favor for her. Of course I couldn't say no." She fished out a tablet-like device from her satchel, flipped it open, and handed it to Natoru. It was a Tungsten PDA. "Sign here, please."
Natoru accepted the device. "Aren't you going to count the money first?"
"My mom said I could trust you," the witch replied. "After all, she and grandma and Zeniiba are the only source for this. If you double-cross them, you won't be getting any more."
"If you say so, miss." Natoru signed the PDA, handed it back to the girl, and excused himself to put the bottle in a refrigerator. Its contents spoiled quickly.
"Oh, Mister Secretary," the girl called, "my mom also told me to tell you about some side effects she forgot to tell you about."
Natoru paused. "Which are?"
"Uh, nothing much. A bit of extra strength and jumping ability, that's all."
"Oh. Well, thank you, then. I'll see that this is labeled accordingly. You have to excuse me, I'm very busy." The Secretary disappeared into the doorway.
The young witch bowed to the Duke. "Well, I must go now, sir, or Chihiro will be late for school."
The old cat nobleman nodded. "Safe trip. Oh, I forgot to ask you your name."
"It's Lily, sir."
The Cat Duke's walleyes grew large. "Lily? Lily?"
"Yes." The girl's eyes first showed puzzlement, then suspicion. "Is there anything wrong with the name, Highness?"
The Cat Duke chortled. "N-no, no, nothing at all, girl. I mean no offense. It's just that I have fond memories of your grandmother and her cat..." To show he meant no insult, he gave her his full name while apologizing and kissed the back of her hand.
Lily blushed. "Gosh, I never thought my hand would be kissed by royalty."
The Cat Duke smiled. "Ah, royalty is nothing compared to a young lady's beauty. Well, a handsome boyfriend would be even better than a kiss, but I'm leaving that up to you." He gave her a wink and made a grandiose bow, then stepped away.
Lily tittered and curtseyed. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Lily-jousan."
The two girls got on Haku's back. Chihiro gripped his horns, while Lily held on to Chihiro's waist after putting the headphones of her mp3 player on. Then the river spirit took off and, wriggling and snaking though the sky, quickly disappeared into the lightening blueness.
The Cat Duke watched them go. He really didn't want to end up insulting the teenager, so there was no way he was going to tell her Lily was the name of her grandmother's cat's girlfriend...
------oOo------
"Chihiro-san, thanks so much for letting Haku help me this time."
"No problem. He always helps your mother anyway. Only we'd better hurry, or I'm going to be late for class and my teacher is going to put me on after-school duty again."
The dragon beneath them rumbled and flew faster. At one point Lily threw a small ball in front of his path, and a bright circle of light flared and swallowed them up, leaving no trace of them behind.
------oOo------
It was around noon when Gabriel called for a halt. "Break out your mess and have some food," he instructed. "We move again in an hour."
Footsore and dead tired, the humans and cats moved towards the trees lining the left side of the road. The yellow-suited quartermaster staff and olive-green-pants-wearing Stormy Cats immediately sat down in the shade and began eating. So did Muta and Baron. Seiji and Shizuku shared a tree bole with Haru.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she heard Seiji ask. Despite their occasional bickering the man seemed devoted to his thin, frail-looking wife. "You look kind of peaked to me."
"I'm fine, Seiji. You're worrying over nothing. Remember how I kept up with you when we were in Italy?"
"You were carrying far less than you are now," Seiji insisted.
"I'm fine. Come on, let's make like the cats and eat. I'm starving."
------oOo------
Thanks to her tiredness and the soporific midday heat Haru fell asleep. This time she dreamed she was somewhere in turn-of-the-century England. She was in a Victorian-style dress, and Machida, who wore a trimly-cut suit of dark cloth and a bowler hat, was walking beside her.
"And how are you today? You beautiful little ones," he cooed. Haru watched him, fascinated. She had never seen him so gushy before.
She faced forward, looked down and discovered the reason for his cooing. She was pushing a pram. Inside were four babies, covered from the neck down by a blanket, with bonnets on their little heads.
Two of them looked like miniature versions of Baron. The other two looked like her as a cat, with cute little button noses and spiky brown hair peeking out of their bonnets.
Haru shrieked.
------oOo------
"Haru-chan! Wake up!"
A hand shook her roughly. She opened her eyes and found herself looking at Seiji Amasawa.
"You okay?"
Haru gathered her scattered wits about her. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I get nightmares when I sleep tired." She rubbed her eyes and stumbled to her feet.
"You haven't eaten yet," said Seiji. "Hurry up, we're almost about to leave."
"We are?" Haru dug around in her pack for some comestibles. "I-I'll eat over there," she said, pointing to a nearby tree. She didn't want to Seiji or Shizuku to see her scarfing down her food.
She walked to the tree and spied a figure in the branches of a maple beside it. It was the Baron. He was sitting on a branch, with his back propped up against another and his cane nestled in the crook of his right arm. His hat was pulled over his eyes, and it looked like he was asleep.
The cat person
Dreaming of Spring
Under green leaves' shade
Haru twisted and saw Shizuku standing quietly behind her. "Spring?"
Shizuku shrugged. "Who knows? He might be. Dreaming, that is." Her voice was tentative. "Haru-chan, if you want to talk about it..."
Haru's brows came together. For a second she was tempted to tell the elder woman to mind her own business, then relented and groaned ashamedly. "Iya, Shizuku-sensei. I wish I weren't that obvious."
"Don't worry, Haru." Shizuku came to stand beside her. "It's only because I've been watching you two ever since the ball. I can recognize a lovers' quarrel when I see one."
"'L-lovers' quarrel?' Well, I wouldn't go that far in describing it." Haru sighed. "Sensei, what am I going to do? I have a boyfriend back home, and yet... I can't help it! Even if he's not human, I find Baron strangely attractive."
"I can understand," said Shizuku. "He's gallant, he's true to his word, he stands by his friends... he also has that air of mystery about him."
Haru nodded. "Like I told him before, what woman wouldn't fall in love with him?" She pouted. "I wish I didn't, though."
"Oh?"
"I feel so confused, sensei. Cat or human... choose for me, please?"
Shizuku mulled over what Haru had asked as she led them further away from the Cat. "I wish I could tell you to do this or that," she said finally. "But I don't think I know enough about your situation to judge, and I've never experienced anything quite like it. Seiji and I have been a couple ever since we met in high school."
Haru sniffed. "And now you're married. I wish my love life were that straightforward. I guess the only thing to do is keep as far away from Baron as possible."
Shizuku looked at her. "If you think that's best. Hey, one of the cats is waving to us. I think we're leaving."
"What? But-but I haven't eaten yet!"
------oOo------
The kneeling tom wearing the violet bandanna finished his speech with, "And that is my report, milady." Around him hissed the various pipes and valves that lined the walls of the dimly-lit cavern.
The cat he was addressing, slouched in the jeweled throne it had stolen from a museum, nodded and propped an elbow on an armrest. "Excellent. You may go." The lackey got up and exited the cavern through a rough-hewn hole in the wall.
The seated cat examined the nails of one hand as it spoke. "Was denken Sie, Phaecis?"
The huge gray Husky half-breed standing on its hind legs beside the throne growled. "All right, I admit it. I was wrong and you were right. What're we going to do now?"
"Don't worry. I knew this day would come and planned against it. Leave me. I have to think."
The Pirate King's ammunition boots thumped solidly against the floor as he left through the same exit his henchman had used.
The Black Cat felt something stir within and shifted on the seat. Ah, my dear, you're awake again.
Let me go, you rotten excuse for a living thing, came the angry female voice. The Baron is here. He's closing in on you even as we speak. You won't get away this time.
True, too true. I have no intention of running away. After all, what's he going to do? Harm me?
The Black Cat laughed, her rich voice echoing off the rock walls. In the single passage that led from her lair Phaecis looked back and shook his head. Why someone as smart as the Doctor would want to spend life locked inside a female body was beyond him. Personally, he'd just as soon spend his money in this life, then leave it behind and go on his way.
------oOo------
"Yuki? What troubles you?"
The Queen turned away from the window and looked behind her. "Father," she acknowledged, dipping her head. "I'm worried about Lune."
"My son knows how to take care of himself. You know that. Please, won't you join me for lunch? That tanuki guest of yours has some crazy ideas I'd like you to hear before I pass judgment on them."
"Yes, Father." Her blue eyes lost some of their concern as she accepted the Duke's offered arm. "What's Shoukichi up to now?"
The Cat Duke scrunched his face up. "Yuki, what's a 'home theater system'?"
Author's Postscript: 'Haru', when spoken, can mean 'spring' (among other things) or refer to Haru herself (although her first name is written using katakana). It's a long story; it was a challenge to myself, that's all.
neko hito wa
haru yumemiteru
ryokuin shita
is my pitiful attempt at haiku. When I say I like to challenge myself, it doesn't mean I always succeed.