Chapter 41
TT: I suspect I should be studying for my English Essay that I have to write tomorrow, but really, how do you study for an essay on 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'?
Everyone who wants me to explain the last chapter: Sorry, but that's not happening! See, its meant to be confusing, and you have to read it hard to get everything from it. It's told in 3rd person, but from the POV of the first cat. The kitty's gone a little crazy, so he uses some odd terms, hence the confusion. However, he also knows more about the current situation than anyone else.
Queen-ghost is Eris. She's female (Queen is a female cat) and she's a ghost.
The kittens are the other cats of the Sohma.
Runt refers to Kyo, as he is the smallest and youngest of the kittens thus far.
The creature/the God refers to Akito.
'He' is generally used to refer to the first cat.
Sorry, that's all the hint I'm going to give you (Hey, that's a lot of help!)
DragonLady: Not even I'm sure if the first cat is the original cat or the first to be possessed by the cat. It's possible that the first cat is both. (Shh!)
Treska SilverFlame: To be honest, plot is meant to be a little hazy. Just like Eris herself, the story is designed to sidetrack. Thanks for the grade! (Its tons better than my school grades)
Chaos Tears: Heh, thanks. As I said, I wanted something very different, and the POV of the cat seemed like a great way to go.
Cheeky Doggie: The cat is the only one who can explain in detail; he's the only one that really understands it all.
"Get the doctor-dragon, quick! Kyo's very, very sick! HE'S LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING TO SCHOOL!"
The said cat winced, "Not in my ear, Eris. I like my hearing."
"Eh, oh, sorry Kyo. But you can't really want to go back to school, can you? It means work! And homework! And grumpy teachers! And MATHS!" The ghost pulled at Kyo's hair gently with each sentence.
"I want outof this house."
"So, lets go back to the mountains for some weird training trip with your Shisho – not school, anything but school; you're trying to kill me!"
Kyo gave her a flat stare, "You're already dead."
"That's racist – oh, wait, no, its not, is it? And it's not sexist either… Well, it must be something 'ist'! You're using my physical state against my arguments."
"Aren't I the one who's supposed to have a fit about going back to school? I wouldn't thought you were looking forward to getting that prank on Yuki's fan club underway."
A pause, "I forgot about that! Wait here, Kyo, I need to get some stuff!" She dived through a wall. A moment later, she sheepishly stuck her head back through to look at the cat, "Uhh, can you come and put the stuff I need in your schoolbag for me?"
Shaking his head, Kyo obediently grabbed his schoolbag and followed the ghost.
Kyo stared up at the familiar building in front of him, apprehension growing inside him. Already, he could feel the eyes of students – females particularly – on him, and heard whispers as they glanced in his directions; crazy theories on why he'd been gone. Briefly, he thought back to the real reason, and decided that maybe those theories weren't so crazy.
"You were right, Eris. I want to go back home."
"Too late for that, Kyo. We're here now." She struck a pose, "Onward! To the great bowels of the forbidden lands, we shall fight our way through deadly perils – like homework and oral presentations – until we find the Holy Grail of Pranksters."
"What's the holy grail of pranksters?"
"I don't know. An album full of pictures of Yuki in a dress, probably. Either that, or the almighty prankster book, by me, that I haven't written yet. And next time, say it with the capitals!"
"…What?"
"Never mind. Let's go in, I have to find the fan club's lockers!"
"This is either going to be a very loooong day, or a very entertaining one."
Squaring his shoulders, Kyo entered the school. The scent of perfume assaulted him as a girl dived over to him, speaking animatedly about how he'd been, and asking why he hadn't been in school. Gagging at the scent, Kyo walked quickly away from the girl, until he lost her in the crowd. He barely had time to breath, before another female approached him.
"Looks like it's going to be a very long day, after all."
The day went generally slowly – Kyo divided his time between avoiding girls who wanted to ask how he'd been, and why he hadn't been at school, and actually attempting to learn something in his classes.
That isn't to say, however, that there weren't moments of amusement. Before class even started, the three main members of the Yuki fan club had opened their lockers; only to have paint literally explode and cover them head to foot, in bright green and pink. Judging by the squeals, Kyo had to guess that the colour combination was forbidden.
Apparently, however, that hadn't been the only prank – later the fan club had discovered that someone had put mud in their gym shoes, their bags had somehow been rigged to give off a sound that was similar to a fire-alarm whenever they were jostled, and there had been some kind of dust, sprinkled on their spare hairbrushes, that had turned their hair blue.
Kyo had merely raised an eyebrow at Eris when he heard all this, "Been bored, much?"
"Well, I was going to replace their spray-on deodorant with some bad-smelling stuff as well, but I decided that it would be mean."
"And this isn't?"
Eris looked horrified, "Of course it isn't! This is just the warm up round – I have not yet begun to prank!"
"…Eris, that's enough for today. Even Yuki didn't have to deal with all this in one day."
"Aww. Alright, fine. I'm going to see if I can find that photo album of Yuki in a dress – I'll be back for chemistry!"
The ghost had disappeared through the floor; leaving Kyo alone for maths.
However, despite those moments of entertainment, the rest of the day had been dull and boring, seconds taking hours to tick by. It seemed to Kyo that he'd been trapped inside the stuffy classroom for an eternity before he was finally allowed to leave and go home.
Kyo, relieved to be out in the sun again, stretch heavily as he made his way out of school grounds, looking suspiciously like the cat he was supposed to be. Eris, practically bouncing off walls that she was no longer trapped between, was talking animatedly to her friend, despite the fact they both knew he was only half listening.
"So, I didn't find the Holy Grail of Pranksters, but that's okay, because you're stuck going there for another couple of years, and I'm not leaving you there on your own because if I do they'll be no one to defend you against the attempts to brainwash you that the teachers and principal try – hey, do you think that there's some kind of sublimal message in the daily announcements that the principal gives out over the speakers every day? Maybe we should look into that – like spies or something! I get to number 49! We could stake out the school or something – eh?"
Both Eris and Kyo stopped, looking in the direction of the main Sohma house with confusion. The cats around Kyo also stopped, watching and listening, before they relaxed, settling down where they were and mimicking the sound they could hear, until it echoed through the air across the whole city.
The Cats of the Sohma were purring.