Chapter 17: Chocolate (the Cat), Nakanaka Omoharu

To her horror, the night at Gateau, her abode, wasn't the usual snores of the cats. Instead, it was the cold night winds blowing from outside. A window was shattered. Chocolate looked around and saw that there were cats missing; they had moved out. Sheltered cats. Out there in the unforgiving dark.

It was the new female employee. She slipped and accidentally threw a bag of food at the window, breaking it. While the owner rightfully scolded her, Chocolate jumped out.

Some cats was walking just around the cafe, just enjoying some night air. Chocolate told them to go back to the cafe and they all complied. Nice kids.

Searching the nearby alleyways, she found Maron-nee-san surrounded by several black cats. Feral males. Chocolate roared for their attention.

"Boss!" Maron-nee-san said.

"Oh? We gotta us here some spunky dame, eh?" One of the feral cats said. "Too bad you're far too old for u-"

Before he could continue, Chocolate punched him in the face. The cat slammed into another cat. "Come here if you want your face punched in." All the black cats escaped, fear of Chocolate entrenched deep in their soul.

"Boss, thank you!" her underling said. "Tabimaru was also looking out for the other lost cats!"

"So she's also lost."

"Yes!"

"Tch. Go home, Maron. Keep guard of the cats. Make sure they never go out again."

Chocolate's rescue mission continued. Fortunately any cat she found led her to another cat, and slowly but steadily, as the moon accompanied her righteous journey, Gateau welcomed back more and more of her lost daughters. However, Tabimaru remained out of sight.

Chocolate heard the laughter of a human. Not the drunken laughter of a depressed layabout, or the sneaky laugh of sinister criminal, but a proud laughter of a confident warrior. Next to it, muted compared to the boisterous noise, was the unmistakable shout of Tabimaru. Chocolate ran towards the sound.

There was human, about the same age as that Human with the Aura, who were dangling white cloth from her right arm. Tabimaru was busy swiping at the white cloth.

"Hahaha! Thou have fallen to my Insidious Charms, Scions of the White Tiger! Now bring me to thy Empress, so I might conquer her with my Dragon eyes!"

Oh, Chocolate realised, feeling terror in all four of her limbs. It was a delusional laugh of a clown. She didn't understand her babble but she knew it's better that she didn't. "Tabimaru!" Chocolate called. The youngster remained transfixed on the swaying white cloth.

"Oh, another Scion had came. Judging from the aura, you're a Seraphim-level," the human said, smirking. As she turned around Chocolate saw her right arm was fully covered with bandages. Her black hair was hiding her left eye, but Chocolate could see another white cloth covering that eye. She unfurled another long string of white cloth and began swaying it. "Can thee resist my Charms?"

Chocolate sighed. Another human falling victim to her pain. Maybe if she went to Gateau before she needed all those bandages, she wouldn't be like this. Chocolate walked towards the human. Her swaying of the white cloth was, Chocolate reluctantly admitted, hypnotic. Chocolate felt no danger emanating from the human's thin body.

If Chocolate was a kitten, she would fall to her trap.

Chocolate jumped at both moving white cloths and cut through them. The human was struck with terror and jumped backwards, screaming. This released Tabimaru from the human's allure. "Follow me, Tabimaru!" Chocolate bolted and Tabimaru followed. The human screamed something, but Chocolate had enough bullshit for one night.

[break]

"And that's why, I think, Nakanaka was flailing her bandages around black cats," Tadano said. He and Komi had just came across Nakanaka in an alleyway playing around with some cats, and he 'translated' Nakanaka's panicked explanation.

As if responding to Tadano's blunt description, Nakanaka replied, "As expected of someone who was once my kin."

Tadano felt like he was stabbed. He pulled his phone and showed a picture to Nakanaka. "Is this the cat you've seen?"

"Exactly the same."

"Her name is Chocolate. You can find her in the cat cafe named 'Gateau'," Tadano said.

"Pfah," Nakanaka said. "I thought she was an independent warrior. But turns out she's just another tamed kitten, under the thumb of capitalism."

"It's open from 11 AM," Komi said. "Maybe we could go together?"

Nakanaka reluctantly nodded and left without another word. Komi looked at Tadano. "You have a picture of Chocolate? Can I see it?"

Tadano was about to show it before he realised it was a picture of Komi smiling while saying 'nyaa' to Chocolate. "Uh...uh…"

"Was it a picture when we went together with Rumiko?"

"D-did you know Tsunde like to go to cat cafe too?" To Tadano's delight, Komi was interested in this. The two resumed walking. "Well, she didn't go to Gateau, but she...actually, she was with Agari..."

Author's note: The cats are named in chapter 214. The picture in the end is from the end of chapter 81. Sometimes I wish middle school Tadano would meet Nakanaka. They'd be the best of pals and maybe more.