Chapter 4: Little Tabby-san

The night had a strange eerie calmness in Nakatakahama Park. For any other high school girl, they would stay at home or go on a date in the city instead of venturing into the park at night. But here Miura Yumiko was, having her exercise. Dressed in a grey jacket and track pants, she had her hair tied into a ponytail.

It was mid-August. A fair number of days since she had returned from the Chiba Mura Village camp and after she had met the Huntsman in the warehouse for a second time. Ever since she started training herself to the bone she could feel her muscles hardening up. With the results displaying so prominently she could finally say she was pleased with her efforts.

Jogging deeper into the park, her eye caught something just up the road. An old woman in a pink kimono. Standing under the street lamp, the old woman was looking in all directions, like she was searching for something.

On one hand, assisting the old woman would be the supposed honorable thing to do. On the other hand, Yumiko was really not interested in disrupting her exercise routine.

Just as she was about to turn away, however, the old woman spotted. "Ah excuse me, young girl."

"Dammit" Yumiko groaned in her mind. She put on a courteous smile and stepped forward to bow. "A-Ah yes? Evening ma'am."

The old woman bowed back. "Oh, good evening sweet girl. I'm sorry could I trouble you for a moment? I need some help."

Yumiko took a breath. "Uh, s-sure."

"Oh thank you so much girl." The old woman made her way over to Yumiko. She gingerly took Yumiko's hand for comfort. "Please. I need help finding my cat."

"Your cat?" Yumiko's eyebrows rose up.

"Yes girl. I lost Tabby-san."

"Tabby-san?"

"Yes, my cat girl." The old woman explained. "I lost him while we were out on a walk."

Yumiko's tilted at that. "You took a cat out on a walk? Isn't that kind of meant for uh dogs?"

"No girl. My cat needs his exercise you know." She explained.

"Uhh. Okay…" Yumiko nodded at her. "So um, what does he look like?"

"He's an orange tabby."

"Orange? And uh how long ago was this?"

"Just a few minutes ago girl. I was taking a break by the lamppost before Tabby-san just started trotting off. I couldn't stop him and he just wandered off." The old woman said. She squeezed Yumiko's hand. "Oh please girl. Please help me find my little boy, my little Tabby-san."

As much as Yumiko did not want to use up her time on this situation that pleading face the old woman was giving really made things unfair. She said to her. "Ok, ok we'll find your cat. Where did he go when you were resting here?"

"Oh in that direction girl." She pointed to Yumiko's left. The Sobu girl peered in the direction. "Please find my cat girl. I would love to search with you but I need to catch my breath. Please."

"That's towards the playground," Yumiko said to herself. "Ok, I'll go see."

She headed off in her search. She blew her fringe and said to herself, "Ok, finding a lost cat. Here we go." It did not take long for Yumiko to arrive at the playground. The playground consisted of a slide above two metres tall, a set of monkey bars for children, a couple of spring riders and a metal climbing frame. The street lamps around had flies buzzing around it.

"Where the hell is this cat?" Yumiko sighed. She called out, "Tabby-san? Tabby-san where are you?"

There was no response, no meow, and no sound. Nothing. She called out again, "Tabby-san?" Again, nothing.

"This is stupid." Her cheeks had gotten a little red. "Are you in the trees?" Yumiko tilted her head to scan the trees. There was no tabby cat on any branches. Instead, there were a bunch of Japanese house bats fluttering around.

"Hmm." Yumiko's eyes narrowed. "How the heck did you lose a cat out here? And why would you need to bring it out for a walk?" Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of screeching above her head. The bats were flocking away from her. But in Yumiko's mind, that meant danger.

She spun around quickly and kept a readied heart. "What the hell?"

In the shadows by the base of a tree, there was something. Something big crouched down low, it looked like it was eating. The sound of a powerful growl resonated through Yumiko. She pulled out her phone to turn on her flashlight. Her jaws slowly dropped in terror.

There he was, a fully grown Siberian Tiger. Massive, regal and terrifying. A vibrant orange coat with black stripes. His green eyes shined from Yumiko's flashlight. The tiger was low on the ground chewing and plucking on a pigeon carcass. His maw was stained with blood. Around his neck, there was a brown collar. And with it was a long leash attached to the collar.

"Holy shit…sweet mother of…son of a fucking…" Yumiko muttered, stepping away from the tiger. The big cat raised his head, eyeing straight at Yumiko. Instantly his eyes went wide and bared his giant teeth letting out a loud growl.

"E-Easy boy. N-Nice kitty." Yumiko could not control her tremble, her heart hammered in her chest. The tiger got up from his pigeon kill and began inching towards Yumiko. The big cat growled out once more.

"Shit!" Yumiko ran for her life. "Shit! Shit! SHIT!"

The Siberian Tiger started to move towards Yumiko, soon before getting into a run. Yumiko rushed right for the playground, towards the metal climbing frame. In her adrenaline and with her survival instincts kicking in, she had an idea. She knew she could not outrun the tiger, she had to trap it.

She slid through the frame just before the tiger smashed into the climbing frame as well. He pushed his head through the metal lattice along with one paw reaching out for Yumiko. She backed away in the nick of time before his claws could cut her face. The tiger kept swiping his paw wildly and the tiger twisted his body further through the hole in his frenzy. Yumiko climbed up the metal frame quickly to the top. The tiger kept growling out in his stress.

Yumiko made her escape out of the metal frame. Jumping from the top and landing with a roll. The tiger did not know any better and was wedged stuck in the metal climbing frame. He kept on growling and swinging his paw around. Yumiko rushed in to grab his leash on from the side, tying it to the metal.

Yumiko backed away, panting her lungs out and her heart continued to hammer. But she had done it, she trapped the tiger.

"Tabby-san!"

Finally the old woman caught up, but to Yumiko's confusion she had a look of worry for the tiger. The old woman called to the tiger, "Tabby-san?"

"W-What…Tabby-san?" Yumiko clenched her teeth. Tabby-san continued growling and struggled out of his wedge, but all it did was got him stuck even further in the climbing frame.

"What happened?" The old woman asked accusingly now. "What did you do to Tabby-san?"

"Your cat is a tiger?!" Yumiko raised her voice. "You said your cat was a tabby."

"Yes, an orange tabby girl. Now, what did you do to him girl?" She pointed at Yumiko.

"HAH?! The tiger nearly had me for dinner and you're upset with me?! Are you out of your mind lady?!" Yumiko pointed back. "I'm calling the police you're insane! Gross!" Tabby-san roared out once more.

"Ohhh Tabby my boy." The old woman dismissed Yumiko and headed right for her boy. "Mommy's here. I'll get you free." The old woman did not see it coming, however, and Yumiko grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Oh no no no you're not going anywhere near that thing!" Yumiko said to her. With her other hand, she dialed for the police.

"How dare you girl?! Do you know who I am?!" The old woman shouted and tried to pull her arm away, but Yumiko's strength easily overpowered her. "You unhand me right this instant you stupid girl!"

Yumiko kept holding onto the old woman's wrist like she was restraining a child, Yumiko yanked her away from the tiger while the woman shrieked and wailed incoherently.

Thankfully the cops were nearby to assist Yumiko. All the while in the back of Yumiko's head, she had this dreaded thought.

"This must have been one of those illegal animals I've heard in the news. That exotic animal trade Huntsman stopped in the docks. Shit he stopped the source, but he could not do much for the damage control."