The bus rolled along its way to the sprawling, apartment-like dormitories. Along the outskirts of the area, some staff could be seen quickly transferring animals to their new enclosures from holding areas. It seemed as if the park was at full-speed-ahead, despite the earthquake just a short while ago now.
Makoto seemed nervous, worried about Cookie, as the bus ride comes to feel like an eternity. Finally, the bus crawls to a stop in front of the tallest of the dormitories. It appears to be a large, three-story building with multiple common areas visible from the front. The first floor consisted of a small lobby with chairs and some vending machines. The second floor had what appeared to be a dining area and kitchen, and the third wasn't quite visible, but Makoto could have sworn he had seen a TV with what appeared to be video games playing on it.
The bus speaker system announces the bus' arrival, and bids everyone to have a nice day. With that, the caretakers depart the bus, and make their way inside the dormitory. Makoto hurriedly makes his way ahead of the crowd, following the signs to his dormitory.
"Third floor, room 307." Makoto reads aloud from his information packet. He quickly makes his way to the room, which unlocks once he is in close proximity.
"Welcome home!" An automated voice prompts from a speaker on the door, as Makoto looks at his badge, realizing that it's lit up the same green color as the door.
"W-Wow, you don't even have to unlock it with a key! Ah, but Cookie!" Makoto quickly opens the door to find his silly grey cat staring eagerly at him from atop the sofa nearby. She happily mews and jumps towards him, surprising him as he catches her and pets her a bit. "Thank goodness you're okay! Let's have some dinner, shall we?"
Makoto retrieves a can of cat food from his belongings and empties it into Cookie's bowl, setting it down for her before getting a microwave meal out of the freezer. "It was nice of them to put the foodstuff away too. Hmm... Cheese pizza with breadsticks. That sounds good!" Makoto places the meal into the microwave, setting it to the desired time while he acquaints himself with the new surroundings.
The microwave beeps a short time later, and Makoto retrieves his food. "H-Hot!" He struggles to not drop the meal as he bobbles it over to the table, setting it down and blowing on his hands. He waits a while for it to cool, then happily enjoys his meal. "It doesn't taste as good as fresh pizza, but... I'm still just getting settled in, anyway. Tomorrow will give me a chance to get everything in order..." Makoto yawns, looking out the small patio door as he realizes that the sun appears to have already gone down.
"Hmm... Maybe I should go to bed early. Then I can get an early start tomorrow!" Makoto prepares his basics, a sleeping bag and pillow before curling up on the sofa. Cookie jumps up and curls up beside him while he pets her. Makoto watches out the patio, which faces towards the volcano. He could swear he saw a flash from it, but... No, it must just be the exhaustion from all the excitement catching up with him. Makoto closes his eyes and slowly drifts to sleep.
Silence is all that is heard for the next few hours, Makoto appears to be soundly sleeping. Suddenly, a large rumble shakes the ground. Even more violent than before. One of Makoto's still-packed bags falls on top of him, waking him up.
"Huh?! What's going on?!" Makoto looks around, quickly realizing that it's another earthquake. He grabs Cookie and puts her in her kennel, carrying her to the doorway of the room and sheltering her as best as he can. "It will be okay... It's just another quake..." At this point, it's unclear if Makoto is trying to convince Cookie or himself.
Just as the quake seems to be at its worst, the shaking stops. A bright light can be seen outside the windows, followed by a loud bang in the distance. At this point, the voices of other caretakers can be heard.
"What's happening?!" One of the caretakers asks just outside the door.
"The volcano... It's erupting! We have to go!" Another announces.
"Ah, come on Cookie... We have to go!" Makoto turns to leave, but as he goes to open the door, a light fixture falls and strikes him in the head. Poor Makoto's eyes widen as he collapses, knocked clean out by the sudden blow.
Makoto still has Cookie close to him in her kennel, determined to keep her safe even in this state. Fortunately, someone checks the room and is able to help collect the unconscious boy and his cat. "Hey, come help me! Someone got hurt!" The female caretaker calls to a male one down the hall, who runs back and helps her take Makoto down the stairs.
Outside, the sky looks as if it's on fire. Yet there's very little volcanic smoke. It almost looks like the Aurora Borealis phenomenon, a myriad of colors dancing across the sky in the background of the volcano's bright light. Even more odd, the volcano itself seems to be producing very little lava. Odd lights flash from the crater, and soon strange particles begin to fall from the sky. They reflect the lights' spectrum of colors, falling like rain, yet not accumulating on the ground.
Many staff members gather in awe at the sight before them, as they finish helping the injured out to safety. It's not long before Mirai arrives to the scene, immediately noticing the injured caretakers.
"Quickly! We need to get everyone who is hurt to the medical center. Everyone, get on the bus!" She calls out as she helps the injured onto her bus. Makoto seems to only be intermittently conscious as Mirai and one of the fellow caretakers helps him onto the bus. As it pulls away, Makoto blacks out again...
Suddenly, there is a bright light. "Makoto? Hey!" A familiar voice calls out.
Makoto feels a gentle hand upon his head, suddenly opening his eyes and gasping. "Ah! What?!" As he opens his eyes and sits up, he is in a small hospital room with Mirai and a female nurse watching over him.
Mirai gently rests Makoto back onto the bed. "It's okay, Makoto. You got hit in the head and blacked out. Everything is okay." Mirai says with a gentle smile.
"Blacked... out..? Ah, the earthquake, and the volcano... I remember now. Ah, where's Cookie?!" Makoto inquires as he looks around, somewhat frantic.
"Cookie is fine. She was returned to your dormitory once it was safe to do so. There is something I should tell you though..." Mirai looks as if she's in deep thought for a few moments, as if trying to word something. "Cookie is... a bit different from how you remember her."
"What? What do you mean by that, Mirai?" Makoto tilts his head slightly. He starts to adjust a bandage on his head where he got hit, eventually removing it altogether. "What time is it, even?"
The nurse looks at her watch a moment. "It's four in the afternoon. You were out for a while, but everything seems okay. Still, you should go right back and rest." The nurse reaffixes the bandage to Makoto's head with a slightly annoyed look. "And leave this on your head for another day or so!"
Makoto winces a little as the bandage is adjusted. "O-Okay... Ah, Mirai, what did you mean before?" He returns his gaze to Mirai.
"It would be best to show you, Makoto..." She says and blinks a little as she helps Makoto back up and out of the room.
Makoto quickly regains his bearings, following Mirai out of the medical center and walking with her back to the dormitories. It appears that the dormitories were only a short walk away, but Mirai still insists that Makoto take it slowly and allow her to help him.
"Don't overdo it, okay?" Mirai looks at Makoto, still a bit worried.
"Okay... Thank you, Mirai." Makoto smiles to her, then gazes up at the mountain in the distance. It still seems to be active, but there's no lava of any kind. "Mirai... What happened?"
"I'm just glad you're okay, Makoto. Fortunately, no one was severely hurt." She looks at the mountain briefly before looking back at Makoto. "We still don't fully know. I'm going to be going to look into it more myself as soon as I drop you off." She replies, assisting Makoto back to the dormitory.
Mirai walks Makoto to his dormitory, opening the door for him and walking him in. Immediately, something is amiss. In addition to everything being repaired and neatly put away, there appears to be... a girl sitting on the couch and eagerly watching the door. Even more strange, this girl has... cat ears?! She appears to be in a dark grey outfit of some kind, very reminiscent of Makoto's own cat.
Makoto jumps back a bit. "W-Who is this girl- Uwah?!" The girl smiles before playfully pouncing at Makoto, nearly knocking him to the ground as he catches her as best as he can and sets her down.
"Welcome home Makoto!" the catgirl calls out happily.
"Makoto... This is Cookie. When the volcano erupted last night, something truly spectacular happened. All the animals that were in the park at the time somehow became... Animal girls." As Mirai says this, she seems to be drooling a bit, clearly excited before snapping back to all seriousness. "Anyway! We don't fully understand what happened, but we are looking into it. For the time being, I've asked Cookie to look after you!"
Cookie grins as she hugs Makoto tightly to her. "I'll do my best!"
"W-Wait, how are you able to talk? Isn't this all confusing for you too?" Makoto asks her, blushing and trying to wiggle free of the embrace shyly, not quite sure how to feel. "I-I think that blow to my head was too much..." Makoto rubs his head a little as he tries to process everything
"Ah, I picked up on it pretty quickly! Some of the others helped me, actually! It's been almost a whole day since it happened, you know." Cookie says as she sticks her tongue out at him with a wink. "I've already put some of your things away. Mirai was kind enough to help me figure out the hard stuff! Of course, I remember a lot of things from before, too!" Cookie nods excitedly, but seems a bit concerned at the mention of Makoto's injury. "Makoto! Is your head okay?"
"He should be okay, Cookie, but I am leaving him in your care for the time." Mirai briefly interjects before turning to Makoto. "Makoto, when things settle down a bit, I will come back to get you and the other caretakers. Please rest a bit before then, as we have a lot of things to discuss. We are going to need everyone to help who can." Mirai gently pats both Makoto and Cookie before putting her hat back on and taking her leave.
"Bye Mirai! Thank you!" Cookie cheerfully waves and closes the door, then turns back to Makoto, who is still quite confused.
"Cookie... I still can't believe all this is happening..." Makoto sits down on the couch, which prompts Cookie to crawl onto the couch beside him, making him blush and become more flustered. He tries to avoid seeming rude, holding his hand out, but not sure whether to pet her or not. "M-May I..?"
"It's okay! It's very different for me too, but Makoto is here, and that makes it better!" She twitches her ears as she looks at his hand. "Oh? You don't have to ask!" She smiles and rubs her head into his hand, smiling happily at him.
Makoto, in turn, blushes and pets Cookie's head and ears. He continues for a while as he closes his eyes, slowly dozing off a bit while the catgirl rests beside him.
Makoto twitches a bit in his sleep, seemingly having a nightmare. He finds himself at the base of the mountain, and as he turns around, he is confronted by a feminine-shaped shadow with glowing eyes. He tries to run from it, but trips and falls as it approaches, he tries to crawl away but is eventually bound in the shadows. The feminine shadow moves closer to him, eventually holding her hand out towards him, and the dream fades to black as Makoto is awoken to find Cookie looking down at him.
"Mako! Are you okay? You were crying in your sleep..." Cookie looks at Makoto with a slight look of concern. She appears to have an apron on, and there is a strong burning smell in the air of the dorm.
"Huh?! Again? Ah, I'm okay... Just very strange dreams... Ah, what's that smell?" Makoto asks curiously, looking around.
"Oh! I'm making some pancakes! I read a book about cooking while you slept!" Cookie giggles a bit and cheerfully smiles, twirling around before returning to the stove.
"Y-You know how to cook?!" Makoto appears quite confused, slowly standing and looking over her.
"Hmm? Yeah! It's not that difficult, actually! You just put things on here, turn the knobs until they get hot!" Cookie says with a proud expression, she seems to be adapting to her new form, gradually, anyway.
Unfortunately, the pancakes are burnt black, and one appears to be.. on fire?! "Gyah! Cookie, look out!" Makoto calls out as he pushes her away to safety before pouring water from his bottle onto the fire. Unfortunately, it seems there may have also been oil in the pan, causing it to flash over. The overhead sprinkler system eventually engages, setting off the fire alarm for the whole dorm, but extinguishing the stove without anyone getting hurt.
Soon there is a knock at the door, which slowly opens as Mirai peeks her head in. "Ah, it seems you two have had quite a.. busy morning.. I will call for the custodial staff to clean up the mess, and I'll have a caretaker bring some breakfast by for you, Cookie." Mirai giggles and steps in. "Makoto, I hate to interrupt, but we have a lot to do today. I need all of my caretakers who are able to work." She nods, her expression changing to a bit more of a serious one.
"Oh, of course! Let me get my bag... Cookie, are you okay here for the time being?" Makoto looks at her, still a bit unsure.
"Mako has to go to work now?" Cookie blinks and gets something out of the fridge, it seems she even made Makoto a bento box lunch, fortunately just a tuna sandwich this time. She hands it to him with a smile. "Have a good day at work, Mako! I'll be here when you get home!" She smiles and gives him a tight hug.
"Uwah! T-That's so thoughtful! Thank you, Cookie!" Makoto smiles and takes the lunch box, then gets his sling bag and steps out with Mirai, heading towards her bus. Cookie stands and waves in the doorway before closing the door behind them.
"Where are we heading Mirai?" Makoto asks, head tilted a bit.
"We are going to go to the forest just outside of Park Central. We're using it as a preparation area before we send our caretakers out to their areas. Our plan is to try and get to know these animal girls, or 'friends' as we are calling them, as best as we can. The research team will be in charge of finding and introducing us to them. From there, our plan is to assign caretakers to help them to adapt to these new changes." Mirai explains, starting the bus and closing the doors as they begin to pull away and off in the direction of the forest.
End Chapter 3