Chapter Twelve: Small Deceptions
Baron watched the sweet brunette travel home through the streets, her gray cloak making her almost disappear completely into the background. Such a trait was useful, when one was as often alone as she.
'I still didn't tell her I was sorry.'
"A criminal! I've been sheltering a criminal?!" Father Hashio yelled, as Toto finished translating Muta's story. The white cat grinned guiltily, although his eyes were on the half-cat, as he finally turned away from his window; the dark gypsy now gone from his sight as she turned a corner.
"I told you, I was young and stupid. A friend of mine bet me that I couldn't pull off eating all the fish in the lake, and I bet that I could… so I did." He stood on his hind legs and patted his ample belly. "At least I won the bet!"
Baron sighed, sitting into his old seat.
'Haru… I haven't met many girls, but there's something about you.' And it wasn't just the fact that she wasn't bothered by his appearance. In fact, the golden gypsy hadn't intruded his thoughts since the day of the festival. Maybe it was Haru's warm heart. Or her beautiful brown eyes. He had never been particularly fond of the color, but on her-
"Baron! Are you listening to me?!"
The orange and cream half-cat snapped out of his private thoughts, and focused on his keeper.
"I'm afraid I wasn't. What were you saying?"
The priest growled.
"I said you're going to owe Haru big for this one, and you still owe her from saving you at the festival. You had better think of something very good to repay her with."
The half-cat nodded, although skeptic.
'Is there anything Haru wants that I could give her?' he wondered.
ooOoo
Louise looked up as the tent flap opened, to reveal her pale cousin, slightly wet from all the rain. The golden-haired beauty scoffed tiredly.
"You're late. Mama was getting worried."
Haru sighed as she slipped off the cloak and started getting ready for bed.
"I know. I already spoke to her." She crawled underneath the blanket, only for Louise to pull away from her, goose bumps rising from the brunette's cold body.
"I don't see how you can stand going inside that cold church, Haru. Why do you keep going there, when you aren't welcomed?"
Haru smiled warmly, thinking about her newest case.
"Oh, I'm welcomed. Not by everyone, but the few that matter to me." 'How would one go about requesting a favor from a feline king?'
"So, why were you so late?" Louise asked before yawning, as her cousin's body temperature began to rise to a safe level. Haru stiffened, wondering how much she should say.
"I was with Father Hashio again. We had a lot of talking to do."
ooOoo
The red and beige cat firmly shook his head.
"No can do, Haru. Cats can't just waltz up to the royal palace, and expect to be able to talk to the king."
The brunette leaning over the cat sighed a little tiredly.
"Seigi, if you could only deliver a word or two. Surely he'd make an exception for my family. I'm offering nine trout."
"I said no," the cat said firmly, waddling away from the girl. "A cat could lose his life, trying to talk to the king. He's a bit prideful of his royal rank, and he doesn't like being disturbed by commoners. Whatever you want to talk to him about, you'll have to go to the kingdom yourself and ask him."
Haru sighed again, rising to her feet and stretching a bit.
"Thanks, Seigi. Talk to you later."
The red and beige cat managed a half-courteous nod to her before walking out of the alley they had been talking in, to avoid the soldiers. The brunette walked out afterwards, wondering if she would have to travel to the Cat Kingdom anyway.
'It's a bit of a long distance, to travel by myself. It's a bit risky, and Father Hashio would probably yell at me, if I try to go alone. But anyone that would offer to go with me are either as defenseless as myself or wouldn't provide much protection, if robbers stopped us.' For a wild second, Haru considered asking Baron to come with her, since it was a favor for him, but then shrugged the idea off. He would be far too conspicuous, which was why she needed to go in the first place.
Suddenly, she heard something, around the next corner.
"No, let's tie bags to its feet!"
"I've got a pet dog, can you guys-"
"No way. I don't want to wait for you to come back."
Haru rounded the corner, to see a group of children. In the middle of them was a distressed mewing. Her dark eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing?" she asked, nearly hissing in her fury. The kids looked up at her, some with dawning fear. A stockier built kid puffed himself up a bit.
"It ain't none of your concern, lady. Go away."
Haru spotted a bit of fur in the middle of the kids, and her anger doubled.
"You have until the count of five to get away from the cat, and then things will turn ugly. One."
A couple of the kids left.
"Two."
The cocky kid scoffed.
"What could you do to us?!"
"A lot. Three."
A few more left, scared at her expression. The one offensive kid was standing alone now, and he was keenly feeling the loss of his comrades. The cat was now lying on the ground, and clearly hurt.
"Four."
The kid screwed up his face in anger, but then stormed away.
"Fine! Keep the stupid cat!" he yelled at her, making the brunette smile grimly, walking up to the feline.
"Sorry about that, sir, I just came around the corner." As gently as she could, the girl felt the cat's body, trying to determine how bad the damage was. "Is anything broken?" she asked the cat when he looked up at her.
His mismatched eyes widened, as did the girl's matching ones.
'The royal eyes!'
The dark gray cat slowly shook his head as a laugh escaped his throat.
"No, I'll be fine, Miss Yoshioka. I see you take after your father."
She smiled apologetically, easing the cat into her arms to find a safer place for him.
"I see you do too, Your Highness. Does trouble run deep in your family?"
The prince laughed weakly.
"Kind of, yes. I'm quite lucky you came along."
Haru took a deep breath for courage as she ran back to her family tents.
"Actually, I think I'm the lucky one, Highness. I'm Haru."
The cat grinned up at her.
"I'm Lune. Why are you the lucky one?"