"What can I get for you, young lady?" the bar tender asked.

Holding her head, Rin, in human form, answered, "Just a water, please."

"That's not a drink," a boy said as he sat next to Rin. "Get us both some cider, my good sir."

"You got it," the bar tender replied.

Rin stared at the boy - or maybe he was a man, she wasn't sure because he looked as if he could be either sixteen or twenty-five. When all he did was smile when he met her stare she asked, "Who are you?"

"A friend," he answered.

"We aren't friends," Rin said.

"But you're a Bakeneko, no?" he asked, a mischievous grin on his face. At the sight of Rin's face turning ash pale he said, "What are you so worried about? You aren't showing; I could only tell because I could smell you."

"Smell me?" Rin questioned out loud. Taking a moment to sniff, she could tell that he, too, was a Bakeneko.

"See?" he grinned. "Nothing to worry about."

"Two ciders, freshly made," the bar tender announced as he placed the drinks in front of them.

"Freshly made?" the boy snorted. "Luki, you and I both know that stuff has been sitting in a barrel for weeks waiting to be drank."

Laughing, the bar tender said, "Nothing gets past you, huh?" After he asked that he turned away in order to help another customer.

"You seem pretty familiar around here," Rin observed.

"I'm a regular," he said as he took a sip of his cider. "Then again, most of us are. We Bakenekos love a good drink every once in a while."

"Bakenekos?" Rin asked, noting how he spoke of their kind in plural form.

"Look around," the boy advised.

Doing as he said, Rin took a scan around the room. When she noticed nothing unusual, she looked around again but this time saw a few girls sitting in the far back. Both had their cat ears up, their tails flickering about, and claws - cat claws - in the place of human fingernails. "How are they-? What are they-?" Rin rambled.

"Some Bakeneko don't like to take on full human form," the boy explained as he drained the last of his cider. "They believe it is an insult to our kind, so they spend a long time practicing the ability to not change their entire form. As you can see," when Rin looked at him, fuzzy gray ears sat at the top of his head, "I can change from having human ears to having my Bakeneko ears. I can do the same with my tail and claws like those girls over there, but I prefer being fully human." With that he changed his ears back to human form. "Neat, huh?"

"Impressive, I'll admit," Rin said as she took a swing of her drink. An earthquake of coughs soon followed.

"You're not supposed to drink so much at once," the boy said as he patted Rin's back.

"Thanks for the warning," Rin gasped. After regaining her composure, Rin only took a small sip of her cider. "It's good," she admitted as she liked her lips.

"Now you see why some of us take on human form?" he grinned. To the bartender, "I would like a refill!" Back to Rin he said, "How long have you been a Bakeneko?"

"Ten years," Rin replied.

"And how long have you been human?"

Pressing her lips together, Rin said, "About a month, perhaps."

The boy nearly choked on his refill of cider. "All at once?!" he asked, alarmed.

Shaking her head, Rin answered, "On and off. I've never spent more than a couple hours as a human."

"Oh," the boy looked relieved, "that's good."

Furrowing her brows, Rin asked, "Is it a bad thing to constantly stay in human form?"

"Not if you're a Nekomata," the boy answered, "but a Bakeneko being human too long isn't a good thing. They'll eventually turn back into a Bakeneko against their will, and will be unable to take human form again for a long time, if ever again."

"So we can't maintain these human forms?" Rin asked.

"What did I just say?" the boy asked. "If you only take this form time to time as you say you do, you will be able to become human as oft as you like. Stay in human form and things won't end well."

Rin bit her lip, the image of Len's human form coming to mind. "And Nekomatas?" she asked.

"They can stay in human form forever," the boy answered. "Of course, you can do a lot of things when your tail splits into two."

Rin pursed her lips. She had never met a Nekomata before, but that's mostly because they prefer to live in the mountains. Some cats became Bakeneko while a very small few become Nekomata. It was possible for Bakeneko to become Nekomata as they progressed in age, but there was no garuntee.

"How did you become a Bakeneko?" the boy asked.

"My tail grew long enough while I was still a kitten," Rin answered. "My brother and I were the only ones who were."

"Interesting," the boy said. "Becoming a Bakeneko doesn't run in your family if you two were the only ones."

"Mama always said my brother and I were different," Rin said, smiling as if remembering a fond memory. "She said we were born at the same time, and always seemed to have this special bond. She always figured that was why we became Bakenekos even though there hasn't been a Bakeneko in out family for generations."

"So I assume you both were lucky, huh?" the boy smiled, but soon his face fell when he saw Rin look as if she were in pain. "You okay?"

Rin shook her head. "Being a Bakeneko isn't all that great. My sisters thought Len and I were freaks. They wanted nothing to do with us. We were . . . just too different. When we became Bakenekos, we began to age like humans; and because we became Bakenekos at such a young age, we still in many ways kids when our sisters were mating. Only now, being like that of an eighteen-year-old human, does the thought of finding a mate not disgust me as much.

"It's weird, really. All of my sisters are dead, and I'm positive they have great-grandchildren now, yet I'm still barely an adult. My sisters died of old age, and I'm not even an adult yet,and we were all the same age. Isn't that funny?" Rin was beginning to cry now. "Our sisters never let us near their kittens. We were never allowed to be with our nieces and nephews, and they never let us near their kittens - out great-nieces and great-nephews. Our sisters' grandchildren's grandchildren will be dead long before I ever die. It's the same as if I were immortal." Rin placed her head into her palms and began to sob uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry," the boy said in an attempt to comfort her. "I can't imagine what kind of pain you're feeling . . ." he trailed off.

Rin sniffed. "Only one of our sisters accepted us," Rin began. "She had a white spot on her left eye. We called her Patches. Anyway, she accepted Len and me for what we were, even though we were very different. I used to tell myself 'If she lives to be ten, she'll become a Bakeneko, too. She just has to live long enough.' She almost did, too. She died last year, at the age of nine. The only sister who loved Len and me regardless, died old while I'm still young." Shaking her head, Rin continued, "She wouldn't have been young like us, but she would have lived longer than she had. If only she had lived just a bit longer. . . ."

"I'm really very sorry," the boy said. "I have no idea what you're going through."

Shaking her head, Rin said, "It's okay. I have my whole life to get over it. What's really important is my stupid brother."

"Len?" the boy asked.

Rin was about to ask him how he knew Len's name before remembering that she had mentioned Len multiple times during her story. Instead she went into the problem Len had gotten himself into. "He's been in human form for three months now," Rin went on to say, "and he can't stay that way much longer. What's going to happen if his disguise wears off in front of that girl?"

The boy put a finger under his chin as he thought through the possible outcomes. "My best guess would be that she tells everyone. Whether they'll believe or label her as crazy I can't say for sure."

"What if she's grief stricken?" Rin asked.

"I don't know," the boy shrugged. "Suicide?"

"Suicide?!" Rin exclaimed. "I can't let that happen. Len would kill himself as a result." Looking down, Rin quietly whispered, "And then I really will be all alone."

"You need to warn your brother," the boy said. "Perhaps if you can warn him before it's too late he can make up an excuse to the girl to explain his absence while he spends some time in his true form. As far as I know, it's the only solution for this temporary problem. What happens afterwards will be his own choice."

"Okay," Rin nodded. "I . . . I will tell him." Rin stood up and was about to bolt out of the bar before looking at the boy and saying, "We never introduced ourselves, have we?"

"No," the boy realized, "we haven't."

Placing a hand on her chest, Rin replied, "My name is Rin. I would like to thank you so much for listening to my problems."

Taking her free hand, the boy kissed it before saying, "Anything to help a damsel in distress." He grinned at her before he finished. "Well Rin, you can call me Nero."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Len never would have seen it coming. As he was looking out the window, staring at the full moon, Miku came up to him and lightly touched his arm. "Rinto?" she called.

"Yes, Miku-Chan?" Len smiled at her, but his smile turned into a frown when he saw the look on her face. "Miku-Chan," he asked, voice full of concern, "what's wrong?"

"Hey," she began, as if he hadn't spoken, "your eyes . . . are different from his. . . ."

Len could only look at Miku in surprise. "What do you mean?" Len quietly asked, dreading the answer.

"You're not Rinto," Miku quietly said. "I know because you're both very different. His eyes were gray, yet yours are cerulean. You're not Rinto, so who are you truly?"

Knowing how pointless lying would be, Len sighed and honestly replied, "You know me, Miku-Chan. You saved my life, even when your parents wanted you to drown me."

"What?" Miku whispered, her brows knitting tightly together. The more she thought about it, the more her brows furrowed. When the realization shone in her eyes, Miku's hand flew towards her mouth as her eyes widened in horror. "Kitty-Kun?!" she said, her surprise shaping her tone. At a loss for words, Len only nodded for confirmation. "I . . . I," Miku whispered, "I don't believe it. . . ."

"I'm sorry, Miku-Chan," Len said as he bowed his head in shame. "I just . . . I just couldn't stand to see you in so much pain. It was killing me to see you so upset. I didn't want you to hurt anymore, so I took your lover's form in order to bring back your smile."

"Why would you do that?" Miku quietly asked.

Because I promised to bring back your smile may have been the answer he had given Rin, but for Miku Len knew there was nothing for him to hide. "Because I love you, Miku-Chan," he confessed. "I love you so much that I couldn't bear your being in pain. I . . . I had to make you happy again. I just had to. . . ."

Miku looked into Len's eyes. "You . . . you love me?" her words where barely a whisper.

"So much it pains me," Len softly replied.

To Len's surprise, Miku wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face into his chest. "I knew I loved you as someone else," she cried. "I knew all along, yet I have now just noticed that you were truly someone other than Rinto."

"Miku-Chan," Len said as he placed a hand on top of her head. "Hate me as much as you wish, but I was honestly only thinking of your happiness when I began sinning and lying. There is no excuse for what I have done. I am the cruelest of all the Bakeneko. If you wish I would leave-"

Miku cut him off by tightening her grip around him. "No," she said. "I don't hate you. I . . . I love you, too. I probably should hate you for what you have done, yet I can't help but love you more than I should. I love you, Kitty-Kun, and there is no sin too great or no lie too big for that to change."

It was now Len's turn to cry. He began to tremble worse than an earthquake, and his knees gave out from under him, making him slide down to the floor. Miku knelt down and wrapped her arms around him again and held him as he cried. "How could you love such a sinner as myself?" Len sobbed.

"There is no force in the universe strong enough to destroy love," Miku replied in a gentle voice. "Please," she said softly, "don't leave me again. Promise me you won't ever leave me."

"I-I promise!" Len cried as he buried his face into Miku's shoulder and began to cry more. "Oh God," he thought, "I really am so cruel."

"I now this a weird thing to ask," Miku began, "but do you have a name? Not 'Rinto,' not 'Kitty-Kun,' but a name of your own."

"Len," he whispered. "My name's Len."

"Len," Miku sighed, the name rolling comfortably off her tongue. Kissing Len on his forehead, Miku whispered, "I love you, Len. I honestly, truly do love you. I may now know who you truly are, but my heart knew all along that you were someone else, someone I didn't know. I fell in love with you, and now I love you so much that the truth means nothing to me. I don't care who or what you are, just always stay by my side."

"I will," Len vowed. He looked into Miku's eyes and saw how genuine she was. She had truly meant what she said to him, and now Len felt worse for having to lie to her in the first place. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"For what?" Miku asked. "You have nothing to be sorry for, so don't you dare believe otherwise." Before Len could reply, Miku mashed her lips against his.

Despite being taken off guard, Len failed to pull away from the kiss but instead deepened it. She tasted so sweet, and she smelt so good. Never in his life had he been kissed before, and now he was experiencing his first kiss with the girl he was in complete and total love with.

"We should get to bed," Miku said after the kiss broke. "We have a long day tomorrow."

"What are we going to tell everyone?" Len asked.

Miku shook her head. "Nothing," she answered. "No one needs to know the truth. What happened tonight and who you really are shall stay our little secret."

"You will lie to your friends and family?" Len asked, mildly surprised.

Smirking, Miku said, "You're not the only one here who's a liar, you know?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Huffing and puffing, Rin, in human form, continued to run through the forest. "I have to warn Len before it's too late!" was the phase she repeated over and over in her head as a motivation to keep going. She had went to another village after Len declared for her his love for Miku, and now Len was miles away and probably close to losing his disguise. "I need to get to him in time!" Rin mentally told herself. "I just have to!"

Author's Note: Just one more chapter left, guys. One. More. Chapter. Will Rin-Chan make it in time, or will it be too late? I don't know, I might stay true to the song like I had originally intended, or I might give it a happy ending. I'm leaning towards the former, but it all really depends on my mood. Maybe an open ending? I don't know yet. I'm still making up my mind as I write this. I'm not exactly what you call an organized person.

-Ray