Hey guys! Trying to update, what with being sick and having school and all that jazz…fun, fun, fun! So, I'll try to update as much as possible as I normally would. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!
I, unfortunately, do not own The Cat Returns.
As Baron handed me my cup of tea, I made myself at home on the couch in the center of the room. Toto and Muta had begun shooting insults at each other as they normally would. I chuckled at the sight, while quietly sipping my tea.
"Your tea is as amazing as I remember it, Baron!" I exclaimed. He smiled at me.
"Then you're lucky, once again." He said with a smile, which made my heart skip a beat or two in the process.
"Get off my head, you birdbrain!" Muta yelled.
"Oh, don't even start with the whole 'birdbrain thing' again! Can't you come up with anything better…?" He retorted. I ended up laughing a bit louder than expected.
"I guess old habits never die." I mused. Baron chuckled.
"I suppose not, in this case." He replied. Just then, the two animals ran outside to finish their arguing in a more 'physical' way. I giggled quietly, as Baron just shook his head at the scene while sitting down in a chair just across from where I was currently sitting.
"So have their been any cases lately?" I asked. Completely ignoring the loud thumps we heard every so often from Muta hitting the ground from Toto knocking him backwards.
"Unfortunately, there hasn't been any new cases since yours at the Cat Kingdom. Things have been going quite well though. Besides those two having their occasional arguments, things are nice and quiet here." Baron explained. I smiled. We continued to chat about various things; like how I was doing in school, and how Hiromi and I are still as close as ever, and other topics like that. Eventually Muta and Toto came in; Toto's feathers ruffled, and Muta's fur quite dirty from falling over so many times. We talked for a while more, before I glanced at the clock on the shelf.
"Wow! It's really that late?" I thought out loud. "I have to get home to move some more of my mother's things out of the apartment tomorrow, so I should get extra rest tonight." I ended up saying this without thinking first. When I said this, the three of them all looked at me with concern.
"What do you mean, Haru?" Baron asked, with what seemed like the most concerned one in the room.
'Great…the last thing I need is them worrying about me… Me and my big mouth…' I scolded myself in my mind.
"Nothing! Nothing!" I said, with as much of a smile as I could muster up. "Gotta run! Thank you so much for the tea and the lovely chat, Baron. I'll come by again soon!" I reassured them as I got up to leave. I grabbed my jacket hanging on the coat rack, and opened the door to leave. I paused a bit to turn around and give the three Bureau members a reassuring smile, waved good-bye, and left quickly as to not let any cold air inside the tiny building.
I walked through the arch-way, and could feel myself returning back to my original size as I left the tiny village-like area. I looked back, before returning through the various twists and turns of the alleyways and rooftops. I didn't want them to know, just yet. I couldn't wait to get home and get some well-deserved rest.
I reached over to hit the switch on my cow-shaped alarm clock, noticing that it wasn't even going off.
"Oh yeah…It's Saturday." I said to myself. "I should call and see if Hiromi's up yet. She offered to help me move some of mom's stuff." I got up lazily and reached for my cell phone. I dialed Hiromi's number, still not fully awake. When she picked up, her voice startled me a bit.
"Hey, Haru!" She said excitedly. "You're finally up!"
"Not so loud, Hiromi…" I moaned. I wasn't awake enough to deal with her being so hyper yet. "I'm still just waking up…"
"Oh, whoops!" She said. "Sorry! You still want my help today? I'm free all day!" She offered. I smiled lightly.
"Yeah, thanks." I said. "That'd be great. There isn't much left, so you don't have to do much."
"No problem!" She said. "I'm happy to help out as much as I can! You want me to come over right away?" She asked.
"Yeah, if you want. I'll get started awhile, and I'll leave the door open so you can just walk in right away."
"Yooou got it!" She said. I chuckled, as we said our good-bye's and hung up.
As soon as we hung up, I got started right away on mom's closets; bagging up all her clothes and marking the bags. It didn't take long for Hiromi to get to the apartment, seeing as she lived only a couple streets up the road. When she got there, things started to speed up. Soon, we had everything bagged up and in boxes. We stared proudly at the work we accomplished.
"Well, that didn't take too long. Only about 2 hours. It's only noon." Hiromi stated.
"Wanna get some lunch?" I suggested. She must have loved the idea, and was thinking the same thing. Because as soon as I said this, she perked up (much like a cat *smirk*) and said,
"Just what I was thinking! Let's go!" She practically dragged me out the door, leaving the various boxes and bags of things neatly by the door.
We decided to go to a small café on the corner of the one intersection in town. I got just a simple latte and a bowl of soup, while Hiromi got a cappuccino and also the same soup as I. When we finished, it was about 3 o'clock, and we decided to take a walk around town, before parting our separate ways once again.
"See you on Monday!" Hiromi called as she walked down the road. I waved back before turning around and heading back to the only place I could just let my mind wander. When I had reached the white arch once again, I felt myself shrinking down in size, before walking over to the miniscule building. I knocked lightly on the door, and was greeted by the orange feline who, at the moment, was the one who could keep me in a better mood than I've been as of late. He smiled lightly.
"Hello, Haru. Won't you come in?" He invited me inside and took my jacket in the process. He then proceeded to make me a cup of tea.
"Hi, Baron." I said, with as much cheer in my voice as I could. Getting rid of my mother's stuff today kind of put me in a lousy mood. But, I tried my hardest to stay positive. Although it didn't seem to be working, as Baron came over with my cup of tea and handed it to me, concern still in his eyes.
"Haru, what seems to be troubling you?" He asked. I noticed, instead of him sitting in the chair across from the couch, he sat down on the couch next to me. I just looked away quickly trying hard to hold back my emotions. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "You can always talk to me about anything, Haru. You should know that by now." I turned my head to look at him, tears now plentifully welling up in my eyes.
"It's just…" I started. I smiled sadly. "When we came back from the Cat Kingdom those few months ago, and I left the school building, Hiromi said that my mother called her house a few times to ask where I was, and said it was urgent that I got home. I originally thought it was from being out all night and not returning until midday the next day." I explained. I started getting a bit choked back from tears as I continued. "But, that wasn't the case when I got home. My mother wasn't angry…she was…sad. I asked what was wrong. She had contracted breast cancer and only had a few more months to live. She passed away only a few weeks ago. That's why I was cleaning her stuff out of the apartment." Tears were plentifully running down my face now. I couldn't hold it in any longer. I've been holding it in for almost the entire 6 months she had left to live. I broke out into a loud sob, while Baron embraced me lightly, trying to comfort me. We sat like that for what seemed like hours.
"Haru, had I known…" He started. I looked up at him and just smiled sadly.
"Nothing anyone can do about it now." I stated. "I guess I just needed to get it out of my system…" I finished.
"Had I known you were going through all this, I would have come to find you instead of you having to come to the Bureau yourself." Baron said, sadness in his eyes for what seemed like the first time I ever witnessed. I quieted down upon hearing this. I looked deep into his eyes and I smiled. And for what seemed like the first time during the whole ordeal, it was a genuine smile. He returned it with one of his own smiles. He pulled out his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped my face dry of tears.
"Thank you Baron." I said. He nodded.
"Any time you need to speak about anything, I'll be here." He replied. He stared deep into my eyes as he started to lean down closer to me, which I in turn did the same. Our lips collided softly, as we shared a moment I would never forget. We pulled away at the same time, sharing the same expressions of surprise, and happiness.
"I think I'd better be going. It's getting dark." I stated. Baron just nodded and led me to the door, helping me with my jacket. He opened the door for me.
"I might be by tomorrow. I'm not sure if I have anything going on tomorrow, but I can try to come." I suggested. Baron nodded and smiled while embracing me one more time before I walked out the door. I waved as I walked towards the white arch. Waiting until he went back inside, I started walking. As I passed through the arch, I waited for my body to return to normal size. Surprisingly, I didn't. I was a bit tired, so I decided to shrug it off. I continued walking, when I heard a slight rustling sound coming from behind me. I quickly whipped around to come face-to-face with a large, purple-colored feline, with a gem on his forehead and two very differently colored eyes.
"Hey, babe. Long time, no see." Said the giant feline. Just as he was saying that, he grabbed hold of me.
"NO!" I screamed. I thrashed about, making attempts to swing at my attacker, failing miserably. I started screaming a bit, before he gagged me. Then, everything went black.
Haha! Cliffy! I just had to bring him back. Wouldn't be a "Cat Returns" story without the Cat King! =P Hope you enjoyed the chapter! R&R and Comment. Criticism is also welcomed. It builds character. Over and out! ^_^