Chapter Three: The Cat Bureau

Naoko's mind was on autopilot by the time she got to the crossroads, stunned by what Baron had told the red-haired woman what her daughter had gone through. But it explained the cat tails, and her sudden tea-making obsession. She wearily approached a chair with a big white cushion and sank into it.

But the cushion was warm, and it groaned. She yelped and got off quickly, staring at the cushion while rubbing her backside. On the other side of it, a cat head with a brown spot over the left ear appeared, and glared at her.

"Let me guess; you're Haru's mother?"

She nodded; stunned that it was talking to her. From the bag, Baron chuckled.

"Did you just sit on him? He complains at least twice a week about someone doing that."

The white cat shifted his gaze to the bag, puzzled.

"Baron? Why are you hanging out with Chicky senior?"

Naoko stiffened, the cat doll answering the question.

"Haru's very ill, and will require our assistance again. Mrs. Yoshioka, if you wish to come to the Bureau, please follow Muta; if not, please lower the bag so I can head back."

Naoko paused, but readjusted her hold on the bag.

"I think I'll stick with you two. It beats twiddling my thumbs."

Muta grunted, and got off his seat.

Naoko didn't enjoy in the least what happened next. Being a responsible person, she tried her hardest not to go into back alley ways, and it took all of her energy to keep up with the devilish white cat as he zigzagged through the maze, going over roofs and steep stairs. When they finally got to the Refuge, Naoko was gasping for breath, being a little old to try these kinds of exertions.

"My apologies, Mrs. Yoshioka. Creations are very rare, and our Refuge has to be difficult to find or enter to protect the ones lucky enough to reach it."

She gently set the bag down and held the mouth open so the cat doll could climb out. Standing up straight, he adjusted his coat slightly and tipped his hat at her again as Muta checked the mailbox.

"So what's wrong with Chicky? The flu or something?"

Naoko stood a little straighter, angry that he wasn't getting a clue.

"Actually, my daughter's fighting off an illness that no one seems able to identify or treat. If no new information is discovered within a month, she will die."

Muta dropped the open newspaper onto the ground, revealing his astonished and slightly frightened face as Baron opened the doors to the Bureau and sized up Naoko.

"You appear to be the same height and build as your daughter, so you should be able to get through the doors."

She was a bit skeptical about entering what was a doll house in her eyes, but figured that if her daughter could trust him literally with her life, then she could handle this much.

She was able to fit through the doors, and sat down on the same trunk that Haru had while Baron started scanning the books lining the walls, occasionally taking one down.

"You say she's been fighting this since she was a child?"

Naoko nodded as Muta walked beside Baron, occasionally taking down a book that was a little too high for the Creation.

"At first, the doctor thought she just had low energy, but then little things started hurting her, like a playful punch on the arm or tripping over furniture. Then they decided she was allergic to meat, so we turned vegetarian. She's not supposed to engage in physical activity if she can avoid it."

Muta grunted.

"She should have told us that while we were in the Cat Kingdom. Would have been nice to know."

Naoko smiled warmly and shook her head.

"Except she hates giving other people trouble. Haru prefers to help others where she can. Sometimes she has to be forced to ask for help, especially when it comes to physical things that she can't do alone."

Baron remembered how ready she was to leave, when she first saw Toto and Muta fighting, and then again when Muta had refused to watch her. And when she tried to talk him out of carrying her partially up the tower. But he had seen that blush of hers; she had been enjoying it just as much as he had.

'Now is not the time for those thoughts!' He set his stack on the desk while Muta did the same. "I hope Toto gets back soon; the cat doctors would know more about this thing than I do."

Naoko twitched.

"How would they get to her? She's under constant surveillance."

Muta grunted again.

"They have portals to go anywhere they want and spells to keep humans unaware of what they're doing. Lune and Yuki like Haru and consider themselves to be in her debt, so they will probably do everything within their power to help her."

The two cats started pouring over the tiny books, trying to find something that had a chance of helping the beloved brunette.

Naoko watched them for a bit, slowly realizing that they were doing fine without her. The books were too small for her to help peruse, and she was too big to try to do anything else in the beautiful office. But she didn't want to go to her empty house and be alone either. Left without a better option, she brought her hands together and started twiddling her thumbs.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Haru shifted uneasily through the folds of her semi-dream, her soul more at peace than it had been in a while. Baron knew about her predicament, and would undoubtedly stop at nothing to help her. Her heart quivered, suddenly sad.

As much as she needed her crush's help, a part of her was hoping he would never find out about her weaknesses. The part of her that wanted him to never see her flaws. A small tear ran down her cheek as she struggled to breathe, feeling like a mountain (or worse, Muta) was sitting on her chest. She had heard the doctors say that if she didn't improve, they would have to hook her up to a machine that could breathe for her as well.

Her illness had been the source of much of her grief over the years. All the times when Hiromi would have to leave her alone so the lighter brunette could go to her lacrosse practices. Every time she had to sit on the bleachers during P.E. and earn envious glares from her classmates. For the longest time, her biggest exercise came from her morning dashes to school, trying her best to make sure no one would ever find out about them, since she hated to have people fuss over her.

That was the real reason Hiromi had flipped when the brunette had saved Lune's life. The probability of the schoolgirl surviving the rescue, let alone the cat, was pretty slim.

But didn't her visit to the Cat Kingdom prove that she could be the master of her body instead of letting it dictate her life? So what if she had a weak body; she could slowly train it to become stronger.

She wanted so badly to be strong, and be able to do things like her friends could. Her mother would often comfort her with the fact that her mind was a bit sharper then the kids she envied, and that was more important than having the strongest body on the planet.

There were so many times in her life that she wished for a different body, but since that was out of the question, she had to make do with this one.

But for crying out loud, she had only been eating lunch with Hiromi when her disease took a turn for the worse! She wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. Another tear fell down her cheek, followed by more. It just wasn't fair. Hadn't she been through enough? She tiredly sighed, remembering Yuki's words.

'She wasn't kidding; life is tough.'

Something new broke through her troubled sleep, making her groan in displeasure. This was a hospital, and she couldn't even get a decent night's sleep? Her room flooded with a colored light, and she could hear meows. The heart monitoring machine made irregular noises as her heart froze, and then sped up in fear. Please no, she couldn't handle a confrontation with the Cat Kingdom right now! Her bed groaned as two bodies pounced onto the sheets and came close to her face. She struggled to open her eyes, praying that she wouldn't see Lune's father. He would enjoy her present state way too well, and the button for assistance was beyond her reach.

But when her eyes did open, she saw a different gray cat, whose fur bordered on being purple. His mismatched eyes were wide with fear, as were his companion's. Yuki was wearing a red ribbon this time, possibly the same one that had wrapped up her last box of fish crackers. The white cat held her paws to her mouth, her eyes beginning to overflow.

"Haru… oh Haru…"

The brunette managed a weak smile for her old friends.

"Baron… tattled… didn't he?"

Lune nodded, his eyes filling with a steely determination.

"We are still in your debt, Miss Haru. We brought our best physicians for you."

She smiled at him.

"Can they… treat humans?"

He smiled back at her as the three doctors started climbing onto the bed to start examining her. One red and brown cat answered the question while checking her pulse.

"We'll give it our best shot, that's for sure, Miss Haru. Blast it, why do humans need so many mechanical toys to treat their wounded?"

She managed a weak giggle.