Last we saw, the bunny Mihael was chasing changed into a bunny-boy! But, who is the one laughing at the two?

Enjoy. ^^

Death Note © Ohba & Obata

Alice in Wonderland © Lewis Carroll

The plot and writing is mine.

Chapter Two: The Cat Who Always Smiles

A red-haired boy with purple and pink cat ears and tail was grinning down at the two of them. Mihael blinked and shook his head a bit as he realized that he could only see PART of this boy.

"Mail…" The white-haired boy frowned, his ears drooping a bit. "This is not my day…" He muttered.

"Who…?" Mihael blinked up at the stranger.

The cat-boy grinned and then the rest of his body became visible as he swung his legs over and hopped down, landing in front of them. He was clothed in pink and purple striped clothing, with purple boots and gloves, and that ever-prominent grin. His eyes were covered by yellow-tinted sunglasses, but they appeared to be green, so maybe they were…blue?

"Hey, spacey!" Mihael was shook out of his thoughts by the cat snapping his fingers in front of his face sharply. "You still here? Or, did the madness take you already?" He grinned.

"Madness?" Mihael looked puzzled, and then offended. "I'm not mad!"

"Oh, yes you are." The cat chuckled, his tail swishing mischievously behind him. "You are most definitely mad. I'm mad, you're mad—"

"I am NOT mad!" Mihael repeated firmly.

The cat's eyes glinted dangerously for a moment as he gave a frightening scowl at being interrupted, but soon after the playful glint was back with the wide grin, making Mihael think the scowl was just his imagination.

"Oh, I assure you. We're ALL mad here." The cat said, leaning in a bit. Then he moved back and knelt down, offering the fallen rabbit a hand up. "Here, bunny. Look at you, your uniform is all covered with dirt, tsk tsk. What would Her Majesty say?"

"Uhm…excuse me…who are you?" Mihael asked, frowning at the pair of them. "And…weren't you a normal rabbit earlier?"

"Sure…in YOUR world." The rabbit scoffed a bit.

"Huh?" Mihael blinked.

"This place is called 'Wonderland'." The cat said, smiling. "It's where all your dreams come true. I'm Mail, by the way. Mail the Cheshire Cat. And this is Nate River, the White Rabbit." He patted the rabbit's shoulder. "Though, I just like to call him 'bunny'."

"Don't you have a last name?" Mihael asked. "Oh, I'm forgetting my manners. I'm Mihael Keehl." He nodded in greeting.

"Last names are for those with ties to anything." Mail grinned. "I'm not tied to anything, and so I have no last name."

"I…see…" Mihael frowned. The concept didn't make sense to him, but it seemed to make sense to Mail so he guessed that was the way things were, here in Wonderland.

The cat nodded, and then looked away for a moment, following the movement of a butterfly as big as they were. He seemed to have gotten bored of it, because he licked his hand - paw? - and then grinned at Nate. "Let's get your uniform cleaned up, pretty bunny. What say you to dropping by the Mad Hatter's House?"

Nate shuddered a moment, but it was so brief that Mihael felt sure he imagined it. "…Fine." He said, glancing at Mihael. "But, this boy better not be harmed."

"Of course not." Mail grinned wider – if that was even possible. "I'm sure the Mad Hatter will love his company!"

"'Mad' as in…he's always angry?" Mihael frowned. 'Harmed?' He thought.

"No, no. He's mad." Mail laughed a bit.

"Well, I don't really want to go around mad people." Mihael looked a bit put-off by the idea.

"Well, you really can't help that. As I explained, everyone in Wonderland is mad. And now that you're here, so will you be!" Mail smiled and vanished from their side, reappearing a bit ahead of them. "Come on!"

Nate glanced at Mihael and then nodded. "Let's go." He started to walk after him.

"Hey, wait!" Mihael followed after him. "Uhm…earlier…were you waiting for me to catch up?"

"'Earlier'?" The rabbit turned his dark eyes towards Mihael.

Mihael felt a bit of a cold shiver run through him. "Uhm…nevermind." He said, looking away from them. He felt the eyes on him a bit longer, and then the feeling was gone, so he must've looked away from him again.

Mail had been vanishing and reappearing periodically during their walk, reappearing in the most unusual places: In the trees, on Nate's head, - wasn't he heavy? –on Mihael's head, - okay, so he was as light as a feather. Weird. – on his OWN head, – that was creepy… - and then he finally reappeared for the last time on top of a signpost at a fork.

"If you go to the left, you will find the Mad Hatter's House and the Home of the March Hare. If you go right…well, we'll get to that later. Come on!" He hopped down from the signpost and went down the left road.

Mihael moved to follow him, but paused and looked behind him, blinking. "Nate?"

Nate was facing the right road, a look of longing in his eyes. A tap on his shoulder from Mail, though, and he turned towards the left road, forcing his eyes away from the right road. "Sorry…" He murmured.

"Not so soon, dear bunny." Mail purred, patting his shoulder before he vanished, reappearing ahead of them. "Come on~!"

Mihael chuckled a bit. "He's a bit funny, that cat."

Nate glanced at him, quirking an eyebrow. "Is he really?"

Mihael laughed, walking on a bit faster. They walked on until they reached a fence, which Mail was sitting on top of. "Hey, kitty. Is this the Mad Hatter's place?"

"Yep." Mail stretched, his leg pushing the gate open for them to enter. "I'll go in after you, I'm just gonna enjoy the sun a bit longer."

'The sun?' Mihael thought, frowning. 'But, it's so dark in here…'

The cobblestones were stained a ruby color, leading up to the door that had a smeared ruby handprint on it. Other than that, the building looked alright from the outside…but inside? Mihael swallowed nervously and reached out to knock on the door.

"Don't bother knocking, just walk in. They'll never hear the knocking." Mail said lazily.

Mihael blinked and nodded, turning the doorknob and pushing the door open slowly.