I never thought that you could be so afraid of someone that's really so very...
CLUMSY.
I mean, at first glance, Chesire-san looked pretty cold, especially with those frost emerald eyes of mischief. The first time we'd met, he was so forceful and evil with his mind set on bringing me to this Kitty King he's been rambling on and on about nonstop.
But now...
Right when I thought of how silly he actually was, Chesire was cut off from the proud speech he was currently giving me about his loyalty to his "Excellent" ruler. A tree branch he was standing on above me snapped and he fell face first onto the ground.
I winced and quickly glanced around the park, hoping no one had seen him. I relaxed when I realized no one had noticed and let out a sigh of relief. Their was a light clinking sound coming from my handcuffs and chains as I bent down to see if he was alright.
"Uhhhh... Chesire-san, I don't think you should climb that tree anymore, you're probably too heavy..."
"Quiet, Princess! I guess I should teach you how women on my planet are expected to treat a man, since you're going to be marrying the King in the future."
I frowned at this, "I'm marrying the... wait, I didn't decide that!"
"It was decided for you. The King has been watching you ever since you were both about 12 years old and his father arranged the marriage." Chesire muttered against the grass. I pulled away, standing up.
"Arranged? But... I thought I didn't have any parents to help make that decision."
Chesire pulled himself up and dusted off his clothes. A smirk crossed his lips.
"That's correct. Just a few months before you were born, a war took place and the Kitty King from that time killed your father."
I bit back a gasp, falling silent and looking down at my shoes.
"And I don't think Queen Aphrodite has much of a say in letting you marry King Jin." he laughed.
I felt a bit of anger well up inside of me, but I just pushed it aside, there wasn't much I could do, but none of this sounded fair. I silently begged for Kazune to hurry and find me.
I had no idea what Chesire had in store for me, but I definitely did not want my birthday to end with me making a new life in another word with a husband.
I had almost forgotten it was my birthday...
"That's not fair at all..." I pouted and spoke aloud.
Chesire blinked, "What? What's not fair?"
I shook my head, "Nothing..."
Chesire leaned forward, examining my face, "Are you upset? What are you thinking?"
I blushed and took a step back.
"Aw, is the Princess sad because she won't be having a Sweet 16?" Chesire smirked mischievously.
I looked away and pouted again, "Stop."
"It's okay. I'll definitely make this day an important memory."
Judging by the way he was looking at me, it wasn't going to be a good one.
Kazune, please, I need you to find me. I want to be with you right now. It's you I'm supposed to be spending this day with!
Chesire reached out toward me, eyes gleaming, "Why don't we play our own little game, huh, Princess Athena?" he grabbed the chains connecting my hand cuffs to each other and lifted it in the air, pulling me with them.
I wriggled in the air, the feeling of the metal digging into my skin making me yelp and the pain of being lifted in such a way making it hurt even worse. Chesire pushed me against a tree and I pleaded for him to stop.
"I don't think the King would mind if I gave you a little kiss... You're so cute, Princess."
His lips neared. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to turn my face.
"How pathetic. And you call yourself loyal?"
Kazune!
Chesire and I turned to the voice at my right and his left to see someone I had been waiting so long to see in an unexpected disheveled appearance.
Kazune was panting, his snow white hair sticking out in several areas of his head. Sweat trickled down his forehead and his white tux was unbuttoned with his tie missing.
He looked exhausted, but angry. I was so relieved he'd finally gotten here.
"Kazu-chan!" my heart fluttered in my chest. Relief washed over me once again.
"I'm sorry it took so long, Karin-sama... But I finally managed to pick up the worst sent of a cat that led me here." he glared at Chesire.
Chesire glared daggers back, "You poor little rabbit. Been hopping around all day trying to find her, huh?" he glanced at the sunset. Chesire and I had been here in the park for almost 2 hours now. Kazune must have been searching pretty hard for me.
"Right. Now give her back, Chesire."
Chesire pulled me roughly from the tree, as if ready to hand me over when he quickly swung me into his arms.
"Kazu-chan, help-"
"What the hell are you doing?! You said you would let her go!" Kazune whispered something under his breath and a long, sparkling sword formed in his hand.
"That is correct." Chesire smirked. "And I will. Right after we finish the last part of this game."
Kazune grit his teeth. "And what is that?"
"Since I feel so bad about this all happening on her birthday," Cheshire sighed, "I've decided to take her to that concert tonight!"
Kazune lowered his sword, "What are you planning?"
Chesire smiled again, "Nothing much... though I might turn the singers into Kitties, you never know.."
Kazune narrowed his eyes. "Turn them into..."
"Of course, when that happens, their voices will slowly turn the human audience into felines."
My eyes widened, "What..."
"Which means... if you don't want all of Tokyo transformed into cats by the end of the day, you better hurry. See ya there..."
Chesire and I were pulled into another portal to who knows where.
My worries were washed away by Kazune's reassuring words before we disappeared :
"Don't worry. I won't let him hurt you. I'll find you, Karin-sama."
I opened my eyes and loud music played and echoed. I was standing in the middle of a huge crowd of wild, excitedly dancing teenagers. I stood on my toes to look forward and saw an empty stage.
I was at a concert.
Teenagers danced wildly to the music. Confused, I stood and watched. There was a short moment before 2 figures began to make their way towards me. Scared, I began to push forward, hoping to either run or hide, but it was too crowded to move.
"Karin-chan!" one of the figures called in an unfamiliar voice. How did that person know my name..?
Someone grabbed my wrist and turned me around.
I turned and saw 2 familiar faces I was positive I knew.
Himeka stood next to a man it took me a minute to remember.
A memory of my childhood showed we were friends as children.
"Micchiru? Mii-chan?! Is that you?!"
I stared at my once childhood friend in surprise. This was definitely Micchiru. He had those baby blue and soft amethyst eyes I would remember anywhere. He had grown his light brown hair out like Kazune, down to his shoulders, and he towered over me about another head – just like when we were little.
Me, Kazune, Himeka, Micchi, and Miyon used to all play together when we were around 6 or 7.
And, just like Kazune, Micchi had to leave because of some important training he had to do in his hometown. And, just like when Kazune left, I was never informed of the location.
Micchi pulled my arm, welcoming me in his embrace and wrapped his arms tightly around my smaller form. I was surprised, but hugged him back.
"Karin-chan, I missed you so much... it's been almost 10 years..." Micchi said.
I pulled away to look at him. He patted my head like he used to do when we were younger to comfort me.
"I can't believe how older you are now." Micchi scratched the back of his head and laughed.
I blushed, "Yeah, I'm 16 now... But... what are you doing here? Did you meet up with Himeka-chan?"
Himeka elbowed Micchi in his side, "Yeah, Mii-chan, what are we doing here?" she gave him a glare like he was supposed to hurry up and do something. Micchi laughed nervously.
"Oh, right... Karin-chan. We know it's your birthday today. You're 16th birthday, in fact..and your power has fully developed. Since you're getting your powers today, the Kitty King has sent his minions to come and take you for his bride. Kazune arrived here today to protect you, and Miyon and Himeka stayed here to protect your as you got older...but-"
"Wait, wait, wait..." my head was spinning from confusion. "Kazu-chan sort of explained this earlier, but now that you're saying so much other stuff, I don't think I can keep u-"
The music was cut short as a maniacal laugh echoed through the concert.
I turned around with the other teenagers and we all gasped at what we saw on the stage.
Chesire stood, waving to the crowd. The 3 girls on stage were looking around frantically, probably confused of why he had suddenly appeared. Body guards rushed on stage while Chesire pushed them away with some kind of telepathy.
"Who is that?"
"Is he using some kind of magic?"
"Is he going to hurt the girls?"
"Should we run?"
"What is he going to do?!"
The crowd was alive with nervous chatter. I stepped closer to Himeka and Micchi. For a brief second I realized I probably didn't know their true identities. Were all of my childhood friends sent to protect me while I would never know who they were or where they came from?
They all had a secret I would never suspect, and then they all decided to tell me this after 9 years?
"Good evening, Tokyo!" Chesire's emerald eyes swept across the sea of thousands before making eye contact with me. Micchi stepped in front of me, staring ahead at him and narrowing his sapphire and amethyst eyes.
"I wanted this to be a surprise to all of you! Are you shocked?"
He turned to the singers, who flinched and moved closer together, trembling. Chesire snapped his fingers and two other mysterious women dressed in black unitards with black cat ears and tails walked on stage, grabbing hold of the girls.
Each girl placed a quick kiss on the girl's cheeks, and for a moment, nothing happened.
And then each girl seemed to be surrounded by electricity. They fell to their knees, clutching their heads as a transformation took place.
The crowd was alive with screams of terror and everyone turned to run, pushing against each other.
Micchi grabbed me and Himeka and jumped onto the stage. I hid behind him when we landed.
"Mii-chan! What are you doing...?"
Micchi turned to look at me out of the corner of his eye, "It's almost time for your own transformation to take place."
Himeka sighed, narrowing her eyes at Chesire, "So, she really will be performing on stage today, after all."
Chesire snapped his fingers again and the exits on every side of the concert were blocked. A large banner appeared behind us on the stage with a 30 second countdown.
The numbers began to decrease and I felt an odd change in my body.
"It's already that close!" Micchi gasped, turned to me, and grabbed my shoulders. I panted heavily and felt like I was going to faint, my knees shaking. I felt my rabbit ears and tail pop out.
"This is so sudden... I can't believe it's already 7:35!" Himeka yelled over the sound of a thousand screams.
My mind went hazy and I felt someone appear next to me. I turned and raced into Kazune's arms.
"You found me!"
"Karin-sama, are you alright?"
"It's great to see you, Kazune."Micchi said behind me, "Still can't teleport correctly?"
Kazune laughed, "Yeah, I'm still working on it. At least I made it this far." he pulled away from me and kissed my forehead, "I've been chasing her on foot all day-"
I looked out of the corner of my eye at my shoulder.
My braid of hair was slowly changing! Like I had died it, the bleach blonde was turning into snow white!
"She's already transforming?" Kazune stared at me.
"Mm, Himeka, take her to the backstage area and dress her up in something?"
Himeka grabbed my hand, "Of course. Karin-chan, this will be a little overwhelming for you, I'm sorry, but you're going to be performing on stage tonight!"
Author's Note: Sorry, this chapter may have been a little boring. I had writer's block, trying to figure out what I wanted this chapter to be about, so not much happened. I'm trying to update all of my stories at a good time...
PLEASE, REVIEW. I'D REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
Pweeeeeeeeeeez...?