It took one heck of an hour but they were finally able to get rid of the smell of catnip on their uniforms. Serene was at her seat during break hour as Haru stood next to her desk as she took out the scroll. Serene unravel it to see that everything was in pictures but what they can see was in some type of language but they sensed that it wasn't a dream or what happened last night.
"Haru, I think it wasn't a dream." Serene said as she looked at the parchment.
"I know. Those cats from last night must be behind all this." Haru said as she looked at the pictures.
'I'm starting to think that it was a big mistake to save that cat...' Haru thought nervously.
While Haru was in her thoughts, Serene noticed that on the bottom of the scroll are a bunch of symbols of what they got this morning but the last picture caught her attention. She started to memorize what they received. The first thing was the lacrosse stick that Hiromi has. Then there was the cattail grass that seemed to have grown in their yard overnight then the catnip on the uniform and the mice in the shoe locker. But the last one was a cat with a crown which seemed to confuse her more.
'Stick, cat tails, catnip, mice and...' Serene counted and checked.
While Haru was in thought, they didn't notice Hiromi sneaking up to them as she watched the two before getting their attention.
"Haru, Serene?" She said suddenly.
Startled, both Haru let out a yelp from surprise as Serene quickly hid the scroll under her arms as they both looked at her.
"W-W-W-What?" Haru asked in surprise as Serene calmed down.
"Did you two got the catnip off you?" Hiromi questioned as she smiled cheekily.
Realizing what she said, Serene rolled up the scroll and hid it under her desk.
"Oh, yes. Someone stuck some in my pockets but it's gone now." Serene answered as she smoothen down her skirt as Hiromi smiled.
"Wow, that's weird." Hiromi smiled.
"Yeah." Haru agreed.
Serene could see that Hiromi was fidgeting slightly and knew that she wanted something from them.
"Okay, Hiromi. Out with it. I know you want to ask me and Haru something." Serene said fondly and Hiromi laughed nervously and looked at them pleadingly.
"Okay. I've got a big favor to ask you two." She said and clasped both of her hands in front of her.
"Can one of you do my turn for cleanup duty today? Tsuge's got a big game and if I don't leave after class, I'll miss it. Please, please, please." She pleaded with them the best she could as she pulled the puppy dog eyes.
Serene tried to resist it but Haru quickly jumped in as she knew how important this was for Hiromi to make it to the game to cheer Tsuge on.
"Oh, Tsuge. Yeah, sure. Serene totally would do it!" Haru said eagerly as Serene looked at her.
"Wha- Haru! I didn't give my answer!" Serene complained but Haru wasn't listening as Hiromi was overjoyed.
"Thanks, Haru! Serene, you're a lifesaver. I'll make it up to you one day!" Hiromi said as Serene just sighed and smiled softly.
A few hours later, both Haru and Serene were with the cleanup of the day while Hiromi was cheering Tsuge at the ping pong game.
Hiromi was sitting next to Ayako while cheering Tsuge on.
"Come on, Tsuge. Go!" Hiromi cheered him on.
Tsuge was able to hit the ball on time and the other player missed it and Tsuge won the game.
"Yeah!" He pumped his fist at his victory as everyone clapped in congratulations while Hiromi cheered more loudly than others.
"Yes! He's so cool!" Hiromi cheered loudly while hugging Ayako out of excitement.
With the siblings, Serene volunteered to take out the trash for Haru since she had to gather the leftover trash in the classroom. Serene carried the trash can in her arms but then she saw her sister's crush with his girlfriend. Serene watched them walk by but tripped against some polls and fell down.
"Careful. Watch your step." Machida told his girlfriend and the girl thanked her.
"Thanks." She said as they left.
"Ah... That hurt..."
Serene winced at the pain on both her elbows and behind as she sat up before holding her head with a small groan as another memory came back.
"Be careful." The familiar figure said but he was becoming more clear as she could see that he has cat-like features and a gentle look in his emerald green eyes.
He seemed to be holding her in his arms since she noticed that she almost fell off something.
She was shaken out of her thoughts when she was being shook by someone. She came out of her thoughts and saw that Haru was kneeling in front of her with a worried expression.
"Serene, are you okay? You didn't answer when I called you three times." Haru said as she helped Serene up.
"Y-Yeah... I think so. Another memory came back." Serene said as she held her head.
"That's a good thing at least right?" Haru said before she looked in front of them and yelped in shock.
She hurriedly started picking up the trash so they wouldn't get in trouble.
"Oh, look at the mess." Haru panicked as she missed throwing the paper in the trash.
"Oh, you missed." Serene went after it with Haru but she stopped as Haru knelt down and picked it up.
But the brunette just sighs and drops her hand down as Serene looks at her in worry.
"Who do I think I'm fooling anyway?" Haru asked in a depressed tone.
"I don't know, Haru." Serene said as Haru looked at her in confusion.
"What do you mean? You're the one who has amnesia. So you should be the one that should be asking why you're here. Don't you feel like you don't belong here?" Haru reasoned as Serene just shook her head.
"I don't know, Haru. It just feels like something or somewhere is calling me." Serene said softly while looking up to the sky.
They didn't notice that a familiar cat walked by the gate and started to call for their attention while hitting the bars.
"There she is." He said before calling them.
"Miss Serene! Miss Serene!" He called them.
Upon hearing that, both Haru and Serene look over to see a cat hitting the gate. Haru squinted her eyes while Serene thought that the cat looked familiar.
The cat stopped hitting the bars and gave them a toady smile. Haru felt like something snapped as she recognized the cat and walked towards it with Serene following. The cat saw them coming towards him and tried to make a run for it but Haru was quicker and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
"You cats just never let up!" Haru said in annoyance.
"Well, we're so glad that Miss Serene is pleased." He said but Serene gave him an annoyed look.
"Absolutely not! I was not amused by what happened this morning! I had a headache just by smelling the cattails in the yard and the smell of catnip made my arm itch!" Serene said as she crossed her arms.
Natoru is shocked to hear that and gets Haru's hand to let go of his scruff.
"What? How can that be?" He said in shock while looking at them.
"The whole kingdom is working to make you happy. And we all agreed that the gifts we picked were fabulous." Natoru explained as Serene crossed her arms.
"Don't you cats know anything? We hate mice. Haru and I don't eat them. She's allergic to cat tails and catnip does nothing for me." Serene explained as Natoru was more shocked.
"Oh, my, my, my, my, my." He then grew apologetic.
"I guess we made a little mistake." He apologized which made Serene's look to soften a little.
He turned around and started to mutter to himself as the two watched him.
"Well, this is embarrassing. The king will not be happy with me when he hears about this." He wondered.
The king? Maybe she went a little far on it and might have offended the king by their outburst.
"I apologize. Did we hurt your feelings? We overreacted, didn't we?" Serene said but a shake of Natoru's head reassured them.
Haru just sighs as she sits down with Serene kneeling down.
"I've just been on edge recently. Things have not just been going well for us." Haru suddenly said.
Natoru felt curious upon hearing that and looked to them curiously.
"Oh? What kind of things?" He asked curiously.
"I don't know. Everything, you name it. Especially with my sister's amnesia." Haru explained as Natoru was shocked and turned to Serene.
"It is true. I cannot remember anything about my past but I get bits and pieces of my memories coming back to me." Serene said as Natoru was amazed by this.
Known for his carefree and kind personality as well as his honesty.
"I'm shocked to hear this. But I supposed even pretty girls like you two have problems like everyone else." Natoru complimented .
That surprised the two as Serene couldn't help but flushed in embarrassment as Haru felt giddy by it.
"What? Stop. That's enough." Haru giggled giddily.
"There is no need for such compliments." Serene said shyly.
Natoru denied it and was a lot more serious with his words.
"It is nowhere near enough. The Kingdom of Cats has vowed not to rest until Miss Serene is completely satisfied." He said with determination.
"Don't tell me there's more." Haru said as she and Serene were a little shocked.
Natoru looked at them with a smile and nodded.
"Yes." He said with a nod but what he said next confused the two even more.
"How would you two like to have your own private tour of the spectacular Kingdom of Cats?" He said and that confused them more.
"Are you serious?" Haru asked.
"The... Kingdom of Cats?" Serene asked in confusion as Natoru starts to explain.
"I'm sure you'll love it there. It's a marvelous place. Great food, fabulous scenery and the entire cat kingdom is ready and waiting to welcome you." Natoru said and Serene couldn't help but awed in amazement.
"Really?" She muttered as Haru daydreamed being there.
"Must be a nice place." She said with a small smile.
What Natoru said next shocked Serene and Haru.
"And that's not all. Because the king is so taken with you, he has decided to award Miss Serene the most valuable gift in the cat kingdom. She will become his daughter-in-law and marry Prince Lune." He explained as Serene felt her jaw drop as Haru looked at him in shock and anger.
The king was expecting her sister to take the arraignment thing well? Not if she can't say anything about it!
"Oh no. Don't even think about trying to pull that one on her." Haru said in denial.
"There's no way I can marry a cat." Serene told the difference.
Natoru was confused by the sudden denial.
"Don't be so hard on yourself. The royal family thinks she's good enough and the prince is so cool." He said which caught Haru's attention.
"He's cool?" Haru asked as Natoru nodded before Haru turn to her sister
"What do you think, Serene?" Haru asked as Serene went into thinking.
She was processing this arrangement. The prince sounds nice and cool but not her type. Plus the kingdom sounds too suspicious.
"Hmm... Who knows? Maybe I'd fit in better with a bunch of cats." Serene said hesitantly as Haru full heartedly agreed while Natoru was becoming excited with the answer.
"You get to lie around all day, don't you? " Haru said with a dreamy smile with Natoru happily agreeing.
"But of course." Nato said happily as Haru continued.
"I guess that sounds great." Haru sighed dreamily.
"Eat all the food you want, take naps in the sun, forget all about your problems..." Haru said with a smile but Serene is still unsure.
"But me getting married to some cat prince, that's just ridiculous. Right, cat?" Serene said but stopped when she noticed that Natoru was leaving with Haru.
"Fantastic. We'll collect you tonight, then." Natoru said as the two stood up in alarm.
With that said, he scampered off and Serene didn't know what he meant and tried to call him to come back for further explanations.
"No, I didn't agree to that! Hey, wait!" Serene said as she tried to call him back but tripped and fell on a bunch of stuff and landed painfully on her back.
"Ow! Oh... that hurt..." Serene winced as she got up painfully.
Haru was frozen in a daze as she tried to process what just happened and started to pace and panic.
"Okay, think, Haru." Haru said as she started to pace and started as the implications to sink in.
"We gotta do something about this." Haru said but Serene didn't let her finish since she figured out what that meant as she became horrified and shocked.
"What can we do?! Those cats are relentless and do whatever they set their minds to!" Serene exclaimed in shock as Haru quickly realized it as well.
"They'll find a way to kidnap you and then you'll have to marry a cat." Haru cried out in horror.
Horror struck Serene as she started imagining herself in a wedding dress and she was standing in front of the prince in a wedding tux.
"I now pronounce you cat and wife. You may kiss the bride." The priest declared in Serene's imagination.
She didn't want to imagine further as she held her head.
"No, no, I don't want to marry a cat!" Serene cried out in dismay as she collapsed on her knees.
"Serene..." Haru whimpered softly as she hugged her sister who was frozen in horror.
When things seemed bleak, Serene started to hear a voice calling her and she looked up.
"Serene. Serene."
Serene perked up as Haru looked at her in confusion as Serene stood up and was looking around.
"What was that?" Serene questions in confusion.
"Serene, go to the Cat Bureau. You must find the Cat Bureau."
Serene was looking around as Haru was confused by what's going on. Serene can hear that whoever was speaking to her sounds urgent and is trying to help.
"Hey, come on. Who's there? Who's messing with me now?" Serene asked in more confusion.
"What is it?" Haru asked in confusion as the voice continued to speak to Serene.
"They will help you there. Look for a large white cat at the crossroads. He will show you the way."
"A... cat at the... crossroads?" Serene repeated slowly.
"Find the white cat and go to the Cat Bureau, Serene. You'll need their help."
With that said, the voice disappeared as Serene looked to the sky and was even more confused.
"Sis? You okay?" Haru suddenly asked as Serene blinked and looked at her.
"Haru, you didn't hear the voice?" Serene asked but Haru shook her head.
"No. I didn't. What happened?" Haru asked in concern.
"Some voice spoke and told me where to find help." Serene said as she soon grew serious.
"I need to find the place before tonight." Serene said as she dusted her skirt.
"Let me go with you." Haru said as she was determined to fix this mess.
"No, Haru. The cats want me to marry their prince. So finding the place where I can get help might be the right thing to do and I have to do this alone." Serene said as she looked at Haru.
"But... But..." Haru started but Serene shook her head.
"Haru, I need to do this alone. I don't want you to get hurt." Serene said as she put her hands on Haru's shoulders.
Haru looked into her sister's bluebell eyes and saw that she wasn't gonna let her come with. Haru sighed before hugging her.
"Just... Just come back safe." Haru whispered as Serene hugged back.
"I will. Once I find the place and figure out who I really am, I'll come back. I promise." Serene said softly.
But deep down, once she finds out who she really is, she might not come back.