"Ugh. Seriously?! You fat, stupid, ugly, lazy, old cat!" Kurumi bristled at the bumbling behemoth behind her. Despite his lordly name, Daifuku-sama was, in Kurumi's opinion, the LEAST lordly thing to ever roam the planet. The furry monstrosity had spent the better part of half an hour getting distracted by anything and everything in his path, and Kurumi couldn't help but wonder what in her short life she could've possibly done to warrant this type of personalized punishment.

She'd woken up that morning in her cat body, completely powerless to switch back into her human body. Realizing that she couldn't go to school in such conditions, she took to the city streets instead, hoping to find help among the feline population. She ran into Daifuku-sama at his shrine, and Nyochio and Nyochio MKII also happened to be roaming the area at the time, all four of their paths soon crossing. They stupidly allowed Daifuku-sama to lead them astray, and now they were miles outside the city limits.

And I'm starting to think he's doing it on purpose! That is, he's only pretending to be distracted so he has an excuse to walk even slower!

"Come now, dear girl!" Daifuku-sama sniffed. "We mustn't forget to stop and smell the roses every now and then!" He spoke as if he fancied himself some sort of wise sage, or proper gentleman, but Kurumi wanted to slap him silly, claws out.

"You've stopped and sniffed every rose we've come across so far!" she cried, but he was already sauntering away towards another patch of flowers. It was like talking to a wall, except walls weren't pompous and insufferable.

"Aww, 'rumi! Think of it like an adventure! It's not very often we get to go out and about and explore like this!" Nyochio chirped as she also pranced past Kurumi, their pelts brushing together as she did so.

"What about Muni?" Kurumi asked sarcastically, knowing how temperamental the other VJ could be, especially about Nyochio and her safety.

"Well, Mom worries a lot. About a lot," Nyochio chuckled embarrassedly, ears flattening against her head. "Bit of exposure therapy might do her some good! Every kit's gotta leave the nest eventually!"

"Oh, do quit your worrying and whining!" Nyochio MKII drawled. "It does no one any good! And it bothers my ears!"

iT bOtHeRs My EaRs! Kurumi mocked bitterly in her head. Despite his name, MKII was more like Daifuku-sama than Nyochio. Daifuku-sama put on airs and pretended to be dignified and refined while MKII was just cranky, but he was another large, lazy beast more interested in taking his sweet time than trying to get back home! Then again, unlike Kurumi, they weren't the ones stuck in a cat body unable to shapeshift back out of it!

"Hey! Guys! Hey, hey! Hey, guys!" Nyochio's excited, energetic mewl interrupted Kurumi's irritated thoughts. The other she-cat ran to them from over a nearby hill, several dead mice hanging from her mouth by their tails.

"Oooh, lovely!" Daifuku-sama was most pleased by Nyochio's cheerful offering, and even grouchy MKII waddled over to take his share. Kurumi's nose crinkled. Eating fresh kill was always strange for her. Her human sensibilities found the idea most repulsive, but as a feline…

Mmm… Looks… and smells… so… yummy… Before long, she was "breaking bread" with the other three just as enthusiastically. Well, MAYBE being stranded out here with them isn't TOO terrible…

ooo

A couple hours later, the familiar city skyline finally came into view. "Home, sweet, home!" Kurumi cried, swiftly taking the lead.

"I say!" Daifuku-sama huffed and puffed. "Did I not tell that girl to stop and smell the roses?!"

"Mmm. That's on you for expecting her to listen," MKII deadpanned. His natural expression made it look like he was scowling.

Only Nyochio seemed as happy as Kurumi. "Hey, 'rumi! Wait up! Wait for me!" she laughed as she raced after the other she-cat.

One by one, each of the four, furry friends dispersed to their respective homes. First was Daifuku-sama at a local shrine, quite content to take his rightful place atop a rather cushy pillow on one of the shrines. Then they dropped off Nyochio at Muni's house. She waved a fond farewell to MKII and Kurumi before slipping inside, the last thing MKII and Kurumi seeing of her being her tail as she shut the door behind her. Then MKII and Kurumi parted ways just before reaching Arisugawa.

"Was nice knowing ya, kid," MKII said gruffly, and Kurumi genuinely could not tell if he was being sarcastic or not, though she had a good feeling that he probably was… Kurumi scowled at him as he turned his back on her and sauntered off, tail waving arrogantly in the wind.

And he's showing off his butthole for all the world to see. Lovely… Kurumi's lip curled, but her sour mood brightened considerably when at last the familiar, towering spires and chapels of Arisugawa came into her field of view. Never thought I'd be so happy to be back at school!

Of course, she knew the odds were very low that any of her unit-mates would be able to help her figure out why she couldn't turn back into a human, but she would feel less alone with them by her side. Furthermore, she knew it probably looked really bad on her to have been absent the whole day long. But in her defense, it was only because she knew she couldn't exactly go to school in cat form, so then her next best bet was wandering the city in an attempt to find help while the rest of her unit-mates were in school.

Though as Kurumi had just experienced, asking for help wasn't always the best of ideas. Daifuku-sama might've talked a lot of big game in the beginning, even roping the wandering MKII and Nyochio into his misadventures, but after it took them outside the city limits, Kurumi knew that he was full of crap all along. Instead of helping her understand why her powers were suddenly no longer responding to her, it became an impromptu vacation, a day of fun in the sun, at least for three of the four cats involved.

But Kurumi eventually got them oriented in the right direction, and they were finally homeward bound on an incredibly groovy journey. Nothing terrible happened to them, but one of their first obstacles was a handful of dogs running loose from a nearby farm. Daifuku-sama and MKII were, in Kurumi's opinion, infinitely lucky that she and Nyochio were thin, lithe, and fast enough to keep the dogs distracted long enough for them to escape. Lord knew Daifuku-sama and MKII were incapable of running. But even they had their uses.

The second obstacle of the journey was convincing several kind humans to speed things up a bit and escort them closer to the city. That was where Daifuku-sama came in, working his charm and easily winning the hearts of both the children and parents of the family he chose to go after.

"It's all in the timing! You just have to know how to read the room!" he declared, confident and airy as he purred and rubbed his body against the legs of the little humans. Kurumi could only watch in disbelief.

And even MKII managed to make himself useful, though only near the end of the journey because even he was looking forward to being home again. The city was quite large from a cat's perspective, and even Kurumi had a bit of difficulty attempting to navigate. As a wandering cat, MKII had no such issue and expertly guided his three companions through the crowded, winding city streets, helping them reach their respective homes in record timing. Kurumi was still glad to see the last of him, leaving him just outside the academy gates.

ooo

The moment she stepped inside, she felt her body change. She grew taller and taller and taller, and suddenly, standing on all fours felt so unnatural that it was almost painful. Kurumi's heart skipped several beats in her chest and she gasped to herself.

You've gotta be kidding me! There's no way it was this easy all along! But sure enough, in just under a minute, Kurumi was back to her human form. And she found that her powers were completely within her control once more, and stepping back outside the academy grounds did not undo it.

Shaking her head, she returned to the academy towards her unit's secret basement. Judging by the time, they would likely be at practice.

"Hey! Miyu! Haruna! Miiko! Where are you guys?! You'll never believe what happened to me today! I have so much to tell—!" She skidded to a halt and gasped. There, rolling around and playing on the ground in front of her, were three little cats, blonde, red, and pink. "EHHHH?!"

"Mrrrow!" The blonde cat was the first to race over to her, looking up at her with wide, interested, emerald eyes. "Mrrrow!"

While a little blonde head butted against Kurumi's leg, the prankster could only cross herself before falling to her knees. Miyu and Haruna were next to come racing over, sniffing her with curiosity and fascination, crawling all over her lap as if literally trying to explore her.

Oh… no… Kurumi wondered briefly if it was too late to find Nyochio, MKII, or Daifuku-sama. Maybe THEY could translate for me? Oh, Chairman, I'm sure you'd have a great time telling me that you told me so!

Haruna's usual, barking tone echoed in her memory, chiding her for her childishness. "I always have to look after you and clean up your messes, don't I, Shiratori?!" Well, maybe this was karma, and Haruna could have a nice laugh over it and rub it in Kurumi's face once she was human again. Kurumi didn't relish the thought, but having her unit-mates back would be more than worth it.

"Hey, wait a minute! I think… I just got a crazy idea!" Kurumi's drooping head shot up, and five minutes later, a red cat was pacing back and forth on a pair of turntables, spinning the discs with her paws. Meanwhile, the pink and blonde cats were tucked under Kurumi's left and right arms respectively as they sang and meowed into a microphone. Even Kurumi hadn't expected it, but the end result wasn't as atrocious as one might've thought. On the contrary, it was actually rather catchy…

Behold, my new fire mix tape! Kurumi thought, chuckling and shaking her head in disbelief. This has got to be… one of the… STRANGEST things I've EVER done, but… it's kinda… fun! She giggled again, swiftly losing track of time as she and her unit-mates sang track after track after track. It was only after a brief pause for a break, Kurumi resting on the secret basement's couch, when things got weird again.

First, Kurumi felt hands—not paws, hands—roughly shaking her shoulders. Then… "Sorry we're late, Kurumi! Chairman got us held up!"

"Who are you calling Chairman?!" Haruna snapped back, and a stunned Kurumi sat upright with a jolt, tan eyes practically bugging out of her skull.

"Kurumi, are you all right?" Miyu was the first to sense that something was wrong. "You look as if you've seen a ghost!"

"Ghost?!" While Haruna suddenly whipped around, alarmed, Miiko's eyes went starry.

"Well…" Kurumi gave them all a crooked, rueful smile. "It's a long story…" An incredibly groovy journey… but… I'm so glad to be home!

Behind her rueful smile, while the rest of her unit-mates eyed her in concern, Kurumi felt tears of relief threatening to spill, and it was all she could do not to tackle Miyu, Haruna, and Miiko into a fierce embrace. "I love you guys!"

AN: I just thought it was funny to imagine Cat-rumi/Kit-rumi lost and irritated on a journey with some of the other canon D4 cats. Also yes, Nyochio is female in this to balance out the gender ratio, and because I feel like I do remember Muni using female pronouns for her at least once in First Mix.