Late as expected, but I should have the next chapter up on Sunday, as scheduled!
Can't believe I forgot to say this, or maybe I did but it bears repeating: thank you to Ryu_no_me for beta-reading this whole project! I owe him a lot for all the corrections, big and small, making sure this story looks perfect.

The following day, Luka was once again woken up by the shower. She quickly dozed back off, waking again when Miku knocked on the door.

"Good morning, Evie! I hope you slept well."

She had, but Luka didn't answer, watching from the hide as Miku went through the morning routine. She prepared fresh food and water for the cat, ate something for her own breakfast, disappeared, returned dressed, did a few chores, and later went out the door.

"I'll be back in the evening!"

And then Luka was alone again. She had survived the weekend, survived the vet, and for the rest of the day, she would have peace and quiet.

First things first: she needed to take care of herself. She ate, drank, and then painstakingly combed her long fur. The site of the blood draw was a little tender, but wasn't painful. Second thing on the list was practicing her speaking, painstakingly meowing different vowels and trying to get her barbed tongue to bend around the different consonants. When that tried her patience, she left the hide to explore the room some more. The puzzles had been redeployed, so Luka played, more for the sake of having something to do, rather than for the treats within. She already had a stash of them, and even if they were tasty, there was only so much that she could eat.

But the hours were long. Multiple hours of linguistic study after hours of grooming somehow didn't fill a full day, and Luka missed poring over her lab results, pondering solutions to the problems ahead. She didn't have any surface to write on, no way to write in the first place, and could only daydream without any way to do the math or run the simulations. Miku didn't have many books she could easily access, and even then, reading would be a nightmare. But there was more than missing productivity. She missed so much of what meant being a human.

So she turned to the TV, switching channels until the audio was of some interest. There was the soothing voice of a nature documentary, then a stand-up comedy show that provided some real distraction, and then she turned it back off, unsure of when Miku was destined to return. So she poured more hours into her practice, snuck in a few treats from her stash, looked out the window longingly, and paced. She did so until the sun dipped under the horizon, and the apartment was almost totally dark.

Finally, she heard the footsteps leading up to the door, then the jingle of keys. By the time Miku knocked on the door, Luka was already back up in her hide.

"I'm home," the technician called out, and she sounded exhausted. "You're in your little comfort zone?"

Luka didn't reply, watching as the technician walked about, taking in the space.

"You're really good at this puzzle, aren't you? I'll get you harder ones. But first, dinner."

She swapped out the dishes, ate her own dinner, and then sat down in front of the TV, channel surfing to the news. Luka ate while the anchor droned on, and after some time, the technician called it quits, turning off the TV with a big sigh.

That was the end of day one: she went to bed on that note, leaving her dirty dishes in the sink.

The following day was much the same. Miku woke her up with a knock, served her breakfast, went about her chores, then left before the sun rose above the horizon. Luka occupied herself as best as she could, maintaining the best coat quality, eating her fill, finally conquering the 'k' sound at the back of her throat, and toying with the puzzle, alternating the activities as she saw fit. Miku returned earlier that evening than she had the previous day, once again exhausted, heaving a big sigh. She fed the cat, then herself, then sat down at the dining table for her hobby.

Partway through the activity though, Miku stood, disappearing in the bedroom briefly.

Then the shriek returned, filling Luka's tiny skull with the deafening screech. She curled into a ball in her hide as the technician merrily tinkered on, darting to the front door when Miku went to bed.

Partway into the night, the piercing sound stopped, and Luka could finally get her own sleep. The knock didn't even wake her the following morning: when she came to, Miku had already left and the sun had risen.

She investigated the bedroom thoroughly, but she couldn't find anything that would make such a noise. Her warped senses didn't help her in her search, but she had to conclude that whatever it was, Miku had taken it with her.

Luka wondered if she could brave the assault on her ears the next time she'd hear it, or if this would be infrequent enough for her to put up with. That depended on how well the investigation into her disappearance was going, of course, and since Miku had no guests over since the weekend, she had never talked about it out loud to anybody.

She spent the rest of the day on the news channel, but they instead talked about more missing people, in between other news stories. Her name was now one among at least twelve: all young adults, mostly women, but no other similarities.

Luka vaguely remembered that there were already a few cats in the lab when Gakupo had brought her in: were these the same people? Or had they been nobodies that he knew wouldn't be missed? Was he kidnapping more people?

Either these were the same people, and Gakupo wasn't doing anything more, which meant that he was less likely to be caught, or these were new people, which meant that Gakupo was feeling brave enough to keep going, or these weren't related cases at all, which spelled a whole different kind of fear for the region.

Naturally, the string of disappearances had everybody unsettled. Big searches were organized where people could volunteer. Family members and friends were interviewed.

Luka turned the TV off rather quickly, as the reporting served exclusively to remind her that she was a tiny cat stuck in an apartment. Her parents never showed, and there were no familiar voices from Meiko, Cul, or Yukari, so it was only depressing. She continued speaking, playing with the puzzle when that, too, weighed too heavily on her mind.

She almost missed Miku talking to her: the silence could get suffocating. There was so, so much about being human that she missed. Spending time with people, working in groups, collaborating...

In that apartment, she was so terribly alone.

When Miku finally got home, however, she wasn't alone, which was enough to scare Luka right back up the tree.

"So we're all clear, guys? No bothering the cat."

"Crystal clear!" another voice chimed in.

Luka listened as the technician brought not one, not two, but five totally new people into her apartment. The dining table was moved to the living area, where all the furniture was moved around. While the strangers prepared something, Miku got Luka's dinner, serving some of it on a small saucer that she pushed into the hide.

Her mindfulness touched Luka deeply. She ate without fear, listening as the group prepared, then started a game of sorts. When someone used the name Fitzgeraldine, she realized what this was: the game Rin had mentioned, back during her first visit after Luka's arrival.

It felt like ages prior, but it had only been a handful of days.

After some listening, and some confusion, Luka learned that Miku played as a character named Fitzgeraldine, a bold and brave woman who wielded a sword and a shield, all in the name of a certain deity Luka had never heard of before. She spoke in a bombastic, deeper voice, and the people with her made voices too as they pretended to be their own characters. They used crossbows and waraxes and magic, and often Luka heard the clatter of dice on the table, followed by an array of exclamations at the results.

In the span of five hours, the group had settled a deal with a local monarch, gotten into a cave, fought with a terrible group of bandits, been forced to overnight in the cave as their exhaustion set in, taking turns at watch, before mounting an assault at the heart of the operation, forcing the bandit leader to give up. One particularly good roll of the dice went as far as to make the leader tell the group where he had hidden all the stolen gold.

Luka had heard of such games before, if only vaguely. What caught her by surprise was the amount of heartfelt exchanges between the characters: one character, a young non-human (Luka was still so foreign to the terminology), and Miku's character spoke at length during their watch about the ethics of being a sword for hire. When the cache of gold was revealed, the group discussed, fully in-character, about whether they would return the gold to the town, or keep it to themselves. The monarch would never pay them as handsomely, and didn't they deserve at least part of it? It wasn't right though, was it.

The session ended as they came to an agreement, packed up, and set out to return to town. As the group breathed a sigh of relief, letting their characters fall, Luka almost had to do the same, blinking back to reality.

Tuning into the game had been a wondrous distraction. The group spoke about the game afterwards as they put everything back in its place, and Luka briefly hoped for some update on her status as one of many missing people, but they never brought it up.

No, this evening was escapism, and Luka almost felt bad for wanting them to end their fun by talking about her, especially since she had enjoyed it almost as much as they had. They all said goodbye at the door, Miku gave her treats for putting up with all the noise, and then she went to bed with a simple 'goodnight'.

Luka slept soundly that night, dreaming of magic and heroes.

The rest of the week went on in a similar fashion. Miku went to work, Luka did what she could in her free hours so she wouldn't lose her mind due to boredom or her body crisis, and then Miku would come home at varying times of the late afternoon, or the evening. If she got home earlier, she would spend a few hours at her hobby, tinkering at the dining table as she hummed to music only she seemed to hear. If she came home later, she would serve dinner for both herself and Luka before retiring for the night, usually with a big sigh.

Luka had many questions, but since her hostess didn't have any friends or guests over, she wasn't getting any answers. If the labs were still having power issues, and if Miku was consequently getting chewed out by the Principal, Miku didn't let it show too obviously, letting it mix with the rest of her daily exhaustion. Then there was the question of what Miku was doing out so late sometimes. Luka didn't have the faintest idea.

After the game session, there were only two moments that stood out in the rest of the week: on Thursday night, Miku came home carrying a box. Within it were new food dishes for Luka, specifically designed to combat her whisker fatigue, a new water fountain for her to drink from, and a new puzzle. Luka spent Friday enjoying these new gifts: the dishes were wonderful to eat from, and the trickling of the water meant that she could cheat and catch water as it dripped from the side. The puzzle itself was a serious challenge that kept her distracted for many hours, since it was a lot more complex than the other ones; she had to navigate the treats down multiple levels until they finally dropped into a bowl at the bottom. The openings for the treats to fall down through were narrow, and the gaps that let her paws in to swat them were restrictive. She needed to observe and think, and even if it sometimes made her freak out that something so simple was so difficult because she was a cat, it was otherwise engaging and thoroughly distracting. The other outlier happened on Friday night, when the shrieking happened again, and Luka wanted, really wanted to approach and get to the bottom of the source, but the sound rang through her skull and all she could do was cower, finding sleep only well past midnight.

Saturday was once again Miku's day off. She showered after the sun had risen, entering the room to a very sleep-deprived, though awake Luka.

"Good morning, Evie," Miku said.

"Speak for yourself," Luka grumbled to herself, sneaking in a treat from her stash.

"I was hoping we could spend a little bit more time together today. I know last weekend was really rough, and this past week has been..." she sighed, and stayed quiet for so long, Luka almost thought she'd forgotten she was speaking. "Well, it was something. Research said that it was good to give you a week or two just to get used to the place, so I'm hoping you might feel comfortable just hanging out, like you did last weekend?"

Luka stuck her head out of her hide, keeping her eyes on the technician.

"The vet said that your bloodwork came back totally clean, so you're in good health! That is also worth celebrating, I think. Depending on how long you were outside for, that's really lucky. He still has no idea how old you are, but, well... I think it's most important that we grow to trust each other, right?"

As she finished her sentence, she turned to face the feline. Standing where she was in the kitchen, Miku was in the perfect sweet spot of her sharp vision, so Luka didn't rely on movement to see her nervous smile.

Luka hesitated. Her intentions were good. They were the best intentions anybody could have towards their pet. But the sooner she showed trust, the sooner she would be carted off to the vet.

It wasn't something she was allowed to entertain.

She retreated to the back of her hide. She would continue her efforts of speaking while the technician was at work, and otherwise she would keep to herself.

That was how things would be.

"...That's fair."

She went on with her morning preparations, and Luka couldn't help but feel a little bad. Miku clearly respected her boundaries and listened to her. It wasn't anything grand to expect, or even anything exceptional in her day-to-day life. People listened to her all the time. She was respected. She was loved.

Being a cat was different.

Instead, Luka busied herself in the never-ending grooming; she was too tired to think about complicated things. When she'd be human again, she would always have the option to explain her apprehensions to the technician. Miku would understand.

As time ticked on, however, it became increasingly clear that unlike the previous week, Miku hadn't planned anything grand on her day off. She didn't call anybody, nobody came knocking on the door, and she didn't go anywhere. Instead, she prepared the dining table for her hobby and hummed along for what felt like hours on end.

Luka felt like she would go stir-crazy, only because it wasn't as much petrifying fear that was keeping her in her hide, as it was fear for the future. She didn't want Miku to get too cozy with her, believing that she could shove her into the carrier and walk her into an OR. But she also trusted that, even if she were to go out, she wouldn't be touched.

And this was despite her new fragile existence.

She let out a breath, realizing that she felt, for the first time in over a week, almost safe in somebody's presence, and that she had sorely missed it. She had to admit it: she'd been so alone. So afraid, first and foremost, but finally the loneliness was weighing heavier.

If Miku wouldn't get closer, if she wouldn't harm her... Could she dare?

Did she dare?

Luka slowly stepped out of the hide, spying the toys on the floor, further into the room. Miku hummed on, a tool clattered on the table. Luka descended the tree, aware of how clumsy she was in her motions, and slowly walked over to her food dish. Without completely turning her back to the technician, she slowly ate her breakfast.

This time, Miku was far more discreet: Luka had no idea when she had been noticed exactly. The technician hummed on, doing her little hobby, her eyes occasionally darting over to the pet.

Once she had her fill, Luka turned her attention to the puzzles. First the large, flat one, to warm up, and then she pawed at the tower, feeling her tail wag at the tip when she heard the clatter of a treat in the bowl below. Miku chuckled at times, and Luka wasn't sure if she ought to feel humiliated for making a show of herself, but she had to pass the time somehow.

And it felt nice to exist with someone for once. It had been so long since she had spoken to someone. Longer since someone had held her. Even longer since she had shared dinner with a friend or her parents, since she'd gone to the movies with them. It had been ages since she'd had simple company. She'd been loved, surrounded. For the past week, she'd been so frightfully lonely.

"You're really a smart cat," Miku whispered when she managed to get all the treats out of the tower. "Everybody says that it takes their cat hours to understand how it's supposed to even work."

Luka couldn't help but meow proudly, and before she could regret her misstep, the technician laughed.

"You want more treats?"

She meowed again, playing the part.

"Ok, ok."

Miku stood, going to retrieve the bag of treats, then slowly approached the puzzle.

"I won't get any closer than you let me," Miku whispered, mostly to herself, as she kneeled by the tower.

Luka had taken a few steps back, but she let the technician refill the contraption without fleeing, nervously waiting, ready to bolt.

It didn't take very long until they both heard the 'click' of the compartment being shut, but Miku stayed put, her eyes going to the cat.

"You're just really scared of touch, aren't you?"

Luka felt her tail drag over the floor as she was spoken to.

How she missed conversation.

She meowed, sure that if she were to earnestly try and mimic speech, she would be met with laughter.

Miku then slowly, haltingly, stretched out a hand. Luka almost didn't see it at first, but the movement betrayed the gesture.

Once again, she was reminded that cats sniffed stuff. And letting them sniff your hand was supposed to be polite somehow.

Luka hesitated: she didn't want to play the game too much. Be a stupid cat belonging to a person. But someone was making a legitimate effort to speak her language, even if it wasn't her own, and connect on a level that made her feel safe.

She couldn't help but give in, almost pretending to sniff instead, but she caught the scent of skin, of dirt, of water. There was something particular, that strange scent that had been in the air the previous time she had spent time with the technician as she worked on her hobby. Something like mud, but unlike all the other scents she had discovered in the city.

Peculiar was the word. Luka retreated, not knowing what it could be, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the movement of Miku's smile.

"Thank you, Evie."

Luka felt her tail twitch, her ears relaxed. A body language that didn't belong to her, that she wouldn't understand if she weren't feeling the emotions firsthand.

"Thank you, too."

Miku backed up, still smiling at her, and Luka returned to her puzzle, though with a little bit less energy.

She hadn't known just how much she had missed interaction. Coexisting was wonderful: if Miku would keep her distance, she could do this every day. She'd save her hiding for the guests, and the hissing for the unwanted touches. But to stand in front of a person, to have them speak to you, to listen to what you had to say, to acknowledge and pay attention?

More than the comedy show, more than the DnD night, more than all the distractions that got her out of her skull, that was something that made her feel more human than anything else.

She craved it.

But Miku had returned to her hobby. She hummed, sometimes turning to the cat with a smile.

"Bored of that one already?" she asked when she saw Luka sitting next to the tower, disinterested. "Or are you that fast at getting all the treats out?"

Luka meowed, unsure what she wanted to say exactly, but Miku put down whatever she was working on.

"Should I go shopping for even harder ones? Or should I skip straight to the rubix cube?"

"I'd hate that, I can't even see color," Luka tried to say with a meow: it came out as a long, bitter whine.

"Yeah, I can't figure those out either." Miku stood and went to the kitchen, washing her hands. "You're bored?"

"Maybe just a little."

"Had enough of hiding, huh."

"Only as long as you don't touch me."

Miku dried her hands, looking down at the cat. "You're really talkative now."

Luka waited, unsure if meowing at a non-question was a smart or a stupid move.

"I wonder if you have any experience with other cat toys," the technician mumbled, heading to one of the taller pieces of furniture next to the television. From it, somehow, she grabbed a long pole of some kind. "You seem used to the puzzles..."

Luka squinted at what she was holding, feeling the hair stand on her back—

Something small appeared on the floor next to her, all fuzzy, moving in quick, short bursts.

Oh. The bird on a string.

"Did you have a family?" Miku wondered.

Luka didn't answer, unsure how she had to respond. Of course she was expected to chase after the bird, pounce and try to dig her claws into the ball of feathers, but if she were to let herself sink so low—

It darted past, razor sharp in her vision. She felt her whiskers flex forwards when it got close to her face.

Was it some kind of instinct baked into her little cat senses? No, she didn't have a cat brain. This was the urge of a creature that didn't belong to her.

But she could finally see something. And this was play, right? It would be good for her to learn, as she'd reasoned already once before.

And she could finally do something with someone. Maybe it wasn't brainstorming medical miracles, maybe it wasn't dancing late at night, maybe it wasn't sharing dinner with a friend, but...

Damn it all, she was a social person. She delighted in spending time with people, people she loved, people she'd just met. She thrived in friendly debates and glowed when people laughed at her jokes.

She felt more alive than she had in over a week when she finally caught the bird, and Miku's laugh rang throughout the room.

That evening, Luka was curled up on the hammock while Miku tinkered at the dining table. Luka felt sincere exhaustion in her limbs: chasing the bird had been challenging, tiring, and to an extent, amusing. The physical activity wasn't similar enough to dancing or anything else to scratch a familiar itch, but simply spending time with someone?

Her heart felt full.

And it was more than enough to continue spending the time with Miku, who never approached unasked, who fed her and who talked to her, answering her meows as if they were having a real conversation.

Luka felt treated like a person.

There were the disconnects, though. While chasing the bird, she'd done leaps and twists she never would have imagined possible for her to do. Learning and pushing the limits of her new body was something that triggered that dread easily: grooming herself was something she was barely getting used to. And she couldn't remember the last time she had sat with anybody. With her friends, there was usually an activity at hand, even if it was a movie. With her family, there was conversation, debate, and catching up. With coworkers, it was either work or bonding. With lovers, there were other priorities.

Simply sitting with someone, each minding their own task, was something she wasn't sure she had ever done before. But it was a difference that, unlike the pain of the new body, was nice. It was soothing. She felt less alone, less small, and much less far from home.

Eventually, she'd get there. Once she could speak, Miku would listen to her. She listened to her so well already, after all. Even if it might take a while, her plan was foolproof.

Sudden ringing filled the space, and Miku dropped her tools and answered the phone.

"Hey Rin!" she welcomed. "I have you on speaker phone, if that's ok."

"Oh, no problem. You're with someone?"

"No, just sculpting."

The friend chuckled, and Luka opened her eyes. Yes, she could recognize the shapes now, the smell: that was clay.

"Pff, nerd. I was wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow?"

"Hmm. I was thinking of helping out with the searches."

"Again? You've been out there like three times this week."

Luka blinked. Conversation revealed so much.

"I know, but... It feels like none of them could be far."

"'None of them'. Like you're not looking for your dear Luka."

Miku sighed. "I am. But there's more of them now, Rin."

"You need to relax, you know," Rin reminded her. "Your work is tough already."

"Don't remind me," the technician groaned.

"You being there isn't going to make the biggest of differences. What are the odds that you're the one that finds them?"

"...Someone has to."

The friend sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I'm just... I guess I want you to remember to take care of yourself. And of your new pet, you know. Spend some time bonding with Evie."

"Oh, yeah. That's going far better now. But one afternoon isn't going to kill me. It's not going to drive us apart either. If anything, I feel like Evie appreciates the time, at least for now."

"What if I wanted to hang out?"

Miku chuckled. "If you wanted to hang out you could say so."

"I just... Sorry. I don't want to take you away from what you think is important, either. I didn't want to be too selfish. God, I've been so bad at this, I—"

"You're important to me too," Miku said softly. "You're my best friend. Sure, we can hang out tomorrow afternoon."

"Really?"

"We never have time other than on weekends. I can volunteer easily after work. It's fine."

"Alright! Want me to bring a movie? Or we can just catch up? Work's been tough, right?"

"I don't want us to spend all our free time together complaining about my boss getting closer to printing my termination letter. Let's just take it easy for once. "

"Alright! I can't wait! I'll bring a movie, then. Any preferences?"

Miku chuckled again. "Whatever you'd like to see."

"Ok! I'll be around at the beginning of the afternoon if that's ok?"

"Sure, come by whenever. It's just me and Evie."

"She's doing better, you said?"

Luka looked at the tealette, meeting her eye, seeing the smile grow. "She's doing great. As long as I don't move to touch her, she's actually happy to spend time with me."

"Oh wow! That's awesome progress. Have you learned if she's a pet yet?"

"No. I got back in touch with Lily, since she's so connected in those circles, and there's a bunch of posts on social media, all the relevant forums or whatever..."

"For a nerd, you're pretty bad at computers," Rin teased.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Basically, your cousin has the whole social media part of it covered. I put a notice in the paper."

"The paper?"

"Yeah. Maybe she belongs to an older couple, I don't know. Not everybody is online."

"Pff. You're too sweet."

Miku chuckled again. "I put up a few flyers around town too. You might see them when you come over. I also talked about it with the other volunteers, word of mouth and all."

"So I'm guessing she's a stray?"

"So far, yeah. Or at least nobody cares to find her."

Luka wanted to laugh.

"Well, finders keepers then, I guess!"

"Yeah. With some luck, in a little bit she'll be all mine."

Luka opened her eyes at that, glancing at the technician.

"Man, you're growing soft for her, aren't you?"

"She's sweet, really," Miku said, still using that warm tone.

Luka felt her tail twitch again, but didn't know which emotion sparked that.

"Alright, I'll be over tomorrow early in the afternoon, to see if I can save you from becoming a crazy cat lady."

"I thought you wouldn't want to stop me from doing what I thought was important?"

"Being a cat lady is not important!" Miku laughed while Rin ranted, "I'll rescue you from that fate myself if I have to!"

"Fine, fine, rescue me tomorrow," the technician said between laughs. "But no touching Evie."

"Still?"

"She's fine as long as you don't touch her."

"Probably just a grouchy old lady herself."

Miku paused, glanced back at the cat. "Maybe. Even if she's a senior, I'm happy to keep her safe and happy for her sunset years."

"Ok, cat lady. 2pm tomorrow?"

"That's fine!"

"I'll see you then, nerd. Have fun with the sculpting! Show me what you're making tomorrow."

"I will, I will. Good night, Rin."

"Good night!"

With one touch of her pinky, Miku hung up the phone, the tone ringing through the room.

"You hear that, Evie? We're getting company tomorrow," Miku said.

Luka meowed softly.

"Don't worry though, sweetheart. I'll keep you safe."

"You better."