No Ordinary Cat

"Kuroo Tetsuro, as punishment for your transgressions, you will be transformed into a cat. Don't worry, it's not forever. You will remain in your feline form until the right person comes into your life. Do not allow your mind to become clouded; do not allow yourself to become jaded. You may miss the one who will save you."

"But what if..."

"It will happen, Kuroo," the grand wizard assured as he lifted his arm and, with palm facing Kuroo, he smiled. "It might not be right away, but it won't be forever, either. Just... don't close your mind."

And with that, the incantation began...

~*~

"It's too damn cold," Kei muttered into his scarf as they walked along. "The only saving grace for this winter is the snow we've had."

"You say that every winter," Tadashi laughed at him. "I think you happen to like winter, but complain every year just to keep up appearances."

"Whatever," Kei scoffed. He would be the last to admit his best friend was right.

It had been a long day of classes and practice, but as they got off the bus and walked home, they chatted and laughed like they would any other day. But as they reached their neighborhood, Kei's eyes started flitting around, as if he were looking for something. Or someone.

"What are you...?" Tadashi started asking, but left off as he watched Kei bend down and look under the cars lining the street. "Looking for your little friend?"

"Yeah," Kei replied absentmindedly. "It's going to be cold tonight. Too cold for it to be outside."

"Yeah, you're right. I think they said it was supposed to snow again."

"I'm hoping..." he said as he bent down again, "that I can lure it into the house."

"Is your mom okay with that?"

Kei paused. He hadn't told his mom about the cat. Yet. Still, he wasn't going to just leave it outside. Not this time.

"She likes cats," he said a bit less confidently. "I hope she does, anyway."

"Kei, what are you going to do if she doesn't let you?"

"I'll think of something."

He didn't see Tadashi shake his head with fond exasperation, nor did he really notice when his best friend left him to walk the rest of the way to his house alone. He was focused on finding the little black cat that had been wandering around his neighborhood for the last few months.

A few neighbors tried to help it out by attempting to adopt it themselves, but the cat wasn't terribly friendly. No, that wasn't quite right. It hated everyone, would only eat and drink if the person stayed well away from the food, would hiss and spit if anyone tried to get too close. Anyone, that is, except for him. In fact, Kei was surprised he was even allowed to get as close as he had.

Oh, he'd seen the scrawny looking little guy a few times after it had turned up. Most of the time, it was after a startled yelp (human or dog) and the poor thing went tearing off to hide. Other times, it was seated rather majestically on a wall, or low-hanging tree branch, and just staring at anyone passing by.

Then, one day, Kei was just walking outside, enjoying the coolness of the brisk autumn air, and his eyes clashed with those of the cat. It was the first time since catching glimpses of it that Kei was able to fully see the cool, silver color of those feline eyes. And they were watching him intently. Kei continued on his way, but didn't fail to notice how the cat gracefully jumped down from its current perch and began following him. This was now a common occurrence.