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MONDAYS WERE NEVER a good day for any student—unless you're one of the 1% in the class that genuinely wants to learn, then, good for you, but this girl isn't like you—and Nene was having none of it. Her life was no fairy tale; magical princess book with the sun shining oh-so bright, birds chirping, leaves gently falling around her, talking animals—
What Nene seemed to be greeted with, though, is a cat.
Not a talking one, exactly, but a cat that seemed to act too much of a human to act like a cat. The cat—hiding behind a bush that Nene is standing at—is wildly looking around, almost like its panicking with the number of students that rushed inside the school building: hurried steps and loud chatter. ( Nene doesn't blame the cat. She, too, wouldn't like a crowd too big to breathe in. ) The orange fur of the cat got swept by the strong wind—it's probably going to rain soon, Yashiro thought—causing the poor thing to stumble to the side.
"Are you okay?" Nene stupidly asked ( like the cat magically understood human language ) as she knelt, closely scrutinizing the way the cat blinked and looked up at Nene, eyes wide in surprise. For a moment, Nene noticed, familiarity flashed in the orange eyes of the cat. Nene wondered if she had met the cat before but the only luck she had with animals is her pet hamster, Black Canyon, so she pushed that thought way, much to her dismay.
The cat didn't do anything, though. It just stood still, watching Nene's every move with curiosity and wariness. ( Nene understood once again. She, too, wouldn't trust a radish that suddenly came up to her. ) Nene placed a hand in front of the cat's face, palms open, patiently waiting. With a reassuring smile, Nene nodded at the cat. The orange cat stared at her for a moment before slowly and reluctantly, it placed its chin down on her fingers and looked away, as if embarrassed.
In an instant, the cat relaxed and succumbed to Nene's gentle chin scratches. The tense muscles the cat had are now gone and replaced with low, delighted purrs, eyes fluttered shut in satisfaction.
Nene giggled. "I'm sorry if I scared you, kitty."
The cat's chest rumbled with a quiet growl, one eye slightly open as if to glare at Nene when it heard the word kitty. Nene stifled a laugh once again, finding amusement in the cat's human-like antics. Adorable! Nene thought, preventing a coo in case the cat gets grumpy again for treating it like a baby—Nene never questioned how the cat could understand her, but she's gone through enough magical adventures and a cat understanding a human is nothing compared to a creepy, matchmaking, talking tree.
Nene had to call the cat by some name somehow. Carefully, she held her other palm out and carefully hovered them from the cat's body. Sighing in relief when the cat just stared at her, she placed her hands under the arms of the cat, the soft fur tickling her skin. Gently, she lifted the cat and nodded.
