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"Ohaiyogozaimasu!" she said cheerfully bursting into the room. "What are you two doing still in bed?" Kitty groaned. "It's called cuddling, Nee-chan. It's something that you do when you're in a relationship for more than ten minutes," she teased sleepily. "Pssht," Nanami said, with a dismissive shake of her head. "Why would I want to spoil a perfectly good thing with conversation...or worse....feelings. " At this point Miu decided to pounce on the intruder, attempting to sink her tiny fangs into Nanami's leg, which was foiled when Nanami suddenly poofed across the room, leaving a tiny trail of smoke for Miu to bite. "Is that a tiger? Oh, you have to bring it! You just have to! You know how much Obaa-sama likes cute things!" "Nee-chan, I assume you're here as the advance warning system, but you need to leave so we can get dressed," Kitty said as patiently as possible given that it had been a rough night getting Saffire and Miu to adjust to their new living arrangements as she was very short on sleep. "Fine," Nanami said with a sigh. "Spoilsport. I'll be waiting outside." She poofed away again, this time outside the room and Kitty reluctantly got up, giving Michael a shake to make sure he didn't drop back to sleep. "Come on, it'll be Anthony-kun bursting in on us next. You know that's true. It'll be better if you at least haver pants on before that happens."
Kitty walked over to Ace and bowed respectfully. "Domo Arigato, Ace-san," she said, smiling. "It's perfect."
Kitty smiled a little wistfully. "Yes, thank you. Thank you all so much. I...I got a little lost in the pain. It's still there, but.." she was interrupted by Miu taking a playful swipe at Saffire. "Miu! No! Bad! Saffire is not a toy!"
Kitty takes the tiger cub back to its enclosure, and gets it all settled in, playing with a string ball. She's quite sure that the gate is properly latched and she can't find any holes that Miu could get through. She leaves and continues her tour of the animal hospital, but pretty soon the tiger cub has once more escaped its pen and is stalking her through the aisles. She turns and catches it as it leaps at her, and staggers a little as the kitten lands in her arms and starts purring. "Oof! How?" She sighed. "Michael, it's a good thing you're a cat person, because I think Miu is going to be staying with us for a while," she said in an exasperated happy tone.
As she tentatively explores the new and improved animal hospital/zoo, she finds one of the animals has escaped from their enclosure. A white tiger kitten was rolling around on the ground, playing with shadows. She finally let go of her death grip on Michael's hand. "What are you doing out here? Did someone forget to close a door?" she asked the kitten as she approached it. It bounded around her, butting its head against her legs until she reached down and picked it up. Saffire took off from her shoulder, not comfortable being that close to even a baby tiger and landed on Michael's shoulder instead, meeping reproachfully. The kitten started purring. Kitty laughed. "You little troublemaker! Alright, Miu, let's find where you're supposed to go."
Kitty tried hard to control her breathing. She had known it would be hard coming back here, but she thought she could handle it in small steps. This....this was too much too fast. Memories were warring with the here and now and she was having a hard time separating the two. She had a death grip on Michael's hand, her other hand reaching up to cuddle Saffire close to her as the tiny dragon was making sad meeping noises. She nodded reluctantly, and finally forced her attention on the space in front of her. It had been a shed when she started. That got bigger as things went on, but retained a certain shedness about it, with cages lined up on tables throughout to keep wounded animals from lashing out at each other. But there wasn't anything shedlike about the space in front of her now. There were enclosures, but they were huge, and the space itself was enormous. There was even adequate room for larger animals now. And the enclosures were all environmentally specialized for different types of animals, with lots of perches for birds, and a small pond for otters and other aquatic animals. Her eyes got big as she wandered through the new space, dragging Michael along with her. "It's...it's a proper animal hospital," she said, trying to take it all in.
"Hey, Kitty, do you mind if we stop by the old vet office? I thought of a way to.. um.. make a t-o-y for S-a-f-f-i-r-e that is a bit more durable and need to get some of the old ones." Michael explains as they walk back into the school. Saffire perked up from where he was draped over Kitty's shoulder. *Meep?!* "Er, did I mention that he's picked up spelling? He's very clever. And now we have to or he'll just whine all night," she said, shaking her head and laughing.
"I can't wait." He says honestly. "Despite the fact I'll likely get poisoned at some point, I'm actually looking forward o seeing where you grew up.""Honestly? No, not really. But it's kind of a miracle they're still open at all with how wrecked the rest of the town is. Was. The construction seemed to be coming along quite fast. There were more buildings when we left than when we got there anyways. But the company more than made up for the food," she said, smiling as she squeezed his hand. "And there will be plenty of yummy seafood to eat when we visit my family. Nishioki is a port city after all." Saffire meeped contentedly from his perch on Kitty's shoulder at the mention of more seafood. "Don't worry, they won't use anything fatal. Inconvenient, most likely. But not deadly. My family likes you. And I'm really looking forward to showing you all of the places that I used to play. Running on rooftops is not exactly the same as running through trees. A little more slippery in places. But the idea is the same, so you should have no trouble at all."
"Honestly? No, not really. But it's kind of a miracle they're still open at all with how wrecked the rest of the town is. Was. The construction seemed to be coming along quite fast. There were more buildings when we left than when we got there anyways. But the company more than made up for the food," she said, smiling as she squeezed his hand. "And there will be plenty of yummy seafood to eat when we visit my family. Nishioki is a port city after all." Saffire meeped contentedly from his perch on Kitty's shoulder at the mention of more seafood.
"Well, you've never had any trouble talking to me, so I guess it wasn't that important of a lesson," she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You just need the right conversation partner.""Or just to not think about it." He replies as they walk into the city and head for the seafood restaurant. "I find that easy when I'm with you. Not thinking, I mean. No, wait, that sounds bad. Uh..." Kitty laughed. "Well, that certainly explains a lot. Okaa-san always said that you can be really certain that someone likes you when they have trouble putting coherent thoughts together in your presence...actually that sounds rather odd, come to think of it. It would make life very complicated. Think of all the conversations you could never have..,"
Kitty laughed. "That sounds about right. Part of shinobi training includes learning the art of flirtation and seduction. Nee-chan excelled at that class. I always found a reason to be elsewhere. It was so embarrassing. And I don't think either of us would be comfortable learning flirtation from Nee-chan. This can only end in tears.""Yeah, I can only guess. I think my dad tried to teach me how to talk to girl once, but the Mom started laughing in the next room and he left quickly." "Well, you've never had any trouble talking to me, so I guess it wasn't that important of a lesson," she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You just need the right conversation partner."
Kitty laughed. "That sounds about right. Part of shinobi training includes learning the art of flirtation and seduction. Nee-chan excelled at that class. I always found a reason to be elsewhere. It was so embarrassing. And I don't think either of us would be comfortable learning flirtation from Nee-chan. This can only end in tears."
"Only because you didn't know how," she replied with an impish grin. "She was certainly flirting with you. Not that I blame her. You are pretty cute. But I'm not planning on sharing you.""I still don't know how, but with you I think coherent, non-alchemically garbled sentences are good enough. Though if you want to teach me..." "Well, that sounds like a fun idea for dinner conversation," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. Whatever she was planning to say next was drowned out in a loud chorus of insistent meeps and impatient nips at both of their ears from a veeeery hungry tiny dragon who had heard the magic word (fish) and wasn't taking no for an answer.
"Oh come on, I never flirted with her!""There's always the restaurant I went to before meeting you. They gave him his own bowl of live fish, remember?""Sounds perfect, as long as you promise not to flirt with the waitress," she teased. "Only because you didn't know how," she replied with an impish grin. "She was certainly flirting with you. Not that I blame her. You are pretty cute. But I'm not planning on sharing you."
"There's always the restaurant I went to before meeting you. They gave him his own bowl of live fish, remember?" "Sounds perfect, as long as you promise not to flirt with the waitress," she teased.
*Meep meep meep meep meep* "Saffire approves as long as the place has fish," she said, shaking her head at her familiar's antics. She closed the distance between them and hugged Michael. "I just want to not think about the last week for a little while."
"Uh-oh. One of your surprises," she said with a reluctant smile. "Now I am worried. And you shouldn't worry about visiting my family. The hazing is strictly for show at this point. They'll definitely be impressed that you got revenge on the guy who killed me. It's a very shinobi sort of thing to do. They'll like that.""Hey, it's not my surprise. I just happen to be agreeing to help." The half-elf chuckles. "They haven't impressed me though, so we're still hazing your family, right?" She couldn't help but laugh. "Well, if you really think it's a good idea," she said, as Saffire peeked out from his perch making meep meep noises as his person no longer seemed to be so angry. She ducked just a little as the tiny dragon dive bombed from his perch and landed on Michael's face.
"I might have an idea. Honestly it worries me a lot more than teaching you alchemy or visiting your family. I can't tell you though. It wouldn't be fair to the others." "Uh-oh. One of your surprises," she said with a reluctant smile. "Now I am worried. And you shouldn't worry about visiting my family. The hazing is strictly for show at this point. They'll definitely be impressed that you got revenge on the guy who killed me. It's a very shinobi sort of thing to do. They'll like that."
"Me, put you on a pedestal?" He asks, laughing just a little. "You'd put me in traction. You'll get your confidence back ten or even a hundred fold. If you can come back from everyone you've ever known forgetting you even exist, you can come back from this." "Well, I had your help with that. And I need it now too," she admitted, reluctantly. "I'm basically afraid to do anything in case I make another mistake. The doctor said that was normal after experiencing major trauma, which getting murdered definitely counts as. But it doesn't feel normal. I don't feel normal. I don't know how to get back to normal. I'm afraid I never will. Ugh. This whole honesty thing bites sometimes. I want to just be able to say that I'm fine without being terrified I'll disappear," she added, with a grimace.
"This isn't about who saves who more often or who's a better fighter, Michael! This is about you seeing me as an equal and treating me that way. When you make unilateral decisions about what is best for me without consulting me, then you are treating me like a...a pet, or a child. Not the way you treat a partner. I wanted to pay back the murderer. I did. But I am not so selfish that I could not have understood that I would have been a liability to the team. But instead of trusting me to make a good decision, you made it for me. I never even had the chance to help, and I could have. Even not being there, I could have helped. But I never had the chance. And if I keep on not having chances because you are so worried about protecting me, then I will be less than I am supposed to be," she said, stopping to hastily blow her nose."You are nothing more or less than the best thing that has ever happened to me. That includes somehow hiding Cait Sidhe for weeks from my mother. You know me, Kitty, I can't hide things! But if there is one thing I can't hide, Kitty, it's how much I love you. You are my red smile, my loving flower. I couldn't like you wilt. Not over Repp. He deserved so much less than causing you any more pain..." Saffire gave a mournful meep from his perch in the corner. Kitty sighed. "Michael, you know I love you too. Which doesn't in any way change the fact that sometimes the way you think can be so backwards. Just don't put me on some kind of pedestal or treat me like I'm delicate and can't handle things. I mean it. We're at our best working together. I need to know that you trust me to handle it when things go wrong. Because they will. That's how life works. I lost a lot of confidence in myself because of this attack. I can't handle having you lose confidence in me too," she added dashing away more tears that just wouldn't stop falling.
"Michael," she began, reaching out and taking his hand. "What that killer did....What Repp did to me," she corrected herself, still struggling with her sense of betrayal. "That wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault except Repp's. If you try to protect me all the time from everything out of some misplaced sense of guilt, then you don't leave me the freedom I need to be myself. Michael, I love you too much to leave you even then, but...if you do that I will literally fade away into nothing. And this time even you won't be able to see me," she said, tears now streaming down her face.
"This isn't about who saves who more often or who's a better fighter, Michael! This is about you seeing me as an equal and treating me that way. When you make unilateral decisions about what is best for me without consulting me, then you are treating me like a...a pet, or a child. Not the way you treat a partner. I wanted to pay back the murderer. I did. But I am not so selfish that I could not have understood that I would have been a liability to the team. But instead of trusting me to make a good decision, you made it for me. I never even had the chance to help, and I could have. Even not being there, I could have helped. But I never had the chance. And if I keep on not having chances because you are so worried about protecting me, then I will be less than I am supposed to be," she said, stopping to hastily blow her nose.
"You're wrong, Kitty. I can try. I have to try. Because the one time I don't will be the one time I always regret it. That doesn't mean I don't trust you though. If you told me you had to slip a poisoned dagger between my ribs I'd mark the best place for you to do it. I simply don't trust myself." "Michael," she began, reaching out and taking his hand. "What that killer did....What Repp did to me," she corrected herself, still struggling with her sense of betrayal. "That wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault except Repp's. If you try to protect me all the time from everything out of some misplaced sense of guilt, then you don't leave me the freedom I need to be myself. Michael, I love you too much to leave you even then, but...if you do that I will literally fade away into nothing. And this time even you won't be able to see me," she said, tears now streaming down her face.
"No, you didn't! You deserved to never die like that in the first place! To never be in a position to be killed! I couldn't protect you from him, Kitty. None of us could. I can handle you being angry at me, furious with me, even.. even breaking up with me but I could not handle you dying again." That seemed to soften her demeanor a little bit. Her eyes were nearly overflowing with unshed tears. "You idiot! Of course I'm not breaking up with you! I love you! But I am furious with you! Life is risk, Michael. You can't try to protect me from everything and still expect this relationship to work. You have to trust that I can take care of myself. Even if there are times when I can't. Just like I have to do all the time with you."
"I didn't want to see what would happen when you learned it was Rep. I didn't want you to see what I was going to do." He didn't balk at her reaction. He deserved this. "What we all did." She went pale. "It was Repp? But he...But I never even....." She seemed to fold in on herself and Saffire desperately licked at her face making meeting noises. Then she set Saffire down. "How dare you!" she screamed at Michael. "How dare you decide to hide parts of yourself from me! And how dare you treat me like some...some fragile doll who can't handle hard things! I may not be a shinobi, but I was raised as one, and I very much doubt anything you could have done out there would have shocked me! I'm the one he hurt, and I deserved to be out there too!"
Kitty sat there speechless for a moment. "This is what you were hiding from me when you left? You know what he did to me....what he did to my animal friends...and you didn't think that I deserved a chance to be a part of that?" she asked, her voice rising as she spoke. She was the angriest that Michael had ever seen her.
"I'd say you worry too much, but that never got my mother to stop either." Michael replies. "After this it's straight to the family visit, okay? No more delays." "Alright. I'll let Nee-chan know then. She wouldn't miss this for the world." "And I mean it about being careful," she added, as he was leaving.
"Uh, no, I'm fine," she said, looking up from where she'd been teaching Saffire a new trick. "Michael, are you sure you're alright?" she asked, her voice full of concern."Oh, I'm fine. Just got some news about an errand I've been waiting for. Don't worry, my rose, I'll be fine. After all, it's not like I'm going for some crazy new experiment or anything, right? I promise I won't be dealing with any new and volatile chemicals, diseases, toxins, etc, and you know what a terrible liar I am." He replies sweetly. "Alright," she said skeptically. "But I know that look. And you only call me your rose when you're about to do something upsetting. So don't you dare get hurt, whatever it is, or else," she added darkly before standing up and giving him a quick kiss.
Ace casts a Sending to Michael ::"I've learned that the identity of the killer is Repparyn. Keme and I are going to go on the offensive now. Care to join us?":: "Uh, no, I'm fine," she said, looking up from where she'd been teaching Saffire a new trick. "Michael, are you sure you're alright?" she asked, her voice full of concern.
She threw herself into his arms and squeezed tightly. "Don't make me do that again," she sniffled. "I was so scared." "You do know that I've seen some of your homework, right? I don't think you need to be a good fighter. Just a reasonably good aim," she joked weakly. "And I promise. There's nothing I could do to this person myself. Everything I do relies on asking my animal friends for help, and I won't put any more of them in his path. He's killed enough of them already. If he/she/it/whatever comes after me, I'll do what I need to to get away."
"I think it should work, and I know one way to find out." Michael says as he puts it on without hesitance. "Lie to me. If I don't forget you, it prevents mind stuff." She threw herself into his arms and squeezed tightly. "Don't make me do that again," she sniffled. "I was so scared."
"I think it should work, and I know one way to find out." Michael says as he puts it on without hesitance. "Lie to me. If I don't forget you, it prevents mind stuff." Kitty winced. She was terrified to even try what she thought of as the nuclear option. What if the hat didn't work? What if he forgot her? She took deep breaths trying to fight down the panic. "Okay," she said hoarsely. "Ummm......I am totally comfortable with this test, and the thought of you forgetting me doesn't cause panic attacks. Because I totally miss being invisble all the time."
Kitty sat in the middle of the remains of the first three shelving units. Monkeys had seeming like such a good idea at the time.... One of the monkeys dropped something floppy and rubbery into her lap. Another set of monkeys were playing keep away with what looked like a knit cap. She grabbed it as they scampered past her. "Ummm.....I think I might have found something? Well, the monkeys found it.....sort of...."
"Got it....hopefully this doesn't take all week," she said, eying the disorganized chaos of the room doubtfully. Kitty starts looking through boxes, but she quickly gets confused about what she has and hasn't looked at, and Saffire was apparently feeling listless at the moment as he had zero interest in helping. Probably still worn out from wrestling with Nova. She looked at the shelves and bit her lip. And summoned a small troop of monkeys to help. Because it seemed like a good idea at the time....
"Yeah, and then we can go relax a bit. I think.. I think we both need it." He says softly, keeping one arm around her waist as the arrows light up. "Sounds good to me," she said, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment before they headed off to follow the arrows. The arrows led them to a dusty and very full old storeroom. There were shelves and shelves full of things. Boxes of potions, magical doodads, all sorts of things all stacked on the shelves with no labels and no apparent rhyme or reason to their placement.
"Kitty, I was kidding." He tells her softly, rubbing her back. "my next experiment is surviving your family after we get your mind safe."She sighed. "Just promise me that you'll be careful....and make sure that there's somebody around to get help for you in case things go wrong."She hugged him tightly. "You may still win this one if it comes down to it," she said in a small voice, "but we have to at least try to find another solution.""No," he says as he hugs her back, "I'd rather save my win for the next round of experiments and the testing needed for them." "Oh.....ummmm......I think my sense of humor might be broken," she said, relaxing into the hug as he rubbed her back. "....but I'm pretty sure my advice still works for that experiment," she joked weakly, at least trying to see some humor in the situation. "Alright, let's see what we can find," she added, pulling away from him and calling up the arrows.
She hugged him tightly. "You may still win this one if it comes down to it," she said in a small voice, "but we have to at least try to find another solution.""No," he says as he hugs her back, "I'd rather save my win for the next round of experiments and the testing needed for them." She sighed. "Just promise me that you'll be careful....and make sure that there's somebody around to get help for you in case things go wrong."
"Like I said, choosing between both of our worst fears." She chewed on her lip as she tried to think of a solution. "Okay, let's think of it another way. What if we don't look for someone, but something. There's all kinds of magical contraptions in the storerooms. Maybe we should look there. Or better yet, we can use the arrows on the walls to take us to the right place. Or we can ask for help from someone who for sure couldn't have done it. There are people who have either been cleared or just wouldn't. I mean, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Professor Sunwake. Or Miss Jones. I mean she's scary enough, but not sloppy enough, you know?" She hugged him tightly. "You may still win this one if it comes down to it," she said in a small voice, "but we have to at least try to find another solution."
"And if we end up getting help from the very telepath we're trying to be safe from?" He asks quietly, looking into her eyes. "My worst fear right now is losing you because I'm not strong enough to help you be safe." "Like I said, choosing between both of our worst fears." She chewed on her lip as she tried to think of a solution. "Okay, let's think of it another way. What if we don't look for someone, but something. There's all kinds of magical contraptions in the storerooms. Maybe we should look there. Or better yet, we can use the arrows on the walls to take us to the right place. Or we can ask for help from someone who for sure couldn't have done it. There are people who have either been cleared or just wouldn't. I mean, I'm pretty sure it wasn't Professor Sunwake. Or Miss Jones. I mean she's scary enough, but not sloppy enough, you know?"
She went very still. "Michael...I....I'm not sure I can. I've changed a lot in the last few months.....there's no guarantee that would even work.....and......and I don't want you to forget me too," she added choking back a sob."Kitty, you're the most wonderful person I have ever met. I've never hated an idea more in my life, but it's to keep you safe, and I don't want you to die and come back afraid.. afraid of me ever again..." She reached up and gently brushed her hand against his cheek. "Michael....any plan that has us choosing between our worst fears.....There has to be a better way. With all the incredible things and people in this school there has to be someone somewhere here who knows how to keep a telepath out of people's heads," she said with something between frustration and desperation. "We just have to find that something."
"You better not. I love you too, and I don't want to live without you. And I'm still terrified of the person who hurt me. So you better have some way to keep them from taking over our brains if we're trying to catch them," she said, squeezing him tightly and trying desperately to wrestle her crippling fear under control."Well... I've got one idea, but you won't like it." He explains slowly. "You'll have to be a ninja again, so whoever did this will forget you..." She went very still. "Michael...I....I'm not sure I can. I've changed a lot in the last few months.....there's no guarantee that would even work.....and......and I don't want you to forget me too," she added choking back a sob.
"That's what I'm afraid of," she said in a small, terrified voice. "I've been trained to fight my whole life and this person made it so that I just stood there and let them....let them...." she sobbed. "I don't think I can bear it if something bad happens to you and I can't even do anything to help. If I'm just helpless like that again," she choked out through the tears that wouldn't stop."Kitty, I promise if I die you can kill me, okay?" He murmurs jokingly, trying to cheer her up. "I know I'm not a fighter, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve, and I love you. We will get through this, because I'm not going to ever, ever leave you in any way." "You better not. I love you too, and I don't want to live without you. And I'm still terrified of the person who hurt me. So you better have some way to keep them from taking over our brains if we're trying to catch them," she said, squeezing him tightly and trying desperately to wrestle her crippling fear under control.
"Ginni?" she asked, tears coming unbidden to her eyes as she remembered the girl who had helped her lay her animal friends to rest after....well, after. "I...I suppose we can postpone the visit until this weekend. I mean, we can't just let this keep happening," she said, her voice trembling. The truth was that she didn't think there was anything she could do even if they found the murderer. She had never in her life felt more helpless, not even when she was invisible. "That's what I'm afraid of," she said in a small, terrified voice. "I've been trained to fight my whole life and this person made it so that I just stood there and let them....let them...." she sobbed. "I don't think I can bear it if something bad happens to you and I can't even do anything to help. If I'm just helpless like that again," she choked out through the tears that wouldn't stop.
"Ginni?" she asked, tears coming unbidden to her eyes as she remembered the girl who had helped her lay her animal friends to rest after....well, after. "I...I suppose we can postpone the visit until this weekend. I mean, we can't just let this keep happening," she said, her voice trembling. The truth was that she didn't think there was anything she could do even if they found the murderer. She had never in her life felt more helpless, not even when she was invisible.
You mean that girl no one knew exists? Yeah sure Dacamara I'm sure she's "real" nice. I left you with to much blood last time. A mistake I don't intend to make twice! Hey! No exsanguinating my boyfriend! Once was more than enough! :(
Kitty was good at first, working hard at cleaning up, but it was a big mess, and she didn't think a little help would hurt...which somehow turned into a lot of help...but a very clean house for the Dacamaras.
Michael goes ghost white and then beet red, not even sure what to say to that. "Yeah, that was about my reaction too....given my no lying thing it was not exactly what I would call a fun conversation." She sighed. "Well, not much point in trying to keep secrets for me anyways. Let's just get through this cleanup and hope things get less awkward as we go."
"What happened?" Michael asks, looking worried. "I insisted on helping with the cleanup...it went downhill from there. I tried to circle around the subject, but your dad saw right through it. I got a mini lecture on how the lake was a much less private place for ...things....than your bedroom was."
Kitty scrambled off, relieved to be done with that horrifically awkward conversation. Here blush hadn't faded by the time she caught up to Michael. She hurried to help with the cleaning. "I told you they'd see right through me," she muttered.
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