Cat Returns - Unfinished Stories

More than Meets the Eye pt 2

Chapter 2:

"It's my own personal blend of tea," Humbert told the little cat as she licked politely at the tea he'd placed in a saucer for her. "It's a little different each time, so I can't guarantee the taste."

Toto and Muta had long gone off to bed, leaving Humbert and the cat alone in the study. Once her fur was dry, it was revealed that she was brown from head to toe – somewhere between peachy-coloured and tan. Her eyes were just as large as they were when she had been wet, but now that she was still, he could see that they weren't normal cats eyes – for all intents and purposes they could be passed off as the eyes of a human, if they weren't on the face of a cat.

"You're a strange little one, aren't you?" Humbert murmured, catching the attention of the cat, who mewed at him inquisitively.

"I've never seen a cat like you before," he explained. "Are you sure you're not from the Cat Kingdom?"

The cat nodded rather firmly, and – having finished her tea – sidled up to him and rubbed against his legs, purring happily. Humbert smiled, and reached down to rub her back with one gloved hand.

"I don't suppose you have a name?"

The cat's head shot up in response to his question, and she quickly ran across the room and leapt onto the bookcase in the corner. She looked over the titles hurriedly, before carefully pulling one out with her paws. Humbert crossed the room to help her, reading the title of the book as soon as it was free from the shelf.

"The Norishi Empire," he read aloud, crossing the room again to sit back down in his armchair. The cat hopped up into his lap, and pushed the book down with a single paw until it was at her level. Humbert opened it up to the contents, and she skimmed the chapters before pressing her paw over the last one with a decisive meow.

Humbert glanced at the chapter title and dutifully turned the pages to the correct chapter. 'Names of the Royal Samurais'. The cat traced down the lineages with her paws before stopping at the end of one of the largest family trees. Humbert gently removed her paws so he could read the name she'd stopped on.

"Haru," he said aloud, trying out the name aloud as he looked down at the strange little cat. "It suits you, little one. A unique name for a unique person."

Was it his imagination, or was the cat – Haru, he reminded himself – blushing? Yes, there was a definite red tinge showing through her fur. He chuckled and removed his gloves, Haru watching him curiously as he did so. She mewed in distress when his hands were revealed.

Humbert smiled sadly, and looked down at what he knew had shocked her.

His hands had long, deep, ugly scars tracing across every inch of exposed skin. The scars continued up his wrists, but less of them. Most of the scarring was focussed on his hands, and the rest of it thinned out as it continued up his arms.

Not that Haru could see any of that. All she could see was the scars on his hands. Humbert held one out cautiously in her direction, and she hesitated for a moment before nudging her head very carefully against his palm. She meowed slowly at him and patted his hand with one paw, trying to make him understand her. Humbert raised an eyebrow at Haru, noting how she seemed distressed.

"I don't think I'm ready to tell you what happened just yet, Haru," he informed her.

A strange sort of smile found it's way into Haru's face when she heard him use her name, but she shook her head firmly and continued meowing at him. It was only when she extended one of her claws that he understood what she was trying to say.

"You want to know if it hurts?" Humbert asked, causing her to nod and mew in exasperation. "No, it doesn't. I lost the feeling in my hands long ago."

Nevertheless, he smiled as he carefully rubbed between Haru's ears, earning a warm purr. "I bet your fur would be soft," he said quietly, although apparently it wasn't quiet enough to escape the notice of the little brown cat.

Haru nudged her head against his sleeves, and started to pull at them with her tiny teeth. Catching on to what she was doing, Humbert took over the task and rolled his shirtsleeves back to his elbows, burying the sharp twinge of shame and revulsion that he always felt when looking at his scars. Haru put on paw on where the scars thinned out, a sad look on her face, before she rubbed her cheek against his arm.

A laugh bubbled out of Humbert, as he actually felt her fur against his arm. He had been right. It was soft, and silky, and as he brought his free hand up to stroke Haru's back, another purr vibrated through her frame. She nuzzled against his arms, and Humbert buried a hiss of pain as she brushed against a few of his deeper scars, but this was the first time in a long time he had been able to properly feel anything that wasn't dulled by cloth. He was most definitely going to enjoy it.

For the second time that day, a loud pounding on the door interrupted the moment, and Humbert sighed while rolling his sleeves back down. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Humbert," Toto called. "You're required in the front hall immediately."

"Why?" Humbert asked while pulling on his gloves.

"Because your mother is here."

xxoOoxx

Humbert stood in the front hall with his hands clasped behind his back, and he watched his mother come towards him, inspecting first the room, and then himself. Once she finished her inspection, she nodded cordially at him. "Humbert." Her tone was flat, with barely and recognition and zero affection.

"Mother," Humbert replied in the manner that was expected him. He offered her his arm, and led her at an unhurried pace to his study. He may have even stalled a little. He was already growing very attached to the little peach-brown cat that was waiting in his study, but he still dreaded the moment his mother would find Haru there. His mother hated cats with a passion.

When they arrived at the study, Humbert reluctantly unlocked the door and held it open for his mother to enter first. She swanned into the room, and he could almost see her approval that the vase she had bought was still there and intact. She moved to the couch and sat, gesturing for Humbert to take a seat.

As soon as Humbert sat down in his favourite armchair, Haru emerged from wherever she had been hiding and leapt up into his lap. He rubbed her ears softly, refusing to look at his mother for fear of her disapproval. Haru seemed to be able to sense his discomfort, since she purred reassuringly and rubbed her head against his arm. The cotton dulled the touch this time, but the contact was still soothing.

"Humbert," his mother asked in a harsh tone. "Why is this ... vermin in you household?"

Humbert fought to keep his tone steady as he told her, "Mother, this is Haru. She's ..." he hesitated for a moment, looking down at Haru as she gazed up at his with her large maple eyes. "Well, she's staying here with me."

"Is she your cat?" His mother sounded far less than pleased at the idea.

"Mother, Haru is her own...

A.N. That's the end. Honestly idk where I was even going with this fic. I think Haru was transformed into a cat by the Cat King and cursed so that if she didn't find someone to love her unconditionally and purely then she'd return to the Cat Kingdom and marry Prince Lune. A few days after meeting Baron she transforms into a half-human, tells Baron her story, and then Baron, Haru, Toto and Muta get abducted by the Cat King. The King tries to force Haru to marry Lune before the curse is broken, and then Lune shows up with Yuki, frees everyone else, and sends them back to the human world where Baron and Haru end up together. They're both still half-cats, and when they eventually get married and have kids, and their children are triplets – Jonathan, Amy and Lotus – tiny little half-kittens who love causing chaos.

Again, if anyone wants to finish any of these unfinished stories then please PM me.