My Life as a Teenage Neko

Chapter 1: Tiger

          I ran down the road trying desperately to remain as dry as possible. My day had been horrible enough so far. First I had over slept and had to run out the house without breakfast, only to take two steps and realize I didn’t have on my shoes. Then, I completely flunked the math test I had had second period. To make things even worse, this guy, who is the guy of my dreams, saw me at lunch trying to pick something from my teeth.  Now, to top it off on the way home from my school, it had started to rain, opposed to the clear and sunny skies promised by channel 5’s meteorologist. Seriously, can’t a girl catch a break every once and a while.

            I turned onto my street and was only a few feet from my house when I heard a sound. I glanced around to find its source and suddenly my eyes feel upon a cat. He was standing in front of a fence and completely in the rain. The cat had fur that was the same pattern as that of a tiger. However, regardless of its color, the fur was completely matted down by the down poor. When I stopped, the creature turned to me and I became completely lost in its yellow eyes. They looked so intelligent, as if they were reading the very depths of my soul.

            I walked over to it and bent down in front of it, forgetting about the rain. I stared at him in the eyes and instantly fell in love. It is a well known fact that I absolutely love cats. I reached out my hand for him to smell, holding my breath. He leaned forward and inhaled my scent and, after a moment, licked my hand with his tongue.

            With his approval, I reached behind his ears and scratched softly. “Hey there, little fellow. How are you? Aw, do you want to come home with me?” At my question, he rubbed his head against my arm and that was all the encouragement I needed. I scooped him up in my arms and ran the last few yards to my house.

            By the time I got home, both the cat and I were drenched. I walked into my house, took of my shoes and ran up to my room. It was the room of a typical teenage girl. The walls were painted in my favorite color, purple, and the carpet was a complimenting white. My bed was a matching purple and could fit two people. The other furniture consisted of a dresser, which also doubled as my makeup station, and a desk, where I kept my laptop. The desk also had a built in book case, where I kept my favorite books. Besides cats, my favorite things are books. The walls were bare, except for a light switch next to my door, a poster of my favorite band, Florence+the Machine. I ran into my room, turned on the lights and ran into my bathroom.

            I had a full bathroom, complete with blue walls and white tile floors. The toilet, sink and shower were also white, except for the crone nozzles, towel rack and faucets. I placed my new friend on the toilet and reached over to pull a towel from under the sink. With it, I began to wipe myself dry and then my schoolbag before my papers got completely soaked. When that was all finished, I turned my attention back to the cat. With my towel, I gently began to dry his fur. What really surprised me was the fact that he stood still through the whole thing. Most cats, at least as far as I knew, didn’t like so much attention. Shrugging it off, I finished my task and then began to strip off my school uniform. When I was naked and dry, I gathered up my possessions and reentered my room. I put the dirty clothes in my hamper and walked over to the dresser, where I put on some underwear, sweats and a t-shirt with a picture of Domo on the front.  When I turned to my bed, I noticed the cat was sitting on it and starring at me with its intelligent eyes.

            . “We have to get you something to eat. You’re probably starving,” I said. “You wait here. I’ll go to the kitchen and see what we have.” I walked from my room and down the stairs. I walked happily, that is until I reached the first floor and tuned to head towards the kitchen. Forgetting that I had walked up the stairs dripping wet, I slipped in a puddle and fell on my butt onto the hardwood floor. I gritted my teeth, rubbing my butt in pain and cursing my forgetful memory. “I’ll have to clean this up before mom gets hom…” Crap, I had forgotten about my mother. Despite my love of cats, I had never been able to get one because my mom was allergic to them. Every time I had petted a cat and came home, my mother would always break out in a sneezing frenzy. I guess seeing that poor cat made me forget about that minor hindrance. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. I got up and rubbed the tears that had built up in my eyes from the pain. Then to avoid another incident, went into the kitchen, grabbed the paper towels and wiped the floor. With that done, I went into the kitchen and dug around to find something a cat would eat. Finding nothing in the cabinets, I turned my energies to looking in the refrigerator. To my relief, a can of tuna was present. I opened the can and placed in contents on a plate. I then returned to the refrigerator and took out the carton of milk, never my drink of choice, and poured some in a bowl for the cat.

            I took my findings and returned to my room and, to my surprise, the cat hadn’t moved from its spot, just as I had told it too. I again shook the surprise off and began placed the dishes on the floor. The cat, seeing my bounty jumped from the bed and walked over to its meal. I joined the cat of the floor and rubbed his back while he ate.  “We need to find you a name,” I told my new feline friend. Running through several options, I settled on the obvious. “Tiger. That will be your name. Tiger.” When I said it, I could have sworn the cat’s eyes turned on me and were studying me once again.

            Suddenly, there came a knock at my door. “Honey, are you there?” asked the voice of my mother through the door. Crap, I would have to think quickly.

            “Yeah, mom. I’m not feeling well and am just resting.” The lie came easily to me. Though I hated lying to my mom, I had to prevent her from coming in and seeing the cat.

            “Are you alright? Do you need anything?” asked my mom, sounding worried.

            “No. I’m just going to get some sleep. I’m sure I’ll be fine in the morning,”

            “Okay. Let me know if you need anything.” I heard her footsteps walking and from my door and I breathed a sigh of relief. That night, I slept with Tiger in my bed.

            When. I awoke the next morning, I felt refreshed. I turned to look at my friend, who was still turned up next to me on the bed. I smiled and petted him softly, as not to disturb him/ I stood up and stretched. I had had some strange dreams during the night, though I could recall them. I ran my tongue over my lips to moisten them, but for some reason it felt like sandpaper. Assuming it was just dry, I walked into my bathroom to freshen up. It was a Saturday, so I was in no rush to get ready. Half-asleep, I turned on the faucet and splashed water in my face. Then dried it with I towel I had gotten. I looked in the mirror and what I saw almost gave me a heart attack. On top of my head there was an extra of ears, not human, but that of a cats. They were covered on the outside by the same blond hair that covered my head. The interior of my new ears was white hair, or fur. I had no idea what the hell it was, but it wasn’t natural. “This has to be a dream,” I told myself in disbelief, reaching up to touch them.

            “This is no dream, my dear Sara. No, you are now a neko.” The voice I heard was unfamiliar to me. I turned to look and there before me stood Tiger. He was the only one around. It had to have been him who had talked.  

            “Who are you?” I asked my voice shaky. “What are you?”

            “As to whom I am; my name is Kyubei. As to what I am. Well you had better follow me. We have things to discuss.”