Kitty

By The Cookie Cutter World

"Anissina?" Conrart called out as he carefully peered inside her laboratory. The room reeked of sulfur and chlorine combined and his initial reaction was to cringe because of the strange smell. He also fought the urge to gag as he repeated her name, "Anissina?"

He was surprised when he saw a redhead woman crawling from under the table. She had a pair of scissors on one hand and a test tube on the other. Conrart saw something white inside the test tube that looked similar to fur.

She got up and settled the scissors on her table. "Oh hello, Conrart! What's wrong?" she asked.

Conrart was still bothered by how she looked—disheveled hair, a little dust on her skirt, and some cobwebs caught on the right puffed sleeve of her red top. "Mother is wondering if you'd like to join us for dinner." He said.

"Tell Lady Celi I'll be there. I just have to finish with this experiment!" she said excitedly before walking over to a pink machine attached to an array of other test tubes with 4 Bunsen burners underneath it.

Conrart could not determine what that machine was but as much as he wanted to run away before she could even think of experimenting on him, his curiosity upon that new device was too strong to ignore. "May I ask what that new invention is?" he finally asked.

"It's called Turn-Into-A-Cuddly-Friend-kun! This is my latest invention that allows the user to turn any object into a stuffed animal toy of their choice! I'm going to test it for the first time now that I've retrieved the cat fur that I collected from a stray a couple of days ago. Would you like to help me?" she asked excitedly.

The name resonated in Conrart's head: Turn-Into-A-Cuddly-Friend-kun. "N…no. I'm sorry but I don't have Maryoku to spare." He said.

"Don't be silly. I'll just need you to watch and evaluate its performance. I already got enough Maryoku reserved in that sealed test tube. It's actually from your brother, Wolfram. I got it while he was taking a nap in the library today." She said.

Conrart could not imagine how Anissina was able to extract magic from Wolfram but he was thankful that he had none in him. He stepped inside the laboratory but made it a point to stay at least 10 feet away from the machine. He watched as Anissina demonstrated how the machine works: "You get a sample of the fur or skin cells of an animal that you like, put it in a test tube, settle it here in this chamber that resembles an oven, and then you…" she ran back to her table to grab a random piece of paper and rushed back immediately to the machine. "…you put any object of your choice into this slot!" she walked over to a lever and pulled it down. A pink electrical current surged through the entire machine, passing through the oven-like chamber and then straight to the slot where the paper was. The pink electrical current hit the paper but nothing happened… except that it was smoking.

Conrart blinked. "…It's still paper." He pointed out.

Anissina grunted. "Oh no, don't tell me it's another failure?" she said in frustration as she walked over to the slot where the paper was and carelessly reached out to it. "Do me a favor, Conrart. Don't tell anyone about this failure. If I find out that you told anybody, I'll make sure to get a sample of your hair follicles next time. Anyway, if something bad happens, all you need to do is to push the reverse button over…" she was about to point where the reverse button was but another pink electrical current surged from the oven-like chamber and went straight to the slot where her hand was blocking the paper. She let out a cry of surprise and it made Conrart panic because he thought she got electrocuted. However, before he could run to help her, the machine exploded.

The explosion made the entire Castle shake for a few moments, making everybody think that there was an earthquake.

Pink smoke was all over the laboratory and Conrart covered his mouth and nose with his two hands while trying to make his way through the thick cloud of smoke. "Anissina!" he called out while blindly searching for her. Figuring that the smoke should clear first, he ran to the area where he could remember seeing a window so he could open it.

He waited for a few moments before the smoke finally cleared but Anissina was nowhere to be found. The only thing he saw was the machine and a cat with red fur sitting on a pile of clothes that he recognized to be Anissina's. Conrart felt the blood draining from his face when he saw the red cat. "Oh no." he mumbled.

The cat seemed clueless at first but it began to look at itself and it suddenly looked happy. The cat looked up at the machine with a satisfied grin before it got interrupted by Conrart who picked it up. "Anissina?" he asked.

The red cat looked up at him and she appeared to be smiling happily.

Conrart did not know what to do. Anissina had turned into a red cat but she seems happy about it! "Oh no… Anissina, what happened?" he asked. "I'd better tell somebody about this…"

And she hissed at him. He looked at her strangely. "What? You don't want me to tell anybody about this? Well what are you going to do? You're going to stay as a cat forever?" he asked.

Her blue eyes looked at him warningly. Conrart recalled that she did not want him to tell anything to anyone about the machine.

"But what if they start looking for you?" he asked.

She just shook her head.

Confused, Conrart looked at the machine and examined it carefully. "You can teach me how to reverse the effects of this machine and I'll do my best to make it work for you…" he trailed off when the door burst open. It was his younger brother, Wolfram. "There you are, Conrart! Mother's looking for us. It's time for dinner already." He announced.

"Meow!" Anissina greeted him.

Wolfram found it strange that his brother Conrart was holding a cat in his arms… furthermore, the color of the cat's fur made him really curious. "A red cat?" he asked. "Where did that come from?" he approached them and inspected the red cat closely.

Conrart breathed in. "I… found her in the garden today and I figured I'd… take her to Anissina." He bluffed.

"Why is it red? Is that really a cat?" Wolfram asked.

"Meow!" Anissina replied brightly.

Wolfram frowned. "Well where's Anissina?" he asked.

"…I don't really know. I just arrived here." Conrart explained before deciding to leave the room with the cat. "It is a strange cat so I figured that she'd be curious that's why I came here. But since she isn't here yet, I think I'll take this cat to…" he trailed off. Come to think of it, what was he going to do with her? She specifically told him never to tell anyone, otherwise, she would experiment on him. It seemed like a shallow reason that a part of him was choosing to take for granted. However, he tried to be more reasonable: he is dealing with Anissina and when she means business, she does mean business. Besides, he was raised and taught not to break promises to women. He decided to just keep a close eye on her until he can figure out what to do.

Conrart and Wolfram walked along the hallway leading to the dining hall. "Has Yuuri come back yet?" the latter asked, changing the subject.

Conrart was just glad that his brother was not interested anymore with the cat. "I don't think so." He answered simply, trying to keep a straight face while preventing Anissina from jumping off from his arms. Unfortunately, she could not keep still. She felt very uncomfortable being held by Conrart like that. However, the more she squirmed, the more his grip tightened around her.

"I think she wants you to let her go." Wolfram pointed out while observing the behavior of the red cat.

"No, she's alright. Besides, I don't think it's a good idea to let her go. She might run around the Castle and if Gunter catches her, he might put her in a cage and use her liver as meat for some… potion or soup." Conrart stammered. Anissina looked up at him in mortification while thinking, "Gunter does that?"

Wolfram just made a face and looked at the cat. "By the way, did you feel that earthquake a while ago?" he asked his brother.

Conrart just nodded. "I was just on my way to Anissina's lab when I felt it." He said.

"I thought it came from there, though. And I expected to see Gwendal or Gunter inside, strapped in a chair and being experimented on. I thought that the earthquake was caused by an explosion, too!" Wolfram said while laughing, seemingly amused by the events.

Conrart just forced a smile while looking at Anissina who was looking at him. Her small cat lips appeared as if she was pouting and she looked rather frustrated at something.

They stopped in their tracks when they the voice of their elder brother approaching from another hallway. He was talking to Gisela about the scheduled medical check-up of his troops when as he came into view. Conrart and Wolfram stopped walking when Gisela saw them and waved.

Anissina pawed Conrart's arm as a sign for him to run off. It was obvious to him that she had no intention of being seen by Gwendal. At first he did not understand why she would not want to be seen by his older brother, but he soon realized for himself the reason when he saw Gwendal's left eye twitching while eyeing the cat in a stoic manner.

To make things worse, Wolfram decided to point out the striking features of the cat excitedly. "Gisela, Gwendal! Check out this cat! Isn't she strange? She's got red fur and really pretty blue eyes! Conrart found her in the garden today!"

Gisela looked closely at the cat. "She is pretty. How come she has red fur?" she asked.

"I don't know." Wolfram replied before looking up at Conrart. "Hey what if that's a forest monster pretending to be a cat and when nobody's looking, she's going to transform into a beast?" he pointed out.

Conrart had to restrain Anissina from jumping at Wolfram. "Um… I don't think she's a monster. She seems rather sweet to be a monster. Now if you'll excuse me…" he stepped aside and made a move to leave the three but Gwendal called his attention.

"Where are you going?"

Conrart took a deep breath and faced his brother. "I'm taking her to my room. She can stay there while we're having dinner." He said.

Gwendal walked over to him while keeping his gaze on the cat. "Can I keep her?" he asked gruffly.

The cat began to behave frantically, clinging onto Conrart's uniform for dear life with her claws even though Gwendal was already attempting to grab her. "Come here, kitty. I don't think Conrart can even take care of you that well."

Conrart did not hesitate anymore. He let Gwendal have Anissina. After all, what was he going to do with her? It would really seem very awkward to keep her with him as long as she remains in that form. He figured that it would be better off for her to be with Gwendal while he tried to figure out how to reverse the spell and study the machine while keeping everything a secret. "Yes, I think that would be a better alternative. After all, nobody knows that she has turned into a cat." He reflected in silence before smiling at Gwendal. "I'm sure she'd love to be with you." He said as he stepped aside and walked away. "Let's go, Wolfram and Gisela. It's time for dinner." He said casually.

Gisela blinked. "Am I supposed to join you?" she asked. Although she is one of the nobles, she has never really joined them for dinner, not even once.

Wolfram shrugged. "Never you mind. It's mother's little dinner party so I think you can join. Besides, Yuuri isn't around so there's a spare seat that you can occupy." He said before leading the way to the dining hall.

"Tell mother I'll follow. I'll just take this kitty to my room." Gwendal said before going to the other direction.

Anissina the cat braced herself. She thought she would lose her fur when she heard Gwendal say, "I think I'll call you Anissina although you look sweeter than her."

Gwendal reached his room and opened the door. Anissina thought he would just put her down and then leave, but no. He decided to walk over to his bed and actually placed her on top of his pillow. "Now be a good kitty and stay there, Anissina. I'll bring you dinner later." He said in a manner that made her wonder whether he was being possessed by an angel. Though he spoke in a low voice, there was some sort of gentleness in it. The experience of hearing him talking to her that way was very new because she knew he would not do that to the actual Anissina… but then again, he does not know that the red cat is the actual Anissina.

After petting her head gently, he walked away to the door and took one last look at her before leaving the room.

The first thing she did was attempt to look for any possible exit where she can escape and head back to her laboratory to figure out how she could transform back to her original self. However, all possible exits like doors and windows were securely shut. Frustrated, she decided to just explore the room.

Anissina was thankful, though, that he left the lights switched on so she won't be so bored. She went over to his bookshelf to search for an interesting book to read while waiting for him to get back. To her surprise, she found a couple of books she had written at the topmost shelf that was almost hard to reach by anybody who wasn't as tall as Gwendal. "Gee, I never knew he'd be interested in my stories!" she thought in amusement. She was able to climb up on the top shelf to look at the other books there while amused at the fact that she could finally reach the highest parts of a shelf in that cat form. She simply cannot do that with her actual body because normally, she would use a stepping stool, a ladder, or ask a taller person to get the books at the topmost shelves for her.

She scanned through the books and once she found an intriguing title that read "Atomic Combustion Explained", she struggled to pull it out with her front paws and even with her jaw but could not do so because it was too heavy and stuck between 2 other heavy books. In frustration, she just jumped down and went over to his study desk. There were books there, too, but the titles bored her: "Calligraphy For Dummies", "Advanced Knitting", "Battlefield Tactics", "Wedding Ideas", and "The Frontlines".

…Wedding Ideas?

The title made her take a second look and she instantly flipped the book open with her right paw and scanned the preface. "Why would Gwendal be reading about Wedding Ideas?" she wondered, suddenly feeling a wave of excitement taking over her. She began to come up with witty yet teasing remarks for him already and wished she could be in her real form again so she can start taunting him in the dining hall in front of his family.

She set the book aside and turned to the book called "Battlefield Tactics". She figured that she could at least stomach reading about war and battle strategies while waiting for him to return. She thought his room was boring because there was nothing about science, health, or anything else that could interest her.

An hour and 30 minutes later, Anissina was interrupted when she heard the door slowly creaking open. She looked up from the book and saw Conrart sneaking into the room. She decided to call his attention by meowing.

Conrart Weller turned his gaze to the direction where he heard the meow. "There you are. I'm sorry for the trouble. Was Gwendal nice to you?" he asked as he went over to her and picked her up. He saw that she looked really annoyed but something on the table caught his attention. "Wedding Ideas?" he asked out loud before putting her down on the table to scan the contents of the said book. "Did you pick this out from the bookshelf?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Figures. I doubt you'd be able to drag this heavy book from the bookshelf to here in that form. Anyway," he settled the book on the table again before petting her head. He could not help but do so because he already had the instinct to pet little domesticated animals. She did not seem pleased, though, so she moved away from his hand. "Sorry," he apologized as he withdrew his hand and smiled reassuringly at her. "I think it's best that you stay with Gwendal for a while. I'm sure he'll take care of you very well. In the meantime, I'll try to figure out how to work your machine. It might take some time because I have to admit, I'm not very good with machines and gadgets. But I promise that I'll do my best." He told her.

Her lips curved into a pout as her right eye twitched. Although a cat, she was still very expressive and can still portray facial expressions very well.

Conrart sighed. "Are you sure you don't want me to tell anyone? I think you'll be able to go back to your real form immediately once we ask for others to help us." He said.

She shook her head. Conrart respects that she has pride and that she does not want anybody to find out about her little failure-slash-freak accident. "Alright, but until then, you're staying with Gwendal." He told her.

"Who are you talking to, Conrart?" Gwendal's loud booming voice was heard from the doorway of his bedroom, making Conrart jump in surprise as he turned to face his older brother. "H…hello, brother. I was just talking to your cat because I heard her making noise as I was passing outside."

Gwendal approached them and Conrart saw the way Anissina reacted. She took a few steps backward in an effort to avoid Gwendal's hands that seemed larger already because of her current size. Still, he easily caught her and cradled her in his arms. "Good kitty." He looked at Conrart and his lips were curved into a discreet smile. It was very unusual for Conrart to see his older brother smiling at him like that so he felt a little uncomfortable though he still managed to plaster a sincere smile on his face. "She's one-of-a-kind. Where did you find her again?" Gwendal asked.

Conrart searched his memory. He knew he had to be consistent with his words if he wanted to sound convincing. Unfortunately, he could not remember.

"Garden! Garden!!" Anissina's mind was screaming.

"…The courtyard." Conrart answered.

Anissina cringed. "Wrong answer!!" Although she was relieved that Gwendal did not show any reaction that would reveal suspicion in his part.

Gwendal lifted the cat up in the air, examining her fur and the features of her body. "I still can't believe that genetics will allow a red cat to be created. It's not just orange or red-orange, but it's really red! I just hope that once Anissina comes back, she won't experiment on her." He said.

Anissina wondered what kind of excuse Conrart made up regarding her whereabouts. She was supposed to join the dinner party so it was very likely that her absence had been questioned by anyone concerned.

Conrart shifted his gaze to the Wedding Ideas book. "Don't mind me asking, Gwendal, but…" he began.

Gwendal looked casually at the book. "Oh that. I'm just tired of people coming up to me for advice about weddings and love. Usually I would not know how to answer their questions and how I can address their concerns so I decided to read about them." He explained.

"That explains things." Anissina thought, recalling that Yuuri had implemented an open-door policy in the kingdom that allows the common-folk to approach the Castle to seek advice from the Maou on particular affairs and other concerns in their lives. However, since the Maou is away, Gwendal was the one taking care of his business.

Conrart just smirked. "So that's why it's there. I thought you were planning to propose to someone." He said.

Gwendal seemed struck by the statement. Anissina felt his grip tighten around her body. "How can you possibly think that, Conrart?" he asked gruffly.

Conrart shrugged. "It's very unusual to find such books in your study so I imagined that…"

"You've had too much wine to drink with your steak. I suggest you go back to your chambers and rest now." Gwendal said, cutting him off before heading to the bed.

Conrart watched as Gwendal settled Anissina down on the bed beside a large knitted teddy bear that actually looks like a teddy bear. "Very well, good night, brother." He said before heading off to the door to exit. "By the way, what did you name your new cat?" he asked.

Gwendal had his back turned to Conrart but since he was facing Anissina, she clearly saw the uncomfortable expression on his face and in his eyes. "I haven't thought about it yet." He fibbed.

Conrart looked at the cat and smiled. "May I suggest calling her Anissina?" he asked.

Gwendal took a deep breath and petted her head. "Anissina is good. Besides, she looks like this kitty… except that this one is sweeter."

"Sweeter?" Conrart repeated.

Anissina hissed to serve as a warning to Conrart. He just smiled and waved goodbye at her before finally stepping out of the room.

As soon as Gwendal heard the door close, he let out an exasperated sigh. "That Conrart." He mumbled as he knelt down by the bed and examined the look on the cat's face. He smiled.

Anissina shuddered when she saw him smiling at her like that. The last time he did that to her was somewhere in their childhood.

His hand reached out to her face and ticked her chin with his thumb. She felt ridiculous, wondering how she could respond to that. She herself was not ticklish but to avoid arousing suspicion in him, she decided to purr.

Gwendal's smile widened and he picked her up to cuddle her. "Aw, Anissina," he said in a dreamy manner that made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. Is Gwendal really capable of behaving like that when nobody else is around? She began to think that maybe he was the one who had too much wine and not Conrart.

"Mew!" it sounded like a squeak more than a meow and Gwendal looked at her, realizing that he had been holding her too tight. "Sorry." He said as he settled her on the bed again. He petted her head twice before walking over to his study desk so he can start reading again.

Anissina was beginning to get bored but she could not do anything about it. Instead, she just sat there and watched him, observing the sudden seriousness of his face. She would not want to approach him and beg for a reading material because it would be very unusual for a cat to want to read so she just watched him until she slowly felt a wave of sleepiness taking over her. However, just when she was about to fall asleep, she heard Gwendal grunting. She was awake again as he watched him stretch, take a deep breath, and then sigh.

She was not sure what time it was already but judging from the silence of the surroundings and the absence of light that would normally seep through the space between the door and the floor, she knew that it was already near midnight.

She thought he would plan to sleep already but he just remained seated on his chair and continued to read. Again, she remained on the bed and watched quietly until she finally fell asleep.

When she woke up the next day, she found herself in Gwendal's arms on the bed. It was a very awkward feeling and the more she felt awkward when Conrart entered to check on her.

She struggled to break free from Gwendal's grasp but she could not. His grip around her was too tight and her tail was stuck in his armpit.

Conrart approached her and showed her a thick book of spells. "It says here that you can turn back with the help of a little maryoku from somebody like Gunter or Gisela." He whispered.

She shook her head. There is no way she would like Gisela or Gunter to find out about her little booboo.

Conrart hid the book behind him just in time when Gwendal moved and opened his eyes. Seeing his younger brother first thing in the morning was not really his cup of tea so he frowned. "What are you doing here, Conrart?"

"I was just… checking if you're already awake, Gwendal. Anyway, I'll see if breakfast is already served." Conrart responded before deciding to leave.

Gwendal turned to the cat and smiled. "Hello, Anissina." He said as he grabbed her and brought her face close to his lips. He gave her a quick peck on the head and she thought she would explode in embarrassment but she could not do anything about it. She just wondered how long Conrart could figure out how to work her machine and if he could ever take her away from Gwendal's watchful eye. She knew Gwendal would be very over-protective of her that's why Conrart could not even make a move to take her away and bring her back to her laboratory so she can teach him how to work the Turn-Into-A-Cuddly-Friend-kun.

She also wondered how long before anyone would start suspecting that she was "missing".