I glanced at the digital clock next to the sofa. It was only 11:00; Ichigo wasn’t due for another hour. I had plenty of time to make a quick lunch. “Hungry, kitty?” I asked the round little ball of fur curled up next to me. He immediately unraveled himself and jumped up, heading towards the kitchen.
“Smart cat,” I commented, following along behind him. I grabbed the can of cat food I had picked up the night before from the convenience store on my way home. I opened it and dumped its contents onto a plate, trying not to gag at the smell. I couldn’t believe cats enjoyed this stuff. I set the unappetizing meal down on the floor, along with a bowl of water. “Here you go, kitty,” I said, scratching him behind the ears. The cat looked at me like I was crazy.
“Yeah, yeah,” I chuckled, turning back to the microwave, waiting for my meal to finish heating. I was used to being the crazy one. Not that I minded. It was more fun being crazy. You could get away with a lot more.
I pulled last night’s leftovers out of the microwave. “Mmm, lasagna,” I said to no one in particular, setting the steaming plate on the table before turning to the fridge to unearth a carton of milk. I turned back to the table, drink in hand, ready to enjoy my lunch. But the plate was spotless.
“Hmm.” I picked up the plate. “I thought I had already heated up some lasagna. Didn’t I, kitty?” the cat purred in what I could only imagine to be the way an amused cat purred. I scooped out some lasagna and heated it up again, leaving it on the table. After I had put away the leftovers, I grabbed a fork and…
There was nothing on the plate.
“Oh, something’s up. I know I put lasagna on that plate.”
“Of course you did,” a commanding male voice stated matter-of-factly from behind me. “It was very good.”
I screamed, spinning around towards the voice, my breath ragged. There was no one there except the cat, who was staring at me with a very serious expression on his face. “Who’s there?” I yelled in an abnormally high and shaky voice. There was nothing more frightening to me than the idea of being attacked by something…or someone…I couldn’t see.
“No one’s here but us,” the cat said steadily, still looking at me with his sharp golden eyes.
What…the…FUCK?! Did that cat just talk to me?!
“Did…you…but…cats…” I blabbered incoherently.
“Stop that,” my cat snapped. I fell silent immediately. I was too shocked to do anything but obey.
This is all waaay to weird.
“Anyway,” the cat continued, as if everything that was going on was completely normal, “Ichigo and Rukia will be here soon. I had better get going.” The cat narrowed his eyes and began to glow. I blinked.
There was no longer a cat in my kitchen. In his place stood a tall, dark-skinned, naked woman. The woman flipped her glossy purple hair over her shoulder and began pulling various articles of clothing out from behind my refrigerator.
“What the HELL?!” I half screamed, half laughed. I was shaking. There was no way that this kind of shock overload was healthy.
The woman looked up at me as she pulled on a pair of skintight black leggings, raising an eyebrow skeptically. “What?” she asked. “You don’t believe that I can change from a cat into a full-grown woman?”
She stared at me with intense golden eyes. The same intense, focused, golden eyes that my cat had. And in that moment, I realized with surprise that I believed her. The evidence was right there in front of me. This was the truth. There was nothing left to do but believe. “Wh…what’s your name?” I asked shakily, sitting down at the kitchen table as the truth began to fully sink in.
“Yoruichi Shihouin,” she answered as she finished getting dressed. She pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail, leaving only a few of the shorter pieces on the side free. She looked at the clock. “I’ve gotta get going. Ichigo and Rukia will be here soon, and I don’t want to listen to them try and persuade me to go back to Kisuke’s shop, because I won’t.”
“Uh-huh,” I muttered. Even though I knew she was telling me the truth, I had given up all hope of understanding what was going on.
“Listen, Masako,” Yoruichi said. I turned my eyes up toward her. “Thanks for everything. Really. If you ever need some help, talk to Ichigo and Rukia. They’re good kids. Tell Rukia to send for me. I owe you one.” With a wink and a final baffling smile, Yoruichi leaped through my window and vanished. I sighed hopelessly. She was gone. I dropped onto the table, resting my head on my arms. Everything seemed like a dream.
A few minutes later, as I was desperately trying to regain a hold on my frazzled nerves, the doorbell rang. “Come in,” I called shakily. I didn’t have the ability to stand quite yet.
Ichigo and Rukia stepped into the kitchen. Rukia’s eyes widened as she saw me slumped against the table. Ichigo‘s face hardened as he surveyed the room, and he stepped a little closer to Rukia, nudging her. Her eyes flicked up to him, and back to me. “What happened?” she asked me in what was supposed to be a shocked voice. Somehow, I didn’t really think she was shocked; neither of them were. They both knew exactly what had happened, and they were going to give me an explanation.
I looked up tiredly from between my arms, not moving my head from the table. “The cat turned into a woman, a NAKED woman, said something about not wanting to see a dude named Kisuke, told me to tell you to get in touch with her if I ever needed help, smiled like everything that was happening was perfectly normal, and jumped out my friggin window. Do you guys have anything to say?”
Ichigo laughed.