Chapter 10: Happy Halloween?
About a month had passed since I first arrived at TIME Academy, and I had made a lot of friends, but Hei and Hiro were my closest friends. Hei stuttered around us less when he talked, but he was working on it, and Hiro and I didn’t rush him. Tomorrow was Halloween, and I planned on just wearing a little dress and doing something special with my makeup. Doc had announced there would be no trick or treating, but that we could dress up if we wanted to. It was Saturday, and when I asked Hei to go dinner with Hiro and I, he said he had to go see Doc about something, So Hiro and I went alone. “Do you know where Hei was last night?” Hiro asked me. I shook my head.
“Maybe he was with Doc?” I suggested. Hiro shrugged.
“Is it just me, or has Hei been, I don’t know, jumpy lately? He hasn’t ate much.”
“Well…” I hesitated. “Yeah, I guess so. I hope it isn’t because he has been getting grief from the other students.” I said. Hiro nodded. Suddenly, we heard Doc over the loudspeaker.
“Will Miss. Katara Mai and Mr. Hiroshi Yogi please come to my office, thank you.”
“Well, I guess we should go…” Hiro sighed as we stood up. We went straight to Doc’s office, and knocked.
“Come in!” We heard Doc’s voice. Hiro and I walked in, and saw Doc sitting on his couch with Hei, who didn’t look too happy. Doc looked at us and patted down some of his grey hair. “Please have a seat! I just wanted to ask you two some questions about how school has been going and get your thoughts on how it could improve!”
“Oh, alright…” Hiro and I sat down opposite of Doc and Hei.
“So, how have you been liking your classes? Any thoughts on the teachers?” Doc leaned back, rubbing his hands together slowly. “Hei, could you grab the bowl of candy on my desk?” Hei stood up and did as he was told and gave it to Doc.
“Um, well, things have been going good for me. Teachers have been helpful and supportive.” I said. Hiro nodded.
“That’s good…” Doc put the bowl of candy on the coffee table that was between us. I hadn’t had candy in over a month, and after seeing the chocolates, my mouth began watering. “Feel free to have one! It is Halloween after all, and there isn’t anyplace here to trick or treat. So I went out and bought a little something for my sweet tooth! And Hei’s too.” I saw Doc smile at Hei and he nodded.
“Yeah.” Hei said quietly. I grabbed a piece of the candy and pulled the wrapper off. Hiro had already downed two little pieces. I popped it in my mouth and savored the melty chocolate and caramel.
“H-Hei?” I asked.
“Yes?” He looked at me, looking kind of sad.
“You, look…” I glanced at Doc, wondering if I should say anything. But, I was concerned, and decided to ask anyway. “You look sad, did anyone bully you today?”
“N-No…” He answered. I nodded. Doc looked at Hei, and then stood up.
“We can continue this meeting some other day. I can tell this isn’t the ideal time. You’re all free to go.” Doc went over the door and opened it up. Hei practically flew out of the room, and Hiro and I just looked at each other, confused. “Have a good night!” Doc smiled at us as we left.
“Well, I’m tired, so I’m going to go to bed. Will you make sure Hei is alright?” I asked Hiro.
“I will!” He smiled.
“Thank you, good night Hiro.”
“See ya!” He bounded off towards the stairs and I slowly made my way to my room, and fell asleep quickly.
~*~
The next day I woke up, a big smile on my face. I loved Halloween. I loved dressing up and being able to be anything I wanted to be for a little while. I put on a short, pink dress with black tulle that flared out at the bottom, and put my makeup on a bit darker than usual. If someone was to ask what I was, I was just going to say I wanted to dress up a little. I headed down to maybe go to breakfast, and ran into Hei. And he looked, different. He had cat ears, and a tail too! ‘What cute accessories! And they look so real!’ I grinned.
“Hei!” I laughed. He noticed me and blinked. I bounced over to him.
“K-Katara…” He said. I reached up and pushed his ears down. They were soft, and a light blue color. His tail matched and I saw it twitch as I touched his ears. ‘Very realistic!’ I let his ears go, and they flicked back up. I clapped and giggled.
“Hei! You look fantastic! So adorable!” I complimented him. “It looks so real! Where did you find something like that?!” I asked as I saw his tail moving again.
“Um…well…” He looked down, and his ears went down.
“AWWWWW!” I squealed. “That’s so cute!” I grinned.
“N-No it isn’t…” Hei said.
“Oh stop being a grumpy kitty!” I crossed my arms.
“No you don’t u-understand. I’m like this b-because of…” He stopped and shook his head. I felt something funny start to happen to me. I put my hand on my head, and felt something in my hair. My eyes widened.
“AHH! A BUG A BUG SOMETHING IS IN MY HAIR GET IT OUT HEI PLEASE!” I panicked. Then I felt something touching the back of my thigh. I forgot about the bug and turned around. “Who’s the pervert that just touched me?!” I asked angrily, but was surprised that I didn’t see anyone. I did, however, see my reflection in the one display case that was next to me. My mouth dropped when I saw that I now had cat ears, and a nice, long cat tail.
