I Unintentionally Became Her Kitten

Chapter 79: A Final Day

We went out for brunch the next morning, Alisha being groggy and I not feeling like getting out of the room too quickly either. The constant noise and herds of people was starting to grate against my sense of peace. I knew there were some difficult things waiting for us when we got back, but I started to look forward to it. Alisha’s house in the woods was quiet and very peaceful. From what I understood, it remained unknown to other people as well so we could go back to living there.

Alisha got a mimosa with her brunch. I steered clear of alcohol but still thoroughly enjoyed some good coffee and something called ‘stuffed french toast’ which was like a french toast sandwich with a cheesecake filling. Absolutely a step on the way to getting more body fat, and perhaps some metabolic disease. It was delicious and sweet, creamy, tangy and covered in syrupy goodness. The tablespoon of salted butter melting on top was also much appreciated.

Alisha went an almost opposite route and got a fruit parfait with yogurt and granola.

The food was delicious and after some good coffee I felt more ready to handle the throngs of people. We set out to do some more shopping, for shoes and makeup. I was learning that a lot of rich people chose shops here by word of mouth. Alisha had a decent familiarity with these super high end stores, some of which were not apparent from anywhere on the street. It wasn't until she led me into the lobby of them inside inconspicuous skyscrapers and other buildings, that I could tell there was a store there at all.

For the most part, we didn’t buy much. She got me a new pair of flats, which matched the dress we got yesterday, and she bought a new pair of stiletto heels, which looked more or less like torture devices for her feet, in a very pretty way. I was grateful she didn’t feel the need to put me in heels. I had tried several pairs when in an adventurous mood in MaxMart or the thrift stores. It became apparent my feet were not feminine enough for them. My feet were big to begin with, and on top of that my toes were wide and boxy. Almost all high heels were either pointed or rounded and my toes simply did not bend enough to squish in them.

Flats, at least, had more options in the wide variety. Probably because people wore them to be comfortable.

We also browsed in some specialty leather goods store which had these incredibly soft leather purses on display. Alisha bought one and then plopped it into my hands with barely a word. It was a very neat and pretty purse, black leather with gold metal parts. From the sheen, it looked like it was real gold too. Or at least gold plated. 

“Why…?” I asked her as we left.

“The cat one is cute but it is small. You needed another,” she explained.

“... Did it have to be a designer luxury one though?” I asked. I felt a little bad. That was probably why she hadn't even asked me because I would’ve refused.

“You deserve nice things, too,” Alisha told me. “And it makes people a little less ready to treat you poorly.”

I carried the paper bag the purse was in, which felt silly. But it was an expensive item and I would treat it as such. We moved on from purses to more shoes, then more dresses, I was tiring, starting to feel the ache in my feet. Alisha noticed and said, “want to stop for something to drink?”

I nodded, agreeing. I was thirsty and probably dehydrated. The weather was starting to cool off but it was still hot out and while walking wasn't particularly arduous, I was still sweating a little.

She looked around.

“This would be easier if we had any kind of internet access,” she commented but it didn't take us long to find a Munchin' Donuts. 

I steered away from more sweets and caffeine and got their slushy type drink in strawberry flavor. It wasn't overly sweet or flavorful but it was nice after the heat of the city.

Alisha got an iced tea and we sat at their counter for a few minutes, facing the windows to watch the people scurrying along.

Her burner phone rang and this time there was no hesitation for her to pull it from her purse and answer.

I could faintly hear Tye’s voice, though I couldn't make out the words. He continued for a long time and once again Alisha simply listened before saying, “I understand. Thank you.” 

She hung up and then grabbed a napkin from a nearby dispenser and scribbled down quite a few details including an address.

“We have to head back tomorrow, Kitten,” she informed me. “Is there anything left you want to do?”

I hesitated, thinking it over briefly. I hadn't spent much time in the city and I certainly didn't know the wealthy-people stores the same way she did. I also felt no need to do more shopping. She had been pretty forward about buying me things.

“Is there any food this city is famous for?” I asked.

“Absolutely. We can try some of those.” She patted my head. 

“I'm not really hungry right now though.”

“That's okay,” she reassured. “We’ll share and take it easy.”

I agreed to this, and finished my strawberry drink.

She took her tea and that napkin with her as we left.

“How about we make one more stop before going on a bit of a food tour?” She asked.

I agreed and she brought us deeper in the city and then into the park. There were quite a few trees here, making it look almost like a proper forest, though the wide paved roads made it easy to remember where we were. She brought us through the area, and took her time to examine a couple clumps of flowers or ferns.

I understood she was enjoying nature despite our deep urban location. I held her hand as we walked. It was also good since it would help me feel hungry.

For the most part the scenery didn't change that much. It continued to be trees and undergrowth. There were cyclists on a cycling trail, plenty of tourists like us simply wandering about, and the requisite homeless individuals milling around. 

After a while Alisha started to lead me away and back onto the city blocks. We then wandered quite a bit. She bought us a slice of pizza, which we shared, and then we ended up in the Italian area, where she bought us a half dozen cannolis, though she only fed me one, letting me feel that sweet creamy filling in my mouth. There were also little bits of what I thought was candied fruit peel though I was unsure. It was tasty all the same.

It was in the Italian area that a thought occurred to me.

“Alisha?” I asked.

She looked over from where she was leading me off to another neighborhood. 

“Aren't… businesses like yours usually very monoethnic?” 

“You mean like all Italian or all Russian or all Chinese or the like?” she asked.

I nodded.

“The Takeno business group has been around for a few generations and has merged and split several times. Since even before my father’s time, it had a history of simply swallowing up smaller families, so it ended up with a mish-mash of different groups.”

“I see.”

“The other businesses in the area are much more monoethnic, if you're curious.”

I nodded. “I did get that sense.” Alisha’s people definitely spanned some different lineages. “But does that cause problems?”

“Occasionally, unfortunately. But it's not anywhere near as common as skimming or theft. The kind of person who makes trouble over racial or ethnic things is usually going to give me trouble for other things so they get weeded out pretty early on.”

“You… just off racists?”

She shook her head. “When they're not yet associated it's pretty easy to just shove them out the door. If they continue to make trouble, whoever's territory they're wandering around in will usually send a soldier to break some fingers or something. At that point, if they haven't gotten the message, there isn't much we can do for them. Murder is always a last resort, but it does happen.”

“Hm,” I agreed. “I have to ask what's the most absurd thing someone has said to you?”

She thought for a moment. “There was this guy who came to the family wanting to work a chop shop, that's a car garage that'll break down stolen vehicles to be sold as parts. He had a garage and everything out in the rural areas, a bit out of my usual territory range but I was willing to give it a shot. But when he met with me, he was annoyed that I told him the usual pay was hourly plus a commission. He wanted more than the standard thirty percent and I explained to him that I would be losing money if I went more than that and I had two shops already, I really didn't need a third. He said something along the lines of, ‘oh but I can do it better, I went to school for it so any uneducated non-citizen you have won't be able to do it as well as I can.’ And as you know, that's some bullshit.”

She took a breath as we crossed a street and ended up in a cluster of people.

“I told him my people were working satisfactorily well. He found this offensive, and I gathered it was because he felt he was better than a ‘non-citizen.’ I more or less said ‘if you want to work in this business you cannot assume things about people. Prejudice will get you killed.’ he told me it wasn't prejudice since it was based on fact. At that point I told him I didn't want him. He told me to go fuck myself and when my guard that day got in his face he told them it was his first amendment right to tell someone to fuck off.”

I nodded. “Did you just let it go?”

“I had Matteo throw a brick through his window but otherwise we haven't had any more interaction.”

“Ah.” To be fair, a lot of people in Alisha's occupation would have gone way farther than breaking a window. She had mentioned Nico shooting a guy’s dick for looking at his wife. That was the kind of injury that could easily kill someone and would never fully heal, especially not mentally.

“I try not to respond emotionally to things,” she said. “It makes it more difficult to rationalize to people.”

“Do you feel like you have to explain yourself?” I wondered if that was why she was constantly talking about how this or that brought attention to the business.

“Well, yes. People deserve to know why something isn't allowed. Even if I keep my full personal opinions to myself,” she explained. 

“I see.” I decided to move on from this topic. She seemed more relaxed than earlier but I didn't know how much of that was real and how much of it was her instinct to repress emotions in public.

I was still carrying our remaining cannolis and she brought me to a bagel shop, purchasing another half dozen of them and handing the bag over to me. I was starting to feel encumbered.

“Uhm, I think we have enough food,” I commented as we left.

“Hm?” she questioned. “You don’t want to try a couple more things?”

“H-how about you pick out something you want?” I asked. “For you. Like a fancy cupcake or something? This is your vacation, you know.”

She blinked. “Something… I want?”

“Yes,” I said. “Not something you need, something you want.”

There was that all-too-familiar blush that came over her face.

“Focus,” I chided her gently.

“I just want you to be happy,” she said. “I could care less about myself.”

I sighed. “Okay… then what’ll make me happy is seeing you happy.” I rearranged the bags of goodies on my arms. “So, what does your heart desire? Do you want to try a fancy wine, or eat some ridiculously overcomplicated desert from one of those gourmet shops? I’ve seen a place that sells chocolate truffles for some ludicrous prices.”

There was again that blank expression.

“What do you do for your birthday?” I asked. “When you treat yourself.”

“My birthday?” she repeated. “At most I have a glass of wine before bed.”

“No cake or anything?” I asked.

“Angela used to pester me to get a manicure with her,” Alisha said. “But I usually sent her on her way. I have more important things to worry about.”

“... when is your birthday?” I asked.

“November,” she said.

I made a mental note to figure something out for her before then. In the meantime, I wanted to get her to enjoy something on our last day here.

“How about we get you your favorite dessert?” I asked. “Whatever that is.”

“Brownies,” she said without thinking.

“A brownie it is then.” It didn't take that long to find a bakery that sold them. When we did they only sold large brownies, bigger than the palm of my hand. Still I insisted that we buy at least one and Alisha relented. And then we headed back to the hotel room. It was a long trek. I didn't really know exactly where we were but Alisha led me back, knowing the layout of the overall neighborhoods pretty well.

We got settled back in our room. I set the horde of shopping bags with the others from previous days and stared at the pile a bit. I knew we came here with nothing but it felt unnecessary. There were more than enough clothes and the food was… well we didn't even have much of a fridge. The box of cannolis fit fine but we just didn't need this much.

Alisha came back from the bathroom, continuing to dry her hands on one of the towels. She sat on the bed and I was happy to get on with her and cuddled against her.

“You want half a brownie?” she offered.

I nodded, and let her get it from our spoils for the day. She broke it in half and offered me one. I nibbled on the chocolatey baked good. It was the cakey kind of brownie with large chunks of chocolate in it and some walnuts sprinkled on top which added some crunch.

She enjoyed her half too, I thought. She was engrossed with it for a while and didn't feel any need to say anything, simply being close and having her hip rubbing against mine whenever either one of us shifted around.

This was a fleeting moment, I knew. Tomorrow was probably going to be an explosion of violence so I'd take what I could now. She finished her brownie after me and I gave her a moment to toss the napkin away before I set my own aside. 

She flinched a little when I put my hands on her waist but let me pull her closer and then I kissed her.

Her forehead pressed against mine for a long moment.

“Are you frisky again?” she asked.

In reality it wasn't friskiness I was feeling but I nodded. I wanted her touch more than anything.

She kissed me back and trailed her lips lower to my neck. I closed my eyes, enjoying the skin on skin contact.

“Can-can we take it real slow tonight?” I managed, struggling to keep my heart from racing too fast.

“Mm,” she agreed. “I'd like that.”

We had our fun. She didn't stop holding me after and kept her face buried against my neck.

I soothed her hair back, wondering if I should do anything more for her tonight, but I settled on just letting her get as much sleep as possible and didn't disturb her once she started to snore against my skin.

My nails were still immaculate with their glossy pastel pink and the dark blue on my pinkies. 

I ran my fingertips through the silkiness of her hair, pushing it away from her face.

I didn't know what I would do if she ended up getting shot tomorrow. My stomach hurt at the thought. It wasn't fair, of course. It was selfish even, that some part of my brain hoped that Tye or someone else would sacrifice themselves for her. And since it was going to come down to her or Nico, everyone that was close to Nico would suffer after his death. So even if she was fine, there was still going to be pain for someone else.

My gentle stroking seemed to help keep me at least a little calm as the thoughts processed.

I let her sleep until the early morning, wanting her to be fully rested tomorrow. She woke up of her own accord and blinked at the clock before forcing me to switch with her.

I got settled to rest my head in her lap as she stroked my hair in turn. It was so easy to slip under even with the bad feeling in my chest.

I couldn’t lose her. We couldn't lose this fight. If that meant I'd have to carry a sidearm for the rest of my life, I'd do it. And if it meant I needed to be ready to shoot someone, I'd brace myself for that possibility, too.

Note: Wow, that took way longer than anticipated. Lots going on, lots of stress, lots of panic, but my brain is a little clearer now and were moving back into faster paced parts of the story. I hope the fluff was enjoyable, I am sure there will be another bout of it at some point so don't be afraid to throw ideas at me. After this arc closes there's a lot of flexibility to explore more side characters. Sophia and Tye are in that list, Matteo and Jess are also up there in my priorities. And I'm also working on putting together character profiles since the story is long enough I feel its somewhat justified.

Anyway have fun, happy spring if you live somewhere like I do where its finally vaguely warm.