“Do you have a smoke?” Naomi looked up at the driver. Having escaped their kidnappers by maneuvering a car through the suburbs, she still found herself squeamish about the idea of being in a car. Fortunately, the driver Hiro had sent was a pro and not just two Nekos playing with the wheel. 

The driver didn’t take her eyes off the road, instead taking out a packet of cigarettes and shaking them in the mouse girl’s face before popping the lid open. Sighing, Naomi retreated into the cupholder. She was too small to even hold a ciggy. This wasn’t news to her, so why did the woman feel so melancholic? Was it the fact that she was overpowered? While being Noah, they always prized themselves on being able to protect Tanji. This time, it was her protecting Naomi. And that just felt wrong. 

“Never mind.” She mumbled, cracking her neck.

Tanji seemed the same as ever, trying to subtly push away Tamiko who continued her habit of clinging onto her sister. Their eyes met, with the pudgy cat nodding her neck up as if they were in an understanding. She was at a loss for what this “understanding” might be.

It didn’t occur to her before, but she did feel bad for Tanji. Naomi? Well, she was getting a house out of this. Once she returned to being Noah again, a whole life of luxury awaited. Being the person who breaks a family out of poverty is the greatest honor a man could ever achieve, after all. This is why he was sent to Namiport—to carve a new path at a time when corporations were buying up farmland and threatening his family. 

But Tanji? She started as a pet, and she would end up as one. They had accomplished so much only thanks to her, yet she would always just be somebody’s ‘mimi—a property. It didn’t seem like she was upset about it. The only feeling that the tiny cat showed was an air of indifference. Whenever she cared about something, it was either food…or the wellbeing of her master.

She felt a tangled sensation in her stomach. Maybe this was for the best. Tanji may have been as smart as a human being, but there was no way she could function by herself. Besides, the life of a ‘mimi isn’t that bad, is it? Naomi’s mind jumped from one topic to another, almost as if fearing that diving too deep into any of her thoughts would uncover a terrible truth. No. She had been avoiding this for too long. The long car drive felt like a pocket reality created specifically to allow her to sit and think. And so she did.  

The car stopped in front of an office building, with a group of men dressed in security uniforms guiding Tanji and Tamiko away. They weren’t forceful but seemed more than ready to wrangle the tiny cats should they misbehave. Turning around before passing through a set of automatic doors, Tanji stuck out her tongue and winked at Naomi.

“That’s over with.” The anemic voice of Dr. Galloway called out “Hiro got his men on the case, cleaning up the collateral…” She tapped against the side of her chin, using her free hand to lift Naomi. “Might need to shut down our operations in Osaka for a while.” With a type of shrug that said “It’s not my problem,” Galloway took Naomi down an elevator and towards another laboratory. 

This one looked more primitive than the one in Namiport. There were electric tapes covering random sections of the panels, with colorful wires hanging above them like many exotic snakes. The entire room smelled of copper; the cleaning staff went easier on the chemicals, it seemed. At the center of it all, a similar transformation pool laid dormant. Without the blue glow, the ominous aura was gone, now just looking like a weird jacuzzi. 

“This facility has an older model. Might take a while…” The woman called out, almost ready to slap the computer into submission as its fan began slowly gathering speed like a starting rocket. “Want to see Tanji first? I know they hauled her off somewhere, but that’s only for genetic checks. You know, and some cross-references with Tamiko. Spit and blood samples.” She pulled away from the computer, the wheels of her chair swirling against the floor. “Don’t mind either way.”

“There is something I need to tell Tanji.”

Putting her palms on the arm of the chair, Dr. Galloway began getting up. “Let’s go then-”

“As Noah.” She quickly interrupted, making the good doctor slump back into her seat. 

Putting her hands on the keyboard, she moved the chair back in position. “Strip.”

The return trip is always easier, even when working with outdated technology. After solving the issue of muscle cramps in his leg, Noah was soon back on his feet—human again. Getting used to everything took some time, but being back in his body was like riding a bicycle. And although his voice being deeper was something that he needed to stop getting weirded out by, feeling his old lungs filling with air was refreshing. 

“How was being Naomi?” Dr. Galloway handed him some spare clothing. It was nothing fancy, just a white shirt and a pair of jeans. 

“Is this for a report?” Noah asked, sliding it on. “If yes, can this wait?”

“No, not a report. Just a curiosity.” She sat on his bed, uninvited. 

“It was strange.” He looked down at the palms of his hands. “Weird, but not in the way I expected.” Clenching his fist, the man looked up at the doctor. “After a while, it felt like a dream. I just…accepted being Naomi. It felt neither good nor bad. It just came something which…was.” Blaming himself for lacking better words, the man inhaled audibly. “Every time I thought about how weird it was to be a girl…it felt like another voice pestering me from the back.”

“I see.” She made a mental note, nodding along as if that made sense. “There could be some psychological basis in this behavior”

“Well.” Buckling a belt, Noah stood up. “You turned my brain into that of a 5-inch mouse girl. This goes beyond psychology and into biology.” 

“I am not so sure.” She added, with Noah already gone. 

Navigating through the complex took him a while. Just like every other of the cabal’s operations, it was run by a dedicated skeleton crew. Finally, he found the place where Tanji was being held. “Being held” wasn’t really a proper term, since she was just lounging there with her belly up. Her eyes turned into thin slits—the same slits that looked at him when the two first met. She immediately leaped to her feet, walking to Noah and looking up at him.

“Where is Tamiko?” 

“They are keeping her locked up.” Her tone was casual, clearly not grieving this. 

“I see.” He patted his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Go?” Narrowing her eyes, she was expecting some kind of trick on Noah’s part. 

“To the city. We are already here, and I always wanted to visit Japan anyway.”

“And you wanted to start with Osaka?” She winced at him, knowing something he did not.

“Anything wrong with Osaka…?”

Tanji thought for a moment, shrugging and leaping onto his shoulder in one swift motion. He never expected the weight of her bum to be nostalgic, but here they were. “No. Let’s go.”

Osaka was bright, with neon signs basking the city line in a pinkish hue with white flashes coming from the circulating commercials. The noise of said commercials mixed with the sound of the chatter, the wheezing of monorails, and the brave cars trying to squeeze through the traffic near the center. They tried to avoid most of the busy lines, retreating into one of the side streets. This was the beauty of not having a plan. The two of them could just walk, exploring the city as if it were some strange labyrinth with neither a map nor a sense of where they were. It seemed impossibly large, with this feeling that if they were to dive deeper into it, they might never come out. 

There was a smell of fried goods in the air, creating a thick cloud of flavors that was practically palpable. The entire place had a warm feeling to it, making Noah want to take off his jacket. He was stopped halfway through unzipping. Feeling Tanji pulling on his hair, he grunted, turning in the direction of a street vendor making many fish-shaped cakes. “You could have just said you wanted me to look here.” 

“Get me one.”

Cautiously approaching the stand, he took out his wallet. “Do you actually want one? Or is it just because it looks like a fish?” 

She grunted at such an insinuation. “Of course not! I like taiyaki. Get me one!” She repeated, and then there was a pause. “Please…”

When the cake was placed in her hand, the Neko proceeded to devour it as if she had been starving for a while. Noah quickly grabbed some napkins to wipe her face, hoping that the people around wouldn’t think he was some cruel owner who didn’t feed this pet. 

The two of them sat on a stone bench, watching as the city flashed around them. There was an old dead tree at the center of the clearing. With the tall walls all around them, this little clearing felt isolated—lonely, yet warm. 

“You want to visit the castle?” Tanji asked, swinging her legs back and forward as she finished her 2nd taiyaki. “Or the Ferris wheel?”

“Too crowded.” Not planning anything also had its disadvantages, it seemed. 

The Neko patted down her hands, getting the crumbs off. Her tail swayed slowly in the evening air. “It’s fine here as well…but it is getting cold.”

Taking off his jacket, he placed it around Tanji. She tried to be happy about it, but both could see how ridiculous it looked on her. “Maybe we should go somewhere else. But before that, I need to tell you something.” She turned her head slowly towards Noah. Her pupils dilated—the two blue orbs looking at him with in anticipation. Taking a breath, he prepared to say something stupid. “I love you.

Tanji squinted, scrunching her nose. “Why?” 

“Oh, come on!” Noah rubbed his forehead. “Does there need to be a reason? I just do.”

She looked down at the floor, stopping her legs from swinging. “You really don't, okay? Between humans and 'mimis…it just doesn't work out.”

“Why?” Tanji tried to look away, prompting him to grab her tiny hand. It felt cold against his skin as cold—as the day he found her in that tattered cardboard box. “Why, Tanji? At least tell me that much. You owe me.”

Turning back towards him, Tanji made the type of face one makes after having explained something a thousand times. “We will never be equals. Is that enough of an explanation for you? Noah, I can’t…I can’t do the things humans do, okay? It’s just…it’s just not the same—it's not normal!” She stuttered, suddenly finding herself breathing heavily. 

Noah tightened his grip on Tanji's hand, letting go after realizing that he might be hurting her. “I don’t care about you being normal. I don’t want normal. I want you.”

She laughed, her brain having no other reaction to this. “You say stupid things.”

“I know.” He couldn’t help but smile like an idiot as well. “The stupidest one was probably saying yes to the cabal.”

“But are you serious?” Grabbing onto his palm, she placed her tiny hand against his. “With all the stuff they have given you, you could pretty much bump any chick you want! Even the red-haired one.”

“Mia? Nah, not really my type.”

“So what is your type? A pudgy cat girl that calls you a bastard?”

“Yes.”

Tanji's ears twitched slightly as she listened to the distant sounds of the city, quickly refocusing on the man next to her. A weak yet genuine smile now decorated her lips. “I would like to believe that. Noah…I…” Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something. But before she spoke, there was silence. “Noah. I want you to treat me like you would any other human. At least for today…okay?”

He nodded. 

The inside of the Love Hotel was warm despite the empty lobby. Behind a counter, a woman was forced to look up from the card game on her computer, quickly putting on a friendly smile. “Welcome to the Passion Palace! Here is a list of all the available rooms.” She pointed towards a tablet built into the desk. “ Prices for additional items can be found in the rooms themselves.”

Having his doubts about the place, Noah admitted that the walls did a good job of blocking out the rest of the city. The room itself was modest but practical. The black paint contrasted brilliantly against the white sheets of the queen-sized bed, with red light coming across the street slipping through the cracks. “Reminds me of the nightclub we went to, huh?”

“The other place was nicer” Tanji blushed, climbing onto the bed and looking away. “But there aren’t any pink-haired bimbos, so…I guess it’s okay.”

Sitting down against the wall himself, Noah watched as the naked figure of Tanji climbed on his lap. His shaft laid against her asscheeks, with the Neko adjusting her position—feeling it getting harder. It was fun teasing her master like this…but he would return the favor. Using his hands, Noah explored every inch of the woman’s body. It was so incredibly soft to the touch, that his hand almost sunk into her skin, the satisfying sensation prompting him to continue his exploration.

Grabbing onto the rolls of her belly and thighs, he began massaging them, watching Tanji stopping herself from squirming. “Fo-foreplay?” She tried to sound dominant, but the shaky voice betrayed her. “I thought you would be more direct.”

“How can I not?” He whispered into her ear, cupping her breasts. Her nipples felt hard between his fingers, appearing like two blueberries against her pale skin. “Even for a human, these are huge. How do you imagine they look on a little Neko like you?” Putting his fingers together, Tanji began meowing in pleasure as he clamped down on her nipples. By now, there was no way that she could stay still. Her warm body was shaking, rubbing against his as the only source of relief. 

Noah loomed above the cat girl, now once again being able to appreciate her plump body. She laid naked across the bed, looking off to the side and only taking glances at him. They both knew what was going to happen next.

“Are you sure you can take it?” He questioned, placing his hand on her cheek. 

“Don’t oversell yourself.” Tanji slapped the hand away, looking at him long enough to finish the sentence. “Put it in already.”

Her pussy was tiny, with just his tip causing her to tense up and begin gritting her teeth. Trying to slide deeper inside of her slick cooter, the Neko began crying tears of joy mixed with pain. Every part of her was tensing up—her vagina stretched to its limit. Unable to get more friction, he instead opted to slide Tanji onto his cock like an onahole, grabbing her thick thighs and pulling the twitching mess towards him. Reaching new limits, the cat girl’s tongue flew out of her mouth, now drooling over herself. 

“You’re making a really dumb face right now, you know that?” He grinned, beginning to move his hips. Noah had a thing against pillow princesses, but he couldn’t blame her here. With her tiny brain overloaded with stimuli, all Tanji could do was twitch and let out feline moans. 

She finally managed to spit out something, closing her eyes so tightly that it hurt. “I want your kittens!”

Something about that request made Noah immediately blow his load, slowing down as his seed drenched the cat girl’s womb. The building tension was emptied all at once, with the man feeling his balls drained and prostate pulsating. She was overflowing, each squeeze of her muscles resulted in more of the viscous liquid pouring out. A thin strand of semen connected Tanji’s vagina with his penis once he took it out.

They spent some time shaking in each other’s grasp, processing what just happened. When they made love, everything seemed so natural, like going through a play they had both rehearsed. Now, they found themselves thinking about the things they did and said and the things they didn’t. 

In the end, the overwhelming feeling of drowsiness conquered them. Tanji nuzzled against Noah’s chest, placing her cheek against his abs.