Created: 10-1-03THE SWEET CAT’S CONFESSION
Heiji, Kazuha and Ran hid behind the bushes as they stared into the field. Heiji blushed as he saw his dream prince rushing around the field with the football close to his feet. At the side of the field, more girls sat and watch, letting out giggles and cheers at the star player of the team.
There is no one in school who doesn’t know the jock of the entire high school—Shinichi Kudo. Everyone adored him, and that goes the same with Heiji. He had always wanted to step up to him and talk just like the rest of the girls but he was often pushed away by them. This time was of no exception. After getting an encouraging cue from his best friend Ran and Kazuha (“Go get him, you lover boy, you!”), he lunged forward and tried to squeeze his way through the crowd of girls that surrounded Shinichi as soon as he was done practicing his football with the team. His efforts have again failed him. He was pushed away so harshly that he had sprained his waist and couldn’t get up. Ran and Kazuha had to help him up and take him to the sick room.
Heiji went home disappointed yet again. Shinichi was the coolest and cutest guy among all the boys. Ever since he set eyes on him during orientation week on the first day of school, he had experienced love at first sight and started setting his targets on him. Only Ran and Kazuha knew of his homosexuality and his obsessions with Shinichi, though they did try to remind him that Shinichi could be a straight guy. For days, even weeks, he had tried to capture his attention but none of them seemed to work. It was as if he had never existed before. The first thing he did when he reached home was confided his feelings straight away to his pet cat Ai. Ai was named after his childhood friend Ai Haibara and she has been his pet for a very long time and she was a really good listener, just like his friend. Whatever problems he had, she would be the first to know.
“I am such a loser! I can’t believe I failed again today! Why am I such a chicken? If I continue like this, I won’t be able to give him the chocolates for Valentine’s Day! I even have the chocolates well-prepared. See?”
Ai stared at the chocolates full of wanting, but of course, cats can’t eat chocolate—it’ll kill them.
“We’re gonna graduate soon and I won’t be able to see him anymore. Even though I want to tell him that I like him…I never got the chance and I never got the guts to say it…I’m only human, after all! I can’t just go up to him and say it just like that! What’ll they think of me…”
“You are so bored.”
Heiji turned around, trying to see who was the one talking. He found himself staring in front of Ai’s blue eyes and her mouth as the words and the voice came out, saying, “If complaining is the only thing you can do all day, why don’t you become like me and listen to other people’s complaints for a change?”
It took him a full 5 minutes before he realized that his light-yellow cat Ai was actually talking to him. Before he knew it, he was yelling his head off in shock and almost hysteria, shouting about the ultimate discovery on his cat. Ai groaned exasperatedly.
“We cats have always mastered the power of speech dating to the Egyptian period. It is not that surprising. It’s just that we like to maintain the calm and cool mysterious aura on us and don’t want to let the cat out of the bag, if you get my drift.”
Heiji stared at his cat, dumbfounded. Cats that could talk since the age of the Egyptians? That is something you don’t see everyday. He should read up on his history more in the future.
“Heiji,” Ai said in a tired voice. “Do you realize that you have been going on and on about your crush with Shinichi but I don’t see any happy news about it? All you do is just come back home failure after failure and complain to me night after night whether I want to listen to it or not. I heard about failures but you are just so ridiculous! You gotta learn how to stand on your own feet! I’m sick and tired of you ranting and raving at me without doing something about it!”
Heiji was ashamed. He didn’t know that his nightly complaints had such a big impact and a bad nuisance to his cat. She didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. He really felt bad about it, that is, after he got over the shock of having a talking cat for a pet.
“I’ve had enough of your complaints. I am going to make you stand on your own feet even if it means revealing my secret powers to you.”
‘Secret powers?’ Heiji thought. ‘What secret powers?’ Before he could ask, he was suddenly hit by a blinding flash of light. His whole body fell backwards, as if he was hit by a bullet train or something. It didn’t hurt though, although the impact was strong. When he opened his eyes, he was in for a shock.
He found himself wagging a long cat’s tail the colour of his skin and his ears were jutting up like a pair of cat’s ears, with a tint of white on the tips. She had actually turned into a human cat!
“What…What have you done to me, Ai?! What have I become??”
“I’ve laid a curse on you,” Ai replied nonchalantly, as if everything was an as-a-matter-of-fact way of things.
“A…A curse?! Why do you have to do that for?! Doushite?!” Heiji asked, horrified. He may have irritated his cat a little, but he didn’t deserve this kind of punishment.
“It’s a power we cats are proud to possess throughout the centuries. I just did that to teach you a lesson not to mess with us cats, the superior of all animals. If you continue to be so naïve and bottle up your feelings not doing anything, you’ll be a real cat within 3 days’ time, and it won’t be pretty. Don’t get me wrong, there is a cure for this curse, and I’m also doing you a good favour.”
“Favour?! What kind of favour is this?!” Heiji asked angrily, pointing at his tail and his ears.
“Well, for starters, I’m actually getting you the guy that you crave for so much, for the cure to this curse is that on the third day before sundown, you must go and confess your feelings towards Shinichi. Then the curse will be broken.”
“Wha…What?! You mean I have to actually go up to him and tell him that I like him?!” Heiji blushed terribly, practically horrified.
“That’s the plan,” Ai nodded.
“Annou…B-B-But in 3 days…? That’s impossible~!” Heiji said doubtfully.
“Don’t worry,” Ai replied. “I may be the one laying the curse on you, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t help you break it. Or…do you want to let yourself turn into a cat and live completely different lives from Shinichi? I can assure you, being a cat is pretty wonderful. It’s your choice.”
Heiji was struck there. There was no way he was going to live a cat’s life and be away from Shinichi forever. Sure, confessing may be a scary thing, but unable to see Shinichi and become completely isolated from him and live off cat scraps and fish bones for life was scarier.
That’s when he had made his decision.
The next day, he went to school as usual, but did a small alteration on himself. He hid his cat ears his cap and curled the tail up and stuffed it inside his underwear. His heart was thumping madly just thinking of what he was going to do today. He didn’t know why he let himself be talked into this anyway.
“OK, now, Heiji,” Ai, who was wrapped in Heiji’s arms started saying. “Plan A for today will be to let Shinichi know your name, you hear me? Hey, daijobu deska, Heiji?”
“H-H-Hait. D-D-Daijobu,” Heiji’s stammering didn’t sound too convincing. Soon, he heard some of the girls giggling in delight and saw Shinichi walking into the school compound. Instinctively, Heiji ran into hiding behind the bush, blushing like heck. Ai was annoyed.
“I don’t believe this! Is this what you do everyday?! Baka! No wonder you’re such a failure! Are you gonna just sit there and wait until it’s too late?”
Heiji couldn’t help feeling that Ai was right. If he doesn’t start saying something now, he never will get the chance. It’s now or never. Gathering all his guts, he came out of his hiding place and blurted out, “Kudo senpai!”
Shinichi looked at his way and to his face, asking, “Hait, you called me?”
Heiji’s heart skipped a bit. Those mesmerizing blue eyes and that striking ebony-black hair was simply too hard for him to bear. His deep voice was like a knight in shining armour talking from his grand stallion. He was too cute for words and not something he could hold on. His face heated up and he began to sway, falling headfirst towards the floor. Shinichi noticed and instinctively held out his hand to catch him by the waist. Heiji’s hot cheeks grew even hotter. His hand around his waist! He was actually touching him! He had never seen him touching other girls before when they gathered around him after football practice but there he was right now, wrapping his arms around his waist!! It felt so blissful that he didn’t want to get up.
“Annou…May I ask? What the heck is that?”
Heiji shifted his gaze to where he was pointing. He was shocked to see that his cat tail has uncurled out of his underwear and was standing up straight. ‘Yada~!’ he thought. ‘I forgot that when cats get excited, their tails would stand up straight! I can’t tell him that I’ve been cast a spell by my cat! I gotta tell him something else! But…But what?!’
Finally, as a last resort, he blurted out, “A-re…I’m…I’m a very big fan of cats. So much that I occasionally dress myself up as a cat!” Before Shinichi could say anything else, he held up Ai for him to see, “This is my cat Ai. See? See how much I like cats?”
Shinichi was staring at Heiji with such awe on his face that Heiji began to worry that Shinichi might think he’s crazy. The silence hung for about 2 minutes before he actually saw Shinichi smiling and laughed, saying, “You’re an interesting little guy! Kawai-ne. To tell the truth, I like cats too.”
Heiji couldn’t believe his eyes. He was actually seeing another side of Shinichi that he had never seen before. He was actually looking at a smiling Shinichi picking up Ai and stroking her lovingly onto his fair cheek, and not the calm and collected cool guy Shinichi. He felt so lucky to be the first to see this, although some other girls might have a head-start seeing him that way.
“What did you say your name was…?”
Heiji came out of his senses when he realized that Shinichi was asking for his name. This was his chance. He blurted out again, “He…Heiji! Heiji from Year 3 Class 5!”
“Heiji, eh?” Shinichi said as he handed his cat back to him. “If it’s OK with you, I’d like to borrow your Ai some other time.”
“S-Sure! No problem!” Heiji replied as he took Ai back. Finally, he remembered his name. He actually existed after all. He again felt so blissful that he hoped time would just stop there and then for him.
“Success!” Ai exclaimed as soon as Shinichi was out of ear-shot. “My cat features never fails to impress people! Now let’s go for Plan B!”
“There’s a Plan B?” Heiji asked absentmindedly, his face hadn’t yet gotten over the shade of red yet.
“Yes, there is. The next step right now is to set up a venue and a perfect atmosphere to confess your feelings for him. You got to write a letter to him and tell him to meet you somewhere secluded during Valentine’s Day!”
“What?! You want me to write a letter to tell him that?!” Heiji’s cheeks which had gradually reduced to a slight pink shot back up to red again. “I can’t do that!! That is so embarrassing!”
“No complaints,” Ai said authoritatively. “Are you gonna write or not?”
Thinking about the possibilities of becoming a cat if she didn’t, Heiji had no choice but to oblige. With shaking hands, he wrote the letter in bold letters:
TO KUDO SENPAI,
MEET ME AT THE SCHOOL BACKYARD AFTER SCHOOL ON THE 14TH.
HEIJI OF CLASS 3 YEAR 5
After writing the letter, the next morning after school, he went over to the field where Shinichi had his usual football practice and waited behind the bushes. He was as cool and as gallant as ever as he passed the ball and kicked it without much trouble. As usual, girls were standing at the side of the field cheering and giggling.
“Right, now you have written the letter. All you have to do now is hold on to the letter and wait until he’s done with his practice before handing it over to him,” Ai whispered. Heiji nodded, his stomach fluttering and his heart still pumping although he had already have an up close encounter with him. For once he was doing this alone and not asking help from either Kazuha or Ran.
Suddenly, the football Shinichi’s team was practicing on bounced into the bush Heiji and Ai were hiding and Heiji found himself pouncing onto it like Ai did in such playful and longing mood. When he realized what he was doing, he was horrified.
“Wha…What did I just do?!”
“This means that you’re slowly inching your way into becoming a cat,” Ai replied as he pawed at the ball. “Welcome to the family.”
While Heiji tried to contemplate the dreaded transformation, he suddenly felt a familiar presence. When he turned around, he was shocked to see that it was Shinichi looking back at him with his striking blue eyes. He almost went pale with horror at what he might have seen.
“Heiji? I’m here to get my ball,” Shinichi said, pointing at the ball Ai was playing with.
“H-Here you go,” Heiji replied, handing him the ball. He prayed to the gods hard that he hadn’t seen what he had just done.
“What are you doing here?” Shinichi asked curiously.
“I…I…err…” Heiji didn’t know where to start.
“Give him the letter,” Ai whispered, pawing at his ankles.
“Oh…Oh yeah!” Heiji was knocked back into his senses as he took out the envelope containing the letter. He handed it to Shinchi and said, “Kudo senpai, this letter…”
Whether Shinichi was shocked at such gesture or he was just caught off guard, he had accidentally lost his grip on the ball and it slid out of his hand. As the ball fell and bounced on the grass, again Heiji instinctively pounced onto the ball with Ai and Shinichi stared in awe yet again. Shinichi’s scoff brought him back to the horrible reality.
“You really are an interesting guy. Kawai-ne,” Shinichi grinned.
‘I’m horrible~!’ Heiji groaned inwardly; he had never felt even more embarrassed than this.
“Yohoo~! Shinichi-kun! Come back! Practice is not over yet!” one of Shinichi’s team members called out from the field. Shinichi let out a grunt and turned towards the field. Heiji was taken aback. ‘He’s leaving?’ he thought. ‘At least accept my letter!’
“Err…Kudo senpai…this letter…” Heiji said tentatively. Shinichi turned around, noticed the envelope in his hands and took it without a second thought.
“Alright, I’ve taken your letter now. Between you and I, I’m pretty afraid of the girls and some of the boy fans around me, but surprisingly to you, I don’t feel that way.”
Heiji was again taken by surprise. He actually felt differently towards him? He thought that Shinichi treated every girl the way he treated him but he didn’t think that Shinichi would actually feel this way to him. Hope still hangs in his wake.
“Cool! Now all you have to do is confess to him tomorrow!” Ai said gleefully, glad that everything was going according as planned.
Heiji smiled. He was glad too. All he wanted to do is let Shinichi know how he felt for him.
He couldn’t ask for more.
Soon, the Big Day—Valentine’s Day—has come. As soon as the bell rang indicating the end of school, Heiji ran towards the school backyard and waited for Shinichi. Ai followed suite.
“So this is where you guys are gonna meet,” Ai commented. “Hmm, secluded enough.”
“But he’s not here yet,” Heiji replied worriedly.
“Don’t you fret. I’m sure everything’s under control. Here, I’ve got your chocolates.”
“Thanks, Ai! I almost forgot about them!” Heiji said thankfully.
“You’ll pull through, Heiji. Be strong. You’re left with the confession now. Ganbatte!” Ai said, giving encouragement to her master. Heiji was touched at her gesture.
“Don’t worry, Ai, I’ll win this battle if this is the last thing I’ll do!”
“He’s here,” Ai said as she pointed at Shinichi who was standing outside the bush he was hiding, looking around as if seeing if he was there. He was there alright. This was his real chance. He was ready.
As he popped out of his hiding place and was about to call out his name, he was drowned out by the high-pitched squeals of the girls. It seems like they have been looking for him for a long time as they were so excited to see him. They brandished their box of chocolates at him, hoping that he would take it. Heiji couldn’t believe they had a head-start on things faster than he thought. But he had to give him his share of chocolates, even if it means risking people knowing that he’s gay. Taking a deep breath, he braved himself to squeeze past the girls.
“Excuse me, please, excuse me, I wanna give my chocolates to Kudo senpai…” Heiji struggled to squeeze through, which, of course, annoyed the other girls.
“Get out of here, you loser! Can’t you see we’re busy?”
As usual, he was pushed out of the crowd a few feet away from them. He didn’t think that they could be so strong. He looked up and saw that the Shinichi that he loved didn’t see him. He was practically surrounded by the girls that he couldn’t even notice him. His heart began to ache at the thought that he had failed yet again.
‘Why? Why must this happen to me? He’s so near, yet so far. I’ve tried and I’ve tried to go near him, but I just couldn’t…I just couldn’t!!’
Heartbroken, he ran away from the scene with the box of chocolates still in his hands. She didn’t hear Ai calling after him. All he knew was that he had to get out of there before he dies with a broken heart there and then. The words kept ringing in his head as he ran, ‘I can’t do it! He’s just some faraway star that I can never reach no matter what! I can never confess to him! Never!’
He only stopped running when he was somewhere in the old janitor’s closet. As he sat there musing and wallowing in self-pity, the feeling of being hit by a bullet train came again. His whole body glowed and he felt himself shrinking and changing. When Ai finally found him, he actually turned into a Persian black cat!
“What have you become?! This is so not you!!” Ai exclaimed, horrified at his transformation.
“Ai~!” Heiji bawled. “I don’t know what happened! I just felt a blinding flash engulfing me and when I opened my eyes, I’ve become this! It’s not even sundown yet!”
“I guess it’s because you suppressed the urge of confessing too much that it has fast-forwarded the process. You were almost there! Why didn’t you carry on?!”
“I…I don’t know…I guess I panicked…” Heiji replied sadly. “I guess I’ll have to forget about Shinichi…since I’ve become a cat…”
Ai scowled and said, “Is that so? Is that what you want? Are you willing to even forget human speech and all the human memories you have on this earth and really assimilate yourself into a real cat? Is that what you want?”
Heiji was shocked. To forget the ability of human speech and forget about everything that is human? Even forget his feelings towards Shinichi, the boy that he had a crush on for so long? He didn’t want that to happen! He certainly didn’t want that to happen ever!
Seeing that her ex-master didn’t reply, she sighed and said, “Oh well, I guess your feelings for Shinichi is only until this level. Don’t worry. The memories will just slip away like sand; you won’t feel a thing.”
Heiji scowled at Ai. He knew about cats being unconcerned and all but he didn’t expect Ai, his great listener and great friend act so cold like this. He grabbed the box of chocolates and exclaimed, “I said that I will win this battle if it is the last thing I do, and I will do as I have claimed!”
Dragging the box with his mouth, he walked as quickly as she could to the school backyard before it was too late. Before his memories slipped away, all he wanted was to let Shinichi know how he felt for him. He had to. Soon he saw Shinichi standing there, the girls all gone and him all alone, looking around and muttering to himself, “Where did he go? I thought he was here somewhere…”
Heiji pawed at his ankle to get his attention. Shinichi saw him and picked him up, saying, “Hey there, little kitty. What is it you want from me?”
Heiji tried to talk but only a series of mews escaped his lips. He tried hard anyway, saying, “Kudo senpai, please. It’s me, Heiji! Don’t you recognize me? I’m Heiji!”
Shinichi chuckled silently and said, “Weird. You really look like that Heiji guy.”
Heiji was glad. He had somehow recognized him. He shoved the box of chocolate to his chest and tried saying in his mews, “This is how I feel for you, Kudo senpai. Although I’ve turned into a cat, I have always liked you!”
Shinichi stared back at him, as if trying to comprehend what he was saying. Somehow, he kind of understood. Heiji pawed at the box of chocolate on his chest and mewed some more. Shinichi noticed and asked, “Is this for me?”
Heiji nodded. Shinichi smiled and picked him up slowly towards his face and kissed him, whispering, “Thank you, kitty.”
Heiji was touched and overwhelmed. Seeing Shinichi accepting his chocolates was one thing but receiving a kiss from him was another thing. He didn’t expect this to happen although he always hoped that it would. It was like a dream come true. He felt his body going warmer and warmer. The transformation was complete. Well, at least he would become a contented cat and have Ai for company…
When his eyes came into focus, he found himself in human form with his lips touching Shinichi’s. It took the both of them a full 30 seconds to register what was going on. They both let out a shocked yell and let go of each other. Shinichi widened his eyes in disbelief. Heiji checked his head and her butt and he was glad to find out that his ears have turned back to normal, his human speech was back and his tail was gone! He had become human again! Somehow it seem like a scene from The Frog Prince.
The box of chocolates was back in his hand. This time he was going to use his own human words to tell him how he felt for him. With a red face, he held out the chocolates to him and said out loud, “I’ve…made these Valentine’s Day chocolates just for you. To tell the truth…I have always liked you. I have a crush on you and I’ve…I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment. I…I like you…a lot…”
Heiji suddenly found his shoes very interesting. He didn’t dare to look up at Shinichi. It was overwhelming enough to finally let it all out. Slowly, he felt the box of chocolates leaving his hand. He looked up and saw Shinichi holding it with a smile on his face.
“I just came back from rejecting all the chocolates given to me…’coz I only wanna receive Valentine’s Day chocolates from you.”
Heiji gaped. His courage has finally paid off. Finally he had released everything that was in his heart and he got a positive response from his dream prince. And he was truly glad that Shinichi shared the same ‘interest’ as he did. Ai was right all along—if he just stood on his own two feet, he would definitely make it. He made a mental note to thank his cat properly as soon as he went home.
“Err…Mind if I ask…What just happened back there…I mean, the cat and all…?”
Looks like there’s gonna be a lot of explaining to do for him.
No comments:
Post a Comment