Reunion, and a Cat

It started as a gentle vibration, quieter than a whisper but not without its impact on the environment. A cup of water left on the kitchen counter, half-full, showed ripples racing across its surface despite the calm and quiet. Empty hangers, strung up in a partially opened closet, wavered ever so slightly and bumped into each other on occasion, despite the seeming absence of impetus. There was something there in the background, distant, but undeniable. And it was not meant to simply idle. The time would pass, and the vibrations would develop into a concerning rumble.

It was like living near train tracks, and one of the freighters was rolling by along the iron rails. The wooden cabinets would rattle, loose doors opening and closing erratically... while one's personal belongings clattered across a forsaken coffee table with no small amount of noise. Perhaps it was an earthquake, and a fearsome one at that. The longer it went on, the worse it got, faster. It was accelerating at a dangerous rate. Was everything about to collapse?! What was a humble little apartment complex in the face of this immaculate force?

And then it all came to a climax, as golden rays of light radiated from the outside in, peering through the cracks underneath and above the door—it was as if the sun had fallen and was just before the entrance of the piddly lodging. If these weren't the end days, they did a real good job of making it seem that way... only to vanish in a disappointing manner. For all that build-up, what resulted was not so dire. A tanned woman with distinctive feline ears, crouching in front of the door with an eager expression on her face.

Her mouth opened to make noise—not the human speech one would expect, but a perfect imitation of the meowing a cat would instead make. For a time, she repeated these calls for attention at the closed door, hoping they reached the man whom lived here; whom she'd come for. There was a certain blonde-haired human she'd known and could never forget, and adored from the bottom of her heart. There was an unbreakable bond between him and her, that could not be broken by distance or time. It was to be their reunion, and she was as excited to see him as she hoped he was to her. Certainly... he'd be opening the door soon enough and they'd embrace...

She blinked, rising to her feet and allowing herself to appear one hundred percent more human. It sure is taking a long time, she thought. Maybe he hadn't heard... or just mistook her for another cat. "Oh Len...?" she inquired of the stubborn door, leaning forward to knock on it. Knock knock. Knock knock. She waited, her expression still barely able to contain her anticipation, but now with a note of confusion. Her tail did twitch in the air rather impatiently. "Leeeeeen? Len. Washi. Yaho...?"

The entire complex shook again as the cat abused her overwhelming power to essentially break into the apartment. Golden rays exploded outwards from Sassy's chocolate rich body, and further expanded onto the environment around her. A trail of these rays raced through the door and invaded the insides, taking the cat with them. To any onlookers, she would seem to disappear from view, as if an invisible curtain had just been pulled around her. While in the apartment, she would be jettisoned from thin air, landing on the couch with a leap of faith.

Her face buried into the scattered cushions, immediately being hit by a nostalgic and welcome scent. With a noise one part surprise and one part pleasantness, she breathed it in. She was almost gasping, desperate for more. "Aaaaaaaaah... Len's scent... It smells..." She stopped suddenly and rose up to sit. She glanced around the room as if expecting to find the man she was looking for. It was empty; not a soul occupying this place... but that was the strange part. If Len wasn't around, then why did his scent smell so... "Fresh?"

There was no doubt he still lived here, and she could tell in more ways than one. Not only by his scent, but the belongings lying around, and just the disorderly state the apartment was in. So by all accounts, she could potentially just wait here at home for him, and he would find her eventually... but that wasn't good enough for the cat. This scent was fresh, which meant he'd been here only moments ago, and then left. That meant only one a thing.

"A hunt!"

First thing was first. If the cat was going to track him down, then of course she needed something to go off of, and that was going to be his scent. She started off by violating the man's room, burglarizing one of his white button-down shirts that looked like it hadn't yet been washed. Tossed into a pile of clothes on the floor, and strong with his smell, it worked perfectly for her purposes. Of course, there was no fighting the instinct to press it into her face and inhale deeply... but she was going to do that either way in the end.

With his scent acquired, the next step would be following his trail. She was no dog, but that wasn't to say her sense of smell wasn't strong. Or perhaps it was just Len's aroma in particular that stood out so much...? Either way, the cat could follow in his footsteps this way, from the moment he stepped out the door. She too left the apartment, making sure to close it behind her before beginning her journey to find the one who raised her proper. With a surge of determination, and Len shirt in hand, she began her hunt with a sprint out into the city.


"And that's how I got here," the cat explained to an aged woman across the counter, who had soft features but looked otherwise exasperated. Sassy herself was seated at the bar of the establishment, holding a cup with both hands, and ignoring the stares from the rest of the customers that just happened to be here at this hour of the day. It was a tea shop, hole-in-the-wall, solemn and peaceful up until the moment she arrived. For the past few minutes, she'd been sharing her story with the server while enjoying the tea here. "By following his trail, I ended up at this place, and his smell is all over! I'm definitely certain he stopped here."

"...That's nice, miss, but I already told you. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave before I call the police. You're disturbing the customers..."

It did not seem as though the shop owner was all too pleased with Sassy's state of dress. It wasn't very modest in the first place, or even really clothing. It was more like an assortment of strings and jewelry adorning her body, making her out to be a treasure herself. At the least she'd taken the liberty of wearing Len's white shirt, to cover her bountiful upper body, but... it wasn't enough to sate the judge. 'Oh well' she thought, knowing that Len would probably ask her to respect the human laws too if he were here. For his sake, she would leave. And besides, she still had a Len to find at all!

"Very well," she said, trying to contain her pouting, trying to disguise her harrumph. Standing from her seat, she turned away to make her exit. Almost as soon as she took her first step is when she remembered her manners, however, and she was not about to leave without offering payment for services rendered. The tea was in fact delicious, allowing Sassy to approve of her master's taste. As recompense... she reached one hand into Len's shirt and pulled out a sizable golden ingot without warning. She placed it on the bar table with a word of thanks, and then made her way out.

To her confusion, she heard a number of gasps and scrambling behind her while she was leaving, but paid it no mind. After all, Len was an important goal to devote oneself to.

The difference between the Cat and those around her was tremendous, such as night and day. Among a throng of men and women whom put one foot in front of the other at a casual pace, to get from place to place, there stood out a tanned-skinned femme fatale dressed in naught but the bare minimum. But even more than that was the brisk, wild movement used to push through it all. She, who was in such a rush to reach her destination, flew over the masses like a blur of brown and gold, her bare feet only gracing the ground for brief moments before her form took off into the air again. Below, spectators released sounds of surprise, awe, and complaint as their slow everyday life was disrupted by the rush of a passionate soul. They didn't understand the importance of this reunion, is all.

The cat landed deftly at the precipice of a condominium rooftop, Len's white shirt rustling from the abrupt stop. Her body fell into a crouch, before slowly rising up and standing erect... and she looked on over a wire fence where Karakura's urban development ended and gave way to a still relatively pristine expanse of nature. The forest on the outskirts of the city that hadn't changed since she had last been here, and had probably been the same for centuries before. There was something special about this place, even if she was oblivious to what it was. But it had to be important if these trees still stood today.

The cat turned her nose up to the air and closed her eyes, shifting her focus to the smells in the air and shutting out everything else. And as she caught on to the subtle trail of Len, the pair of cat ears nested in her hair rose with excitement. This was definitely the correct path! He was assuredly somewhere beyond the city limits, into the claim of nature. Leaving behind the metropolitan noise of Karakura, the cat dived into the treetops and continued her hunt for the one most important to her. It wouldn't be long now, with her strength and speed, the distance could be tracked in mere moments.

"Len!" she shouted, falling down through an opening in the canopy, kicking up a cascade of leaves and dust as all four of her paws hit the ground. Her head whipped around in both directions, searching for him. This area, this clearing is where the trail had led her, possessing an aroma stronger than its surroundings. Yet though she scanned the area, she found no sign of even one human. Only the... leavings of someone who passed by here. She walked towards a makeshift bivouac, stocked with water and a sleeping roll. None of it really mattered, here, except for the album lying beside it. And so she knelt on the ground next to it to investigate.

At first it was just curiosity that claimed her, opening up the book simply to search for a hint. Yet upon discovering the pictures that were held inside, her eyes went wide and a smile crept on her face. She kept turning the pages to see more and read more... more of the memories that her master kept sacred. Her quest somewhat forgotten, the cat selfishly pored through it all, for some time. And thanks to this, a flutter of happiness rose up through her body. After all this time... Sassy couldn't be more thrilled.

For a time, there was solace. The morning sun still tinged the day in crisp golden light, but mellowed throughout the underbrush of the great forest, with a thick layer of canopy to obfuscate the sky from the ground. It was cozier, calmer beneath the blanket of forestry. Medallion rays danced across the pages of the notebook, reflecting shadows of the moving leaves above. Motes of dust were highlighted within the beams as gently cascading around the mostly still cat. And brilliance radiated off those gilded adornments of her body when the sunbeams trickled across it. Neither the wind nor nature hazarded to disturb such a scene, as if in respect of such a beautiful moment.

When the book had no more memories to show, the cat gently pushed the pages back together. Without a doubt, Len had to have been as fond of their time together as she was. It was everything except confirmation of their mutual feelings, and that could be discovered by meeting her prey in person, after all this time. Setting the booklet aside on the sleeping roll—delicately, as if it could break apart with the slightest undue movement—she rose back to her feet. Even just this shift made perceptible the jingle and tinkle of golden jewelry decorating her body, especially in the quiet of this sheltered glade.

A ring became a chime, as the cat rushed forwards in a bolt. A new trail made itself clear to her, allowing her to leave the resting place behind. It had only been a checkpoint, belonging surely to her master, but was not where her master now resided. Further away from the city, yet deeper into the woodland, she raced. She was light on her feet like any cat, barely touching the sedgy floor, and barely feeling the shift of soil with her toes. Wind rushed past her face and threaded through her dark hair, not because it blew but because of her haste. She ran in a hurry, without the need of it. It was simply her passion that rushed her.

In only a few minutes, the wilderness gave way to the touch of human. A clean line of road was paved through a wound in the forest, bringing the cat to a stop on top of it. Just as her path intersected with it, so too did the scent of Len change directions, for she could only imagine he'd taken this route himself. Here, as if a knife had been dragged through from above, the sight of the sky above was unobscured. It illuminated the manmade road through the forest, in contrast to the dimmer shade within the treeline. Would this lead her to her final destination? What was down this way? She was too excited to hold it in!

So she ran. Athletic was not her technique, but it did not detract from the speed of her sprint nor the length of her strides. She was a blur of rich brown and royal golden, almost like a homing missile as she soon came into sight of the distant checkpoint on the road. Sassy's breath caught in her throat as she nearly stumbled mid-flight. A plume of dust kicked up behind her as she tripped over her own feet, and then awkwardly righted herself. Even from here, where details were small and fuzzy, the cat could discern the one whom she sought. Finally... Finally! Without pausing to slow down at all, she cried out in elation: