Cats Crossing
Shan Pu listened calmly to the teacher's excited introduction, wondering
just what was going on with the older woman. "This year," Miss Yukari
said cheerfully, "I've managed to acquire a special transfer student for
our class! She comes all the way from China."
"From China!" Tomo repeated the words eagerly, gazing at the busty,
purple haired woman standing by their teacher in awe.
"I'd like you to meet," Yukari double checked the spelling, "Shan Pu!"
"Shampoo?" Yomi blinked, her glasses shining as the taller girl looked
on curiously.
"Yes," Shan Pu nodded agreeably, bowing. "Shan Pu hopes class will
support her."
"I think that's two words," Chiyo-chan pointed out politely to the
others. "Shan," she paused intentionally, "Pu."
"Aw," Kagura waved it off as the athletic young woman grinned, "Shampoo
will make a good nickname for her."
"But if it sounds just like her real name," Osaka offered up
thoughtfully, "can it really be called a nickname?"
"Take any seat you like," Yukari waved towards the empty chairs,
casually tuning out her students usual conversations.
"Thank you," Shan Pu nodded respectfully, her eyes sweeping the room
warily. Her gaze landed on a black haired woman sitting in the corner by
the window and she felt a sudden surge of powerful fighting energy.
'Maybe this detour will be worthwhile after all.' she thought, striding
to a empty seat nearby the other woman.
"She gets to sit by Sakaki?" Kaorin sighed, the black haired girl
tossing adoring glances at Sakaki, "I envy her."
"Who you?" Shan Pu asked softly as she sat down, looking at the dark
haired girl beside her thoughtfully. Her physical presence was striking,
almost like electricity danced around her, and she had a striking beauty
to her, too.
"Sakaki," she answered Shan Pu calmly, opening up her books and watching
their teacher without saying another word.
'Secretive,' Shan Pu noted, 'interesting.'
Her quest for vengeance against the hated red headed girl had taken Shan
Pu to the island of Japan, but she didn't know exactly where to go next.
As her Grandmother and the elders of the Amazon tribe worked to find the
evil Saotome bitch she had been placed in this school, in the hopes of
preparing her better for Japanese society. Watching Osaka completely
fail in answering the question Miss Yukari asked she somehow doubted it
was going to work.
"Welcome to our school," Yomi offered her hand politely, her long mane
of brown hair flowing down her back.
Instead of shaking Shan Pu bowed, her expression politely respectful. "I
was wondering," she looked towards Chiyo, "what is that child doing
here?"
"She jumped ahead several grades," Yomi calmly explained, "Chiyo-chan is
probably smarter than most of us."
"Ah, hidden gifts," Shan Pu nodded gravely.
Yomi sweatdropped, "Well, something like that."
Nearby where they sat Sakaki ate from her bento, the box decorated with
frolicking kittens as Kagura chatted away to her. Sakaki was paying
attention to the conversation but the majority of her focus seemed more
to be on the magazine sitting beside her, depicting cats in the wild as
well on the streets of the city.
'She likes cats,' Shan Pu noted, 'isn't that interesting?'
As classes ended Shan Pu slipped away, finding a secluded spot beside a
pond of crisp, cold water. Stripping her school uniform off she braced
herself then splashed herself with water. In an instant the change came
and a purple furred cat stood in Shan Pu's place. Retracing her steps
she found where she had last seen Sakaki, the unique scent tickling her
nose.
'Strange,' Shan Pu thought as she followed the scent, 'I haven't
encountered a human that smelled like this before.' She swiftly traced
it through the crowds, then off in the distance she heard a sullen
growl. Urgently Shan Pu raced on, coming around a corner to see Sakaki
struggling with a cat biting her hand.
Sakaki bit back her pain, trying to get the cat's teeth free from her
finger. Looking up she was startled to see the purple cat gazing at her
intently, then it raced forward. With a lunge it struck the gray cat,
forcing it free from Sakaki's hand, then took up a guarding position in
front of Sakaki, hissing furiously. The gray cat cringed, then bolted in
fear.
Shan Pu slowly let her growl fade away, glaring after the other cat.
Somehow Sakaki smelled like family, like the wild cats that she was
cursed to become, and the instinct to defend her overrode all conscious
thought. That scent suddenly enveloped her as Sakaki held her close and
Shan Pu felt a purr begin deep in her chest.
"Thank you," Sakaki said, her voice touched with a bit of wonder at
meeting a cat that didn't hate her. Carefully she began to scratch
behind the cat's pointed ears and was rewarded with a even more throaty
purr.
Shan Pu almost wallowed in Sakaki's arms, purring happily at the girl's
touch. She knew that she should be spying on the girl, trying to find
out the source of the girl's hidden power, but she couldn't seem to help
herself. She felt Sakaki get up, still holding her in a careful grip and
Shan Pu just cuddled close.
"My parents are going to be gone a few weeks," Sakaki murmured after a
moment, "would you mind if I took you home with me?"
For a moment Shan Pu wondered if Sakaki suspected the intelligence
hidden by her cursed state, but finally decided that the girl was just
being kind. "Meow," she answered cheerfully.
"Good," Sakaki nodded as they headed out. The tall girl talked about the
neighborhood as they walked, her voice happy as she talked about the
people and animals that lived there. Eventually they reached a smaller
house and she pushed open the gate then opened up the door with her key.
Shan Pu swept the place warily with her eyes, but no foes presented
themselves. Instead it was quiet and neat, and surprisingly there were
no lingering scents of pets in the air. 'Is there some reason Sakaki
can't have pets?' she wondered.
Sakaki looked at the cat thoughtfully a moment. "I should make sure that
there's not too much cat fuzz around to bother my mom's allergies," she
said a bit regretfully.
Shan Pu purred sleepily, the day's excitement overwhelming her a bit.
She barely registered their going through the house or the water
starting, in fact she only realized she was in trouble when Sakaki was
readying to put her in the hot bath. 'Oh no," Shan Pu thought, and
attempted to wiggle free from her firm grip. She managed to get free
from the startled girl, but then dropped right into the water.
Splash! Poof!
Sakaki gazed in shock as the cat was replaced by a familiar young woman,
her long purple hair soaked as she sat in the sudsy water. Rather
sheepishly she brushed sudsy water from her face, covering her full bust
reflexedly. "Here," Sakaki gallantly offered to help her out of the tub,
holding out a towel in the other hand.
"Thank you," Shan Pu answered, smiling wryly as she was pulled out then
dried herself off vigorously.
"How did...?" Sakaki asked.
"Is long story," Shan Pu admitted. A few moments later and they were
sitting in Sakaki's cat-decorated room where she had explained the curse
and sketched in details of her quest. A bit more sheepishly she
explained why she had come after Sakaki only to get a blank look in
return.
"I'm not a martial artist," Sakaki shook her head firmly, "I don't even
know how to fight."
'She has that much of a battle aura and she's untrained?' Shan Pu
thought in surprise. The idea of what she might be capable of if Sakaki
was actually trained was mind boggling. She noticed a faintly sad look
on Sakaki's face and Shan Pu asked, "What's wrong?"
"I like cats but they don't like me," Sakaki explained a bit sadly, "I
should have known there was something odd going on when I met one that
liked me."
Shan Pu met those sad eyes and felt a moment of deep compassion towards
her. "Do you have some cold water?" she asked curiously.
"Well, yes," Sakaki picked up a glass from the bedside table and handed
it to her.
Carefully Shan Pu splashed herself once more, and the towel dropped away
as she shifted back to cat form. She bounded towards Sakaki and let her
pick her up, purring again as she rubbed her furry cheek against
Sakaki's hand.
'I may not be here long,' Shan Pu mused as Sakaki scratched behind her
ears worshipingly, 'but I'm going to be comfortable while I'm here.'
End
Notes: I'm pretty sure I didn't get Shan Pu quite right, but I'll try to
fix it when I do my second draft. I'm assuming the spring of drowned cat
was created by a wild feline rather than a domestic cat, but other than
that I'm working with the regular Ranma 1/2 world.
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