Chapter 2
4.
The continuation of the commotion rolls as everything is in shambles. In order to clear the situation, Kita and Hana were invited to come inside Yuna's residence. As they all sit down, the introduction begins.
"I'm Yuna, the errand Catgirl here in the tribe." The silver-haired Catgirl wiggles her ears as she introduces herself.
"I'm Lulu… I grew flowers at the farm…" The young Catgirl slowly said as she slowly wiggled her ears as well. The way that she talks suggests that she is always sleepy.
"Flowers?" Hana reacted but only in her mind, she definitely loves flowers. Knowing Lulu's job is making flowers bloom, Hana immediately wants to ask Lulu to be her friend.
"Aaaa… I'm Kita…" Kita nervously said, she couldn't wiggle her ears properly.
"Anoo… I'm Hana…" Hana introduced herself in the same manner.
"Why are nyu guys so tense? Relax, it's not like I'll end nyu or something." Yuna said.
"REEEAALLY?" Kita and Hana gladly reacted.
"Of course, why would I?" Yuna curiously asked.
"Eettttooo…. We touched those skateboards and stalked nyu afterwards…" Kita confessed.
"BUT WE DID NOT HARM YOUR SKATE THINGY I PROMISE" Hana defensively added.
"Oooh, so it was the both of nyu," Yuna said with a straight face. "Nah just kidding, it's alright. I overreacted earlier." Yuna said as she dropped her serious mode.
Kita and Hana are a bit lost. They don't know how they will explain the full story earlier. It looks like Yuna was the one that triggered the Runecrystal but it is oddly not glowing right now, even though Yuna is near.
To show their hospitality, Yuna and Lulu offered Kita and Hana to join them for lunch. As Yuna prepares the food, Lulu puts out their cute dining utensils. Lulu loves the color Pink while Yuna loves anything with a paw mark on it. Because of that, their plates, as well as the cups, are colored pink with black printed paws. After a short while, the chaotic first meeting turned into a wonderful peaceful meal.
"So where do nyu guys come from?" Yuna asked.
"We came from the seashore tribe, near the southern part," Hana politely answered.
"Southern paaaart? Is it true that there is a princess with water talent theeeeere?" Lulu curiously asked as the rumors were reaching the distant tribes.
Kita and Hana looked at each other. They realized that maybe letting Yuna and Lulu know about the current situation would help them determine the Runecrystal's objective.
"Do you want to see it?" Kita replied.
"Haaiii~" Lulu excitedly replied, but in her own way of excitement.
"Impress them," Kita told Hana.
Even though Hana is a bit shy to show off her skills, she starts to control the water on the cup, lifting it to the surface.
"Wooooaaaahhh…" Lulu reacted. It sounds blunt but she was genuinely thrilled by it.
"That's amazing!" Yuna loudly praised. "If only I knew a princess would visit us, I should have informed the Tribe Leader. Or at least prepare a better meal!" She added.
"Oh no no no, nyu don't have to," Hana responded as she was embarrassed by it.
"She does not like causing that much attention. We actually want to keep her identity a secret for now." Kita added.
"And why is that?" Yuna questioned.
"We ran off from our tribe," Kita answered as they chuckled.
"NYU RAN OFF!?" Yuna and Lulu reacted.
The explanation of their current state begins. Kita and Hana told them everything; from why they ran, to why they stalked Yuna. The conversation continues as Kita and Hana try to check if the Runecrystal is leading them there. Any form of an answer will definitely help them in their journey.
"So nyu are saying, I possibly triggered the Runecrystal earlier?" Yuna asked them to connect the stories.
"That's what we initially thought, here try holding it," Kita answered as she handed over the Runecrystal.
Yuna held the Runecrystal for a couple of seconds. "So it's supposed to glow right? Looks like it isn't doing anything…" She said.
"That was actually the reason why we thought that maybe it was a mistake," Hana replied.
"But it was only the three of us there. Unless there was someone else that we failed to notice." Yuna argued.
"That is also possible!' Kita responded.
"Yuuunaaa, may I see it?" Lulu asked Yuna.
"Sure," Yuna replied as she handed over the Runecrystal.
As soon as Lulu holds the Runecrystal, it glows but not as bright as earlier, it was way dimmer this time.
"Okay, now I totally don't know what's going on." Kita reacted.
"Should we ask the Tribe Leader of this village? Maybe we can figure out something." Hana suggested.
"Weeeell I doubt that old hound will tell us something useful. He is not that bright, like a puppet controlled by his pair." Yuna responded.
"This is beautiful…" Lulu mentioned.
"What if we investigate the place earlier? Yuna and I can go back there while Hana and Lulu stay here. We will try and test if the Runecrystal will trigger again there." Kita suggested.
"Why do I have to stay here?" Hana questioned.
"We are not that far from our tribe, what if someone from our tribe is roaming around and they saw nyu?" Kita argued.
"I guess that makes sense. I'll stay here with Lulu then." Hana replied. Hana is just pretending that she's sad about not joining Kita and Yuna. The truth is, she is indeed happy because she can use this opportunity to be friends with Lulu.
"Sounds like I plan, let's do it," Yuna responded.
With a primary plan that they generated, Kita and Yuna head out in that instant. Lulu somehow fell asleep as soon as Kita and Yuna left. Hana had no other choice, she ended up cleaning the place by herself. Doing household chores is quite new to Hana since she is a princess from their tribe, though it is not a problem since she wanted to experience it in the first place.
5.
Series of walking had occurred, Kita and Yuna reached the poorly built hut once more. Their investigation immediately started, using the Runecrystal, Kita and Hana tried to test multiple ideas to trigger it again. It is indeed taking tons of time, and due to boredom, Kita started the conversation.
"By the way, do nyu guys live by yourself there?" Kita curiously asked.
"Yes, my pawrents died early. On the other hand, I pretty much don't know about Lulu's pawrents. She was living first with the Tribe Leader, but our Tribe Leader did not have time for her. That's why I took her in." Yuna answered.
"I am sorry to hear that." Kita responded.
"It's fine, Lulu and I are doing great. Though sometimes I wish we could be elsewhere." Yuna said.
"What do nyu mean?" Kita asked.
"Honestly, I just feel like Lulu and I do not belong here. Let's just say we were quite different from the rest of the tribe." Yuna said, her voice filled with melancholy.
Kita was quite bothered by the situation, so to change the atmosphere, she changed the topic. "By the way, we saw nyu ride the skateboard earlier. I want to learn it as well!" Kita said.
"Nyu want to learn how to skate?" Yuna questioned.
"Hai!" Kita replied.
"Ho ho… are nyu sure nyu can handle it?" Yuna asked as she was provoking Kita.
"Bring it on Kitty!" Kita responded.
As the situation escalated quickly, Kita managed to completely change the mood. Yuna let Kita choose what skateboards she wanted. There are a lot of skateboards to choose from, they are all the same type but what makes them different from the others is the design. There are skateboards with; a pure black concept, others are pure pink, and there are some with a combination of black and pink. The only consistent part among those designs is the paw marks on each board, different sizes, and forms.
"These are really cool designs," Kita mentioned.
"Thank nyu, I created those during my free time. It's good to have a stock of skateboards just in case the one that I'm using breaks." Yuna replied.
"Pawsome~ I think I'll go with this one!" Kita picked up the skateboard with the complex design. The base is colored black, painted with thin pink line strips, with a white cat paw in the middle.
"Sweet, ready to roll?" Yuna responded.
"Sure do!" Kita said excitedly.
As clear as the skies are, Kita is evidently thrilled with the activity. She hides the Runecrystal between the skateboards while they are taking a break in the meantime.
Yuna started to teach her the primary knowledge that she should know; Controlling her center of gravity, properly distributing her weight, anticipating when to lean forward or backward, speeding up using her other foot, and lastly how to stop.
The aforementioned skill that she should learn is as easy as breathing. Kita immediately learned almost all the basics, except for one thing. She doesn't know how to stop the skateboard. Her athleticism helped her to immediately learn the basics but stopping the board is a whole different equation.
"The first step in stopping is lowering your stance, then skidding your other foot. If nyu are slow enough, nyu can stop it using the tail of the board." Yuna thoroughly explained.
"THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO!" Kita complained while lying on the ground, fresh from her last crash.
"This will be a long daaaay~" Yuna said as she laughed afterwards.
Switching back to the other side, Lulu finally woke up. She immediately heads to the flower farm, without even noticing that Hana is patiently waiting for her in the corner. Instinctively, Hana followed her.
While Lulu starts to work, Yuna tries to get her attention. "aa... anooo…." Hana shyly said as she awkwardly wiggled her ears.
"Oy, ohayooo," Lulu responded as she slowly wiggled her ears. Lulu always says Ohayo regardless of the time. As long as she recently woke up, then ohayo is the first word that she will say.
"May… may… may I help nyu in your work?" Hana asked while she fidgeted.
"No prob-" Lulu yawns, "blem~" she added.
"Nyatta!" Hana excitedly said as she immediately grabbed some seeds.
Lulu is not teaching Hana anything. It will require more energy if Lulu works and teaches, both at the same time. Because of that, Hana is just imitating Lulu's actions. There are times that she mistakenly copied even Lulu's yawning, mainly because Hana is really into it.
Hana thinks that planting seeds should be this careful. She doesn't know that Lulu is just a slow-paced type of Kemi. While Lulu is minding her own business, Hana mistakenly takes it as a technique.
"If I manage to learn her ways, maybe I can be friends with her," Hana said inside her head.
Later that moment, Lulu stretched up and said "Break time!". Hana stood up as well, then removed some dust from her clothes. When she looked around, Lulu was already gone.
"Eh?" Hana said as she was confused by the sudden disappearance of Lulu. She looks around the farm, trying to check if she just failed to see Lulu.
"Maybe she went somewhere, I should just wait inside." Hana said to herself.
When Hana entered the house, she saw Lulu in the dining hall, lying down on the floor like a lifeless corpse. Hana immediately checks her vitals, extremely worried that something happened. Eventually, Hana finds out that Lulu is still breathing and her vitals are fine, she is just sleeping again. Lulu can sleep everywhere at any given time.
"Haaaaaay…. I guess I'll just wait for another timing again." Hana said as she deeply sighed. She then navigates the house to get a blanket for Lulu.
Truly, timing is the name of the game for both Kita and Hana. Kita must learn when to lower her stance as she tries to skid slower. If she skids immediately in the wrong stance, she will lose her balance which will send her flying, instead of stopping the skateboard. On the flip side, Hana seems to have a clear vision of her goal, but her path closes in at random intervals. The more she hesitates, the more she loses the timing as Lulu heads back to sleeping again.
The group is indeed having a new experience but it looks like they are quite distracted from the primary goal. The target of knowing why the Runecrystal was triggered earlier seems to be on hold for now.
6.
In order to make things more interesting, Yuna challenged Kita to a race. Kita may have the upper hand in raw speed but she could not stop nor turn effectively. Yuna thinks that maybe competition will boost things up.
Kita is quite hesitant, she knows her flaws but she never said no to a challenge. "ALL RIGHT, LET'S DO IT!" Kita loudly answered. Even though she is entirely frustrated by the scenario, her competitiveness makes her accept the challenge.
"Interesting, here's what we are going to do. We will race around the village and the first one to make it back here wins. The loser will be called a kitty for the rest of their life. 9 eternal lives included." Yuna explained.
"OY! 9 ETERNAL LIVES IS A MYTH!" Kita complained.
"On your mark," Yuna said without listening to Kita.
"MATTE, MATTE!" Kita said while in panic.
"Get seeeet," Yuna added. "Paw!" She shouted as they both started to skate.
As expected, Kita immediately starts fast, definitely outclassing Yuna in terms of pure speed in a straight path. Even with a clear far distance, Yuna is not even worried in the slightest. She is confident enough with her skills, therefore trusting herself that she will eventually win the race.
Down to the entrance to the town, a few meters in, they should take a left turn. Kita tried her best to slow down but it looks like there was no sign of her slowing down. As they reached the corner, Kita lost her balance, making her stumble on the ground. With that incident, Yuna easily clapped the lead that Kita built.
"You can take a nap there if you want~" Yuna said as she passed Kita.
"Tssk.. I'll show you!" Kita madly said as she stood up once more and started to skid.
With the succeeding turns of pathways, Kita crashed left and right. Though every time that she falls, she slowly learns how to properly turn. Eventually, she gets the hang of it.
"Now we're talking!" Kita loudly said as she managed to successfully turn into the last street in the village.
As Kita managed to reach the final sprint, she saw Yuna already halfway through the finish line. "Nyoossh, here I come!" Kita shouted as she exerted her remaining strength in order to catch up.
Yuna smirked, recognizing Kita's determination, as she finally found someone who loved adrenaline the same as hers. "I'm not going down here easily!" Yuna skidded faster as well.
The gap between them is getting smaller and smaller as they both slowly eclipse the finish line. Eventually, Yuna and Kita cross the finish line and they both end up crashing into a tree. The speed that they inserted makes it impossible to just stop the momentum.
While lying on the ground, Yuna and Kita laugh. "That was intense!" Kita mentioned.
"I actually never had that kind of adrenaline for a long time," Yuna replied.
"This is the first time I lost to someone. Nyu are indeed great!" Kita said.
"Nyu are great as well. Nyu know what, calling nyu kitty does not seem fair. Nyu really made me run for it." Yuna responded.
"I lost the match fair and square, I'll take the punishment," Kita replied.
"Hmm… I'll just call you Kit. It's a double-meaning nickname since it can refer to either Kita or Kitty," Yuna suggested as she created a new nickname for Kita.
"Sounds nice to me~" Kita responded as they both took a rest on the ground for now. Kita managed to earn Yuna's respect.
On the other hand, Hana is having quite a problem. As the clock ticked by, Hana took the opportunity to have a mock conversation on her own. She believes that this will help her by the time Lulu wakes up again. The conversation inside of her head seems doable, but every time she tries to practice, Hana ends with; "Let's be friends", and "Okay". That's the end of the mock conversation.
"AAAAA! What should I do? I won't be able to be friends with Lulu at this rate…" Hana frustratedly said to herself.
"Maybe by looking at her, I'll manage to at least test. After all, she won't hear me since she's asleep." Hana added as she positioned herself in front of Lulu.
The plan is pretty simple, she'll just ask Lulu to be her friend while Lulu is sleeping. In this sense, she can consider it as an experience but without feedback.
Hana breathed deeply as she began her practice. "Anooo… please listen to what I have to say. Back in our tribe, the only friend that I have is Kita. Because of my princess status, the other Kemis seem to be distant. I never actually had the opportunity to have more friends, and I truly want to have more. If nyu don't mind, will nyu be my friend?" Hana wholeheartedly expressed herself.
As Hana finally let out her feelings, Lulu suddenly sat up and answered. "Suuureee~" Lulu replied while her eyes were half closed.
In that instant, Hana's face turned absolutely red, extremely embarrassed by the situation. "Nyu… Nyu… Nyu are awake!" Hana said as she stuttered.
"I was… half sleeping," Lulu said as her phrase was cut by her yawn.
"Haa… ha… Half sleeping?" Hana questioned as she kept on stuttering.
"Haaaiii. I do sleep anytime but I only half sleep during the day. I can still hear while I'm half asleep." Lulu explained.
"Nyu… Nyu can... Sti… still hear?" Hana stuttered even more, currently about to die from embarrassment.
"Haaaiii. I even heard your practice." Lulu added.
Hana could not say any words right now. Blushing up to her ears, Hana put her face in the corner of the room.
"Don't worry, I'll be your friend. We can take care of the flowers together." Lulu said as she tried to comfort Hana.
"Nyu will?" Hana shyly asked as she peeked.
"Of courseeee," Lulu replied.
"NYATTA!" Hana gladly reacted as she got back on her feet.
"Let's continue gardening now," Lulu said as she led the way toward the backyard.
"HAAAIIII~" Hana responded as she immediately followed.
Both ends seemed to be doing well. Kita is having fun with Yuna while Hana and Lulu are now friends. They are truly having a good time but it looks like their joyful time will come to an end.
"Let's continue searching?" Kita asked Yuna as she stood up to grab the Runecrystal.
"Sure, we still have a lot of time to spare," Yuna replied.
It's been 5 minutes but Kita is not yet responding.
"Oy Kit, why are nyu taking so long?" Yuna questioned.
Kita slowly looked at Yuna, shaking with teary eyes.
"What's wrong?" Yuna worriedly asked.
"The… the… the Runecrystal is missing…" Kita said as she stuttered.
"HUH!?" Yuna shouted.
End of Chapter 2