1. Nya?

"Schuuu~! Fuuujiiii! That's so unfair!"

Still panting for breath, Kikumaru scowled at his opponent. This really was unfair - not only did he just lose 3-6 to Fuji, as part of their training programme Inui had decided that the loser of any match had to drink his special "Inui Juice" as a penalty. Fuji liked Inui's juice though, so why couldn't he just lose on purpose?

"Don't be like that, Eiji. Besides, that stuff tastes pretty good."

Kikumaru changed his scowl to a pout.

"Ne, Fuji... Are you sure you don't want to have it instead of me...?"

So saying, he gingerly took the glass from a grinning Inui. The brown haired prodigy was also smiling, although in a much less disturbing manner.

"No, it's ok. It's true I like it, but I like seeing people suffer even more."

Kikumaru gulped. It still amazed him how Fuji could look calmer than Inui when thinking thoughts just as, if not more sadistic than him. Scrunching up his eyes he finally chose to just get it over with and threw the thick bright-green coloured liquid down his throat. The other tennis club members watched with great interest to see Kikumaru's reaction, including Oishi from the corner of his eye.

"It's a new version I created only yesterday," Inui smiled as he pushed up his glasses. "You'll be the first one to taste it."

Opening his eyes again and gasping for breath Kikumaru looked around himself dizzily. This was definitely different from the usual Penal Tea, it made his head ache more than anything else, and surprisingly enough it didn't actually taste that bad. He was about to voice his opinion on the matter, but didn't get further than saying "Nya-" before dropping his racket, falling backwards onto the ground and fainting.

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"Eiji!"

Oishi was the first to react, abandoning his match with Kawamura mid-game. Running to where his double's partner was now lying unconscious on the ground, he proceeded to kneel down next to the red head and search for signs that his friend was going to be ok.

"Eiji... Eiji! Hang in there!"

This wasn't right, Inui's concoctions were meant to be a punishment alright, but they'd never caused someone to collapse like this before. Oishi quickly checked the back of Kikumaru's head to confirm he hadn't fallen too roughly before gently lifting him to his feet, draping one of Kikumaru's arms around his own shoulders. He was fighting off a state of panic now he had Kikumaru standing - what was he meant to do next? Hurry to the school infirmary? The nearest hospital? Or throttle Inui for daring to hurt his best friend? The latter seemed the most appealing at the moment. Contemplating this, Oishi was suddenly distracted by a movement against his back.

"Eiji!?!"

Eyes slowly fluttering open, and blinking in response to hearing his name, Kikumaru looked up at Oishi's face.

Huh? Why was he almost hugging his best friend? Feeling a blush beginning to creep into his cheeks, Kikumaru quickly pulled himself away from the other boy and pretended to find great interest in a small graze on his left hand.

"... Eiji?"

Oishi repeated the red head's name in a more worried tone of voice. People didn't usually just faint then stand up again perfectly fine barely over a minute later. There was something odd going on here, and he didn't like it.

Calm again, Kikumaru blinked up at the other half of his double's pair.

"What's the matter?"

Oishi nearly smacked Kikumaru, then nearly smacked himself. What was Eiji doing asking if he was alright? That was his line! He wasn't the one that just fell down unconscious!

Kikumaru studied his friend's gaping face for a second before finally glancing around and finding himself surrounded by nearly all the tennis club members - most with worried or amazed looks on their faces. Inui was busy scribbling something down in his notebook, mumbling to himself quietly, "Interesting data..."

"Nya? Did something happen?"

Suddenly a commanding voice broke through the confusion and muttering of the tennis courts.

"20 laps around the court! Now!"

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Kikumaru couldn't take it anymore. It was nice of Oishi to be so worried about him, and it was true that fact alone gave him a strange feeling of happiness, but enough was enough. Having Oishi not take his eyes off of him since the incident at the tennis courts was great, but it was beginning to annoy him slightly for some unknown reason... Embarrass him almost.

"Schuuu~! Oishi! I've told you about a hundred times now! I'm fine!"

The worried look couldn't be taken off of the dark haired boy's face that easily. There was still something odd about the whole thing that wouldn't stop digging at the back of Oishi's mind, something that gave him the feeling something bad was going to happen.

"Ok, ok..."

Oishi decided to give in. Getting Kikumaru worked up wasn't going to help anything, and besides, it was nearly time for them to part ways on their walk home from school.

"See you tomorrow then..."

Kikumaru raised an eyebrow at his friend before reaching to pat him on the shoulder.

"Oishi, stop worrying so much! You can worry after 'something bad' happens, ok?"

Oishi couldn't help but smile at this optimistic view to things - Kikumaru just had that effect on him.

"I guess you're right... Later Eiji."

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Kikumaru flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes. The clock by his bedside read 22:14. It had been a long day today. He was alone in the house for the week as the rest of his family were off visiting relatives as of last night - he had to stay behind because of the upcoming tennis tournament - and he discovered this morning all too late that they were out of milk for breakfast; then he had arrived at school late only to find he'd forgotten his payment for their class trip the next week; his lunch money had to be used instead, so he had no lunch that day (apart from the small sandwich Oishi bought for him with the only money he had on him at the time); and to top it all off he had fainted on the tennis courts that evening after being forced to drink Inui's dreaded Penal Tea. Yes, it had indeed been a long day today... Oh, and he'd burnt his dinner tonight too.

Curling up into a ball, Kikumaru comforted himself with the hope that tomorrow couldn't be any worse, and let sleep claim him as he drifted into dreams of tennis and toothpaste and Tezuka performing with Kaidoh as a pair of clowns in the circus whilst Momo and Fuji threw custard pies at their faces.

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"... Nya?"

The blankets were strangely heavy over his head and Kikumaru had to struggle hard in order to find a way out from the maze of sheets and pillows. Eventually scrambling out into the fresh air, he somehow managed to fall off the bed and onto his back. It hit him how much higher from the ground his bed seemed to feel that morning.

Stumbling to the mirror, eyes still groggy with sleep, the red head also felt strange in the way he was walking - like he was crawling or something, but different. He could also feel something strange protruding from his lower back just above his backside. Finally Kikumaru made it to the mirror and yawned before attempting to rub his eyes.

That was when it hit him properly.

There was no Kikumaru Eiji staring back at him from the glassy depths to say 'good morning'. Instead there was a cat. Slim in build, with a coat of deep red-brown fur and bright blue eyes, the cat was unmistakably recognisable as him - right down to a rectangular white patch across its right cheek in place of where his plaster usually was.

The first thing he did was to look down at his body to check he wasn't in fact still human and it was just the mirror that was broken. The second thing he did was to panic and run around the room in circles jumping on stuff ("Nyaaaaa~! How'd this happen!?!?"). The third thing he did was play with his newly acquired tail.

Finally, exhausted from his antics so early in the morning, Kikumaru decided something needed to be done about his new form. He couldn't stay like this forever, that was for sure. Then upon hearing his stomach growl, Kikumaru decided he needed something to eat first. Hopping down the stairs into the kitchen, he raided the fridge and cupboards to find something suitable. He knew cats ate fish, and he knew they ate cat-food, but he wasn't really sure what else and he wasn't that keen on making himself ill and having to be taken to the vets or something. Giving up, he decided the best thing would be to find someone who owned a cat and see if they felt like feeding him anything.

Kikumaru suddenly remembered Ryoma had a cat. That was right, Karupin had gone to their school one day and he had ended up accompanying Momo, Tezuka and Oishi back to Ryoma's house to return it.

Wait a minute... Oishi! Oishi would know what to do! He could trust Oishi, and Kikumaru was sure Oishi would be a lot friendlier to a random cat than Ryoma would be... So it was decided, and with that the bouncy red head set off for Seigaku.

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Notes: Finally we get to the cattiness! Sorry it dragged on so long. ^^; Please tell me what you think (including any spelling/grammar mistakes I might have missed) and the next part will be up ASAP. ^^V