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This was an emergency of the utmost importance.

Itsuki came sailing into Zachary Calloway's room like a furry little rocket, landing squarely on the young man's stomach in an panic. Before Zach could start with the yelling about pain and invasions of privacy, the story started to take shape and the urge to turn Itsuki into a pair of house slippers had temporarily subsided.

"Zee-chan! It's terrible! There's a Mauvian stuck in the pound! I was out on patrol with Sada-chan and we passed over the building and that's when I felt it! I tried to get into the building to let them out, but it's locked up tight. Sada-chan couldn't get in either without doing some real damage to the building! We need your help, Zee-chan! We have to rescue the Mauvian! They're probably scared and can't get out without blowing their cover! You would what would happen then..."

Itsuki's ears drooped as he steadied his breathing. He knew just what happened in pounds if an animal stayed for too long - it was terrible, and while a Mauvian would probably do everything they could to survive and escape, it would be at very great risk to themselves and the rest of the powered individuals in the city. The only safe option was to go in during normal business hours, pretend to be interested in adopting a cat, and seeking them out. Thus, the plan was hatched that night.

~~~

The next morning, Zach managed to get his schedule changed to switch with one of his coworkers. He would take their afternoon shift in exchange for their taking his morning shift. Dressed and ready to go, Itsuki donned a collar and leash to ride in Zach's shoulder bag as a pet. A short car ride later, the Destiny City Humane Society loomed from the parking lot. It was like a prison break, really, except... not, really. There were no bars on the windows since the inmates couldn't really escape on their own. There were no guards or automated doors, either, but the building basically was a prison of sorts.

Riding along in the shoulder bag, Itsuki was relieved to find a giant, glossy poster in the waiting room, reading, Destiny City Humane Society is a no-kill shelter with valuable statistics regarding animal adoptions in the city. With a (quiet) sigh of relief, the Mauvian had to keep up appearances in case any of the human workers were looking.

"I'm interested in gettin' a little friend for my... well, little friend, here. Don't worry, he's leash-trained. Real friendly. D'you guys have any cats available?" Zach was working on his end of the plan, as the only human available to spring the prisoner. Itsuki sat in the shoulder bag and was petted and cooed over by some of the other people here interested in bringing a friend home. At least the people here seemed to genuinely care about the animals.

Several doors and cages later, the Dynamic Duo was standing in a room filled with several cages, stacked up to Zach's head. Each was metal, with a grated and hinged door on the front, and each containing one to three adult cats. Some kittens were placed four to a cage, but those were specifically listed as being siblings from the same litter. Some cats were vocal, some were sleeping.

Now... where was the Mauvian?

Itsuki could sense the Mauvian immediately, but had to keep an eye out for human intervention. If he moved too intelligently, the Humane Society workers might become suspicious. The fact that they let Zach into the main room with another cat riding shotgun in a shoulder bag was testament enough to the lilac point's good behavior and sociability.

Many of the cats desperately wanted homes, and Zach wasn't prepared for the guilt. He couldn't reasonably take any of them home save for the Mauvian, who likely wouldn't stay with them. Thankfully, the shelter wasn't a kill shelter, and taking just one animal out of here would help alleviate the overpopulation problem by just a tad. Zach had a job to do, and pretended to be examining the many felines pawing at him and mewling, shifting the bag so that Itsuki could get a good look in each of the cages to try and find the prisoner.

Ah ha!

There, in the back of one of the cages labeled Miss Meow - SPAYED was a curly-haired, almost kitten-sized cat with a distinctive aura. A star was emblazoned on her forehead. Bingo.

Every few moments, Zach would cast a nervous glance down at his feline companion, waiting for the signal. With a mewl of his own, Itsuki turned to look up at his "owner" in a faux display of affection while glancing several times in Miss Meow's direction.

"...that the one...?" came a mumble from the human.

A nod from Itsuki sealed the deal.

~~~~

With Miss Meow picked out, the volunteer (who was a rotund, but jolly older woman with silvery hair) instructed Zach and Itsuki to wait in a separate room to see if both feline were compatible. While alone, Itsuki made to dig through Zach's bag - mentioning the horrors of prison food, Zach had snuck in some beef jerky and fresh chicken mcnuggets, He didn't know what cat food tasted like, but according to Itsuki's description, he didn't want to.

Miss Meow was gently carried into the room, which was mostly barren of decor save for two chairs and several cat toys strewn about the floor - a few rolling balls with jingling bells, a feather tied to a string and a squishy toy mouse infused with cat n**. Itsuki was out and about, pacing with worry until the door opened.

"Here you are, dear. Now let's see if they like each other. This little one has been on such good behavior - no real problems with other cats and very friendly towards people. Aren't you a lovely thing, Miss Meow? Okay, here you go, dear." Leaning over, the woman lovingly deposited the Mauvian to the floor and turned to leave, as the room simply wasn't big enough for her and the others to be comfortable. "I'll be back in ten minutes to see how you're doing." She disappeared soon after, tending to another couple with children looking for a furry friend or two.

With the coast clear, Itsuki could finally speak! "Uwah, Nya-san, are you okay?! We're here to break you out of prison! We brought food! Are you okay!?" Tittering with concern, the lilac point made to look the little curly thing over to ascertain her physical condition. Zach tried not to chuckle.

Well... that wasn't what Itsuki was expecting.

Perplexed, he tilted his head, lilac star quite visible to the little curly one. She seemed so terribly frightened! Was it the treatment here in prison?! Why was she trying to pretend to be a regular cat? Itsuki could clearly see the star on her head. Was she... dropped? Injured? The lilac point retreated to Zach's shoulder bag and retrieved a still-slightly-warm chicken nugget to deposit near Ichta, and backed away slowly.

"Nya-san, it's okay. We're here to get you out! Onegai, I can see the star on your forehead. You don't need to pretend - don't worry, we won't tell. This is Zach, he's my senshi. You won't have to worry about him either!" Itsuki looked back to his senshi, who sat far from them on one of the provided chairs. His gray hair was messy, but he was clean and wore a fresh, dark shirt with scarf.

Hearing his name, Zach waved to the little curly kitten who had stuffed herself into a corner and licked at her belly in anxiety. His brows touched in concern. Maybe she needed to see a vet? Would a vet even be able to help? "We're gonna get you out... you know, if you want to. Itsuki says this place is like a prison... Said he felt you last night, during a patrol."

Maybe she didn't want to leave?

Itsuki's ears drooped when the tiny curly kitten couldn't decide if she wanted to leave this prison environment. Did any Mauvian wish to return to being a housepet? Really, could he blame her? Itsuki made to frown, turning back to Zach with a confused look apparent on his face. Zach, for what it was worth, shrugged in response.

"It's her decision, lil' dude. I mean... maybe she doesn't wanna be a part of all the... crazy magical bee ess."

It was something Itsuki had to consider, that with consciousness came choice. The tiny curly kitten had the choice, as a conscious and sentient being, to decide whether or not she wished to remain in the Humane Society and perhaps become adopted. The fact that Itsuki and Sada-chan could sense her was an issue... If she chose to be a pet, she would still give off an aura that might be picked up by someone else.

Still, ultimately, it was Ichta's choice.

"...hai, you're right, Zee-chan. Nya-san, if you don't want to leave, gomen, I'm sorry to bother you. If you don't want to leave, I hope you can find someone nice to take you in. Would you like the rest of the nuggets, Nya-san?" Itsuki turned back to the shoulder bag on the floor to retrieve the rest of the breaded and fried treasures. Before he dragged the cardboard package out onto the floor, he turned back to the tiny Mauvian beneath the other chair. "...Nya-san, could I at least get your name?"

Itsuki reached a paw out to comfort the clearly distraught kitten, but her movements were fast and furious and anxious. He felt guilty, assuming she wanted to leave and making a big show of coming in to rescue her. Had they made a mistake?

My boy can't find me if I'm in here!.....I can't find him if I'm in here!

“Nani? Your boy?” The lilac point turned back to Zach in wonderment.

Zach, in turn, shrugged in response. “Well, you said I’m yours, maybe she’s got somebody out there that’s hers? An owner or somethin’, even? Beats me.”

Once the curly girly was back in her corner with a sigh, Itsuki retreated to the shoulder back to retrieve another nugget as a peace offering, trotting up to Ichta and leaving it a good two or three inches from her face. “Who is your boy? It’s nice to meet you, Ichtaca~ May I call you Maki-ko? It means… hm… Curly Child! Since you are younger~ Or… hmm… Maki-imuto-san... hmm… curly little sister… hmm…”

“I think it’s more important that she feels safe than what kind of weird nickname you’re going to give her, lil dude.” The gray haired young man was keeping a close eye on the door to make sure he could sufficiently warn the Mauvians of any incoming people. So far, so good. It seemed as though the shelter was quite busy today. “If she doesn’t want to leave, well… we can’t make her leave. But if you’ve got somebody on the outside, Ichtaca, maybe we can help you find them? We got some connections? Either way, you can have all these nuggets if you want ‘em.”

Dealing with intelligent cats was getting weirder by the day.

"Ichtaca-chan..."

It was her small voice and sad, sorrowful statement that caused Itsuki to realize that, perhaps, trying to relabel the poor kitten was offensive. He didn't mean to cause harm, and hadn't run into a Mauvian before that had had such a conundrum. Duty outweighed his connection to Ayako-chan only because the Negaverse may attack the family again if he stuck around. Sometimes he would miss her and the restaurant and wish to see them, but kept his distance for their safety. Saving Destiny City would keep them safe, and then maybe they could reunite someday.

Zach was going to let his obnoxious companion take care of this as much as he could. As a senshi, his place in things was different than that of the Guardian Cats. His duty was different. Still, he offered as much assistance as he could. "Maybe... we can help you find your boy? I mean, you got it right - you can't find him if you're in here, and if we can find you... they can too."

Itsuki nodded with enthusiasm. "Hai! Ichtaca-chan, we'll help! And keep you safe, too, while you look for your boy. I know what that's like - I had to find Zee-chan on my own, and it's not easy. But if you want to stay here, we're not going to take you out. ...It's really up to you, Ichtaca-chan. There are lots of other senshi and Mauvians that would be happy to help, though!"

One of the workers was coming back, and chicken nuggets weren't the best thing to have just laying around on the floor of the Humane Society. Itsuki and his senshi worked quickly to toss all the nuggets back in the bag before the woman's arrival. "Yeah, we'll help you. 'least we can do." Zach smiled to her as reassuringly as he could. How did one reassure a Guardian Cat, anyway?

Itsuki set himself up to sit near Ichtaca, as if the two were getting along well and enjoyed being in one another's proximity. "We'll say we're adopting you, and I'll do all the paperwork, and take you back to my place. It's clean, don't worry. We'll stop on the way for more food if you're hungry. Got some fish at home. But after that? We'll figure out how to track your boy down."

"Hai!" chimed in the other cat. "You can tell us what you remember and we'll see if anyone knows them!"

There was a knock on the door suddenly, and Zach rushed to sit back in his original position on the chair. He smiled up a the older woman, who held a clipboard with Miss Kitty's information. "So... how are we doing? Are we getting along well, hmm?" The woman knelt to the floor to get a better look at the two cats. For his part, Itsuki did his best to appear friendly and interested in Ichtaca. This seemed to please the Humane Society worker, who turned to Zach for his decision.

The young man hesitated for just a moment, looking to Ichtaca with a nod that he and Itsuki would do as they had promised. Turning back to the Human Society worker, he gave her a confident smile. "I think they're getting along real well. Miss Kitty'll come home with us today, if everything's all done?"

"Oh, wonderful!" came the reply. The woman began scribbling on her clipboard in a fury of pen strokes. "Miss Kitty is such a sweetheart, and I'm sure your little one could always use a friend. I'll get her all packed up and ready to go. We just need you to sign the paperwork and pay the adoption fee, and we'll send you home with a free bag of food."

And that was that - Ichtaca was, unfortunately, placed in a white cardboard carrier with the Humane Society logo and information printed on the side in navy blue. Zach did his best to pay the $65 fee and fill out the paperwork as quickly as possible - it must suck to be stuck in cardboard like that. Ichtaca was tiny, but so was the carrier. Food bag in hand (which neither of the Maus would eat, he was sure, Zach placed the cardboard carrier in the front of his well-loved sedan, with Itsuki in his shoulder bag in the back. As soon as the coast was clear, Zach popped the top on the carrier to let Ichtaca out.

"Alright, little lady. Freedom time. The house isn't too far from here, but uh... don't think you'd like the dry food they gave me. Anything you'd like to eat?"

"Fresh nuggets? Sounds good to me. Consider it done, little lady."

Itsuki had just finished cleaning himself off, trying to shake some of that loving drool Ichtaca had heaped on his back. The lilac point didn't mind too terribly much - he understood having to play a particular role when it came to interacting in front of humans. He did hope it meant Ichtaca liked him, even a little bit.

Luckily for the trio, Wendy's was nearby. It was easy to distract the drive-thru worker from the two cats in the car, and a few minutes later, six piping-hot and fresh chicken nuggets had Ichtaca's name written all over them. Figuratively-speaking. "We'll get you situated at our house, for the time bein'." Zach explained, pulling the well-loved sedan out onto the main road. Itsuki was easy enough to justify to his father, but Zach was sure Ichtaca would be a quick sell. She was cute and friendly, not to mention the fact that she needed help. "We've got a cat bed and everythin', but Itsuki usually sleeps on me instead. We'll keep you fed and whatnot until you're able to find your boy. Who are they, by the way?"

"Hai~" chimed in the other Mauvian, shaking his body to fluff up his fur. "He must be a senshi, or a potential senshi! There are lots of Mauvians at the Headquarters! I'm sure they would know how to find your boy if he's awakened! And if not, Ash-denka and Liryn-sama are very skilled with the main computer!"