I used my sleeve to wipe my eyes as I stood over Susha in Caramel's office. Caramel linked her arm with mine, purring hard.
"She's a Neko now," she said.
"Yeah," I said, staring down at where Susha lay on the floor beside her chair. She was shivering. "She is."
She hadn't vomited yet after teleporting, but I figured she would shortly. She was fighting the nausea, but everyone gave up in the end and just let it all out.
And then?
I remembered taking Caramel in the kitchen only minutes after she'd been transformed. I felt nausea slide through my guts.
Susha would want it. She'd want me to hold her.
The air felt warm and stale all of a sudden, so I decided to leave.
"Look after her," I told Caramel as I turned away. "Tell her I'll see her tonight when she's recovered."
"I will." She giggled. "Her fur is so soft and fluffy!"
As I stumbled from the room, Licorice snatched my hand. "Are you okay, Master?"
"Bexley," I rasped. "My name is Bexley."
"I know," she said. "But I like calling you Master. I'll try not to if you don't want me to."
"I want…" I felt my whole body tremble. "I want you to be happy, Licorice. I want you… happy."
She looked up at me, her eyes shining bright. "I am happy, Master."
"Do you…" I bit my lip, thinking of Susha's thoughts of her mother. "Do you have any family?"
"I don't think so." She put a finger to her lips as she thought hard about it. "No. I don't remember any. But that's okay, isn't it? You're my family now, right? One growing Pride. I'm all yours, Master. I'm Licorice Finch, aren't I?"
"Yeah," I stroked her hair, listening to her purr. The sound calmed me down, and I was smiling when we made it to the car. "We're the downtrodden. The outcasts. It doesn't matter what came before, because we've got all we need in each other."
She pumped a fist with a happy mew. "That's right! Neko's forever!"
"Nekos forever," I grinned back at her, feeling a sense of relief go through my heart. I'd been worrying about nothing, I thought.
All that concern was just a waste of Intelligence.
I should just let it go.
With that, my body buzzed and I felt the familiar chime go through me.
Achievement Granted!
Achievement: Look Away, Look Away Again
Achievement Bonuses: Congratulations, you have grasped the concept of Cognitive Avoidance (again!). Gain an additional 25% protection against Dissociative Recall. This bonus stacks up to 5 times and cannot be affected by Spells or Skills.
Licorice, in the driver's seat, paused as she started the ignition. "Master? Are you alright?"
"I'm good," I nodded as the golden words flickered out of view. I tried to bring them up again, but it wouldn't come back. I couldn't find it listed in my notifications. "I got an achievement, I think."
"Oh? What was it?"
"I didn't get a chance to read it," I said. "But all achievements are good. Especially when they give you bonuses."
As we drove home, I pulled up my Neko's stats. They'd been busy.
Licorice (Personal Assistant)
black fur with blue eyes
Oriental Shorthair
Slender, Large Boobs
Intelligence (1)
Time Management (silver), Multitasking (copper), Device Proficiency (copper), Information Gathering (silver)
Shadowpaw (Rogue)
mottled fur with green eyes
Torti Housecat
Slim, Gymnastic, Small Boobs
Agility (1), Strength (1)
Handgun (silver), Shotgun (copper), Rifle (copper), Stealth (silver), Shoplifting (silver), and Scout (silver), Forge Documents (copper), Espionage (silver), Ropework (copper)
Identity Modification (lvl 1), Corpse Disposal (lvl 1)
Tippy (Mage)
white fluffy fur with grey eyes
Persian
Slender, Medium Boobs
Intelligence (2)
Wandwork (silver), Arcane Research (copper), Meditation (copper)
Firebolt (lvl 2), Icebolt (lvl 1), Arcane Pocket (lvl 2)
Caramel (Merchant)
chocolate fur with hazel eyes
York Chocolate
Slender, Short, Small Boobs
Intelligence (1)
Store Management (copper), Gem Assessment (silver), Gem cutting (copper), Jewellery Crafting (copper)
Jumper (Shop Assistant)
cream fair with blue eyes
Cream Balinese
Slim, Large Boobs
Salesmanship (copper)
Hunny (Shop Assistant)
red hair with green eyes
Ginger Housecat
Average, Large boobs
Salesmanship (silver), Gem Assessment (copper)
Mina
short black mottled fur with green eyes
Devon Rex
Tall, Long legs, Large Boobs
Intelligence (1)
Fashion Design (silver), Trending (copper), Social Influence (copper), Tailoring (copper)
Susha
fluffy blue-grey fur with yellow eyes
Persian
Athletic, Small Boobs
Intelligence (1), Wisdom (1)
Fashion Design (copper), Trending (silver), Viral Marketing (copper), Engineering (copper), Manufacturing (copper)
Expand Reach (lvl 1)
Susha's skills looked good. I expected Expand Reach would let her promote her posts online. I expected the System would bypass site algorithms to ensure her enchanted post would be seen by wider audiences.
Add to that her Viral Marketing skill, and I expected big things from her.
Very big things.
I could have gotten multiple people for her role, but I felt that this would give her greater success. Cosplayers who made their own high-tech costumes were more authentic than those who just wore something skimpy and left it at that.
People who might not get the cosplayer genre would be attracted to her post simply for the science of what she was doing.
I expected once she started to make the ears and tails, she'd also get points in robotics.
Longterm, I could see her making things even I couldn't dream of.
The Nekos really would rule the world and a lot of that would be because of Susha. I had no doubt.
I hummed happily as I went over everyone's changes.
Shadowpaw had reached a few silvers. As soon as I hit level ten, she'd be able to cross into gold. And then? Shadow skills.
I couldn't wait. Most of her skills right now were fairly ordinary. Handguns and rifles. That kind of thing. None of them were truly magical.
Soon, though. Soon, they'd all have greater powers.
I couldn't wait to see what Tippy would uncover using Arcane Research. She'd been too busy training her spells to lose another few days using Arcane Research.
And then there was Skye.
I tried glancing at her stats.
Frowning, I counted my Nekos.
Eight.
There should be nine. Where was Skye?
"Master!" Licorice gasped as we drove up the driveway. I shoved the screen aside and saw Shadowpaw.
Sprawled in the garage.
Surrounded by blood. Lots of blood.
"Shadowpaw!" I was out the door and on her before I could blink. Her body felt so cold and limp in my arms.
"Master…" Her voice came between agonised pants. So soft. So distant. "He… Skye…"
I held her in my arms, unable to believe what I was looking at.
My Shadowpaw. My sweet little Neko.
She was bleeding. A large gaping hole in her chest and a gaping cut ripping down from her shoulder to her hip. Her skin looked black and scorched.
A skill had done this, I thought grimly.
"Master…" Blood bubbled over her lips.
"Licorice!"
Licorice rushed up with a shocked squeak. "Master, what do I do?"
"Get to the fridge. Get anything you think is healthy."
"Healthy?"
"Yes! Juice. Vegetables. Get anything! Get fucking everything! Run!" I patted Shadowpaw's cheeks. My eyes were blurring. My poor Neko. My sweet Neko. "Hold on, Shadowpaw. Hold on. I know it hurts. But you have to hold on."
"Cold…"
"Hold on," I growled. "Licorice is coming."
"He…" She groaned from somewhere deep inside. More blood soaked into my clothes. I held her so tight. "He… Skye…"
"I know," I told her, gritting my teeth. "And I'll get him. Don't worry. I'll get him. Just don't go anywhere, okay? Don't leave me, Shadowpaw."
"Where… am I?"
I looked down and her eyes were fluttering.
Her breathing coming in short gasps.
Those beautiful eyes stared up at me, filled with pain. She looked confused and her lips quivered. "Who are you?"
I turned to the house and roared; "Licorice!"
"You…" She gurgled on blood, her body quaking as it began to fight its last battle with death. "You did… to… me…"
"Don't go," I cried, clutching her fiercely to me. "Shadowpaw!"
"Bexley!" Licorice dropped down beside us, her hands filled with items from the fridge.
I grabbed some juice and tore the top open and began pouring it into Shadowpaw's mouth. "Drink! Drink it! Come on, Shadowpaw. Just drink!"
She tried to swallow while her head turned this way and that.
Juice ran down her cheeks and merged with her blood.
I grabbed the milk next and did the same.
She choked on it.
"Swallow it," I snarled at her. "You swallow it all, do you hear me?"
She tried.
"Get the first aid stuff," I snapped to Licorice. "Anything medicinal. Doesn't matter what it is, just get it."
I was working with instinct and guesses.
It was my hope that the System would understand what I was doing and that everything would be treated like its magical equivalent. Juice was healthy, so it should raise her health points, I assumed. Even if only a little, it should help shift her out from a critical status.
Following this logic, bandages should work sort of like Neyterian bandages and immediately stop her bleeding.
I mushed up an apple in my fist, grateful for my Strength stat, and pushed it into her mouth with some leafy spinach. "Come on," I said, my brain pounding as though I was punching it with those fists. "Just swallow it. Apples keep doctors away. Spinach makes you strong like fucking Popeye! I know you can hear me, you bastard System. You've fucked my life. You've taken everything from me. Even my sanity. I know you have. You made me make this fucking promise, so you help me fucking fulfil it! Protect her!"
Shadowpaw shook her head, trying to stop me putting more stuff into her mouth.
"No…" She spat out some of it. "Let… me… go…"
Snatching her head, I forced her to look at me. "I know. You don't want it. I don't want it. But I gotta save you. And I can't save you if you're dead. So, eat it. Eat it all and live…"
She held my gaze and then, something in her eyes changed and she gave a weak nod.
I pushed more into her mouth.
She swallowed.
"Good girl," I said automatically.
"Master!" Licorice stumbled out of the house, arms loaded. She dumped everything down beside me and the first thing I grabbed was some antiseptic.
I don't know what doctors do. And all I know about nurses was that my Neyterian Nekos would wear their uniforms while casting healing spells.
I hadn't expected us to be in combat so soon, so I hadn't found a healer on Earth yet.
I'd fix that. I'd fix it straight away.
I tore her blouse open and dumped most of the bottle of antiseptic on her.
She let out a scream and I passed the bottle to Licorice. "Pour it down her throat."
"What?"
"Pour it!"
She did, while I held her jaws open so she couldn't refuse it.
There were a couple of safety pins. Not enough, but I used them anyway. I pinned her skin shut to hide some of her insides. Then I grabbed a small stack of gauze pads and pressed them down. I used tape to keep them in place.
She was shuddering as I worked, her eyes rolling in her head.
I reached out and grabbed another apple. Squeezing it to pulp, I put it into Licorice's hand. "Feed it to her."
She didn't argue. She pushed the apple into Shadowpaw's mouth. Shadowpaw whimpered but tried to swallow.
I began wrapping her torso in bandages. I didn't know if this was right, but I did it anyway. I wrapped her like a mummy.
When it was done, I tied off the bandage and grabbed a little band-aid.
I stuck it to her cheek and smiled into her frightened eyes. "Get better soon, my love," I told her.
And fell onto my back, exhausted and in pain myself. My brain felt like it was being turned into mush like the apples.
Licorice held out some aspirin for me. I took it and let it fizz on my tongue.
"I love you too, Licorice."
She smiled.
I smiled back as Shadowpaw started to breathe normally again.
And that's how Licorice got her Combat Triage and Shadowpaw got her Minor Self Heal spells.
I closed my eyes and thought of Skye. I'd failed her. I hadn't protected her at all.
This time, the tears didn't stop.