The tenth person that would be moving in the Cat House was a young woman called Lunch.
Lunch was homeless, orphaned AND eccentric. All of it at once.
Right now, she was looking for a place where she could hide from the police. Her motorcycle ran out of fuel, so she had to leave it behind. And on top of that, her previous partner-in-crime betrayed her, running off with the money they had stolen, while she was asleep.
So you could say the blonde-haired criminal wasn't in her best mood when she arrived in town. Or you could say: She was downright pissed!
On top of that, she tried very hard not to sneeze, as that would result in her dormant personality to awaken. And she didn't want that.
"Damn it!" she cursed as she ran down the street. "I can't go on like this! I'm broke, I'm hungry and as long as I do nothing, I'm stuck in this goddamned town. I need some CASH!"
That's when she reached the end of the street she had been following, and saw the old mansion standing in front of her.
Shr grinned. "Well, what do we have here? If this place doesn't look like the home of some rich people..."
She sneakily climbed over the fence, making sure that no one in the house would be able to see her. Among the bushes, she stealthily crawled through the garden, until she reached the backside of the house.
She saw that the door on the terrace was wide open, but she also could hear various voices coming from inside. She didn't want to confront the inhabitants of this house just yet. As long as the only thing she could use to defend herself was one single revolver, she preferred not to attract any unwanted attention to herself. And even if she managed to subdue the people in the kitchen, there was always the chance that there was someone else in the house who could easily call for the cops.
So, instead of going into the kitchen, she searched for another entrance.
She heard noises coming from the cellar door, as if someone was tinkering on some machines down there. So that way was out of the question, too.
But she was lucky: She found a window that was wide open, and there was no one in the room behind it.
She smirked. "Bingo!" Skilled, she climbed through the window and crouched down on the floor, making sure that no one had heard her.
For a while, she waited behind the big piano standing in the middle of the room, then she tiptoed to the door that was leading to the hallway.
She looked around and realized that the voices coming from the kitchen were to her left.
She looked up the stairs. Maybe she should try her luck up there...
But then some dust tickled her nose.
'Oh no!' she thought and desperately tried to restrain herself. 'Not now!'
But she couldn't help it: A loud sneeze burst forth from her nose.
And then, her hair color changed from blonde to blue.
The door leading to the kitchen opened. "Did I hear something?" catgirl Ranko asked. "Huh? Who are you and how did you come in here?"
The blue-haired woman smiled and recited the speech she had prepared for such a situation.
"Good afternoon! I hope I'm not a bother. You see, I am a homeless, orphaned girl, looking all day for a place where I could work. I may not be an expert in everything, but I'm always trying hard. And I hope that one day, I find a place to stay."
"A very nice speech," Kasumoo smiled, ash she appeared behind her dazzled friend. "Very wonderfully said!"
Blue-haired Lunch smiled bashfully. "Oh, you're too kind."
"Um, excuse me, but... I still don't know how you got here," Ranko said. "No one heard you ring the doorbell, and we have a very attentive doorman. And if you had come through the kitchen, we would have seen you."
"I'm sorry..." Lunch sighed. "But I can't really say. Seems like my other self did something... irrational again."
"Your other self? What do you mean?" the voice of Skuld came from the cellar stairs, as she heard the commotion and wanted to see what was going on.
"Um, I'm ashamed to admit it, but every time I sneeze, my other self comes forth... and she tends to act a little bit... selfish. And uncouth!"
"Sounds like she has a split personality or sumthin' like that," Ranko shrugged. "But anyway, if you're looking for a place to stay, we might have some room left for a tenth person."
"Oh, b-but... I really don't want to be a bother..." Lunch muttered.
"Nonsense!" Kasumoo smiled. "You seem to be a kind, well-mannered woman, and no matter whatever your other self did, she can't be so bad if you are such a nice person."
That was the nicest thing Lunch anyone had ever said to Lunch.
"Th-thank you! I promise, I will make myself useful. Please, how can I be of service? I want to start my new work right away!"
Ranko blinked. "What? Right now?"
"Yes, if you don't mind."
Ranko looked around. "Um... you could always do the dusting on the second floor. We never bothered to clean up there, but as you might need a room on your own... You could also put a few of the shoe boxes aside, so you have a room for yourself."
Lunch accepted a mop, a feather duster and some rags from Ranko, as well as a cute apron from Kasumoo.
She bowed. "Thank you! I'll go to work right away!" And with that said, she walked up the stairs.
Muzusa whistled. "Well, look at her... She really seems to be grateful, eh?"
Ranko frowned. "I wonder if we should worry about her having a second personality... or if she's just a bit nuts. A sweet and nice girl, but nuts."
----
For the following hours, Lunch was busy cleaning not only the room the was going to sleep in, but also all of the other rooms on the second floor.
After some time, Ranko came up and brought her a little snack. She also said that Lunch didn't have to do that much work. But Lunch replied that she was just grateful.
In the evening, Lunch was still at work. At the moment, she was cleaning the last room.
"Oh my..." she mumbled. "This room is especially dusty..."
Some dust tickled her nose.
"Ah... ah... AH-CHOOOOH!"
Lunch sniffed. She looked around.
She then looked down at herself.
"What the...?" the blonde criminal gaped. "Where am I? And why am I wearing such a stupid outfit?"
She pulled the apron off her body and threw it to the floor.
"Hmmm, looks like the second floor of that mansion... Maybe my dimwitted, other self did actually do something useful for once. If the inhabitants let her work for them, they might not suspect anything."
She looked around the room in glee. "Tee hee, which means I can easily search for a few valuables up here."
----
Down in the kitchen, the others talked about the weird new girl.
"She certainly was nice," Ranko said. "But she must be very sneaky if she managed to get into the house. I mean, Muzusa and I have a really good sense of hearing, so we would hear it when someone would break into the house."
"Maybe she isn't, but her other self is," Skuld assumed.
"Might be..." Ranko shrugged. PenPen squawked in agreement.
Muzusa didn't say anything. Instead, she clutched an object that Ranko was sure wasn't in the room before they met Lunch.
"Um, Muzusa... what's that you got?"
"Huh? Oh, that's my little Angelique!" the dog-girl swooned. "Isn't she a pretty?"
Skuld frowned. "Um, Muzusa... that's a gun!"
"Where did you get it?" Ranko asked.
"Oh, Lunch had it with her. I took it before she went upstairs. I don't think she would need it to do the cleaning." She then continued to nuzzle the gun affectionately. "Teehee... Hello there, Angelique!"
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(Posted Wed, 28 Mar 2007 15:48)
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