Gekido City, Neru's Apartment

*knock**knock*

Neru: ...Hello? Oh, it's you Haku ...
Haku: Hi! I need a favor ...
Neru: Anything but that ... (pointing at the cat that Haku was craddling in her arms)
Haku: Oh, please Neru ... I have to be out of town for a couple of days and I need someone to look after "Puddy" here.
Neru: No ...
Haku: But no one else wants to help me. I have nowhere to turn to ... (making puppy dog eyes)
Neru: Try the animal shelter, they'll even put down Puddy for free ...
Haku: I'll pay your next months cellphone bill.
Neru: OK deal.

And so Haku hands over the rather large cat to Neru, bows twice and gets into a waiting taxi to go off to the airport.

Neru: Glares at Puddy
Puddy: Glares at Neru

Five minutes later ... Neru kicks Puddy out the door. Puddy doesn't seem perturbed. In fact, he seems rather delighted. So he carefully opens Neru's purse which he managed to swipe and proceeds to count out the change. Not much he thinks to himself, but enough funds to pay for a train ticket to Kerorin Town, his old haunts from the days when he was the leader of the Neko Yakuza. Time he thought to check in on his underlings and without further thoughts he heads off to Gekido Rail Station ...

Ten minutes later Neru finds her purse in her mailbox. It was emptied of all coins, but in it's stead Puddy had left his rather noxious "calling card" ... Neru looks in disgust at the contents of her purse, scowls and then dumps the purse in the bin gingerly, then heads for her closet to find her katana. She swore she would disembowel Puddy after chopping off his head and all other appendages and heads out the door; katana in hand only to be stopped at the end of the block by a police car.

Gekido City, the offices of Gekido Action News

Producer-san had a headache. He's been having a lot of headaches recently. Today's headache was, as usual, caused by Galaco. The station manager had left him to deal with the aftermath of last night's weather report in which Galaco had remarked that there was a mushroom shaped cloud over Hiroshima ...

To add to his headache he was also now in-charge of acting as the producer of the Chibi News Team. It's last producer had just left, with some glee we might add, to assume a new position in one of the major news agencies in Tokyo. The team consisted of a reporter (Chibi IA), a sound technician (Chibi Gumi), a producer's assistant (Chibi Ani-Chan) and a the camera man who was usually to be found when not working, in a drunken stupor in one of the bars near the railway station half a block away. At the moment, Producer-san noted to himself, the Chibi News Team was, as usual, having one of their "professional disagreements" ...

Chibi IA: BAKA !
Chibi Gumi: BAKA !!
Chibi Ani-Chan: Please you two, we have to be "professional" here ... name calling isn't "professional" ... just thought I'll mention ...
Chibi IA and Chibi Gumi: Don't interrupt, we're having a "professional disagreement" here!
Chibi Ani-Chan: But ...

Producer-san: I have an assignment for you three ...
Chibi IA and Chibi Gumi: Don't interrupt, we're having a "professional disagreement" here!
Chibi Ani-Chan: Yes Producer-san?
Producer-san: Listen, Ani-Chan. You seem to be the only one around here with any sense. I have a hell of a headache. Please take those two out of the office and make yourselves useful. Find some news to report or something ... preferably in some far off location like the northern tip of Hokkaido ...
Chibi Ani-Chan: But, Producer-san, going to Hokkaido would cost too much and you know what the station management said about having to be conservative with expenses. Besides which, our pocket money won't be able to pay for the out-of-pocket expenses plus since we're all kids, none of us have a credit card and ...
Producer-san: OK, I get it, here, take this chit down to Accounting. They'll give you sufficient funds to at least to go to the next town. May be make a report on the giant roach problem in Kerorin Town or something ...

Chibi Ani-Chan takes the expense chit, reads it and frowns, but says nothing. As soon as Producer-san left for his office, she takes out a pen and adds a few zeros to the end of the amount written on the chit. Then she hustles the other two out of the office and heads with them first to the Accounting Office and then to the bar where the camera man was hanging out ...

Gekido City, at a bar near to the railway station

Bar Keep: Oh hi there Ani-Chan! Come to pick up your collegue?
Chibi Ani-Chan: Yes Bar Keep san ... and bows politely to the Bar Keep. She then heads over to the end of the bar to where the camera man was chatting up a rather attractive young woman. She then bows to them and says : Papa-san, mother is waiting for us at home to have dinner.
Young Woman: YOU'RE MARRIED!!!??
Camera Man-san: *hic* Me married? When ...? He seems to be having trouble focusing as he kept staring at the young woman's upper torso ...

Unperturbed, Chibi Ani-Chan goes up to the camera man. The bar keep and the other regular patrons takes cover behind the furniture. Without another word she grabs the camera man by the arm and throws him halfway across the bar with a judo throw. He rubs his head but comes to his senses. Grumbling, he then picks up his camera and heads to join the other two chibis waiting by the door.
Chibi Ani-Chan: Excuse us, Miss, we must be going. She heads out towards the entrance after bowing to the shocked young woman.
Young Woman: Did ... did a ten year old girl just throw a grown man across the room!!??
Bar Keep: Yep, these cyber girls are amazingly strong ...

Kerorin Town, about an hour later ...

Chibi IA: OK, so what do we do now?
Chibi Gumi: Report the news perhaps, baka?
Camera man: When you find some, I'll be over there ...And he heads off after a well endowed woman heading towards a bar near the station.
Chibi Ani-Chan: What are you looking at Gumi?
Chibi IA: Ewwww ...that's disgusting!
Chibi Gumi: No it's not! This is quite a scientific discovery!
Chibi IA: That's not a scientific discovery ... that's what they call a road kill, baka!
Chibi Ani-Chan: Turns green upon having a closer look at the specimen that Chibi Gumi was examining with great intent.

What the chibis had found near the station was the body of a cat that was probably hit by a car and was lying dead in the gutter near a curb outside of the station. The unfortunate creature must have died sometime ago but the city sanitation department had not been around yet to remove the corpse. Like all children, the chibis are fascinated by dead things ... well perhaps with the exception of Chibi Ani-Chan.

Chibi Gumi: Pokes at the carcass with a stick she found lying near by. Hmmm ... I think it's been dead for at least several hours.
Chibi IA: Actually relatively quiet for once. How do you know that?
Chibi Gumi: Well it's beginning to bloat due to the gases and besides which it's already all stiff. Rigor Mortis has obviously set in.
Chibi Ani-Chan: Don't poke it so hard baka! It'll explode! WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?
Chibi IA: Holding her microphone up to the dead cat. I'm trying to get a "beyond the grave" interview.
Chibi Gumi: Great idea for once! Let me unpack my equipment!
Chibi Ani-Chan: Just want to remind you two, but we're supposedly here to be working ...
Chibi IA: We are working!
Chibi Gumi: Yeah, this could be important. We could prove scientifically that there is life after death! I could get a Nobel Prize in Science for this!
Chibi Ani-Chan: No one ever won a Nobel Prize for Science by poking at a dead cat with a twig ...
Chibi IA: Can you hear me, Neko-san? Poke it again Gumi, I think I just saw it twitch.
Chibi Gumi: Really? Hey something's happening!
Chibi Ani-Chan: Taking three steps back. I told you'll it'll explode if you kept poking at it like that ...

And indeed the carcass, under pressure from Chibi Gumi's poking had ruptured in the region of the abdomen and the entails began spilling out. Also the corpse seemed to gasp for breath during this process as other gases were released through the unfortunate creature's mouth.

Chibi IA: I think it's trying to say something!
Chibi Gumi: Really?
Chibi Ani-Chan: No ... and btw, this is getting beyond disgusting. Besides ... don't you two think that it might be a little disrespectful to the deceased to be doing what you two are doing? Like, bad karma and that sort of thing?
Chibi IA: Nah, we can get rid of any bad karma afterwards by throwing a few coins into a donation box at a shrine. This could be more important, especially if we can get it to talk!
Chibi Gumi: Pulling down her goggles and pokes around the entrails a bit more. There's no scientific proof for "karma".
Chibi Ani-Chan: What if it's ghost decides to come back and haunts you for messing around with it like that?
Chibi Gumi: I'm not messing with it. This is a scientific investigation.
Chibi Ani-Chan: Since when were scientific investigations carried out with a twig?
Chibi Gumi: Don't fuss the details, we have to use whatever tools are on hand ... She pokes around a bit more but now the stench was beginning to get to the chibis.
Chibi IA: Yuck ... it's beginning to smell a bit Gumi.
Chibi Gumi: Just use a hankichief to cover your mouth and nose ...

Officer Yuki (of the local Police force): What are you three kids up to?

Chibi Gumi: Dissecting this specimen!
Chibi IA: Investigating a cat murder - or at least a fatal hit and run!

Chibi Ani-Chan: I don't know these two ...

Officer Yuki: Stop that immediately. Apart from disgusting it is also extremely disrespectful to the dead. I'm calling City Sanitation to dispose of that ... she makes a face ... Now get away from that and leave that twig there.
Chibi Gumi: City Sanitation is just going to toss this into a trash can, how is that respectful to the dead?
Officer Yuki: The ghost of that cat is coming back for you lot if you keep that kind of attitude.
Chibi IA: Oh great! I'll get my exclusive interview ...
Officer Yuki: Vengeful spirits won't be in any mood to give interviews. Now you three better pay due respects to this body and then get the hell out of here!

Chibi IA just shrugs and decides to find something more interesting to interview. Chibi Gumi puts down her twig but takes a few shots of the corpse with her cell phone camera, then picks up her sound equipment and follows Chibi IA.

Chibi Ani-Chan, on the other hand, bows reverently to the corpse as suggested by Officer Yuki. Once each for each of the chibis, once to the officer and then lopes off after her companions who were headed to the local video arcade. She noted that it was getting dark and she was feeling uneasy for some reason.

Kerorin Town, a few hours later at the local video arcade

Chibi Ani-Chan: I keep having this uneasy feeling ever since that cat incident earlier. You two should have done as Officer Yuki suggested and paid your respects to that cat's corpse.
Chibi IA: What, you think its spirit is going to come back and haunt us or something?
Chibi Gumi: That could be scientifically interesting!
Chibi IA: Yeah? And how would being haunted by a ghost of a dead cat be scientifically interesting?
Chibi Gumi: Well for a start, it'll be proof that there's life after death!
Chibi Ani-Chan: Aren't you two scared at all? Like it's almost midnight you know. That's when ghosts are supposed to come out.

She looks around nervously, sensing something.

Chibi IA: You're not scared are you?
Chibi Ani-Chan: Well ... actually ... eh ... more like I have a bad feeling ...
Chibi Gumi: Irrational fear of the unknown is a waste of energy!
Chibi IA: You're not trying to suggest that the ghost of that dead cat is going to come back and haunt us just because we poked at its carcass earlier this afternoon are you?
Chibi Ani-Chan: Yeah, something like that ...
Chibi Gumi: IMPOSSIBLE !!! And that's my last word on the subject ...

MEEEOOOOWWWWW

The three chibis turn around in alarm to see emerging out of the shadows a large bloated white cat ...

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Translation: "Scream"

Kerorin Town, about half an hour later at the same local video arcade

Officer Yuki: So you found them all like this?
Camera Man-san: Yep, all three of them seemed to be in a catatonic shock when I came around to pick them up and the old shopkeeper had collapsed from a heart attack. But I gave him CPR whilst a passerby called for the police and an ambulance.
Officer Yuki: Yeah, thanks for that. Due to your prompt action, they said that he'll live. By the way, did you see the culprit?
Camera Man-san: Afraid not, just that rather plumb cat sitting over there in that corner ...



Puddy: *snigger**snigger**snigger* ...

CREDITS

Chibi IA: Mqdl/Kiyo (C) The 1st Place Co., Ltd.
Chibi Gumi: Mamama/Trackdancer (C) The Internet Co., Ltd.
Chibi Ani-Chan: *Digitrevx (C) Ani-Miku.com
"Puddy": Masisi
Kerorin Town: BTA
MME - diffusion 7
Software: MMD 8.03 / Photoshop 7