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Engel yawned, forcing himself to get up from his bed and prepare for school. He organized everything, neatly arranging his needed things inside his bag and went outside his dorm. That was when Moe Moe, Claire's cat, suddenly appeared from nowhere and began rubbing itself against his legs.
“Hey Moe Moe, what are you doing here? How'd you get out of Claire's dorm?” He didn't expect a response, but the cat meowed as if it was trying to say something. “Listen.. I gotta go, so stay in here, okay?”
He then walked away.
When he thought he lost the cat, it was behind him, not stopping.
“Uhh.. Claire?” Engel peeked inside the classroom, looking for her.
“Yeah?” She went over to him.
“Your cat followed me into the school today, what do I do?”
“My.. what?” She looked behind him and saw the small black feline. “Hey, you're not supposed to be here..”
Moe Moe simply meowed and asked for pets. Engel looked at the clock, and saw that they had about twenty minutes before Miss Circle came in.
“Should we run back to the dormitory and lock it there?”
“Yeah.”
After a while they closed the door to Claire's room, and were going to walk outside when somehow the cat was there again, outside the door to the school grounds.
“What..” They both looked dumbfounded.
After a few attempts, somehow they just couldn't get rid of Moe Moe. Its food and water bowls were refilled, and there was no other reason for the cat to always follow them.
“Maybe he needs attention?”
“I already give him loads of attention whenever I go back home.” Claire said as she was scratching her cat under the chin.
“What if he's just needy today?”
Bubble suddenly opened the door of her dorm room and stopped in her tracks when she saw the two crouched down.
“Why are you–Aww!” She then bent down to pet down Moe MoeMoe Moe. “Is this your cat, Claire?”
“Yeah, he won’t leave me alone and I don’t know why. It’s almost time for class too.”
“Don’t you have a cage or something?”
Claire frowned. “I don’t really like using cages or something. And when we need to go somewhere I sometimes put a harness on it or just put it in the pet stroller.”
“Oh.”
Engel checked his watch and gasped.
“Claire, we’re gonna be late!”
“Oh shoot.. Uh, Moe Moe go back–stay. No-” The cat somehow always slipped past every time she’d try closing the door. “Please.. I swear I’ll give you cuddles when I get back, now stay.”
She finally shut the door with Moe Moe inside. They sighed, and ran to the classroom.
—
“Okay, remember the formula I gave you for the right triangle because we will have a qu—what is this?” Miss Circle stopped, spotting a small black cat. Her friends turned to Claire, who was now silently pleading that she wouldn't get a punishment for this. She didn't even know if Miss Circle liked cats.
“Sorry Miss.. I–uh..”
“No pets are allowed in my classroom, you know that.”
“I know, he just won’t leave or something..”
Moe Moe had climbed on the desk and rubbed its head against Miss Circle's hand who was pointing at it. Claire thought she was mistaken, but she swore that her teacher's eyes softened at the cat. Though the moment didn't last long as she picked it up by the scruff.
“Return it to your room, or you will get detention. Class, while we wait for Claire to bring her pet back, I will give you time to study.” She sharply turned her head to Claire. “Now go.”
She wasted no second running out the door.
“Moe Moe, please.. Stay put in our room, you're gonna get me in trouble!” She said while running as quickly as she could.
Her cat simply stared at her with large, blank eyes. Claire looked defeated. “I don't think you understood what I just said..”
She finally arrived, dropped Moe Moe at its food bowl, closed all the windows, covered all the holes she could find, and left after kissing the tiny feline on the head.
“I hope he doesn't get out again.”
—
A while later the bell rang and it was lunch time. Claire sat down with her friends and began eating, but then she felt something familiar brush up her leg. She looked down, and gasped a little too loudly, but quickly clapped a hand to her mouth.
“Uhh.. You okay?” Engel asked.
Claire slowly turned toward him. “My cat—Agh!” Moe Moe had jumped on Claire's lap.
Abbie, Lana, and Bubble turned to look at her.
Lana gasped. “Is that your cat?”
“Uh, yeah. Except he's a total.. Ugh! He won't listen to me!” She ferociously ran her fingers down Moe Moe's head, who gave a startled meow. He then proceeded to climb the table. “NO-! Bad cat. Bad!”
It went over to Engel, who was staring at it and sat in his lap. He then started petting it.
“Yeah. I really need to get him a cage for times like this.” She shrugged.
Lunchtime was over and the students were given an extra hour of free time in the pool. Claire took the time to try and find stuff to lock Moe Moe in her dorm. She found a large box that she forgot to throw out, stuffed it inside, and taped it while making a few small holes with a toothpick on the top.
“AND STAY THERE!”
She locked the door and went back to the classroom.
“If I find that little rascal near me again I swear..”
—
In the distance, the sun was slowly setting, hanging low on the horizon. The light softened, bathing everything in a gentle, amber glow. The bell rang and everyone rushed out to get to their dormitories. When Claire arrived, however, Moe Moe was nowhere to be found. She panicked, yelling its name out in every corner of the room. She called Engel and Bubble to help her.
“I shouldn't have yelled at him. I shouldn't have yelled..!” Claire was pacing around, whining.
Engel gave her a worried look. “Claire, it's okay. Maybe he went out for a little stroll or something? To eat mice, catch birds or whatever?”
She groaned, flopping face down on the bed.
“He couldn't have gone far. Should we go look for him?” Bubble asked.
“Yeah.. Let's go.”
They got out of the dorm room and entered the school. The doors were locked and there was no way of getting inside.
Engel sighed. “How do we—Claire, what are you doing?”
She was standing on a particularly tall rock and climbed through the window.
“CLAIRE-” He groaned, and followed.
They were now inside the school, but the hallways were too dark to see. Engel quickly grabbed his flashlight and they continued their search.
They checked every classroom and tried opening a door that was jammed shut to no avail. Claire then stared at ∆lice’s room, about to open it but was stopped by Engel.
“Hey, don't.”
“But what if-”
“Moe Moe wouldn't.”
She sighed, following Bubble to the cafeteria.
An hour later they gave up and went out through the same window. Claire was still stricken with panic.
“What if Alice ate..”
“Again, Moe Moe probably never went there. Maybe he's back in your room.” Engel tried to assure her.
“Okay..”
They waved each other goodbye and goodnight and went to sleep. Claire suddenly heard something in the ceiling. Moe Moe fell from a vent, screeching and landing on its feet.
“OH MY GOD MOE MOE I'M SO SORRY WHERE WERE YOU?” Claire went to hug the cat. He simply meowed.
She sighed, staring at the vents. “I guess that's how you've been going outside this entire time. Still, I'm glad you're here.”
They both snuggled and went to sleep.