Emily bolted upright in her bed, sweat pouring off her and drenching the sheets she was laying on. Her thick, red hair was soaking, and she could barely get her fingers through it, and so dreaded a comb. The dream she had been having was quickly slipping away from her, and even now she could not remember it very well. There had been a group of people, fighting against some darkness that eluded her memory. She knew it wasn’t anything good –darkness rarely was – but she didn’t know if it was a person, or an event, or even a group. She sat, thinking and trying to remember, until the door was pushed open, and a small, black cat trotted into the room, jumped up on the bed, and stared at Emily, poddling her blanket with a purr.

“Simba, do you have to do that now?” Emily asked, sighing.

“Why yes, I do. You don’t poddle it yourself, and so I am left to do it” Simba replied. Emily could still remember the first time Simba spoke to her, in answer of a question she asked about cat food. She had screamed for about ten minutes, and thrown various things at Simba before calming down.

Her parents had always been against getting pets – but then, that was something that Emily liked, and her father was always against things that Emily liked, with her mother usually to ‘busy’ to care - and so she couldn’t decide if Simba spoke, or she could understand the cat. Either way, Emily knew it was unique to her, and so she never told anyone about it.

“What do you want?” she asked, wiping the sweat away.

“Your thumbs. I have yet to develop a pair of my own, and so I require you to use the can opener” Simba told Emily, before looking at all the sweat, and continuing. “Are you ok? Such a large amount of bodily fluid lost must indicate some sort of problem” Simba finished, frowning – as well as a cat could frown – in worry.

“Ohh, yea. Because aside from a talking cat, you’re also a doctor” Emily replied sarcastically.

“Indeed. For I am Purrrfect” Simba purred, causing Emily to laugh softly and throw the sheets over him, and head for the door. “Curses woman! How dare you trick me in this fashion!” Simba exclaimed in a tone long since dead, fighting though the sheets until he reached the end of the bed, and poked his head out of the sheets to see Emily had already gone.

Simba leapt off the bed, and darted into the kitchen, glaring at Emily as she opened the can.

“Yesura! How could you be so cruel to a fabulous feline like myself?” he demanded, purring angrily.

“Why do you keep calling me that?” She asked, that name was all Simba would ever use, despite Emily’s attempts. “It’s not my name. “she grumbled.

“But it is your name” Simba replied, pouncing up on the side, just to be shooed away by Emily. “The name you use is the one given to you by the carriers, but Yesura is the name that embodies who you are” Simba lectured, one he had given many times.

“Who I am right now is a girl in her underwear, talking to a cat. If that is what Yesura embodies, then fair enough, but I really doubt it.” She told him, finishing Simba’s breakfast and putting it down on the floor for him, before heading off to get a shower. Horrific screeching came from the bathroom as the shower ran, and if Simba did not know Emily liked to sing in the shower, he would have thought she was being murdered with a spoon. Some minutes later Emily returned from the shower, the mass of hair now up in a towel, with a second covering her body. She looked to Simba, but before she could say anything the doorbell rang, and so she sighed and spoke.

“Could you see who that is?” Emily asked, going to the cupboard to get out one of the ready meals stashed in there. Simba trotted over to the door and pushed open the cat flap, looking up at one of Emily’s school friends.

“Hello little guy, how are you?” the boy asked, grinning.

“Meow” Simba replied, which elected an enlightened nod from him.

“Hmm, Meow, meow meow. Meow meow” The boy replied. Simba then clawed at his leg and left though the flap, leaving him to curse in pain. Simba then found Emily in the kitchen, and jumped up on the side, only to be knocked down by her again.

“It is your friend Michel. He insulted my lineage, so I clawed his leg” Simba told Emily, proud and pomp.

“He didn’t do that at all” Emily sighed, finishing her ready-meal. “He probably just strung ‘Meow’ together a few times for the fun of it” She told Simba, going to find a decent dressing gown, and then headed to the door, where Michel had resumed knocking.

“Ahh, finally” He said when the door was opened. His clothes and hair where rather average, not scruffy, but not immaculate either. However, despite that Emily liked him, he was nice.

“Why are you in your school uniform on a Sunday?” Emily asked, smirking softly.

“Well, unless the teacher I spoke to was just crazy, it’s Monday” Michel replied, causing a look of confusion and panic on Emily’s face.

“What?! But, but, it can’t be Monday!” Emily exclaimed, running off to her bedroom to get into her school uniform.

“Your perception of time will be the death of you ” Michel intoned, walking into the house and looking at Simba warily, before Emily burst out from the bedroom again, tie hanging around her neck, yet untied, and shirt only half buttoned.

“See you later Simba!” Emily cried, grabbing her bag off the hook and finishing with her shirt before wrenching the door open, snatching Michel’s hand, and darting off towards the school.

Once they had arrived at the school – Michel was panting heavily from keeping up with Emily’s gruelling pace - Emily smiled at Michel and gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks for coming to get me today, missing a day would not have been good for my track record” she exclaimed, before scurrying off to her class. The worst part about being late was she didn’t get to see Jane on the way into school. That was always the highlight of her day. The happy, pink-haired girl was so bubbly even with her life – Emily knew living with the pig that called itself her father must have been extremely taxing on her mental health.

The entrance to the class was awkward, as was the explanation but she got though it and took her seat, integrating into the class. It was a boring Geography class, and Emily was glad to hear the bell ring. However, as she was packing up for the end, a large girl with green hair and a strong body approached her, grinning.

“Hello Emily. I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it” The girl grinned, without any mirth. It was, in Emily’s opinion, a really evil smile.

“So did I Cat, but I was saved by my cat, ironically” she lied, not wanting to get Michel in trouble, Cat would think he was ‘imposing’. Cat seemed to take offense to something, and placed a strong finger under Emily’s chin. Everything about Cat was strong.

“Ohh, when did I give you permission to use such a familiar tone with me, you little slut?” She demanded, pulling Emily’s head up to look her in the eyes. “It’s Catherine, and don’t let me hear you use anything but, ok?” Catherine asked, stroking her finger across Emily’s face. The few remaining people in the class where keeping their eyes averted, nobody messed with Catherine and got away unscathed.

“Well, I don’t want you to be late for your class, so get going. But I will deal with you later” Catherine told Emily, placing a finger on her lips before giggling and walking off. Emily sighed; it was a real hassle every time Catherine took offense to something

The rest of the day was boring, it dragged on and the lessons Jane was meant to be in lacked her, so she didn’t even have that spark in her life. Her dad had probably gone too far last night, and while Jane was a very tough girl, she took a while to recover sometimes. Lunch was uneventful, she ate in silence, away from the other people and then returned to her lessons after lunch. Eventually however, the day ended like it always did, and she managed to get as far as the back gates before she was intercepted by Catherine and her cronies, girls with hair extensions and far too much makeup on. Emily mused about how stereotypical they were, but then thought that stereotypes had to come from somewhere.

“You didn’t think I was just going to let you off, did you?” She asked in that teasing, infuriating tone that made Emily want to punch her. But that would never work, so she sighed and shrugged.

“I forgot. Cat.” Emily put extra emphasis on the ‘familiar’ tone and was not surprised to feel the heavy handed slap across her face that Catherine gave her.

“I warned you about that, you ingrate bitch. Just had to go and push, didn’t you?”

“Like your bra does?” Emily asked, not sure where it had come from, or why she had said it, but it certainly made Cat angrier than she was.

“That is it! you insolent whore!” Catherine exclaimed, dragging Emily back into the school and navigating their way to an old set of toilets. They had gone unused since there was a more modern set of toilets elsewhere in the school.

This place was drafty and the taps leaked and the toilets never seemed to flush properly. Following some order Emily didn’t see, being too busy stopping her stumbling body from hitting the far wall, Catherine’s mooks ripped Emily’s bag away from her, then pulled off her blazer, unfastened her tie and yanked her shirt off, buttons flying everywhere as she was stripped. Without the clothing to stop it, Emily immediately felt the bite in the air, a strange bite for the time of year, and the draft was not helping things either. Something else that didn’t help was the click she heard from the door, having been locked by a key Cat was now playing with.

“It’s funny how little an eye they keep on the keys in this place. Almost asking me to steal them” Cat teased, before waving her hand at the girls behind Emily. Either circumstantial assumption, or – not that these caked numbskulls possessed the intelligence for it – some elaborate sign language went on between the two, as Emily had her arms wrenched back and bound by the same tie she had just ben deposed of. After that was done, Catherine moved over and stroked Emily’s face tenderly.

“So, seems you are big on running your mouth. Let’s see if we can find another use for it, aye?” Cat asked, in a helpful tone that a teacher might use to help a student struggling in a certain subject. It did not fit the situation at all.

A half-hour later, Emily found herself alone, shivering and aching in one of the cubicles. Her head hurt from when Catherine had bashed it against the cubicle wall, for fun or some perceived fault, Emily wasn’t quite sure. What she was sure of, was that if she didn’t find some way to get out of her makeshift binding and put her clothes on before getting out of here, she would not be in for a comfortable night. Not that getting out of here was a viable option, since Catherine had locked the door, and it was one of the old, solid Oaken doors that where practically indestructible to the casual assailant. Emily gave her tie a few half-hearted tugs before leaning against the cubicle wall, her muscles aching and her head pounding, alone with the unstoppable shivers she had started to get after Catherine had left.

But then, just when the worked seemed dark and hopeless, the door rattled, like someone was trying to get in. Then, a sound came from the other side, like a person’s confusion that the door was locked. Emily scoffed softly as the sound came, and expected the person to walk away, whatever they were planning to do blown away in the face of this impassable adversary. But no. Instead she heard the sound of a key entering a lock, and then a click before the door opened and whoever it was stepped in.

Emily didn't move to find out, the cubicle door was open and they would see her in the mirror opposite her, or by walking down and looking at her. Emily closed her eyes and listened to the sound of shoe hitting floor, and then it stopped, to be replaced a few seconds later by a person speaking.

“Was it a good party?” Came the accented words of the head teacher. Exotically named and perpetually scruffy, Laas Nebak was always a sort of talk in the school, but everyone agreed he was good at what he did. Even to the point of having two voices, one that was all strong and official, and the other which was accented and casual. Emily opened her eyes and looked over, the red mark on her head becoming visible to Laas as she did.

“If that was a party, I’ll become a shut in. Hiki…whatever the phrase is in Japanese” She muttered. The language had become more wide spread in the school since the popularity of anime had sky-rocketed in the past couple of years. Emily only got a few snippets though.

“Hikikomori. Which, some days, I feel’s a valid life style, lookin’ at the way this world’s goin’” he commented, which elected a soft laugh from Emily before he continued. “But then, just gotta look at the bright side. Five years ‘go, ‘twas a nightmare teachin’ kids new languages. Now they just pick ‘em off internet shows. But, from ta’ way your perkers are stood, I’d say you’re a bit chilly. Guess that’s why they say it’s ‘nipple’ up North” He finished with a soft chuckle, which made Emily frown.

She had calmed in the presence of Laas, and let him talk since he had a lovely voice. Nut it was then that somewhere between Catherine and now, she had lost her bra, and her bare breasts where on display, with – as Laas had so poetically put it – her nipples stood on end from the cold.

“Ehh!” She exclaimed, looking around and spotting her bra, then moving to grab it and realizing to late that her hands where still tied up. Really, that man could make someone forget they were on fire simply by commenting on the weather. But, Laas caught Emily before she smacked her head against the wall, and deftly undid her binding.

“Well, I came in ‘ere to see ‘ow Renovating’ it would go, but I guess you’ll want your privacy aye? Don’t tarry on the way ‘ome ‘un, I’m sure there is someone worried about ya tardiness” Laas said, turning and heading out of the bathroom, flicking her a soft wave before walking down the hall, leaving Emily to gather her clothes and exit the School grounds.

Once she had finally collected herself and gotten home, Laas’ words had proven true, since Simba pounced on her as soon as she got the door shut. Luckily Emily caught him before he started to dig his claws in for a grip.

“Yesura! Where have you been?” He asked, his cute cat eyes staring at her with worry.

“Emily” she said, enforcing the use of her name, before smiling. “And, just some school stuff. The Mr Nebak helped me out of it, and I came as soon as I could. Don’t worry about it” She told Simba. Emily thought his eyes narrows slightly at the mention of Laas, but she couldn’t be sure. And she knew the other reason Simba was so frantic. “I’ll get right on your dinner” She told him, putting Simba down on the ground before turning into the kitchen and busying herself with the cat food.

“Would any of this school stuff have anything to do with the nasty bump on your head?” Simba asked in that annoying, knowing tone.

“Yes, Catherine was using my head to test how sturdy one of the cubicle walls where. Very, as it turned out” She brushed off, before tapping a can-opener on her chin softly. “Laas never mentioned it though. Was he trying to salvage what dignity I had left, or was it just a lack of observance?” She muttered as Simba jumped up on the side.

“I doubt it was a lack of observance” He commented, sitting down and staring at the can.

“You know him?” Emily asked, rather shocked as she opened the can. It was a bit surprising to hear your cat knew your head teacher. But then, to hear your cat say he knew your head teacher was also surprising.

“No, just guessing. You don’t get into such a positon of authority by being anything less than smart and observant” Simba replied, in that tone that was a lie, but because the lie was easier than the truth. Emily never chased anyone up when they used that tone, there must have been a reason for it.

“Alright then, grub time” She told Simba, scooping out of half the meat and then sprinkling some dry food on top – Simba told her he liked his biscuits on his meat, not the other way around – and putting it on the floor for him to eat, which he did with gusto.

“Always thought owning a cat would be so simple if they could talk” Emily mused happily, before setting about making her own dinner. It wasn’t much, just some noodles with chunks of fried bacon, but it was enough for her at least. She sat down and slowly ate, the fatigue of the day slowly getting to her. By the time she had finished, she felt lethargic and very tired. So she slowly, mechanically washed her bowl and placed the half-full can in the fridge, for Simba’s breakfast tomorrow, before trudging to her bedroom.

She initially tried just going to her bed and flopping in, but Simba was having none of it.

“Now now Emily, don’t forget at least basic hygiene” He said, so Emily got up and shuffled to the bathroom before brushing her teeth, washing her face and getting undressed. She then repeated her flopping, but this time pulling her covers over.

“Night Simba” She muttered, soft snores peeling from her, only seconds later. Then the lights flicked out, and a voice – a much softer voice, almost feminine – replied.

“Goodnight Yesura” the voice replied, before leaving the bedroom and softly shutting the door.