Junes

(chapter originally by doragom333 on writing.com)

The large superstore stood like a beacon for Yukiko, who was hoping very much that the store was still open. Continuing her mad dash, she paused in front of the automatic doors.

*Ting* the doors opened.

"Yes, YEEE!" Yukiko squawked as a pursuing cat took the opportunity to latch onto her hip.

"Get off!" she grunted as she went inside, shoving the cat away with one arm, holding the precious fish in the other.

Inside the lobby, Yukiko immediately turned to the stairs, instinctively heading for the rooftop food court that had become familiar to her and her friends. Normally she would have taken the elevator, but normally she wasn't being hounded by a swarm of angry cats. Her heart pounding from exhaustion, she continued to urge herself up the stairs two at a time, the constant meowing behind her adding extra incentive. It was a good thing there were only two floors to the store, in addition to the roof.

Finally making it to the door at the top, which thankfully had a latch and was not automatic, Yukiko took a look behind her. The front of the pack was only several steps behind her! Quickly, she shoved the door open, scrambled through, and heaved into it from behind, shutting it just as the cats were about to burst through.

"Ha... ha..." Yukiko could only sigh as she breathed heavily, crumpling to the floor and leaning back against the door. That was too close...

"Yukiko-san? What happened to you? And is that... a fish?"

Yukiko looked up in shock, and saw her friend and classmate Yosuke Hanamura, along with several other people in the food court, all looking at her. Given the state Yukiko was currently in, her pantyhose and sweater reduced to rags, and her remaining clothes also in disarray, she was very embarrassed at being seen like this, even though she would still be considered decently dressed. Or rather she would have been, if what she saw didn't cause her to cringe in fear.

"C-c-cat!" Yukiko stuttered, eyes wide.

"Eh? Oh, this little guy?" Yosuke asked, looking at the little ball of fluff and whiskers in his hands. "We're having a pet day today at Junes, and this guy's owner's letting everyone pet him. You want to give him a hold? You look like you could use a serious stress reliever right about now."

"No!" Yukiko shouted, clutching her fish and turning away.

"Okay, okay, no need to freak out," Yosuke replied, bringing the cat back and handing it off to a nearby woman. "Just have a seat over here..." he pointed to an open table.

Yukiko, deep in her own mind, silently got up and sat down in the chair, setting the fish onto the table. Looking around, she saw some cats and dogs along with their owners milling about around the food court. None of them were charging her. Thank goodness for pet training! Also, the other people who were looking at her when she burst in had went back to their own business as well. Yukiko figured she was safe here for now, but what should she do next? She knew she needed to wait for Chie, but then how would the two of them best avoid the cats on the way back to the Inn?

"So... you look like you've been through hell," Yosuke said casually, yet concerned, taking a seat across from her.

"Yeah," Yukiko glumly replied.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Not really," Yukiko replied, looking through her bag once more, trying to figure out what to do on her end. Nothing of use except for the fishing rod... but even if she took that out, she would have to cut or fold the fish to stick it in the bag... but she really wanted to keep it intact for cooking. Still, it was starting to look like either battered fish or no fish by this point.

"I thought as much," Yosuke said, looking to the side, sounding a little disappointed. "Oh hey, how about I get you some new wrapping for your fish? It looks like you could use some."

Yukiko looked at the fish again. Indeed, it was only half-covered by newspaper right now. It would need to be fully wrapped if she wanted to sneak by the cats. "Oh, sure," Yukiko replied.

"Okay then," Yosuke said, getting up from his seat. "I'll just run down to our seafood section and get some of that, be back in just a minute."

Yukiko saw him leave, walking to the staircase door. The one she just took. "Wait! Yosuke-!" she warned.

"Huh?" Yosuke's head turned around, but his body continued to open the door.

*Ding*

The food court elevator doors opened revealing a severely scratched up Chie. The sleeves on her tracksuit were completely demolished and her skirt was in tatters, showing off her excercise shorts underneath. Her face lit up as she saw Yukiko ahead of her, but that expression turned to confusion as she saw the girl's worried expression. She followed her gaze and turned to the side...

*MEEEEOOOOWWWW!*

"GAH! What the hell!?" Yosuke screamed as half a dozen cats pounced onto him, some latching in, others bouncing off of him and continuing into the food court.

In an instant, Yukiko was back on her feet, fish in hand, as she sprinted towards the opposite staircase, avoiding the increasingly panicking crowd.

"Yukiko!" Chie shouted, to no avail, as the cats pursued Yukiko and the fish anew. "Rrrgh! Dammit Yosuke!"

"Chie? Me!? How was I supposed to know there'd be a bunch of pissed off cats behind the door!?" Yosuke yelled, struggling in pain.

Leaving her friends and a plaza full of panicked people and pets behind, Yukiko bolted into the other stairwell and shut the door behind her as well. She turned ahead only to see another group of cats!

"What the-!?" she gasped. Did they circle all the way around the store just to catch up to her!?

Taking advantage of her confusion, the cats leapt to attack.

"AAAH! OW! Not again!" Yukiko yelled, clutching the fish protectively in her arms, opting to charge on through. Enduring a flight's worth of scratches and bites as the cats stubbornly held fast, she trudged into the main store the first chance she got. Fortunately, there weren't any customers in sight, not that that helped Yukiko at all at that moment. "Argh, just leave me alone already!" she grunted.

"Yukiko!" rang a shout from behind her.

"Chie!" Yukiko replied, recognizing the voice. "Get these beasts off me!"

"On it, come on Yosuke!"

"Right!" Yosuke replied, his voice alongside Chie's.

Yukiko continued trudging forward, and then felt a tugging sensation all along her back. Undeterred, she continued pushing forward... and was soon released!

*RRRIP*

"Ah!" Chie gasped, holding two cats who were clutching the remains of Yukiko's skirt.

"Uh..." Yosuke uttered, the cat he was holding clutching a large portion of Yukiko's shirt in its claws.

"Oh no..." they both said in unison, seeing a lot more of Yukiko sprinting down the hallways.

Yukiko, however, had ignored the noise completely, taking advantage of her restored movement to put as much distance between herself and the cats as possible. Looking around for an exit, she soon saw a door off to the side. Beelining towards it, she quickly shut herself inside, avoiding the cats once more.

"This is getting completely out of control..." she panted, catching her breath in relative safety.

However, looking around, her relief soon turned to dread. She ended up in a restroom, meaning the only way out was back through the cats! As she checked over herself, she realized it was even worse than that. Her skirt was gone entirely! Only the uppermost parts of her pantyhose that were previously blocked by her skirt remained, covering only her panties. And, checking in the mirror, she saw that her sweater was also gone, and that most of her shirt was torn and open around her midriff, with large holes in the back as well.

As Yukiko was taking this all in, the movement of a stall door opening in the mirror drew her attention. Her face paled. She wasn't alone; someone was going to see her in this mortifying state! However, she didn't know whether to feel even more embarrassed or relieved when the person inside turned out to be another one of her friends. At the very least, she was surprised beyond words to see that the other person was-