Chapter 68: Sick

FieryKathy

“Ah, so that’s what happened.” Veanya is now sitting on my bed, softly petting me while listening to the explanation of my sister and Sam.

“Yeah, sorry that was a bit rude of me.” My sister rubs the back of her head.

“I understand, I probably should’ve at least knocked on the door. As for Gamma, I’m sorry about her, that girl is just like that.”

“We’ve noticed.” Sam nods. “But what she said is true? We can’t help Ami at all?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“S-Sam.” I call Sam closer to me, my voice almost inaudible.

“What is it, Ami?” She immediately rushes over.

“Y-you don’t need to stay here if you need to go to uni…”

“But I really don’t want to leave you behind when you are like this…” She takes my hand.

“I can look over her if you wish.” Veanya proposes.

“And I’ll be staying home too while Nikki goes to work.” Élise nods.

“Are you really sure, Ami?”

“Mhmm. You go to school, babe…” I weakly smile. “I think I’ll be sleeping most of the day anyway…”

“Alright then.” She looks back at my sister. “Will you call me if something happens?”

“Of course.” My sister smiles.

“And Veanya…”

“Hmm?”

“Please don’t do any crazy Goddess nonsense, okay?”

“Of course not, I took a day off today.”

“Eh?”

“That was a joke. I’ll keep calm, don’t worry.” She winks.

“Aah. Alright then.”

Sam packs her things quickly and comes to give me a kiss before she leaves.

“See you later, sweetie.”

“Love you nya.”

“Love you too.” She leaves the room and I hear the door of the living room shut leaving Veanya and my sister alone with me in the room.

“If I may ask, did you get to know more about Amicia’s abilities?”  Veanya looks at my sister.

“Yeah, a little bit. We can talk about it over a cup of coffee if you’d like?”

“That sounds good.”

“Let us talk about it in the living room so we don’t bother Ami too much.” My sister comes over to give me a kiss on my forehead. “Just rest a bit ok?”

“Mhmm.” I nod. “Can you leave the door open for Pocky and Mochi?”

“Of course.”

“Who are Pocky and Mochi?” Veanya asks my sister, clearly curious.

“Ah, they are our two cats, didn’t you know that?”

“I don’t know everything, I guess it is pretty fun to have three cats around then.” She giggles.

“It definitely is.” My sister leaves the room with Veanya in tow.

I doubt they’ll talk about my abilities that much…

My body still feels incredibly weak, so the only thing I can really do is stare at the ceiling or look around me. And now without the sounds of my girlfriend, sister and a random goddess I am starting to get bored pretty fast.

Luckily for me, I soon after hear the tip tapping of paws on my floor. Pocky and Mochi jump on my bed as they start meowing at me.

“I’m sorry I can’t play kitties, I’m a bit sick today nya…”

They meow back as Pocky lays herself down on my stomach while her mom approaches me and starts licking my hand.

“Awh, are you trying to make me feel better?” Luckily I still had enough strength to at least pet my cat friends.

Not soon after Mochi lays herself down in between my arm and my chest. Both of them softly purring.

“I guess I’ll try to rest a bit too nya…”

The gentle clinking of china wakes me up a little while later.

“Here, I brought you some hot coco.” My sister puts it down on my night stand. “It’s still quite hot so let it sit for a bit, ok?”

I nod.

Veanya had followed my sister back into the room too, now she’s wearing a very cozy looking yoga pants and a big knitted sweater.

She must’ve seen me looking as she spun around. “Do you like it? It’s my casual wear.”

“It looks nice…” My voice feels a little bit stronger than earlier, but still very weak.

“Thanks.” She smiles as she turns towards Pocky and Mochi who are still resting in their same positions.

“They are very nice cats aren’t they?” She offers her hand to Mochi so she can sniff her before she pets.

“They are.” I softly smiled as I feel Mochi start purring again.

“And I heard you also inherited the Nekote ability to speak with them?”

“Mhmm.” I nod.

“Must be really fun.”

“Can’t all Goddesses do that?” My sister was happily staring at the two of us having our conversation.

Veanya shakes her head. “No, you have some like kitsune who can speak with foxes, and only Nekote like Gamma and your sister can talk to cats. It’s more like a racial thing than a Goddess thing, really.”

That’s when something I was supposed to ask shot in my mind again.

“Ah… Veanya…”

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

“I was supposed to ask something for my friend… you see…nya”

“Oh, and what is it that they asked of you?”

I try to sit myself a little bit more upright, my sister immediately coming to my aid, propping a cushion behind my back for support. “Just take it slow ok?”

I nod. “Well… my friend Carol was kinda interested in becoming a catgirl as well…nya”

Veanya just stares blankly at me for a couple of seconds before she starts laughing.

“So she asked you to see if I can make that happen?”

“Basically…” I take the cup of hot chocolate and blow a little. “...I did tell her to test it out in Turn of Destiny first…. but I wanted to ask you too since I promised…”

Veanya smiles. “You are definitely a good girl for caring about your friends so much. And looks like they care about you a lot too.” She nods towards my phone, the screen is showing me I have 20 messages.

“Oh! I completely forgot about my p-phone...!” I start coughing after that.

“Easy, Ami. You can look at it in a bit.” My sister urges me to stay calm while gently patting my back.

“S-sorry.”

“But about the request…” Veanya puts her hand to her chin. “I could do the same as I did to you, but for very obvious reasons that might not be the best of ideas.”

“Y-yeah…nya” I let myself sink into my cushions a bit more.

“There might be other things we can try though.”

“Dangerous things?” My sister asks critically.

“Not really. It would require both me, Amicia and Gamma though. Racial shifts are quite hard to do by oneself, and it requires goddesses of that race to be there if you can’t link it to an existing body that is. That’s why it worked in Turn of Destiny for you.”

“Oh, and why do both Gamma... and I need to be there...?”

“Gamma knows very little about mana and actually doesn’t hold that much.”

“...Ah right... she’s like a tech Goddess.” I take a sip from my choco.

“Yes, and with a combination of her tech, my knowledge and your mana it should be doable. But it might take some time to set up. So if your friend, Carol was it? If she’s sure she wants to do it, send me a message, ok?”

“Really...? Thanks Veanya… I appreciate it a lot…nya!” The conversation really took the breath out of me which my companions noticed immediately.

My sister pats me and takes the cup of hot chocolate away from me.

“Rest a bit more, Ami.” Again she tucks me in neatly.

“...Can I have my phone though…?”

“Only if you promise not to call and just text.” She takes the phone from my night stand.

“Mhmm… I will…nya”

“You will nyot?” My sister teases me.

“I will... nya.” I pout.

“Ok, here you go kitten.” She hands it to me and pats me one last time before she leaves my room again with Veanya.

According to the clock on my phone it apparently already was two o’clock in the afternoon.

Didn’t they say I’d feel better by the evening, because right now I just feel as bad as earlier this morning.

I opened the message application on my phone and saw that it was indeed mostly from Hailey, Sam and Carol, although Max also sent me a message wishing me to get well soon.

Ami: Hey everyone, I’m still in bed, not feeling too great, but thank you for caring about me! <3

Hailey: Of course we care about you, Ami! <3 Hope you feel better soon. Are your sister and Veanya taking good care of you? 

Sam: ^

Carol: What does that mean?

Sam: It means ‘this’

Carol: Aaah, then I’ll ^ too.

I giggled. I expected Carol to be a little bit more up to date on chat lingo.

Ami: Hey Carol, it’s 2060, you know.

Carol: Shush.

Ami: They are taking good care of me. They just brought me something to drink, although I’ve been sleeping most of the day.

Hailey: Rest is good. I’ll be keeping notes for you so don’t worry about that either.

Ami: Thanks!

After some more idle chit-chat I get a private message from Sam as well.

Sam: Hey kitten, I’ll be coming home soon, looks like the last lesson for today got cancelled.

Ami: Yay! My beautiful strong girlfriend to watch over me!

Sam: You bet <3 See you in a bit my lovely <3

Ami: <3<3<3<3<3<3<3

I put my phone down next to my pillow, happy to have had some contact with my friends before I slowly start dozing off again, dreaming about getting cuddled by my girlfriend...