Chuckling at the mouse's misfortune, Mina followed him inside the hut. When they arrived inside, the mouse shook off the water from its body, but it remained sullen.
"What happened?"
"That white amur tricked me into falling into the river. They lured me to lean closer and closer and when I fell, they all laughed at me for being a gullible land animal. Bullies! All of them are bullies!"
"Dry up and rest, Tarou."
Looking at the fuming mouse, reminded Mina of how the pre-schoolers she looked after were like when someone stole their toy. Somehow she found herself blurting a few more words to comfort her companion.
"We can't take revenge on those creatures now, but we can try to catch a few of them sometime."
The mouse clenched gnawed its teeth and looked at him with pitiful eyes. Mina let out a deep breath.
'She couldn't promise that they will eat fish after torturing them to death! It would be a complete lie. Eating something raw is just --- urgh!'
Making her way closer to the mouse, patting its slightly damp head.
The mouse stiffened at the touch. Looking up the black imposing cat to assess the situation, he saw its gentle expression. But he couldn't be sure, could he? The sight of the sharp claws still made his heart race and he finally snapped out of his foul mood.
'I can't put this cat in a bad mood. It's better to be drenched than be food!!!'
Now lying down on its front with paws tucked underneath, the black cat didn't look as imposing. Seeing the cat's relaxed whiskers, the cat's body didn't threaten him in any way. In fact, Boss seems to be smiling.
It wasn't bad to suck up to this kind of cat. He even struggled to get inside the rat hole last night because he ate too much. He even snatched more food when they went out.
Seeing the satisfied look on the mouse's face, Mina got up on all fours to find a more comfortable place inside the hut. Before taking another step forward, she glanced back to the mouse, remembering something.
"Tonight, we'll raid the bandit's lair again. Is there no other settlement in this area?"
With the naughty fishes completely forgotten, for now, the mouse shook his head. "The only village close to this part of the forest has been burned to the ground."
Sensing intense curiosity from the cat's focused gaze, he continued. "Nothing survived in that village. I had to leave to find food. I barely made it to this hut"
"Why was the village destroyed?"
A sad looked passed over the mouse's face. "To ruin an alliance."
"Huh! How predictable. Humans."
The mouse remained silent while staring at the cat who settled on a shady corner, away from the window. Sitting on her bottom, the cat started to lick her paw subconsciously.
'This feels great, it's as if I'm taking a bath.' She looked at the mouse, and her curiosity nagged her to ask for more.
"How do you know all these?"
"I lived there with my wife and children. I lost my family in the fire and I'm still looking for them."
"You are male?!?"
She almost laughed at that statement but she hid it quickly with a meow. With how the mouse acted, she wouldn't have thought that he was a male mouse.
Despite her efforts to conceal how flabbergasted she felt, the mouse sensed that the cat mocked him. The Boss treated him just like the fishes did! He felt wronged. Right now, he wants nothing but to go home and find comfort in food.
Mina was about to lick her foreleg and continue grooming when something crossed her mind. She looked at Tarou who was walking towards the mouse hole with slumped shoulders.
"Tarou..."
Unable to conceal his annoyance at being poked fun at the whole morning, the mouse couldn't help but act out.
"HMPF! What now?!?"
"Uhm... Am I a tom or a queen?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, am I a male cat or a female cat?"
Startled at the sudden shift in their conversation, the reluctant mouse couldn't help but be surprised.
"H-How am I supposed to know!?"
The curiosity kept nagging her. She needed to know at least that.
"Uhm… can you tell my gender if you lift my tail?"
She has been in a cat's body for a day and she could tell that she's not a kitten anymore. Right now, she just wanted to know if this was a male or female cat.
She didn't mind having someone else help her determine what her gender is. It would be different if she was a human but right now, she's a cat. Why would she even care about another animal helping her determine her gender when she's not even wearing clothes, to begin with?
Unfortunately, she seems to be the only one thinking that way. Right across her, a blush crept on the mouse's face who was too stunned to answer her question.
Realizing that the mouse may be more conservative than she expected, Mina decided to shift tactics.
"Then, are you attracted to me?"