{Rollo's Inner Thoughts}

[Rollo Translation]

"Normal Talking"

Italic for Flashbacks

Being the god of a world was not always an enjoyable task, but it did have its perks.

"Meow!" called the cat known as Rollo.

"Hm? You hungry, boy?" Julius asked as he looked up from his newspaper.

"MEEEEEOOOOWWWWW~" replied Rollo.

"Heheh. I'll take that as a yes." the elder male of the home said as he placed the newspaper on the table and stood up.

Rollo sat there on the floor beside the main table watching the blond glasses man wander over to pour cat food into his bowl.

{Yes, human… Get me my food.} Rollo chuckled to himself in his mind.

Being fed and taken care of was a major bonus of living life as a cat. To everyone who saw him he looked like an ordinary house cat, though a little chubby around the middle these days. It seemed whenever he called these humans would feed him and give him cat treats. He was even allowed to try their rather delicious human food from time to time. It was an amusing enough existence. He enjoyed using this litter box thing as well, if only to watch and get satisfaction from the humans cleaning it everyday.

"There you go, Rollo. Some nice kitty krisps." Julius said with a smile.

Rollo strutted right over to his food bowl and gazed for a moment at the delectable pile of cat food sitting there for only him. The first time he had seen this cat food stuff, he had had his doubts, but it turned out to be that most tasty thing to him. He did wonder if it had to do with the current taste buds he had, which was that of a cat.

He dove right into it now, letting the rough and yet slightly moist cat food glide over his tongue.

"What? No thank you?" Julius teased, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"MEOW. [NO.]" Rollo said quickly in reply to that, turning his head for just an instant before returning to his feast.

It was not as if the human knew what he was really saying. He heard Julius chuckle as he sat back down at the table to finish that newspaper. Not that Rollo cared much. He could read it later if he felt like it. He usually watched the news on the television box to see what was happening. It was interesting enough for him, though he much preferred other shows like these human "soap" operas. He did not know why they were named after soap, since they had nothing whatsoever to do with actual soap. Not that he would admit it to anyone, if anyone could understand him in this form, but he was currently getting into a children's fighting hero show.

Why he had taken such a form was not too big of a tale. Being a god of this world meant he could do as he pleased in it. He had just wanted to get a better look at the real lives of the humans he always watched. It was much more entertaining up close than from any other viewpoint. Not only that, but there was something to this petting thing he could not help but enjoy.

While deciding what form to take, he had originally been leaning more towards a human one. It would have allowed him to communicate with them more easily, yet he would have missed out on a lot since he would have had to get a thing called a job and also would have lived alone. Living as a cat meant being taken care of and also meant that he got to adopt a family, though they told other humans they had adopted him.

{Silly humans. So arrogant.} Rollo thought as he finished his meal.

Having seen a cat moments before taking his new form, Rollo had decided on becoming one of them instead. He had seen these cats being taken care of, spoken to, and treated better than a king.

What other form could be more perfect for him?

Stopping a moment to take a lick of his water, Rollo recalled the day he had come to this place. It was several years ago and yet he still remembered the humans reacting to him for the first time.

"Meow~" a young kitten Rollo spoke as he tried to get a feel for this new voice he had.

It was a new form to him after all and he wanted to test the voice he would be stuck with for awhile. It was far higher pitched and squeakier than he had thought it would be. Perhaps it was due to him being a younger version of this species. He had given himself the most youthful version of a cat, thus he was currently a small kitten. His soft white fur with patches of gray and squeaky voice showed that well. It was his tiny size that also clearly gave it away. He was barely the size of a human hand.

None of that was important now, as Rollo knew he had to find something right away. He needed to locate and adopt a human. He was aiming for a family unit of humans, so at least two people. He decided to pick at random and try his luck with the first person. After all, if the person who took him home had an inadequate family unit he could just go and choose another. At least he could get what these humans called "food". He felt hunger for the first time and knew enough to know it was this food stuff that he needed.

Rollo's eyes wandered over the large crowd of people walking around on their way home from work, shopping, and/or heading elsewhere. It was one human in particular that caught his eye. No, it was his scent that proved to be interesting. Far more interesting than he had thought.

The tiny kitten watched as the interesting human with glasses walked closer and closer. Soon he was close enough to him that Rollo gathered his breath to yell as loud as his small little body could.

"MEOW! [STOP!]" Rollo screeched in order to try and gain the human's attention.

Rollo watched in delight as the small noise had worked and the human he had aimed for had come to a stop right before him.

"Hm? A kitten? … Far too tiny to be out here on your own, aren't you?" the glasses wearing male said as he lowered himself to see the kitten better.

"Meow… [Obviously…]" Rollo cried out slowly, trying to be as adorable as possible despite what his words actually were.

The kitten figured the male of, what he assumed to be about the age of, twenty-three was nice enough to stop due to his small size so perhaps he would be influenced by the sounds of his innocent sounding voice as well. Rollo thought it was worth a try. After all, this man had that scent that reminded him of someone else.

"Geez… How could I leave you out here when you make such a cute sound…" The male said as he picked up the tiny kitten. "You're barely the size of my hand."

"Meow~ [Oh how you state the obvious, human~]" Rollo went as he watched his body reach new heights.

He felt a strange feeling, a sort of purring happen, as he was now in the hand of the man.

Was this what it was like to purr?

Cats really were an odd bunch.

{Such a weird feeling… This… Purr. Never the less… It would seem he is going to take me to his family unit dwelling. Excellent.}

Rollo watched as the man held him up against his chest so closely that Rollo could hear the man's heart beating.

{Ah. The beating heart of a human. Like a bright song welcoming the day until the day that they die and it stops beating.}

Rollo purred louder as he thought to himself of the frailty of humans.

"You sure are a lively little fellow, aren't you." the man commented as he felt the purring sensation from the little guy in his hand.

"Meow~! [Of course~!]" Rollo replied, knowing indeed that he was the liveliest of things.

Being a god, so he claimed to be, he was full of energy and life. However, he did take the term 'lively' literally without giving much thought as to any other meaning of the word.

"Heh. Maybe you can keep my brother company while I'm working. I don't want him to get too lonely while I'm away." the man said with a small smile to the kitten.

Rollo purred louder as he liked this man already. Not only did the man talk to him as if he were actually a human, but he seemed to have at least a brother at his human family unit dwelling. Rollo was pleased at this, as his minimum requirements had now been met.

"Meow!" Rollo said as he thought to answer the human in some way.

Even the slightest sound seemed to make the human happy, even if it was just pointless yelling of nothing.

"That's the spirit." the man laughed, petting the kitten's head softly.

Rollo rolled his eyes at that. Not that the human knew what he truly was, but hearing someone saying 'spirit' in regards to him was a little annoying. He was, in fact, a spirit. Having thought the term too low and common for him, he had declared himself a god instead. He was no longer mentioned in the common telling of stories these days, though a rare few remembered the old tales. His story had nearly been lost with time, as was all things after a while. Just as Shadow and Aska were barely remembered, so too had he been lost from the tales. Now though, he had become far too bored with merely watching humans. Onward with his plan to view them from a lower point.

It felt like only a few minutes before suddenly they came up to the door of a tall building. Rollo watched the door open and in stepped the human before the door had a chance to shut. The kitten was rather amazed at how far these humans had come, only to fall. He knew well the fate placed upon them by Maxwell, Lord of Spirits. Rollo always had a good laugh at that one. "Lord of Spirits". Maxwell was so unimaginative. Nothing said elite like the word 'god'. Though humans never forgot Maxwell, Rollo gave the man that. If he was still a man, that is. He had heard that the "great" "lord" Maxwell had taken the human form of a female a few years ago.

{As if that were easy. This cat thing is much more promising.}

Rollo felt the human suffering of working hard for both money and food was something far too bothersome. Being a cat seemed like an easier existence.

After a short and surprising rise in elevation, thanks to some odd rising and falling box with buttons, they arrived in front of another door. This door had a code to press in order to enter and Rollo memorized it instantly in order to escape later if need be.

"Ludger! I'm home!" the man called as he walked in and the door slid shut automatically behind him.

Soon another male entered the room from what Rollo felt was some sort of sleeping area. This male had white hair that had a little black dyed into it for some reason. Rollo thought it was all right looking, but honestly wondered why the human had done it. He thought perhaps it was due to the youth of the male, who seemed to be a teenager of about fifteen if he remembered human growth patterns correctly. Rollo figured this must be the human known as Ludger, who the elder brother had called just moments before.

"?… Is that… A kitten?" the teenager asked after a few seconds.

"I found the little guy outside alone. I thought he'd give you someone to come home to since I'm at work still by the time you get off from school." the elder brother answered as he held the tiny kitten out for Ludger to take.

Rollo watched carefully as he was lifted away from the human's chest and held out on his hand for the youth to take. He would angry if he was dropped within one hour of becoming a cat.

Luckily, he was taken by the teenager within seconds and held firmly close to his body. He could not help but purr a little as the boy smiled and used a single finger to pet his tiny head.

{Heh… So you think I am cute, eh boy?}

Rollo smirked, well as much as a cat could. He could not wait to see the boy's reaction when he used his voice.

"Meow~" Rollo went as cutely as possible.

He then watched as the boy looked happier and even noticed a faint blush growing on the boy's cheeks.

{PERFECT. They adore me already!}

Rollo purred louder as he was thrilled to have such admiration. The teenage boy seemed to enjoy petting him and so he continued purring as it was quite amusing.

"Ah. I suppose we should hurry to the pet store and buy him some food. He'll need a litter box a well." the elder said as he thought of what the cat might need.

"Right." teenage Ludger said as he nodded in agreement

.

The pet store had been a wonderful experience. Never before had he seen a store solely dedicated to pets. Nothing but pets. Everything you could ever need for your pet could be found there. Rollo was surprised that there were so many different colors for the so many different things you could buy your pet. Just in the cat collar section there had been more designs and colors to collars than Rollo had ever imagined. He knew humans had such stores for themselves, but never had he thought they might make a store just for their pets to be treated the same way.

He had also learned that the name of the elder brother was Julius. The kitten had been curious as to his name and as luck would have it, the younger brother had said it while looking at the cat toys. He could not believe the amount of toys just for cats. He had ended up with so many toys and even something that was a post just for him to claw at in the hopes that the human's furniture would remain unharmed. Rollo had a good laugh at that.

They had been home for awhile now and the younger brother was sitting on the small couch waving a cat toy around like it was the most fun thing ever. Rollo understood right away that the idea behind the toy was that the human waved the stick around for the cat to hit with his paw the blue feather hanging down from it by a string. Rollo decided to try this and aimed to hit the feather with his tiny paw. He was a little too tiny to do much damage to the feather, which he thought he was supposed to do, but the human seemed to get such enjoyment out of it that he thought to keep trying. Due to his size, being so small, he kept falling over and rolling. Something the elder brother thought was funny as he wandered over from the kitchen area and over to them.

"Heh. Such a rolly little guy. Don't forget to give him a name, now. I'd hate to keep calling him "cat" for the rest of his life." Julius said with a chuckle before he sipped liquid from his cup.

{The rest of YOUR remaining life, human.}

"Yeah…" Ludger nodded as he thought for a moment. "How about ROLLO."

The kitten stopped moving as he heard such a strange and immature name from the male he thought was a teenager. It was like looking at WALL and naming him ALL. He rolled his eyes a little and looked up at the human youth. Seeing that smile on his face, how could he refuse it? Then again, it was not as if the humans knew his actual name. They had no idea he was more than just a regular cat.

"So what do you think, little guy? Is it a good name for you?" the elder asked with a smile, clearly accepting the name.

"… MEOW. [FINE. FOR NOW.]" Rollo said as he went and moved closer the Ludger in order to sit there.

The cat toy was surprisingly trying on a physical level. He felt his tiny body was tired and thought he should at least sit for a while.

"I'm glad you like it, Rollo." Ludger said with a small tilt of his head.

The elder brother was just happy the younger was looking ecstatic.

"Why don't we take a picture to commemorate the moment?" the elder asked, though he left the room before Ludger or Rollo had time enough to answer.

Seconds later and Julius returned to the room. He now had a camera in his hand and placed his cup on the table before moving back over to them.

"Get ready." the male said as he held up the camera.

Ludger picked Rollo up and held him there near his face with a smile.

"Say cheese!" the elder brother said as his finger was set to snap the photo in just a few seconds.

"Cheese~"

"Meow~ [Cheese~]"

Snap went the camera as the room flashed a bright light.

Such a fun memory to think about for the while that it took to eat. As Julius had gone back to reading the newspaper, Rollo looked up at the clock. He knew it was an important day for his younger owner, Ludger, yet the youth was still in bed. Today was the day Ludger was going to be tested to see if he had what it took to join the Spirius Corporation. It was the same place Julius worked, but Rollo had a sneaky suspicion that Ludger was not going to make it. Just a feeling he had whenever Ludger and Julius spoke of the matter.

His suspicions were usually right, but this was one he thought would be interesting.