A/N: Hi there! This'll be quick: I'll be writing this fic, which is partially a novelization of 'There She Is!' and partially my own little explanations for some things, and a few stories here and there about our heroes in an attempt to somehow add to this series. I doubt I can, but you don't win battles by sitting at home, sucking your thumb and...anyway. Before I begin…some things in this fic will be different from the original. The mediums of storytelling are different (That genius Amalloc uses technology, I use bland text) so some things must change, and, as mentioned, there will be little things that never even happened in the original, but the whole point of fanfiction is to be different… and regardless of a few things being different, I think you'll like it!

P-please like it ;_;

Chapter I: Ddota, Kunyo!

It was my daily routine; I press a button. A cup drops down. Fish comes out into the cup. I take the cup, and then I eat the fish. The others did it all the time and I was not any exception. That's what cats did. Rabbits, bunnies, whatever you call them, they did the same with carrots and carrot juice. That particular day was no exception, either, to anybody's routine, especially mine.

And yet it was that routine on that day that changed everyone's life.

The innocence of what happened, when you put it against the cruel background of society, it baffles me. The complexity of our values, of our society, it seems unimaginable how simple this thing was that set our lives into motion! I mean, there are actual signs all around town that warn you: no cat-bunny romance! But either way, it happened.

It was when our eyes met.

The way I saw it, she was just some rabbit kid at the machine next to me, it wasn't like I would have thought a thing of her afterward; a wave at the most on passing if we'd made small talk was pushing it. Interspecies interaction, that was a…point of contention, to speak lightly. More so an event that had the potential to cause riots in some parts of the city.

I'd only turned my head for a split second and our eyes had met. She seemed to have done the same, and her eyes widened-if anything, that's why I didn't break the gaze then and there. It lasted a few seconds, until I decided to break the nervous tension.

"Um…hi there."

There was a sort of delay for a few seconds, as she seemed to be registering that I'd said anything. She just stood there, hardly even blinking as she looked at me.

"Can I help you?"

Nothing still-her silence was now a frightening thing. I was about to just leave and go on with my day, when she finally spoke, albeit softly and quietly.

"You're cute."

MY eyes shot open in sheer disbelief-she was saying this to me? I looked around; a crowd of people was seeming to gather whilst I stood there in shock, and she did the same, albeit in a flustered, enamored state-either way, we both looked like a pair of bumbling idiots hogging the vending machines. Worse yet, I was a cat and she wasn't, and I'll bet fifty thousand won that that was the reason people actually seemed to care…or maybe they were just hungry. Either way, somehow there was something to make it worse-I was just now noticing that, in my disbelief, I'd squeezed the foam cup so hard I'd spilled some fish.

She twirled up to me in small pirouette, and jammed a dry carrot into my mouth in what I assume was some sort of bunny mating ritual, before she continued to stand there, giggling like an imbecile. While she still had her back turned, I did the smartest thing I'd done throughout the day, and bolted, while the crowd looked at us in disgust.

And then she nonchalantly came running after me-ddota, kunyo-chasing me.

I made for a bridge, and charged across it trying to get away once I saw her coming in pursuit, and she kept going, undeterred. It seemed from then on, she was everywhere chasing me; coming up out of manholes, on balconies, offering me a carrot…something.

Somehow she got me cornered at one point during the pursuit, I forget how, but she sure made use of the time, telling me about how I'd be riding horseback, ballroom dancing, and sweeping her off her feet and dragging her through the air, whilst sunflowers looked on in envy…oh yes, now I remember. She'd buried me in pink hearts.

Made of wood. Yeah, the one that clonked me on the head was my favorite. I don't remember anything six hours after that. Must've been something she put on the carrot earlier.

I found myself waking up slowly, digging myself out, and eventually getting the heck out of there-she'd managed to do all of this and we were still on the streets, so I have to give her credit for a job well done. It would seem she spent all that time combing my fur, so I'm glad my body was covered in wood hearts, save for my head.

Over the next few days, it continued. I'd received a heart-shaped candy box with a carrot in it, been given a cake while I was on the toilet, and even at a cafeteria I had my face stuffed with carrots…for a point I was beginning to wonder if stuffing my mouth full of carrots was just some kink she had.

Finally, one day, I sat her down and, using visual aids, tried to teach her: cat plus cat equals good. Bunny plus bunny equals good. Cat plus bunny equals disaster. The lesson didn't sink through.

With that failed attempt, I tried to set her up with some rabbit guys; I gathered a bodybuilder, a poet, and a smart guy. Funnily enough, her eyes started glowing, and she chucked them all up into the air, even the huge guy. She even managed to tackle an entire street full of people just to get to me two hours later…again, credit where credit is due. I'd managed to break away from her grip, however, a few seconds later. With that, I dashed for a nearby building; here, where there's a building, there's an elevator, and that holds true for the buildings you go to if you're trying to get a view of the ocean; they're tall and they work as an escape route. For the stupid, that is, but I wasn't exactly thinking fully.

I slid into the elevator, barely able to kept my footing. Without getting a good look at the operator, I blurted out, "top, ASAP."

As the elevator was set in motion on the ascent, I casually glanced to my left; there she was, blushing heavily, to my dismay. When the elevator finally got to the top, the first thing I was some rabbit guy looking at me in disbelief…I was buried in those infernal wooden hearts again. At least, I hoped they were made of wood.

He helped me out of the pile, and immediately I looked to the observation deck.

"Thanks!" I blurted out, before leaping out of the open observation window to the water, dozens of feet down.

"Wait," I thought in the seconds as I descended. "I hate wate-"

The ocean bay was as welcoming to a cat as one would imagine it to be, after that kind of jump. When I'd surfaced (and begun to thrash in a desperate attempt to stay afloat) I noticed that instead of helping me, the people around me were on the deck above the water, staring at me like I was a retarded suicide…I know where Center Tower is, thank you all.

Ahem. Anyway, I soon found myself slipping under, and the water seemed to be singing to me in some sort of melodic tune, while it wrapped me in her warm arms, only the singing was my own awful-sounding gargling, and the 'warm arms' were actually just the water. The cold, cold water.

It was all the more surprising when I felt a tugging on my ear, and then I felt myself being dragged up. I looked over-it was that very same girl, in snorkeling garb. I was shocked, and, true to my nature, my eyes widened.

Well, they would've…but I was too busy losing consciousness to do that.

I woke up coughing out water, and saw I was wrapped in a towel. The girl was there, and had been doting on me the whole time. The whole time. And if anything, that got to me…in a good way.

"You're pretty determined," I chuckled.

She smiled. "Yep."

"More determined than anyone else would, I imagine."

"I guess so."

I chuckled.

"What?"

"Nothing," I replied. "Just…I don't even know your name. I don't know anything about you…well, I know you're the most persistent being on the planet, but that's it. And you don't know my name, or anything about me, so-"

"You're Nabi, a male cat, living in Apartment 1 in Carp-artment Building C, and-"

"Okay, stop right there before I'm creeped out."

She giggled, and I sighed. "What," she said, "you weren't creeped out before?"

I chuckled. "Well…"

I looked around. "This your house?"

"Yeah."

"How'd I get here, exactly?"

"I brought you back here yesterday. You were going in and out of consciousness, but you never did say anything."

I looked around-just then I was noticing that I was on a nice mat and that the towel was warm.

"This towel is still warm?"

"I've been changing them out every half hour or so."

"You've been looking after me this whole time?"

"Yeah…I was really worried at first."

I laughed again. "Boy, I sure feel like a jerk."

"No, no, no…"

"Yes, yes, I was a jerk," I replied. "Just say it."

"But you-well, yeah, a little," she replied, blushing.

"Well…"

"Yeah?"

"I don't see why we can't be friends or something, the signs say no romance but friendship is something different."

"It's a thin line," she said, winking. I daresay she said it in a slightly suggestive tone.

"Now, see, that's the thing, you can't-" I began, as she started gazing into my eyes, while hers widened. I sighed. "If I tell you we'll see what happens, will you leave it at that?"

"Okay."

"Then we'll see what happens," I said.

"Alright!" she said, giggling and blushing furiously, as well as a bit shamelessly.

"Society doesn't restrict you much, does it?"

"Nope…say, you want to head back to those machines, get a drink or something?"

"As friends," I said, slightly more firmly.

She rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. You sure you feel up to it?"

"Yeah," I said, getting up. With that, I put my towel on the mat. "By the way, you know who I am…what's your name?"

"I'm Doki."

"Doki?" I replied. "Hi, I'm Nabi," I smiled, extending my hand, fully aware that she knew I was Nabi. Still, it meant something…I suppose.

At the machines, nothing had changed, but the crowd was gone and the area was empty at the time, which I considered a boon from God-I was a bit nervous to be seen with her in public, a fact that I'm ashamed of but admit to.

She handed me a foam cup. "Try not to break it," she said, smiling.

"Thanks."

She went back to the machines, and while her back was turned, an attractive cat came walking down the sidewalk. I'd no intent to say anything, but I was amused to see a large, gray bunny chasing her, a large bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Times are changing," I observing, sipping the drink-only to realize it was carrot! Despite this, I downed the beverage…in retrospect I suppose it didn't taste bad in the least. With that, I looked back at Doki, wh appeared to be partaking of some fish, a clothespin on her nose.

"You like fish?" I asked, bewildered.

"What, you think I went out to get your food last night? I love it. Always keep some on hand."

"Huh," I said, feeling myself become a little bit enamored, though I quickly dashed the thought.

Well? Please, rate and review! I look forward to the next chapter…no idea if it'll be the adaption of Step 2 or an 'in-between' story. If you have ideas for an 'in-between' story please, PM me! ^^