11 Nobody's Pet (4)

While hiding under the bed, Iris finally had a moment to herself. She wasn't in a hurry to look for something, nor had to fear for her life or was too exhausted to think.

She lay with her head on her paws, wondering what she should do next. It was fun and all to play around with the stranger, but was that all her new life entailed? Would she be given to someone as a pet and live out the rest of her… what, five? or would it be ten years? doing nothing just running circles in the house?

It was depressing to think of it that way. She rolled on her back and stared at the underside of the bed, her feet waving in the air.

She wanted to hope that she would turn back into a human soon, but neither her heart nor her mind believed it. It was too sudden, too random. There certainly hadn't been anything she'd done to deserve this, so how could she earn back her life?

And would the time turn back for her? She'd seen on the man's phone that today was the day after yesterday, fitting with the calendar of her human existence. This was the same world, same time, just a different place. And a different her.

A whine escaped her lips. But she wasn't crying. She stared at the darkness of beneath the bed and thought of what she had now. It wasn't better than what she'd had at home, but it wasn't much worse either.

No family, couple friends, boring studies—she was sleeping through the majority of her life, moving just because that was expected. If you stopped, you'd starve to death, the government having stopped supporting you for being an orphan if you dropped out of university after becoming an adult. And then you'd need to get a job to survive, which would then restart the same wheel of moving for the sake of moving again.

Here, she couldn't contact her friends anymore, but she would no longer need to study or work to get fed and retain a roof over her head. It wasn't a perfect trade, but for her—a person who didn't care for her future—this wasn't too bad of a deal either.

So what if her life would be shorter now? At least she wouldn't have to waste fifty years doing stuff she hated just to remain alive.

With that decided, Iris rolled back on her feet and peeked around from under the bed. This new resolution of hers to remain happy required one prerequisite - she needed to stay in this house! Other people may run out of funds, but this guy seemed loaded, and he was good-looking, too!

With such traits, how could she let go of him? Instantly, she decided that even if he tried to give her away upon not finding her 'owner', she wasn't going to leave. It would be just too sad to give him up for uncertainty. He also seemed to really care for his pets, which had now become the best quality a man may possess in Iris' eyes.

Thus, she now had a goal - to win his heart!

While checking out her surroundings, Iris swiftly went through what she knew. He liked pets, he was kind, and he found her current form beautiful. That seemed like a good start.

'I can work with that,' she told herself and left her hiding place. The man was in his study, so she ventured after him.

To say that the study was a bit more furnished would be an understatement. The wall on the far side was covered in shelves. They contained books, some photos, a couple small statues that were too far up for Iris to make out. Below them was a long desk, with its back to the wall, littered with some books and papers.

In the middle there were three large monitors, the mid one somewhat hidden behind Kyro's back. Iris came closer and saw that he was going through some online pet stores and forums, looking for something. Since his search could only result in nothing, she decided to first finish her appraisal.

To the left, there was a magnificent sight - a wall length window. There was a coffee table with two chairs by it, but Iris ignored them and ran to the window itself. They weren't high up, just the third floor, but the building was on a hill, and it looked down on a park with a lake. Its water glistened in the sunlight as if it was filled with stars at this hour.

'It's beautiful,' Iris thought and turned to glance at the man who lived here. He now sat bowed slightly, left hand holding his head as he frowned at the screen. 'Poor soul, he could use a distraction,' she decided.

She made a noise to attract his attention—it still sounded like screaming, but she was starting to get used to it—and the moment he turned her way, she ran at him and jumped with all her might.

It was hard to say which of the two of them was more surprised when she actually landed on his knees, slamming into his stomach before she could stop herself.