A short while later, the cat that Hakuba had turned into began to feel very, very worn out. After all, the past three hours had been full of adventures. Walking, running, chasing, climbing, catching, murdering, more walking, stealing, and forcing paws to do things that they were not technically supposed to be able to do. 

Something about all of this, and the whole superiority complex that had been accentuated in the transformation, had his body moving into a curled up position by itself.

But, no! He had an hour left of the cursed M!A, and he was already an hour late to dinner with his father. No eclairs, no books, and no tea. Heatbreaking, really. Which made him feel even more exhausted. 

Would tea even taste good… to a cat?

The thought forced him to his paws, and he walked back to the courthouse proper, dug out his phone from the pile of clothes, and inspected the time because he couldn’t get his pocket watch to open. Yes, fifty two minutes precisely until the transformation would be over. It would be easy to take a twenty minute catnap for optimum efficiency, drag the clothing to a more private location, and then get dressed without any drama. Then, he could call his father, apologize, and reschedule. Simple. 

He picked the phone up in his mouth and carried it with him to the nearest tree, scaling it somewhat awkwardly from the bulk in his jaws. But once he was settled in the broad crook of a network of branches, he was able to grasp the device in his paws and set an alarm. 

Then, before he quite finished saving the new settings, he fell into a deep, blissful sleep. 

…