Delinquent Student and his Pet Teacher

The wolf’s grip around his neck once again, Puss couldn’t believe the words that had just left his mouth. The knife was already so close to cutting into his dearly beloved friend that there was no way that Muerte wouldn’t hurt one of them. His damned lies filled Puss with anger, but he could see that the wolf wasn’t focused on him at all. He saw how Muerte watched Kitty squirm and how the knife pressed even harder into her ribs. She held back her voice, but she was surely in pain. The wolf huffed to get her eyes on him and Puss watched him bare his teeth as soon as she did. He came close, too close to Puss. It felt like he wanted to rip his neck out as well with how close he came.“If you play along this time , gatito, the lady's lungs won't have to get punctured, you got that?” Those words were meant only for him, but Kitty could hear them clear as day as well and stopped her movements. She looked at Puss, now that she had to trust him again, her head filled with pleas that he wouldn’t backstab her again .

Muerte’s teeth left the cat’s neck as he leaned back to see if Puss would now listen to what he said or not. Puss’s face still fierce with anger, the tension left his body and he let go of his sword. “Don’t you dare…” The wolf’s paw left Puss and wandered to his pockets. “Oh I would love to rip her to shreds, after you’ve been so disobedient.” He smiles and chuckles, with Puss flinching to sit up, he was interrupted by Kitty’s yell of pain striking through her. Muerte waved his finger after it left his pocket. “Tss, tss, tss, I would rather not have to do this, Puss.” 

Disobedient? Stuck in this situation Puss just had to sit there. Muerte was only here because he hadn’t been at the promised place this evening. Puss once again cursed himself, he knew he shouldn’t be here at all . His sitting still and not moving lessened the grip on Muertes knife, but still he was left confused. “What do you want from us… from her? Just let her go!” Leaning over to Kitty Muerte chuckled again. “Oh no, I need her to know as well.” 

Tying zip ties around Kitty’s legs he could feel Puss trying to protest again. “Know what?!” She hissed at the wolf who didn’t flinch nor did he back away. 

“That he belongs to me now.” 

White teeth flashed in front of her eyes and she saw him press back down on Puss, this time pushing his face into the dirt of the floor. “W-what?!”

Before either of them could even register what the wolf had just said he started to shift and pull his attention from her towards Puss, his teeth still showing, he continued his insane speech. “Running to your little lover friend…” His paws caressed Puss’s back making him freeze and tense up his whole body in anticipation. Puss wasn’t able to listen to anything else that came out of his mouth, his mind was still busy trying to think how to even answer those words. 

The wolf’s other paw once again pulled something out of his pockets. “...To get some comfort? To forget about me?” A chuckle from the wolf made Puss snap out of his thoughts and back to what was happening. Eyes wide open, they darted around and only for a small second did they land on Kitty, like a small plea for help. Damning herself for not having any claws she tried to chew through the plastic restraints and watched the wolf pull another restraint from his pocket. “There is no escape for you, Puss in Boots. And even your little gatita won’t be able to change that.”

As she saw what he had on his hands, she grew speechless. She wanted to speak, tell the wolf how absolutely insane he was, but she couldn’t believe it either, how the biggest known name in the underground, the one everyone knew not to mess around with, just killed someone in front of them and then talked like this? Kitty could only watch what happened next.

The big white paw slowly slid down Puss’s back and repeated the motion after he reached his hips, as if trying to calm him. Puss didn’t trust this gentle action of Muerte at all, he felt himself get more and more jittery internally with each implication of the wolf’s movement. The single claw sliding underneath his shirt collar proved him right and made him shiver, sending a cold sweat down his back. He got pulled upwards, already holding his breath when the shirt tightened on the front of his neck and made him arch towards the wolf. Something round dangled in front of his face and Puss could hear the damned smile on Muerte’s face in his words.

“Since you leave quite the satisfying trail, gato.”

That something in front of him came closer and closer and through his squinting he could make out the texture of the braided leather bands with metal attached to it and closing it.

Puss realised what it was.

A collar?! It was a damned collar?! 

His eyes could only stare at the thing as it started to move over his snout, his mind told him to protest, to struggle, but for some reason his body didn’t budge, as if it was wanting this to happen.

He felt it scratch up his face as it slid over his head, pulling his skin and his ears back and as soon as it landed on the perfect spot around his neck the wolf let go of him. Puss fell onto his paws stemming his torso up, unsure of what just happened and if his body had just betrayed him, his paw shook when it reached towards the thing around his neck. The wolf’s words echoed in his head, ‘he belongs to me now’ , he belongs… to him… like some kind of property?! 

The moment his paw lands on the collar, his reaction gets cut short and he gets pulled up by it, his breath cut just as short. After Muerte rustled about for a bit Puss found himself standing on two feet.

Muerte reached his paw around the confused cat and placed it over his torso while staring at the black cat still sitting on the ground right in front of them. “Now look at her.” His head was next to Puss’s head, who was a little more than just confused, looking at his paws and reaching around his neck. There was a collar around his neck and he couldn’t believe it. Like he was just someone’s lap cat! He was a grown adult, a fighter, a thief, a teacher for goodness sake, but not just someone’s— The wolf pointed his head towards Kitty, repeating his demand.

When he saw Kitty look at him so worried and filled with anger, he couldn’t bear it. His shame spiked and completely overwhelmed him. With his eyes shut tightly his head snapped away from her and accidentally met with the wolf. He felt so utterly ashamed of his own reaction to this situation, being so utterly humiliated in front of someone, in front of her. Muerte only chuckled at them both.

Kitty only felt hot anger towards the wolf, she wanted to get rid of him immediately and stop him from doing what he wanted with Puss. She bit through her arm restraints and before she could even grab the one on her legs, Muerte’s knife landed right between her legs, inside of the restraints. “Now if someone removes this, for any reason,” His voice gets quieter with these last words directed at Puss, “ I will know .” And with that he cuts Kitty loose and stands up. With him still being too close to Puss it makes Kitty too nervous to react. 

“I’ll be watching you, Kitty Softpaws.” His gaze shifts over to the corpse and Kitty manages to move towards Puss. “I’ll doubt Jack Horner will be troubling you guys any longer.” He chuckles and leaves one last glare on Kitty before he walks away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Boots.” He vanished as quickly as he came.

Kitty’s arms leaped around Puss as soon as the wolf vanished around the corner, she hugged him as strongly as she could, pressing his head against her chest. “Why didn’t you tell me!?!” Her teeth gnashed with the furious anger she felt towards the wolf. She couldn’t even imagine what he must have been through, her eyes shut tightly with just the thought of it. “I could have–!” 

“Is he… gone?” His voice was low, she could hear that he was too afraid to talk too loud. “Yeah, we’re… alone.” Immediately Puss’s demeanour changes and he lets himself fall into Kitty. The loud sigh he lets out confuses her just a bit. 

His arms grab on to her so tightly before he pulls himself back to look at her. “Thank god this happened in front of you!” The emotion in his voice seemed harshly disconnected to what just happened to him, he seemed way too relaxed for what just happened. “You… you won’t look at me differently because of this now, d-do you?!” Kitty could only shake her head with astonishment when Puss freed himself from their embrace. “A-anyone else and I don’t know what I would have done.” He starts to pace around, holding his head seemingly in thought. “Puss are you…?” He paces back to her and snaps his head to her. “Are you okay, Puss?” His blank stare got more and more worrisome with each second he couldn’t answer, then a nervous smile appeared on his face. “Hah! No??” He scoffed. “I-I’m fine, I’ll be fine!” Puss went back to pacing back and forth. “He-he didn’t do much this time, he didn’t–” He spun to her in panic, “Are you alright, Kitty?!” 

She was speechless at his blatant display of a mental breakdown, he obviously wasn’t fine and dealt with it the only way he knew how, denial. He acted as if he was fine to avoid facing his true feelings underneath, Kitty wanted to slap him to realise the severity of the situation but all she could do was nod her head. “Yeah, I think… I am.” 

“A-and the wound?! Did he cut you?!” Puss pulled up her blouse in his rash actions, not even thinking a single thought about what he was doing. She slapped his paws away with force. “PUSS!” She yelled, making him flinch harshly in turn. “You’re obviously not fine! Now turn around and let me take a look at that hideous thing!” She hissed, already turning him around. She grabbed onto the collar from behind only to examine it and, damn it, the wolf was right. There was— Puss spun around stopping her from doing anything. “Stop!! Stop, stop, stop! You can’t do that!” His heart was racing again, his thoughts filled with images, “If you do that he’ll– He will just…!” it spilled out of him, his words not being able to catch up with the speed of his thoughts. 

“No! You can’t just let him do whatever he wants , Puss! I’ll help you through this, just let me–!” She reached to grab the collar again but Puss slapped her paw away. He looked at her, with the same panic he always felt around him, he couldn’t risk it. Immediately taking it off after what he said? After he had come here to punish him for not obeying him before?

“If you do that he’ll–” Puss grabbed onto his head in frustration, “I shouldn’t have come here, I knew it!”

“What?!”

“I should never have come here! Now I’ve put you in danger and I knew this would have happened, I–” Kitty grabbed his head and made him face her, she wanted to stop his rampant meltdown but when he saw her eyes… “I just couldn’t do this alone Kitty, I couldn’t take it any longer, I don’t know what’s happening with me, I-...” With his tears swelling up Kitty embraced him again.

—

As soon as the door to his apartment rattled closed he ripped his shirt off his body, he couldn’t take the feeling of it on him anymore and it needed to go. He ran towards the bathroom to get in front of a mirror. As much as he couldn’t bear looking at himself right now, and the absolute mess that he was now, he needed to know what he was dealing with, if it was really true.

There it was.

The dark braided leather collar contrasted strongly against his bright fur, no one could miss it if they saw him like that. Even the metal on it was dark. Goddamn this wolf. He turned the collar around quickly so the lock faced him in the mirror, there was no way he’d let this horrible thing stay on his neck for any second longer.

No use. There was a tamper proof sticker placed on the screw on lock. He was right, if anyone opened this, he’d surely know. Alright then, Puss accepted the challenge and tried to pull it over his head instead, just like the wolf had put it on in the first place.

No use. The wolf had strapped it tighter probably before he put that damn seal on it.

Puss breathed, exhausted, ashamed. With his paws resting on the sink he looked down, he didn’t think the situation would get any worse and yet here he was.

Another glance at it and he could see that there was text on a small metal plate, like a little name plate. He couldn’t quite read it in the mirror but he was sure it wasn’t his name. More and more curses filled his head, he hated the thing. It felt itchy, it made him feel itchy all over. It made him feel so incredibly weird and he couldn’t quite put a finger on what it was, it couldn’t be that he was… excited for the next day?

He just hated that thought even more than anything, no, no, this had to be some other kind of fear and nothing else.

Puss swallowed further thoughts about it before he felt any other unwanted feelings and tried to find solutions for the next day.

—

His neck fur was damp with sweat, adjusting his shirt's collar with his sweaty paws to make sure it sits tight enough to almost hide the hideous thing right underneath, didn’t make it feel much better. Feels like the damn thing is strangling him. He clears his throat and enters the classroom, proud posture, same jumpy and confident stride as always.

None of them will have any clue of what this means anyways, right?

All his current class could see was that Puss in Boots seemed like his old self now, no matter how fake or played it was. He gets greeted like always, happy smiles and cheers all the way through, but this time they feel different. He feels everyone's stare right on his skin, feeling the thing around his neck tighten as he strolls towards his desk. Weird, they’re greeting him like always, he doesn’t notice any other hidden meanings behind their smiles, everyone seems sincere, so why does he feel like that’s not true?

The way to his desk seems to get longer and longer with each step. He reaches the halfway mark and his thoughts start to get the upper hand when he feels a looming presence in the back of the room. This is new .

Muerte didn’t even seem like he tried to hide his sinister intentions while he graced them with his presence. Of course he would. He promised he would. It still feels awful to have him sit right there. The only one who’s smile has a completely different meaning than everyone else's.

Puss jumps up on the seat, places his folder on the desk and tries his damndest to begin the class as normally as he could. “I believe you were supposed to have history right now?” His voice luckily manages to chime the same charismatic tone. Everyone chuckles, except the wolf, who kept his eager gaze on him.

“But ah, what do you say we do instead today?”

“Oh, how about a game!” one of the dogs barks. “No, a movie, I wanna watch a movie!” Chimes in a human student. They all yell and cheer for different ideas of what to do instead of a simple lesson. Their laughter brings comfort to Puss and he watches them with a calm smile spreading on his face.

“What about a trip outside?”

The wolf’s growling voice deafened the room quickly, overturning any other requests and Puss could feel a cold shudder running down his spine. After a moment passed and some turned around towards him, quiet whispering started to seep through the room. They all seemed genuinely surprised that he was there and even spoke up in this class. Taking over the awkward silence, the dogs in front of him started to bicker with him. “What? Go on a trip? Are you serious?” “No way, let’s just stay here and watch a movie instead. I wanna eat my snacks!” 

The wolf just sits and picks at his claws. “What? This is a history lesson, right? Why not go to a historical place then and hang out there?” He leans forwards to his classmates and flashes a cheeky smile towards Puss at the end of his words.

Puss felt that little look in his bones. He knows exactly what this means. His paw wants to reach to adjust the collar that sits so damn tight around his neck, but he doesn’t want to draw any attention to it so he flattens his shirt instead, trying to look as calm as he can be. He has to play along with this.

He coughs to quiet the class.

“A trip you say? Well, not a bad idea…” Puss pretends to think about it and the eyes of the class wander back to him with disappointed pleas in them. He can’t let the wolf get what he wants, no way.

“But for someone who’s barely around I think you don’t know how things work around here.” He tries the same shtick he always does and some of the students flash a smile again. They look back at the wolf again as if to tell him that’s what he gets for suggesting something no one is in the mood to do.

The wolf shrugs at them. “What? There is a mall right next to that one church building, I just thought we could hang around there instead? With the weather being so nice.” Puss hates how much he’s able to act as if he’s one of them. Making faces like a person with normal emotions. Playing along with them. But Puss knew that wasn’t true.

Suddenly the situation changed. The girls all excitedly made plans to buy things in a certain store, the guys talking about how they could now also get snacks there.

Overwhelmingly it seemed the wolf had gotten them on his side. 

Puss sweats. His nervousness being extremely visible only to the wolf as he stares at him again out of the corner of his eyes. How could nobody other than Puss see those terrifying expressions on his face. 

The collar feels like it’s strangling him again.

“Alright, alright. It’s a history lesson after all! Then why don’t we go and learn some from the nearby historical places!” Puss sighs, he tries to sound the same as always, but there is a certain tone of exhaustion coming through and he shakes his head with a slight smile. Well if the students want to go, who is he to object now, right? After all, he's gotten the thing around his neck hidden perfectly and nobody has noticed anything yet… right?

As he watches the students walk past him out the classroom when one of the dogs can’t hold back his snickering before he passes. “Who’s the lucky one to get you on a leash?” he whispers as he passes by, making Puss’s heart drop and his legs feel like they’ll give in any second. Muerte bumps into him, as if to tell him to quit messing around, then lets his elbow rest on his shoulders as they leave, friendly and playful gestures to seem like a normal student. One last look from the white wolf makes Puss’s heart beat out of his chest and his face feel flushed. The dogs knew . Of course they would.

—

It was hot outside. Way too hot outside.

Puss didn’t bother much with keeping the group intact after they arrived, of course he’d let them run off as soon as they got there. The less eyes around the better.

Although to his surprise a small group stayed with him and wanted him to actually go into the church with him. Naturally, being the nice teacher that he is, he’d do them the favour and walk around with them and maybe request the historical tour inside, which was their actual plan. Weird that some of these youngsters were actually interested, he thought.

The wolf, who’s been smoking in the shadows of the church walls and lightly kept his eyes on Puss, followed as soon as they entered the church. Without his cigarette, he wouldn’t want to cause any unnecessary trouble after all. Puss excused himself after a while and as he was alone to still keep watch of his students, the wolf bumps into him.

“Tch. I thought you’d be set aflame as soon as you walked in. A shame you didn’t.” Groans Puss quietly at him.

“I could say the same about you, ladronzuelo .” Muerte immediately counters and Puss shut his mouth.

“Are you satisfied with this yet, Muerte ?” Puss couldn't stand another minute of wearing this absolutely humiliating thing around his neck. “Not yet.” He chuckles.

They both kept from staring at each other, just loosely standing next to one another, but for that short moment Muerte leaned down to him, “Nobody has seen the name on it yet.” It made the cat’s skin shiver and the first stand on the back of his neck, the thought that someone might actually see the thing closely enough to read it. Without turning around to him he hear Muerte leave the building and his face immediately wrinkled in disgust. 

No word strong enough to curse this damn wolf. He felt his heart beat underneath his chest, what the hell was wrong with him? The back of his mind was just telling him to be thankful that this was seemingly his only punishment. Was that really it? Just relief that the wolf didn’t do anything …worse? 

His face flushed and he felt the church wasn’t the right place to think about what he could have done instead.

—

Outside the church, in the shadows Puss leans onto the wall, exhausted by the overwhelming and unexpected tension in his body. If he could just take it off. He just wants it off . He grabs it and then remembers the last night, the body dropping to the floor, the knife over Kitty’s chest, the look on her face after he… He stops himself from tearing it off. He can’t take this big of a risk. 

He hears faint laughter accompanied with steps getting closer to him. He quickly adjusts his collars and turns to what he sees are 2 of his dog students. The doberman and the husky. Both taller then him but not as tall as the wolf following behind just few steps apart. The dogs can’t help their chuckling and bend down to him. It was the same one that made fun of him in the classroom. Here we go with this.

The doberman pulls at the collar underneath and shakes Puss up. “See?” He shows the husky who yells in response “NO WAY! He actually wears it.” Puss immediately fights back and paws at him to let him go, the doberman immediately pulls back and holds his paw in response to being scratched.

“Hitting your students now are we? Mr. Boots?” The wolf approaches and twirls his damned knife again. He looms over the dogs like a huge shadow while they’re busy with each other.

“What do you want , you damn mutt.” Puss, defiant as ever, stands his ground against these damn bullies. “You. Husky. Read it.” He points his snout as a command.

“I.. have a name” The husky whispers as he does what is told.

Now the husky yanks at his collar and Puss flinches at the strength used. His eyes stayed fixed on the wolf who kept his knife closed but just so slightly displayed that Puss knew it was there.

“Propiedad de la Muerte.” Reads the dog out loud. “Muy Bien.” The wolf hums in return with a satisfied smile. He comes closer and the husky sees it as a command to back off of his property. He leans down and flips his knife open, not yet pointing it at the cat.

“Now don’t you forget that, mi gatito.” His bared teeth close to his face, making Puss’s breathing stop for what feels like an eternity.

The wolf leaves as quickly as he came, leaving the cat blinded for a moment by the intense sun that is hitting his eyes again.

He can still hear his chuckling as he rounds the corner. The tension leaves the cat's body as soon as he can’t see the wolf. He leans on the church wall and tries to calm his heavy breathing.