It was all too much. Much too much. He couldn't take it any more. Madoka was there and she was talking and he didn't think it would help. He didn't want her to be hurt. He wanted to jump up and push her out of the way, make her get behind him. Maybe the man wouldn't harm her, but he could sense how scared she was. He should have protected her...

Instead he changed back into a cat. Maru couldn't help it. It happened without him meaning to. One second he was there and the next he was just a cat, curled up into a tight ball, it's head hidden by it's paws and it's tail wrapped around it. There was the softest, most sorrowful meow (a sound that was very much that of a cat) before he went quiet.