When Alessandro crossed the threshold of the living room the next morning, where both Elisa and Alice were already having breakfast, both of them widened their eyes in amazement.

Although it had been several days now that her acne had begun to become less and less noticeable, neither of them could have imagined seeing it disappear so abruptly, as if during the night that had just passed someone had applied some sort of miraculous ointment on it.

Same fate for the rosacea he had been forced to live with over the past few years. Of the bright violet patches that usually covered much of his face, not even a shadow remained, replaced by the light pink of normal healthy skin.

It took almost a quarter of an hour before Alessandro was able to convince his mother to stop taking pictures of him with her Smartphone and sending them to Umberto, or showering him with kisses as she congratulated him on the happy event, but eventually, albeit with obvious reluctance on her part, her two sons walked through the front door headed for the bus stop.

For her part, Alice was no less lavish with compliments on her brother's newfound normalcy, although she knew how to prove far less stuffy, so much so that shortly after leaving the apartment building the conversation between them moved elsewhere.

They talked about school, about Marco's very recent relationship with Maria, about which Alice shared the same skepticism as her brother, and about the three thousand likes she had discovered she had received just that morning thanks to her latest sketch posted online.

As far as he was concerned, Alessandro had stopped posting anything after a bad experience a couple of years earlier, when he realized that no matter how much passion or effort he put into writing them, his comments never made it past the zero likes hurdle. Nevertheless, he was still glad to know his sister's talent was appreciated.

In fact, the talk went so smoothly that it took a powerful grumble for Alessandro to remember the one topic they had not yet discussed. The one thing he dreaded facing more than any other.

As he watched the few cars on the road, which followed each other in front of the bus stop bench, Alessandro tried to come up with some facetiousness with which to divert his attention, but before he could even venture an attempt, Alice snatched him from those thoughts by resting a hand on his shoulder.

''Look, I'm glad your face is back to normal,'' she premised in a conciliatory tone as soon as he had met her gaze. ''But to me there's something wrong with your stomach. Are you sure you feel fine?''

''Yes, very well,'' lied Alessandro, nodding with conviction.

The real truth was that if only his own conscience had not prevented him from doing so, he would have had no qualms about emptying the food department of a superMarcoet from top to bottom. However, he could not confess to her. In fact, he could not confess to her anything at all about how he really felt.

Or is it?

In short, he had been carrying on that absurd charade for more than a week, making the rest of the family believe that everything was business as usual, when in fact nothing was the same as before.

Why was he doing it? What was the point of it?

Afraid of disrupting everyone's life? Yes, of course, but by continuing down that road would he not achieve the same result?

Besides, the hunger that was increasing by the hour was seriously threatening to push him once again to the human limit of endurance. Another couple of days at most and he would no longer be able to control himself, reverting to being the same repulsive creature he had impersonated the previous week.

A shadow of what he was.

Pretending to want to adjust the plastic clasps on his own satchel, Alessandro leaned forward and cast his eye over the small Gothic-style church across the street, from which just then the same old lady with the trolley was coming out, who went there every morning to pray before going to the bakery.

Although it was not the same kind of trust, perhaps he too should have found the courage to trust someone.

''Alice, what would you do if you were aware of something very important, but you haven't told anyone yet for fear of being misjudged?" he asked her, continuing to look across the street.

Alice's lips curved into a bitter smile.

''I think you already know that,'' he replied with a hint of irony.

''Let it not be about that,'' Alessandro patiently pointed out.

''It depends on what it is,'' Alice said with a shrug. ''Is it something illegal?

''No''

''Is it something personal?

''Yes''

''Is it something stupid?

''Yes,'' Alessandro replied, nodding.

"Did you impregnate someone?" worried Alice asked him.

Alessandro widened his eyes.

''What...no!" he blurted out in shock as he turned back to look at her. ''And we're talking in the abstract anyway.''

She sustained his gaze for a few more moments, and then resumed scanning the street.

''Well, in that case, I think that person might as well say it.''

''Even if it's something crazy, reckless, and carries unpredictable consequences?''

Alice immediately turned toward him.

''Alex, stop these Kindergarten Mariuccia games and tell me what happened,'' she ordered impatiently.

In the meantime that he was looking into his sister's eyes, Alessandro swallowed, and for a single maddening moment he imagined he was really doing it. While staying within the confines of his mind, he saw himself confessing everything to her, telling her about the probe, about the hellish night when he had acquired the powers, about what he was and what he feared to become.

In fact, that daydream reached such a level of realism that it almost seemed to him that he was actually moving his lips, and thus giving vent to the liberating cry buried within his own heart.

''I'm afraid Alice, help me!''

Nevertheless, it was merely a reverie devoid of concrete evidence, and those words never resonated outside his brain.

''Nothing,'' he cut him short, looking away abruptly. ''Nothing happened.''

Alice raised her eyes to the sky, and after letting out a deep sigh she turned her head as well.

''Whatever,'' he conceded with a resigned air.

The ringing of an electric bell drew their attention to the bakery across the street, where a dark-skinned delivery man was pushing a cart overloaded with plastic crates out of the store in question.

The large white van he was headed for was only a few feet away, parked with its four blinkers on straddling the curb. It was probably carrying food supplies destined for a restaurant or some hotel, and that batch of bread was but the latest addition.

At the thought of the amount of food that the vehicle must have contained, Alessandro felt his mouth fill with saliva.

''Hey, hi kitty,'' Alice said in a honeyed tone.

Caught by surprise Alessandro immediately turned toward his sister, but he had not yet had time to make eye contact with her, when an ash-colored tabby cat leapt onto the bench, and after passing casually over Alice's legs went to rub against her side.

''What the...''

Ignoring the amazement that overflowed from his clumsy movements, the cat snuggled into his lap and then purred all contentedly.

''He seems to have taken a liking to you,'' commented Alice amusedly, reaching out to caress him.

''Yeah,'' Alessandro said nervously. ''A little strange, huh?

In an attempt to hide her own embarrassment, she imitated her sister by running her hand over the cat's ashen fur, which seemed to be so at ease that she closed her eyes, as if intent on falling asleep.

''And who are you baby, his friend?''

Alessandro widened his eyes.

"His what?

Without any warning another cat, this time a brownish tiger cat, gracefully jumped from the sidewalk directly onto his jeans, but when he saw that the space between his legs was already occupied he decided to climb up his arm, going to sit over his shoulder. As the feline began to rub her muzzle on his cheek while purring, Alice covered her mouth with her hand. Judging by her expression, she seemed to be trying hard not to burst out laughing.

However, when a third and a fourth cat also leapt onto the bench to go rubbing smugly against him, the girl's face lost all trace of hilarity. Now the whole thing was getting really weird.

Petrified with embarrassment, and in any case unable to move because of the besieging cats, Alessandro merely gave his sister a pleading look. Of all the oddities and quirks he had faced up to that point, becoming a walking sheaf of catnip was definitely one of the most absurd.

''Alice,'' he whispered in a small voice, ''help.''

She looked at him with an indecipherable expression for a few seconds, and then, as if a sudden enlightenment had brightened her mind, she allowed a smile to surface on her lips again.

''You know, I think this might be the perfect opportunity to throw down some sketches.''

And bending over the folder he had placed on the floor, he rummaged through it.

Alessandro was incredulous.

''So you leave me like this?

Alice shrugged her shoulders.

"I mean do something!" blurted out Alessandro indignantly.

''Afraid you'll get eaten?" she joked, pulling the notepad out of the folder.

''That's not the point,'' protested Alessandro, as he tried to turn his face away from the tiger cat, who was balancing on his shoulder and insistently kept rubbing his cheek.

''It seems to me that they just want to pamper you,'' Alice noted as she began to draw, ''why don't you just try to relax and enjoy the moment?''

There and then, Alessandro was tempted to retort, but when a kitten with snow-white fur rested its paws on his jacket and then drew his attention with a very sweet meow, much of his indignation eventually waned. Trying to follow her sister's advice she then started petting the white cat, enjoying listening to the vibrant purr she emitted each time she ran her finger over his fur-covered throat.

''They're not bad, though, all things considered,'' he admitted, hinting at a smile. ''This melting of theirs has something soothing about it.''

Almost as if he had heard it, the white cat closed its eyes, further increasing the volume of its purr.

''You know what?" asked Alessandro, turning to look at her. ''I'm taking them all home.''

''Great idea,'' commented Alice simply, but without looking up from her notebook. ''The only drawback is that Mom will probably save on the first batch of canned goods by passing you through the meat grinder.''

''I'm afraid you are right,'' Alessandro admitted with a hint of regret. ''Too bad.''

The bus arrived at the stop not even a minute later, and to avoid missing it Alessandro was forced to get all four cats that had snuggled on top of him off of him. Nonetheless, no matter how it might have looked on the surface, the feat did not prove to be simple at all, since every time he tried to get rid of one of the pussycats by placing it on the ground, it would leap back into his lap before he had even managed to grab the next one.

Finally, gripped by despair, he decided to call it quits by getting up in a huff. His troubles, however, were not yet over.

He had just stepped onto the bus when he realized that the cats did not seem at all willing to let him go, and with their tails firmly held up in the air they persisted in rubbing against his legs, meowing and purring.

Under threat from the bus driver, who promised to dump him along with the animals if he did not get rid of them instantly, Alice helped him lower them to the curb, allowing the doors of the vehicle to close just in time to prevent them from boarding.

Once they had departed, Alessandro looked out the window, watching with wide eyes as the quartet of cats ran down the sidewalk in a vain attempt to keep up with the bus. Their pursuit continued for just over a hundred meters, but after the bus had turned at the first intersection, they were forced to give up.

It was then that Alice showed him the result of her efforts, consisting of a pencil sketch executed with surprising precision. As he imagined the work was a depiction of him being swamped by at least half a dozen cats, one of them curled up on his head, while the expression of pure manga-style resignation etched on his face left little doubt as to what he was feeling at that moment.

At the sight of the title The Catfighter, written in the bottom margin of the paper, Alessandro shot his sister a dirty look that tasted a lot like: ''ha, ha, really a hoot,'' and then went to sit in the back of the bus.