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Kiku is walking home in his usual navy kimono, admiring the August sky. His ebony hair gently wisps in the summer breeze as he listens to the wind. Then he hears something else, a small meow coming from below. He averts his dark eyes down, looking left and right. Kiku turns around, seeing a snowy bombay kitten at his heels.
He kneels down to the kitten, scratching it's chin and listening to the growing purr. Analyzing the cat, he notes how matted the white fur is on it's abnormally thin body. "Hello little kitty, are you far from home?" He asks. Kiku looks at it's invisible collar, assuming the cat is lost. With much caution he lets the kitten hop into his arms and they head down the clean sidewalk back home.
The house is like many on the street, one-storied with ivory siding. His garden in the front has a few flowered shrubs with a little painted watering can on the stool in the dirt. The concrete porch is thin area-wise and only a half-inch off the ground. Kiku takes out his keys, unlocking the centered door into his front room. He sets the kitten down, allowing it to wonder around the mysterious building.
To the left is an archway into the living room with connected tan carpet. Ahead Kiku goes to the crammed yet well-kept kitchen, emptying his pockets onto the counter. The snowy kitten leaps atop the wooden table. Kiku reaches into the cupboard to grab his cat food from petsitting. With a small bowl he sets down a pile of dry pet food for it. The kitten approaches the bowl, sniffing it, then turning away. Kiku is shocked, "You don't like cat food?"
He opens the refrigerator door, knocking a few things around and pulling out a plastic container of tuna. After opening the lid he presents the tuna to the kitten, again rejected. "Well what am I supposed to feed you now?" He decides to go get some more food to try for the cat tomorrow at the market. Then he starts some boiling water and begins cooking a packet of ramen for himself. After making that he pours himself a bowl and puts it on his kotatsu in the living room. He sits down, then remembers that he forgot his chopsticks and gets back up. When he returns to the room he smiles at the sight of the snowy kitten drinking his ramen broth and nibbling at the noodles.
After eating Kiku takes pictures of this kitten, uploading them onto his laptop. With a document program he designs a found kitten poster with pictures and his address on the poster. Realizing there is no gender on the cat, he gently picks it up, seeing that it is a she. He sends them to the printer stashed in his living room closet. Once he prints a couple copies they are placed on the kitchen table and the cat follows him to his room while he prepares for bed.
Kiku is lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. When his eyes start to slide shut, he is leaped upon and shaken awake. The kitten has started to snuggle with his feet. At first he attempts to get her off, uncomfortable with the feeling. Then he gets up, grabbing an extra pillow and setting it across the room. He signals her and she races towards him. She sits on the pillow and is then well pet fast asleep. After that he climbed back down in his own sheets. Soon after he was asleep as well.
He wakes up on his own the next morning by slowly blinking his eyes open. There in front of him lied that kitten, still fast asleep. Kiku lifts up his hand and lightly pets her. She quickly awakens showing her electric blue eyes dilate to the sunlight peering in.
Kiku wonders the suburban streets in his mossy kimono today. Occasionally he stops at a wooden power line pole, taping a poster up. He walks to the market and puts up a few posters as well. At eleven AM he is back home. His chest is aching a bit so he sits down before starting his work. He seems rather glum, and then the kitty jumps up on the kotatsu and stares at him.
She purrs rhythmically as Kiku praises her. "You should have a name, little kitty." He stops and thinks for a moment, taking his fingers through her pearly fur. "Yuki, like your fur." He smiles, pleased by Yuki's reaction.
Yuki jumps away, and Kiku takes out his laptop. He logs into his account and starts to work. Generally, he works from home as a translator for a publishing company. About three times a month he goes up to his office in the city. Kiku enjoys living in a quieter neighborhood because it makes it much easier to think in safer, open-fielded area. Even if it is considered a suburb, the houses are very spaced apart. There are sidewalks for Kiku to walk on, which is helpful because he doesn't drive.
For hours Kiku types and reads, stopping briefly for tea or Yuki. Once he is done for the day, he thinks it is time to eat something. The time is four-thirty, but he usually eats early anyway but probably will grab something small later. He puts a single-serving cup of ramen in the microwave for Yuki, and starts preparing some fish for himself.
When finished he takes out the ramen and his sliced fish, both Kiku and Yuki eat at the kitchen table today. Yuki meows for the food, excited for her favorite meal again. He finishes before Yuki, so he planned to get up. However, he doesn't leave until she is also finished because he got caught, almost mesmerized by the kitten's eating habit.
He takes a napkin, wiping off the broth from Yuki's snout. Immediately after getting released she hops away, adventuring through the house. Kiku put the half-finished cup of ramen in the refrigerator. After that he washed the dishes by hand and wiped down the counter. All this was finished ahead of schedule.
It occurs to him that it is only just after five, and there is plenty of time left in the day to visit someone. Kiku is used to spending long periods of time to himself, but he does have friends and tries to get out often. He mostly meets people through work, like Alfred and Arthur and Ludwig. Then there's Feliciano, but Kiku only met him through Ludwig. Besides, they're his neighbors. Kiku gets along just fine with them, but all his family is back home in Japan at the time. However, Kiku does not regret leaving his original house, he had to go. When people ask why he usually shrugs it off, saying it was for himself.
Feliciano is probably home now, but he may be busy with Ludwig so Kiku doesn't plan on intruding. Things have been going well with the two of them lately. Kiku was glad he helped Ludwig confess his love for Feliciano a while back, because they have been so happy together since then. Kiku is honored to have helped them.
Then Kiku remembers how he plans on having Feliciano over tomorrow evening. They meet up often when they want to talk about things, but Kiku is more of a listener. He doesn't have lots of things to say nowadays. Feliciano, however, always has lots of drama and events about Ludwig or his job that he needs Kiku's advice for. Again, Kiku is honored to help.
Suddenly remembering his plans, Kiku feels a bit less lonely. Perhaps he can now catch up on his anime, but then there is a knock on the door. Kiku turns, cracking open the door a bit.
He sees a tall young man, standing tall and well built with a sleepy expression under his long, tangled, chestnut locks. A split curl emerges off the very top of his head. His head cocks to the side, as he holds up the found kitten poster. "Do you have my cat?" He asks.
Kiku opens the door considerably wider. "Ah, yes you have the right house." Kiku answers. He turns, ticking his tongue while calling out "Yuki?"
Yuki comes, quickly waddling over to Kiku and rubbing up against his heels. The man looks down at her, scooping her up in his strapping tan arms. He averts his calm green eyes back to Kiku. "She looks very healthy." He comments. "How did you manage to feed her?"
"W-well," Kiku starts, slightly blushing just for talking to such an attractive guy "She seems to very much enjoy cooked ramen."
"Ah, ok." The man notes. "Thank you." He turns and starts to walk away.
Kiku feels shocked at how quickly he just started to leave, and rushes when speaking back. "Eh? You're very welcome! And don't forget to pet her too, her fur is gentle and knots easy. Oh and it's chicken ramen, and she gets lonely at night!"
He looks back, smiling at his concern and nodding. Finally he waves back, turning the corner out of sight. Kiku just stands in the doorway for a moment. Then he closes the door, feeling a bit empty after the whole situation. Well, at least he has something to tell Feliciano tomorrow.
Kiku lies in his shallow bed at night, staring back up at his dark ceiling. The moonlight peers in from the open blinds. The silver stripes of light remind Kiku of Yuki's creamy fur. "I hope she is going to be ok with him. Well of course she is, he is her owner. He looked like a god- oh wait did I just think that? No, no, no I mean responsible person." He thought. "She is probably sleeping on his feet right now, but when she wakes up she will be hungry. What if he forgets to pet her? What am I thinking? She will be just fine."
Kiku questions himself about her and the man for quite a while, until he finally closes his dark eyes and soars off to sleep.
Side notes: Yuki= Snow (According to Google Translate)
Thanks for reading! If you can't tell, they are human. I'd like to thank my friend Canadia for the title too~ :3
