Disclaimer: Sole property of Takaya Natsuki-sama.
This started out as a "Writing Challenge" on my friend's Anime RPG message board (tactless plug for interested members to join). There's an unofficial 10-minute additional time challenge to help improve the quality of writing-under-pressure as well as the standard: We're given an object, any object our board admin deems appropriate, and we are to write a blurb—interesting, funny, sad, poignant, whatever—about it from the POV from our character. Hope you enjoy!
Super Neko
Chapter One:
The Cardboard
Box
The box sat in the corner. It had fallen on its side after Momiji had ripped it open in his eagerness to get to the present inside. What had ever overcome Kyou to urge him to buy the little bunny-boy a birthday present was beyond him, but there it was. And Momiji, teary-eyed with joy and speechlessness at Kyou's gift--the first-release copy of the newly released "Mogeta the Movie 3: Mogeta Returns Again"--had left the best of the present behind, laying haphazardly on its side.
The real present lay open and waiting for attack.
His eyes darted, first to the right, then to the left, then to the right again. The room was dark, the house was silent, the moon was hidden by clouds in the endless sky above. His feet made no noise as he padded with stealthy steps across the quiet room, his sharp eyesight easily picking out his target. His nose twitched as the slight breeze through the back door, left ajar by the last careless person to enter, brought to him the tantalizing smells of grass and crickets and the faint, soft scent of a lone mouse.
It was so easy. So close. And yet...so far away.
Would they notice? He risked a nervous glance over his shoulder. Would anyone wake up? He wasn't planning on making a lot of noise, but sometimes he just couldn't control himself. There were times when even his remarkable and admirable self-restraint reached its limits.
Perhaps, he thought as a sweep of apprehension nearly shattered his resolve, perhaps it'd be best not to do this. Not now, at least. But it called to him. He swallowed, his eyes darting once more to the open doorway, wishing he could slide the door shut to offer himself just a little more protection from the openness of the house's living room.
But he couldn't stop himself. The calling was so sweet, so irresistible, a siren's song that wrapped its tentacles around him and drew him forward even as muscles quivered in fear, in the exhilaration of the unknown, and dangerous. He felt like a criminal for creeping around in his own house, but there were some things that required the utmost secrecy, even from his closest friends.
Especially from his closest friends.
Kyou's throat was tight with anticipation, and his own breathing sound like rapid, faint rasps to his own ears. He crouched, tensing his body as he peered around the low floor cushions that impeded his view. The stalk had ended, and his prey lay open and defenseless in the open. In one leap, one single bound, he would have what he wanted...
His legs propelled him forward, and he landed with a graceful thump within the hidden depths of the cardboard box. The tall, stiff paper walls rose over his head, and a purr rumbled deep in his chest as he flexed his forepaws, digging his claws into the delicious sponginess beneath his feet. His tail swept up, his back arching in pure pleasure, as he attacked the four walls around him, bumping it around the room as he fought invisible enemies within the compounds of the miniature playpen.
A blinding light stopped him mid-lunge, and Kyou let out a high-pitched yowl of frustration, indignation, and instinctive embarrassment as two blond-haired faces peered down at him.
"Chikusho!" Uotani Arisa smirked down at him in astonishment. "Kyonkyon, what are you doing in there?"
Chortling merrily, Momiji waited as Uotani reached down to pick up the bristling and wailing orange cat out of the box. He waited until he was sure Uotani had a good hold of Kyou before lifting the videocamera in his hand. "Got it all, Kyoo!" he chuckled wickedly. "I think we'll send a copy of your nighttime fiasco to Shishoo, see what he thinks."
And Kyou, deflated, knew he'd been caught.
They had discovered...the nighttime wanderings of Super Neko!
1.23.05
NOTE: In the manga, Momiji refers to Kyou in katakana as "Kyo--", so I used a double OO in Kyou's name instead of the usual OU to signify his weird way of naming him. I figured, Momiji would usually do the same for ShishOU...