"Yo, short-ass!" Kiku didn't bother looking up as he was 'called', feeling the large shadow of an American loom over him. "Oi! I'm talking to you, midget!"
Kiku sighed, still staring down at his lunch in his lap. He sat alone at the edge of the lunch hall, often just on a chair as all tables were taken by groups of people.
"Yes, and I'm not listening." He replied quietly, continuing eating.
"Ooh, trying to be a smartass are you?" Alfred sneered from above him. "Lets see how smart you are now!" He turned, grabbing a bottle of juice from behind him and dumping the contents onto Kiku's head.
Laughter erupted from most of the lunch hall as Kiku inwardly sighed, his hair now sticky and dripping wet and his lunch ruined. Alfred roared with laughter and swaggered off, his 'posse' following him. Matthew, Alfred's twin brother, shot him an apologetic look before following him.
Kiku stood, dumping his ruined food into the bin before walking out of the lunch hall, following his usual route to the back of the sports hall and sitting down, grabbing a few tissues out of his bag and drying his hair as well he could. He tossed the tissues into a small bag he used for rubbish in his school bag and leaned uncomfortably against the rough brick wall, closing his eyes. Sighing, he shifted his shoulders and attempted to force his stiff muscles to relax.
Several hours- it was probably minutes, he didn't know or care- something soft rubbed against his hand and he heard a small "Nya?"
His eyes snapped open and he looked to his side, gazing straight into the wide eyes of a ginger kitten. A smile sprang onto his face, something he hadn't done in ages. He petted the kitten gently, smiling as it purred and nuzzled his hand. The kitten was thin and looked like a stray- it's fur was slightly dirty and matted. Kiku frowned slightly, then dug into his bag with his free hand and brought out the second, tiny packet of sushi he'd bought from the convenience store that morning. He opened it and placed it in front of the kitten, who tilted it's head in an adorable manner. It sniffed the food slightly, then began to eagerly eat, purring as Kiku rubbed it's head.
"Ah... such a cute neko... I wish I could take you home..." Kiku murmured. The kitten looked up at him for a second and mewed, then went back to eating. Kiku smiled ruefully at it then stared at the sky, closing his eyes again. "Gomenasai, kitty, but I have to go now..." the kitten made a small sound of protest and attempted to scramble onto his lap. He smiled but lifted it off of his leg, crouching by the tiny kitten. "I'll come back here tomorrow with some more food for you kitty." The kitten stared up at him, then seemed to nod. Kiku smiles again and stood, bidding goodbye to the cat before leaving, just before the bell went.
Kiku sat in his history class, tapping his pencil on the desk and boredly watching the clock as the hands slowly ticked towards 3. He constantly felt small paper balls being thrown at the back of his head, learning from experience not to retaliate. It didn't help that the history lesson that day was on the second world war, mainly focusing on America and Japan. Wonderful.
Kiku's eyes slowly slid half-shut as he lost complete interest in the subject. He knew all of it already. He barely noticed when his cheek began to slide off of his palm... until his head jerked forward and he shot up, blinking furiously.
As soon as the bell went off, Kiku shot out of his seat, grabbed his bag and got out of his classroom a fast as he could. He practically ran to his locker, ripping it open and piling several books into it, then locking it and trying to speedwalk out of the school. He got out of the front door- before his arm was grabbed and he was yanked behind the building.
"So, short-ass, where did'ja go at lunch, huh?" The American squared his shoulders as he stood before the Japanese.
"And I thought you wanted rid of me." Kiku replied shortly, wanting to be out of there as soon as possible.
"Aww, did you feel unwanted? Thats funny... cos you are." Alfred placed a hand on Kiku's shoulder and shoved him against the brick wall. Kiku didn't even flinch- he was too used to it. "Ugh, you're so boring these days... lets liven you up, shall we?" They smaller boy couldn't even blink before Alfred punched him, hard, in the stomach. Kiku gasped from pain and doubled over, before Alfred shoved him to the floor. "See you tomorrow."
Kiku spluttered slightly as Alfred and his background crew left, coughing quietly and struggling to breath. He heard a quiet meow and looked to his side groggily, seeing the little kitten looking worriedly up at him. He smiled weakly and petted it again, wincing slightly. "I'm okay, neko-chan... I'm used to this." He then wished the kitten goodbye again and staggered upwards and away from the school.
Kiku staggered to the small forest between his home and the school, placing his hands on the bark of a particular tree and climbing up it, wincing as he moved his chest. He reached his usual spot in the tree- a branch high enough not to be seen, but low enough to jump down from and not be hurt.
Kiku sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back against the rough bark of the tree. There were no sounds from the city, no signs that it was even there... it was so peaceful...
A tiny meow broke the silence and he looked up to see the ginger kitten from earlier on the branch in front of him. It looked different- the kitten's fur was clean and brushed. It wandered over to the tired boy and nuzzled his leg, then it turned and leapt from the tree, landing on the ground and scampering off. Kiku, curious of what had distracted it, followed, landing on the ground with a groan as he jarred his bruised ribs. He staggered up again and followed the tiny trail the kitten had left.
He suddenly heard talking from the clearing up ahead, and hid behind a thin tree. He peered around the tree, and his eyes shot open.
In the centre of the clearing, there was a boy- around his age, but taller and slightly tanned. He had several cats around him... Kiku counted five... six, seven... twelve cats? He heard the boy murmuring to the cats in a different language, it sounded like... Kiku slid to the ground, feeling immediately tired by the other boy's soft speaking.
He snapped alert when he suddenly realised the talking had stopped. He peered around the tree again, to find the boy was lying on the ground... fast asleep. He smiled very slightly, as the cats piled on top of him.
Kiku suddenly had a thought. What if the boy caught a cold, sleeping out in the open? He began to slowly walk forward and when he got close enough, crouched by the boy's side. He gently touched his shoulder- and was met by startling green eyes. Kiku flushed red and leapt to his feet, speeding off as fast as he could, leaving the boy to slowly stare after him.
Kiku opened the front door to his home quietly and edged inside, closing the door with a soft click. He crept through the hall and almost reached the stairs-
"Why are you late."
Kiku froze and turned slowly, to see his father leaning against the doorframe with a bottle in his hands.
"Gomenasai, but it took me a while to get home." He apologised with a monotonous voice and a blank face.
"I told you to be home early, do you even know what that means?" The older man snarled, advancing on the boy. Kiku didn't blink and didn't reply. "I said do you even know?" He yelled, raising his hand and smacking Kiku across the face. After silence followed for a few seconds, before he snarled at him again, "Go upstairs. I don't want to see you for the rest of the evening."
Kiku turned and advanced upstairs, feeling his cheek start to swell already. He collapsed onto his futon, curling up into a ball and nuzzling his good cheek into the pillow, not bothering to hold back the small tears beading in his eyes.
"Okaa-san... wa naze anata wa watashi no mamadeshita …?" He whispered against the pillow, hating the feeling of tears running down his cheeks. He shivered, not bothering to change out of his school clothes before falling asleep.
A/N; Yay, another new one~ so yeah, I just thought of this before attempting to go to sleep... guess whose being all insomniac -_-
SO yeah, yet again, Kiku has a crappy life. I am actually evil to my favourite characters... will it get better? Hmm who knows :3
I actually felt really sad while writing this xD hopefully now I'll be able to SLEEP. (What is this creation o.o)
Translation: Okaa-san... wa naze anata wa watashi no mamadeshita...? = Mother... why did you leave me?
Sorry if the translation is wrong Google translate is a little wafty sometimes ^^
Reviews are love~ and hugs... and cake...