First attempt at fluff. Aaa it's so strange writing fluffy stuff after writing so much mature ones... But i was soo in the mood to write cute things, and i got the idea since very long, so i tried...
Enjoy, please!
The cursed cat and the delivery dog
Once upon a time in a faraway country, there was a delivery company that had as motto: "Wherever you may be, we will always reach you."
Kougami Inu-san was one of this delivery service's employees.
One day, he was given a very important mission. That was to deliver an important package to a special client in the neighbor country. But the roads leading to that country were all full of traps. It was going to be a very long and dangerous trip. So, Kougami Inu-san being the best delivery dog in the company, he was the only one entrusted to accomplish it.
Then, with the package and provisions under his arm, Kougami Inu-san was off.
As he little by little was nearing his country's boundaries, Kougami Inu-san understood how much the journey was going to be difficult: scorching deserts and rivers full of unknown beasts, cliffs and bottomless vales, the region was even too dangerous to shelters highwaymen. Kougami Inu-san was all alone on his journey, yet never once did he flinch or complain. He just kept on walking, walking, walking…
Until he reached the skirt of a forest, one day of walking later.
Kougami Inu-san knew that those trees were the delimitation between this country and its neighbor. If he wanted to reach the other side, he had to cross through them. Without hesitating, he penetrated the woods.
It was dark and cold inside, and all around were resounding strange sounds of wild animals crying and leaves trembling. Suddenly, he heard a crackling. The delivery dog swiftly turned back, only to see a white cat smirking behind him.
"Hi there," the cat greeted him, "you're pretty courageous to dare venturing in those woods nyan. What are you doing here nyan?"
"I'm Kougami Shinya wan." Kougami Inu-san replied. "I'm a delivery dog and I'm going to the neighbor country."
"A delivery dog?" The cat curiously raised an eyebrow. "It's the first time I see one nyan. This package is what you're delivering?"
"Yes. But I don't have much time left wan. I have to get out of here before the sun is setting down. Wan farewell."
Saying this, Kougami Inu-san turned tail and carried on his way. But it seemed he took a wrong path, because some time after he couldn't find his way anymore, and the map he had with him was of no use at all. That was weird, though. Right before he met the white cat, he still had been sure of his path…
Fortunately, after walking for about half an hour, he saw a rabbit and a hare coming from the other side of the way.
"My, a delivery dog," the rabbit smiled at him. "What a rare sight in this forest pyon. Isn't it, Yayoi Nousagi-san?"
"It's only a delivery dog, Shion Usagi-san." The hare acknowledged. "Nothing to go into ecstasies about. At your face, I guess you must be lost pyon."
"I'm sorry to disturb you wan, but can you tell me the way to get out of this forest?" Kougami Inu-san inquired.
The two rabbits pointed at another pathway between the trees. Kougami Inu-san thanked them and followed the showed direction at once, this time quite certain to find his way out of the labyrinthine forest. This time, the delivery dog made sure not to deviate from the way the rabbits told him.
But then a ruffling of foliage.
Kougami Inu-san paused and looked up at a tree to see the white cat again, sitting on a branch.
"Inu-san? You still in this forest nyan?" He said. "Didn't you say you were in some kind of hurry?"
"I was, and I still am." The delivery dog replied. "I just got lost a bit, that's all wan."
The cat tilted his head and grinned. "Umm. The sun still is up nyan. You'll more than certainly make it out of these woods before the sunset, so why don't we play together nyan? I don't often get to see people here. You're the first person I've been talking to since ages."
For the second time, Kougami Inu-san refused and kept on walking. And for the second time, he got lost. It was starting to get annoying. However – was the delivery dog very unlucky or very lucky, it was quite debatable – he met someone else on his way. A fox who was deeply in trouble passing to the next level of his PSP game.
"Kon, the way out of the forest, you say?" Kagari Kitsune-san said without taking his eyes off of the screen. "Aaa… No, not this way!... Ah, I'm sorry, I wasn't talking to you kon, Inu-san. It's the game…"
"The way, please." Kougami Inu-san stated, rather annoyed.
"Oh! Oh, right."
He showed the right pathway. Kougami Inu-san's feet were rushing now. At that rate, he wouldn't be able to get out of the forest before nightfall. The delivery dog wasn't even surprised anymore when he heard the white cat running next to him.
"Now you're really in a hurry nyan." The cat smiled. "I guess we can't play anymore like this."
"Wan I didn't have time to play with you in the first place." Kougami said furiously. "And don't follow me!"
"But it's fun. Nyan I told you it's been long since the last time I've talked to someone."
"Every time I see you I end up losing my way!"
The white cat's expression darkened. "Is that so? And this is why you don't want me to follow you."
"Yeah, that's right. So don't come around me anymore!"
The white cat stopped and remained behind while the delivery dog was rushing forward. He watched him running away with a saddened air. The cat was on the point of going back when he took notice of the package Kougami Inu-san had been holding all that time, lying there on the ground.
'Maybe did he drop it when he was running?' The white cat asked himself as he picked the package up. For one second, he thought about running after the delivery dog to give the package back, but at that moment the words echoed in his ears:
Don't come around me anymore!
The cat stayed there, alone and undecided.
…
'I'm lost again wan.' Kougami Inu-san noted, few minutes later, out of breath. And the sun was already setting. Within one hour the woods would be totally dark, and getting out of there a real problem.
But the delivery dog was in the end a very lucky dog: another inhabitant of the forest came to him, greeting him on her way.
"Hi there buun," Akane Hachi-san said.
"Yeah, hi, hi." Kougami Inu-san waved his hand impatiently. "It would be too long to try to explain you wan… Can you just tell me the way out of this forest?"
"It's this way." She answered while pointing at another path. "The exit isn't that far, you shouldn't miss it buun."
Inu-san sighed with relief. "At last! I spent half a day in those damn woods wan. I kept on losing my way again and again…"
"You got lost?" The bee's eyes widened. "Per chance, did you meet a white cat on your way?"
"Yes, that's right. So, that cat was the cause of all that wan?"
Akane Hachi-san pinched her chin between her thumb and forefinger, her air pensive. "Yes… More or less. You see, Inu-san, that cat you've met is a cursed cat. They say that once you've met him, you won't be able to find your way out of those woods again. Everyone here is aware of it and keeps their distance from him. You're quite lucky you could find someone to show you your way buun."
A curse? The delivery dog started to understand the oddness of his previous situation. All of a sudden, a thought popped in his mind. "But if people can't find their way after meeting him wan, isn't this applying to him as well?"
"That's right buun. That's precisely why everyone in the woods is avoiding him."
Kougami Inu-san remained silent. Gradually, realization crept in his mind – realization of the harsh words he just spoke to the white cat.
It's been long since the last time I've talked to someone. You're the first person I've been talking to since ages.
"Inu-san?" Akane's voice raised. She was pointing at the delivery dog's bag – the bad where he had placed the two packages. The cord had been cut and the bag was dangling on the deliver dog's side. At that moment only did he notice one of the packages was missing.
"Ah, don't worry about it." Kougami Inu-san said. "I think the package with my provision fell down when I was running earlier. It doesn't really matter since I'll get out of the forest soon…"
"Ah? Inu-san? The exit…"
If the girl said that, that was because Kougami inu-san wasn't heading to the exit but, on the contrary, he was going back to the core of the woods. This time, the delivery dog knew exactly where he was going and easily recognized the way he just took minutes earlier, when he left the white cat.
By that time, night had fallen on the forest and finding one's way in the darkness had become truly difficult. Still, Kougami Inu-san didn't stop and kept on looking for the white cat. "Wherever you may be, we will always reach you". That was their motto after all.
He finally found him, exactly at the same place where the delivery dog left him.
His body seemed to gleam faintly in the dimness, that's how Kougami Inu-san spotted him in the middle of the dark trees and bushes. The cat was crouching on the ground, his arms folded on his knees and his face hidden behind them. A package was placed next to him, on the ground, too. The white cat didn't move as the dog came closer.
"Hey, Neko wan," the dog said, "what the hell are you doing?"
"You dropped this (he was talking about the package).It's an important package, isn't it? I wanted to give it back to you nyan, but you said 'don't come around me anymore', so I didn't know what to do."
"You didn't have to sit here in the dark."
"That's because nyan… I can't find my way home."
So Kougami Inu-san was right. The cat was also trapped in the forest. The delivery dog picked up the package, but, much to the cat's surprise, instead of leaving, he came to sit next to him. Now he was looking inquiringly at Kougami Inu-san.
"Nyan… What are you doing?" He asked, unsure.
"Can't you see it?" The delivery dog said while lighting a fire with pieces of woods. "It's too dark to wander around. I'll leave tomorrow morning wan."
"I see…" The cat looked down, a little sad, but when Kougami Inu-san opened the package he just dropped and get out of it delicious chocolate waffles, his eyes widened. "Those waffles…"
"Umm? What's wrong? It's my bento box I dropped earlier wan."
"You mean… It's not the package you were supposed to deliver nyan? But why didn't you came back to pick it up? If you didn't, you wouldn't have been stuck here for the whole night…"
Kougami Inu-san frowned at him. "Wan, you didn't say you couldn't find your way home? I came back to help you, so don't complain!"
The white cat stared at Kougami Inu-san, puzzled. He couldn't explain to himself what that warmth he felt in his chest at the delivery dog's words was, but he sure did like it very much.
"Thank you." He said then took a bite of the waffle the dog was handing him. He smiled. "Delicious, nyan."
Next morning, they were off. This time, Kougami Inu-san took care of not letting go of the cat's hand until they reached the other side of the forest.
THE END