"Ryou, it's time to come inside now. The tea is ready," called Keiichiro from the kitchen doorway.
"Okay!" the boy replied. He was pleasantly content with his spot on the little, grassy hill, and all he wanted to do was gaze at the moon forever. It also didn't hurt that the night was super clear and sparkly thanks to the stars that had the curious habit of winking. Maybe they liked someone?
'Ah, it's so perfect,' ten year old Ryou thought. He especially liked how the moon would shine its silvery fingers everywhere. Like jazz hands. He decided that the moon must have been lonely because it decided to shine itself on the lake, creating another moon upon the waters.
Suddenly, the moon's twin rippled and faded into just a picture of stretched light, and the boy sat up in slight curiosity only to catch his breath as a lone swan came into view, bathing its feathery wings. With each dip, the swan brought up little drops of water. From where he stood, it seemed as if diamonds were flying into the air.
Ting!
Looking around, the boy spotted a tiny gray kitten- with a bell tied around its neck, creeping closer to the edge of the water. It seemed to feel Ryou's gaze, for the kitten paused in its movement and swung its head around to meet the boy's stare. Curious cerulean eyes met mischievous pink ones. The kitten didn't have gray fur, the boy realized, it had black fur. It only looked gray because of the moonlight.
Ting!
As if reading the kitten's thoughts Ryou opened his mouth, but the kitten acted at that moment.
"No, wait!"
There was a huge splash, and the swan's startled cries broke the silence of the night.
Indignant the boy started to shout, "Oi! What did-"
A white and shining object drifted in the air, cutting off the boy's cry. Ryou's eyes widened in awe, and the rest of his words died in the air. A beautiful silver feather, shining brightly with the help of the moon, slowly drifted its way down and into small hands. Marveling at such a rare gift, Ryou carefully held the feather to his chest so he wouldn't lose it.
Once more, tinkling caught the boy's attention and aqua-blue eyes looked up to see the kitten delicately licking its paws. Lifting its head, the kitten's pink eyes met the boy's and turned its attention back to grooming.
"That was interesting," somebody commented. Sure enough, as Ryou glanced over his shoulder, Keiichiro, his dear friend and mentor, stood a few steps away. The boy nodded in agreement and looked back, only to see that the little kitten wasn't there anymore. "Come. The tea is waiting," Keiichiro said softly.
Slightly disappointed, Ryou slowly followed the older man. Ryou's ears perked as tinkling sounded from behind him. The boy looked back and smiled. The kitten was inching its way towards a firefly hovering over some bluebells. Sensing the boy's stare once more, the kitten raised its coral eyes and…winked?
Ryou gaped. 'Kittens don't wink... It must have been a trick of the light', Ryou decided. 'Yeah, that's it'.
The blond trotted after the older man into the house and followed him into the kitchen where a hot cup of tea was waiting for them. The light scent of green tea wafted into the boy's nose, causing him to sigh in contentment. Taking a seat, Ryou gently laid the feather beside his cup. Keiichiro sat down across from the boy and took a sip from his own cup of tea.
"It's a beautiful feather, Ryou," he commented.
Ryou met the man's smiling gaze. "I guess,"
Keiichiro raised an eyebrow at the short reply.
"It's soft too," Ryou shyly admitted.
"May I?" The brunette asked.
Ryou nodded. Gingerly placing the feather into the brunette's hands, the boy watched as the man inspected it. Keiichiro held down his amusement when he saw how the boy had treated the feather as if it were a fragile piece of glass. Keiichiro brought it into the light. It truly was a beautiful thing. Even in the soft orange glow of the kitchen light the feather maintained its silver sheen. Almost as if it reached out and snatched the light of the moon for itself.
Keiichiro smiled affectionately at the boy's awe-struck face. Ryou seemed to be on the edge of his seat, with his hands clutching the table as if to prevent him from grabbing it back from the man. The boy's blue eyes were wide open in fascination as he gazed upon the feather.
"Here you go," Keiichiro said and gently handed it back to boy. Another smile crawled upon his lips as he watched the scene before him for the boy had closed his eyes in contentment, reuniting the feather back into his chest.
Ryou, cradling the feather gently, locked eyes with his friend.
"I'm going to put this somewhere safe," he said seriously. His blue eyes showed a hidden emotion with a hint of quiet joy. With that said, Ryou disappeared from sight leaving a slightly perplexed Keiichiro wondering what he just saw in the boy's eyes.
Closing the door, Ryou strolled to the end of his room where a lone desk stood in front of an open window. The moonlight spilled over its edges and flowed onto the dark wood, creating an ethereal look. Ryou grasped the gray handle of the drawer and pulled, revealing its contents.
Among the clutter of notes and blank pieces of paper lay a European treasure box, decorated with pearls and many gem stones in every color. Catching the moonlight, the gems glimmered, making the box all the more beautiful. Carefully, Ryou slowly lifted the box, walked into the middle of his room, and gently laid the box onto his bed. He then fingered the golden chain around his neck and pulled it over his head. At the end of his chain hung a tiny golden key, which he placed into the hidden lock on the side of box. When he heard a faint click he pulled the key and lifted the lid.
Inside lay a small golden locket in the shape of a star, resting upon red velvet. The boy brought his hand up to stroke the material before moving on to pick up the locket. Slightly wistful, the boy gazed at the inner part of the box. Two pictures. On one side was his mother's image; his father's in the other. Ryou gave each picture a kiss before snapping the locket closed and laying it back down again.
Bringing the feather close, Ryou held it up in the moonlight. Suddenly his eyes widened in surprise. The feather seemed to glow an unnatural, brilliant white where it once shone silver. Having a sudden feeling of nostalgia, Ryou closed his eyes and made a wish before placing iy inside the box beside the locket. Feeling slightly giddy, Ryou closed the lid, locked it, and placed it back into the drawer where he knew it to be safe.
A faint knock interrupted his quiet moment, and Ryou whirled around. Dark tresses revealed Keiichiro, with one hand on the knob, standing behind the door.
In the faint light Ryou saw Keiichiro squint. "Don't you think it's a little too dark in here?"
Ryou saw him make a move to the light switch. "Leave it,"
Keiichiro jerked his hand back. "Are you sure?"
The boy nodded then realized that Keiichiro probably couldn't see his nod. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm going to sleep now anyway,"
"Alright then... Don't stay up too late, okay?"
"I won't," Ryou replied softly.
Keiichiro gave one last smile before quietly closing the door, the light footfalls slowly fading after him.
Climbing into bed, Ryou gave a yawn and crawled under the covers. His eyes drooped as soon as his head hit the soft pillow. A second later, his eyes snapped open. That ting sound! And sure enough, perched upon the edge of his window was the kitten from earlier.
The kitten jumped onto the desk, landing nimbly upon the floor. The boy watched with solemnity for with each movement it made, a tinkle sounded from the bell around its neck, making it almost hypnotizing to watch. Jumping onto the bed, the kitten made its way towards the boy before settling down and curling up right by his head. A ghost of a smile flitted across his lips before he closed eyes and fell into blissful darkness.
The first thing Ryou noticed was the red that painted his lids. Slowly, Ryou became aware of warmth beside his body. 'That's strange,' he thought and looked around with half-opened eyes. Suddenly, the boy shot out of the covers, jolting the other body awake.
A little girl with pink hair sat up, blearily around. A yawn escaped her mouth and that's when Ryou noticed her teeth. They were sharp and pointed. But that's not all Ryou noticed. A pair of black, fuzzy cat ears was on either side of her head. Blinking her curious pink eyes, the little girl noticed the boy gawking at her.
"What? Is there something on my face?"
Ryou finally managed to find his voice. "Who- what are you?" he stuttered, pointing a finger.
"Me? I'm-"
"You!" Everything clicked. She was the kitten from last night, he remembered.
The girl's hands flew to her ears. "You don't have to shout, you know," She rolled her eyes. "And yes, I'm me. Nice to meet you too,"
Ryou closed his mouth with a snap, the girl's sarcasm lost on him.
A bell's tinkling filled the sudden silence and a cat's tail with a ribbon and bell moved into view.
"Did you know that you snore?"
Ryou was taken aback by the question but flushed nonetheless. 'I don't snore...'
Her ears and nose twitched, taking in the small changes in the air that he could not smell or hear. But her ears held a small fascination for the boy. They were so...fluffy.
"Can I," he licked his lips nervously. "May I touch them?"
The girl paused. "I guess so," she said slowly.
Ryou tentatively brought a hand to her ears. 'They're soft,' he thought in surprise. 'And smooth,'
The little girl started to purr and rubbed her head closer to his hands for more. "What's your name?" He asked suddenly.
"Hmm?" She leaned back. "My name is Ichigo,"
"Your real name or a given name?"
She shrugged. "Both, I guess," Ryou shot her a puzzled look. "I was adopted when I was just born by a human named Aoyama Masaya. He named me Ichigo,"
"Why?"
"That's easy. Because I like strawberries, of course! What's with all these questions?"
It was his turn to shrug. "I've never had a friend before."
Well that explained all the questions. Ichigo brightened. "Let's play!"
"What?"
"Let's. Play," she repeated.
"Why?"
"So many why's today," she sighed. "Is that the only word you know?" sNot giving him the time to answer she explained. "It's because we're friends, silly," Boy, he sure was slow today.
'Friends? I have a friend?' Ryou felt his whole self warm up. This feeling was one he had not felt it in a long time. Ever since his parents left on that two-year business trip, Ryou had been devoid of this emotion for so long, this happiness. He just wished that they'd tell him when they would come back.
Tired of waiting, Ichigo grabbed his hand and made a dash for the window.
"What- Hey!" Too late. They were already outside, in their pajamas- or rather, Ryou was-, and they just happened to be stepping on the flowers, that Keichiro carefully grew, under the window.
"Come on! I know a great place where we can go!" And with that, Ichigo dragged him away from the house and into the forest that surrounded the two of them.
Faster and faster they ran, making the world around them appear like a splash painting before their eyes. The boy had never run this fast before in his whole life! And before they knew it the pair slowly made it to a halt, laughing breathlessly.
"That was so cool!" he shouted. Looking around, Ryou noticed they were in a center of an open clearing where bluebells and other wildflowers were growing. "Where are we?" he asked in wonder.
"This is my secret place," Ichigo said in a stage-like whisper. "I always come here because it's so peaceful,"
Ryou nodded before suddenly realizing that they were still holding hands. Embarrassed, he quickly drew his hand back from hers.
Relieved that she didn't notice, he jogged to the middle of the field and waved her over. As soon as she came over he plopped onto his back with his arms under his head, crushing a few flowers, while Ichigo sat beside him. It must be early afternoon now, Ryou determined, for they lay like that for what seemed like hours.
"The sky is so big today," Ryou sighed.
"Yeah," Ichigo agreed. "Hey, look at the clouds!" she exclaimed and pointed at the one shaped as a heart.
Ryou lazily glanced at the clouds while absentmindedly putting a hand to his chest. Heart pounding, he shot up quickly, his blue eyes looking around in panic. "My key!"
A look of confusion crossed Ichigo's face. "What key?"
"The key my parents gave to me,"
Ichigo took the boy's hand, turning his attention to her. "I'll help you look for it, okay?"
The blond bit his lip before nodding. "Sure,"
"What does it look like?"
"Well, it's small," he gestured the size with his fingers. "And it's gold,"
"Small and gold. Okay, let's start looking!" With that said Ichigo promptly started looking in the areas where they had been. While Ryou, on the other hand, looked for any bright flashes that would signal its placement.
They looked until late afternoon, occasionally stopping for a break and eating the berries they found and identified safe to eat. Before they knew it the sun had started to set.
With a sigh Ryou called out to the girl, disappointment and frustration lacing his voice. "It's no use,"
"Don't say that! There's always tomorrow, you know," Ichigo took his hand. "Cheer up. At least you had fun today, right?"
Ryou gave a faint smile. "That's true." Ichigo beamed.
He frowned. "But I seem to be forgetting something..." he trailed off. "Keiichiro!" Turning, Ryou ran to the edge of the forest. 'I forgot about Keiichiro. But how do I get out of here?' he wondered.
"Um, Ryou?"
Something in her voice made Ryou turn back. Ichigo was looking at her paws in confusion. Wait, paws? His eyes widened when he realized that she was turning back into a cat.
"I guess I've run out of time. Thanks for playing with me. I had a lot of fun,"
"No, please! You're the only friend I have!" He ran to her, but it was too late. Ichigo had already transformed back into her original form.
"Nya," Ichigo looked up at him with sad, pink eyes and before he could stop her, Ichigo mewed and ran away.
Ryou hurried after her, following the tinkling of her bell. Bursting through the trees the boy saw Keiichiro standing on the porch with an anxious look.
'Uh, oh,' he thought with a sinking feeling. Ichigo mewed once more and slinked around the house as if to wait for him.
"Ryou,"
The boy kept his head down, waiting for punishment.
"Ryou, it's ok," Keiichiro sighed.
Ryou's head shot up and he searched his friend's face. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Keiichiro knelt in front of him and hugged him. "I was worried, you know. But at least you had fun,"
Blue eyes widened. "How did you know?"
The older man winked. "A certain bird told me. Come, the tea is waiting. I presume you're hungry as well?"
Ryou's stomach gurgled in responce, and he nodded with a blush. Following Keiichiro inside, the boy was puzzled, 'A bird told him?'
Upon entering his room, Ryou flipped the switched on his light and started to change out of his soiled pajamas only to be stopped by a familiar tinkling and a soft mew.
Ryou burst into a grin. "Ichigo!"
"Nya!" Ichigo's eyes were filled with concern.
"I'm okay. He wasn't mad at me, just worried. He's always worried though..." he paused. Ichigo had something firmly in her teeth and was dragging it over to where the boy was. Ryou bent down to look. "My key!"
Ichigo put it down and mewed.
"Where did you find it?" he asked
She gestured with her head. "Nya,"
"On the table?" Another mew. "Oh, thank you" he cried. Lifting her up, he have her a quick kiss then set her back down again. Suddenly, a very bright light started streaming out of the edges of his desk.
"Nya!" Ryou looked down. Ichigo was glowing too!
"What's going on?" His drawer opened; Ryou watched in astonishment as his treasure box and his key floated into the air.
"Nya!" Ichigo gestured to the two objects, and Ryou nodded in understanding. He clenched the key firmly to his chest and cautiously made his way over to the two floating objects. Once he deemed it safe, Ryou pushed his key into the lock, turned it, and opened the lid.
Glowing brightly, the feather seemed to shudder. Then POOF! The feather and Ichigo burst into smoke.
"Ichigo!" he shouted and started to cough.
The boy barely even registered the insistent pounding of the door, too worried for his new friend.
But he did hear Kiichiro's voice call out to him "Ryou? Are you alright? Ryou!"
"I'm ok!" he called. The smoke was starting to clear and as it did Ryou gasped. "Ich...Ichigo?"
Her confused eyes met his. "What did you do?" she asked.
"I'm not sure,"
"Ryou? What's going on? Who are you talking to?"
"Oh, no! He might see me!"
"Shh! Calm down,"
"I- I can't! Eep!"
Poof!
The cat-girl disappeared into smoke once more and that's when the door opened.
"What's with all this smoke?" Keiichiro coughed and Ryou shrugged, at a loss for words.
"Nya!"
"A kitten, Ryou?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's my friend," the boy explained hesitantly.
The man nodded. "But that doesn't explain the smoke,"
Ryou froze. How could he explain that? "Uh, cat caught on fire?" he offered.
"Riight. Well, I guess I'll leave you alone now. Good night," With one last suspicious look, the older man cast his gaze around the room, searching. When he found nothing out of place he left.
The boy sighed in relief once the door had closed and the footsteps faded away. Looking around, Ryou spotted his key and treasure box on the floor. He closed the lid and locked it. Placing the key at the end of his chain, he picked up the box and put it back in the drawer. 'The feather's gone now,' he thought in disappointment. But it was alright. He had a friend now. He turned to the kitten and joined her on the bed.
"Nya,"
"That was close," he stated and crawled under the covers. "Night, Ichigo," he whispered and gave her a goodnight kiss.
Poof!
"Err,"
Once the bout of coughing had passed the boy gave off a big grin. "So that's how it works,"
"Good night to you too, Ryou," Ichigo huffed and closed her eyes to sleep.
A/N My first one-shot! This was written for Kish's Kittie's AU contest, which can be found on her Free Imagination forum. You should check it out! I'm looking forward to reading the fics from those who entered.
A word of advice for those who wish to write better (unless your the opposite from me). Do not try to write at two in the morning, unless you have tons of coffee or you are hyped up on sugar. I didn't have any of those things, so I ended up being extremely sleep-deprived. Having Microsoft Word would have helped instead of writing this out on my email but -shrugs- What can I say. I'm very paranoid at night...
But a big thanks to sakuuya-san, "who has nothing better to do on a Friday night then beta-read." Heehee! I thank you (again) for helping me out.
A/N: 2 Update 11/23/10 Rewriting! For goodness sake! At the moment I'm looking through all my works and I am truly appalled by how terribly written they are. So one by one I'm fixing, editing, and rewriting them. For my sake as well, haha.
I must admit though, I'm rather fond of this piece. It is, after all, one of the longest things I've written in awhile XD
Hope you all have enjoyed :)