Hey guys~ Sorry for MIA-ing for a long, long time. It's Valentine's Day here though, where the world makes merry and the ghosties and beasties come out to nom on forgotten chocolates, so I'm back with a one-shot slash spin-off of Catlike for a Valentine's Special! It's set after Catlike ends, so if you haven't, check out my other story on this cute little pairing! Though I have to admit that I haven't finished writing Catlike yet (LOL, I'M SO SORRY) so you can take this story as my apology to you guys!

Happy Valentine's Day to you~ and may Marui and Ryoma live together happily ever after with an ever-growing family of cats!

Marui was nervous.

No, scratch that—he was terrified. It was the first time he was going to be in Ryoma's house (the previous emergency where Marui had practically barged into his house didn't count) and he had been outside the gate for about ten minutes now, mustering up his courage to press the doorbell.

C'mon, it's just a press. No harm done. You can do it!— The internal voice in him spoke up encouragingly, and he felt his nerves settle down a little. That was right. It was just a doorbell. The thing he had to be focusing on was on greeting Ryoma without a stutter, passing him his Valentine's Day chocolate, then… then…!

He raised his hand slightly, fingers trembling as they neared the ordinary looking button. Yes, he could do this…!

You're such a wimp. No wonder Ryoma doesn't even like you that much. - Another voice in his mind spoke up, and his hand froze in its tracks. Marui felt his heart shatter a little. Yes, that was right… They had been going out for a while now, but Ryoma never initiated their mailing sessions often, while Marui showered mails on him every day (albeit through hurried texts in the morning and at night). There could only be one reason for this, and it was that Ryoma didn't like him at all, and was going out with him just because he couldn't be bothered to reject his affections…

That's not it! Ryoma's just been busy this whole week— he's not someone who would agree to go out with me for no good reason!

And as Marui stood there, conflicted, schoolbag slung over his shoulder and another backpack containing his painstakingly wrapped chocolate slung over his other shoulder, he was unaware of the presence inside the house which had been observing him for some time.

Ryoma continued to observe Marui from his room on the second floor as he chuckled softly, his fingers trailing through Karupin's soft fur. Karupin followed his gaze out of the window, before she scrambled off his lap, standing up on her hind legs to lean her upper body against the glass. Ryoma blinked at the unexpected movement and stared at his cat, surprised. It was a very uncharacteristic thing for her to do something like this, and he tried to carry her back to his lap, missing her soft, warm fur already.

To his shock, Karupin actually hissed at him – him, her owner and friend for so many years!—and struggled out of his hold before she continued to look out of the window with a strangely intense gaze for a cat.

Ryoma felt himself shudder involuntarily. This couldn't be good.

He was startled out of his epiphany as the sound of a doorbell rang through the residence, and he leapt from his bed immediately, Karupin's strange behavior erased from his mind for a moment.

"Coming!"

Seeing Marui-senpai's uncomfortable expression was definitely worth the wait, Ryoma thought, a mischievous smile on his face, before he went back to his usual dead-panned slash annoyed expression, just to make the other even more nervous.

"Marui-senpai, what brings you to my house on a Friday night? I still have school tomorrow so…"

"W-Well… You see…" Marui stuttered, shifting self-consciously on the sofa. Ryoma kept his gaze on him, trying not to appear amused in any way. It was pretty difficult to keep his expression stern in front of his lovely Marui-senpai, but for the sake of his entertainment, he would try.

"W-Well…" Marui continued, fingering the strap of his bag nervously. "Uh… Do you remember what day it is?"

"It's Friday, right? Like I just said." Ryoma answered with the stoniest look he could muster.

"No! Not that! I mean… You know!" Marui looked like he was frantically finding a non-embarrassing way to explain things, and Ryoma suddenly felt a little sorry for him. He was used to teasing people, but for some reason, he just couldn't bear to do it to his adorable lover.

"You mean Valentine's Day, Marui-senpai?" He smiled innocently, and watched as Marui's expression brightened up immediately. How cute.

"Yes, exactly! That! Valentine's Day!" Marui lifted the strap on his bag and brought out a cute velvet bag with a ribbon tied around it, before offering it to Ryoma sheepishly. "Here, Ryoma. Will you accept this?"

Ryoma took in Marui's nervous expression for a moment, and felt the urge to tease him some more. "What would you do if I said no?"

As Marui's expression fell from his response, Ryoma immediately felt guilty, and brought out a similar looking package from behind his back, before leaning in and giving his lover a chaste kiss on his lips. "I'm kidding of course, Marui-senpai."

"Ryoma… you meanie!"

Little did the two lovebirds know that they were being observed from someone else inside the house, with sharp, pointy claws and glowing almond eyes.

As Ryoma continued to feed Marui his chocolates while the other praised his 'wonderful god-like cooking', he didn't notice Karupin slinking into the living room, until he felt something furry brush past his ankles, and Marui gave a yelp of surprise.

"Woah- Ryoma, is this your cat?"

Karupin gave a contented meow at Ryoma from atop Marui's lap, who had frozen up from the sudden appearance of the cuddly fur ball. Ryoma brightened up slightly, and decided to temporarily halt the little chocolate festival they were having for a little while to introduce his companion to the other.

"Ah, yes. That's Karupin. Isn't she cute?" Ryoma stroked Karupin from behind the ears, and after a while, Marui hesitantly followed his lead, stroking the cat as well. Karupin purred and rubbed her head against Marui's chest, who was positively ecstatic by the cat's affectionate response.

"Ryoma, look! She likes it!" Karupin gave an affirmative meow.

"Good for you, Marui-senpai," Ryoma smiled back a little uneasily. Deep inside though, he was a little more than confused over how Karupin had taken a liking to his lover. Since she hated strangers, often hissing at them and scratching them upon sight, it was weird that she was already snuggling up to Marui—and on his lap, for that matter! Something was very wrong here.

"Karupin~ You're such a cute little kitty~ Do you want some chocolates?" Marui cooed at her, waving a small piece of Ryoma's chocolate near her nose. Karupin followed the bait unblinkingly, looking mightily tempted.

And for some reason, Ryoma felt a surge of something foreign within him, and he snatched the chocolate away from Marui, who tore his eyes away from the cat to blink at Ryoma, confused. Well he couldn't exactly say that he was jealous that Marui was letting someone else eat his chocolates…

"D-Don't feed Karupin anything strange! Cats have sensitive stomachs!" Ryoma quickly gave the first excuse he could think of from the top of his head, and Marui pondered it for a moment, before smiling back.

"I see. Well if you say so, it must be true."

Ryoma heaved a sigh of relief, before his gaze went back down to Karupin, who was now staring daggers at him. He flinched slightly at the cat's intense gaze. It had been a long time since Karupin had given him that look… Probably when he was still a toddler and his father had brought back Karupin as a newborn kitten freshly separated from the litter.

As he watched Marui continue to play with Karupin, he felt strangely left out. It was pathetic really, feeling jealous over his lover paying more attention to a cat than him. But it was Valentine's Day, and he really wanted to spend time alone with Marui… and Karupin… Karupin was giving him that knowing catty-smirk and for the first time in ten years, he felt a little mad at his lovable cat.

Just a little.

Which was probably the reason why he was brushing Karupin just a little forcefully off his lover's lap, ignoring her hiss of indignation and Marui's wide-eyed look of surprise before plonking himself down on Marui's lap unceremoniously.

There! Now she couldn't clamber on Marui's lap anymore, and Ryoma felt a strangely satisfying feeling in his chest as Karupin shot him a look of distaste before strolling back up the stairs in a dignified manner, tail swaying behind her. She was probably going to roll around on his bed and mess up the sheets he had just tidied up a while ago and play with her favorite catnip toy again, but for once, Ryoma didn't really mind.

Well, at least not when he felt Marui chuckle from behind him, before wrapping his arms around Ryoma's shoulders and whispering into his right ear, "Ryoma, you are the most adorable person ever," before kissing the top of his head.

I believe that Karupin was attracted to Marui in every way possible and that she is now Ryoma's possible rival in love. The worst thing is that she's a girl (I don't know why but Karupin feels like a girl to me... what about you? o_o) so it's like... you know! What a frightful rival!

But Marui and Ryoma will always, always end up together in my head canon no matter what happens so the appearance of such a frightful adversary won't matter in the slightest!

Don't forget to review! :)

Thanks for reading!