Hello! This is my background involving this anime, but it's probably not important so feel free to skip this. I've only recently watched all thirteen episodes and have been dying to write a fan fic for this anime. I'm trying to write this like an episode you would watch. I hope that I can bring out the comedy and the bit of romance that makes Acchi Kocchi so great. Please comment, I would love to get better at writing fiction! Thank you!

Io was rarely late.

Tsumiki stood up against the wall outside the train station,waiting. They had arranged to meet up there before school everyday. She had her hands in her coat pocket, watching her breath steam up in the winter cold. It was snowing, light flakes floating gently to the ground around her. The cat statue across from her would be completely covered in a matter of hours if the snow kept falling.

Where is Io?

She checked the time on her cell phone and saw that school would be starting soon. Still, she waited patiently for his arrival, imagining something warm to keep her mind off the cold. She thought of nuzzling up to Io when he finally arrived, his warm body up against her, maybe he would even let her borrow his scarf again. She felt blood rushing to her face and she quickly shook the fantasy our of her head. The last thing she needed was to have her nose bleed out precious warm blood in the cold. Perhaps later, she thought. Instead, she started picturing her nice, warm homeroom class, standing by the heater with both hands so close they would almost burn. But she would purr at warmth like that. That was of course if her teacher hadn't broken the heater...again. She regretted having that thought as a cold breeze suddenly blew towards her and she shivered, a quiet whimper slipping from her lips.

It's so cold...

She whipped out her phone again, wondering if she should call him. Maybe something had come up. But she considered he might be on his bike. He usually rode his bike if he was running late, and she didn't want to stop him with a phone call. When he did arrive with his bike, she mused, she wouldn't hesitate to take a ride in his little basket, despite how embarrassing that would be. She just wanted to get someplace warm, and in a hurry. If he offered, she would accept. Not after biting his head for being late of course.

I'll bite him good...

Time passed by, and still no sign of Io. Maybe he was on his way.

Tsumiki decided to walk ahead to school without him. Perhaps later on he would meet up with her along the way, with Mayoi and Hime with her. She lifted her foot to walk and realized that she was ankle deep in snow. She didn't recall that being the case when she first arrived at the station. Had she really waited so long that she was slowly being buried in snow? She hadn't felt it before, but now that her attention was drawn to her feet, she suddenly had feeling in them again. She shivered, walking her frozen feet slowly towards school.

It wasn't too long of a walk before Tsumiki heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Good morning Tsumiki!" Hime called out as she walked towards her. She had the brightest of smiles on, along with a nice green coat to ward off the winter weather.

"Good morning," Tsumiki said quietly.

Hime was looking around diligently.

"Hey, where is Io? Isn't he usually with you?" she asked.

"He didn't show up..." Tsumiki had her head down, trying not to look too disappointed.

"Oh, I see." Hime said. "But, I'm sure he will show up soon." She smiled at Tsumiki, who could only reply with a nod.

"Hey, Mayoi isn't with you either," Tsumiki pointed out.

"Ah yes! She said she would be running a little late today."

Sure enough a few minutes later:

"Hime! Tsumiki! Good morning!" Mayoi's voice sounded loudly as she waved at the two of them. Her white lab coat whipped up in the wind.

"Wow! Mayoi, you look really cool with your coat flowing in the wind," Hime said excited.

"I know! It makes me feel like a super hero." She did a few quick turns and then took a pose. "Super Mayoi to the rescue!" she announced, sound effects included.

Though Hime laughed, mesmerized by their friends silly fantasy, Tsumiki still had her head in the clouds. She was off to one side, looking off into space, still wondering what was taking Io so long.

"Hey wait, where's Io? Isn't he usually with you Tsumiki?" Mayoi asked.

"He didn't show up..." she replied, but a little more annoyed than before. She didn't want to keep answering that question.

"Oh. Did he call you at all to say where he was?"

Tsumiki shook her head. She had her hands on her phone in her pocket, so she would have felt it go off if she couldn't hear it in the increasingly loud wind.

The girls shivered, huddled closely together as they walked the rest of the way to school.

"Maybe he's already at school?" Hime suggested.

"No. We both said we would meet each other by the train station before school." Tsumiki said.

"Aha!" Mayoi piped in. "So you two did finally agree to meet up? Now you won't have to keep stopping in random places along the way, hoping to find him."

"I wasn't doing that before..." Tsumiki protested quietly.

Already, Mayoi was fantasizing about the two of them. Even if she didn't say anything, the cunning smile and evil laugh told Tsumiki everything. She didn't feel like doing anything to Mayoi, but if she felt the reason to, she would have no problem with leaving another hole the size of Mayoi's head into the wall. As they passed by said wall, she noticed the two holes from incidents before were still there, and she wondered why, after a year, no one had bothered to fix the wall.

They finally made it to the school, and the yard was covered with thick layers of snow.

"Finally! Warm Homeroom here I come!" Mayoi shouted.

The tall box heater inside was thankfully not broken this time and the three of them huddled around it like a fire pit. The warm coils brought feeling back into Tsumiki's limbs and she purred loudly for the comforting heat.

The door of the room came open and Sakaki walked into the room.

"Good morning friends! I heard that purr from all the way down the hall, and I knew you guys were in here!" he said, laughing. Tsumiki's cheeks turned red, but she ignored the embarrassing remark.

"Tsumiki's cat like reactions can't be helped Sakaki! It's only in her nature." Mayoi teased.

"Cats can't stand the cold, even with all that fur," Sakaki remarked, contemplating in his head. "It's the cat's one weakness and they always must find a place to be warm. If only they could find a way to adapt to the freezing temperature."

"How would the cat find food in such harsh conditions?" Hime chimed in.

"Ahh, for that the cat would have to be a vicious predator. With such little food, it would have to hunt down its food." in his mind, he pictured a giant, furry, black cat with razor sharp fangs and its body was twice the size of a human. It was holding a giant fork and knife in both hands. "I see you little rabbit!" he said making a deep, monster like voice pretending to be the cat. "And soon I will have you bloody neck in my mighty jaws! You shall be my dinner!" There was a hint of jolly madness in his eyes.

"Ahh! That sounds scary!" Hime whimpered.

"It's okay Hime," Mayoi comforted her. "Those kinds of cats don't exist"

"What about snow leopards?" Tsumiki said.

"Eh?" Sakaki said confused. "Are those things cats?"

"Yes."

"Oh...Then you better watch out Hime! Or the snow leopards will come for you when you least expect!" he said with an evil laugh.

"Waaaaah!" Hime was crying, frightened.

"Hiime! There's no leopards around here," Mayoi said, patting her and turning to Sakaki. "Io would hit you for saying something like that."

Something sparked in Sakaki's head. "Hey. Where is Io? Tsumiki, isn't he usually with..."

Tsumiki's cold, cat eyed glare dared Sakaki to finish the question, but he couldn't find the courage to speak the final word. He felt cold, as if she was staring through his eyes and into his soul, and he shuddered a bit.

"He didn't show up!" Mayoi answered for her, laughing awkwardly to try and ease the tension. But Sakaki didn't hear what she said, still eye locked with Tsumiki's creeping gaze.

"Scary..." he managed to finally say. "Like a snow leopard."

Hime gasped. "Does that mean Tsumiki is going to hunt and kill Sakaki for dinner?!"

Class began, and Io still hadn't shown up. Tsumiki stared absent minded at the empty desk beside her, and she had trouble paying attention to the lecture. Her eyes darted from Io's desk, to the clock on the wall, to the class room door, and then back to Io's desk. She kept her attention on those things, as if looking constantly would magically bring him here.

Io...

She slumped onto her desk, her head face down in her open notebook, mewing quietly, sadly to herself.