Two weeks since Obi's rescue.
Obi is still at the vet clinic so that the staff can keep an eye on him. As it turns out though, Obi needs a dozen eyes looking at him at all times! If no one is looking at him for one second, he will open any door that tries to keep him confined. Seriously! When they had all packed into the car the morning after Zen found him and driven off to the vet – it wasn't raining as hard any more – Obi had opened his carrier door five times! Zen had to constantly look at him – Zen wasn't complaining much – because Obi wouldn't try to open the door if he was being watched. They had mentioned it to the vet, who had at the time said not worry about it and that they couldn't put a lock on his cage door because it would get in the way if there was an emergency. But of course, Obi had opened his door… thirteen times! The vets knocked him out with some meds so that they could look at his wounds better and take x-rays. He still somehow opened his door, even when he was sedated, he didn't leave or anything. He actually never leaves, just opens the door. And when the trio had come back the following day, the vet said – because of the story that Zen had told them about how he met Obi – that his constant door opening is most likely from his past "home". The vet said that Obi was most likely locked up a lot and that he had learned how to open doors so that he could take care of his necessities. The vet's reasoning being, that Obi never opens any doors when someone is looking, because it means that he probably found out the hard way that he wasn't supposed to be escaping when he was in past "home".
The wound on his chest was pretty bad and the vet wanted to keep him at the clinic for a few days. As to why he is still at the clinic two weeks later: poisoning. The vet made it clear that it wasn't contagious to people or other animals and that Obi would be perfectly fine. It was around noon when they had called Kiki – because Kiki had signed the papers – and the trio was pet shopping for Obi (Zen wanted to make his room "cat heaven" for his new roommate, so he was going all out). Over the phone, the vet had explained that they couldn't tell what kind of poison it was or what it was meant to do, but – this vet was honest and straight to the point, no beating around the bushes – that they know that it had been in one of the last things that he ate. Kiki told the vet that the three of them had given Obi some cat food that morning, but vet knew that they didn't poison him. The vet believes that Obi's previous owner had poisoned him sometime before they threw him out – Zen was only feeling more certain that he wanted to punch Obi's previous owner in the face hard – most likely assuming it would kill him – punch them really hard. The vet ended the call by saying that they would contact Kiki later with an update on Obi and the plan for how long he would stay at the vet, and that they were welcome to come back to the clinic to check on Obi that afternoon, but because of his sickness, they couldn't give him any of the stuff they bought him.
They had stopped by, and if Obi wasn't to sleepy due to being sedated, he probably would have smacked Zen on the nose again for leaving him at the vet, but he instead just settled for just placing his paw on Zen's nose.
"I know this is probably scary for you, but these people just want to patch you up and make you feel better," Zen had said. "I promise that you'll come home with me soon, I just want to make sure you're okay… and if I ever meet your past owner, I'll punch them in the face for you."
Zen could have sworn he saw a smile on Obi's face.
Now, it's two weeks later and Obi will be coming home today. Zen is excited. He spent the two weeks how he normally would, but during his free time, he had rearranged his room to meet Obi's needs. Toys sit in a box under the coffee table, covered litter box in a corner of the bathroom, a large cat tree with two scratching posts and three rooms – with cat blankets in them – by a window, and a dozen empty shelves – high and low – on all of the walls around the room for Obi to get around on.
It had taken a while, but it's done now. Zen had taken a picture and showed it to his classmate in his art class. The classmate that he has a crush on and that Mitsuhide enjoys teasing Zen about. The classmate who is studying to be a vet – which was a really good excuse as to why Zen talked to her about Obi. The classmate who he is sitting next to right now while they draw silently. The classmate with apple red hair. Shirayuki. She absolutely loves the story about how Zen found Obi – Zen hoped that she either didn't notice or didn't think it strange when Zen blushed from her using the words "love" and "you" in the same sentence – and had said that she agreed with him about punching the previous owner in the face.
Right now, he really wants to tell her that he will be picking Obi up right after class, but there is a strict no talking rule during drawing time. He is still able to draw on the paper in front of him – a drawing of Obi – but is trying to come up with a way to politely invite her without it sounding weird. She had said that she would love to meet Obi and maybe test her medical vocabulary on him, so Zen felt that it would be wrong if he didn't invite her, much less mention that he was picking Obi up today. Still, they have just started with this friendship thing – Zen was sure his face was beet red when she said that they are friends, but luckily, Shirayuki had looked away after that because her phone buzzed – and when people start a friendship, they usually just talk and text for the first week or so, going out – not like that! – comes a little later when they're both sure that they want the friendship. Zen is currently having this argument in his head, and he is only able to still be drawing because of a trick he learned while signing boring papers. He's actually pretty good at multitasking.
DINGGGGG
"Class is over? What do I do?"
As he packs up, he tries to think of somethings to say. Finally settling on something, he turns to Shirayuki who is just standing up with all of her stuff packed as well.
"Hey, Shirayuki!"
She turned to face him, a smile on her face and her head tilted slightly in a cute way. Zen forced himself to keep his cool.
"Hm? What is it Zen?"
"I don't believe I told you, but… I'm actually going to be picking Obi up from the vet today." Zen could see the sparkles in her eyes when he said that, she even stood up on her toes from joy.
"Really?"
Zen scratched the back of his head, a faint blush on his cheeks because of Shirayuki leaning towards him, but the thought of finally being reunited with Obi after two weeks of work and college classes was also something that made him feel like there are butterflies in his stomach. From the short time that Zen has spent with Obi, he found that the kitten is incredibly smart. If Obi felt that Zen abandoned him, it might end up being an embarrassing reunion, especially if Shirayuki is there to witness it.
"Yeah, looks like you might be able to meet him soon… If you want you're welcome to come pick him up with us."
Shirayuki knows about Kiki and Mitsuhide already, and knows that Mitsuhide drives Zen to the college, so she may have figured out that Kiki and Mitsuhide are the other part of the "us". There is moment where Shirayuki is surprised, but she smiles and closes her, shaking her head as she falls back onto the flat of her feet.
"Believe me, I would absolutely love to come see him, but I have to go talk to one of my professors after class and my dad is taking the neighbor's kid and me out to dinner. Sorry," she opens her eyes and Zen can see that it is the truth.
"No problem, just thought I'd put the option on the table."
Shirayuki puts on a bright smile and tilts her again.
"Keep cool, Zen! keep cool, keep cool…"
"Thanks Zen… well, I better get going. Bye!"
Zen raises his hand in a small wave goodbye as she skips down one way of the hallway.
"Bye."
Zen makes his way down the other direction of the hallway, opening the main door, and walking to Mitsuhide's car by the curb. Kiki is in the passenger seat so Zen slides into the back next to the cat carrier. Once he's buckled up, Mitsuhide takes off towards the vet. In truth, Mitsuhide and Kiki could have pick Obi up earlier, but they all thought it would be better if Zen "rescues" Obi again, so that he doesn't think that Zen doesn't want to deal with him – Obi's a smart cat who had an abusive past owner, he might think that… if cats can think. While Zen is a little sad about Shirayuki not coming with him, He is all but bouncing in excitement because, finally, Zen will be taking Obi home. The clinic is only a few blocks away, but it feels like the city and all it's cars are messing with him, making the trip take forever.
While the city may have been busy, the vet clinic has almost no waiting line. Giving the carrier to one of the receptionist, the trio waits for only two minutes – two minutes too long for Zen – until the receptionist walks back out with the carrier in hand. Zen practically jumps out of his chair, but manages to calmly walk over and gently take the carrier.
Stepping into the car, Zen quickly closes the door and puts on his seat belt. As soon as he's done that, he doesn't even wait for Mitsuhide to take off before he opens the carrier door. Obi jumps out and sits on Zen's lap, glaring at him.
"Sorry you had to stay there for so long, but it was for your health," Zen tells Obi.
Obi quickly stands on his hind legs and smacks Zen on the nose, before settling on his lap again, preferring it over the carrier.
"I said I was sorry," Zen pouts, but then glares at Mitsuhide when the older male chuckles.
They drive until they reach the mansion. Mitsuhide parks in his assigned spot and they all proceed to exit the car. When Zen reaches to place Obi back in his carrier, the kitten dodges Zen's hands and jumps up onto Zen's shoulder.
"Guess he'll ride on your shoulder until we get to your room, huh?" Mitsuhide says from where he's standing next to Zen's open door.
Zen lets out a small laugh before closing the carrier door and stepping out of car, with it in his hand and kitten on his shoulder. The mansion's staff know about Obi at this point, Kiki had told the maid who did the laundry the day after Obi's rescue, who then told another maid, who told more and so on. As far as Zen can tell, Izana doesn't know about Obi yet though, but he knows that it's only a matter of time, and Zen is not looking forward to that conversation. But Izana isn't important right now, Obi being home is. From the looks of the maids and some of butlers, Zen can tell that the staff absolutely adore Obi.
Making their way up to his room on the third level, Obi looks around, but doesn't move from his perch on Zen's shoulder. Zen can see the amazement in his eyes – whenever he can look, he still has to watch where he's going – and can't wait to show Obi what he has done with his room, their room. Zen wanted to make his office – that's attached to the bedroom – "cat heaven" as well, but Kiki quickly shut that down. She didn't give a reason as to why not, but after one second of eye lock with her glare, Zen didn't ask her again. The only thing for Obi in his office is a cat bed with strange designs of multiple shades of green, tan, and brown (Reference to Obi's clothing when we first meet him). While Zen works, he can't afford to be distracted by Obi, and neither can his assistants. Luckily, Obi is a smart kitten, and with all of his new toys and places to sleep or simply lounge, he may easily find other ways to entertain himself while the trio move around the office. Zen will make sure that Obi knows that he still cares for him, when he isn't busy drowning in paper work. The kitten may be a little rebellious, but he isn't without reason, he's alive because he didn't give in to death when his previous owner – who Zen really wants to punch – left him to bleed and apparently be killed by poison in a dirty alleyway in a horrible storm. Why Obi trusts Zen so much already no one knows, but he is glad about that, because it means that Obi won't run away and get into trouble in another dirty alleyway.
Zen opens his bedroom door and the first thing that it seems Obi sees, is the cat tree. He jumps off of Zen's shoulder and trots over to it. He inspects the base of it by sniffing it and testing out one of the scratching posts. The trio smiles at the view, they had known that the cat tree was one of the biggest models when they bought it – Mitsuhide had to assemble most of it because Kiki and Zen were both too weak to do heavy lifting and too short to put together the top and adding the blanket to the top most cave… it's that big – but it looks enormous with tiny little Obi next to it. The black kitten sits down after checking out the bottom of it, turning his head to look at the trio with what Zen could only describe as asking "this is for me?". Zen nods, watching as Obi immediately scales the cat tree with quick elegant ease to the tallest cave. That cave has what the trio had started calling a plank. A 24X30 inch carpeted stand all around the cave – most of the space being in front of the door to the cave. That is where Obi settles to look back at the trio who finally moved from the door to sit down on the couch – Mitsuhide on one of the two chairs near it – smiling triumphantly at them.
"I think he likes it," Mitsuhide sighs, he sounds tired, but Zen ignored it, busy watching Obi enjoying himself on his new (monstrous) cat tree.
"Yeah I think so too," Zen says. "I doubt that I can get tired watching Obi checking out all of his new stuff."
Kiki huffs, standing from her spot on the couch and holding out a folder that she pulled out of nowhere.
"Well, if you think you won't be getting tired anytime soon, then maybe you can finish today's work that you started this morning."
Zen looks at her surprised, but then pouts.
"it won't sign itself, Zen," Mitsuhide joins in.
Zen looks back up at Obi, who, Zen swears, smirks at him. Zen sighs.
"Fine," Zen stands, taking the folder. "Obi, there is a litter box in the bathroom that I hope you'll use. The three of us will be a bit busy for a while, so just make yourself comfortable."
Talking as if your talking to another human would most likely prove useless with any other cat, but Obi seems to understand the human language and human gestures. He proves it by nodding to Zen the turning around to check out the inside of the uppermost cave of the cat tree. With everything said and done, Mitsuhide opens the door to office and closes it behind them.
Zen gets a lot done, a lot more than he had originally planned to do today, and he thanks Obi for that. Once again using his multitasking skill he learned, he reads, either accepts or declines and writes out a reason all the while thinking about how much Obi might be enjoying himself in the other room. He wants to play with him but he has a meeting tomorrow, so he has to go to bed early so that he can wake up early. Obi doesn't seem to mind, he jumps up onto the bed, taking the same pillow he did when he last and first slept on Zen's bed, While the white-haired boy got ready for bed. Tomorrow will be a long day and Zen will have to remember to take a picture of the new and improved Obi to show Shirayuki for their next class, but at the end of all of it, he'll have all the time in the world – four hours – to play with Obi, and he can't wait.
