Chapter 2: Rivals: Domestica: Artisitica


12/1/2012

YFF (where I had relocated this piece to) has apparently shut down, and FF once again seems to not be enforcing its no MA policy… not that there's really much citrus in this fic…Yet … So, I am reposting Sekai Ichi "Cat"sukoi on FF. (For clarification, I took this fic down myself. It was not initially removed by FF.)

Seeing as it was getting close to a year for this fic, and it was supposed to be a Christmas piece I thought I'd better get back to it. So, at the end of my reposting, there will be a new chapter or two for all you lovely patient, neko-phile readers.

If you like this fic, you might want to keep an eye out for my reposting of "Neko Hiro" which I have also decided to keep under Don't Preach's tag as it was the non-preacher's most significant work. Outside of my neko fics and "The Escort" all the rest of Don't Preach's fics are being moved to my new penname, "Daniel Lazerus."


Sekai Ichi "Cat"sukoi

Chapter Two: Rivals

Yanase was walking down the sidewalk on his way back from lunch to the Marukawa publishing house. The artist worked there as part of a team, drawing for the manga-ka Ijuuin Kyou, author of the much loved The Kan series. It was still early enough in this month's production that the independently minded young man felt it was acceptable to go out and grab something. (He didn't really cook.) Yanase knew that within another week he'd be so busy he'd be eating most of his meals from the vending machines in the office.

The café he'd gone to had featured a number of flat screen TV's all turned to various news stations. The fiery brunet would have preferred to go somewhere a little quieter, but the food was good, the service fast, and the portion size large enough he was now carrying his leftovers with him in a bag to put in the lounge fridge so he didn't have to worry about dinner.

As he was walking, Yanase was reflecting on a particular story he'd glimpsed from the booth he was sitting in. It was about the verdict on the neko cruelty case of the manga-ka, Takemoto Mai, who'd been arrested several weeks ago for hoarding.

The artist's sharp eyes narrowed as he thought of the woman's cruelty. She had over twenty nekos, each living chained twenty-four-seven to a drafting table in abhorrent conditions. In his opinion the punishment she'd received was minimal, especially considering that one of the woman's nekos had died in course of the rescue.

Yanase sighed. It wasn't all that unusual for an author to keep a pet to assist with story boards, though this was usually for just the most basic aspects.

Most people operated under the widely held belief that a hybrid simply could never be advanced enough to truly undertake complex drawings, or intelligent or creative enough to come up with a really interesting story. Personally Yanase had long thought such beliefs were ridiculous.

However, with this situation it was rumored that all the manga-ka's work had been produced by her nekos. Yanase frowned. He wondered what would happen if more people became aware of neko potential. After all, it was hard enough for a human to find work as an artist, without being undercut by cheap hybrid labor.

Even so, his heart went out to those unfortunate neko artists. He'd seen just a few pictures of the conditions the hybrids had been forced to live in. Photos of Takemoto's pets themselves had been kept from the press for the abused nekos' protection.

Yanase had thought about getting a pet himself when he was younger. However, he didn't want one for the reasons most people got them (which was to have a servant or a sex slave). No, what he was looking for was a companion, someone he could share his life with, particularly since he'd had such rotten luck with humans.

Fortunately the manga artist hadn't ever pursued this option. He believed that if someone took on a pet, it should be for life. Now with the crazy production schedule he followed… his hours were so erratic he didn't think that would be fair to make anyone, neko or not, put up with the kind of craziness that dictated his life.

Still, thinking of the impending Holiday and the few days off he had coming, Yanase sighed. It would be nice if he had someone he could share it with.

Yanase considered what a coupled Christmas might look like. A wistful smile softened his usually sly features. That was until he looked up from his thoughts and saw Hatori coming towards him down the sidewalk from the other direction.


Hatori was silently seething. The tall chestnut-haired editor was headed from Marukawa on his way to yet another useless meeting. This made ten since his primary author had been arrested. He still couldn't believe what the woman had been doing. No wonder she'd never missed a deadline.

More than that, however, he was furious with himself that he'd been managing her for five years and never had a clue about the horrible situation. He'd lost tremendous face as a result. Hatori was now not only scrambling to rebuild his reputation, but also he had to find an author to replace her. He'd been through over a hundred portfolios in the last few weeks with no prospects. Even now, going to visit this next potential author, Hatori knew already that it would be fruitless. None of the human author's he'd encountered yet seemed to have what he had come to privately term as that special "neko magic" his disgraced manga-ka had tapped into.

As if the day wasn't annoying enough already, Hatori looked up and tried hard not to grimace when he saw Yanase Yuu heading his way. This was a difficult feat for even his usually emotionless face. Hatori couldn't believe how the obnoxious artist still plagued him, even after all these years.

Fate had been feeling very capricious apparently when she decided to knot the lines of two men's lives together. The pair had known each other from childhood and spent a number of their school years together. As both males were sharp and scheming in their various ways, driven and proud as well, the two had maintained a cool but cordial relationship. That was until high school at least, when both youths fell in love with the same man, Sawada Daisuke.

As competition for the object of their affections increased, the thin skin of their friendship had quickly rubbed raw and festered. Even now this wound lingered and any time the men had extended contact with each other, it wasn't long before it began actively weeping again.

Working at the same publishing house now, the two former rivals paths had to occasionally cross, though both went out of their way to try and prevent this. Still, seeing Yanase now, as much as he detested it, Hatori couldn't help but feel it a bit smug. After all, he'd won in the end when Daisuke had chosen him.

Unfortunately, this tremendous win had also left him open for an even greater loss. While they were in college, Daisuke had fallen ill. Hatori had done what he could to nurse his lover, in the end, however, it was ultimately to no avail.

Daisuke, wonderful, innocent, if perhaps a bit dense, had remained friends with Yanase after high school and throughout his illness as well. In this, Yanase had been present during, what Hatori felt, should have been his exclusive privilege: walking with his lover to the edge of death and helping him crossover.

Hatori's heart clutched with grief and anger remembering those difficult times. Coming up to Yanase on the street now, it was all he could do to be civil.


"Hatori," Yanase greeted, purposely forgoing the honorific. The edge of his usually sly smirk was just a bit sharper than usual.

The gray-eyed editor's brow twitched just slightly though his face otherwise remained impassive. "Yanase," Hatori greeted back. "Good to see you," he said insincerely. "It's been a while".

Yanase said nothing. He nodded as his keen eyes coolly assessed his formal rival.

"Look, I don't have time to catch up now. I'm off to a meeting," Hatori said sternly, as though Yanase had just suggested they take the afternoon off to go drinking.

Yanase didn't appreciate the taller man's supercilious tone so he couldn't help but respond, "Yes, I heard about your manga-ka. Tch, what a mess. You're out interviewing new authors, I suppose?"

This mention of his humiliation brought more than a tick to Hatori's brow. He was about to make a sharp comment to the artist when he suddenly noticed that Yanase wasn't even looking at him at all anymore. Instead, Yanase was staring dumbfounded into the pet shop window the two men had been standing in front of.

Sitting in the sill of the window was a terribly thin, young hybrid. The little cat was intently drawing. Lost entirely in his own world the neko's soft ebony ears were perked forward occasionally flicking with concentration. His string tail curled and uncurled in unconscious contentment.

Feeling the weight of the two men's gaze upon him, after a few moments the neko looked up. The hybrid blinked his huge dark blue-gray eyes as he pulled himself from his creative reverie. He gave the stunned men an amazing smile.

While it had been the neko's astounding drawing that had originally caught Yanase's eye, the moment he saw the kitten's guileless smile and innocent expression his heart stopped. He reminded Yanase so much of Daisuke.

That was the other reason, Yanase, perceptive as he was, had not ever taken a long term lover or a pet. He'd never recovered from Daisuke's death or his own unrequited love. He hadn't thought another would ever capture his heart… Until now.

Hatori glanced up into the slender neko's sweet face, but his eyes kept being pulled back to the tablet in the kitten's lap. The neko was sketching a series of story panels. The drawing was amazing. The editor recognized the style immediately, despite the fact it was a narrative he was unfamiliar with.

Because of his involvement with the manga-ka, Takemoto, Hatori had been privy to elements of the abuse story not widely known by the general public. For example, he knew that all of the nekos had been dispersed to different foster organizations for recovery and the hybrids identities had being kept from the public out of fear that they would be adopted and further exploited for their talents. There was no doubt in Hatori's mind seeing what had been rendered in the neko's notebook that this was one of Takemoto's former pets.

Though it took some effort, Hatori pulled his eyes from the hybrid's drawing. His gaze traveled down the kitten's thin bare legs. While the other shy kitten curled in a corner of the sill had bare feet, the little drawing cat's were clothed in thick socks that gathered around his thin ankles. Hatori had no doubt that if those socks came off, a scarred ring would be clearly visible around one of those tender limbs where a steel cuff had long rubbed.

Hatori brought his eyes back up and finally noticed the ebony kitten's sweet smile. The little male's eyes were bright but oddly dull at the same time in a way that provoked some sweet aching sense of nostalgia in the stern man's chest.

The kitten in the window cocked his head and his ears vibrated with curiosity as he looked at the odd expressions on the faces of his observers.

Yanase looked up slowly at Hatori.

Hatori looked down at Yanase.

The two semes stared at each other appraisingly.

Then simultaneously the two men bolted for the entrance of the pet store. Like high school boys fleeing school, they jostled each other at the door. Somehow the pair managed to push through the door together. They burst into Sato's shop, startling the proprietress. Sato had been talking with her assistant, who had just returned from lunch.

"I WANT THAT KITTEN IN THE WINDOW!" Yanase and Hatori shouted in unison.


Thank you for reading (or re-reading) and reviewing.