"Come on, Kiku, get down from there," Alfred said, looking a little annoyed but tired as he stared at the neko who had nestled himself at the top bunk of the double decker bed.
Alfred's dorm room wasn't a lot, but it was meant for two people. American's roommate had moved out of the dorm to get himself an apartment outside the University just a few months ago, leaving Alfred with a couch, a tv, the whole wardrobe to himself and a double decker bed with the top bunk being empty; that was where Kiku had isolated himself for the last couple of days since Alfred got him.
"C'mon, buddy, you haven't eaten in like, two days." Alfred reasoned but received no response still from the neko. He let out a sigh as he ran a hand down his face.
As said, Kiku had refused to leave the bed even when Alfred had called him for food just as he was trying to call him down for dinner a few moments ago. The American grumbled under his breath and moved to sink into the couch, his laptop laying over the small coffee table in front of him, mocking him with the reminder that he had to start his semestral report. Damn, what was he supposed to write? 'He would not eat nor come down from where he'd stationed himself for the past few days.'What kind of report would that be?
It seemed liked Alfred had been letting out a constant stream of replies lately and the latest one, being now, seemed to be making the neko grow uneasy because as soon as Alfred closed his laptop, he finally- finally heard the neko speak.
"If I eat.. you won't hit me?" Kiku asked, Alfred craning his head up to look behind him at the neko, blinking lightly. Hit him? Why would Alfred hit him? He was offering the food, after all.
"No, of course not. Why would I do that?" Alfred asked but he received no reply and instead, Kiku slowly moved down to hop off the top bunk, landing on his feet and slowly approaching the coffee table where the plate of food was. Alfred could see that Kiku was hungry and the blond really had to wonder why the neko had hesitated so much in eating.
Alfred watched as the neko took the plate and hurried back towards the bed though this time, he had sat on the flood just below the ladder that lead to the top bunk, and there he began to eat. He looked as if he were enjoying his food, eagerly digging in and shoving large amounts into his mouth and Alfred felt pleased with himself as he watched the neko to so.
That had really been the only meal Kiku had eaten for the rest of the day, seeing as though it was already evening. When he finished, he placed the empty plate back onto the coffee table and scrambled up onto the top bunk which he had now claimed for his own. Alfred watched this, a little frown on his lips. Damn.. he should really make an effort to at least try and converse with the neko. But really, how could he? Kiku always seemed, and even had a record in the shelter, to keep his thought and actions to himself and the owner had made it clear to Alfred that that was not the neko's fault.
It was that bastard's who abused him.
xxx
It did not come as a surprise when Alfred had stayed up later than he would have expected, finishing homeworks and papers, writing up some stuff and reading through some books as well as finishing a powerpoint presentation and getting it ready for reporting the next morning. When Alfred had glanced at the clock, it had been two in the morning. It was quiet at that time, mostly because it was a Thursday and there weren't any parties upstairs or in the neighboring rooms, yet as Alfred closed his laptop and set it on his nightstand beside his, bed, he felt light shifting that came from above and soon heard a few quiet murmurs.
Alfred looked up, staring at the darkness that was the bottom of the top bunk. He kept silent, trying to see if the sounds really did come from the top bunk and was quickly answered when he heard a few quiet whimpers. "Kiku?" Alfred murmured, slipping off his bed and moved to stand up, standing on the tip of his toes to try and see what was going on with Kiku, and to Alfred's surprise, the neko was merely asleep.
"Kiku.." Alfred murmured again, brows furrowing a little in confusion as, once again, the neko tossed and turned on his jumble of blankets and comforter, letting out small whines and later on a sob. Alfred gulped and licked his lips a little. Was Kiku having a nightmare? What was Alfred supposed to do? He'd never really encountered anything like this before and he wondered if he should wake Kiku up or just let the nightmare pass. But the sounds grew louder and the sobbing increased until Alfred just could not take it anymore.
He slowly climbed the ladder, crawling over the small space and careful not to step on any of the neko's limbs or tail as he did so. Alfred reached up and placed a hand on the neko's shoulder, jostling him gently to hopefully wake him. "Kiku.. Kiku, hey.. wake up, buddy." Alfred mumbled no growing a little more worried as he shook the neko a bit more. Not a very good idea, however, because with Alfred's shaking and the combined darkness that was in the room, it had not been a very good wake up for the neko.
Kiku yelped, almost screamed as he sat up, chocolate brown eyes wide with fear and confusion as he quickly cowered away from Alfred's touch. "Sorry..! I'm sorry- I didn't mean- I don't know what I did!" he said, holding his head as he looked up at Alfred. "I'm so sorry- please don't hit me- please..! Please.." Kiku's sobbing wracked his body and Alfred grew still for a few moments, not knowing how to react until something urged him to say something.
"Hey, hey, hey.." Alfred said, waving his hands in front of him a little, hoping to show Kiku that he meant no harm. "It's alright, Kiku, you're okay.. I'm not gonna hit you, alright?" The neko looked up, teary eyes as Alfred met his eyes. "I'm not gonna hit you.. calm down. Please.. it was only a nightmare." When Kiku made no movements whatsoever, Alfred decided that it would be best if he let the neko be just for tonight. Questions would be asked tomorrow. "Right, I'll go down now, okay? Look, I'm going.." Alfred said, slowly starting to retrace his steps till he was at the bottom of the ladder and when Kiku was out of sigh, he could have sworn he'd heard the neko let out a relieved sigh.
Damn, this was going to be harder than he thought..
xxx
The next morning, Alfred tried hard to confront Kiku and ask him about what had happened last night. Had the neko done that for the couple other nights he had been staying here? Because if he had, Alfred hadn't noticed.. that was probably because he had slept early in those days though. The student cursed himself for being less observant.
Again, Kiku did not seem to want to leave his bunk, curling up in the blankets and refusing all contact with Alfred for the rest of the morning. Alfred placed breakfast on the coffee table once again, hoping that Kiku would eat it by the time he got back. He'd also informed the neko that if he got hungry, there was milk in the fridge, cereal on the cupboard and bread on the table inside the little kitchen they had. Even though Kiku did not respond, Alfred had a weird guess that he neko had understood it all. After all, even when Kiku was abused and all, he still seemed to be quite smart yet very very not hostile. Perhaps that was the problem.. Kiku not being able to fight back..? Or maybe he'd tried to fight back all those years but was punched down into submission every time he ever tried to do so. Aah, Alfred really would never know unless he tried talking to the neko.
For the rest of the day, the only thing that had lingered in Alfred's mind was the problem with his neko, and even though he was asked may times by his friends if they could do anything to help, the American simply brushed them off, saying that he was alright.
"Having trouble with your neko, Alfred?" Francis had kindly asked through lunch, taking a piece of bread and nibbling on it's tip a little. Alfred merely nodded.
"Yeah. God, he's so hard to handle."
Francis let out a wry chuckle, pushing up the sleeves of his top to reveal a few scratches littering his arm, "Same with mine.." he simply said with a sigh. Within those moments, two more people had slipped into their table, one of which was Antonio who seemed to have scratches all over his face and arms.
"Aah, I see you've been having trouble with your own lot?" he'd asked, simply earning sighs and nods from Alfred and Francis as lunch commenced.
The last subject of the day had been Humanities for Alfred, which was the subject that had required him the final semestral thesis and it was by far the most interesting subject for the blond. It got him thinking about a lot of stuff, got him contemplating about life, they had activities outside the University and the professor was a really kind old woman who really was not as boring as she was supposed to be. Now they were in the middle of the lesson when for the first time in a long time, Alfred kept spacing out and every time he would go back to listening, their professor would have a whole new and different topic.
"..damn." the American cursed under his breath and buried his face into his hands with a sigh. He was still pretty tired from sleeping late earlier and was still plagued with the problem that he was undergoing right now.
"Mine won't talk to me! He just keeps scratching me! Totally unawesome, Mrs. Cornbelle, this project sucks!"
"Now, now, Mr. Beilschmidt!" the professor said, wagging a finger at Gilbert who was crossing his arms and frowning. There were scratches all over his face just like Antonio's earlier though these were a bit more deep and one of them was still red, ready to bleed at any given moment. "Won't talk to you, will it? Perhaps you don't even try to talk to them as well." She suggested and t got Alfred to perk up a little. "Nekos need constant care and reassurance. Their environment should be friendly as well as their caretaker. Now if you are one to keep babbling and not even try to consider your pet's feelings, then how are they to respond to you the way you want them to?"
The class fell silent and even Gilbert had kept his mouth shut for once as the professor continued, "Talk," she said, "But listen as well. Try to see what they like and what they don't like. Ask the shelter owner for advice, even! Do not insist on anything you feel as if they would not want. Insisting is not healthy, especially for a neko. Now if you took the time to-" the rest of the lesson had been quite a blur for Alfred as he tried to internalize what his professor had said, running a hand down his face in exasperation as he realized how less effort he'd been exerting to try and talk to Kiku. Alfred felt bad and now he felt the need to make it up to the neko..
So now, right after Alfred's classes, he hurried back towards the shelter, asking the owner about small facts about Kiku and soon finding out that the neko was originally from Japan. Huh.. now that Alfred thought about it, Kiku did indeed look Japanese. But what did Japanese nekos like? Alfred thought about this long and hard as he left for the University once again. "They like.. sushi.. " he murmured in thought, "Soup, I guess? And uh-.. Ugh, I don't know.." he said though stopped when he spotted a sign hanging from a distance.
"Chinese-Japanese Restaurant.." Alfred read and instantly brightened up, realizing what he had just struck. The blond hurriedly walked to the direction of the restaurant and by the time the sun was down, Alfred had a handful of things. Well.. not really a handful, but he had with him styrofoam containers of assorted kinds of sushi as well as some rice balls. He also had bought a couple of shirts that he was sure would fit Kiku. They were even patterned with cherry blossoms and stuff! Alfred was sure that Kiku would like them! Now he just had to find a way to get the neko to at least warm up to him enough to get down from the bunk and see what Alfred had for him.
