Chapter 2: A Typical Morning, Part 2
Feliciano skid on his feet a bit as he tried to stop in front of his classroom door at just the right place, but wound up a few feet away from it after he failed to hit his mark. However once he gained his balance he scrambled to the door, panting softly but smiled in triumph. "Veee... I made it on time!" he cheered before he opened the door, greeting the others in there. "Good morning!"
A girl with long brown hair in two ponytails tied with red ribbons looked up and waved. "Good morning, Feliciano. You seem happier then usual today."
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked as he went over to the desk beside hers, taking off his backpack as he sat down. "I get to be with my friends and brother every day! And we get to have good food together before we go to class! And later today..." Feliciano's eyes suddenly became sparkly. "I get to see Moni in hot yoga pants before we have pasta for lunch~" he said in a dreamy voice.
"Mr. Vargas, how many times do I have to remind you that she is my niece?!"
Feliciano paled and tensed when he heard Roderich's voice from behind him again and turned around, waving his arms and stuttering. "I-I'm sorry Roddy I'm sorry! It won't happen again, I swear I swear!"
Roderich sighed, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Why don't you ever call me Professor Edelstein..." he mumbled before walking up to his teacher's desk.
The girl giggled into her hands in amusement from the little spectacle, seeing Feliciano was still trembling a little in fear from how Roderich could make himself appear intimidating at times. "Aside from her overprotective brother and uncle, sounds like dating Monika is a dream come true for you, huh Feli?"
All of a sudden his fear was gone and Feliciano's aura was enveloped in hearts and sparkles. "Siii!~ She's so pretty and smart, and she loves me so much! I just wanna smother her with love every day for the rest of my life!"
"Sounds like Monika is one lucky girl, Feliciano."
"And I'm a lucky man to have her!" Feliciano said with a smile before looking back at his classmate. "So, what about you? Any man to sweep you off your feet every night, Michelle?"
Michelle's face turned red at that and she stuttered a little, fiddling with one of her ponytails. "E-eh, no, not lately..."
"Well, don't you worry about it, I'm sure the right man will come your way soon. You're a very nice and pretty girl, anyone would be lucky to have you!" Feliciano told her encouragingly.
"Aw, thank you Feli, that's so sweet." Michelle replied with a smile.
A few periods later, it was History class, and Feliciano was asleep at his desk. He had slept through half of every other class and now he had been asleep for most of History, until Roderich noticed and he came over, smacking his ruler on Feliciano's desk. "Mr. Vargas! Pay attention!" the Austrian scolded the boy in a firm tone of voice.
It woke Feliciano as it always did and he groaned tiredly, rubbing at his eyes with one hand. "Si, Roddy, I'm sorry..."
The brunette sighed, rubbing his temple. "It's Professor-"
"Pookie?!" Feliciano paled a little when he heard Kiku's voice at the door, looking around in the room and called the cat's name a few more times. All of the other students were staring at him in confusion and Feliciano scrambled in his desk a little before falling onto the floor. "Pookie, where are you - eh? Sempai, what are you doing?..."
"K-Kiku-chan we're in the middle of a lecture!" Feliciano replied as he climbed back into his chair.
"Oh, right, my bad, I'm sorry!" Kiku said, appearing to be trying to brush it off. "It's just that... Pookie ran off again, we're not sure where she went!"
Roderich sighed. "Feliciano you're dismissed, go find her before a student with allergies develops hives, ja?"
"Yessir, Roddy!~" Feliciano said as he stood up and raced down the row of desks, over to the door to Kiku and left the room.
"It's Profess-" But the end of the sentence was not heard, as Kiku closed the door and he and Feliciano started to look around, calling the cat's name as they tried to locate her.
A moment later Feliciano looked at Kiku and said, "Should we be more quiet? There are other classes in session too!"
"Oh, hai, we should." Kiku replied with a nod as they went down the hall to go check for open doors Pookie could have gotten into.
"Kiku-chan, you seem more scatter-brained then me today! Did you get enough sleep last night?" Feliciano asked.
Kiku blinked and blushed a little. "I-I slept sufficiently enough, arigatou!"
Feliciano giggled a little, sneaking up behind him and hugged him around his shoulders. "Am I wearing off on you, Kii-kun?~" he teased, nuzzling their cheeks together.
"P-please don't call me that..." Kiku muttered in an embarrassed tone of voice.
As they began their search for the elusive kitty, as they turned a corner Kiku spotted her slinking her way into a classroom and he immediately went in that direction, and Feliciano blinked as he opened the door without knocking and called inside, "Pookie-chan, Pookie-chan come back here!" as the cat appeared to be climbing up on desks and jumped her way towards the lab stations.
Feliciano paled a little and rushed to the door as well, calling in, "We're sorry everyone, we're sorry! Our club mascot's gotten loose!" he said, bowing apologetically to the students inside, glad to see that Pookie was not knocking anything over or breaking things. Yet. "Pookie, come back here, si? Come on, I'll give you tuna for lunch if you're a good girl today!"
The cat seemed to perk up a little at that, and so she rushed over to the door and Feliciano opened up her arms for her to jump into... however she merely ran past the both of them and ran off down the hall, her tail fluffed up from excitement, as if she thought this were all just a game.
Kiku ran after the cat immediately and Feliciano barely remembered to apologize again before he closed that classroom door and they ran after her again.
As luck would have it, they followed her up a flight of stairs and to their surprise, saw the door leading up to the roof was left open. Pookie made her way right up there and ran onto the roof, the door to the outside also having been left open. At the sound of rustling footsteps, Antonio picked his head up from the part of the garden he was tending and looked towards the doorway as Feliciano and Kiku came rushing up. "Eh? What are you two doing? You should be in class!"
"W-we know..." Kiku panted out, leaning over a little as he tried to catch his breath. "B-but Pookie left the club room floor... I thought she might get hurt, and that she was looking for Feli-sempai..."
Feliciano spotted a brown tail hiding behind one of the back patches of soil and a gleam appeared in his eyes, starting to approach her slowly with his hands held up to grab her. "There's nowhere left to go now, Pookie-chan... so... COME TO MEEEEEE!" he squealed, going to tackle-grab her, only to have her slip from his grasp at the last moment and he blinked, suddenly sliding into a wooden box with bags of soil and trowels upon it, and they knocked over onto him and he squealed again.
Kiku then saw Pookie going back to the plant she'd been near before, sniffing it curiously before starting to nibble on a few of the leaves. She started purring happily, however a moment later Antonio shooed her away from it. "Pookie, no sneaking catnip!" he scolded her before looking over at the Italian covered in dirt. "Feliciano... you should know better then to come barging up here without an explanation!"
Feliciano whined and pouted a little as he sat up, brushing some dirt off his clothes and out of his hair. "Si, Tonio... I'm sorry. But Roddy told me to find Pookie before she came across a student with allergies. I didn't want her to make anyone sick!"
Antonio sighed. "Alright... but next time, remember to announce your presence, si? And please apologize. We've been up here gardening for our free period, and now we have a mess to clean up."
"Hai, gomen nasai." Kiku said, placing his hands together and bowing apologetically.
"Si," Feliciano said as he stood up and bowed too. "I'm sorry everybody! I'll help you with clean-up, I promise!"
"It's fine, don't worry about it. Just go clean up and get back to class, alright?" Antonio asked. "We don't mind finishing up here on our own. Besides, you need to attend classes more then you need to help."
"Eeeeeh? Is that a jab at my grades again, Tonio-chan?" Feliciano asked.
"Si, it was." Lovino said as he made his presence known, having taken out a broom and dustpan to clean up his twin's mess. "Now go hurry! Go take a shower and then go put on a clean uniform! Lizzy can write you a note to give Roddy so you can explain your prolonged absence."
"Siiii!" Feliciano replied with a smile before he reached over, picking up Pookie who didn't protest this time. She purred and cuddled into his chest, in a good mood from the catnip. "Alright Kii-kun, let's get back!" he said as he half-skipped back to the door, heading down the stairs.
Kiku turned to them with a small bow and, "Arigatou," before he followed after Feliciano at a more moderate pace.
Lovino sighed slightly, sweeping the dirt up and back into the sacks they'd fallen out of. They needed it after all, and it wasn't easy to replace. After he was done he wiped his forehead with his forearm, looking down from the side of the roof at all of the students gathered on the fields and track. "Man... they've been playing soccer almost every day." he observed aloud.
A light breeze gusted as Antonio merely nodded mutely, tucking some of his stray hairs under his bandanna. "Si... it's almost fascinating, in it's own rite."
Lovino sighed, leaning his arms on the inner guardrails, looking down below for a moment before he slipped his eyes shut, letting his mind become lost in thought.