Neko-Hiro

Chapter Three: Dinner


Hiroki drew his hand back, though he really didn't want to.

Nowaki's skin is so warm.

The shy neko shifted uncomfortably as he felt similar warmth emanating from the dark-blue eyes that were studying him curiously. A snort sounded from the direction of the couch.

"Nowaki, there's no reason to be formal with Hiro, he's just a neko."

"Well, I think 'Hiro-san' suits him." Nowaki gave Hiroki other encouraging smile. "Do you mind if I call him that, Senpai?"

"Call him whatever you want, big guy." Tsumori was already engrossed in the game. "I imagine at this point, he's probably about heard it all."

The pleasant blush that had crept into Hiroki's cheeks at Nowaki's comment deepened into a flush of shame at his master's words. He was terribly embarrassed. Nowaki looked at him for just a moment more and then back to the man seated on the couch.

Watching Tsumori reclining in ease with no thought about how his words had hurt his pet, Nowaki's eyes narrowed with quiet anger.

"Hiro!" Tsumori barked.

Hiroki had started backing away, trying to make it to his appointed corner in the room where he could sit down, and hopefully, if he was quiet enough, become invisible for the remainder of the evening. Unfortunately, it appeared this was not going to be the case.

"Yes, Tsumori-sama?"

"We'll take our dinner here tonight. Dish it up and bring it over, and get me another beer while you're at it."

"Yes, Master."

Already Hiroki was growing more nervous. Tsumori had been home for less than twenty minutes and already he'd had two beers. The neko professor had learned early on that while sober his master was a tyrant, but when Tsumori got drunk…

As soon as he was in the kitchen, he began putting his Master's plate together. A minute later Hiroki was surprised when Nowaki stood up, snagged his plate off the table, and came into the kitchen too.

"Do you mind if I dish myself up, Hiro-san? I'm kind of funny that way."

Looking up at their guest, Hiroki had rarely seen anyone so tall.

"N-no, of course not, ummm... Master Nowaki." Hiroki was truly flustered now: Tsumori hadn't instructed him on how to address Nowaki as he often did with his other "guests" and he did not want to offend him.

"My name is Kusama Nowaki, but you can just call me Nowaki." Nowaki smiled down as he spooned some rice onto his dish. "This food looks really good, Hiro-san."

"Thank you, Nowaki-san," Hiroki choked before hurriedly turning and leaving the kitchen. No one had ever complimented his food before and he didn't want Nowaki to see the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

When he served Tsumori, his owner took one look at the carefully arranged plate and sneered. Tsumori called out to Nowaki who had just come back and was settling himself into his chair.

"Sorry about the food, Nowaki. The cat can't cook for crap."

"I think it actually looks quite good, Senpai." Nowaki smiled at Hiroki again. Then out of the corner of his eye, he caught Tsumori's dark look and watched the cinnamon neko immediately tense.

Being a perceptive person, despite his seemingly easy going nature, Nowaki suddenly realized that his compliments might get Tsumori's poor pet in trouble later. Hastily he added with a light chuckle. "But then I eat so much of that terrible food at the hospital, I guess almost anything would taste better,"

He sighed inwardly in relief when these words made both neko and owner visibly relax.

Knowing that despite how tense things had been things would only likely get more unpleasant as the evening wore on, Hiroki to a chance and nervously addressed his owner.

"Tsumori-sama?"

"What!" Tsumori's eyes were glued on the television set; shoveling large bites of food into his mouth, despite the fact he'd said it was awful.

"Would it be okay if I did some grading? Please? Hiroki was afraid to ask, but after last night, he was in danger of falling behind. "I have a lot of essays to look at for my students."

"Fine, but be quiet about it. I don't want to spend my whole night listening to a bunch of rattling papers."

Nowaki watched the hybrid walk to the hall and get his book bag. It made him sad to see how droopy the poor catman's ears were and his tail was so listless. Then Hiroki's apron opened a bit in the back as he moved and Nowaki saw the terrible bruises on the pale skin of the neko's bare bottom.

Hiroki was on his way back to his corner when Nowaki stopped him as he passed by his chair.

"So, you are a teacher, Hiro-san?"

Before coming to stay with Tsumori, Hiroki would have probably said something snappy in response about how foolish the question was after he had just said he had students. But living as he had for the last three months, he had learned the hard way that he must temper his tongue.

"I teach Japanese literature at 'M' university, Nowaki-san." Hiroki tried hard not to sound prideful.

"Really, Hiro-san?" Nowaki was impressed: education had always been very important to him. "I know some working hybrids. We have a number that do maintenance and custodial things at the hospital, but I had no idea that a Neko-hybrid could be a professor."

"Ha!" Tsumori butted into their conversation. "It's not like he teaches anything that difficult, just a bunch of introductory courses."

Because of Nowaki's presence, Hiroki was feeling bolstered.

"Actually, Tsumori-sama, the Dean offered me a promotion yesterday." When his owner didn't respond Hiroki added, being sure not to sound righteous, "that's why I was late. Dean Takatsuki called me into his office after my lectures because he wanted to offer me the chance to teach some advanced classes next semester." Hiroki rushed to get his words out before his master cut him off, "and to be an assistant to one of the regular professors."

"I have the permission slip in my bag for you to sign that says I can do it." It hurt Hiroki's pride to have to say this, but Nekos had to get their owner's permission for advancement, especially if their new duties might take them away from their responsibilities at home.

Suddenly Tsumori was more interested in his pet than the baseball game. His eyes glinted.

"So how much more will they be paying you?"

"Nothing at first," Hiroki admitted, but then added quickly, "but if I do well, I could get a raise later." Hybrids were paid much lower wages than humans and advancement even for the most ambitious was hard. "Besides, it's a tremendous honor to be asked."

Unfortunately, it was immediately clear Tsumori care little about honor.

"If they're not paying you more, no! I'm not signing anything. Your post hardly brings any money as it is and distracts you from your duties here enough already! In fact, I've been wondering if I should even let you keep teaching at all after this semester. I think there are better ways that you could bring money into this household.

"Now go get into your corner!"

Humiliated to have such things said in front of Nowaki, Hiroki slunk over to the corner and sat down. He waited for Tsumori to get interested in the ball game again, before he even tried opening his bag, all the while trying to tell himself he should be glad that his master had not been so mad that he'd stopped him from doing his grading. The tactic did little to assuage him however, and as he very quietly looked through his students' papers, Hiroki found it was hard to read tonight. His eyes kept blurring as he tried to keep from crying.

Honestly, he didn't know what he would do if Tsumori made him quit teaching. It was all that was keeping him sane at the moment. And then there was the whole issue of the other ways his master thought he could make money. Hiroki's tail unconsciously wrapped up around his waist and curled against his belly, trying to warm away the cold fear that gripped him there.


Across the room from the poor catman, Nowaki was having a very difficult time. Though still trying to eat all of the dinner that Hiroki had worked so hard to prepare, he had lost his appetite. Not the least of the reasons for this was how very disturbing it was to see this side of his senpai. While at work, it was true that Tsumori had always been rather coarse and given to the hard teasing of his subordinates, still, Nowaki had more or less overlooked this because Tsumori was a good doctor and always seemed to put these traits on hold when he worked with the children.

Witnessing his senpai behave like this though, how he treated his poor pet, made Nowaki very upset. He wanted to do something to protect Hiro-san, but at the same time, he didn't want to disrespect or offend his senpai. After all, he had to work with Tsumori almost every day and the man was his superior. Plus, he had to wonder if what Tsumori had said about this pet was really true. For although he hardly seemed feral, perhaps Hiro-san was only behaving right now because there was a guest present.

At the same time, even so, Nowaki doubted a neko with feral tendencies would ever attain the rank of a professor. And even if the cute cinnamon hybrid had any feral inclinations, he could think of little anyone might do that would warrant the punishment clearly visible on Hiroki's lean body.

Tsumori needed another beer, but this time he'd decided he would get it himself. On his way into the kitchen, he made a show of scraping the few scraps that remained on his plate into Hiroki's cracked bowl.

"Dinner, Hiro," he called. Then he took a sixer out of the fridge and went back over to the couch, belching loudly as he sat down and opened a new bottle.

Nowaki had managed to eat almost all of his dinner because he did not want Hiroki to feel bad. Tsumori looked over at Nowaki's all but empty plate.

"Feel free to dump the scraps in Hiro's bowl. I hate to see even bad food go to waste."

Nowaki looked at the skinny neko sitting across the room. He'd heard the feline professor's empty tummy growling, though Hiroki made no attempt to go to his bowl. Instead, the neko's shaggy head was bent, over his papers, studiously not looking at either human. Nowaki could see the catman's hands shaking, the papers he held quivering.

"Actually, I think I like to have some more if that's okay, Senpai?"

"Suit yourself, Sport," Tsumori was on his fourth beer. "It's your stomach after all."

Nowaki piled some good-sized portions on his plate. He sat back down and pushed these around for about fifteen minutes with his chopsticks as the game continued and then got up and went to Hiroki's bowl.

Looking apologetically at Hiroki, he scraped the food into his dish. "Sorry, Hiro-san, I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach. It really was pretty good though."

Rather than make the poor feline suffer the indignity of having to retrieve his food, Nowaki took the bowl over and offered it to the hungry hybrid with both hands.

Hiroki was so embarrassed by this unexpected kindness he wanted to shrink up and disappear.

"Thank you, Nowaki-san,"

Nowaki didn't say anything, he just ruffled Hiroki's head again, being careful of the catman's shyly lifting ears before returning to his seat.

Normally such an informal touch would have made Hiroki's tail fluff, but for a moment, he was reminded of how Akihiko had often stroked his head. Nowaki's hand held a similar quality, though his touch was much warmer.

Hiroki was pulled from these thoughts by the sound of Tsumori offering his guest another beer. He was immensely relieved when Nowaki politely declined. Turning his attention to the bowl in his hands, Hiroki began to eat before his master decided to take it away. Though he wanted nothing more than to wolf the food down, he was careful to pace himself. He had always had very good table manners and besides, he didn't want Nowaki to know how truly hungry he was.

Tsumori's eyes were dark as he watched Hiroki delicately nibbling his food across the room."You know, Nowaki, it's a good thing you don't have a neko. You'd spoil it so much it would become impossible to control."

"You're probably right," Nowaki said mildly, not wanting to irritate his senpai further.

Finally, the game ended bringing the awkward evening to a close.

"I should get going, Senpai. I have to work tomorrow. Thank you for inviting me over to watch the game."

By this time, Tsumori was soundly drunk.

"Yeah, well, you know, I've been inviting you over for months, Nowaki... but I'm glad you finally came." Tsumori words were slurred as he spoke. Rising he staggered up and towards the bathroom. "Hold on just a minute, I gotta' take a piss and then I'll walk you to the door."

Nowaki rose too. While his senpai was gone, he simply stood there, watching how carefully Hiroki was putting his students' work into his book bag. The young intern just couldn't get over how sad the hybrid looked. After a few more moments of watching, he walked over and squatted down next to Hiroki. The neko startled, seeing him suddenly so close and down at his own level.

Leaning back a bit to give the neko more space, Nowaki kept his tone soft. "Thank you for the dinner, Hiro-san. You're really a good cook."

"You are too kind, Nowaki-san." Hiroki met his eyes for only a moment before dropping them. A hectic blush painted his cheeks. "I am very glad that you were here tonight."

Nowaki wondered about all the possible meanings hidden in Hiroki's nervous words. He wanted so much to comfort the neko. In the end however, rather than make Hiroki even more anxious he kept his desire to wrap the poor pet up in his arms and simply asked instead, "May I give you a pat goodnight?"

In the past such a patronizing question would have had Hiroki shouting and spitting in indignation. But it didn't seem to him that Nowaki was trying to demean him through his request. And, after all, he had Nowaki to thank for the first full belly he'd had in weeks. So instead of getting mad, Hiroki just bowed his head slightly to give the man access.

"Just please be careful of my ears, Nowaki-san; they're very sensitive."

"Of course." Nowaki smiled as he petted Hiroki's very soft, cinnamon-brown head. Both he and Hiroki were equally surprised when after what seemed like only a minute, a quiet purr could be heard brewing deep in the neko's chest. Hiroki pulled back from Nowaki's gentle hand. He blushed all the way down to his tail. Throughout his whole life, he rarely ever purred.

"Sorry, Nowaki-san."

"What are you sorry about, Hiro-san? I think you have a very cute purr." Nowaki laughed when this comment brought an involuntary scowl to the catman's face.

"Hey, Kusama!"

Tsumori had emerged from the bathroom and stood by the hallway entrance, not looking particularly pleased.

"Ah, yes, Senpai, I'm coming.

"Be good, Hiro-san. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."


Hiroki sadly watched the two men go down the hall.

He got up cautiously and began picking up the empty beer bottles from around the couch and carried them into the kitchen. When he heard the front door slammed he almost dropped them. Hurriedly he unloaded the bottles and had just finished putting the bottles down on the counter when Tsumori came barreling in. Without any warning, Tsumori strode over and slapped Hiroki hard, driving him to his knees.

"What the fuck was all that about?"

"I'm sorry, Tsumori-sama..." Hiroki began apologizing before he even really understood what he had done.

Tsumori gave Hiroki another hard slap, driving the neko to the floor. "I watched you, flirting with him the whole damn night!

"As if someone like Nowaki would ever be interested in a worthless mangy sack of bones like you. Maybe for a pity fuck, but nothing else. Well, if you're so hungry for someone's cock up your ass, let me oblige you." Grabbing Hiroki by his collar Tsumori started dragging the stunned neko towards the bedroom.

"Please, Tsumori-sama," Hiroki of pain and fear filled his eyes. "I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to flirt, I was just being polite to your guest."

"Shut up! I'll tell you when I want you to open your mouth, and what for! Besides, Kusama is mine!

"By the time I get done with you tonight, you'll never forget that."


An hour later Hiroki felt his master's foot against his back as he was pushed out of the bed and onto the floor.

"Go clean up the kitchen, Hiro. You sleep in your corner tonight." Tsumori rolled over in the bed and was soon softly snoring.

It took Hiroki quite a while to even get the strength to move. He was covered with new welts and bruises. One of his eyes was almost swollen shut from where he had caught the full-force of one of Tsumori's slaps. More than bruises though, he was covered in bite marks and had a particularly nasty tear on one of his ears. Tsumori had pulled his tail so badly it felt broken and Hiroki ached all the way up into his stomach from some of the other things his master had done to him.

By the time he'd managed to get everything, including himself, cleaned up, Hiroki realized he had only a few hours before he had to get up and be ready for class. Laying down in his corner on the hard floor, cradling his tortured tail in his hands, Hiroki rubbed its soft tip over his bad eye.

He didn't think in the midst of his pain that he would ever be able to sleep, but then he suddenly thought of Nowaki's kind, blue eyes and warm gentle touch. Lids dropping, silent tears wetting his cheeks, Hiroki let these thought carry him into his troubled dreams


Truly, I hate to be so mean to poor Hiroki...Will Nowaki save him? Tune in and find out.

Thank you for reading and reviewing!