Hi everyone!

I am soooooooooooooooo sorry about the late (2 month) update! I was in Japan the day after Christmas and when I came back three weeks later, I just got loaded with things going on.

The main thing is that this is our tennis season, so practice took a good four and a half hours away from my day. We are leaving this Thursday for a game in Yuma, Arizona, then to Solono Beach, California, then to Salt Lake City, Utah, and then Ft. Collins, Colorado…after that, I forget where else we are going. (Yeah, I am with a traveling team. I play the gold doubles position with my best friend and silver singles!) We are eventually going to end up in Albuquerque, New Mexico for a tournament, then head back to Phoenix!

But another thing that takes a lot of my time is my advanced art class. I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THAT STIPLING PROJECT FOR THREE FRIGGIN' WEEKS! MY TEACHER BETTER LIKE IT 'CAUSE STIPLING IS HARD AND MAKES ME DIZZY! But, yeah, I love my art class and I think I just found my semester project!

(oh yeah…I also had a ruptured artery in January that sent me to the hospital, so that banned me from my computer 'cause the bright screen made me SUPER dizzy.)

Yeah, I know the title is not very good…but I was in a hurry and since I had it saved under that title for the time being, I just typed in 'Nya.' I regret typing it, but I don't want to change it because I might risk losing some of my reviewers!

FLUFF CHAPTER!

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Morning…

The sun had just barely risen and a blue glow had settled in the room.

Oishi felt himself wake up slowly, his eyes still closed, as he stretched his arm out. He peeked one eye open and was momentarily confused when all he saw was red. Then he remembered the events of the day before and realized that Eiji's hair was in his face.

Wait…that would mean that Eiji was with him…on his bed…

Oishi, now fully awake, looked at the sleeping cat-boy next to him. He had, at sometime in the night, come down from the top and curled up with Oishi. His cheek lay on Oishi's shoulder and he had one leg across the taller boy's legs, his tail wrapping itself around Oishi's ankle.

Oishi blushed at how close they were, considering that Eiji was still naked…and… How did Eiji get under the covers?

Eiji stirred as he felt Oishi wake up. He turned his head up so that he was looking at Oishi.

Oishi smiled when he saw the dazed look on Eiji's face. He wondered if Eiji had even realized that he was awake yet.

Eiji just kept staring at Oishi's face before putting his head back down.

"Hey Eiji…" Oishi whispered. "Didn't I say you were to sleep up there?"

Eiji didn't move.

"It's time to get up Eiji." He said. "Can you please get off of me?"

Eiji still didn't move.

Oishi frowned at this. He moved his hands to the boy's shoulder and gently started to push him off…but Eiji quickly latched his arms and legs around Oishi, not wanting to be moved.

"Hey!" Oishi exclaimed. He tried pushing him again, but Eiji just held tighter. "Get off, Eiji!"

Oishi realized that Eiji was stronger than he looked. He reached down and tried prying off his legs, but they were also unmoving.

After a while of struggling, Oishi decided that it was time to resort to a new tactic. Tickling.

He reached a finger to one of Eiji's ears and slowly started to move the small hairs on the inside. Eiji shook his head frantically. Oishi smiled and did it again. It had the same effect on Karupin. Eiji tried to move his head away from the offending fingers, but they wouldn't stop. He put his ear to Oishi's chest, but Oishi just went after the other one. After Eiji realized that there was no winning, he flattened his ears to his skull and hissed at Oishi, who stopped immediately.

Oishi sighed. Tickling his ears would just make Eiji mad at him, and he didn't want that.

So this time, he reached down to Eiji's sides and started to lightly trail his finger along the boy's skin. Eiji squirmed a little. Oishi did it more and Eiji was having the hardest time trying not to give in.

By now Oishi was using all of his fingers, causing Eiji to squeal a bit. He moved his hands to Eiji's stomach…where he suddenly stopped.

Eiji looked up to see why Oishi had all of a sudden stopped when he was winning. Eiji stared at Oishi's expression.

Oishi was both stunned and horrified. He lightly pressed his palm into Eiji's stomach. He couldn't believe it. How could he not have seen it the night before?

He quickly pulled the covers off, surprising Eiji enough to make him let go.

"Nya!"

Oishi stared at Eiji. He knew the boy was skinny…but he didn't realize just how much. Now that Eiji was not crouched or curled up, he could see that Eiji's ribs were bulging out of his sides and his stomach looked like it had imploded. He saw that he could easily outline the boy's pelvis and spine, as it made his back a bumpy ridge all the way down his back. Lying there, Eiji looked like he couldn't even walk, and Oishi knew that if he were human, then he might as well be close to dead.

Eiji didn't like the look on Oishi's face. It looked like he was mad at him for something. Was it the collar again? Confused, Eiji curled up into his usual position, afraid that Oishi was going to yell at him.

Oishi realized that he must look like he was mad at Eiji when in fact he was mad at the people who did this to him. Oishi let his face relax. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and pat Eiji on the head.

"It's alright. I'm not mad at you." He said calmly. He then got up and headed for the door. "Let's get you something to eat."

Eiji watched as he left the room before following. He saw Oishi going through the cupboards and decided watch the fish again. He watched the silver one that he watched the day before. The silver fish seemed curious about him, too, as it came up to the glass and looked at the boy on the other side.

"Nya!" Eiji exclaimed as the fish swam in circles in his view. It was as if the fish was showing off! Eiji pressed his nose to the glass and the fish looked at him. Eiji went to the other side of the tank and the fish followed. Eiji was delighted at this! "Unya!"

After a while, Oishi brought in a large bowl of rice. He saw Eiji 'playing' with one of the fish and smiled. He looked to see which one it was.

It was his only Bala. Oishi was surprised… it had grown a liking to Eiji…strange.

He noticed that one of Fuji's cameras was sitting on the table so he picked it up and took a few pictures of the precious moment.

He sat down beside Eiji with the bowl. He pointed to a random fish.

"Fish." He said.

Eiji looked at him curiously.

"Fish." He said again.

"…shu…" Eiji breathed.

"Here." Oishi said, handing him the bowl. "Eat."

Eiji looked at the bowl and sniffed it. Then he ate some.

Satisfied, Oishi fed the fish in the tanks, put out a bowl of food for Karupin, and left to his room to feed his fish that resided in there. When he came back he saw that Eiji was back to staring at the fish tank. He had not eaten much, which made Oishi frown. He held up the bowl to Eiji's face so that he understood that he need to eat, but Eiji shook his head and pushed the bowl away.

Oishi knew that it was not a good sign to see him be satisfied with such a small amount, but forcing it would end up being disastrous.

He got up and decided to call Tezuka.

He apologized about forgetting to call. Oishi told Tezuka about Eiji, and about the collar and his malnutrition. Be also mentioned the wounds and how he was afraid of him at first.

After hanging up, he called Sakuno.

He told her that everything was fine and that she didn't have any reason to come over today, saying that he would be out all day.(which was a lie)

After that, he found Eiji sleeping next to the fish tank.

He sighed as he realized just how hard it might be to fix up his wounds. He decided that he should first clean him up.

He walked over to the sleeping boy and pat his head, waking the youth up.

"Eiji, time to get you all clean." Oishi said. He walked to the back door and motioned for Eiji to follow. When he did, Oishi led him to the bathhouse. "Time for a nice bath…"

"NYA!" Eiji screamed at the word 'bath' and headed for the house.

Oishi had a feeling this would happen, so he quickly grabbed Eiji around the waist and hoisted him up. He carried the struggling red head into the room with a large bath, which was easy considering he didn't weigh much. He closed the door before letting Eiji down. Eiji quickly went to a corner to stay away from the water.

Oishi got out of his pajamas and wrapped a bath towel around himself before stepping into the pre-heated bath. He looked over to Eiji and smiled.

"Come here, Eiji. The water won't hurt you." He said. He heard a low growl come from the boy backed up in the corner. "Suit yourself."

Oishi decided to try a little psychology on Eiji and looked away from him. Eiji watched as Oishi didn't look at him or acknowledge his presence.

"Nya." He said trying to get Oishi's attention. He wanted to get out of the bathhouse. "Unya."

Oishi didn't look up. He just continued to clean himself.

Eiji was a little upset now. He liked it when Oishi gave him attention. He crept a little closer.

"Nya." No response. A little closer…

"Nya!" Oishi still didn't look at him. A few more steps…

"Nya!" Nothing.

-swat-

"Hey!" Oishi looked up after Eiji hit him on the head, only to find that he had gone back to his corner. Oishi sighed. "I give up. I'll just have to give you a sponge bath later."

Eiji tilted his head cutely, not understanding.

Oishi sighed again as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Oishi thought about what Inui would say if he saw Eiji. He wondered if the data-man could find the people who abused him so badly, or if he could find a way to get him to eat more at least.

Just then he felt something. He opened one eye to find that Eiji had come over and was looking into the water while resting his chin on Oishi's shoulder. Oishi smiled and reached up to scratch Eiji's ear.

Eiji gave a purring noise and closed his eyes. Oishi closed his eyes again, too, and went back to thinking.

He opened his eyes again when he heard splashing and saw that Eiji was trying to get in the water with him, but was having a hard time gathering the courage to. He was standing in the warm water on his tip-toes, afraid to sit down. His tail was high in the air so that it wouldn't get wet.

"Come sit with me." Oishi smiled and motioned for Eiji to sit next to him, but Eiji didn't move. He was too scared to.

Oishi got up and put his arms around Eiji, pulling him into an embrace. Eiji calmed down tremendously when he felt Oishi's arms around him. He relaxed into Oishi, leaning onto him.

Oishi slowly sat down with Eiji. He was still nervous, but he let Oishi guide him down. When they finally sat down, Eiji snuggled into Oishi's chest.

"It's okay, Eiji." He said. "That was very brave of you."

They sat there like that for a while until Oishi reached for a washcloth and started to wash the dirt off of Eiji, peeling the bandages off as he went.

Eiji just sat there as if he were in a trance and didn't realize what was going on. He let Oishi wash him. The warm water felt good on his injuries, especially the one on his back. He let Oishi scrub a liquid of some sort into his hair, having it turn into bubbles. It felt good to have Oishi massage his scalp and ears.

Oishi knew he shouldn't be using shampoo or soap in the tub and that it was meant to be used in the shower room next to the one they were in, but he didn't care right now. Eiji was in the tub and who knows when he'll get enough courage to come back in the water.

Oishi took a bowl from the side of the tub and filled it with water to rinse out his hair. He was careful not to get any water inside his ears.

He wondered if he should do Eiji's tail. He put some shampoo/conditioner in one hand, then the other groped for Eiji's tail. When he found it and pulled it out of the water, Eiji squealed and quickly grabbed his tail back.

"Don't worry, I just want to clean it." Oishi said, surprised by Eiji's reactions. Eiji just held his tail closer. It was obvious that he didn't like people touching his precious tail.

Oishi sighed, deciding that it was best not to push it. Then another idea came to mind.

"Do you want to clean it?" Oishi asked, holding up the bottle. Eiji looked at him curiously. He didn't understand. "Never mind…maybe another time…"

After a while, Eiji had found a way to amuse himself by blowing bubbles. He made small waves in the tub by moving his arm back and forth, always looking up at Oishi to make sure he was watching.

Oishi found it very amusing that Eiji was amused.

After a while, Oishi stepped out of the tub and walked towards the door with Eiji close behind. He opened the door and a rush of cool air met them. Oishi reached for a dry towel to wrap around himself and then wrapped one around Eiji, who didn't like it, but was grateful for the warmth it provided.

They quickly walked back to the house and headed for the bedroom.

Oishi got into some weekend clothes and decided to try and dress Eiji again.

He pulled out a navy blue t-shirt and walked over to Eiji. Eiji looked up at Oishi as he came over. He was curled up again.

Oishi sat down next to him and held out the shirt. Eiji sniffed it, remembering last night. He looked back at Oishi.

Oishi held up the shirt to put over his head. Eiji, still uneasy about clothes, ducked a little, then put his head through the hole. He saw Oishi smile. He jumped up and started running around Oishi.

"Nya! Nya!" He yelled, earning himself a laugh from Oishi. He was happy that he had made Oishi smile.

"Let's get your arms in before you start celebrating!" Oishi laughed. Eiji stopped in front of him and grinned. Oishi took one of Eiji's arms and put it through the hole. Then he did the same with the other.

Eiji looked at himself. It felt a lot different than being nude. It wasn't entirely comfortable, but if it made Oishi happy, then he would wear it.

Oishi then took out a pair of new boxers and held them out for Eiji to step into. Eiji looked at it, hesitated, then put one foot into it. As he lifted his other foot to put in it, he felt unbalanced, so he held on to Oishi's shoulders. Oishi pulled the boxers up, and when they were on, Oishi looked at Eiji's face.

Eiji looked like he was about to cry.

Oishi wondered if maybe he should just let him go bottomless, thinking that he wasn't used to feeling something against his ass.

Then he remembered Eiji's tail. It was sticking up and out of the shorts, at what looked like a very uncomfortable angle. Oishi mentally slapped himself as he turned Eiji around. Eiji watched as Oishi grabbed a pair of scissors and pulled the back of his pants outward. He snipped a small hole in the back of the underwear and reached for Eiji's tail.

Eiji quickly turned around.

Oishi couldn't understand it. Karupin let people touch her tail…the only time a he had seen a cat not want their tail touched was when…

Then it dawned on him: people have pulled his tail in the past.

Eiji gave Oishi a guilty look. He felt bad that even though he trusted this human to take care of him, he couldn't trust him to not to pull his tail yet.

Oishi took a step forward and put his arms around Eiji. After a moment of holding him, Oishi bent down and pulled the boxers off. He would wait for Eiji to trust him more before he went further.

A few hours later, Oishi woke up to an empty bed. He and Eiji had decided to take a nap, and now he was nowhere to be seen.

He got up and walked out to the living room. He peeked in the kitchen and his eyes went wide.

Flour was all over the floor, eggs were dripping from the counter, orange juice was splattered all over the table, cereal boxes were lying open on the floor with cereal thrown everywhere, plastic cups were scattered all over, what looked like one of Inui's experiments was oozing it's way across the linoleum, and Eiji was sitting there, right in the middle of it all.

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Okay, you can't tell me that you didn't think this chapter was somewhat cute! I really enjoyed writing this one!

Don't worry everyone, Eiji will eventually come around to trusting Oishi fully…but not now. Sorry.

You people need to tell me what you think about this chapter cause there will be more bathtimes in the future and I need to know if it was cute, too mushy, not enough mushy-ness, or whatever. PLEASE REVIEW!

Next time: Karupin gets some attention, Eiji tries to talk, new people to meet, Eiji tries new foods, and the fish's great escape!

JA!

(P.S. Don't expect an immediate update!)