Sorry for the delay in updation, MR was too caught up with FIFA and also was suffering from a bit of laziness.
But expect more delays, for our lives are going to become unpleasantly busy from the 15th of next month. Reason? College starts for both of us. T_T
But in the meantime, go ahead and enjoy this chapter. Have a good laugh.
*NOTE: No farm animals were harmed in the making of this chapter.
"Kitty! Fat kitty here's your new friend! Look at the colors! The fluffy wuffy feathers!"
The said bearer of the 'fluffy-wuffiness' gave an indignant caw as it seemed to know what its brainless operatic master didn't.
Cats and roosters don't get along- unless it's mealtime, in which case there isn't much to be said, is there?
"Go play! Go enjoy your little lives while we run the world… Ah… And some people want kids instead."
Dear reader, in case you haven't already gathered by now, Kanazawa Sensei isn't suffering from anything more than a mild case of 'Cupid's vengeance'. The unfortunate rooster however, was not on the receiving end of one such rose tipped projectile and therefore could not find it in his heart to reciprocate his master's ardency.
Presently however he was more preoccupied with taking a number of steps backwards to avoid the certain very intent vibes coming from the fluffy cat that was to be his 'companion'.
"Meowr?' asked the inquisitive feline.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck!" spat the cockerel empathetically.
"Puuuuurrrr?" Insisted the kitty.
"…Gulp." Swallowed the rooster taking a couple more steps away.
'MEOW!" said the cat happily making up it's mind and pouncing.
"COCK A DOODLE HELP!" screamed the rooster turning its colorful plumes and sprinting.
(Translation for those ignorant of farmyard lingo:
"Lunch?' asked the inquisitive feline.
"No, no, no!" spat the cockerel empathetically.
"Snackeroo then?" insisted the kitty.
"…Gulp", swallowed the rooster taking a couple more steps away.
"Yummeee!" said the cat happily making up its mind and pouncing.
"WHAAAA HELP!" screamed the rooster turning its colorful plumes and sprinting.)
Out went the rooster bolting through the door into the next classroom. A smitten kitty bounded after him with an inane grin on its face.
"If I EVER meet that crazy man who bought me…" the little fowl thought as he raced down the corridor at a shocking speed.
Bound bound bound came the cat close at his heels.
Turning a sharp right into another surprised class room the little feathered guy jumped onto a table and tripping over a pencil found himself flying out the window.
Wait, flying?
Well would you know it! Not bad for a first timer.
Momentarily forgetting the possibility of an untimely demise under the circumstances, he spread his wings enjoying the thrust of the wind and the feel of it rushing through his feathers. Then-
THUMP
"WHAT THE-!" came a voice from below him.
Instead of finding himself in the chicken paradise his mother had often told him about he found himself in the softest nest in the world!
"Cluck?"
Hesitantly testing his new environment he gently tugged at the long nice smelling auburn tresses. They were the softest things imaginable; like the soft nests his mother used to make when he was a chick from the finest quality of hay and her own feathers. He couldn't even begin to wonder what sort of divine creation God had chosen to make when he had crafted this nest. Wait- this must be heaven then! With another satisfied cluck he had settled down to his new life.
Meanwhile Etou had recovered from his state of semi paralysis and decided to certify the fact that he was not currently standing behind a Seisou building with a rooster on his head.
Boy was he in for a revelation.
Cautiously he put up a hand and prodded the soft feathery body currently reclining on his head.
Poke went the violinist's fingers.
"Cluck?" came the indignant reply.
Poke went the fingers again.
"CLUCK!"
POKE.
"COCKA DOODLE OI!"
With little left to prove Etou angrily grabbed the foul and brought it eye to eye.
"And who the fuck are you?"
Incapable of any suitable reply in the face of the burning fire in the boy's eyes, he just shook his head.
"Who's idea was this? Yunoki?"
"Cluck cluck cluck!" (I don't know a Yunoki! I don't know anything! I swear!")
Just then the purple hair flautist made his graceful entry around the corner and seeing Kiriya Etou having a conversation with a desperate looking rooster, he was momentarily checked. Stalking up to him Etou shoved the incoherent bird into Yunoki's hand hissing at him,
"Dim-witted pansy, I don't have time for your idiotic games. Take it back."
With that he walked away, leaving Yunoki holding the warm, little partly relieved, rooster in zhis arms.
"Huh? A rooster?" questioned Yunoki in confusion as he took in the fowl that the ill-tempered violinist had unceremoniously stuffed into his hands before stomping away.
The fowl, whose affections seemed to have no particular expectations now gazed up at the flutist with beady black eyes. His long hair reminded it of annelids, and in a second catalyzed by amour, as well as hunger, it closed it's beak over a small bundle of his flowing locks.
"Oye! Let that go, I'm not hosting a head full of worms!"
Azuma tugged at his hair but the rooster resolutely refused to let go. After some hassling the music student saw no other alternative and reached a hand behind the rooster's feathery bum before sharply pulling out a unit of it's plumage.
With an indignant cock-a-doodle-doo the rooster let go and turned its head to inspect the damage. Azuma knelt and none too gently, placed the rooster on the ground.
"Scram. I can't be seen with you, it would be a huge blow to my image."
He stood his ground, staring daggers at the poor animal until, rather dejectedly, the rooster began to move away and round the corner of the school building. With a satisfied look, the Prince turned to walk away, only to be halted by the sound of a delighted feminine scream, which he now was coming to recognize only too well; Kahoko.
"Kami Sama, you're not just any rooster, you're Yunoki senpai's rooster, I can smell his cologne on you! So that means he sent you! How thoughtful of my senpai to get me a rooster, I never had one!"
Kahoko rounded the corner of the school building holding the rooster fondly that put one in mind of a three-year-old cradling a favorite teddy bear in their arms. Azuma, who had been too appalled by the red head's reaction to the fowl to have any sense to scurry away, had remained stationary for a second too long. He winced as Kahoko came into view.
"Yunoki senpai!"
In a flash, she had attached herself to his arm.
"Senpai, thank you so much for the rooster, I love it!" she gushed, practically dripping hormones as she said it.
"Let go of my arm you cretin, I didn't give you a rooster." Azuma made his statement quietly, but with venom.
This however, failed to ward off the violinist who merely clutched his arm tighter and purred invitingly, "Oh, don't use that low seductive voice with me Azuma, you know it how it makes me feel…"
Panicking, Azuma jerked his arm out of his kouhai's grip, only to have his retreat delayed by the rooster which had again grasped a beak full of lavender hair. Irately, Azuma tugged his hair but the rooster refused to comply.
Kahoko giggled. "Aw, see senpai, he likes you!"
"Hardly matters." Azuma reached out and again plucked a feather from the rooster's behind. With another indignant call, the rooster let go. Kahoko pouted now.
"That wasn't very nice of you Senpai, say sorry."
"No. I don't apologize to animals Kahoko."
Kahoko seemed to consider that, before saying, "All right, don't apologize. But you have to kiss me, as a way of asking forgiveness from the rooster."
"And for what benefit? The only thing I'll be able to feel if I kiss you will be the five layers of lip gloss you've applied."
Kahoko blushed now and she placed the back of her hand against her mouth. She had indeed applied lip gloss, carrying the hope that it would make her seem more 'kissable'.
"Five? I'm not wearing five…"
"Perhaps more than that then? Either way it doesn't matter because it doesn't lessen your appearance of one who tried to stuff their lips into a toaster."
The red head's blush deepened.
"I have elsewhere to be. So please do me a favor and leave me alone. And take that bloody animal with you."
The rooster, feeling highly wounded at being referred to as 'that bloody animal' clucked sadly.
"MEEEOOWWW! ROWR! HISS, MEEEWWL! MOE…MEROWR!"
Alarmed, the trio turned their heads to see Mr. Kanazawa's cat padding it's way towards them. The expression on its face conveyed one, clear message: 'Hand over the rooster, and no one gets hurt.'
The rooster, terrified at the sight flew into the air, crowing indignantly. The cat, whose eyes had followed the rooster's projection into the air, now pounced. Azuma seized the opportunity to run.
"No, Azuma, you can't just leave him like this!" Kahoko's indignant shriek cut through the air but Azuma paid no heed. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, wishing he wasn't encumbered by his flute and carrying case.
Did I finally lose them?
He chanced a look over his shoulder and was dumbfounded by the sight and nearly stopped running.
The rooster, who couldn't bear the idea of being separated from his annelid-tressed love had given chase behind him, followed closely by Kanazawa Sensei's cat, and to complete this idiotic parade, Hino Kahoko was running behind them, her eyes filled with desperation.
"All right, if I can't have senpai, then at least let me have the rooster, please, I can't be deprived of both!"
(Note* Cupid is gleefully watching this scenario from the safety of a tree, and will now provide us with some background music. Music issued- 'The Entertainer')
"Huh? Who suddenly decided to play 'The Entertainer?" The flutist questioned as he continued to run. Behind him, the mixture of "clucks and cock-a-doodle-doos' from the rooster, the 'Mewo-rowr-ing' of the cat and Hino's 'Wait! Please, we can make this work!' combined together like some insane new fusion musical, whilst the lively piano music continued to play.
As he neared the gate, he paused and looked both sides.
The damn driver wasn't here! He doesn't get paid to drink lattes; he was supposed to be at the beck and call of the third Yunoki son!
He was about to drop to his knees and beg God to forgive him for all the injustices he had done to Hino when a sleek red convertible pulled up to the gate.
"Get in!" Shouted Etou, opening the door closest to Yunoki.
"Me, get in with you?" questioned the lavender tressed student looking at the car in some apprehension.
"Fine, walk if you want, but that crowd will follow you." Etou gestured behind Yunoki where the cat, the cockerel and the chick were dangerously close at hand. Azuma made up his mind in a heartbeat.
"Yeah, that's what I thought", said Etou when Azuma scrambled in.
"Can you just drive?" asked Azuma, panicking now.
"No, I thought this was a fine picnicking spot." Etou remarked sarcastically before he slammed on the gas pedal, although in that one second, a series of unexpected events took place.
The cat, which had been intent on devouring our poor little rooster, managed to catch up with its quarry and took an effective snap at his little feathery behind. The rooster, cawing at the loss of more plumage, was jolted into the air by the sudden shock with enough acceleration to propel him forwards and, much to his surprise, found himself once again nested amongst the contents of the heavenly nest he had found earlier.
Etou, who had been about to drive away now suddenly froze in his actions. Rolling his eyes upwards, he shot at the rooster, "Not you again?"
"Cluck, bawk!" (please don't leave me with those fiends, take me with you, oh heavenly headed nest-bearer!)
"GO!" the flutist shouted, before he pressed Kiriya's foot with his own, causing the car to speed and almost hit the curb.
"Kiriya! You were involved with the rooster too? Stop playing hard to get!"
Kahoko had run out of the school gate to pursue the car which was currently seating three of her heart's desires.
"I'll get you back for this later Yunoki", spat the violinist before slamming the gas pedal and driving away.
Once they had traveled a safe distance, he shot a side-ways glance at the Prince. He seemed to be in no hurry to rid him of the fowl that was roosting on his head.
"Do you mind?" he asked irritably, gesturing towards his head with a hand.
"Hmm? Oh, no, I don't mind at all", said Yunoki, smirking at the picture.
"The two of you make a very pretty picture."
"Cluck, cluck, Cock!" agreed the rooster.
Etou roughly pulled the fowl off his head and shoved it into the back seat. The rooster, who couldn't believe that his luck had changed from feline to feathery nest and feed, sat comfortably and watched the two men spar.
"That ditz is crazy." The auburn haired man said.
"You think I haven't noticed?" Azuma asked him.
"This so called 'crush' on us had better come to an end soon Yunoki, I don't know how much more I can take."
"What's with the rooster?" Azuma now questioned.
"What the shitty hell do I know? He just jumped out of an upper story building and decided to take up residence in my hair."
"I've already told you that you hair looks like a flaming nest" the flutist reminded him.
Etou's eyes flashed dangerously. "Watch your luck Lesbian, or I might just dump you back at Seisou."
"Fair enough", said Azuma, who, as a businessman, knew when to push his fortune and when not to.
"What do you suppose we do with Hino?"
Etou gave Azuma an 'is-that-even-a-question-worth-asking' sort of look.
"You can have her; I can't be seen with an ignoramus like that."
"Well, I don't want her. It seems to me, like the trick to be free from her is to make her fall in love with one of us." He raised his brows at Kiriya.
Now Kiriya hooted with laughter. "What, you want me to make myself desirable to her? You might as well ask God to make you look a little more masculine- it's not going to happen."
"Who really knows what may happen if the circumstances got tweaked a little?"
"Is that a challenge Yunoki?"
"If you choose to make it so."
"Very well then. 100,000 yen to the person who can make the ditzy violin girl fall in love with the other."
"At the end, you do realize she'll be yours, and not mine?" Azuma issued the words with finality.
"We'll just see about that Yunoki. We'll just see."
Silence fell between them until the arrived at the crossroads where Azuma was supposed to give directions.
After navigating them to his house, Azuma got out.
"Cluck, cluck" requested the rooster with appeal.
"No, if my grandmother found out about you, you'll just end up in tomorrow's meal." The long-haired student told the fowl firmly.
"Cock-doo, cluck." Said the rooster, disappointed.
"Wait, what am I going to do with a rooster?" Shot Etou at the flutist.
Azuma shrugged. "What do I care? The two of you make a very cozy couple."
With that, he shot through the Shinto archway and ran inside his house.
Etou turned to gauge the cock that was nesting on his back seat.
"Don't think it's all going in your favor. You don't know what I'm capable of."
"Cluck?"
"Hmm…now what do I do with you?"
Etou spent ten minutes in silence, musing as to what he could do with his uninvited guest. Then he remembered the bet. A sly grin crossed his face.
"I know exactly what to do with you. Oh, Yunoki won't know what hit him."
"Cock-a-doodle-do, cluck, cluck cock?" (What did you have in mind? Please don't return me to that crazy man!)
"The challenge has officially begun, Yunoki."
With that, Etou Kiriya drove off.
('The Entertainer' slowly fades)
Reviews? We might just upload another chapter of we get enough, and also update 'Fiery Fortissimo'(M archive)
