The Princesses Selection

Eri, the golden haired and golden eyed neko was not pleased by the princesses request that he speak with the twins. He'd hoped that she would have changed her mind about the possibility of purchasing another pet, but now it seemed as though she had taken an interest in two at once. He didn't know how he would cope, despite all his beloved Princesses reassurances that she still loved him and would never stop.

He did not wish to share her with others, but as a pet he had no real say in the matter other than that which she allowed him. Nor did he dare disobey her wishes, he loved her, respected her too much to ever disobey her in any way. Even now when his worst nightmare were about to come into fruition, that he would have to share with another neko, possibly two if she decided upon the twins, his beloved Princesses affections.

He turned from Kishiko and her brother the second prince of Neo-Japan and followed the shopkeeper through another door, down another hall to the door which opened into the very holding room that the dark brown haired twins stood within.

Not wishing them yet to take note of him, he quietly listened, watching them from the shadows of the corner where there was little light, early already figuring that it had blown out.

As he stood their watching, listening to the pair, he learned their names.

"Hisashi," purred the taller of the twins as he wrapped his arms tightly around his identical sibling. The only difference between them appeared to be that the taller of them had a slender build, perhaps even more slender than himself. Still he could not make out the color of their eyes, though he had an inkling that they were a shade of blue.

He watched as both their tails swished, the shorter twin smiling, "Akuro. You know, anyone could be watching us outside."

"Let them," grumbled his twin, as he brought his brother closer against him, holding him as though he'd never let go.

It was behavior that Eri found odd, but they were the two whom had captured his darling Kishiko's attention, as he stepped forth from the darkness to introduce himself to the pair who turned to stop and stare at him. "Hello, allow me to introduce myself," he gave a bow of greeting before straightening, "I am Ueno Eri and I am here on behalf of my Mistress."

Eri, having tumultuous feelings concerning his Mistress bringing other pets into their lives was unaware of the two very different gazes. He noted only that the one who he thought was Hisashi had dark blue eyes, while his twin, Akuro, had eyes the color of blue ice.

Akuro's eyes left the strange neko's and looked down at his brother, whose own gaze seemed to be transfixed upon Eri, a European Burmese neko. He had never seen Hisashi look so intently upon anyone else other than himself before and felt his hackles rise.

Hisashi smiled at the other neko whom had spoken of his Mistresses interest in them. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Eri, I am Kikuchi Hisashi and this," he indicated Akuro with one of his hands, palm side up, "is my elder twin brother, Akuro."

Turning his gaze back upon Eri, his brows furrowed, his chocolate point ears folded back against his head with the fur of his tail standing on end as he growled at the tall blonde, "I don't like you. Go away!"

He heard Hisashi gasp, but he didn't care, no one was going to divert his younger twins attention from him, especially not a neko who probably thought, that because he belonged to a Mistress who could well afford such a fancy kimono for him to adorn, that he was above them.

Hisashi tried to apologize for his brothers behavior, "I'm terribly sorry sir, I'm sure Akuro didn't mean it," he arched a brow up at his brother, but inwardly he worried that his twin was going to get them into trouble, yet again.

Akuro rolled his eyes, continuing to scowl at the tall blonde, "Oh, I meant it alright. I don't like him Hisashi."

Eri himself frowned at the taller of the two, though both were shorter than he, whom he found to be quite rude. "You will regret having been so rude. You do not know me to like or dislike me, but my Mistress shall hear of this and too the shopkeeper." Before either of the twins could say more, he exited the room and though he calmly walked back to where Kishiko had been watching through the one-way display window he continued to frown.

"Princess," he said quietly as he came to stand beside her. He did not see Prince Akihiko anywhere in the hall, perhaps he had found a kitten of interest, that or he was standing outside the shops parking lot and smoking as usual.

Kishiko turned to gaze up at him, she could sense that Eri was tense and tilted her head, lifting one hand to brush the back of it gently against his jawline, "What is the matter Eri? Why are you so upset?"

"One of those neko's you're so interested in was rather rude. I do not think, that if you are to take them, that you should take both. The smaller of the two seems to have manners, but the other is highly lacking."

"Who would dare be so rude to someone as gorgeous as you Eri?"

Golden eyes which matched the color of his bright golden blonde hair blinked, a soft smile forming as he gazed down into light violet eyes, however he sighed, loosing the smile as he told Kishiko, "His name is Akuro. After I introduced myself to him he bluntly stated that he did not like me. Yet he and I have never met and nor could he know that I belong to a princess."

The princess was curious as to the reason behind this Akuro's dislike of her wonderful, perfect Eri. "I wish to speak with them," she went in the direction Eri had just come from, though the blonde tried to stop her.

"Kishiko! Do not go, you are a princess, you shouldn't see them alone."

She whirled around to gaze at Eri, neither smiling nor frowning as she commanded, "Eri, you are to stay out here. I will decide as to whether or not they are compatible. If as you say the one is inappropriate then we'll only be taking the one, though I prefer not to separate siblings, especially twins from one another."

The European Burmese neko could only nod his head in understanding, though he still worried that the princess might get hurt. That, or it would be discovered she too was a neko when they had spent so many years trying to conceal the truth for her protection. Outside the palace walls after all, there were many a human and neko alike who'd be far more likely to kidnap Kishiko knowing she was a neko than as they currently thought her to be a human for royal neko's were a rare and high in demand commodity.

Inside the small holding room where the twins stood, Hisashi frowned up at his brother, "Akuro! Why did you have to be so rude?"

"Because Hisashi, I saw the way you were looking at him," he continued to hold onto his twin who gazed at him through narrowed eyes with a frown.

"It's not his fault Akuro," though he had to admit to himself that he found the other attractive with his flowing long straight blonde hair that he itched to run his hands through.

"I don't want him to take you from me Hisashi."

Hisashi blinked, "No one could ever take me from you Akuro, though your behavior just now, what if they separate us? Do you want to get into trouble again, this time it might not be forgiven and we wont be able to be together anymore. I don't want that anymore than you do, but really, do you have to do this every time?"

Akuro's dark brown ears flattened down against his head once more. "I'm sorry, but... you know I can't help it. You should only look at me, not anyone else," he sighed softly as he hugged Hisashi closer against him, threading his long fingers through his siblings shoulder length hair, "even if the way we feel toward one another is frowned upon."

Lifting his arms to wrap around Akuro, he slowly expelled a sigh of his own, "I know Akuro. It may be too much to hope, that we'd be bought up together by someone who'd allow us to do as we have so long wished to be able to do with one another. The most we can hope for is that we're able to remain together – forever."

As Akuro bent his head to brush his lips across his brothers forehead, the door that Eri had not so very long ago walked through, walked in someone else.

The two spun around to gaze at the silvery haired young female stepped into the room and asked them, "May I speak with the two of you?"

At first glance she appeared to be a short female human, however one could not so easily trick the twins as they quietly whispered to one another.

Akuro asked of his brother, "Do you think she's a neko?"

Hisashi gave a small nod, "Yes, but I wonder why she's hiding it."

"Though she couldn't possibly be a pet, we're not even allowed to be placed in the same room as females, even though our species is bisexual so I don't think it would make much of a difference," he rolled his eyes.

"We should speak to her Akuro," Hisashi's eyes gazed up into icy blue, his brows furrowing as he saw that his brothers gaze was transfixed upon the young woman. One corner of his mouth quirked in amusement thinking to himself, 'And here he was getting upset that I looked at someone other than him and now he's practically drooling at the sight of this young lady.' He slowly shook his head, but smiled in the direction of their violet eyed visitor.

The two spoke in unison, "You may."

Kishiko would have giggled at their combined voices, however her dear Eri was upset and could not find reason to smile at them as she walked up and asked, "Which one of you is Akuro?"

Akuro blinked down at her, uncertainly, "I am..." wondering how she already knew his name.

She gave a small nod and then smiled slightly at Hisashi, "And so, you must be Hisashi."

Hisashi nodded, arching a brow curiously at her, though not saying a word.

She did not leave either of them guessing for long as she explained what she was doing there, "My companion, Eri, was just in here. I do not know what it was that set you off, but there was no reason to be rude to him, unless he did something to offend either of you?" Though she could not recall a reason that anyone would ever have to be offended by Eri for he was ever gentle, protective and caring no matter who it might have been. Then again, he had not cared for the idea of her bringing another pet or two into their relationship, even though as a Princess, like her mother before her, she could have up to five pets of her own.

Hisashi shook his head, "No, he did nothing to offend us."

Akuro frowned, "He may not have, but..." he was cut off by a small jab of Hisashi's elbow.

Kishiko however was not about to be put off, she needed to know and know now in order to make her decision regarding the two. "Continue Akuro, I would like to know what you were about to say. Depending on your answer I may or may not take the both of you. However I'm quite tempted to only purchase Hisashi considering your attitude toward Eri."

Akuro bowed his head slightly as he muttered, "I didn't like the way Hisashi was staring at him. Hisashi is mine,"though, because of the law they had never been able to go all the way, least they were to get in trouble and forever be torn apart, never to see one another again.

Blinking, Kishiko asked, "Have the pair of you..."

Hisashi was quick to explain, "No! We've only gone so far as comforting one another during our heat cycles, though it's been difficult to refrain from doing anything but with our hands and our mouths..."

The silver haired female felt her cheeks heating as the image of the twins doing those things popped into her head. So they were like that, so close, but no further. She wasn't sure what to make of it yet, but she was still undecided as to whether or not she'd be taking both of them home with her. "I see, so... you were jealous Akuro?"

She noticed, as she lifted her eyes to Akuro's that there was a faint crimson settling over the older twins cheeks as the two, while they no longer hugged, still maintained contact by holding each others hand.

Akuro however, could not lie about it, not wishing to make the situation worse than it surely already was, especially when this female had learned of his and his brothers desires toward one another. To so many people it was a sick and twisted relationship, so many would find it wrong and either want nothing to do with either of them, or would only be willing to take one. He gave the slightest of nods, unsmiling as he did so, unable to meet those pretty eyes of hers.

Kishiko, once that was confirmed, lifted her hand so that her index finger touched her lips and her thumb and middle finger were touching either side of her face. "I see, well I'm still interested in both of you, however Akuro, I think you should apologize to Eri. Yet I have not quite made my decision final," dropping her arm to her side she smiled at the twins, "I will need to hug each of you."

Two pairs of blue eyes, one dark and the other like ice gazed at each other before turning their attention back to the woman who wished to hug them. They wondered at the same time what a hug would do, it seemed far to simple, though they could find no reason to deny a potential owner. Besides they did not wish to upset the shop-keep who might separate them from one another for good this time if they caused any more problems for him. "As you wish...miss."

Kishiko had not given them her name, least they figure out that she was the princess, though she did look so much like the second prince that it should have been easy to figure out. "I shall tell you my name, after I've made my final decision. Now, I'd like to hug Hisashi first."

Akuro reluctantly let go of Hisashi's hand, watching his younger twin step up to the short young woman, watching as she lifted her hands to wrap around him.

Kishiko grinned as she felt Hisashi's personality, his energy. She could tell he was well mannered and considerate. He would get along well with Eri she believed, as long as Eri came to accept the fact that he would no longer be her only pet.

Stepping away from Hisashi she smiled, "I am definitely taking you home with Eri and I today."

Hearing those words, Akuro felt a stab of pain pierce through his heart. What if she decided not to take him as well? Not after he'd been rude to her precious Eri, not after learning how he and his twin felt toward each other. He felt like his world was crashing in on him, even as Kishiko stepped up to him as he was frozen in place. He didn't even realize that she'd wrapped her arms around his waist for a moment, nor that her head was pressed against his upper torso.

Kishiko's tail, beneath the thick material of her white kimono with a pink trim and obi could feel how very worried Akuro was. She'd noticed it even before she'd hugged him. Yet as she held his stock still body in her embrace she couldn't help but smile. He was brave if somewhat mischievous, but had a protective nature, he'd give up his own life to save Hisashi and perhaps even others.

Finally when Akuro noticed that Kishiko was holding him, she stepped back, smiling up at him. He wondered if perhaps it were a smirk, that she was about to tell him farewell and take from him the only family he had left in the world, the only one he loved so fiercly.

Yet what she said shocked him at first, before his body began to tremble in relief, sliding down against the wall behind his back to the floor.

"I'll be taking you with me as well Akuro," that was what she had said to him, but it took a moment for the shock to wear off.

Hisashi held down his hand for Akuro to take, and helping him up they followed Kishiko out of the room and back to where she had left Eri who had watched through the display window nervously.

Akuro, releasing Hisashi's hands, stepped up to Eri and bowed before him, "Please forgive my attitude toward you, I was simply jealous that you caught my Hisashi's eye."

Eri frowned at him and gazed to Kishiko who nodded. He smirked at Akuro however, "It seems that the Princess has chosen you and your twin. I will be the one to teach you both how to act like the proper pets of a princess. Do not think however, because of that, that you can misbehave and not be punished for it."

Akuro's head shot up, turning as did Hisashi, to gaze at Kishiko, "Princess!?" They questioned, their eyes wide in disbelief.

Kishiko giggled, smiling softly with a curtsey, "It is true, I am Princess Kishiko of the Usami Palace." She stood straight and continued, "And Eri is correct, he'll be teaching you all you need to know. As he has been with me for nearly fourteen years, in my place you shall answer to him when I cannot be there." She walked over to Eri and wrapped her arms around one of his, nuzzling her cheek against him. "You are just as much his pets as you are mine."

Though Akuro and Eri glared at one another, despite what had been said. Hisashi however couldn't conceal his smile, delighted at the developments, even as he and Akuro clung to each others arm.

Kishiko gazed up at the eldest of them, "We'll learn more about Akuro and Hisashi when we return to the palace, but, do you know where Akihiko has gone?"

Eri smiled softly down at her, the glare directed at Akuro quickly disappearing, "I believe he is outside, waiting in the limousines, the driver came in not too long ago to see if we were ready yet. Your brother, he mentioned something about his friend Takahashi Takahiro coming over, do you know anything about it?"
Kishiko blinked, trying to think before she smiled, "Oh, yes I know what its about. Takahiro is going to be away from Japan for awhile and needs someone to watch after his little brother. I didn't even know Takahiro had a brother until last night when Akihiko was on the phone with him."

The four of them walked down the hall to the cash register, where Princess Kishiko purchased the twins, Akuro and Hisashi in full, before leaving the pet shop all together and indeed found that Akihiko was waiting inside the limousines outside.

Akuro wasn't completely happy about the arrangements, though he was interested in the princess, he wished Eri was not part of the deal, while Eri himself wished that it was still just himself and his beloved princess, Kishiko.

Akihiko arched a brow as Kishiko and Eri climbed into the limo, followed by two male neko's, the twins he'd witnessed his sister gazing at, before he'd left the building to stand outside smoking as he waited for the limousine to return after dropping Hiroki and Nowaki off at the palace. "That took you quite awhile to make your decision."

None of them felt like giving Akihiko all the details, but Kishiko smiled across at her brother, "We're sorry Akihiko, but you should still make it in time to meet Takahiro at the palace gates."

As they spoke, the vehicle started up and headed for the home of the Usami Royal family.