Ten minutes later, Tomoe had gotten out of the shower, and had gotten into a simple pair of pajamas and her robe. She was making her way towards the kitchen and heard the front door open; she didn't go to see who or what it was, and she stopped walking as she arrived in the living room.
Harly was curled up in a ball on the couch, and she lay to the left of Saito, who was petting her gently as she rested. Tomoe smiled when she saw this and petted Saito as he sat silently on the couch; just then, Tomoe felt something warm and furry pass through her legs,
"Aagghh!" she exclaimed and lurched backwards, this made Saito jump, and he ended up waking Harly; the furry thing, jumped up onto the couch and into Harly's lap. Now that it was out in the open, Tomoe could see that it was a kitten; Harly smiled broadly as the kitten looked up and crawled onto her shoulders, resting on them like a scarf.
Tomoe watched in disbelief, as Harly stroked the head of the cat as it purred happily; all the while, with a goofy smile on her face.
"Harly . . ." Tomoe said, "Where did that cat come from . . .?" to Saito, she sounded upset, but he didn't say anything at first.
"This guy?" Harly asked. She wasn't paying attention to Tomoe; she was too busy enjoying the company of the kitten,
"I found it outside a few hours before you got home. I don't know if it's a boy or a girl, and I don't know what breed it is, but Daddy said I could keep it if I took care of it myself."
Tomoe looked at Saito for confirmation; he simply nodded. Tomoe sighed,
"Alright, lemme see it." she took hold of the kitten, grasping it by the scruff of the neck and staring directly into its eyes,
"Hey!" Harly was worried that Tomoe was going to throw the kitten out to the road, but she was still eyeing the kitten all over.
"It's a girl," she said, "and she looks like a Munchkin cross-breed."
She analyzed the kitten thoughtfully, then turned back to Harly,
"Where did you find her?" she asked,
"She was at the patio at the back." Harly explained, she was still worried about losing her, but as Tomoe continued to look at the kitten, her expression wasn't as hard as it was earlier,
" . . . And you haven't decided on a name yet?"
"No, not yet- PLEASE DON'T THROW HER OUT OF THE HOUSE! I PROMISE I'LL TAKE PROPER CARE OF HEEEERRRRRRR! LEMME KEEP HEEEERRRRRRR! PLEEEEAAAASSSSEEEE!"
Harly's eyes started to leak with tears as she pleaded Tomoe not to throw her kitten away; Tomoe, who was rather shocked by this outburst, recovered and said her next words carefully.
"I'm not going to throw her out of the house; I was just thinking that we should take her to the vet. She looks somewhat under nourished. I'm also curious about what breed of cat she is."
Saito, who had been silent this whole time was watching with interest; he hadn't seen Harly like this before, he was beginning to wonder if being her 'Father' was worth those kinds of outbursts, but the second that he that, he checked himself,
"Is it really okay? Yay! Thank you, Tomoe.", Harly's happy face was adorable to both Tomoe and Saito, and of course, Saito knew that he had to have more than one reason, to consider Harly his 'Daughter', otherwise, when she got older, their 'Father-Daughter relationship would' mean less and less.
Stepping away from this issue,
James and Richard were busy helping Kaoru carry the take-out orders to the kitchen; Richard had set down the first paper bag of food at the table just as James entered with the second; Tomoe set the kitten back on the floor and went to the front door with her wallet, and Saito followed a moment later to help with any other bags.
Kaoru was busily chatting with the delivery person, trying to make sure that all of the orders were correct; just then Tomoe arrived, with Saito following close behind; sure enough, there was another bag of take-out ready to be taken away,
"I'll get that-" Kaoru started, but Saito had other ideas,
"No, let me." he said as he took hold of the bag and began to make his way to the kitchen.
The delivery person, pulled out a copy of the receipt, and handed it to Tomoe,
"That'll be: $65.04" said the delivery person,
"Okay, just a moment." Tomoe produced several paper bills and extended her slender hand towards the delivery person; the delivery person said 'Thank you,' as he took the bills and strode back to his truck,
"Have a good night!" Kaoru called, and waved at the delivery person with a light smile; the person waved back as he shut the car door.
Tomoe had gone to help James and Harly set the table and Saito had come back to the front door, Kaoru turned around,
"Agh! Saito, for the Love of God, stop scaring me like that!" Kaoru placed a hand on her chest and slowed her breathing; Saito smiled weakly,
"I'm sorry. But I was just looking to see if there were any other bags left to take to the kitchen; you like that delivery person, don't you?" a light smile crossed his face as he asked that, Kaoru was upset by this,
"D-Don't be stupid! You know that I only have eyes for one person." she looked him directly in the eye as she finished speaking,
"I know," Saito replied, returning her gaze,
"But he may have found someone in the time we've been-"
"Don't say it!" Kaoru cut him off before he could finish his sentence, and tears welled up in her eyes, Saito's expression softened, as he folded her into his arms and shut the front door.
Kaoru hugged Saito back, and blinked her tears away; Saito rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes,
"Aren't you worried?" Kaoru asked Saito while still in his arms,
"About what?"
"You know? Don't you think that she might've found someone other than you to be with? I mean, you did say that you wouldn't mind being with someone like her-"
"If she had, I wouldn't care." Saito cut her off before she could finish,
"I'm not so emotionally attached to her for it to matter, if she did."
Just then,
"Saito! Kaoru! Are you guys hungry? We're about to start eating!" Tomoe called; either looked to the other, and they lightly smiled as they trundled up the stairs.
A few days later, James Harly and Kaoru were sitting at the kitchen table, were eating breakfast. Kaoru was eating a bowl of instant oats with a cup of coffee, James was eating a bagel with an omlette inside of it and drinking a mug of tea, Richard was eating a bowl of cereal with a glass of orange juice, and Harly was eating a pair of Pop-tarts with a glass of chocolate milk.
James was feeling very happy that day, he ate his sandwich with a smile on his mouth, this came as a surprise to the others,
"Yo James," Harly piped up,
"What're you so happy about?", Harly took another bite out of the Pop-tart she was eating and raised an eyebrow,
"Whu-I-cambee habee?" James raised an eyebrow himself as she spoke, Kaoru stopped eating and stared at James with disgust,
"Aw jeez, James! Don't talk with your mouth full!" James swallowed before speaking again,
"Oh, sorry, I said: What, I can't be happy?" he turned his attention back to Harly and took a sip from his mug,
"No, that's not what we meant" Harly answered,
"It's just . . . the grin on your face was too silly and creepy." James made a face after he put his mug down,
"Oh, shut up you." He retorted,
"No, I'm just in a really good mood today. Not really sure why though."
"What're ya s'posed ta be? A woman?" this came from a smug-faced Richard; Kaoru and Harly glared at him furiously,
"Whu- You got that backwards, you sexist fuck!" Kaoru seethed as she glared at Richard, Harly snorted crossly,
"Why is it that you always have to say such shit about us girls, you cunt!?"
James was amused and bemused, with the scene that was unfolding before him; he wanted to say something but he was wise enough to not butt heads with angry women, now more so than before, since Harly and Kaoru were more than angry. Richard then started telling both girls exactly what he thought of them,
"Will y'all's shutchyer traps!? Jezus! Yer more annoyin' than the old bag tha-we used to call Mom!" Richard ranted onwards for another few minutes straight.
James was surprised that Richard felt this way about women, but when he thought about it, it made perfect sense; when they were younger, both of them were bullied by girls at their school; Richard definitely had it worse, but he'd never opened up about it, so James was never too sure of how Richard actually felt.
Both girls were taken aback; they turned away from Richard and said nothing more. Then, Saito emerged from the living room, covered in sweat and made his way to the fridge; Harly looked over to him and noticed something,
"Hey, doesn't Daddy look like that one guy from Hakuouki when he smiles?" she asked, Kaoru looked at Harly puzzled,
"Uhh, Saito doesn't really smile, he grins, or gazes at people and it make you feel like he's smiling." Harly looked at Kaoru and then looked over to Saito,
"I mean, he looks like the guy with the brown hair and circle glasses." Kaoru and James looked from one to the other, they knew who she was talking about, but they couldn't remember the name of the person she meant,
"Y'mean, San'nan?" This came from Richard, who was tired of feeling left out of the conversation.
All at once, the two girls at the table burst out,
"YES, HIM!" Richard was surprised by their excitement and shut up,
James looked at Saito's face when he turned around; Saito wasn't paying attention to the conversation that the four were having, he was tired from training since the previous night and the following morning. Saito was taking sip a from a glass of milk, when James finally noticed,
"Now thatchyou've pointed it out, I can't unsee it." He said, almost in wonderment. Harly's tail waved from left to right as she imagined Saito wearing Keisuke San'nan's outfit in Hakuouki,
"He's a complete look-alike." she said, Kaoru snickered when the image came to her mind,
"He is not! Although, if he was, then that'd make him the General Commander, but his presence is nowhere near as warm as San'nan's is; Saito is a lot colder than his"
"Waitaminute, is San'nan a first name, or a last name?" this came from James, Richard pulled out his phone and immediately typed in the search field:
'Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan' and he headed straight for the wikipedia page,
"What're y'doin'?" James asked,
"Lookin' fer San'nan . . ." Richard quietly replied; at last, he found the link.
"Here it is: Yamanami . . . Keisuke? d'hell?" Richard scrolled down to the trivia section of the web page,
"'Kay, s'apparently, San'nan cambe pronounced two ways, but it's clearly a last name."
Harly furrowed her brows and pouted; she felt like the conversation wasn't going anywhere,
"What's his first name then?" she asked,
"I jus'said, dumass. It's Keisuke."
Harly snorted again, and threw a well-placed, back-handed slap directly into Richard's field of vision.
*THOCK! *
"Arrgh, Fuckyou!" Richard exclaimed as he and his chair fell to the ground with a loud, crackly thud.
"That's whatchu get for callin' me a dumass, dumass"
At last, Saito took notice of the other's discussion and joined in,
"What are you guys talking about?" he asked.
James responded first, "Nutin'. Si'down Keisuke, you're makin' m'legs hurt."
"Keisuke? Who're you talking to?"
"You, Keisuke." Richard chimed in; Saito was getting more and more confused.
"My name isn't Keisuke! It's just Saito."
"But you need a first name." Kaoru said, "And since you haven't bothered to try one out, we've chosen a name for you." she smiled cheekily as she returned to her coffee. Saito wasn't impressed,
"But why Keisuke of all names? That sounds too . . . shota-esque . . .almost." he finished lamely,
"Well . . ." Harly began,
"To everyone here at the table, you resemble San'nan-san from Hakuouki. And his first name is Keisuke."
When she finished talking, Saito lowered his eyelids and raised an eyebrow, exasperated.
"Really? You guys really think I resemble this guy THAT much?" all four nodded in agreement with cheeky grins on their faces.
"Arright, fine." Saito turned his nose up,
"James, from now on, you will be: Yamanami Toshizo."
"No!" James made a face as he pouted.
"Richard, from now on, you will be: Nagakura Soujiro."
"Th'fuck?" Richard raised an eyebrow, and his middle finger.
"Harly, from now on, you will be: Todou Yuuzuki."
"Yaaay!" Harly threw her arms in the air and smiled broadly as both her ears and tail twitched.
Everyone looked at Harly with a perplexed expression; she returned the expression to everyone.
"What? Heisuke's the hottest one in that whole group."
"No, he isn't." Kaoru interjected,
"Sanosuke is!"
Saito simply downed his milk, and strode away.
Later that week, James was sitting in the living room with a notebook and pen on hand. He was trying to figure out a name for his specific style of swordsmanship; he had started his training in the Tennen Rishin style but changed over to Hokushin Ittou since he felt that it suited his build and body type better.
But recently, James was considering taking up Tennen Rishin again.
At this point, he was stuck between three different ones:
1. Tengu Ishinto Ryu
2. Honnen Rishou Ryu
or
3. Hokunen Ishin Ryu
There were many other names on the page, but these three were ones that stood out to him the most and he'd underlined them thrice using his pen; James lightly chewed on the back of the pen as he thought it over.
Just then, Richard walked into the room and turned the television on, breaking James' concentration,
"What- Dammit Richard! I was thinking!" Richard laughed as he tossed the remote over to the ottoman and plopped down on the couch next to his winged brother,
"Wha'cha doin'?" he asked as he eyed the notepaper intently,
"What're all these?" he raised an eyebrow
"I'm tryin' to come up with a name for the Kenjutsu that I practice." James explained,
"I'm combining two different styles into one, and I wanna use the names of both styles for the name of the one that I'm tryin' to create."
Richard eyed the three names that James had underlined, and pulled out his phone and translated them,
"I'd say to go with'e last name, cheggit out." Richard turned the phone screen towards his brother's face and showed him the results.
"North-Star Dragon mind flow . . .? 'Da'hell?" James scrutinized the name and wrote it down.
"This doesn't seem cool at all." He said as he turned to face Richard,
"Yer lookin' at it all wrong," Richard snorted, and snatched the pen from James' hand,
"Here, gimme de notebook . . . Dragon . . . of . . . The . . . North . . . Star. There! See? Complete Epicosity!"
James was taken aback, he hadn't expected Richard to be this good at putting words together, much less arranging them.
"Wow, that's . . . actually pretty epic . . . thanks bro." Was all that he could manage to say, but when James looked up, Richard was nowhere to be seen.
"What is he? Batman?" James said, to no one in particular.
Now, let us take a closer look into the 'Abnormal' character traits:
Keisuke Saito - The Wolf, Kaoru Ito - The Owl, James - The Eagle, Richard - The Bat, and Harly – The Fox; the six of them have traits that align with the animal features that they bear.
For example: Kaoru and James both enjoy sleeping either sitting or standing up, truly, they prefer to sleep in a sitting position, but they won't hesitate to sleep standing up if the need arises. They also enjoy having their hair ruffled, (Their hair is somewhat feather-like) and they enjoy feeling the sensation of every strand of hair being stroked up or down.
On this same note, Richard enjoys hanging upside down on the bar inside of his closet; Tomoe, Saito, and James have to him not to put all of his weight on such a thin bar of steel, but despite the warnings, he still does it. He also doesn't like to be touched in any way, unless it is someone he has chosen to date, or if it is someone that he is completely used to being around.
As for Saito and Harly, the two of them enjoy curling up into balls and sleeping side by side. They usually do this when they watch television, or when they're about ready to go to sleep. They both also greatly enjoy, and appreciate being petted or scratched under the chin, petting them slowly will put them to sleep, but petting them quickly makes them feel as though they are ready for anything.
Stepping away from the somewhat broken fourth wall, Harly and Tomoe were away from the house. They had both taken the kitten to the veterinarian, and they were sitting patiently in the waiting room.
Well almost patiently.
"Hrrmmm hrm hrmm hmm!" Harly was itching to find out more about her kitten.
She was still having a hard time choosing a name; but to her mind, the little one's health mattered more than that at present.
"What's the point in choosing a name, if there's no one around to wear it?" was what she said.
The kitten was meowing quietly, she almost looked sad. Tomoe had owned a cat previously, but not even she was prepared for something like this. She put a gentle hand on Harly's head,
"The doctor will get here soon, we just have to wait." Tomoe smiled slightly, but Harly was getting more and more anxious,
"I can't help it! I don' wan' my kitty to die!" She exclaimed in reply.
The waiting room wasn't full, but they still had to wait for the doctor to finish up with his last patient.
Harly stroked the kitten's neck as they waited; it's meowing turned into a gentle purr, and it closed its eyes contentedly. Tomoe reached over and petted the kitten as well, and the purring got louder. Tomoe could only smile; her last kitten was a young boy that she'd named Kosuke, and this kitten's behaviour reminded her very much of her 'little boy'.
At last, the door opened and the doctor's last patient left the room. Harly jumped up and rushed into the hallway before the assistant nurse could call out the name of the next patient; Tomoe simply stood up quietly and followed Harly down the hall.
The doctor met them after they arrived in the room, and at last the checkup began; the doctor eyed the kitten all over and declared that it was a cross-breed Oriental Shorthair, Munchkin, Khao Manee; then he began gently cleaning its ears out with a small q-tip. Once that was done, the doctor proceeded to check the cat all over for further signs of neglect or abuse.
Finding no major problems on the outside, the doctor looked inside the kitten's mouth and saw that it was missing a few teeth and had a cavity; the doctor then prescribed several medicinal creams to be applied every morning and said to bring the cat back in as soon as possible to have its teeth looked at.
The doctor shook hands with Tomoe, said goodbye to Harly, petted the kitten, and left the room to attend to his next patient; Harly was confused,
"Can't we just stay here? He said that we need to bring her back as soon as we can, didn't he?" she turned to face Tomoe, who had risen to her feet and put her purse back over her shoulder,
"He can't right now, he has other pets to examine. Some of them may be in worse condition than her, so we need to speak to the receptionist and make another appointment to get her looked at." Tomoe took a step towards Harly and ruffled her hair,
"Don't worry, she'll be alright." Harly blinked, and then smiled.
She knew that there were other people that the doctor had to go and see, but she still wished that her kitten could be cared for by someone who could fix the problem quickly.
