"Hm..." Aichi stared at his reflection in the mirror, squinting. His tail flicked in disbelief, and he growled at his reflection in disdain.

"Don't squint like that, or you'll strain your eyes," Kai warned in a gentle tone, lifting his head out of his book to glance at the cat. When he noticed Aichi's grumpy face, he quickly asked, "What's the matter, Aichi?"

"Ne, Kai-kun..." Aichi mumbled hesitatingly, "Don't you think I'm too short, nya?"

"Why?" Kai put his book down, as he strode towards his cat, sighing. What is Aichi intending to do now?

"W-Well..." Aichi looked up at Kai's face, his fists curled up and his eyes shining. "I...I wanna be cool like K-Kai-kun too! I wanna get taller!"

"Oh geez..." Kai chuckled softly, as he crouched down and planted a kiss on they boy's forehead. "You're already cute like this, you know?"

Aichi blushed slightly, ducking his head down into a nod. "W-Well...nya..."

Kai stared at him for a while, before saying, "Try drinking a lot of milk. That ought to help. You know, calcium."

"R-Right!" Aichi pumped his fists, and scurried into the kitchen, with Kai following closely.

Aichi opened the refrigerator door, trying to find a bottle milk. He poked his head around for a while, before turning to Kai with a pout. "Kai-kun, where's the milk?"

Kai nudged Aichi away gently - not wanting to hurt the cat, not even a bit - and grabbed a small carton of milk for him.

"That's milk?" Aichi let out a cry of surprise."How could milk be in a paper box?"

Kai chuckled lightly once again, ruffling the boy's blue hair affectionately. It's cute how Aichi would be so surprised by some mundane things...

"It's milk," Kai replied at last. "It's not called a paper box, it's called a carton, Aichi."

"A...carton?" Aichi's eyes shone curiously. "How does it work?"

"It's made out of strong paper board, coated with polyethylene. Sometimes it's laminated with foil, too, so the liquid won't be able to seep out." Kai explained. One look at Aichi's confused face, and Kai quickly explained it in a simpler way. "Let's just say that the paper is think and strong, and it's coated with a substance that doesn't let the milk out."

"Oh..." Aichi gingerly poked the milk carton. "Wow...I've always drunken milk from glass bottles...I never knew this existed...Ne, how do you open it?"

"Here," Kai smiled tenderly, as Aichi handed him the carton. Kai tugged on the top of the carton, and it popped open easily.

"Wow!" Aichi smiled back brightly, accepting the carton back. "This is so...cool!"

"Is that so," Kai's smile grew wider, as Aichi tipped the carton up and drank the contents.

Aichi drank it too fast, and he ended up choking.

"Slow down, Aichi," Kai warned, sighing. Taking care of Aichi is just like taking care of a child. He went over to the cupboard above the microwave, and took out a package of assorted colors of straws. "Here, Aichi, use these."

The cat stared at the straws for a moment, a hesitating look on his face.

"Is it necessary to choose the color?" Kai asked in a bored, flat tone, and somehow making Aichi's cheeks flame up.

"I-I'm sorry..." he mumbled and pulled out a white, blue-stripped straw from the package. Kai smiled at him again, to show that he was only teasing, and put the package of straws back into its place.

As Aichi sipped his milk, Kai circled his arms around the boy's waist and carried him up, not caring if Aichi would spill his milk or anything.

"K-Kai-kun?!" Aichi let out a cry of surprise. He flailed his limbs for a brief moment before stopping, knowing that Kai will not put him down. It's not like Aichi didn't like to be carried - he actually loved to be carried by Kai. It's just that Kai likes to carry him so suddenly...

When Kai made sure Aichi was draped over his shoulder safely so that he wouldn't slide down, he strode to the living room and dumped Aichi (gently) on the couch.

"Stay here, I'll go get you a box of cookies to go with the milk," Kai instructed, and walked away, leaving Aichi sipping silently in the room. Aichi glanced down at the half-emtpy carton of milk and decided to ration it until the cookies came.

But will he really going to get taller by drinking milk? Aichi's face went pale, a thought forming in his head, as he stared down at the carton shakily.

When Kai came back with the box of cookies, he set it down on the glass-topped coffee table in front of Aichi. Aichi then reached out for a cookie, and handed the carton of milk back to Kai with tears brimming in his eyes.

"I...I don't want it anymore," his voice wavered slightly. Kai went full-alert. Something's wrong with Aichi.

"What's the matter, Aichi?" Kai asked soothingly, accepting the carton back as Aichi bit onto the cookie. "Don't you want to be taller?"

"...T-That's the point!" Aichi wailed, and finished the cookie. "I-I want to get taller...b-but..."

"But what?" Kai sat down beside him, and wrapped his arms around the boy's shoulders.

Aichi ducked his head down and mumbled, his tears finally rolling down his cheeks, "If I get taller...Kai-kun...wouldn't be able carry me anymore..."

Kai couldn't help it. It sounded so stupid, and it's such a small thing...such an Aichi-like thing to worry about! Kai just burst out laughing.

Aichi slowly raised his head up. "K-Kai-kun...?"

"Aichi," Kai laughed until tears came to his eyes, "And I thought it was something serious."

"It is serious!" Aichi pouted, huffing and crossing his arms.

"Oh, Aichi..." Kai grinned, pulling the cat into his lap and scratching him behind his ears. "Look, no matter how tall you are, I'll still carry you."

"R-Really?!" Aichi stared at Kai, wide-eyed. "You'll carry me no matter what?"

When Kai nodded, Aichi cheered like a kid.

"You're so troublesome..." Kai muttered, half-teasing, handing Aichi the carton of milk back. "Here, dunk your cookies in milk. It's better that way."

"Don't wanna..." Aichi mumbled, as Kai threw up his hands.

"What is it this time?"

"I don't want any more milk..." Aichi complained. "I've already drunken half of it...do you have other things for me to drink?"

"If you mean white, sticky liquid, sure." Kai grinned, motioning to his crotch, and Aichi turned beet red.

"KAI-KUN!"

This was originally an old fic in my draft folder.

Neko!Aichi is the cutest omfg

done in math class