Been a while, hasn't it? (She said to the two people reading this story)

Yeah, went and got my old exhausting job where they overwork me back, so I've been busy.

And also overwhelmingly depressed.

But that's really not your concern. (Two people reading this)

After this, I'll probably update CAF finally.

So yeah.

The two people reading this aren't reading that story, (I don't think) but I thought I'd say it anyway. Saying it helps me to make it true.

I'm going to try and make my next few update chapters pretty long, to make up for the long waits I forced everyone to suffer.

Chapter 10

Jirou wasn't completely sure how listening intently while Shinchirou-sama read to him was going to teach him to read, but he wasn't arguing. That's how the first ten or so minutes went, but Jirou wasn't really complaining. Just the sound of his master's voice was enough for him. The book was definitely one for children, and Jirou wondered where Shinchirou-sama had got it. He'd only ever seen his master read big, heavy books. Maybe they had been in storage somewhere.

The second option made Jirou's heart flutter.

Maybe Shinchirou-sama had gone out and bought the book for him.

A few minutes later, they reached the end, and Shinchirou-sama stopped reading, then went back to the beginning, and started really teaching, explaining the characters to Jirou. The Siamese cat did his best to follow along, and when it was his turn to try and read whatever he could, Shinchirou-sama smiled proudly and pat him on the head gently.

"You're doing really well, Jirou-kun! You're picking this up so fast!"

His praise turned Jirou's face red, and he spent the rest of the night, long after Shinchirou-sama was asleep, laying in the darkness of the room, glad his eyes could still see in the dark, looking through books and trying to put new words together. Gorou and Nana hopped onto the bed for the first time, trying their best to help, whispering the words they learned. If he could make his owner proud, then that was all he wanted. He was happy. Sure, of course he wanted more, he'd wanted more all of his life. But if one day he had to settle for just making Shinchirou-sama proud, or happy, he would have been okay with that.

Shinchirou-sama finally had no choice but to return to work, and Jirou didn't complain. He knew jobs were important to humans, and his master had already spent too many days helping him recover from his wounds. Already, the cuts hurt much less, and Jirou made this clear to his master, because the human's guilt at having to leave the injured cat home alone was obvious.

"It barely hurts at all, Shinchirou-sama." he said the morning Shinchirou-sama was returning to work.

The black haired male sighed, probably not believing him, but with little other choice than to let it go.

"The bandages are in the bathroom. Do you think you can change them on your own now?"

"Yes, I think so."

"And you know which disinfectant to put on the wounds, right?"

"The one in the blue stripped bottle, right?"

"That's right."

Nana and Gorou came up behind them, their tails intertwined together. Shinchirou-sama noticed them and smiled, turning Jirou around so he could spot them.

"Look. Nana and Gorou are in love."

Jirou smiled, wishing he could tell his master that he was right, that the cats really were in love. Gorou and Nana, realizing they'd been spotted, looked up. Nana got embarrassed, and started to pull his tail away, but Gorou didn't let him, wrapping their tails back together tightly. Even though he had his wish, Jirou still felt a little jealousy at the fact that they could be with each other, without so much as a worry.

"Yes, though I think Gorou might be a little old for Nana." teased Jirou, not letting his small jealousy get in the way of his real happiness.

The black cat flicked his ears and stuck out his tongue, then turned them around and walked away. Once they were gone, Jirou turned back to Shinchirou-sama, who was still smiling.

"Well, be careful while I'm gone. If my mother comes, just ignore her."

"Are you sure?" Jirou didn't particularly mind ignoring the cold woman, but it was unlike Shinchirou-sama, who was always very polite to his mother.

"Yes, it's alright. She can wait until I am home. I don't want you to have to deal with her by yourself. She's not being very kind to you, after all."

Jirou was touched by the gesture, but also increasingly embarrassed, for some reason. If only he was a girl, then Shinchirou-sama wouldn't have to be ignoring his own mother. They could all just sit together, and laugh, and there would be no awkwardness, no reason for Shinchirou-sama to come up with reasons for them to leave.

Jirou followed Shinchirou-sama down the driveway, and the human didn't seem to mind, smiling gently. When they got to the end, Shinchirou-sama grabbed Jirou's hand, and squeezed it.

"Will you be alright?"

Jirou was so focused on his hand touching Shinchirou-sama's, that for a moment, he didn't answer, staring at their hands as the memory burned itself into his mind.

"Jirou-kun?"

"W-what? Oh, yes, I'll be alright."

"Okay. Call me if anything happens."

"Okay."

They parted ways then, Shinchirou-sama towards his work, and Jirou back into the house, smiling as he touched his hand softly to his chest.

*(*)

Around noon, Jirou found himself sleeping, curled up on the couch. He'd been reading, or at least trying to, but his eyes had gotten heavy, and eventually, he dozed off. Gorou and Nana joined him, curling up against his stomach. He could feel their breathing, and it soothed him. He'd thought it before, but again, he was relieved at how easy his friends made it for him to not miss being a cat.

There was a knock at the door, and Jirou sat up sluggishly, rubbing the heavy sleep from his eyes. His vision was still blurry as he gazed down at the two cats still snuggled against his chest. Gorou and Nana didn't so much as twitch, except to move closer to each other when Jirou's warmth left them. Figuring it was probably Shinchirou-sama's mother, Minami, his plan was only to confirm this, and then ignore her, like Shinchirou-sama had instructed.

But he soon learned, he was pleasantly wrong. Standing on the other side of the door was Nina, her hands behind her back, as she swayed back and forth, smiling to herself, and with her, still in cat form, was Leo. Jirou opened the door quickly, leaping back as he almost hit himself with it's hard wood.

"Nina!"

"Hi, Jirou-kun!" she reached out and hugged him. He accepted it, reaching up and patting her on the back. So far, she was the only girl he'd hugged. Well, he'd only hugged two so far, the other being Shinchirou-sama, so his owner was so far the only boy he'd hugged.

"Nina came to apologize about the other night. I should have known you were going by a different name."

"That's alright. Everything worked out pretty well. He calls me Jirou too now."

Nina smiled,(really she hadn't stopped smiling) and Jirou moved aside to let her into the house, gesturing. Leo had run past them when the door opened, and was already playing with Gorou and Nana, who had finally woken up and come over when they realized he was there. The three cats tumbled around on the ground, running through the halls and laughing as Nina and Jirou took seats at the couch.

"That's good to hear. Have you been happy?"

"Yes. It's my dream come true."

"Then Nina is happy too."

It was then that Gorou, Nana, and Leo came running into the room, all three excited.

"What is it?" Jirou asked, looking around, but seeing nothing that should excite them so.

"Leo said we could be humans too!" Nana said, jumping up and down like he was on a pogostick.

"Yeah, we want to see what it's like." Gorou added. Jirou was surprised, but not against the idea. It would be really cool to see them as humans.

"Gorou and Nana want to be human too." he explained to Nina, who also became excited at the idea, jumping up and digging into her pocket. "It's a good thing Nina had some spare treats made today before school." She pulled out the same treats as last time, and handed them to Jirou. The Siamese bent down and held them out to Gorou and Nana, who gobbled them up, their sandy tongues tickling his human skin like it never had when they were all cats. There was a blinding flash of light, the same one Jirou remembered from when he and Leo had turned into humans, and then, when it was gone, Gorou and Nana both stood in front of him, looking the same as they always had to him, but most definitely taller, their tails and ears gone.

"Gorou, you're a human!" Nana chirped, and Gorou put his hands on Nana's head and ruffled his brown hair wildly.

"So are you!"

"Aww! Nana-kun is so cute!" Nina gasped, taking in the young cat's baby face and delicate features. Then she looked at Gorou admiringly, taking in his long limbs and dark hair. "And Gorou-san is very handsome!"

The black cat puffed up proudly, liking the compliment. If he still had his tail, Jirou imagined it would have been swishing back and forth. Nana grabbed Gorou's arm, a little jealous, even though he too had been complimented. Gorou, not noticing, grabbed Nana by his arm back, and tugged excitedly.

"Come on Nana, we have to explore!"

"Yeah!"

The two ran outside, which they'd seen a million times, just not from this vantage point. Jirou, Nina, and Leo, who was now also in human form, followed them out, and while Leo ran to join them, Jirou leaned against the door, smiling serenely. He loved Shinchirou-sama very much, but lately, around him, he'd been such a spaz, showing time and again that he knew nothing of this world, and embarrassing himself. It was nice to feel like himself again around Gorou and Nana, calm and the older, wiser one.

"So, was that boy your boyfriend?" he asked conversationally to Nina, who didn't even blush, nodding happily.

"Yes. Hiroki-kun is Nina's boyfriend."

"And does he know about you?"

"Yes."

"That's good." It must have been a relief, to not have to hide your biggest secret, a secret that was a part of you, from the person you loved the most. Jirou hoped that one day, maybe, there wouldn't be any secrets between him and Shinchirou-sama.

"Does anyone else know about you?"

"Yes. My best friend Ayu-dear, and her boyfriend, Tetsushi. And of course, the humans I'm staying with."

That wasn't as many people as it sounded. Out of the whole world, only a handful knew Nina's secret. She was the only one who understood how hard it was to live while hiding. Was that why she had come to check up on him?

If so, Jirou was grateful. It felt nice to have a friend.

It felt human.

"Hey, Jirou!" Gorou called, taking the Siamese' attention off his conversation. "Come wrestle me!"

Jirou smirked at the younger boy, folding his arms. "Why?"

"You always win now that you're human. But now that I'm human too, you're going down!"

Jirou had suspected that the constant losing of their wrestling matches had not been easy on Gorou, and was therefore, not surprised at this challenge. He considered a few moments, while a breeze went by, kicking up some leaves. By the time they were gone, Gorou was in front of Jirou, tackling him to the ground, giving him no real choice in the matter. Jirou hit the ground, instantly dirtying the clothes he was wearing, staining them grandly.

"Go Gorou!" Nana cheered, obviously cheering for his boyfriend. Not surprisingly though, the kind cat followed it up with, "Go, Jirou-niichan!"

Gorou was winning, both stronger and younger, but Jirou fought back as best as could, and he found himself laughing. Gorou was the same size as him as again. It felt great. He knew it was selfish, wanting the best of both worlds, and he was fine with settling with what he had. But he was happy to be playing with Gorou again, on a more equal playing field.

*(*)

When Nina finally left, Gorou and Nana took their treats easily, transitioning back into their natural form and meowing their goodbyes, which could no longer be understood by the witch. For just a moment, as they were taking them, Jirou imagined taking it too, going back to the form he'd lived in his whole life. But while the thought held some nostalgia to it, that couldn't outweigh the sadness he would have felt at losing the form he'd always wanted.

"Nina will visit again." the witch promised, and she and Leo made her departure, the cat boy still in human form.

Once they were gone, Jirou started making dinner. Shinchirou-sama would be home soon, and he would be hungry. Jirou's cooking skills still weren't amazing, but if he went simple, he might be able to pull off something decent.

When he was finished, he left it in in the oven to keep warm, then took a quick shower, washing away all the dirt that was on him after his day of play. Gorou had won their first match, but still challenged Jirou again. This time, Jirou won, so of course, Gorou had to go in for the kill on the third match. After that, they'd gone around the neighborhood, excited to explore it as humans together.

Just as he was drying his hair, Jirou heard Shinchirou-sama come in. He went out, smiling serenely.

"Welcome home."

"I'm home." Shinchirou-sama said back, and Jirou took his coat from him and hung it up. They chatted about their days, and Jirou wanted to tell him that Nina had stopped by, but then stopped himself. There was really no way of explaining how Nina could have known where Jirou lived.

When they were done with dinner they went and watched TV. It was then that Jirou noticed Shinchirou-sama staring heavily ahead, a sadness weighing in his eyes.

"Shinchirou-sama, are you alright?"

His master looked over, and nodded, smiling weakly. "Yes. I was just thinking...that maybe I should hold a funeral."

"A funeral!?" Jirou repeated. He obviously had not been to one, but he knew that that was what humans did when someone had died, and they were burying them underground. "Did someone die?" There was no way it had been Shinchirou-sama's mother, his master would not be nearly as calm. Maybe a coworker? But why would Shinchirou-sama have to take the responsibility of holding a coworkers' funeral?

"No. Well...That's the thing. I don't know."

That was odd. Did humans hold funerals for people they weren't sure were dead?

The next words out of his owner's mouth stopped the cat's confusion.

Instead, he was instantly filled with a poignant heartache.

"I wanted to hold one for Jirou."