Uuuh... What am I even doing? I was supposed to do my assignment, not write a new fic when I already have tons of fics to finish asadfsadafasdasd but this is an idea I had for some time now, inspired by many beautiful fanarts on Twitter of Giyuu and Shinobu as cats *W* and I also wanted to try to write Kiriya's character for a long time now, and here's my opportunity!

I still don't know for how long I plan to write this, but I already have an idea for the final chapter. And since I planned nothing for this fic, updates will be very random nwn I'll also try to keep the chapters short, not more than 1000 words each, mostly because the plot is very lose and I just want to write more fluff.

I hope you enjoy it! nwn

A new friend

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Tucked under the futon's cover, the young boy observed the garden outside through the open doors. They were already well into spring, with the green garden blossoming into bright colours. The gentle morning sun gave the scene a joyful atmosphere, but he knew he couldn't join it. Kiriya had always been a sickly child, and he could never play outside as much as his sisters did. Although he understood from a very young age that everybody had a duty to fulfil and therefore couldn't spend much time with him, he couldn't help but feel lonely sometimes.

Until a little furry face poked its nose from outside. Upon seeing it, Kiriya's face illuminated and he smiled from ear to ear.

"Giyū! You're back! Come here, come here!" he called, patting the side of his futon to invite Giyū to come closer.

Giyū—a big, dark-grey tom-cat with blue eyes of a piercing hue, wearing a handmade red collar—sniffed before quietly entering the room. He had something in his mouth—a dark violet wild flower, which he delicately put on the child's lap.

"For me? Thank you so much!" Kiriya was delighted: the cat would always bring him something from outside and it would always make him happy. He always kept with great care all of his cat's findings in a box, in a drawer of his room.

The cat, seemingly pleased by his owner's happiness, started to purr loudly—one of the only ways for Kiriya to know he was happy, because, even for a cat, Giyū never had much of facial expressions and he was very quiet. Even his tail would remain very still. As Kiriya kept admiring his gift, Giyū very lazily curled up beside him and closed his eyes, listening to the child's soft and joyful laugh.

Giyū was a gift from his father, to relieve a little his son's loneliness. And it wasn't an exaggeration to say the cat quickly became Kiriya's best friend. They always slept together, they always ate their meals together and the cat never left the child's side whenever he came down with a sudden fever. Kiriya liked to spoil Giyū a lot, playing with him a lot and always asking for delicious food for him—he had a particular preference for salmon. And in turn, Giyū was very protective of Kiriya, always keeping close when the boy was feeling down and accompanying him wherever he went. He wasn't scared to snarl to dogs twice his size, if he considered they were a threat to him. But because of Kiriya's health, they seldom had the chance to wander outside. And so, they quickly created their own routine inside the boy's bedroom.

That day, the routine changed. Nothing particular happened during the day. They napped in the morning, had lunch at noon, and kept playing with some feathers Kiriya kept to play.

"Excuse-me," someone knocked outside and the door opened.

A beautiful woman holding a small basket entered the room, closing the door behind her. She silently kneeled beside his futon, still very carefully holding the basket. Her expression was impassive, but when she addressed her son, a soft smile graced her features.

"Mother!" Kiriya was happy to see his mother.

"Good afternoon, my son," she responded. "And good afternoon to you too, Giyū-san."

The cat merely moved his tail to acknowledge her greetings.

"Where is Father? And my sisters?"

"Unfortunately, Kagaya-sama is very busy today, as well as your sisters. They'll come to see you once they have some time."

"I see…" although he already knew the answer, he couldn't help but still feel a little disappointed. But his attention was quickly caught by the basket in his mother's arms. There was a white cloth covering the top, hiding its content. "What is that?"

Amane smiled.

"This," and she slowly started to uncover it, "is my gift to you."

Kiriya leaned to better look inside and even Giyū stretched his neck out of curiosity.

The boy gasped. Inside was a small white cat, still curled up and sleeping. The tip of its ears and tail had a tinge of purple, but not as deep as its eyes once it woke up. It was already wearing a light lilac collar, decorated with a small butterfly.

The boy and the cat keep looking at each other until the cat started meowing loudly. Then he smiled and carefully took the animal in his arms.

"A cat! Look, Giyū. We have a new friend!"

But Giyū just remained in his place, silently staring at the new cat.

"How will you name her?" Amane asked. "She's a female."

Kiriya pondered the question while stroking the very noisy cat. Giyū's ears were twitching at the annoying noise, but he just rested his head on his front paws and waited.

"Shinobu?"

The cat—Shinobu—stopped meowing to look at him with her big purple eyes. She meowed again, softer this time, as if to acknowledge her new name. The boy and his mother smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Shinobu! I am Kiriya," he introduced himself and then he put her down next to Giyū. "And this is Giyū. I hope you'll get along well."

Hard to tell. Both cats just stared at each other until Giyū promptly decided to ignore her and close his eyes again.

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~A few notes about this chapter:~
■ Nobody dies/Everybody lives AU
■ I didn't think about precise ages for Giyuu and Shinobu, but Giyuu is older than Shinobu like in canon.

See you next time! nwn