Sundays were for sleeping.
At least they would be if Meiko got her way. There was only one day a week she wasn't obligated to leave her bed, and she intended to take full advantage of its comfort. Rejecting the natural blessing of the sun was surprisingly simple; to darken her windows so that night reigned supreme. To block everything out so she could be alone in her misery.
Even the loneliness felt foreign, an acquaintance she'd not known in five years now bound to her like a plot in a b-rated drama. Meiko hadn't many friends, and her closest had now been stolen from her. A deep bond forged over years of joys and hardships, ended in an instant; and none more to blame for this than herself.
In penance, she had lost her few fledgling friends in Odaiba after moving back to Tottori. At least she assumed she had. They did occasionally reach out through email or phone, but she couldn't stand to answer. They were different from her now, they had partners and she didn't. And that distinction only made her scars all the rawer.
A light scratching at her door announced the arrival of the usurper, and signaled her efforts to sleep would be in vain for the next hour or so.
With the lights dimmed and her eyes closed Meiko's ears became all the more sensitive, and what was in reality light tapping on hardwood might as well have been nails on a chalkboard. The usurper was oddly persistent, desperate to gain access to the one room it had not been able to explore.
If she didn't know any better, Meiko could have sworn the usurper was under her parent's direction. It waited for her outside her room and followed her from door to door. Cautiously, but adamantly, ensuring she never left the vision of those big round eyes.
But Meiko would not be swayed, no matter how large the eyes, no matter how fluffy the body, she would not replace Mei-chan with a common kitten. Her partner was not a pet.
That didn't mean she had the energy to leave her bed and shoo the usurper away. The kitten would get bored in an hour, and find some other furniture to molest, and she would finally be left alone to wallow in her emptiness.
The scraping stopped earlier than expected, replaced by a scattered clicking that was opposite of the deftness one normally associated with felines. And then an obnoxious rattle, a continuous uproar like the motor on a toy truck.
"What's this. So cute." A voice sang from the hallway. It was feminine, but not her mother. And yet, familiar all the same.
"Did it start purring…before it saw you? That has to be a new record." A second voice jabbed. This one was male, lighter and softer than the gruff voice of her father.
"Oh hush, it was probably a coincidence." The first voice returned. "You don't have to get sour just because animals actually like me."
The next second, the handle on her door turned, and the blinding light of the hallway spilled into her room. The combination of the fresh light with her poor eyesight made the faces no more than a blur. Although the whiff of blond hair significantly narrowed her choices, she still found it hard to believe one of those would actually come all the way out here.
Reaching out and grabbing her glasses, she used one arm to prop herself up as the other slid them into place. Yet still, she found herself hesitant to believe the vision before her. "Takeru? Hikari?"
"Are you okay?" Hikari asked, "Your mom said you were expecting us."
Her mother was a liar, no doubt trying to coerce her into social interactions. It seemed impolite to say so, however. "I lost track of time." She responded, which wasn't a lie per se.
The pair crossed the threshold into her room, flicking the switch to illuminate the emptiness of her core. Eyes settling, she realized the usurper rested in Hikari's hands, purring proudly as its eyes feasted upon forbidden territory.
Takeru must have noticed her focus, "It's a cutie isn't it, just like you. What's its name?"
She allowed the pleasantry to roll off her. In truth, naming the new pet had fallen to her, but she had resentfully abdicated her role. In her mind it was the usurper, first and foremost.
"U-u" a glance at the joyful ball of fuzz cut her off. Sitting there so peacefully in Hikari's arms, she somehow couldn't muster the normal scorn. Of everyone involved in this mess, the kitten was the least guilty. It had not asked to be adopted, nor was it aware of her history. It was just an innocent kitten.
"Yui-kun?" Hikari said happily, the kitten mewling in response. "Ahh, that's such a good name." she then brought the feline up to her face. "Hello Yui, I'm Hikari nice to meet you." The kitten let out another yip.
The brunette then turned to her friend. Holding the kitten inches away from his face "Introduce yourself Takeru." She commanded.
"Hello Yui, I'm Takeru." The blond said. The usurper – or Yui now, she guessed – was disinterested in the introduction, instead engrossed by a strand of Takeru's golden locks, reaching one meager paw out to batt the blond hair away.
"So…" Meiko said, voice barely rising above the constant purr of the usurper, "Why are you here again?"
Takeru shot a glance at her. "Remember that email I sent you? I'm spending a week at my grandma's place in Shimane, and figured I could spend a day over here."
She did not remember, most likely due to never actually reading the email, yet she nodded along anyway. A glance at Hikari was enough to prompt a response, even without asking the question. "I decided to tag along." Hikari explained, "Takeru's spent enough time imposing on my family, the least I could do was impose on his."
It didn't sound like a convincing enough answer, at least to her ears. Unless… "Are you going to see his grandma together? Or are you going to see his grandma because you are together?"
"Nothing like that." Hikari waved one hand "I just needed a week to get out of Tokyo. I'm not sure I'm cut out for big city life."
Meiko lowered her gaze, eyes finally registering the nightwear she was still wearing. There was nothing particularly scandalous about the blue nightshirt, and yet she felt the need to cover herself all the same, immediately gathering the comforter and pulling it up so nothing below her neck was exposed.
"I guess that's my cue to leave." Takeru joked. "Gran gave me some chores to do while I was over here. People to see, letters to deliver. I'll leave Hikari in your care. I don't think I could separate her from Yui right now if I tried."
The younger girl blushed. "I'm perfectly fine, I can stop at any time." She said, one hand still idly playing with Yui's fur.
"Purrfectly." Takeru accentuated "But I'm not sure we'd be able to get him away from you even with a crowbar. Relax, enjoy yourselves."
With that he left, light glittering off his radiant locks.
Meiko looked at Hikari, still coddling the kitten, and opened her mouth, but no words came out. Hikari noticed her actions and was similarly struck mute.
"Would you like me to leave so you can change?" Hikari asked after a couple of awkward minutes. The girl had already seen her naked, back at the Onsen, but Meiko accepted her offer anyway. At least it was something to prevent their silent standoff from continuing much longer.
While Takeru had been present, the pair were free to bounce off each other, as they had seemingly perfected. With just Hikari left Meiko was forced to carry half the weight of a conversation, and that was more than her weary back could bear.
She may have been able to fix her appearance, but nothing could fix her. In effect, she was stalling until Takeru made it back from his errands, and the two would be able to continue on without her.
But Meiko was not Mimi, she could not spend hours on her looks no matter how much she tarried, and it would not be fair to Hikari to keep her in the hallway forever.
Even if the steps she took to the doorway had half her normal gait.
Hikari had managed to occupy herself with Yui the Usurper, the kitten was still attached to the younger girl, leaching off Hikari's privilege to enter Meiko's sanctuary.
Only now that Hikari was in front of her again did Meiko realize she could have used the break to think of what to say. As it was, words came no more readily to her now than before.
Hikari seemed to have the same problem, mouth opening, but not even a whisper escaping from her lips. Her mouth opened and closed three times, and when she finally worked up the nerve to speak, the tone was so low Meiko barely heard it. But she did hear it, and it struck her to the core.
"I'm sorry."
The words startled her. If any of them had something to apologize for, it was clearly herself. Why would Hikari apologize to her? If she had just been more open, more honest, stronger, then none of them would have had to suffer.
Her response was not so verbose "Uhhhhhhh."
Hikari refused to look her in the eyes, instead fixating her attention on the Usurper. "Ordinemon, she-that happened because of me. I couldn't control myself." The brunette swallowed. "Taichi-wasn't even gone, if I hadn't been so stupid then Mei-chan would-"
The sound of the name set something off within Meiko. A sob and a whimper fought in her throat, releasing some beaten bastard offspring. The patheticness of it all cut Hikari off from her simple point, the younger girl withdrawing to reiterate.
"I'm sorry." She said again, still either unwilling or unable to send so much as a glance Meiko's way.
Meiko found a pain strike her chest. This was her fault, why should anyone else apologize. If she hadn't been so useless, so deplorable, then even she might have been free of her torment. No one else needed to take the blame, why insist otherwise?
Her mattress rushed to meet her face; no, her legs were simply too inadequate to support her weight. Tear ducts that had long since dammed up now burst, sending floods into her sheets.
"I'm the one who should be sorry!" she cried. Or at least, she tried, but the mattress deafened her repentance, allowing only muffled warbles through.
She turned her head, but eloquence escaped her. "I'm sorry." She said. "If I-I could have, I, I'm sorry."
No matter what she tried she just couldn't say more than that. Even her thoughts began to deteriorate into a useless pile of sobs.
A second chorus of sobs joined hers, moving ever closer, Hikari must have been seeking company in her misery, sitting down on the bed next to her, one arm descending to wrap Meiko in a half hug. An action she reciprocated with equal tepidness.
She did not know how long they stayed like that. Long enough that her arm became sore from the awkward angle. Long enough that her throat became hoarse from her wailing. Long enough for Yui's excitement to die down and the once constant purring to cease.
Millenia too short to ease either of their distress.
Then, an odd sensation played against her cheek. It was soft and rough at the same time. Wet, yet drying her tears. One eye popped open, revealing a blur of orange. For a few seconds, she allowed herself to hope, before cruel reality set in.
"Yui?" she asked "What are you….?" A rebellious giggle escaped from her as the cat's tongue continued to tickle her face.
She tried to move away but lacked the drive to control anything below her neck. With his full range of movement, Yui was perfectly able to keep himself attached to her, licking away her tears.
"Don't be sad, you look much prettier when you're happy." A voice sang out, "At least that's what I'd be saying if it were me."
She craned her neck, the one eye not monopolized by the ball of fluff revealed that Takeru had returned, shopping bags still in hand.
"Man, Gran sure knows what's up huh." He said, setting one bag on the ground and fishing for something in another. He withdrew three one-pint containers of ice cream.
She recognized the brand immediately; it was from a famous local place. It was not the type of ice cream one could buy in Tokyo, nor was it what one would consider moderately priced.
"How?" she muttered meekly.
"The owner's a friend of Gran, apparently he helped raise my dad."
She quirked her head at that. Had Takeru told her of his family? Beyond the fact his parents were divorced?
"My dad never knew his dad." The blond explained. "Gran says he was a soldier for the US stationed in Okinawa. Every time she tells the story his name changes, so we can't track him down."
"I see…." She remarked. Something cold pressed against her fingers, making her withdraw slightly. Hikari had already claimed the ice cream containers from Takeru and was placing one into her hands.
"Eat." She said simply "Ice cream solves everything."
If that were even halfway true then Meiko's life would be far more simple right now. As it was, she accepted the offering, breaking open the seal on the lid before digging in.
Takeru continued his spiel, "Anyway, Gran being a single parent and all, Dad learned as much from the villagers around here as he did from her. He's considered a local success story. Bastard country boy, worked three jobs to put himself through school in the big city and ended up with a cushy job and marrying a rich French girl."
"But, didn't they…" she stopped herself, but not soon enough. Of course, they divorced, that was obvious. How insensitive could she get?
Hikari reached out and placed her hand on Takeru's. If he noticed either Hikari's reassurance or her own boorishness, he made no mention.
"The important thing when telling a story is to know when to stop and say 'Happily ever after'."
"That's cheating." Hikari shot.
"Is it?" He waved his spoon. "Mom's happy, Dad's happy. They're both happy. Happily ever after. Sometimes we may not recognize it when we see it, but not every happily ever after involves a Prince Charming on a dashing steed."
Takeru made sure to catch her eye before continuing, "Although, I do have a neat trick that can summon a Pegasus if you're looking for someone to volunteer."
Her cheeks were no doubt red. Boys…didn't just say those kinds of things, not to her. A spoonful of food would help her delay and find a useful answer.
Unfortunately, the cold of the ice cream contrasted with the heat of her cheeks, sending her body spirally down some path of painful thermal confusion.
Thrashing about on her mattress, she tried to control herself as her body reacted to the contrast. Vaguely, she could hear Hikari scolding Takeru, some light swats to go with it, but she didn't register the exact words. She swallowed as quickly as she could muster the will to do so, but that only moved the pain from her cheeks to her brain.
Her fingers moved to her temples, trying to soothe her accidental brain freeze. Whatever magical properties Hikari professed of the substance, the desert had only made things worse.
Something warm and soft pushed against her left hand, then a few seconds later the action was repeated on her right. She lifted her palm slightly, allowing the offender to wriggle between it and her temple, a gentle hum accompanying its action.
She twisted herself, looking face to face with Yui, who had, for the second time in minutes, invaded her personal space.
"He's a sly one that." Takeru said, breaking away from his practiced bickering with Hikari. "Never misses an opportunity."
"Opportunity?" Meiko repeated.
"Cats are smarter than you give them credit for." Hikari said, "They can figure out when we are stressed or sad and want to help out."
Yui gave a soft mewl in agreement, pushing himself against the closest piece of her he could reach.
…Yui? When had she started to think of him as Yui? He was the Usurper, wasn't he? A cheap replacement.
But then, just now, and even before, had he? Could he have been consoling her?
A kitten? A baby? Consoling her? She was seventeen, practically an adult. It was kind of fitting that even a baby cat would take pity on her.
"It's pretty sweet, isn't it?" Hikari asked, moving one finger down to reward Yui. "He already cares so much about you." That was, maybe true? Did kittens not just love everyone? He'd swatted at Takeru before, so maybe not.
"You know, I think maybe Takeru had a point." The girl continued, "Just because it's not what we think of in a fairy tale, just because it's not immediately obvious, doesn't mean it's not a 'Happily ever after'."
AN: Am I the only one who ships this? Who can say?