Happy Birthday Jilly-chan?
by: Karin-sama
Disclaimer: Chibi-nekos are not owned in any way by me. The Department for the Relocation and something of Endangered Chibi-nekos drove up to my house one day and left them with me. Who knows when they'll show up and take them away again? But in the meantime, I get to have a lot of fun with no other (less memorable) profit.
Summary: What was supposed to be a smooth family and friends gathering for Jilly-chan's birthday has suddenly turned into a chibi-neko fiasco! Who can save the day?
The day before Jilly-chan's birthday had brimmed with secrets. Though they weren't the usual kind of birthday secrets the chibi-nekos were used to. Usually on one of *their* birthdays, Karin-sama shipped them off with Dane-kun or Jilly-chan the day before so she could ready the house and the cake and whatever else she had stuffed up her sleeve to be brought out the next day. This time Hil-kun had shown up at the museum, which was fine with the chibi-nekos since her Kenshin-gumi had tagged along. Trixie-wu had also come, as she was the most experienced non-human babysitter, and that's when things got confusing. After a few moments of, "Are you sure it'll be all right leaving all nine of them to Trixie?" and "You five please be good for Trixie and play nice with Kaoru-chan and the others." and lots of worried looks, hand wringing, and reassurances from Hil-kun, Karin-sama had been led out of the house to Hil-kun's neat white car.
The chibi-nekos had been amazed. They were so shocked, it wasn't any trouble for Trixie to herd them into the backyard to play while she chatted with Triby. Though they didn't do a whole lot of playing at first.
"What's going on?" Wu-chan muttered, folding his arms and ignoring Sano-chan's invitation for a foot race. "This isn't how it works." Tro-chan nodded his solemn agreement, and the other chibi-nekos could see that the little gears in his head were whirling very fast and he surely soon would come up with an explanation.
"Isn't it Jilly-chan's birthday tomorrow?" Quatre-chan piped. "Don't birthdays mean *we* leave?" This statement made them all realize again that Karin-sama had left them all alone in the big house. Quatre-chan shuddered, but Kaoru-chan put her arm around him and smiled.
"It's ok," she told him. "Trixie is a lot of fun." Quatre-chan returned her smile, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Karin-sama had changed the routine and hadn't told them anything about it.
"I bet she's just getting ready a really big surprise," Duo-chan beamed, causing everyone to brighten a bit. "And she couldn't take us with because it's really secret, and she couldn't leave us with Jilly-chan because then she'd know that Karin-sama was doing something super special." This seemed to make sense to everyone, though they couldn't figure out why Dane-kun wasn't watching them. In the end, they had to give it up and decided to take advantage of the company of their long-lost Kenshin-gumi pals. *Hil-kun is very busy and sometimes they had long bits of time inbetween visits*
By the time Karin-sama came home that night, the chibi-nekos were all safely tucked in bed, and the Kenshin-gumi were in varying positions of sleep strewn before Karin-sama's fireplace with Trixie snoozing softly in their midst. This was a good thing for Hil-kun since she wouldn't have to answer any questions as she half-carried a very drugged Karin-sama up the stairs to her bedroom.
"Chibi-chans?" Karin-sama murmured through abused lips. Hil-kun tucked the sheet around her.
"They're all asleep, but I'll check them again before I go," she responded, wondering if Karin-sama could really hear yet.
"Oh, and Jilly-chan's cake, I haven't made it yet."
"Don't worry about the cake. I've already got one waiting at home for her. I'll be sure to give her your regards." Hil-kun filled a pitcher of water and set it on the bedside table with a little glass and some pills.
"That's ok, I'll be ready to go by tomorrow." Karin-sama was a little independent and very stubborn so Hil-kun decided not to tell her that tomorrow she'd be in worse shape than this afternoon. You see, Hil-kun had already had her wisdom teeth pulled (hacked out of her jaw is more like it) and knew that whatever Karin-sama said, she wasn't going anywhere tomorrow. She sighed. If only they had been able to schedule her the day *after* Jilly-chan's birthday.
"So you don't want me to take the nekos for the night?" Hil-kun asked one last time, hoping that this time Karin-sama would realize that there was no way she was going to be able to take care of them for a little while.
"Oh, don't wake them if they're sleeping," Karin-sama was drifting off herself now. "They all wake up so terribly early as it is. . ." and she was gone. Hil-kun made a last round of the bedrooms. She'd been taking care of nekos for a while now and knew how important it was to check on them, but Karin-sama's Gundam boys all seemed just fine. Well, except for the quick scare she'd had when Wu-chan hadn't been in the bed. It was only a minor heart attack as she'd soon located him snuggled underneath the pillow of all places.
Kenshin-chan was stirring when she came down the stairs, and half asleep lifted his arms for her to pick him up. She snuggled him close with one arm while scooping up Kaoru-chan. Sano-chan followed while still asleep, and Trixie managed to transport Yahiko-chan by the collar of his shirt without him even knowing. Trixie had also been taking care of nekos for a while. They left the house fast asleep.
The day of Jilly-chan's birthday began as many other days had in the Karin-sama household. Meaning that Duo-chan was up before the sun, especially today since it was promising to be full of excitement, and racing for Karin-sama's bedroom. He knew how much she hated to oversleep and didn't want her to feel flustered about getting ready for the party. They all needed plenty of time as Jilly-chan's house was rather far away, if he remembered correctly.
He hopped on the bed, as usual, and received a soft moan in greeting. He cocked his head, this wasn't the right kind of sleepy I'm just waking up so give me one second moan. He slipped down the satiny sheet to creep closer to Karin-sama's face, and gasped. The skin around her eyes was dark, and there was a little blood on her lips! Getting scared, Duo-chan shook her shoulders gently.
"Karin-sama?" He chirped, as quiet as he could. "Karin-sama, are you dead?" Saying the words out loud made him even more scared, and he only barely stopped himself from crying. She moaned again, telling him she was at least alive, but something still wasn't right. Duo-chan thought hard for a moment, then leaped off the bed and out of the room. On the way down the hall he crashed right into Tro-chan and Heero-chan.
"Quick, quick!" He squeaked, gesturing wildly in all directions but the right one. "We've gotta do something. . . .only I can't remember what!" Heero-chan took out his pistol, giving him a quick squirt to calm him down, while Tro-chan snapped into logical mode.
"What happened, Duo-chan?" The somber chibi questioned his rather excited friend.
"Karin-sama won't wake up!" Heero-chan's eyes grew huge, and he trained his pistol on Duo-chan again, threatening him without words that this was not the kind of trick that should be played on people. . .especially on certain other people's birthdays.
"What do you mean, she won't wake up?" Heero-chan demanded, but Tro-chan didn't bother with the questions. Karin-sama's room was only down the hall and he wanted to check it out for himself. Behind him he could hear more commotion as Quatre-chan was informed of their new dire situation. As expected the blonde chibi had burst into tears. Tro-chan sighed. This was not how the day was supposed to be going.
The room was still dark when he entered, and there was Karin-sama on the bed. He inspected her without waking her up. Duo-chan was right, she was very much asleep, and she looked terrible. Well, he concluded after patting her hand and telling her not to worry in the fashion that he remembered from when he'd had a cold, it's time for the emergency plan.
Once upon a time, Karin-sama had gathered all the chibi-nekos together and told them what to do in case of an "emergency." The first half an hour was taken in defining exactly what constituted as an emergency, but eventually she'd gotten the point across. In the event that one of these terrible situations were to occur and Karin-sama wasn't able to use the telephone, they, the chibi-nekos, were to call 1) the fire department if the house was on fire, but the house wasn't on fire and they were supposed to run and use Dane-kun's phone for that one since they couldn't be dialing the fire department in a burning house. 2) the vet in case anything were wrong with Triby or one of the horses and Karin-sama had to stay with him. and 3) Dane-kun if anything were to happen to Karin-sama. She'd made a little list with all the numbers on it, taught them how to use the phone, and they had all thought it was a grand idea. Until now that they actually had to do it.
"Hello, hello?"
"Duo-chan, you have to dial a number before you can say hello."
"Oh. Well, who do we dial?"
"I think we're supposed to call Dane-kun." This from a sniffling Quatre-chan, who after Tro-chan, paid the most attention.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Wu-chan. "Karin-sama is always saying that Dane-kun will be the death of her. Maybe he should stay away until she's better?"
"No, it's ok." Duo-chan again. "That's just another figure of speech." Duo-chan had now mastered the concept of those and used the phrase whenever he could.
"Where's his number?"
"Duo-chan, you're holding the phone upside down."
"I found it, Wu-chan, but you'd better have Heero-chan punch it in." Since Heero-chan was very good at pushing buttons with a surprising accuracy.
"It doesn't go on top of your head, Duo-chan, remember how Karin-sama holds it?"
"Oh, right."
"I think you should let Tro-chan do it," Heero-chan said gruffly as he dialed in the number.
"Okay," Duo-chan relinquished the receiver with only a little pout. He was worried about Karin-sama too, after all. They all waited around patiently, watching Tro-chan mimic Karin-sama holding the phone. It had to be done exactly as she would, otherwise it might not work. But Tro-chan must have been doing something wrong, though the chibi-nekos couldn't see what, because there wasn't a person on the other line, just a lot of beeping.
"This isn't the right number," Tro-chan sighed, feeling a little panicked. "Dane-kun isn't there." Duo-chan started running in circles around the phone table.
"What are we gonna do?" He cried. Tro-chan turned his head away from the receiver to tell Duo-chan to calm down, but then he heard a very sleepy, gruff voice say "hello?" He clutched the receiver very tightly to make sure Dane-kun didn't get away.
"Hello!" Tro-chan yelled into the phone. *pictures Dane-kun stepping back and holding the phone out.* "This is Tro-chan."
"Tro-chan?" There was no recognition for a moment. "Oh! Tro-chan. You don't hafta yell, I can hear you ok. And tell Karin-chan not to worry I'll be round when I said I would to drive down to Jilly-chan's place. I haven't forgotten or anything." There was some muttering in the background about how early Karin-chan got up to begin preparations for important events. Tro-chan heard his voice getting father away and realized he was about to hang up.
"Dane-kun, wait!" He cried desperately. "Karin-sama isn't awake!"
"What did you say?" Dane-kun was back, and obviously a lot more alert than he had been ten seconds ago.
"Karin-sama isn't awake," Tro-chan repeated obediently. "She won't wake up."
"WHAT?!!" Tro-chan was about ready to say it again, hoping that by the third time Dane-kun would remember that he was now the adult in charge and supposed to fix everything, but he didn't have the chance. "I'll be right there!" And the phone started making a funny beeping noise. Tro-chan blinked, but they didn't have time to think about what had happened because all of a sudden the front door was opening and Dane-kun was rushing inside while trying to pull a T-shirt over his head. He was even still moldy from sleeping. Tro-chan replaced the receiver. ..it had done its job well, and so promptly.
"Ok, guys," Dane-kun was stuttering, running a hand through his already wild hair. "D-don't panic." He was then rushing past them to the downstairs bathroom, searching frantically through the medicine cabinet for a thermometer and bandages and some other things the chibi-nekos had never seen before. He might have continued in this fashion, but Heero-chan got it into his head that this kind of quick nervousness might not be the best thing for Karin-sama, who had a tendency to be nervous herself, so he rushed over to squirt Dane-kun viciously.
"Calm down," he ordered just as Quatre-chan started crying again.
"What do we do, Dane-kun?" Wu-chan asked, ready for anything now that they had conquered the telephone. Dane-kun paused, finally thinking through things logically.
"You five wait here," he told them. "I'll be right back." They glanced at each other dubiously at this. They wanted to know what was going on too. In the end, they followed Dane-kun up the stairs, waiting patiently by the slightly open door in case they were needed.
"Karin-chan?" Dane-kun called gently as he entered the darkness beyond the hallway. "Are ya all right?" Dane-kun was kind of a klutz, a jack of all trades-master of none, but he did have a soft spot for Karin-chan and the little guys and a good heart too. She opened one eye, groaned a little at seeing him, and closed it again. Not that she didn't want him around or anything, he just made her nervous sometimes. Besides that, she wasn't expecting to feel like this when she had been feeling so great yesterday. Drugs, she thought, and sighed again. How tricky they could be.
Dane-kun checked out the pills on the bedside table and made some connections. "Wisdom teeth, eh?" He asked her and she tried to nod. He made a sympathetic kind of sound, but inside he was wondering why she hadn't called and told him about it. (The reason being revealed in the manner upon which Dane-kun had entered her house that morning.) "Well, that's nothing to be too upset over then. The little guys sure had me worried, Karin-chan. . but you don't have to worry about --" At the mention of the chibi-nekos Karin-chan had sat bolt upright, propping herself up on the headboard.
"Chibi-chans!" She cried, wincing at the movement of her jaw. The chibis, who had been listening intently outside, deemed this a summons and hurried into the room to hop gently on her bed and cuddle close. She patted Heero-chan's head and pulled Quatre-chan close to dry his tears.
"It's all right," she told them, nodding her head at Dane-kun.
"She'll be ok, guys," he picked up. "Just had all her teeth pulled out is all." Duo-chan's eyes widened and he looked intensely at her mouth. She smiled, letting him see that not *all* of her teeth had been ripped away. (but it sure felt like it)
"She's still got teeth," Duo-chan protested, hoping that the teeth thing wasn't just a lie Dane-kun was telling to hide a deeper problem.
"You're right," he laughed, putting up his hands. "But a few of them are gone, the ones in the very back."
"Oh," Duo-chan seemed satisfied, and began patting Karin-sama's hand.
"Now you guys scoot and I'll see what I can do to make her more comfortable, eh?" They were ushered outside the room where they all wondered what they were supposed to do now that Karin-sama wasn't in any danger. It took a very long time for the original purpose of the day to make it back into one of their heads.
"But what about Jilly-chan's birthday!"
"Eh?" Dane-kun grunted as he was spooning out some applesauce for Karin-sama. "Oh that's right!" The chibi-nekos swarmed his ankles, waiting for an answer of some kind about what they were to do for poor Jilly-chan now that Karin-sama couldn't go and Dane-kun couldn't drive them down to her. Dane-kun ignored them, which was hard since he almost tripped on Heero-chan in getting to the telephone, and deftly executed the procedure it had taken the chibi-nekos several minutes to figure out.
"Hello? Jilly-chan? Yeah, it's Dane and I know it's pretty early. Just calling to tell ya that Karin-chan had a run in with a dentist yesterday. Yeah, that's right. No, I don't know why you weren't told about it either, that's very odd that she wouldn't. . . .but anyway, I don't think she's getting out of bed today. But Hil-kun should be down there later, eh? Oh, and I have five little friends of yours who want to say something." He leaned down and held the phone out to them like a chorister leading the national anthem.
"Better tell her 'happy birthday' cause I don't think ya'll get to see her today," he told them quietly, knowing the disappointment they were feeling.
Jilly-chan smiled on the other side of the phone as a bunch of voices suddenly filled her bedroom.
"Happy birthday, Jilly-chan!"
"We miss you!"
"We'll come see you soon."
"Save some cake for me, okay?"
"Tro-chan, do you want to say something?" Jilly-chan could see the little neko shrug his shoulders in her head, and was expecting Dane-kun to come back on since she didn't think he could say anything. But then there he was.
"Couldn't you come up here?"
"I'm sorry, Tro-chan, I have to go to work in a little while."
"Oh," he paused. "Jilly-chan?"
"Yes?"
"I hope you have the best birthday ever!"
Dane-kun hung up, only to call Hil-kun to tell her what had happened. Imagine his surprise when she already knew! The chibi-nekos wandered around the house for a moment before congregating in Heero-chan's room to construct both get-well cards for Karin-sama and happy birthday cards for Jilly-chan. Maybe they could coax Dane-kun into sending them through the mail.
"Yeah, I think she didn't say anything because she was fully expecting on being perfectly normal for today," Hil-kun was explaining to the rather hurt Dane-kun. "It wasn't because she just didn't want you to know." Then after that was taken care of. "How are the nekos taking it?"
"Well, now that they have it figured she's not going to die on them they're kind of disappointed that they can't be with Jilly-chan for her birthday." Hil-kun thought about that.
"I'm going to take pictures," she offered, but knew it wasn't good enough. She did some mental math. "And I guess I can take one of them down with me. Do you think that would be ok?"
"I'll ask them and then call you back."
"Say, guys," Dane-kun poked his head into Heero-chan's room. "Ah, there you are." They studied him from the floor where they were coloring cards with the markers Jilly-chan had given them. "Listen, Hil-kun is going down to see Jilly-chan and she says that she can take one of you along. What do you say to that?" They all looked at each other. One? Only one could go? "I'll let you fellas think on it while I get Karin-chan some applesauce."
"I don't want to leave Karin-sama," Quatre-chan said first, breaking the tension that had come over the room. Usually everything was done quite fairly in the house. It was all or none, except on the occassions where the chibi-nekos were allowed "alone time" with Karin-sama, but since everyone got equal amounts of that it wasn't really a big deal. Quatre-chan was taking himself out of the running very selflessly, and by doing so had enabled the rest of them to begin the discussion.
"Maybe we should draw straws?" Wu-chan suggested, wondering if that would be the best way to ensure justice in the choosing.
"We'd have to go in the barn for straws," Heero-chan told him and that was the end of that idea. There had been no going into the barn since they'd found Triby.
"Well, I think I'll stay here too," Duo-chan said, moving over to sit with Quatre-chan. "And help Dane-kun take care of things."
"Maybe none of us should go," Heero-chan pondered, thinking about how much trouble Dane-kun could get into without them around to help him.
"But what about poor Jilly-chan?" Quatre-chan pointed out, settling it for sure that someone would be going. Tro-chan, who wanted to go more than any of them put together, stayed quiet. Heero-chan noticed.
"Who do you think should go, Tro-chan?" He asked, knowing perfectly well the answer. Tro-chan blinked.
"It's up to you guys," he said, not wanting to impose. Heero-chan and Wu-chan exchanged glances. The decision had been made.
"Well, I think it'd be best if I stayed here," Heero-chan said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking at the ceiling. "Dane-kun is going to need more help than Duo-chan can give him." Wu-chan nodded.
"I think Tro-chan should be the one to go," Wu-chan finally said, smiling at the brown haired chibi. Tro-chan looked up from the floor, not believing his ears. "You could be our messenger, since you can remember the most, you could give Jilly-chan all our happy birthdays for us." Tro-chan smiled broadly.
"Ok," he accepted, then rushed out of the room to tell Dane-kun, who in turn told Hil-kun.
"S'all right," he said as he hung up. "She's coming to get ya so you'd better get ready. You've got an hour." Tro-chan trembled with happiness and excitement. First he went to his room and put on his favorite green sweater with the pretty, bright orange tiger on it. Jilly-chan had said it was her favorite too, so he wanted to wear it for her. Then he went in to check on Karin-sama, who would have been enjoying all this free time had she been able to concentrate on something other than the throbbing in her mouth. She gave him the speech about behaving himself for Hil-kun and suchlike that he'd heard many times before. He promised to be good, and she knew that he would be anyway without her saying anything. Then she brought up an interesting point.
"Are you giving her a present or a card?" Tro-chan blinked. He had a card, well, the others were making one since they couldn't go, but he never thought about a present. She always gave him a present on his birthday, so he suddenly thought that maybe that was a really good idea.
"A present," he told her before kissing her cheek as softly as he could and hopping down.
"She'll just love it," Karin-sama sighed as she closed her eyes again.
Tro-chan wandered downstairs, avoiding the kitchen where Dane-kun was trying to tidy up. Hopefully Heero-chan could tell him that the spoons didn't go in the cupboard and show him the spot of applesauce he'd missed on the counter. Tro-chan had other things he needed to think about just then. He was thinking about Jilly-chan and all the times they'd spent together. He remembered liking her the very first time they'd met. Sure she wasn't as serious as Karin-sama, but that's what made her fun. They'd gone to the county fair together, and she had given him his first set of markers. He had bandaged her finger when she had cut herself on one of Karin-sama's teacups. She had a good laugh, and he liked the way she called him 'kiddo.' He sighed. He needed to focus on other stuff, something that would help him know what kind of gift she would want. Something that would make her smile and think of him whenever she saw it. He knew she lived by herself far away (so it's not true, that's ok, this is a fic) and worked for an insurance company. He didn't know what insurance was, but he knew that she was at work a lot. She would come home and pay bills and watch anime. But he had no money to help with her bills, and he wasn't sure what anime was. He did know, however, what it was to be alone, and he knew he didn't like it very much. Then he remembered something and smiled.
"Are you ready, Tro-chan?" Hil-kun asked as he came to the door. He carried the card the other nekos had made on top of a box that was almost bigger than he was. He gave her a nod, then turned to say good-bye to his comrades, who were standing back with Dane-kun.
"Ok then, you can get into the car and get your seatbelt on. You guys," she shook a finger at them. "Take care of Dane-kun." Dane-kun looked about ready to say something, but Hil-kun just laughed and then she was out the door.
It was tempting to ask Tro-chan what was in the box, and Hil-kun had a difficult time restraining her curiosity all the many miles to her sister's house. The Kenshin-gumi chattered excitedly about what was out the windows and what they were going to do when they got there, but Tro-chan stayed quiet, a slight smile on his face.
There was a happy reunion at Jilly-chan's house and hugs were exchanged between everyone. When she saw Tro-chan Jilly-chan gave a squeal of delight and caught him up before he could begin on the messages his friends had given him back home.
"What are you doing here, kiddo?" She asked him happily.
"Hil-kun brought me so I could wish you a happy birthday from everyone," he explained, playing with her hair as he handed her the card. "And I had to bring you your present."
"Oh?" Jilly-chan sounded excited, which was just what he wanted. He pointed to the box he had left by Jilly-chan's sofa. "Can I see?" When he nodded, she unfolded the top, revealing a soft little mess of gray fur. Upon scooping it up, it looked up at her with sleepy dark eyes.
"A kitten!" Tro-chan nodded.
"She can take care of you when you're not with us," he explained, then paused. "I'm sorry she's not orange, but I don't think Karin-sama owns any orange barn cats. Maybe she does and they just didn't have kittens." Jilly-chan smiled and pulled him and the kitten in for a hug.
"She's just perfect. Thank you, Tro-chan, I think this really is going to be my best birthday ever."
"Really?"
"You bet. Now let's go find the others and see about some cake, eh?"
"Sure!"
"Meow!"
by: Karin-sama
Disclaimer: Chibi-nekos are not owned in any way by me. The Department for the Relocation and something of Endangered Chibi-nekos drove up to my house one day and left them with me. Who knows when they'll show up and take them away again? But in the meantime, I get to have a lot of fun with no other (less memorable) profit.
Summary: What was supposed to be a smooth family and friends gathering for Jilly-chan's birthday has suddenly turned into a chibi-neko fiasco! Who can save the day?
The day before Jilly-chan's birthday had brimmed with secrets. Though they weren't the usual kind of birthday secrets the chibi-nekos were used to. Usually on one of *their* birthdays, Karin-sama shipped them off with Dane-kun or Jilly-chan the day before so she could ready the house and the cake and whatever else she had stuffed up her sleeve to be brought out the next day. This time Hil-kun had shown up at the museum, which was fine with the chibi-nekos since her Kenshin-gumi had tagged along. Trixie-wu had also come, as she was the most experienced non-human babysitter, and that's when things got confusing. After a few moments of, "Are you sure it'll be all right leaving all nine of them to Trixie?" and "You five please be good for Trixie and play nice with Kaoru-chan and the others." and lots of worried looks, hand wringing, and reassurances from Hil-kun, Karin-sama had been led out of the house to Hil-kun's neat white car.
The chibi-nekos had been amazed. They were so shocked, it wasn't any trouble for Trixie to herd them into the backyard to play while she chatted with Triby. Though they didn't do a whole lot of playing at first.
"What's going on?" Wu-chan muttered, folding his arms and ignoring Sano-chan's invitation for a foot race. "This isn't how it works." Tro-chan nodded his solemn agreement, and the other chibi-nekos could see that the little gears in his head were whirling very fast and he surely soon would come up with an explanation.
"Isn't it Jilly-chan's birthday tomorrow?" Quatre-chan piped. "Don't birthdays mean *we* leave?" This statement made them all realize again that Karin-sama had left them all alone in the big house. Quatre-chan shuddered, but Kaoru-chan put her arm around him and smiled.
"It's ok," she told him. "Trixie is a lot of fun." Quatre-chan returned her smile, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Karin-sama had changed the routine and hadn't told them anything about it.
"I bet she's just getting ready a really big surprise," Duo-chan beamed, causing everyone to brighten a bit. "And she couldn't take us with because it's really secret, and she couldn't leave us with Jilly-chan because then she'd know that Karin-sama was doing something super special." This seemed to make sense to everyone, though they couldn't figure out why Dane-kun wasn't watching them. In the end, they had to give it up and decided to take advantage of the company of their long-lost Kenshin-gumi pals. *Hil-kun is very busy and sometimes they had long bits of time inbetween visits*
By the time Karin-sama came home that night, the chibi-nekos were all safely tucked in bed, and the Kenshin-gumi were in varying positions of sleep strewn before Karin-sama's fireplace with Trixie snoozing softly in their midst. This was a good thing for Hil-kun since she wouldn't have to answer any questions as she half-carried a very drugged Karin-sama up the stairs to her bedroom.
"Chibi-chans?" Karin-sama murmured through abused lips. Hil-kun tucked the sheet around her.
"They're all asleep, but I'll check them again before I go," she responded, wondering if Karin-sama could really hear yet.
"Oh, and Jilly-chan's cake, I haven't made it yet."
"Don't worry about the cake. I've already got one waiting at home for her. I'll be sure to give her your regards." Hil-kun filled a pitcher of water and set it on the bedside table with a little glass and some pills.
"That's ok, I'll be ready to go by tomorrow." Karin-sama was a little independent and very stubborn so Hil-kun decided not to tell her that tomorrow she'd be in worse shape than this afternoon. You see, Hil-kun had already had her wisdom teeth pulled (hacked out of her jaw is more like it) and knew that whatever Karin-sama said, she wasn't going anywhere tomorrow. She sighed. If only they had been able to schedule her the day *after* Jilly-chan's birthday.
"So you don't want me to take the nekos for the night?" Hil-kun asked one last time, hoping that this time Karin-sama would realize that there was no way she was going to be able to take care of them for a little while.
"Oh, don't wake them if they're sleeping," Karin-sama was drifting off herself now. "They all wake up so terribly early as it is. . ." and she was gone. Hil-kun made a last round of the bedrooms. She'd been taking care of nekos for a while now and knew how important it was to check on them, but Karin-sama's Gundam boys all seemed just fine. Well, except for the quick scare she'd had when Wu-chan hadn't been in the bed. It was only a minor heart attack as she'd soon located him snuggled underneath the pillow of all places.
Kenshin-chan was stirring when she came down the stairs, and half asleep lifted his arms for her to pick him up. She snuggled him close with one arm while scooping up Kaoru-chan. Sano-chan followed while still asleep, and Trixie managed to transport Yahiko-chan by the collar of his shirt without him even knowing. Trixie had also been taking care of nekos for a while. They left the house fast asleep.
The day of Jilly-chan's birthday began as many other days had in the Karin-sama household. Meaning that Duo-chan was up before the sun, especially today since it was promising to be full of excitement, and racing for Karin-sama's bedroom. He knew how much she hated to oversleep and didn't want her to feel flustered about getting ready for the party. They all needed plenty of time as Jilly-chan's house was rather far away, if he remembered correctly.
He hopped on the bed, as usual, and received a soft moan in greeting. He cocked his head, this wasn't the right kind of sleepy I'm just waking up so give me one second moan. He slipped down the satiny sheet to creep closer to Karin-sama's face, and gasped. The skin around her eyes was dark, and there was a little blood on her lips! Getting scared, Duo-chan shook her shoulders gently.
"Karin-sama?" He chirped, as quiet as he could. "Karin-sama, are you dead?" Saying the words out loud made him even more scared, and he only barely stopped himself from crying. She moaned again, telling him she was at least alive, but something still wasn't right. Duo-chan thought hard for a moment, then leaped off the bed and out of the room. On the way down the hall he crashed right into Tro-chan and Heero-chan.
"Quick, quick!" He squeaked, gesturing wildly in all directions but the right one. "We've gotta do something. . . .only I can't remember what!" Heero-chan took out his pistol, giving him a quick squirt to calm him down, while Tro-chan snapped into logical mode.
"What happened, Duo-chan?" The somber chibi questioned his rather excited friend.
"Karin-sama won't wake up!" Heero-chan's eyes grew huge, and he trained his pistol on Duo-chan again, threatening him without words that this was not the kind of trick that should be played on people. . .especially on certain other people's birthdays.
"What do you mean, she won't wake up?" Heero-chan demanded, but Tro-chan didn't bother with the questions. Karin-sama's room was only down the hall and he wanted to check it out for himself. Behind him he could hear more commotion as Quatre-chan was informed of their new dire situation. As expected the blonde chibi had burst into tears. Tro-chan sighed. This was not how the day was supposed to be going.
The room was still dark when he entered, and there was Karin-sama on the bed. He inspected her without waking her up. Duo-chan was right, she was very much asleep, and she looked terrible. Well, he concluded after patting her hand and telling her not to worry in the fashion that he remembered from when he'd had a cold, it's time for the emergency plan.
Once upon a time, Karin-sama had gathered all the chibi-nekos together and told them what to do in case of an "emergency." The first half an hour was taken in defining exactly what constituted as an emergency, but eventually she'd gotten the point across. In the event that one of these terrible situations were to occur and Karin-sama wasn't able to use the telephone, they, the chibi-nekos, were to call 1) the fire department if the house was on fire, but the house wasn't on fire and they were supposed to run and use Dane-kun's phone for that one since they couldn't be dialing the fire department in a burning house. 2) the vet in case anything were wrong with Triby or one of the horses and Karin-sama had to stay with him. and 3) Dane-kun if anything were to happen to Karin-sama. She'd made a little list with all the numbers on it, taught them how to use the phone, and they had all thought it was a grand idea. Until now that they actually had to do it.
"Hello, hello?"
"Duo-chan, you have to dial a number before you can say hello."
"Oh. Well, who do we dial?"
"I think we're supposed to call Dane-kun." This from a sniffling Quatre-chan, who after Tro-chan, paid the most attention.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Wu-chan. "Karin-sama is always saying that Dane-kun will be the death of her. Maybe he should stay away until she's better?"
"No, it's ok." Duo-chan again. "That's just another figure of speech." Duo-chan had now mastered the concept of those and used the phrase whenever he could.
"Where's his number?"
"Duo-chan, you're holding the phone upside down."
"I found it, Wu-chan, but you'd better have Heero-chan punch it in." Since Heero-chan was very good at pushing buttons with a surprising accuracy.
"It doesn't go on top of your head, Duo-chan, remember how Karin-sama holds it?"
"Oh, right."
"I think you should let Tro-chan do it," Heero-chan said gruffly as he dialed in the number.
"Okay," Duo-chan relinquished the receiver with only a little pout. He was worried about Karin-sama too, after all. They all waited around patiently, watching Tro-chan mimic Karin-sama holding the phone. It had to be done exactly as she would, otherwise it might not work. But Tro-chan must have been doing something wrong, though the chibi-nekos couldn't see what, because there wasn't a person on the other line, just a lot of beeping.
"This isn't the right number," Tro-chan sighed, feeling a little panicked. "Dane-kun isn't there." Duo-chan started running in circles around the phone table.
"What are we gonna do?" He cried. Tro-chan turned his head away from the receiver to tell Duo-chan to calm down, but then he heard a very sleepy, gruff voice say "hello?" He clutched the receiver very tightly to make sure Dane-kun didn't get away.
"Hello!" Tro-chan yelled into the phone. *pictures Dane-kun stepping back and holding the phone out.* "This is Tro-chan."
"Tro-chan?" There was no recognition for a moment. "Oh! Tro-chan. You don't hafta yell, I can hear you ok. And tell Karin-chan not to worry I'll be round when I said I would to drive down to Jilly-chan's place. I haven't forgotten or anything." There was some muttering in the background about how early Karin-chan got up to begin preparations for important events. Tro-chan heard his voice getting father away and realized he was about to hang up.
"Dane-kun, wait!" He cried desperately. "Karin-sama isn't awake!"
"What did you say?" Dane-kun was back, and obviously a lot more alert than he had been ten seconds ago.
"Karin-sama isn't awake," Tro-chan repeated obediently. "She won't wake up."
"WHAT?!!" Tro-chan was about ready to say it again, hoping that by the third time Dane-kun would remember that he was now the adult in charge and supposed to fix everything, but he didn't have the chance. "I'll be right there!" And the phone started making a funny beeping noise. Tro-chan blinked, but they didn't have time to think about what had happened because all of a sudden the front door was opening and Dane-kun was rushing inside while trying to pull a T-shirt over his head. He was even still moldy from sleeping. Tro-chan replaced the receiver. ..it had done its job well, and so promptly.
"Ok, guys," Dane-kun was stuttering, running a hand through his already wild hair. "D-don't panic." He was then rushing past them to the downstairs bathroom, searching frantically through the medicine cabinet for a thermometer and bandages and some other things the chibi-nekos had never seen before. He might have continued in this fashion, but Heero-chan got it into his head that this kind of quick nervousness might not be the best thing for Karin-sama, who had a tendency to be nervous herself, so he rushed over to squirt Dane-kun viciously.
"Calm down," he ordered just as Quatre-chan started crying again.
"What do we do, Dane-kun?" Wu-chan asked, ready for anything now that they had conquered the telephone. Dane-kun paused, finally thinking through things logically.
"You five wait here," he told them. "I'll be right back." They glanced at each other dubiously at this. They wanted to know what was going on too. In the end, they followed Dane-kun up the stairs, waiting patiently by the slightly open door in case they were needed.
"Karin-chan?" Dane-kun called gently as he entered the darkness beyond the hallway. "Are ya all right?" Dane-kun was kind of a klutz, a jack of all trades-master of none, but he did have a soft spot for Karin-chan and the little guys and a good heart too. She opened one eye, groaned a little at seeing him, and closed it again. Not that she didn't want him around or anything, he just made her nervous sometimes. Besides that, she wasn't expecting to feel like this when she had been feeling so great yesterday. Drugs, she thought, and sighed again. How tricky they could be.
Dane-kun checked out the pills on the bedside table and made some connections. "Wisdom teeth, eh?" He asked her and she tried to nod. He made a sympathetic kind of sound, but inside he was wondering why she hadn't called and told him about it. (The reason being revealed in the manner upon which Dane-kun had entered her house that morning.) "Well, that's nothing to be too upset over then. The little guys sure had me worried, Karin-chan. . but you don't have to worry about --" At the mention of the chibi-nekos Karin-chan had sat bolt upright, propping herself up on the headboard.
"Chibi-chans!" She cried, wincing at the movement of her jaw. The chibis, who had been listening intently outside, deemed this a summons and hurried into the room to hop gently on her bed and cuddle close. She patted Heero-chan's head and pulled Quatre-chan close to dry his tears.
"It's all right," she told them, nodding her head at Dane-kun.
"She'll be ok, guys," he picked up. "Just had all her teeth pulled out is all." Duo-chan's eyes widened and he looked intensely at her mouth. She smiled, letting him see that not *all* of her teeth had been ripped away. (but it sure felt like it)
"She's still got teeth," Duo-chan protested, hoping that the teeth thing wasn't just a lie Dane-kun was telling to hide a deeper problem.
"You're right," he laughed, putting up his hands. "But a few of them are gone, the ones in the very back."
"Oh," Duo-chan seemed satisfied, and began patting Karin-sama's hand.
"Now you guys scoot and I'll see what I can do to make her more comfortable, eh?" They were ushered outside the room where they all wondered what they were supposed to do now that Karin-sama wasn't in any danger. It took a very long time for the original purpose of the day to make it back into one of their heads.
"But what about Jilly-chan's birthday!"
"Eh?" Dane-kun grunted as he was spooning out some applesauce for Karin-sama. "Oh that's right!" The chibi-nekos swarmed his ankles, waiting for an answer of some kind about what they were to do for poor Jilly-chan now that Karin-sama couldn't go and Dane-kun couldn't drive them down to her. Dane-kun ignored them, which was hard since he almost tripped on Heero-chan in getting to the telephone, and deftly executed the procedure it had taken the chibi-nekos several minutes to figure out.
"Hello? Jilly-chan? Yeah, it's Dane and I know it's pretty early. Just calling to tell ya that Karin-chan had a run in with a dentist yesterday. Yeah, that's right. No, I don't know why you weren't told about it either, that's very odd that she wouldn't. . . .but anyway, I don't think she's getting out of bed today. But Hil-kun should be down there later, eh? Oh, and I have five little friends of yours who want to say something." He leaned down and held the phone out to them like a chorister leading the national anthem.
"Better tell her 'happy birthday' cause I don't think ya'll get to see her today," he told them quietly, knowing the disappointment they were feeling.
Jilly-chan smiled on the other side of the phone as a bunch of voices suddenly filled her bedroom.
"Happy birthday, Jilly-chan!"
"We miss you!"
"We'll come see you soon."
"Save some cake for me, okay?"
"Tro-chan, do you want to say something?" Jilly-chan could see the little neko shrug his shoulders in her head, and was expecting Dane-kun to come back on since she didn't think he could say anything. But then there he was.
"Couldn't you come up here?"
"I'm sorry, Tro-chan, I have to go to work in a little while."
"Oh," he paused. "Jilly-chan?"
"Yes?"
"I hope you have the best birthday ever!"
Dane-kun hung up, only to call Hil-kun to tell her what had happened. Imagine his surprise when she already knew! The chibi-nekos wandered around the house for a moment before congregating in Heero-chan's room to construct both get-well cards for Karin-sama and happy birthday cards for Jilly-chan. Maybe they could coax Dane-kun into sending them through the mail.
"Yeah, I think she didn't say anything because she was fully expecting on being perfectly normal for today," Hil-kun was explaining to the rather hurt Dane-kun. "It wasn't because she just didn't want you to know." Then after that was taken care of. "How are the nekos taking it?"
"Well, now that they have it figured she's not going to die on them they're kind of disappointed that they can't be with Jilly-chan for her birthday." Hil-kun thought about that.
"I'm going to take pictures," she offered, but knew it wasn't good enough. She did some mental math. "And I guess I can take one of them down with me. Do you think that would be ok?"
"I'll ask them and then call you back."
"Say, guys," Dane-kun poked his head into Heero-chan's room. "Ah, there you are." They studied him from the floor where they were coloring cards with the markers Jilly-chan had given them. "Listen, Hil-kun is going down to see Jilly-chan and she says that she can take one of you along. What do you say to that?" They all looked at each other. One? Only one could go? "I'll let you fellas think on it while I get Karin-chan some applesauce."
"I don't want to leave Karin-sama," Quatre-chan said first, breaking the tension that had come over the room. Usually everything was done quite fairly in the house. It was all or none, except on the occassions where the chibi-nekos were allowed "alone time" with Karin-sama, but since everyone got equal amounts of that it wasn't really a big deal. Quatre-chan was taking himself out of the running very selflessly, and by doing so had enabled the rest of them to begin the discussion.
"Maybe we should draw straws?" Wu-chan suggested, wondering if that would be the best way to ensure justice in the choosing.
"We'd have to go in the barn for straws," Heero-chan told him and that was the end of that idea. There had been no going into the barn since they'd found Triby.
"Well, I think I'll stay here too," Duo-chan said, moving over to sit with Quatre-chan. "And help Dane-kun take care of things."
"Maybe none of us should go," Heero-chan pondered, thinking about how much trouble Dane-kun could get into without them around to help him.
"But what about poor Jilly-chan?" Quatre-chan pointed out, settling it for sure that someone would be going. Tro-chan, who wanted to go more than any of them put together, stayed quiet. Heero-chan noticed.
"Who do you think should go, Tro-chan?" He asked, knowing perfectly well the answer. Tro-chan blinked.
"It's up to you guys," he said, not wanting to impose. Heero-chan and Wu-chan exchanged glances. The decision had been made.
"Well, I think it'd be best if I stayed here," Heero-chan said, putting his hands in his pockets and looking at the ceiling. "Dane-kun is going to need more help than Duo-chan can give him." Wu-chan nodded.
"I think Tro-chan should be the one to go," Wu-chan finally said, smiling at the brown haired chibi. Tro-chan looked up from the floor, not believing his ears. "You could be our messenger, since you can remember the most, you could give Jilly-chan all our happy birthdays for us." Tro-chan smiled broadly.
"Ok," he accepted, then rushed out of the room to tell Dane-kun, who in turn told Hil-kun.
"S'all right," he said as he hung up. "She's coming to get ya so you'd better get ready. You've got an hour." Tro-chan trembled with happiness and excitement. First he went to his room and put on his favorite green sweater with the pretty, bright orange tiger on it. Jilly-chan had said it was her favorite too, so he wanted to wear it for her. Then he went in to check on Karin-sama, who would have been enjoying all this free time had she been able to concentrate on something other than the throbbing in her mouth. She gave him the speech about behaving himself for Hil-kun and suchlike that he'd heard many times before. He promised to be good, and she knew that he would be anyway without her saying anything. Then she brought up an interesting point.
"Are you giving her a present or a card?" Tro-chan blinked. He had a card, well, the others were making one since they couldn't go, but he never thought about a present. She always gave him a present on his birthday, so he suddenly thought that maybe that was a really good idea.
"A present," he told her before kissing her cheek as softly as he could and hopping down.
"She'll just love it," Karin-sama sighed as she closed her eyes again.
Tro-chan wandered downstairs, avoiding the kitchen where Dane-kun was trying to tidy up. Hopefully Heero-chan could tell him that the spoons didn't go in the cupboard and show him the spot of applesauce he'd missed on the counter. Tro-chan had other things he needed to think about just then. He was thinking about Jilly-chan and all the times they'd spent together. He remembered liking her the very first time they'd met. Sure she wasn't as serious as Karin-sama, but that's what made her fun. They'd gone to the county fair together, and she had given him his first set of markers. He had bandaged her finger when she had cut herself on one of Karin-sama's teacups. She had a good laugh, and he liked the way she called him 'kiddo.' He sighed. He needed to focus on other stuff, something that would help him know what kind of gift she would want. Something that would make her smile and think of him whenever she saw it. He knew she lived by herself far away (so it's not true, that's ok, this is a fic) and worked for an insurance company. He didn't know what insurance was, but he knew that she was at work a lot. She would come home and pay bills and watch anime. But he had no money to help with her bills, and he wasn't sure what anime was. He did know, however, what it was to be alone, and he knew he didn't like it very much. Then he remembered something and smiled.
"Are you ready, Tro-chan?" Hil-kun asked as he came to the door. He carried the card the other nekos had made on top of a box that was almost bigger than he was. He gave her a nod, then turned to say good-bye to his comrades, who were standing back with Dane-kun.
"Ok then, you can get into the car and get your seatbelt on. You guys," she shook a finger at them. "Take care of Dane-kun." Dane-kun looked about ready to say something, but Hil-kun just laughed and then she was out the door.
It was tempting to ask Tro-chan what was in the box, and Hil-kun had a difficult time restraining her curiosity all the many miles to her sister's house. The Kenshin-gumi chattered excitedly about what was out the windows and what they were going to do when they got there, but Tro-chan stayed quiet, a slight smile on his face.
There was a happy reunion at Jilly-chan's house and hugs were exchanged between everyone. When she saw Tro-chan Jilly-chan gave a squeal of delight and caught him up before he could begin on the messages his friends had given him back home.
"What are you doing here, kiddo?" She asked him happily.
"Hil-kun brought me so I could wish you a happy birthday from everyone," he explained, playing with her hair as he handed her the card. "And I had to bring you your present."
"Oh?" Jilly-chan sounded excited, which was just what he wanted. He pointed to the box he had left by Jilly-chan's sofa. "Can I see?" When he nodded, she unfolded the top, revealing a soft little mess of gray fur. Upon scooping it up, it looked up at her with sleepy dark eyes.
"A kitten!" Tro-chan nodded.
"She can take care of you when you're not with us," he explained, then paused. "I'm sorry she's not orange, but I don't think Karin-sama owns any orange barn cats. Maybe she does and they just didn't have kittens." Jilly-chan smiled and pulled him and the kitten in for a hug.
"She's just perfect. Thank you, Tro-chan, I think this really is going to be my best birthday ever."
"Really?"
"You bet. Now let's go find the others and see about some cake, eh?"
"Sure!"
"Meow!"