This was written as an entry in a fanfic challenge—except that I missed one of the rules, so it doesn't actually qualify :D Oh well, I had fun with it. I daresay Kero-chan had fun too ^_^
Kero circled the room for the thousandth time, trying to think of some way, ANY way to shake off the mind-numbing boredom assailing him. Normally, a video game would have done the trick. Or a quick nap on the windowsill, soaking in the sun. He had tried all these things, and yet none of them managed to appease him. He paused, frustrated. If only he could pin the feeling down! There was a hunger burning inside his small chest, a mindless drive to do…something… The small beast growled in frustration and lashed his tail against the wall viciously, wishing he knew the answer.
A familiar scent wafted up at him through the heating duct and the Guardian froze, his large ears swiveling forward in interest. He inhaled again, more slowly this time, and rolled the smell over the back of his tongue carefully. He knew this scent well, and if he merely followed it back to its source… A slow grin spread across his round, fuzzy face, and the Guardian's tail twitched in anticipation. He now understood the reason for his earlier malcontent.
It was springtime, and there were certain…urges…that just couldn't be ignored.
He transformed immediately, careful not to knock over any of Sakura's stuff this time—she got unusually touchy about silly things like broken lamps—and padded silently toward the door. Mindful of his armor, he reared up slowly and turned the door knob with his teeth. The taste was foul as always, a nasty metallic aftertaste that made his whole tongue feel numb, and the cat couldn't keep himself from grimacing. Sakura really should think about installing handles, he thought grumpily, and elbowed the door the rest of the way open.
He stalked his prey carefully, slinking out into the hallway with the practiced silence of a natural predator. He inhaled again and his legs tingled slightly at the mere thought. He hadn't done this since Clow's time, but the memory of it was still very much part of him—the sights and sounds burned into his brain as a permanent part of Springtime. Like riding a bicycle. he thought, though he had to concede at least privately that the analogy was completely inappropriate. For one, he had to admit that he'd never actually ridden one of the infernal contraptions.
He slunk down the stairs gracefully and moved into the hallway, still following his nose toward his prize. The scent was closer now, and it was all he could do to remain quiet. That snow-bunny false form of Yue's was standing in the entrance way, talking to Sakura, and Kero bared his fangs happily.
Jackpot.
He lowered his head, eyeing them carefully. If he worked hard enough he could sense Yue under that false-form smile, and he was relieved to see that his counterpart didn't seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings. And Yukito was too busy with Sakura to see the orange shadow in the corner of his eye. Kero huffed and crept closer, not the least bit interested in the sordid details of Sakura's cheerleading exhibition-performance-show-off-thingy. All that mattered was that Yue was here, now.
Kero lowered himself to the floor, wiggling his hindquarters back and forth until they were in just the right position. He had to wait for just the right opening…
"—why certainly, I'd love to attend your performance." Yukito was saying, and suddenly all of Yue's attention was focused solidly on the Mistress's smiling face.
Yes.
Now.
"Graaaaah!" Kero roared, and sprung out at his counterpart, the perfect picture of a feline predator. Yukito's expression was priceless, all wide eyes and terror, as Kero descended in slow motion.
"Aaaaahhh!" the snow bunny squeaked, before two hundred kilos of pure Sun Guardian slammed into his chest and sent him flying.
"Yukito-san!" Sakura yelped as they soared out the door, her voice a staccato note of pure astonishment.
They hit the ground hard and the wind whooshed out of both their lungs at once. Yukito's head smacked loudly against the edge of the sidewalk and appeared to stun him cross-eyed, but Kero could feel Yue moving beneath the facade. He jumped off lithely and waited for Yue to finish transforming, amused as always by the pure ANGER radiating outward from his winged cocoon. Somewhere in the background, he thought he could hear Sakura screaming out questions. He chose to ignore them.
"What is wrong with you, Cerberus?! Have you gone crazy?" Yue snarled when he finally emerged, whipping his wings back so hard that feathers fell out of them. Kero merely stuck his tongue out.
"You know what I want." the lion rumbled. "C'mon Yue." He swished his tail invitingly and smiled wickedly.
Yue looked furious.
"No, Cerberus!" the Moon Guardian snapped. "I was in the middle of something, and if you think I'm going to drop it all just to fool around with you, then--"
"I bet you'd do it for 'To-ya'." the lion retorted, leering like there was no tomorrow. "No time to play with poor Kero, you were coming to see To-ya-chan…"
Yue paled visibly, and he did the most wonderful impression of a dying fish sucking the air. "You mean you were there when I—you were listening when we were…why, I outta--!" he sputtered, and a set of moon crystals sprang to life in his hand.
"Yesssss!" Kero hissed to himself, and jumped into the sky to dodge the first shower of daggers. Yue followed close behind, still too annoyed to form a coherent death threat, but Kero knew he would calm down soon enough. By then they'd be so far into it that he wouldn't want to stop anyways, and maybe he'd even smile for once…heaven forbid.
"Kero-chan! Yue-san!" Sakura wailed below them. "Please, stop it!"
"Sorry, didn't heeaaar you!" Kero feigned, and did an idle back flip just to show off. The move cost him though, and Yue managed to clip him with a wing before he fully righted himself.
"There." Yue said decisively, but his voice lacked conviction. His face was flushed from the exertion of flying, and he certainly didn't look like he wanted it to end so easily.
"Oh yeah?" Kero grinned, and thrust himself forward. "We'll see about that!"
They continued diving at each other for another minute, falling quickly into the same patterns they always did. To an outsider, it probably looked completely random, but in truth they were moving in an intricate pattern of attacks and feints—never actually hurting each other, simply swooping close enough to touch with a wing or a paw or an arm. He was almost ready to take off for good, convince Yue to fly up among the clouds where it was slightly more private, when he remembered his Mistress standing below.
Three could play at this game just as well as two.
He was already plummeting downward on a collision course, so he didn't bother to check his speed. At the very last second, he swerved away from Yue and dove toward the place where Sakura was standing.
"Incoming!" he announced happily, and swept her off her feet with a slight flick of his left wing. Yue he could stand slamming into the pavement, but his Mistress was another thing entirely. He landed expertly and immediately moved to straddle her, removing any possibility that he had 'accidentally' bowled her over.
"Hey beautiful!" the lion growled, and nuzzled her cheek until she opened her eyes.
"Kero-chan!" Sakura squeaked, utterly shell-shocked. "What on earth are you two doing?!"
"Playin' tag." he replied, and gave her forehead an affectionate lick. "Congratulations, you're IT!" He snatched her hat as insurance and soared into the sky, waiting for her to follow and reclaim it. Somewhere off to the right he thought he heard Yue, angry all over again at this 'inexcusable insult to the Mistress!' Kero simply smiled and roared, losing himself in the simple pleasure of chasing and being chased.
As Clow always said, sometimes you just had to make your own fun.
Kero-chan wants flan—er, reviews!