Perfection
Chibi Tsuki
A/N: I'm back… even though I'm not meant to be for a short while… ^.^;; The names were very cute and it was a hard choice to pick so I tried to mention a few from each author.
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Chapter 7
Companion Fluffball
On her arrival to the dining hall, everyone had noticed the suspiciously cute looking bundle of fur cuddled against her neck although a rather large portion of the students had thought it to be merely a soft toy and that Lucretzia was quite childish. But this did not disturb her attitude towards the others in any way. She collected her sandwich and exited the main eating area. The cooks certainly wouldn't like it if they knew that Lu had brought a fluff ball into the kitchen since it was a private school with fine quality facilities, including dining hall. Preferring the air outside anyway, she escaped the curious stares and settled under a tree with soft ticklish grass. "Mew, mew, mew," the kitten cried happily as it tried to paw at her sandwich whilst trying to stay as cute as possible.
"You are a silly thing aren't you?" Lu giggled and let the kitten nibble a piece of ham which it accepted contently. "I still haven't named you yet…"
"Hey Lu," a familiar voice greeted and without looking up, Lucretzia knew who it was; Louie. "I see you're back and with a kitten too?" He smiled with a hint or surprise in his eyes.
"Yeah, meet my new kitten," she grinned as he took a seat next to her and studied the small creature.
"It looks awfully small for a kitten, it's a runt; a cute runt. So have you named it yet?" The kitten was glaring him at first but when he started tickling her on the neck, she purred adorably. Lucretzia shook her head in defeat. "How about… Socks or Cinnamon Doughnut? Chocolate's a good name."
She looked at him disappointedly and punched him gently in the arm, "Is food all you think about? There is more to just food in this world you know."
"Alright, alright, I'll think of something else. What about Knight as in warrior?"
"It's a girl…"
"Oh, um… Night as in 'midnight'?"
Suddenly, she jumped to the feet, startling the young kitten that fell dizzily into Louie's lap instead. "Midnight, it seems to be a good name for her, don't you think?" She glanced down at him, waiting for a reply which came instantly. The kitten also mewed in reply although the pair was rather suspicious whether the feline was actually able to understand what they said and they immediately came to the decision that it couldn't as it pounced after a butterfly. They sighed and settled under the tree again, enjoying the shade and breeze.
"How was your sister's party?" he asked with a sense of delightfulness.
"It was wonderful."
"Who caught the bouquet?"
"My sister threw it towards me on purpose but luckily someone else caught it." The wandering kitten raced back and pawed Lucretzia's bare thigh, looking longingly at the sandwich.
Louie laughed heartily and muttered, "But I thought all ladies would be happy to catch it, not the opposite way around." Lu could not resist the temptation to laugh along with Louie and defended herself with words,
"I apologise sincerely Mr. Erans, but unfortunately, I am not the typical lady." She sounded so profession in speech and yet hilarious at the same time. This time, Louie cracked up and rolled around laughing.
"I never thought this day would come, to hear you sound so much like a real lady." Finally they settled down again. "So Lu, are you going to watch my basketball game or do you prefer otherwise?" the words were supplemented with a wink.
"I think I'll just be a spectator," she grinned and finished off the rest of her sandwich, dropping strips of ham for the kitten. They left the area towards the gym while Midnight decided to sleep in Lu's arms. "Midnight's too tired already, I wonder how much energy she'll have tonight if she's going to sleep her day away like this." Squeezing through an awfully large crowd, Lucretzia pondered silently why there was so a large audience inside the gym. She asked her friend and he replied, explaining that lunch was lengthened because of the match between their school and another rivalling school. There was going to be a twenty minute warm-up starting soon. "I want to play, but they won't let me because I haven't really been considered into a proper school team."
"There'll be a next time," he uttered.
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Louie had gone off to his team mates while Lu seated next to a girl with darkish honey brown hair in neat plaits on the stadium-like seats. "Hello, my name is Sally Po," she greeted with a particularly attractive smile. Speaking in the same polite tone, Lucretzia introduced herself and suddenly found herself having something in common with this girl, although she didn't know what. It seemed to be the way she spoke that caught her attention. Lu smiled, thinking optimistically. "You're in my Physical Education class, with Mr Anderson, am I correct?" Lu nodded, now recognising the girl. "You a basketball fan too?"
Enthusiastically, Lucretzia muttered, "Yes, you seem to like basketball fan, are you?"
"I like basketball too. I personally think it's a great sport although the school doesn't permit us to play so I play during the holidays with my friends. Do you play?"
"I'm like you but I used to play everyday at my former school at lunch." She sighed let her eyes fall downwards towards Louie and hugged the kitten tighter.
Noticing her strange tension, Sally changed the conversation and gasped softly when her eyes laid on Midnight. "What a cute little kitten, what's its name?"
"Midnight," Lu relaxed slightly.
Zechs Merquise scanned around the gym, even up at the spectator seats which were designed to be like the seats in stadiums. There were so many people, he could barely find Relena within the crowd. He adjusted his pony tail and wiped a dry towel against his sweaty palms and neck. Looking slightly to the right, he noticed someone fairly familiar, Sally Po from several of his classes and… Lucretzia, the lovely maiden he'd been dreaming about nearly everyday. "Lucretzia," he murmured, gazing at her with his icy blue eyes with pure passion.
Abruptly noticing Zechs' endless stare on his adopted 'god-sister', Louie scowled and approached him, hiding his emotions. "Come on Mr Merquise, they're waiting for you." He rejoined the group with Zechs following behind although his eyes were still glued to Lu's.
"Snap out of it Zechs," Treize slapped his friend casually on the shoulder and finally broke the link. "I'm sure she'll prefer you playing more than staring continuously like a fool at her." He spoke at a low whisper, smirking at the same time. Acknowledging his friend's advise and the start of the game, Zechs wrapped a orange bandana with white randomly curved lines around his forehead, to avoid his fringe from poking into his eye whilst playing. Called for the jump ball, Zechs fixed a face of determination and focused his attention for the sound of the whistle, ready to pounce like a fierce lion.
Midnight hissed playfully and pounced coincidentally at the sound of the whistle with a white paw clawing at Sally's unfortunate plait. Lucretzia was appalled and scolded the kitten before pulling her back to her lap where she could fiddle with the scrunched up baking paper from her sandwich. But Sally merely giggled and said, "It's alright, she can play with my plait if she wants to, just as long as she doesn't chew on it."
"I'm pretty doubtful you know Sally. I bet this little terror will chew anything," Lu sighed, tickling Midnight's black velvety chest. When the pair heard a loud cheer they looked up, noticing their school's basketball team seem slightly relaxed in their navy blue and white basketball uniforms. "Two goals within the first five minutes, not bad."
"Did you underestimate the Blue Falcons?" Sally asked, obviously comfortable when speaking with Lucretzia. "They are a strong team and maybe with that other guy who plays at lunch, perhaps they can be even stronger."
"Who is the 'other guy'?" Lu asked, knotting her eyebrows as she tried to pick up information.
At first Sally laughed, thinking that Lucretzia was just being sarcastic but when she kept the look on her face, Sally became to believe her. "In fact he's really mysterious, always wears a cap so that no one sees his face but he's a awesome basketball player although there doesn't seem to be any recognition of him joining any basketball teams." So that was how everyone thought of her; truthfully she preferred that they thought of her like that than anything more and nodded automatically after Sally had finished explaining. "Call me Sally instead of Miss Po," she said abruptly.
"Alright, then call me Lu or Lucretzia, preferably Lu," Lucretzia uttered, glad to have made a new friend. "Which dormitory room are you in Sally?"
"Number 402, although I'll be changing rooms at the end of term like everyone else, what about you?"
"Mine is 389."
Managing to save some scraps from dinner, Lucretzia brought the small delightful meal back to her kitten whilst holding an ice cream container and a thick book about cats in one hand. She twisted to knob and pushed into the room to see the kitten leaning over a damp puddle on her desk. "Ah, NO!" she yelled in frustration as she nearly dropped everything to the ground. After some serious wiping, Lucretzia managed find free time for a relaxing shower since quite a few students had left for the weekend to return to their own homes. The tap turned on and she shut herself inside the shower cubicle, letting the warm water pour onto her skin and down her body. This was about the only time she could think privately to herself without interruptions since most of her time was rather packed during school and there wasn't any spare time to just laze around. Midnight, she's a cutie, but I must get her some stuff tomorrow or else my room will stink or cat pee. Groaning in frustration, she ran her slender fingers through her soaked hair, combing the shampoo through.
The room was strangely dark, simply different to the way she remembered it to be. Perhaps she was just thinking too much but when she felt the bundle of fluff next to her, she automatically relaxed and let sleep and dreams envelope her instead. "Good night, Midnight," she whispered just as her heavy eyelids closed.
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"Morning Louie," Lucretzia uttered as she made her way towards the school gates, Midnight fitting perfectly on top of her cap. The dark blonde-haired gentleman greeted in reply and yawned, covering his mouth. "You seem to be very tired. Did you have a late night?" Louie nodded and led the way to the main group for their weekly shopping needs in the town centre. Although most would expect a gentleman to wear something better than track pants, a T-shirt and a backwards cap, Louie couldn't be bothered to search his cupboard for something more respectable and for that reason, he had been given a warning whereas Lucretzia had arrived late and missed the teacher, which was a relief.
"What do you need to buy Lu- Noin?" he asked as they left the school grounds, heading towards the centre which was no more than a three minute walk, luckily.
"Cat food and a litter tray since something decided to use my desk as a toilet," she grunted as Louie looked at the kitten for a response which never came. "You?"
"Nothing much I guess," he answered tiredly, yawning once again. Lucretzia glanced suspiciously at him and studied him for a little while before he began to notice. "What?"
She pouted her lips slightly and narrowed her eyes then finally nodded. "You must have a purpose Mr. Erans for coming with me although I don't know what." He suddenly looked at her in an alert fashion, seeming rather tense with his lifted eyebrows. "That I will find out later." Soon they arrived at the centre of the shopping town and decided upon a meeting time, agreeing on twelve-thirty. Casually, Lu headed towards familiar shops, glancing through the windows while noting the time. They had approximately two hours to shop, which to her, was more than enough. She walked around, glancing at the new clothes currently in fashion, admiring a particular top before Louie hurried her on. "Don't you know that it's rude to hurry someone?" Shrugging, Louie cast a cheeky smile and walked along beside her quietly.
Just as the sign flipped around so that 'open' was displayed to the street, Lucretzia decided to drop into the shop, tucking Midnight into Louie's arms while he waited outside, looking rather 'lost'. "Welcome," the store keeper smiled, grinning cheerfully as she stepped in with a bright smile on her face. "Please, have a look around." Lu nodded politely and glanced around the small, yet tidy shop as she admired the coloured fish and birds displayed in the pet shop. She approached a shelf with neatly placed items and decided to select several products before asking the store keeper for advice on cats. "A kitten," he murmured as he took the words into thought and filled her on the information about cats and even giving her dry-cat food samples to see which one her pet preferred. This man was fairly nonchalant with his customer and Lu definitely approved of the friendly chat even though Louie seemed to be rather tedious, standing outside with a kitten settled in his lap, waiting forever for Lu to come out. After about five minutes, a pair of girls started conversing with him, laughing and chatting happily. He recognised them as girls from their school in Year 8 and he could not help but talk with them since he was already bored to the bone.
"What type of kitten is it Miss?" the store owner said in interest, wiping his hands against a damp towel by the counter as he calculated the price.
Lucretzia shrugged and said, "I'm not sure but she's outside right now, shall I bring her in?"
The man smiled, nodding. "I'll be happy to see what type of breed she is." Immediately, Lucretzia rushed outside, not noticing the girls and collected Midnight off her friend's lap. "Hm…" The man was studying the kitten as it kept its eyes on him, cautious of his every action. "She's a sweet little Balinese," he finally stated and searched around for something, grinning when he found it. "Although she won't grow much higher than she already is, she definitely has a lively spirit." He brought out a titbit and fed it to the kitten that accepted her luck gratefully, mewing a thanks.
"Thanks for helping sir," she muttered with a smile and paid the man the sum of her items. She glanced at the receipt and noticed the discount. "Sir, what's with the ten percent discount?"
"Just a treat," he replied and smiled, displaying dimples. The raven-haired teen thanked him again and exited the shop, to find that Louie was chatting heartily to three girls now. I swear that he was talking to two before. She shrugged and waved casually to him, but was unable to catch his attention. Sighing Lucretzia adjusted her cap, letting Midnight clamber back up to her shoulder while she held a supply of cat accessories between her knees. When she was all ready to leave, she headed towards back where she had came from, yelling while leaving her back to face her friend, "I'll see ya Louie." Startled, the chatting male glanced towards his friend's direction, noticing her leaving without him.
"Hey wait up Noin!"
Behind him, the girls cast a glance at each other and pondered for a while. "Noin? Could he be?"
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A/N: I've finally managed to finish the next chapter, especially since Demon-princzess was annoying me the entire afternoon for an update. It's only my first day of exams and when I'm supposed to be studying, I type out a chapter?! I'm ashamed of myself. Oh well… I'll survive. Decided to give Louie some popularity with girls, hoped you like that part! Any more ideas/suggestions you wish to give me? I was thinking about to a short side story about Midnight and her adventures but that'll have to come later because I just have too much in my hands.