Hi all, here is yet another oneshot, hope you enjoy….
Azumanga Daioh is not mine, it belongs to Kiyohiko Azuma
Azu-Animals
By Anime Rebirth.
Chiyo got out of bed to begin her school day. She turned and noticed Mr. Tadakichi already standing there to greet her.
"Good morning Tadakichi-san." she said as she gave a bright smile and gave him a big hug. Chiyo then stared at the corner and saw Sakaki's cat Maya still asleep in the corner on his special pillow which Sakaki had gotten her.
"Silly kitty." Chiyo though as she gave a small giggle. Maya of course was staying with Chiyo while Sakaki, graduated from school because the tall girl couldn't keep Maya at her house because her mother was allergic to cats.
As Chiyo left to take a shower, Tadakichi walked over to the sleeping Maya and just stared at him.
"What are you staring at?" the iriomote cat asked.
"Why do you always fake sleeping around Chiyo-san?" the big dog asked.
"Only Sakaki-mama is allowed to play with me." Maya explained.
Tadakichi just sighed. "She was nice enough to let you stay here, the least you could do is let Chiyo-san play with you." he told him.
"We'll see." Maya said as he stretched. And then slowly got up and walked around.
At that moment Chiyo came in wearing a bathrobe, she saw Maya just stare at her. "Well good morning sleepyhead." She said as she closed her eyes and smiled. "Meow." Maya responded as he let Chiyo pet her.
Tadakichi just smiled. "That's a good start." he thought.
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Chiyo came downstairs with Tadakichi and Maya behind her. "Hurry up if you want to say good morning to Sakaki-san." At that moment the phone rang. "I wonder who that could be this early in the morning." Chiyo said as she headed for the phone.
She answered the phone "Good morning…." she greeted. "What…..oh that's too bad, I really hope she feels better….I'll stop by after school to visit her." she hung up the phone and sighed. "Sorry guys, but Sakaki seemed to have cauht a cold and she isn't going to school today." She turned to Maya. "That means you won't be able to see her for a while Mr. Maya, I hope that doesn't bother you." Maya just stared at her.
"Don't you worry, soon she'll be all better and you can be with her again, I promise, she said as she stroked him." she turned to Tadakichi. "Now you make sure to take good care of Mr. Maya while I'm at school, okay Tadakichi-san." The dog just barked as if to say yes. And with that Chiyo said her good-byes and was gone.
"Sakaki-mama is sick." Maya said in a worried tone.
"Everything is going to be okay, you heard what Chiyo-chan said." Tadakichi said as he tried to make him feel better.
"I've got to go see her." Maya said.
"Are you crazy?" Tadakichi responded. "You can't go to her house, you know Miss Sakaki's mother is allergic to cats, and if she ever found out that she has a pet cat, she might have you sent away or worse……have them give you." he gulped. "'THE BIG SLEEP!!!!!"
"That's a risk I'm willing to take, but I just can't bear the thought of my Sakaki-mama all alone in bed….no I must go with her." Maya said as he had appeared to made up his mind.
Tadakichi just sighed. "Fine, but I'm coming along, if anything were to happed to you, Chiyo-chan would never forgive me." he said.
"Arigato." Maya said as he smiled.
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The two animals slowly made their way to the backyard. "Where are we going." Maya asked.
"There's a hole down here by the stone wall that I dug when I was a puppy, no one ever found it so it should still be there." Tadakichi responded.
"And why would there be a hole there?" Maya said as he gave an evil grin.
Tadakichi just sweat drop. "Well you see, when Chiyo-chan was off to her first day of kindergarten I um….missed her and I snuck out and went to her school." the large dog said as he blushed, which caused Maya to snicker. "Okay here it is." Tadakichi said as he started to dig to make the hole bigger so he could fit.
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The two animals made their way down the sidewalk. "Okay where does she live?" Tadakichi asked.
Maya looked around the neighborhood. "I have no idea." he answered.
"WHAT?!!!!!" Tadakichi answered. "You mean to tell me that you don't even know where your owner lives?"
"Hey give me a break, I've never been to her house, but I'm sure I could find it, after all I managed to make it all the way here from Okinawa right?" he said as he beamed with pride.
"Yeah and you almost died from exhaustion in the progress." Tadakichi responded as he narrowed his eyes, which caused the cat to blush in embarrassment.
"Let's just go." Maya said as they continued on their trek to Sakaki's house.
But unknown to both of them, someone was listening in on their conversation…..
"So, the tall girl is sick and at home….." the figure gave a small but sinister smile. "I gotta tell the boss right away."
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Outside next to a fish market, a small black was busy eating some fish from the dumpster that had been thrown out. "Ah, a perfect meal for a king like me." he said.
"Boss…..hey boss. A small orange cat said as he rushed up. "Boss, I've got big news."
The black cat just stared at him angrily. "Neji, how dare you interrupted the great Kamineko's meal, this had better be important for your sake." he responded in an angry tone.
"I'm sorry Kamineko-boss , but it appears the tall girl who always tries to pet you has taken ill and is at home in bed." Neji explained.
"Oh really?" Kamineko answered as he slowly walked up to the orange cat. "This is most interesting news indeed." Kamineko just walked around. "In her weaken state, she should be easily taken care of, that way she will never bother me again."
"But that's not all Boss, it seems that the iriomote cat and the large dog that always seem to hang around her are also looking for her." Neji told him.
Kamineko narrowed his eyes. "Then they have no idea where she lives?" he asked.
"It doesn't appear so." Neji answered.
"Well this is good fortune for us…..because I do." he said has he grinned and his jagged teeth just sparkled. "Gather up the Catkuza." he demanded.
"Who do you want?" Neji asked.
Kamineko's grin got even wider. "All of them."
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Meanwhile our dog and cat companions continued to search for Sakaki's house. "It's no use Maya, we can't seem to find her house, let's just turn back." Tadakichi pleaded.
"Never…." Maya responded. "As long as my poor Sakaki-mama is sick in bed, I will not rest until I am by her side." Suddenly they felt something rush by them. "What the hell…." Maya said.
They noticed that it was a young girl with an angled styled hairstyle, she seemed to be carrying a small bag.
"DON'T WORRY SAKAKI-SAN, I'M ON MY WAY TO TAKE CARE OF YOU IN YOUR HOUR OF NEED!!!!!!!" she yelled which caused people to stare at her.
"Who the hell was that?" Maya demanded.
"That's….Kaorin." Tadakichi answered as he sweatdropped.
"Who?" Maya asked.
"I've only seen her twice, once when she helped make some outfits for a school festival, and the other time when she came over to go to Chiyo-chan's summer house."
Maya stared at Kaorin and then narrowed his eyes. "She seems so obsessed with her." he said in an angry tone. "Shouldn't she be in school?"
"Are you jealous?" Tadakichi said as he snickered.
Maya just blushed. "No way, why do you think that?"
Tadakichi then got serious. "Well in either case, this is a good fortune for us, if we follow her, she should lead us to Sakaki-san's house." he explained.
Maya's eyes grew wide. "THEN WHAT ARE WE WATING FOR?!!!!!" and with that they proceeded to chase after Kaorin.
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Kaorin finally made it to Sakaki's house and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes the door opened. "Kaorin?" Sakaki said as she saw her., she was wearing a mask to keep the germs from hitting other people. "What are you doing here, you should be in school."
Kaorin's eyes just sparkled. "Oh Sakaki-san, after Chiyo-san told me you were sick, I just couldn't sit at school and let you suffer." she showed her the bag she was carrying. "I bought you some medicine and some soup."
Sakaki just scratched her head in confusion. "A…arigato." And then let her in.
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Maya walked up to the house. Tadakichi was waiting around the corner because if a cat made Sakaki's mother sneeze, he imagined what would happen if a dog was there also.
Maya made her way to a window near the top of the house. What he saw inside surprised her, there were stuffed Neconeco's all over the room. "This can't be Sakaki-mama's room." he thought. But sure enough, Sakaki and Kaorin came inside, reveling that indeed it was.
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Now you just lie down and let Nurse Kaorin take care of you.
Sakaki felt embarrassed. All she wanted was to be left alone to rest, that's why she had told her parents to go ahead to go to work and not worry about her. But now that Kaorin was there, she felt she wasn't going to get any peace.
"Really Kaorin, this is not necessary, you should head back to school." Sakaki pleaded.
"I will not leave your side until you are better." Kaorin responded as she poured some medicine into a spoon. "Now drink this down."
"Kaorin please I beg….." but before Sakaki could finish, Kaorin jammed the spoonful of medicine into her mouth. Sakaki appeared to be turning green. "Blech, what did you give me." she demanded.
"Oh it's an old Aida family remedy passed down from generation to generation. It will really help you." Kaorin responded as she gave a small smile.
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"She's gonna kill her." Maya thought as he saw what Kaorin was doing.
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"Now how about some nice warm soup." It was then that Kaorin noticed Maya at the window. "Excuse me for a minute Sakaki-san." She headed for the window as Sakaki tried to get the horrible taste out of her mouth.
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Kaorin opened the window. "Now Kitty, I don't know what you want but this is not the time to hang around here." she gave Maya a small shove which caused him to jump down to the next floor and landed on another window.
"That human is real pushy." Maya thought, not realizing the pun he had made.
He made her way to the back of the house, and he noticed that a kitchen window was open. "That's my ticket in." he thought as he smirked.
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Meanwhile Kaorin was busy feeding Sakaki her homemade chicken soup. "Do you like it Sakaki-san?"
Sakaki just blushed. "It's quite good Miss Kaorin, but really, I am capable of feeding myself." she answered.
"Oh no Sakaki-san, you must regain your strength." Kaorin told her.
"This girl is strange." Sakaki thought.
At that moment Kaorin noticed a small head peering inside from the door. "Not again." she thought. "Could you excuse me for a minute Sakaki-san." she told her.
"Of course." Sakaki quickly said, hoping to get some quick peace from her.
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The front door opened and Kaorin placed Maya on the front step. "You stay away from Sakaki-san, I don't want your germs making her worse." she said as she closed the front door.
"We'll just see about that." Maya thought.
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Kaorin came back into the room. "Okay Miss Sakaki, how about we finish up that soup." she said as she smiled.
Sakaki showed her the empty bowl. "It's all finished." she then sighed. "Look Kaorin, I know you mean well, but I really do not need anyone to look after me, so please, just go back to school."
But it was no use, for you see Kaorin could see from the window that Maya had managed to climb to the top of the house. "That does it." she turned to Sakaki. "Excuse me Sakaki-san, I'll be right back."
Sakaki just sighed. "Haven't you listened to one word I've said?" but Kaorin just left the room. "Apparently not." Sakaki thought as she sweat dropped.
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Kaorin looked thorugh a phonebook until she found the number she wanted. She took out her cell phone and dialed. "Hello Animal Control……" she said after a few seconds…..
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Maya slowly made her way to the top of the house. "I'd like to see her to try and stop me from seeing my Sakaki-mama." he thought. The window to the attic up ahead. "Even is she kicks me out again, I'll just keep coming in though here." He was about to head to the window when he felt a sharp pain in his….well butt. "Huh?" Maya said as he noticed that there appeared to be a pointed object stuck there. "Feel….so…..sleepy…." and then he passed out.
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Tadakichi looked from around the corner in horror at the event that was taking place……..
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"That looks bigger than your usual cat." Kaorin told the man from animal control.
"Hmm." The man said as he studied him. "That's because this is an iriomote cat." he told her. "It must have gotten loose from the zoo." he took out his cell phone and called the zoo. After a few minutes he hung up.
"What is it?" Kaorin asked.
"Well it seems that the zoo isn't missing any iriomote cats." he stared at Maya who was already in a cage in the back of the truck. "Well we can't have a wild animal like that running around.
"What are you going to do." Kaorin asked.
"Well I can't put him to sleep because it's an endangered spieces." he said which caused Tadakichi to sigh in relief. "But I have a friend in America who runs an aniaml preserve, I'll send it to him."
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"Oh no Chiyo-chan is going to kill me." Tadakichi thought.
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As the Animal Control truck drove off, Tadakichi chased after it with all of his might.
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Kaorin returned to Sakaki's room. "Well Sakaki-san you are going to be pleased with me." she said as she beamed with pride.
"What is it Kaorin?" Sakaki asked in a puzzled tone.
"There was a wild iriomote cat hanging out there, but I called animal control and it's all been taken care off." Kaorin said as she smiled.
Sakaki froze up. "Iromote…..cat?" she stayed there with a horrific look on her face.
"Sakaki-san?" Kaorin asked in a worried tone.
"NO MAYA!!!!!!!" Sakaki screamed as she quickly jumped out of bed.
"Sakaki-san, what are you doing?" Kaorin asked as she grabbed her arm to calm her down.
"DON'T TOUCH ME YOU PET KILLER!!!!!!" Sakaki said as she broke free and ran off.
"Pet….killer…?" Kaorin just stood there with a blank look on her face.
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Tadakichi kept chasing the truck until it finally reached the animal shelter. He kept his distance as he saw the man taked the caged Maya inside. "I've got to rescue him." he thought.
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Inside Maya was coming too. "Well well well, what have we got here." he heard a voice say. Maya looked around and saw that he was in a room full of dogs. "Why did they put me in here?"
One of the dog just laughed. "There wasn't anymore room in the cat section." he said. "But don't worry, you won't be here much longer, I hear there gonna send you to America."
Maya froze up. "NO I'VE GOT TO GET TO MY SAKAKI-MAMA!!!!!!!" he said as tears appeared in his eyes.
The dog gave a puzzled look. "How can a wild animal like you have an owner." he asked.
"Ever since I first saw her in Okinawa on Iriomote Island, I got this warm feeling from her, I knew that she was a kind person who deep down suffered on the inside." The other dogs started to pay close attention. "I spent the whole day with her, I could tell that for the first time in her life, she was very happy and I was proud that I was a big part of that."…..
Maya continued. "Then, after my mother was killed, I knew that feeling of empiness, that sadness, and I knew of only one person who I needed to be with, that's why I managed to sneak aboard a boat back to Okinawa and then stow away on a plane heading for Tokyo."
The dog that was talking to him walked up. "And you really care for her?" he asked.
"Of course, she takes good care of me, and I know she loves me very much." Maya responded. "I can't stay with her at her house because her mother is allergic to cats, that's why I'm staying at her friend Chiyo's house, but then I heard she got sick, I just had to try and go see her." she lied down on the floor. "But now I guess we are going to be separated again." he started to cry.
The dog just looked at him and smiled. "Hey, don't give up there buddy, I'm sure we can find a way to help you out."
Maya just stared at him. "You'd help me?" he asked.
"Sure." the dog told him. "It's not right for an animal to be seprated from his owner." he turned to the other dogs. "Okay listen up, my little buddy here has been seprated from his owner, and we are gonna help him escape."
"But Koji?" what of the dogs asked. "If we can't get out, how can he."
Koji, as the dog was now known as just smiled. "He's a cat, right, all we have to do is push the cage door hard enough for it to open a litlle, then he can squeeze through the opening." He headed for the door. "Okay everyone, 1.….2.….3!!!!!!!!!" All the dogs charged at the door and slamed into in, with no results. "OKAY AGAIN!!!!!!!" Koji ordered. "1.……2.…….3!!!!!!!!!"……
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Kaorin had called the other Azu-girls at school to explained what had happen, they all came to Sakaki's house, incuding Yukari and Minamo.
"What's going on Kaorin?" Chiyo asked.
"W…well you see, I came here to take care of Sakaki-san and there was this iriomote cat bothering us so I called animal control and……"
"YOU CALLED ANIMAL CONTROL ON MAYA?!!!!!!" Kagura yelled.
"There gonna put him night-night." Osaka said.
Kaorin waved her arms. "No, no, no, since he's endangred the man from animal control told me he was gonna send him to an animal preserve in America." she explained.
"AMERICA!!!!!!" Everyone else yelled.
"I….I didn't know that it was her pet." Kaorin tried to explain. "After I told her, she ran off to look for it."
Minamo stared at the other girls. "Not good, she's too weak to be out there, we have to find her as soon as possible." she told them.
"I'd like to help too." Kaorin pleaded.
"I think you'd better stay out of this." Yomi said.
"Yeah, you've done enough already." Tomo added. They all rushed off leaving a depressed Kaorin behind.
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"1.…….2.……..3!!!!!!!!" The dogs were finally making some progress. "OKAY BOY'S ONE MORE SHOULD DO IT!!!!!!!" Koji yelled. "1.……..2.…….3!!!!!!!!" They slammed into the door and it finally made a small opening big enough for Maya to get though. "Okay buddy, you can go to your owner now." Koji said as he smiled.
"Arigato." Maya said as he bowed his head. He then squeezed thought the opening. "You take care of yourselves." he said.
"You too." Koji responded.
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Outside, Tadakichi was trying to find a way inside when he noticed someone jump out of a window. "Maya are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine." He assured him. "Now let's get back to Sakaki-mama's house, I wan't to give that Kaorin a scratch worse than the one I gave to that Tomo."
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Sakaki kept running towards the animal shelter, she needed to get her Maya back, no matter what. Suddenly she started feeling lightheaded. "No, I must get to Maya." she thought. It was then that she noticed something approaching her. It was a huge amount of cats and leading the way was Kamineko.
"What in the world." Sakaki thought. There was more cats here than the time when she was confronted by them along with Chiyo a while back.
Kamineko slowly approached her, all the cats gave a toothy grin.
Sakaki tried to run off, but she was too weak from her illness and collapsed to the ground. "Can't…..get…..away."
Sakaki saw that they were slowly approaching her, ready to finsh her off, when suddenly someone jumped in front of them.
"YOU EVIL KITTIES STAY AWAY FROM SAKAKI-SAN!!!!!!" the figure yelled at them.
"Kaorin?" Sakaki recognized her.
"I'm sorry for everything Sakaki-san, I didn't mean to mess things up." he turned to the cats. "IF YOU WANT HER, YOU'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME!!!!!!!"
Kamineko then charged at Sakaki's neck to take a big bite. But Kaorin quickly placed her hand in front of it at it took chomped on it.
"ARRGHH!!!!" Kaorin screamed in pain.
"Miss Kaorin." Sakaki said softly.
"I won't…let them touch you." she responded.
Kaorin knew that the odds were not it their favor, but she knew she was going to protect her Sakaki-san to the end.
It was then that two more figures jumped in front of them.
"Maya…..Mr. Tadakichi." Sakaki said before she passed out.
"SAKAKI-SAN!!!!!!!" Kaorin said as she ran to her side.
Kamineko just gave the duo an evil smile. "Well iriomote, this time I have more cats to help me." he told him.
Maya just narrowed his eyes. "I am not going to let you touch Sakaki-mama." he said as he hissed.
"And that goes double for me." Tadakichi said as he growled.
Kamineko just stared at them. "Nice try." he gave a large meow and a lot of cats jumped on top on them, pinning them down. "Now I want to see the look in your eyes when I take your precious 'Sakaki-mama' from you.
Maya tried to break free, but it was no use. He just looked on helplessly as Kamineko slowly walked twords Sakaki, he Saw that Kaorin placed herself on her owner to try and protect her. "No…." he whispered.
Tadakichi also tried to break free. He knew that after they take care of Sakaki and Kaorin, they would be next. "Chiyo-chan, I'm sorry, but I have failed you."
Kamineko just stared at Sakaki, soon victory would be his, but before he could approach her he heard what appeard to be growling. He slowly turned around and saw a dog standing behind him.
"Koji?" Maya said in shock. "But how?"
Koji turned to Maya and smiled. "Well we figured that as long as the door was already bent, we just kept slamming into it and we escaped.
"We?" Kamineko said. Suddenly he saw that there was an army of dogs surrounding them, all growling at the cats.
"B….boss?" Neji said as he shook in fright.
Koji grabbed Kamineko by the tail and picked him up. "Now let my two pals go or I'm gonna have a little kitty meal."
Kamineko just gulped as he nodded his head and the cats realeased Tadakichi and Maya.
"Now listen up, if we even hear that you've been looking at Sakaki wrong, we're coming after you…..GOT IT!!!!!!!" Koji warned. He then let go of Kamineko and he as well as all of the cats ran off.
Maya and Tadakichi walked up to Koji. "You two okay?" Koji asked.
"Yes thank you very much." Tadakichi said as he bowed his head.
"No prob, and if you ever need help, just look us up." And with that Koji and his "Dogkuza left.
Maya quickly walked over to Sakaki and Kaorin. Kaorin looked up and saw that the cats were gone. "What happened?" she asked. It was then she noticed Sakaki. "OH NO I'VE GOT TO CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!!!!"
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A few days later at the hospital, Sakaki was doing much better, but she still needed to be there a few more days. "The other Azu-girls visited her everyday, except for Kaorin, after what she had done, she was ashamed that Sakaki almost died and that it was her fault.
Maya waited outside the hospital also, Tadakichi was back at the house, he had been punished by Chiyo for letting Maya escape by not letting him play with his toys for a week. Maya felt terrible, but Tadakichi told him not to worry because he needed some excitement in his life anyway.
He wished he could see his Sakaki-mama, but animals were not allowed in the hospital. He felt sad, but he knew it was for the best. As he lied down on the grass field near the entrance, he noticed that someone was walking up.
"That's Kaorin." he thought. Kaorin walked up to the entrance and noticed Maya lying there. "Hello Maya." she said softly. "I know you don't understand me but I just want to ask for your forgiviness, I never ment for any of this to happen." she said as tears formed in her eyes.
Maya just stared at her. "Poor kid, I guess she really does care for Sakaki-mama." He stood up and walked up to her and rubbed himself on her leg. Kaorin picked him up and stroked him. Maya noticed her bandaged hand where Kamineko had bitten her.
"I think it's time for a little surprise." Kaorin said as she smiled.
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Sakaki was just lying there in her bed. Yukari, Minamo, and the other Azu-girls were there, the doctor had made a special acception to the number of visitors there could be in the room because of the special bond they shared.
At that moment, Kaorin walked in. "H….hello." she said nervously. Everyone just stared at her. "How is Sakaki-san doing?"
"I am doing much better Miss Kaorin." Sakaki answered.
Kaorin slowly walked up to the bed. "Um, Miss Sakaki, I am so sorry for everything." she told her.
"It's okay." Sakaki said as she smiled.
"I bought you a little surprise." Kaorin said.
"You did not have to do that." Sakaki told her.
"But I know you're going to like this surprise." Kaorin placed her purse on top of the bed and opend in, suddenly a small head popped out.
"M….Maya?" Sakaki said as her eyes teared up.
"Meow." Maya said as he slowly came up to her. Sakai held out her hands and Maya jumped into her arms,ahe slowly began to stroke her. "I've missed you." she said as she gave him a small hug.
Kaorin just smiled. "Come on you guys, I think they should be alone for a while." she said. Everyone then left.
Maya just stared at her Sakaki-Mama's eyes. He so happy that he could once again be with her.
"I will always be by your side always and forever." he thought. As he curled up near her shoulder….and then they both fell asleep…..
Well, what did you think about it, I really hope you liked it, please let me know, until then, take care.
Quick Note, If you didn't figure it out, Catkuza and Dogkuza are references to the Yakuza, a crime syndicite in Japan...AR
'TILL NEXT TIME