Saa, chapter 3 of 'From Boys to Cats' is up! I must admit I have lousy descriptive skills. From boys to cats - what sort of title is that??
Anyway, thank you to those who have reviewed and put this story on your Favourites and Alerts. I hope I continue to be able to write decent fanfics!
Onwards!!
People passing by gave the four cats an odd look and an occasional smile, but luckily none of them tried to pick the cats up or try to identify them. Fuji, of course, was leading the way - even as a cat he still seemed to retain superb directional skills. The other three cats followed nervously behind.
Momoshiro had never realised that the city was quite so big before. He had to dodge several legs as their owners hurried past without even acknowledging the presence of a cat beneath them. Momoshiro was highly tempted to nip one of them on the ankles just as a warning, but seeing his three companions rapidly drawing away ahead of him, he hastened his pace.
"Fuji-sempai, why are we going to Hyoutei to get lunch?" Ryoma asked as he determinedly dogged (pardon the pun) his sempai, weaving in and out of the human legs around them. "Isn't Hyoutei a school?"
"Yes." Fuji replied, unperturbed.
"Then how are we going to get lunch there?" Momoshiro asked confusedly.
Fuji finally stopped and wheeled around to fix Ryoma and Momoshiro with his oddly closed cat eyes. "Because Hyoutei is a highly exclusive school catering to extremely rich or talented students." When both of the cats stared at him in incomprehension, Fuji sighed. "And because they're rich they can afford to buy lunch for four stray cats, ne?"
"And is that the only reason why we're going to Hyoutei?" Ryoma asked cautiously. He had learned ages ago not to take anything that Fuji said at face value. An impossibly wide grin unfurled across Fuji's face.
"Would you like to go to Rikkaidai instead?" He purred.
Ryoma's fur prickled when Fuji mentioned Rikkaidai, thus leading his train of thought to Kirihara Akaya. "No thanks." He said flatly. He began washing an ear vigorously in an attempt to get his sleek dark green fur back in place. His companions, having been imbued with the same primitive instinct to groom in times of trouble, joy, sadness (in other words, all the time), waited patiently until Ryoma managed to lick the last strand into obedience. Once that little bit was done, they proceeded on their way, with, again, Fuji in the lead.
Hyoutei's school building was enormous. Gargantuan. Huge. Compared to it, Momoshiro felt infinitely small. He hurried to one side of the school gate and students milled in and out of the school, obviously on their lunch break of sorts. The gardens and lawns of the school looked as if it had been neatly ironed and dyed a rich green, and none of the cats felt like stepping on it. Instead, they began strolling through the school as if they rightfully belonged there, and kept their eyes open for potential donors of lunch.
Fuji was correct about students being rich enough to purchase (or throw away) lunch to four stray cats. Within twenty minutes of encountering six separate students, Momoshiro had wolfed down two tuna sandwiches, a small bag of chips, the leftovers of a rich chocolate cake, and a handful of fries which an obliging student had dropped on the path for them. Ryoma had snagged the remains of a fast-food burger (and fought with Momoshiro over it) and Kaidoh picked away at a banana which a student had generously donated to him, having taken a fancy to the dark, green spotted cat.
"Fuji-sempai was right - Hyoutei does have a lot of things to eat." Momoshiro admitted as he stuck his admirably long pink tongue out and licked the crumbs off his nose and face. "I'd live here if I could."
"You would - you ate the most." Ryoma said sourly. He was still hungry even after the burger, and seeing Momoshiro pounce on anything edible made him slightly irritated. He saw another student wandering his way, and purred as he saw the student bend to get a closer look at him, rewarding his purr with a few fishcakes, which he devoured before Momoshiro had a chance to get close.
"Since when did the school have cats around?" A familiar voice asked, and Ryoma howled in protest as human hands slid around his belly and lifted him up. He saw the ground falling away to an alarming distance, and quickly twisted his head to look away, and into the face of the student who had picked him up.
It was Chotaroh.
The gentle, grey-haired lad was looking at Ryoma with a puzzled look on his face. Ryoma looked back on the ground and saw that Momoshiro had bolted, presumably to find Fuji and Kaidoh. At least, he hoped so.
"Ne, Shishidoh, come and have a look at this cat." Chotaroh called. Ryoma began to squirm.
"Put me down!" He said indignantly, but Chotaroh, mistaking his protest, began to stroke him. Ryoma's cat side began to purr, a deep throaty purr that rumbled in his chest with pleasure as Chotaroh's firm hand found its way down the side of his head. Ooh, Chotaroh definitely knew what a cat liked, Ryoma reflected, as he pushed his head against his hand in order to obtain more pats.
"What are you doing with that stray?" Shishidoh's bored voice asked, and Ryoma hissed with displeasure. He dimly realised that he was acting more and more like a cat, and he didn't like that one bit.
"Now you've made him mad." Chotaroh reproached. He continued scratching, and Ryoma deigned himself to settle back in those comfortable arms, closing his enormous golden eyes in contentment. "Isn't he adorable?"
"Whatever. Atobe told us to get to the tennis courts as quickly as possible, and you're wasting time patting a stray."
Again, Ryoma's hackles rose defensively.
"This cat's intelligent - see how he reacts every time you call him a stray? I think he belongs to someone, even though he doesn't wear a collar."
A collar? Ryoma yawned. Don't joke with me. I'm not a pet, I'm one of the tennis genuises at Seigaku, hello. I don't need a collar to identify myself.
"I'll take him along to practice." Chotaroh decided, and Ryoma's golden eyes shot open. "Somehow I just don't feel comfortable leaving him alone here. His owner might be looking for him."
"I don't have an owner." Ryoma told Chotaroh blandly, knowing that the boy couldn't hear him anyway. "But yes, take me along to tennis practice. I want to learn every single one of your moves."
Chotaroh gave him an odd look, and Ryoma was suddenly plunged into doubt as to whether the boy could understand him. But the moment passed, and Ryoma found himself being carried off in the boy's arms.
"Let's go then." Chotaroh said, and Ryoma agreed whole-heartedly.
Ryoma had never been, personally, on to the Hyoutei tennis courts before, and he looked around in interest from the vantage point that was Chotaroh's arms. There were quite a few people wearing the Hyoutei uniform milling about on the courts, although they weren't playing tennis. If Tezuka-buchou was here this instant, he would probably order all of them to run twenty laps for obstructing proper tennis matches, Ryoma mused. His cat whiskers twitched slightly when Chotaroh put him down beside his tennis bag.
"Stay here, okay? Atobe will be coming soon, and I don't think he likes cats particularly much."
Ryoma bared his tiny teeth in a cat grin. What, Atobe didn't like cats? What a particularly interesting bit of fact.
Chotaroh noticed the grin, and reached over to pat Ryoma's head. "No, whatever you're thinking of, it's not a good idea."
"Oh? And how do you know it's not a good idea?" Ryoma said meaningfully. It came out as a disgustingly delicate meow which Ryoma hated but could do nothing about. In order to cover his embarrassment, Ryoma licked one paw thoroughly and began to wash his ears, first the right one, then turning his head to get at the other. Today seemed to be the day to lick his fur into obedience, Ryoma noticed wryly as he forcibly licked down a tuft that threatened to stand up on end.
"Ah, Atobe-san." He heard someone say, and he looked up in interest.
The current Hyoutei captain came striding down the length of the tennis courts, immaculately groomed and presentable as always. Ryoma reflected that Atobe would in all likelihood make an excellent grey Persian, and resolved to get Inui to make more of his Juice so that he would at least have the satisfaction of knowing that someone else other that the Seigaku regulars had experienced the horror of being in the Seigaku tennis team with Inui as their manager.
"What is this dirty little furball doing here? Kabaji, take it away." Came the imperious voice. Ryoma flattened his ears and hissed. Him? Dirty? Little? If Atobe wanted a new face arrangement, then Ryoma was more than happy to oblige.
"Ano, Atobe-san, it's just a stray cat. I brought him here." Chotaroh confessed, quickly scooping Ryoma up before Kabaji could lay hands on him. "He's really clean, look. I thought maybe we'd meet his owner somewhere, and I couldn't just leave him wandering around."
"That's right, listen to him." Ryoma yowled indignantly. "One more word about me being dirty or little and I'll scratch your face to ribbons, captain or no captain. Hmph!"
"This cat gets irritated easily, Ohtori-kun." Shishido observed, bending down to stare Ryoma in the face. Ryoma hissed back and swiped at him – missing only when Chotaroh pulled him back.
"It'll be all right." Chotaroh said hastily. "Right, neko-san?"
"Well, only for you." Ryoma grumbled, fluffing out his tail appropriately and wrapping it around himself. "Get on with the tennis already."
Atobe seemed to be thinking along the same lines. He turned, promptly forgetting the cat. With a snap of his fingers, everyone else who was not part of the Hyoutei tennis teams filed quickly and silently off the courts. Ryoma watched with some appreciation at the efficiency of the whole process.
"Right. We're going to have a match against Seigaku soon. Although it is not a formal match that will affect our rankings in the regionals, Ore-sama still wants top performance from everyone. That means not losing to that poker-faced captain's team, do you hear me?"
Ryoma had to stifle a snort of laughter. Poker-faced? How appropriate.
Atobe pointed an imperious finger. "Shishido and Chotaroh, the two of you will be playing doubles two." Another point. "Gakuto and Yuushi, you're playing doubles one." Point. "Hiyoshi, singles three." Point. "Jiroh, singles two. And of course, Ore-sama will be playing singles one."
"We should tell Jiroh about this later." Shishido muttered to Chotaroh. "He'll most probably be facing that tensai everyone was talking about. Mou, Jiroh will be so hyper it'll be tiring to see him bouncing off everything in sight."
Chotaroh laughed weakly. "Saa..."
The tennis drill began then, and once again Ryoma was deposited on the ground. He fluffed up his fur again irritably, wishing that these whimsical humans would make up their mind whether to cuddle him or leave him alone. It was such a pain to have to neaten his fur every time someone picked him up then put him down.
Hyoutei's tennis practice was extremely interesting. Ryoma saw quite a few familiar moves – like the Higuma Otoshi that Fuji-sempai himself used. He noticed that Chotaroh's Scud Serve had gotten slightly faster and more accurate as well, and made a mental note to inform Inui of that fact. He felt rather like a spy as he sat there, watching the fast-paced tennis games and the steady, almost hypnotic pock, pock, pock of the balls hitting the hard and unyielding courts.
When Atobe declared a half-hour break, Ryoma was so intrigued by the tennis matches that he wanted, very badly, to get out there and maybe challenge Atobe to a game. Instead, being the cat that he currently was, his fur bristled with impatience and even Gakuto noticed the change in him when they came over to get their drink bottles.
"Hey, Chotaroh, your cat looks like it wants to play tennis as well." He observed as he rummaged around his bag for his drink bottle.
"He does, doesn't he?" Choratoh admitted.
Yuushi bent down to examine Ryoma closely. Ryoma shrank away from him, annoyed that his private space was being invaded.
"What are you looking at?" He retorted rudely although he knew that Yuushi wouldn't understand him. There were quite a few advantages to being a cat – Ryoma could cuss all he like and no one would be any wiser.
"Is there anything wrong?" That was Gakuto's muffled voice.
"Hmm?" Yuushi was staring quite intently at Ryoma, and the cat was beginning to feel uncomfortable. "No, nothing much. It's just that this cat looks awfully like someone...someone from Seigaku...don't you think?"
TBC
Man, this chapter is shorter than the previous two, don't you think so? It's not very interesting either... :( Still, even I wonder what will happen to the cats...I haven't planned anything, sadly. Please review and let me know what you think, maybe I might get inspirations that way..?