Author's Note: Again, sorry that I can't post regularly like a normal person/author type thing, but I do not have internet at my house, so have to bike to the library whenever I write up new chapters ^^;
That being said, it will probably be a week before I'm able to post. Not due to not being able to get to the library, but because I'm stuck writing chapter 21 and so on _; If you guys have any ideas for Sayuri's campaign to be Student Body President please review! Hope you enjoy~
Chapter 20:
Sayuri was awoken late the next morning by the ringing of her cell phone. Groping blindly at her bedside table she finally got a hold of it to answer.
Clearing her throat first she swallowed at tried to sound awake as she responded, "Hello, Sayuri Nitta speaking."
"Sayuri-chan! Were you sleeping? I'm sorry if I woke you but I just had to know how your night went. I can't believe you actually got a date with someone from the host club. Kyoya-senpai no less! You've got to tell me your secret."
The black haired teen buried her face in her pillow as she listened to her friend babble on and held back a groan.
"It's okay Umiko-chan. I should be up anyway. What time is it?"
"Ummm…" There was a pause before the blonde answered, "Ten thirty-seven."
Her friend's eyes widened and rubbed her face. She should have been up hours ago. "Can't believe I slept in that late…"
"Ooo, maybe it's because you were so physically strained from last night? Hahaha."
Rolling her eyes, the young heir sat up and ran a hand through her rumpled locks before deigning to reply, "I do believe you are fishing Nekozawa-san."
"Suuure I am. But hey, if you don't have anything to do today, how about you come over to my house for a visit?"
"And I'm sure this invite has nothing to do with my date last night." Sayuri said as she opened up some drapes to let light the semi cloudy morning into her spacious bedroom.
"Not a thing." Her friend responded innocently.
The girl chuckled and stated, "All right. I'll be over in an hour or so okay?"
"Yay!" The blond squealed before hanging up.
After taking a quick shower and dressing in her usual casual attire of a long red skirt, black tights and brown loafers, accompanied with a long sleeved button up white shirt and simple red ribbon tied around the collar, Sayuri headed downstairs. She narrowly avoided having to face her mother's ire over the mess she had left in the family limo last night by saying she was due somewhere and had one of their drivers take her in the town car to the Nekozawa Manor.
Compared to the Kyoya new age estate, the Nekozawa's home was ancient with a bend of European and Japanese structural design in its dark décor. But one thing stood out as soon as she was driven in. Cats. Lots of them. Not real ones mind you, but statues and carvings galore. It was amusing more than anything, she thought as a few servants opened the door to her car for her and lead her inside.
The inside was fairly normal, if a bit darker in its color scheme than usual. She was lead into what appeared to be a parlor when Umiko burst through the door.
"Sayuri-chan! Come quick!" Was all she exclaimed before darting away the way she came.
Blinking in absolute confusion, the raven haired girl could only follow her friend up the stairs and into what she recognized immediately as the blonde's room.
There were posters for manga and anime everywhere, not to mention the shelves of them on one side of the wall. But what drew her attention next surprised her most. There was a spread of soft towels on the floor with two little puffs of fluff in the middle.
"Are those…?" Sayuri questioned wordlessly as she knelt next to her friend, her attention fixed.
Umiko nodded excitedly. "Kittens! But they're so tiny and small… I found them yesterday when I was picking up the new Vampire Knight DVDs and I couldn't just leave them there on the side of the street! So I took them home with me… But I don't know the first thing about raising kittens, I've never even had a pet besides a fish before because my mom's allergic."
Sayuri's face couldn't help but soften as she tentatively reached a hand forward to stroke the back of the gray-ish brown fuzz ball. It looks only about big enough to fit in her hands if she cupped them together. It's companion mewed pitifully, twitching it's black and white ears. The black and white one was significantly smaller than it's sibling, but more so in weight.
"Are you going to keep them?" She asked curiously.
The otaku bit her thumb nail as she replied, "I don't know… I'd like to but… This isn't really my house. My aunt and uncle are letting me stay here because this is closer to school than where either my mom or dad live."
Sayuri frowned ever so slightly as she gathered that her friend's parents lived separately and filed the information away to consider later. "Well you should ask your aunt and uncle then."
"But they're away on business! They won't be back until next weekend…" The blonde wailed.
Sighing patiently, she tried again, "Isn't there someone else who lives here you could ask?"
"Well…" She lowered her thumb in consideration. "I suppose I could ask my cousin."
Nodding, the teen stood and offered her hand to help her friend up. "Let's do that now then."
It took them but a moment for them to ask a servant to take them to the elder Nekozawa's room, making them stay outside the door while she fetched him.
It was a minute before slowly the door creaked ever so slightly open and an odd looking cat hand puppet peeked out.
"Yeees?" A rather unsettling voice asked before a black hooded head followed the puppet.
Sayuri had frozen; this was Umiko's cousin? They were nothing alike! She knew the Nekozawa family was known for their old ways and curses and things, but she had assumed that they had grown out of it with the times, especially by going off of her friend's personality.
"Umehito! Please, can you help me?" Umiko asked, oblivious to her relative's creepiness, or conceivably just used to it.
"Perhaps. What is it that requires my assistance? My Bezelnoff and I may be able to help with some curses…"
"No no, nothing like that. It's just… Gah, you have to come see." She grabbed the boy's wrist (the one without the puppet) and proceeded to drag him to her room, ignoring his cries of pain as they passed by windows that let in what little light there was in. Leaving Sayuri to simply follow, wondering if anyone in their family was normal…
"Oh!" The secret blonde exclaimed as he saw the kittens. "Two young felines, my my. I didn't realize you held an interest in the family business Umiko-chan."
Pouting, the otaku crossed her arms, "I don't. But I couldn't just leave them on the side of the road… So I took them home. But I don't know how to take care of them. You know my mom and animals… Can you help?"
"Hmm… Such precious specimens of the feline species…" He knelt down, his black robes pooling around him as he reached a non puppet covered hand forward to tilt one of the cat's heads up and began muttering to himself as he made his inspection of them. Once he was finished, he stated, "They are only a month or two old, not completely weaned as of yet, but their eyes are open. The black and white one is malnourished and a female, the other her brother from the same litter. You should get some baby formula and try feeding them some through a small dropper of some sort. When they are a month older you can begin feeding them soft kitten food. Belzenoff senses that the female is the runt of the litter and so will need extra care, but the male is well cared for."
Umiko hurriedly rushed out of her room to call for a servant and told them the items they needed before returning to the room.
"Thanks Umehito-kun. I didn't have a clue what to do. Oh…she's so cute…" She murmured as she cradled the black and white kitten.
"Hmm of course. As their savior, you must care for them as their mother…"
"Eh? Can I really do that? Would aunt and uncle be okay with that?"
"How can they deny a home to two of the Nekozawa family's charges? And it seems the female has already imprinted upon you."
During this whole time, Sayuri knelt quietly at the edge of the towels, motionless until she noticed the Burman looking kitten wobbling his way over towards her. Gently reaching forward, she allowed the feline to sniff her finger before she scratched his ear in a pleasing manner, making him purr, "Mrow."
Immediately noticing this, Umiko beamed and proclaimed, "You can be my second mommy Sayuri-chan! He already seems to like you!"
"Eh? Um… I don't know if I'll be able to take him home though…" She faltered, thinking of her rather anal mother.
"You must. I sense a strong spiritual connection between you two…" Umehito declared mysteriously as he petted the male, peering at its eyes. "Look for yourself."
He was right. The little beige and brown kitten had startling grey blue eyes much akin to Sayuri's own.
"Wooow… That's soo cool Sayuri-chan! What'll you name him? I think I'll name her…hm…" Umiko fell silent as she thought.
A name? Sayuri had never had a pet before. Not even a fish. Her mother always said they would be too much trouble and mess. But she had always wanted one. A dog or cat like some of her friends had. She would've even settled for a rabbit or hamster when she was younger. But if she was finally getting a pet of her own she wanted its name to be special and proper. Cuddling the young feline, she murmured, "Toya? Would you like that? It means 'far reaching arrow'…"
"Oh! And I can name her Sakura! Just like the brother and sister in Tsubasa Chronicles. She has her eyes too. Don't you Sakura?" The blonde girl said to the kitten that was nuzzling her knee.
Once Umehito had taught them both how to properly feed their new charges and set up a make shift bed and litter box, he left them to talk as the kittens slept.
"Okay. You officially have to dish now." Umiko stated as she sat cross legged on the floor, flipping disinterestedly through a shojo magazine.
"No I don't…" Her grey blue eyed friend pouted, flicking through her music selection on her computer.
"Yes! You really do!" The blonde protested seriously. "Think about it, you are the only known girl to have EVER gone on a date with anyone in the Host Club. How did you even manage it? I mean from what I know, Kyoya isn't exactly one of the soft types who will even go out with you out of pity and no offense but what do you have that the thousands of other girls don't?"
Sayuri sighed and slipped on her ring that she had kept in her skirt pocket before flashing her right hand to her friend. "This."
At first there wasn't a reaction from the green eyed girl until she grabbed hold of said hand and stared at it closely. "That….is NOT what I think it is…" She stated.
Raising an eyebrow the raven haired girl began, "Well…unless you think that it's some sort of Sailor Moon costume changer or an alien tracking device then I'm pretty sure it is."
Then Umiko just looked confused and mildly troubled. "When did this happen?"
Shrugging, she answered, "About a week ago…"
"But…you only started going out this week…"
Sayuri gave a nod.
"Your parents?"
Another nod.
"Ah…"
The final nod coupled with a sigh. "It's not too bad. I mean it is Kyoya. I like him and we get along well."
A hint of a smile began to return to Umiko. "Like like him?"
She gave off a laugh, "Maybe. Who wants to know?"
"Only the entire school! You don't know how many girls I had to fend off while you were practicing asking what was going on between you guys! I hope his fans aren't the vindictive jealous types. But I've got your back. And don't you dare let him pressure you just because he's in the host club." She said, pointing a finger at her friend, who turned a delicate shade of pink.
The blonde blinked in surprise. "What are you blushing about? Oh my god girl, you've got to dish on what happened last night!" She leapt up and shook her friend by the shoulders with a wide grin.
Blushing hotter and shaking her head, Sayuri protested, "Nothing! W-we just kissed it wasn't much mor-"
"JUST kissed? And what do you mean 'much' more?" Umiko raved, making the kitten start awake before turning and fading off again.
By this time Sayuri's face was beet red and she asked tentatively, "Umiko…have you ever had a boyfriend before?"
"Of course I have." Her friend stated matter of fact.
The raven haired girl's eyes shined with hope. "Really? Um… What did you guys…do?"
Laying on the bed on her stomach, Umiko propped her head up with her hands as she thought. "Well…the usual I guess. At least that's what all my friends told me. Kissing, necking, general making out." Then her gaze narrowed and she asked suspiciously, "Why? What did YOU guys do?"
Sayuri wrung her hands nervously as she bit her lip, weighing her options before she asked, "Promise you won't tell anyone?"
Her friend sat up and held up her hand with a serious expression. "Cross my heart and hope to be cursed by Belzenoff."
The black haired girl got up from the computer chair to peek out into the hallway to make sure it was empty before locking the bedroom door and climbing up on the bed with Umiko. Then she whispered into her ear the events of the previous night.
By the end of the explanation, even Umiko's cheeks were warm. "Whoa… this is better than a shojo manga."
Her friend scowled, not amused at the comparison.
"Well… All I can say is that I've never done anything like THAT before. Though I've heard some stuff like that from my sister." The blonde made a disgusted face as she mentioned her older sibling. "But she practically begs for it. It sounds like it just sort of happened for you. I guess he likes you~." She teased.
Sayuri could only chew on her lip absently. She wasn't as sure as her friend and so attempted to direct the conversation away from boys for a moment. "Never mind that, have you heard about the election?"
"For what?" The green eyed girl asked disinterestedly, picking up her magazine again.
"For student body president! They're holding elections for all the official positions this month , not only for first years but second and thirds too. Kyoya said that he would be running for his class… I'm not sure who's going in second year, but I'm definitely going to try to get the presidency. And I so I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me with my campaign…" The raven haired girl finished.
Umiko brightened at this and cheered, "Totally! I'd love to see what you'd do being in charge. Maybe even finally get the girl's uniform changed…" She sighed dreamily.
Her friend chuckled but nodded, "I'll certainly try."