36 Drabbles

9: Karupin

"Ryoma-kun has a cat?" Ryuzaki Sakuno asked, tilting her head cutely as the two of them walked back to his house. It was Saturday, and they had been stuck together as partners for an English project. Seeing as it was due tomorrow, the two had finally decided to work on it at Ryoma's house, simply because Ryoma didn't feel like being in the same house as his tennis coach. He was very thankful his dad was out doing something or other with his mom, and Nanako was still doing one of her exams.

"Her name is Karupin." Ryoma said, the both of them coming to the entrance of his house. Sakuno gaped; a little shocked at seeing the temple sign above her.

"R-Ryoma-kun lives in a temple?" She said, flabbergasted. Ryoma made a noise of annoyance, obviously thinking about his baka oyaji. He stepped into the temple, a smug little smile on his lips as he overheard Sakuno whisper a prayer and an apology quietly under her breath. They made their way to the house behind the temple, Ryoma not bothering to show her around.

"We'll be working in the living room." He said, dropping his backpack on the floor and collapsing on the couch with a big huff. Sakuno blushed, standing in the middle of the room not knowing what to do, her school bag dangling from her fingers loosely.

"R-right."

Karupin's ears twitched, hearing the front door slam from downstairs. Her head rose from its position on the comfy bed, tail twitching as she heard two voice from the first floor. Curious, Karupin uncurled and stretched languidly, mouth opening in a yawn and showing her pearly white fangs. After she was sure she wouldn't pull any muscles from jumping, Karupin leapt off the bed and squeezed herself out the little crack in the door, liking the way the walls rubbed against her side. Padding across the hall and down the stairs, she entered the living room and saw her human partner and a peculiar female in there.

Meowing, Karupin jumped onto the couch, scratching at Ryoma's shorts. Now that her human partner was back from whatever he was doing, she wanted to play! Ryoma smirked a little, lifting her up and putting her on his chest, scratching her behind the ears. Karupin purred contentedly, her paws stretching in relaxation.

"Umm… is this Karupin?"

Karupin's head shot up, and she stared curiously at the girl standing at the end of the couch. How did she know her name? Karupin never remembered seeing her before. Intrigued, Karupin sauntered to the end of the couch, hopping onto the armrest and staring at the female. Tilting her head, Karupin reached a paw out, slapping one of the long things that dangled from her head.

"Kyaa~!" The female human cried, holding her swinging braid. Ryoma snickered from behind Karupin, making the cat turn and look. Meowing again, Karupin looked back to the dangling braid. She crouched, tail swaying slowly in the air. "R-Ryoma-kun, what is Karupin-chan doing?" Ryoma smirked a little, raising a brow.

"Karupin-chan?" he asked, chuckling. "She looks ready to pounce on one of your braids." Sakuno squeaked, rushing over to Ryoma's side and dropping her school bag. Ryoma reached out to grab one of her braids, tugging it and waving the end at Karupin. In amusement, Ryoma watched Karupin race over, trying to grab the cat's tail-esque toy with one paw. Sakuno, kneeling on the ground and allowing Ryoma to manipulate her braid, giggled as she saw Karupin playing.

"She's very cute, and looks well-trained. Ryoma-kun must really care about her." Sakuno said, blushing a little as she smiled sweetly at Ryoma. Ryoma looked away, giving her her braid back and shrugging in nonchalance. Sakuno giggled again, before saying they should start on the project and going to fetch her bag. Karupin watched her partner curiously, jumping off the couch to go to the kitchen to fetch some food for herself, meowing all the while.

When Karupin got back from eating her fill of food, she came upon the scene of Ryoma and Sakuno doing English homework. Feeling mildly sleepy, Karupin sauntered over to the couch, jumping on top of the headrest and curling into a little ball. She felt Ryoma's hand stroke her fur, and she purred contentedly, tail twitching in satisfaction.

"C-can I pet her?" Karupin heard the female human ask, and her partner answering with an affirmative. Another softer, smaller hand began to stroke her, and Karupin shivered in pleasure. It was nice to have another hand stroke her fur, after having only the Echizen family do it. Karupin was lulled into a nice state of relaxation, only mildly paying attention to the conversation in front of her.

Peeking an eye open in curiosity, Karupin watched the female human as she blushed and stuttered around her human partner. Fascinating behaviour, Karupin thought as Nanako and Rinko were the only human females she was around. Nanako was very righteous and stubborn, very reminiscent of her uncle Nanjiroh. Rinko was the classic Japanese housewife. Refined and elegant, Karupin enjoyed her company the most (though the woman did blow her off sometimes to attend to some chore). This female was very shy, aiming to please others and not herself. It was a new kind of behaviour to Karupin, and the female cat thought she should investigate.

But she was much too lazy to move right now, so she'd simply observe from her spot on the couch.

The front door slammed shut again, Karupin staring curiously at it. Her partner and the peculiar female human had just left, Karupin now being left in the house with Nanako. Sitting and staring at the front door for a few minutes, Karupin finally decided her partner wasn't coming back anytime soon, so she turned on her heel and padded over to the living room. There, Karupin jumped onto the couch and curled up beside Nanako, purring as the young woman pet her.

Taking this time without her human partner, Karupin decided to go over her information about the shy girl earlier this afternoon. She was very nervous and jittery, and Karupin always saw a faint pink decorating her cheeks. She jumped whenever something unexpected happened, and really defined the phrase "to wear your heart on your sleeve". Deciphering this particular girl took almost no effort whatsoever. It was like the girl just gave her everything she needed to know in black and white. The girl acted much like a shy cat would if she was smitten with a male cat.

Then Karupin thought maybe she could give advice to the female girl, hoping her human partner would show some preference to a mate. Purring a little louder at her brilliant scheme, Karupin rubbed against Nanako's palm as a sort of pat-on-the-back. Nanako giggled, wondering why the cat was so happy, but deciding not to question miracles and going back to watch television. Karupin just purred some more.

A/N Sorry its a little late, but here's drabble 9! If Karupin is a boy, then meh. She has been gender-bended for the sake of this chapter (cause I said so, XD)

My inspiration for this chapter was putting everything in Karupin's perspective. I wanted to do the entire drabble in Karupin's POV, but then I started writing it and I didn't like it, so I redid everything. I wish I had a little more time to perfect it and make it better, but I'm on a tight schedule! Maybe when I'm done all the drabbles and have some time, I'll come and redo a few of them.

Review for some hot chocolate! (Or whatever other cafe beverage you fancy.)

Snowflake Flower