Chapter 5

The Cat was created when the Lion sneezed

--Arabian Proverb

Hikaru supposed it would be considered immature to still be whining about the whole Ogata-san incident to Waya and the others. And it would be rather pointless too. Waya found it hilarious and would start laughing so hard that tears would fall from his face. Isumi would try and look sympathetic but would turn away after a moment or so, shaking his head. That, somehow, made Hikaru feel even worse than Waya's outright laughter. Touya of course would just give that pointed look of its-your-fault-and-I-did-warn-you! Hikaru sighed and made a face. Still, he wished he had someone he could complain to that would understand how much that visit had freaked him out!

That man was just…Hikaru blinked…too smart for his own good. He'd taken one look at Hikaru's apartment and asked when he was moving and where? He'd been dumbfounded. There were only, well he didn't know off hand how many boxes there had been total when Ogata-san came. But he was sure that only two or three had been visible from his living room. He'd stammered something or other, hoping that neither men would have understood his words. After all, Touya never seemed to be able to understand him when he got like that. Sadly, Ogata-san seemed to pick up the words that he needed and ignored the ones that no longer sounded like they were from the human language. Hikaru had hit the top of his head on the bottom of the couch when Ogata-san repeated his own words back slowly in a question. He'd forgotten then that he was supposed to be getting Kira out from the couch so that Ashiwara could play with him. He'd forgotten all about that.

"Moving to Touya's?" When he'd manage to get out from underneath the couch to look at the other two, he found that both men were wearing identical shocked expressions.

Hikaru sighed. The thing of it was, it wouldn't have been that bad if…if the two of them hadn't looked at him with sudden understanding. It was like everyone in the entire world knew how he felt about his rival except Touya. And sometimes—even he wasn't sure exactly how he felt. He liked Touya. He liked the way the other completed him and continually pushed him forward to be better. He liked the way Touya was a blend of maturity, politeness, and stubborn rudeness. There were too many ways of describing his rival and Hikaru liked all of them because well… Touya was Touya. He couldn't explain it. He really couldn't. He couldn't even say when the feelings had started occurring. They just had.

He shook his head, trying desperately to cast the memory of a week ago out. It wasn't helping the whole moving process to go faster. They'd been at it since early morning with only two short breaks. He winced at the thought. It might have gone faster if he'd actually finished packing everything beforehand. Hikaru sighed again. Boy, had he gotten an earful from both Touya and Waya! A slight smile tugged at his lips then at that particular memory—not that getting yelled at by either of the go players had been amusing at the time. Hikaru was sure that it was only the second time since the two had known each other that they agreed with each other whole heartedly. The first time had been when Hikaru had gotten the kittens.

He supposed it also hadn't helped that Kira had positively freaked at the sight of so many people invading his quiet home. Or that two of them had come in and started yelling at him about irresponsibility and laziness and didn't he know it was Saturday today? Kira had taken one look at the scene and hidden. It had taken them ages to find him, place him in his cat carrier and bring him to Touya's place. Hikaru gave Touya's closed room a quick glance. He hoped Kira and Karu were getting along. How fast did kittens forget their siblings anyway?

It was warm outside and sweat was making his t-shirt stick to him like a second skin. He dropped the box he'd been holding in the room that would be his and stretched his back before turning around and coming back the way he had come from. He hated stairs. He hated them. If only the place had an elevator or something! Then they could have just packed the elevator full of his crap and voila…done.

He gave a weak wave as he passed by Ashiwara in the kitchen who was busy making them lunch. The man gave him a warm smile before returning his attention back to whatever was simmering in the pan.

"Only four more boxes and your tv!" Waya crowed, running into the apartment with Hikaru's suitcase of clothes.

"Three." Touya remarked calmly, making his way in much more slowly. His shoulder length hair had been pulled back into a hasty pony tail. It was slightly strange to see him in jeans and a t-shirt. But then again, as Touya had muttered earlier that morning to his surprised look, he couldn't quite do the work needed with his good clothes.

"Two?" Isumi gasped. "What in all hells did you put in these boxes, Shindo?" Hikaru opened his mouth and then shut it. Ogata-san walked in along with Saeki carrying the last of the stuff.

"We're done." He commented. "Finally."

"Done?" Touya shook his head. "I think not. We have to unpack now and get rid of all this…"

"Chaos?" Isumi added helpfully.

"…clutter…" Touya finished his sentence while nodding to Isumi. He was fanning himself with his one hand, the other one resting on his lower back. Hikaru decided to ignore them and instead made a motion to Touya's back.

"Does it hurt?"

"Eh?" Touya blinked at him and stopped fanning himself. "My back?" He made a face. "A bit. Nothing to worry about though." Ogata-san came out from his room, wiping his face on a white handkerchief. He spared them a brief glance before heading straight into the kitchen and opening the fridge. In the meantime, Waya had dragged Isumi and Saeki to the couch where they were making themselves quite comfortable. Hikaru envied them. He wanted to be able to lie down too. He looked around for another place to sit and relax for a bit. After all, lunch was going to be ready soon. They could take a break, right? Ogata-san's voice cut his musings a bit short.

"Akira…" The man looked in pain as the fridge door slammed shut.

"Yes?"

"You have no beer."

….…

Akira sighed. "I'll go get some." He muttered to which Ashiwara squawked much like a chicken would.

"He doesn't need beer Akira-kun! There's lemonade! And if he wants some so much he can get it! You should rest! Especially if your back hurts…" It was an amusing sight seeing Ashiwara try to scold both himself and Ogata-san. The blond ignored the younger man completely. At least he was until he heard the last bit.

"Your back hurts?" Ogata-san asked, fixing his glasses.

"No! It's fine." Akira waved the concern aside with practiced ease. "It'll only take two seconds and it's the least I could do to thank you since you've helped us so much today." He gave a small bow in his direction. "While I'm out, is there anything else I can get for anyone?" Ashiwara continued to frown but shook his head.

He glanced to his side and saw Shindo looking a bit guilty. The others, sprawled out on the couch, gave no's and grunts in reply.

"I'll come with." Hikaru muttered. "I can get some ice cream to thank you guys for the help today." That announcement was greeted with cheers and even Ashiwara managed to bring back his normally sunny smile on his face.

"I'll just get my wallet." Two minutes later, they were off. Shindo was so uncharacteristically quiet that Akira was starting to get unnerved. As if sensing the growing tension, the shorter man gave his rival a quick glance before asking a question.

"Was that…usual for Ogata-san and Ashiwara?" Akira blinked at the question, wondering exactly what was usual and unusual for those two. He hadn't exactly seen anything out of the ordinary. Shindo stuffed his hand deeper into his pockets. "I've never seen anyone talk to Ogata-san like that before."

"Oh." Akira mulled that over in his mind and then gave a small shrug. "Ashiwara is protective of me and he doesn't like Ogata-san's bad habits. He's a bit of a health nut actually. Apart from his sweet tooth that is." He smiled at that. "Ogata-san's used to the lectures by now. He just tunes Ashiwara out." He gave his rival another look. "Is that what's bothering you?"

"B-bothering me?" Shindo snapped his head towards Akira, eyes wide and confused. "Eh? No." He shook his head vehemently. "I'm fine. What gave you that idea!"

"You're quiet." That got him a small glare though he wasn't quite sure it was warranted.

"I can be quiet Touya Akira!" And with that stated defiantly, leaving Akira more confused than relieved, Shindo marched into the store. Life would definitely be causing him more headaches now that Shindo would be living with him, Akira thought before following his rival. He gave a small sigh and decided that thinking of his future bath would do quite nicely. At least that wasn't confusing. Nor did it have mood swings.

….…

Back in the apartment, soft knocking got Isumi's attention first. He gave a feeble moan before getting to his feet to see who could possibly be at the door. Shindo's petite mom and childhood friend, Akari stood there. Each woman were holding a basket of sorts containing no doubt something that Waya would proclaim as delicious if he ever got his hands on them.

"Come in." He greeted with a surprised smile, opening the door wider for them. "Shindo and Touya just went out to the store. But they should be back soon." Shindo's mom smiled and thanked him. Her eyes widened briefly as she took in the many people in the room.

"Oh my…"

"Hello Shindo-san" Waya called out, dragging himself off the couch. "How are you?" He gave her a wave. He'd met her at least three times and hoped that she would remember him and be reassured.

"Waya-kun!" She allowed him to take her basket from her but followed him to the kitchen with it. "I see that Hikaru was being truthful when he said he was being helped." Waya placed the two baskets down on the ground and started to introduce everyone, not sure who Shindo's mom had already met or not. They had just finished the introductions and unpacked the goodies from the basket when Touya and Shindo made their way back in.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Isumi had to hide his shocked look at the way Shindo greeted his mom. He found from a glance that he wasn't the only one. Only Akari, Touya, and Waya seemed used to it. "Akari? You too!"

"Hm? I made something for Touya and you. Akari-chan and I bumped into each other on my way here."

"Thank you Shindo-san. You shouldn't have." Ever polite Touya responded with a smile. Waya shook his head at the contrast between the two rivals and rolled his eyes when he saw Isumi look at him questioningly. The redhead leaned on the counter, only half listening to the polite exchanges going on around him. He was deep in thoughts of how many changes would occur from here on out. He gaze became a bit worried as he watched his friend become red with embarrassment and exasperation as his childhood friend hugged him in surprise. His amber eyes glanced at Touya but found only that polite mask…

Really. Sometimes it would just be nice to know what went on in that head. Waya sighed. Whatever it was, he only hoped that Shindo would find his place there. Because if that idiot hurt his friend in any way, well, Waya would kick his ass. Or something.

….…

Later, once everyone's bellies were full and Ogata-san had his share of beer, all of them decided to lengthen their "break" by checking on the kittens. The truth was that no one wanted to start the unpacking. Muscles were beginning to feel sore and people were finding that they were starting to smell from the hard morning's work out.

Akira opened his door carefully, fully expecting his little furred menace to torpedo on out of the room. He'd meowed rather loudly and pitifully when they had first placed the two kittens in there, clearly unhappy with the turn of events. Karu had wanted to be where everyone else was. He'd wanted to talk with Ashiwara…or at least that's what the man had been trying to convince everyone else to believe. When there was no sign of the two kittens and Shindo shuffled his feet a tad impatiently, Akira opened the door wider and went in to investigate. He found the little ones sleeping peacefully on his pillow. Karu was stretched out onto his back, paws in the air with his head resting on Kira's back. Kira, the smaller black bundle of fur was curled into the tightest ball possible, his little paws covering his face. Akira found himself smiling gently as he watched them. They really were adorable. He moved over to let his rival see them as well as let more people in his room.

Ashiwara cooed softly, clutching at Saeki's sleeve and tugging the other man closer. Shindo was whispering to his mother, pointing out which one was his and which one was Akira's. Akari leaned to listen to the explanation an awed look on her face. Akira was surprised when Waya came over to him. The redhead glanced at the kittens carefully and stayed silent.

Karu's ear flickered in his sleep, a sure sign that he'd heard everyone come in and he was starting to wake up. Akira reached out instinctively and pet the little one with a finger, soothing the creature back into deeper sleep. Waya shook his head and gave Shindo's rival a grin.

"Karu even sleeps like Shindo." He mouthed, causing Akira to grin and nod in agreement.

….…

Hours later found Hikaru and Touya in the kitchen, cleaning now that everyone had left. Well, to be fair, it was Touya who was really doing all the cleaning. Hikaru instead had been trying to make conversation. Had been until he'd discovered something that he didn't quite like. Hikaru looked at Touya as if he'd grown horns. "What do you mean, Karu doesn't sleep with you?" Touya spared him a glance as he continued to put away the dishes.

"Exactly that." His rival stated. "He doesn't sleep in my room. And I would strongly recommend that you have your door closed during the night so that he can't get into yours."

"But Kira sleeps with me. And he's going to need to go to the litter box during the night…" Hikaru trailed off. Touya wiped his hands off and gave Hikaru a certain look.

"Well there are three options. One you bring your litter box into your room."

"But that'll stink it up!" Hikaru yelped, shaking his head.

"Two," Touya continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "You keep the door open and hope for the best. Or three, both cats do not sleep in the room and they sleep together on the couch." Hikaru frowned at his rival.

"I'll take option two, thank you very much. How much trouble can one kitten be anyway?" Touya sighed and arched his eyebrow.

"Well…" He started slowly. "When that kitten takes after you, he's a LOT of trouble." He ignored the indignant squawk and continued. "Anyway, if Karu gives you problems tonight do not bother me. I've warned you enough times now and…"

"Yeah. Yeah." Hikaru waved the threat aside, glowering darkly at his rival. He was just a tad irritated about how everything was turning out to be. He'd had some idea that moving in with Touya would be strange, maybe difficult at times because they were different. But he'd also thought that the first few days would at least be exciting and rules would be bent as he adjusted to the new place. Hah! Wishful thinking on that one. He'd had another lapse of memory when it came to Touya and his many rules. Feeling more frustrated than was normal for the situation, Hikaru turned away. "Goodnight, jerk." He muttered under his breath. "Come on Kira." He bent and picked the black kitten up. "We're going to bed."

Touya bit off a sigh and shook his head. He turned to his own kitten to at least have someone to share his exasperation with. Karu meowed at him before jumping onto his shoulder. Perched there, he rubbed his head on Touya's cheek.

"He really doesn't know what he's getting himself into, little devil-angel." The purring tickled his ear and he made a face before chuckling. "You're going to show him though, aren't you?" The purring got louder. Was it evil of him to feel a little hint of joy at that thought? He hoped not. "Don't be too bad." He muttered, scratching Karu behind the ear.

Hikaru poked his head out of the bathroom and his irritation all but left him when he saw his rival whispering to his kitten. He felt himself grin and he just leaned there, watching for a bit. Touya could be breathtaking at times, in a way that was painful to Hikaru who was never really sure where he stood with the other. When green eyes caught his, he felt his cheeks start to heat up.

"Just wanted to say goodnight." He muttered quickly. Touya blinked, surprised.

"Goodnight Shindo. Sleep well."

"Yeah. You too." Hikaru made his way to his new bedroom and settled underneath his covers. It didn't take long for Kira to come and join him there, settling in his usual spot. He could hear Touya moving around in the apartment. And the noise was comforting. It wasn't long before he fell asleep.

….…

Akira was awakened by a strangled shout. Heart pounding and breath caught in his throat, Akira was already halfway out of bed when things started to click into place. The shout had been Shindo's. The curses that he could hear despite having his door closed, were definitely targeted towards Karu. There was no intruder, no murderer ready to attack him from the shadows. Instead, his rival had just realized why Akira never let Karu in his bedroom. He fell back into his bed and hid his face in his pillow. Now he could only wait for the meowing to begin…He needed to remember to buy some damn earplugs.

He heard a soft knock. And then another. Akira refused to get up or give any sign of life. He'd told his rival what Karu was like at night. He'd been warned. He was not going to give him any help now. To give the man attention…Akira yawned and nearly suffocated when he breathed in the pillow case… would be to reinforce the irritating and baffling behavior. He turned so he could be on his back and took a deep breath in. He was putting animal training to the test. He hoped it would work just as well on Hikaru as it had on Karu. After all, only two nights of ignoring the pitiful crying had made Karu realize that meowing at his door would get him nowhere. Of course the whole training would have to start again tonight since his rival's arrival had changed things somewhat.

"Touya?" Akira tensed as he heard Shindo's pleading whisper. "Please be awake…" Be strong. Akira thought to himself. Be strong. "Touya?" Ignore. Think—its just natural and logical consequences. Shindo brought this upon himself. Do NOT get up. Do NOT go to him. Do NOT… The thoughts left him as the feet shuffled away from his door. Akira was torn between inwardly cheering and feeling miserably guilty. Finally he settled on just feeling too damned tired. He turned to his side and closed his eyes.

He woke the next morning with his alarm clock. When he opened the door, Karu was sitting there along with Kira. Both were looking up at him with eager expressions. They both made their way around his feet, meowing. Quickly, Karu climbed up his pajama pants. Just as quickly Akira grabbed the kitten by the back of the neck while stifling a yawn with his free hand. He deposited his kitten on his shoulder and was about to continue making his way to the kitchen when another soft meow resounded somewhere near his feet. Kira just waited there patiently, expectant that he would get picked up. Akira sighed before bending down and picking the second kitten as well.

"You two are spoiled." He muttered. "Let's get you some breakfast." He added amidst the loud chorus of happy purring.

A slamming door announced the presence of his rival. Akira turned to tell him good morning but the words stayed stuck in his throat. He'd never seen his rival like that before. Hair was rumpled, eyes were still shut, and a huge, red and irritated bite mark stood out on a pale cheek.

"Your cat is evil." The young man muttered, trying to blink the sleepiness out. Akira moved forward and winced as he inspected the bite mark further. With gentle fingers, he cupped Shindo's face. "Wh—what are you doing?"

"Don't move Shindo." The skin underneath his fingers warmed quickly, blushing dark red. "Did you disinfect this last night?" He asked though he already suspected a negative answer.

"N-no." Shindo managed to stutter out. "I didn't know where it was." The answer was enough for Akira to feel guilty all over again. He sighed.

"I'm sorry." He dropped his hand away and turned to find the disinfectant. "I'll go get it right now. You sit. I have breakfast ready for you." He left the room then and Shindo looked a bit lost, eyes suddenly wide open. He was still standing there when Akira came back. And it was only when his rival gently pushed him towards the table that he moved.

"Touya I can—" But his words trailed off as those long fingers started to massage antiseptic cream into the bite wound. "Ouch." Shindo winced.

"Shindo?" Akira asked slowly. "What exactly happened last night? I mean…Karu bit my nose the first night but it was a little bite. Not anything like this." Shindo made a face.

"I'm a sound sleeper I guess. He needed a harder bite to get my attention. I really have no idea." Realizing that he was rambling, Shindo blushed and tried to shut up.

"Oh." There was the sound of paper rustling and then Akira carefully placed a band aid on his rival's cheek. "I'm sorry again."

"You didn't bite me. He did." Shindo pointed. "Anyway," The man continued grudgingly. "You did warn me."

"Hm." Akira smiled. He moved away then, shaking his head. "I don't make it a habit of biting rivals, Shindo." Shindo blinked at that and just stared for the longest time. And then a single thought came to his head…he wouldn't have minded it half as much if it had been Touya. His face turned beet red then.

And stayed that way the entire day—much to the confusion of those around him.

To be continued…