Tohru and Kyo walked home after spending a little more than two hours at Shigure's. Tohru talked the whole time about what she would paint for Akito.
"Oh! Maybe I should do a lagoon at twilight. Wouldn't that look nice?" Tohru asked. Kyo just smiled. He'd never seen her so happy before. Of course she was excited about a lot of things, but this one subject in particular made her extra happy.
"Or, maybe a forest. It could be under the moon too. Maybe I should do a beach. With people and dogs. Oh, but that would make me want to do one of dolphins, which would make me want to do one of turtles, which would make me want t do one of frogs, which would make me want to do a rain forest or something. Maybe a black panther or a leopard." Tohru said.
Kyo smiled again and kept walking.
"Which one do you think I should do Kyo?" She asked when they reached their house. He walked up the stairs onto the porch and turned around.
"I think they all sound like good ideas, but I don't want you to get ahead of yourself. Oh, and if you do paint more, sell them for a little more than you did the first one, okay? It was well worth more than what Akito gave you." Kyo said taking out his key and unlocking the front door.
"You thought it was worth more?" Tohru said when she walked in the house.
"Way more." He replied dropping his keys on the coffee table. Tohru took a seat on the couch and Kyo then sat next to her.
"How much more?" She asked when he grabbed the T.V. remote. He turned on the T.V. and then turned to her.
"Well, I don't know. I'm not an art critic. Maybe you should see what other artist price theirs as." He suggested.
"All right." She said. She stood and went down the hall into the office.
She looked up what other artist sold their paintings for and sure enough, Akito had gotten a bargain. But, instead of Tohru getting mad that she got ripped off, she was happy because she'd sold a painting and Akito got a good deal.
She shut the computer off. If Kyo saw the difference in price, he'd be enraged.
She went back into the living room and took a seat next to Kyo who was watching the old Karate Kid movie.
"That's funny. He can't even take it from his blind Master. Poor kid. Haha!" Kyo laughed at the T.V. (Well, more like the kid on the T.V. but oh well.)
"Is the movie really that funny?" Tohru asked when it soon cut to commercial.
"Oh, yeah it is. This poor kid is failing." Kyo said. He propped his feet up on the coffee table.
"But the kid id failing. He's not going to be able to pass." Tohru said. Kyo thought it was actually funny that she was feeling sorry for a character in a movie.
"Tohru, remember it's a movie. Movies always have happy endings. That's the problem with people, we can't handle complexity. If the poor kid lost to the blind master, this movie would not have been a hit." Kyo said.
"So, he doesn't fail?" She asked. He smiled.
"Well, I've never seen the full movie, but I'm sure he doesn't. Kinda works with my theory." He said. She nodded her head and turned her attention back to the T.V. where a commercial was playing. A Bloodhound was helping a cat look for her litter box.
"Kyo…" Tohru started, but then trailed off. He still heard her. He turned his attention back to her.
"What?" He asked. She shook her head.
"It's nothing. Never mind." She said. He gave her a funny look.
"No, something's wrong. Tell me what it is." He said.
"I can't. It would be selfish." She said slowly. He was confused now.
"What is it? I told you, you can tell me, or ask me, for anything. What is it?" He asked again.
"Um… Can we get a pet? I know other artists have pets, and when you go to work at the dojo, and Yuki goes back to college, I'll be alone. Can we please get a pet?" She asked. He smirked.
"What kind of pet do you want?" He asked.
"Um, well, I don't know. Something easy to take care of, something calm." She said slowly. She was thinking really hard.
"You've got to have some idea." He said. She blushed.
"Well, I do. But if you don't want a pet like this, we won't get one. I don't want to offend you-" He put a finger to her lips to shush her and clam her down.
"I won't get offended. Unless you want a rat or something." He laughed
Tohru shook her head.
"Then what do you want? A cat or something?" He asked. She blushed and nodded.
"You want a cat?" He asked with a questionable look.
"More than any other pet in the world." She said with a smile, her blush almost completely gone.
"And you thought that would offend me?" Kyo asked with a laugh.
"Well, yeah. I didn't know if you were still sensitive to the whole…cat thing." She finished quietly.
"Like I said. I'd rather it be a cat than a rat." He said. She nodded.
"So, when can we get the cat?" She asked. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Whenever you want." He said. She smiled a wide smile.
"Can we go now?" She asked with the enthusiasm of a five year old.
"Yeah, I guess. I wasn't paying that much attention to the movie anyhow." He said turning off the T.V. and placing the remote on the coffee table.
She leaped to her feet and ran to get her shoes. He followed slowly and slipped on his shoes before heading out the door and walking down the sidewalk. Tohru was running ahead of him.
"The cats aren't going to disappear before you get there." He called. She stopped and turned on her heels. He caught up to her.
"I know. But I've never had a pet before!" She said. He shook his head.
They continued down the sidewalk and ended up in front of a pet store. Tohru stopped out front.
"Well, c'mon. The kitty awaits." Kyo said opening the door.
"Um…Kyo?" Tohru asked quietly. Kyo was thankful he still had his cat like hearing, but even with it he could barely hear her. He turned around.
"What?" He asked. She took a deep breath.
"Um, can we not by a cat from here?" She asked.
"Why not?" He asked. He let the door go and it swung closed.
"Well, I watched this show one time, and it said that pet stores get their animals from puppy mills. The same thing with cats." Tohru said.
"So where do you want to go?" He asked.
"Well, the Humane Society is right down the rode. Can we go there?" She asked.
"Alright. What ever makes you happy." He said. (AN: People, please do this in real life! This is true! Puppy Mills are animal cruelty, don't support them! Go adopt a poor homeless animal. You are guaranteed a much happier and healthier pet if you go to a Humane Society.)
"Thank you." Tohru said as they walked down the sidewalk again.
They arrived at the Humane Society and Kyo opened the door again. This time, Tohru walked in with a smile.
"Welcome. How may I help you today?" A lady behind the front counter greeted.
"We came to get a kitty!" Tohru said with glee.
"Aw, good for you. Come on, I'll show you where they are." She said walking around the counter and over to a door.
Kyo and Tohru followed. She led them into a room lined with cages and cats of every shape, size, and color were there.
"Wow! They're all just so cute!" Tohru said looking at each one.
"They each have a story to tell, that's for sure. You'll find a paper on their cage telling you it, along with their preferences. I can assure you all of them are highly adoptable." The lady said. She was mostly talking to Kyo, as Tohru was looking at different cats.
"Uh huh, thanks." He said.
"We get a lot of couples in here. How many years have you been married?" She asked.
"What?" Kyo asked.
"This is for your anniversary, right? We get many people who buy pets as anniversary gifts." She explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"We're not married." He said looking over at Tohru.
"Oh, so it's a premarital gift then?" She asked.
"No. And our relationship really isn't any of your business lady." Kyo said. The lady looked totally taken aback.
"I'm sorry sir." She said as she turned to leave the room. "If you need anything, please let me know." She said. She opened the door and walked out.
"Kyo! What about this one? Look at her, she's beautiful." Tohru said. She was squatting by a cage looking at a calico cat. Kyo walked over and bent down next to her.
"If she's what you want." He said.
"Oh, do you not like her? Would you prefer an orange one?" She asked looking at him.
"I don't care what color the cat is. You'll be spending most of the time with her anyway." He said.
"Okay. I want her." Tohru said.
"Fine. What's her name so I can go tell that lady?" He asked.
Tohru looked at the tag on the cage.
"It says her name is Calli." Tohru said. Kyo watched as she put her hand against the bars of the cage and the cat rubbed against it.
Lucky cat. Kyo thought. Then he shook his head and headed out of the room.
He went and told the lady what they wanted. She nodded and told him that she was a very sweet cat. She then went into the cat room and unlocked Calli's cage. Calli immediately jumped into Tohru's arms and started purring.
Lucky cat. Kyo thought again. SHUT UP! He yelled at himself mentally.
"Well, I see she likes you. She'll make a great companion." The lady said. She took the bed, toys, and litter box that had been in Calli's cage and took it into another room. She returned with a clean litter box and the same toys and bed. She handed them to Kyo.
"These were Calli's. We've found that they have an easier time adjusting to new surroundings if they have something familiar with them. So, here you go." Kyo took the stuff and followed as the lady went into the main room and rang up the adoption fee.
Kyo paid for the cat and the extra stuff she tried to throw at them. Tohru was completely oblivious as she held the cat lovingly in her arms.
The lady thanked Kyo for adopting Calli, congratulated Tohru on her new companion, and told them to call if there were any problems. Kyo nodded and opened the door for Tohru.
Tohru had put Calli in a carrier so that she wouldn't get loose on the way home.
"So, do you like her?" Kyo asked when they got home. Tohru set Calli's stuff up in the kitchen and living room and let her out of the carrier.
"Yes, I do Kyo. Thank you so much." She gave him a hug. He laughed and kissed her.
"Good." He said. She smiled again and gave him another kiss.
Calli walked over to them and started rubbing against Tohru's legs. Tohru picked her up and Calli hissed at Kyo. Kyo laughed.
"I can't remember the last time a cat did that. They used to all be attracted to me." Kyo said. He reached out and rubbed behind her ears. Calli tensed and then slowly relaxed and started to lightly purr.