You guys are so awesome! so many wonderful reviews! -_- my best friend is hitting me with a bead necklace she got when I took her geocaching (?) that is a lot of fun! my cousin took my sister and me today and we found all kinds of stuff!

anyway~! Enjoy the chapter~~

NekoRoma

Chapter Nine: Shopping and Kiku

His eyes snapped open and he sat up. Lovino still had his human body, but the dream stuck in his mind. Why was he covered in blood in the dream? Why was he sitting on such a thin, painful wall? What did it all mean?

He yawned and stretched. The clock on Antonio's nightstand said it was only four seventeen in the morning and Antonio was sleeping soundly beside him. He smiled softly, but shook away the embarrassing smile and crawled out of bed. Nature was calling.

After washing his hands as Antonio had shown him, the newly formed human looked around. He was still exhausted, but didn't want to go to sleep in fear that the dream would come back. He didn't feel any of the soreness or pain from his dream, but it was real enough there.

The couch invited him in and he flipped on the TV and decided on some infomercial for some stupid little device that cooked everything imaginable at once. His eyes slowly slipped closed and the next thing he knew, he was being awoken by a confused Antonio.

"Lovi?"

Lovino glared, "Go away, bastard … sleepy …" he stretched out and rolled over.

Antonio sighed, "I guess it wasn't a dream … you're really human … ish … now …"

His former pet groaned angrily at being disturbed.

"Well, we should probably go buy you some of your own clothes today then~! Wake up~! Let's go out for breakfast~!"

"You'd actually be seen with a human-cat hybrid in public?" Lovino snapped.

"Well, you can wear your hat. It's mid-October, so that's not out of the ordinary, but your tail might be a problem … actually … it's a trend among some teens to wear false animal tails … so if I cut a hole in one of my pants or something, we can slip your tail through and it will look like some decoration~!" he seemed completely happy with his discovery.

However, Lovino was a little iffy on the idea. Then again, he didn't really get a choice. Antonio found an old pair of jeans that didn't really fit him any more and cut a small hole in the back just perfect for Lovino's tail to slip through. He was then fitted with the sweater and hat again.

"Perfect~!" Antonio smiled, going to get dressed himself. A short while later, Antonio opened the door and let Lovino walk onto the concrete balcony. The Spaniard locked up and smiled, "Alright, Lovi~! You ready to get going?"

Lovino's stomach growled and Antonio laughed, "I'll take that as a yes~" he grabbed Lovino's sleeve and dragged him to the car. It was a device that Lovino had only been in twice and he had associated it with being given away.

He was reluctant to get in, but finally forced himself to sit in the passenger seat when he reassured himself that Antonio couldn't give him away in this form.

The drive was a little unnerving for Lovino, who closely watched everything that passed by. His tail twitched wildly, making Antonio chuckle.

"What's so funny, bastard?" his head snapped in the man's direction.

"Nothing, really … it's just … you look human … but you still act like a cat sometimes~! It's cute!"

"I'm not cute!" he frowned, and crossed his arms and leaned back into his seat.

Antonio only laughed and pulled into a spot along the side of the street and walked around to the meter and filled it up with at least three hours. He had no idea how long he was going to take to buy some clothes and food for Lovino.

They walked down the sidewalk and found a small cafe. Antonio led Lovino inside and they looked around. The two of them were seated at a booth and given menus.

Lovino looked over the menu and glared. Of course he'd seen human words before, he lived with one, but he only recognized a few words … usually 'vet', 'food', or 'animal planet'. Even then, he only recognized the words, he couldn't read them.

"Well, I know what I want~ have you decided, Lovi~?" Antonio folded his menu and put it down.

Lovino looked over the top of his menu and glared, "I'm a fucking cat. I don't read human."

Antonio looked a bit taken aback, "Oh … I just assumed that you could read … I don't know why … maybe I can teach you~!" he grabbed the menu and flattened it against the table, "Um, let's see … there's omlettes, I make those nearly every morning before work~ you've seen them. There's also eggs and bacon, egg sandwiches and lunch stuff, but I'm not sure they're serving that just yet."

"I want one of those things you make every morning …" Lovino blushed lightly, "with a ton of tomato."

"Okay, but only if you actually eat the food this time and not just the tomatoes! That's bad for you!"

Lovino nodded and pushed the menu away. When the waitress finally came back by, Antonio ordered their meals.

Neither said anything while waiting for the food to arrive. Although, Antonio was smiling aimlessly out the window at the people passing by.

"Here you go~!" the waitress smiled, winking at Antonio. Antonio only smiled and thanked her.

Lovino smiled brightly, "Why, thank you pretty lady~" she blushed and smiled, walking away. The Spaniard raised his brow, never having seen Lovino nice to anyone but himself. He slowly began eating some bacon.

The omlette Lovino had gotten looked way different from the ones he'd seen Antonio make. While it still was yellow fluff with cheese on top, all the tomatoes and other ingredients were mixed into the fluff, not wrapped in the inside where he could easily go back on his word and eat them alone. Since it wasn't wrapped up like that, it was a semi circle folded over once.

Lovino grumbled to himself and used to fork to cut off a piece, as he'd seen Antonio do to his own and lifted it to his lips reluctantly. He took the bite and grimaced. It was okay, but he really didn't like that cheese stuff. He scraped it off and continued eating the decent meal, but only because he liked the tomatoes on the inside … even if they didn't taste like the ones Antonio cooked.

The waitress came back a few more times to see how they were doing, turning her attention from Antonio to the 'sweet Italian' man.

"Are you sure you don't want a refill?" she asked, holding the pitcher of water up.

Lovino leaned forward a bit and smiled, "Your smile is refreshing enough, sweetie~" she giggled, her face going bright red. Lovino grinned. Blushes were cute … just … not on him!

Antonio paid the bill and grinned, leaving a nice tip for the waitress. Her eyes widened, "S-sir?"

He grinned, "For great service … and getting my grumpy friend here to finally smile."

Lovino glared and hit Antonio's arm, but smiled, waving 'bye' to her. As they left, Antonio grinned, "You're such a flirt. Where did that come from?"

He shrugged his response, "Maybe I'm just nice to you 'cause you feed me, but she was a pretty face. A breath of fresh air compared to all the ugly ones I have to look at the passed year living at your place."

Antonio feigned being hurt, "Surely you don't think I'm ugly!"

"Yes … I mean, no! I mean … shut up, bastard!" Lovino blushed. Of course he didn't find Antonio attractive! He was a cat! Well … used to be a cat … now he was at least part human.

Antonio chuckled, "Where did you learn to talk like that? Such a dirty mouth."

"TV. I learned a lot from that box." he muttered, following Antonio into the first clothing store. They looked around and the Spaniard smiled, picking up a few shirts, "We mind as well continue making people believe you're from Italy, so I picked up a few Italian themed shirts~!" Lovino looked over them, knowing he'd seen the colors on the TV before. Antonio also grabbed several jeans a size smaller than the ones that were being held on with a belt around Lovino's waist. They were almost a nice fit, but hung a little loose.

The line wasn't too bad and Lovino waited by the candy/magazine rack while Antonio paid for the clothing. He sighed and blew a puff of air up to his bangs while running his fingers over the chocolate bars. As a cat, he'd been allergic to chocolate, but he silently wondered if that was also changed with him being human. He contemplated telling Antonio to buy him some, but pain shot up through his back with someone pulling his tail.

He spun on his heel, hoping to find a face to punch, but met a six year old instead. She looked surprised, holding his tail in her hands.

His eyes widened and he looked around for a mother or father.

"Kitty!" she shouted. Lovino blushed and knelt down, "You like that tail?"

She nodded, blushing, "Mommy won't let me have a kitty since she's 'lergic, whatever that means, so I have this instead!" she picked up a small stuffed cat toy, "Isn't it cute! I named him Sprinkles! Are you a kitty?"

Lovino smiled, "No … not anymore~!" he whispered, "Do you believe in magic?"

The little girl nodded her head vigorously, letting go of his tail to hug Sprinkles the toy cat, "Well, a magic fairy came to visit me one day and turned me into a human~!" he grinned. Her eyes widened.

"You're really a kitty-cat? Wow! Do you have fuzzy ears, too?" she reached up to pull off his hat, but a woman grabbed her hand.

"I'm sorry, sir. She didn't mean to bother you. Come on Lacey, time to check out." she sneezed and rubbed her nose, moving farther in the line.

Lovino stood up and smiled, "No problem, she was just showing me her toy~ bye bye Lacey~!" he waved, looking over to see Antonio paying off the bill and motioning for Lovino to leave.

He smiled and began walking out, but turned around and crouched behind a clothing rack, "Psst, Lacey~!"

She looked at him. He pulled off his hat and wiggled his ears. The little girl smiled brightly and Lovino replaced the hat and quickly left the store to find Antonio. The Spaniard raised his brows, "Now call me forgetful, but weren't you the one hissing and growling at every child in the pet store the day I brought you home? What's with you today?"

Lovino blushed dark red, "I was a kitten! Shut up! Besides, I like kids … so long as their not mine. I'm never having kittens."

Antonio laughed and walked into another store. This one was a bit different. It was mostly a book store, but also had crafts and little trinkets here and there. Magazines, e-readers, music cards, all kinds of things.

"What are we doing here?" Lovino growled, looking around.

"Oh? A co-worker of mine works here on the week-ends with his half brothers and sisters. I have a little problem they can help me with easily." he walked up to the counter where a tall teen sat. his black hair hung around his face and he looked up with a look of indifference, "Yes?"

"Hey, um … is Kiku here?"

The man nodded and slipped from the chair, "Kiku … you have a visitor."

"Who is it?" a short Japanese man walked from the back room, holding a box of books, "Oh! Carriedo-san? Thank you, Xiang." the teen nodded and sat back down at the register, "What can I help you with, Carriedo-san?"

"Actually, I need a false ID for my friend here." Lovino looked at him weird.

Kiku looked Lovino over, "He looks about your age … why does he need a fake ID?"

Another black haired boy ran up. He had a curl sprouting from the side of his head and he sneaked up behind Kiku and grabbed his chest, "Hey, Keeks! I claim these lovely breasts for South Korea!"

Kiku's face lit up bright red, "Im Yong Soo!" he yelped, pushing him away. Lovino looked at Antonio, questioningly.

Antonio just smiled, "Can you keep a secret?"

The Japanese man blushed, "Of course, but we're not really close enough to share personal information …"

Im Yong Soo's eyes widened with excitement, "Of course we can~ we always do, right Keeks?"

Kiku sighed, and nodded, "Hai … we can keep your secret … he's not illegally in the country, is he?" he felt uncomfortable giving 'valid' information and papers to people of that nature.

Antonio laughed, "Somewhere more private, please?"

Lovino glared, "What are you doing?" he hissed, "You're not seriously going to tell them about me, are you?" he noticed Kiku's odd glances. The man gasped lightly seeing Lovino's tail whipping about in his anger as they shut the door to the back room. A woman looked up and smiled, "Hey, Kiku, Yong Soo, um guests~! What can we do for you today?"

The Spaniard gained a look of utter seriousness, "I need false information drawn up for my friend, Lovino."

"Lovino?" Kiku asked, knowing he'd heard that name somewhere before.

Antonio nodded and snatched Lovino's hat off. The former cat's ears flopped up and twitched with the cool air hitting them.

"N-neko?"

hahahahahaha~ Kiku knows ^_^ Kiku works with Antonio, Ludwig, Gilbert and Matthew at the place Antonio works. Antonio is the receptionist, Ludwig trains dogs, Kiku cats and Gilbert birds, Mattie is the vet~

~Lady Pyrien