Title: Neko-chan

Summary: In which Yuki gets Tohru a cat.

Genre: Romance/Family

Rating: K+

Word Count: 2,486

Dedicated to Miri-chan for always taking the time to review even though I can't reply because it's anonymous! :D Just wanted you to know that I always appreciate it!

Tohru fretted as she used a cotton ball doused with alcohol to swab the new cut that ran from his elbow to his wrist and that was bleeding profusely. He just sighed, wearing an apathetic expression since she contorted her face with enough anxiety for the both of them as she disposed of another red piece of cotton and pulled out a roll of gauze that she began to liberally wrap around his arm. She peeked up at him through teary eyes as she tied a bow with the ends of the bandage.

"Yuki-kun, you know we don't have to keep Neko-chan."

"No… You love Neko-chan, and Neko-chan loves you. It's fine," Yuki assured her though he said the name with a hint of annoyance.

It started two weeks ago when Yuki stepped into the house, yelling, "Here, Tohru! Take it! Take it!"

...

Tohru had run into the living room frantically, still holding a wet dishrag in her hands, which she dropped with a scream at the sight before her. Yuki stood with one foot in the house and the other half on the porch with his hands outstretched, clutching a hissing white kitten as far from his body as he could while the kitten repeatedly sunk its claws into his flesh and dragged them viciously. Blood trickled from the long scratches that crisscrossed his face and checkered his arms. His sleeves hung on his arms in tatters, and a long rip in his shirt revealed a gash in his chest that had stained the edges of the tear a rusty shade of red.

"Take it! Please!" Yuki urged her when she didn't move.

Hesitantly, Tohru stepped over and took the small ball of white fur from Yuki's rigid fingers. The kitten immediately curled against Tohru, rubbing its pink nose against her neck and purring contently as its paws stroked her after retracting its claws. Completely baffled at the kitten's reversal of demeanor, Tohru could only hold the cat in her arms and pet it mindlessly while she continued to stare wide-eyed at Yuki, who was panting and slouched over with his hands on his knees.

"W-What is this, Yuki-kun?" she choked out weakly.

"That's… That's your birthday present. I know it's a little early, but I don't think I can manage him any longer," he explained between haggard breaths.

"Oh, Yuki-kun! But did you have to pick a kitten that seems to hate you so much?" she questioned, noting that even spots of the kitten's fur had hardened with splashes of dried blood.

"Hate me? Tohru, that cat is the one that likes me the most. You should have seen the rest at the three pet shops and five animal shelters I visited!"

"B-B-But you're bleeding all over!" she cried, nearly tossing aside the kitten to fuss over his injuries.

He halted her by holding out his hand with a bulging plastic bag covered with small tears all over. Possibly more bewildered than before, she could only blink at his actions, though she secured that cat more carefully in her arms. In response, he just extended the package closer towards her and jostled it until she finally freed one hand from the soft white fur and relieved him of his burden, which turned out to be heavier than she had anticipated.

"You should feed him. He hasn't eaten or drunk anything since we left the store, which was hours ago because he kept distracting me from driving."

"B-But you-"

"I'm fine, Tohru. You can take care of me after you take care of the cat. I think he'll just resent me more if you tend to me before setting up his litter box."

She reluctantly acquiesced after she had him seated on the sofa but only retreated into the kitchen after peeking back at him warily a few times. He could hear her opening packages and scurrying around trying to fit the new addition to their family and all his new belongings into the kitchen. The cat meow happily as cans were opened and emptied into a fancy plastic red dish, water flowed into a matching blue one, the litter box was filled, and a soft bed was arranged along with a gray mouse toy. He could see glimpses of the ball of fur rubbing himself against Tohru's ankles as she moved around, so he almost smiled at his newest enemy because he knew she was doing the same, even though the door frame obscured her face and even though she was still concerned about his well being.

When Tohru returned to the living room, the cat was trailing a few steps behind her and hissed at him when he realized Tohru was choosing to now spend time with Yuki instead of him, and the cat nearly pounced with his claws out, but his face of innocence immediately returned as soon as Tohru turned back towards him. She only saw him sitting on the carpet with his head tilted to the side and his long tail swaying back and forth.

"Go ahead and eat, Neko-chan! I'm just going to help Yuki-kun clean up," she told the kitten.

Obediently, the cat retreated, and when Tohru had her back turned on him again, he narrowed his blue eyes at Yuki and bared his sharp teeth and claws. Yuki winced, but he couldn't even begin second guessing his decision to buy Tohru a cat before Tohru, who had attributed his grimace to the many bleeding wounds that covered his body, tugged him off the couch and ushered him into the nearest bathroom, which happened to be next to the kitchen, so he happened to hear a faint hiss as he passed by, but Tohru seemed too distracted to notice.

Neko-chan's behavior only seemed to worsen once Yuki left the bathroom. Initially, this was only evidenced by occasional scratches to Yuki's feet when Tohru stepped into another room, though usually the cat never left Tohru's side. At night, however, as they readied themselves for bed, Neko-chan vaulted into the room before Yuki could close the bedroom door and jumped onto the bed, where Tohru currently laid under the covers. Then he nuzzled against Tohru and made pitiful expressions and mewed until Tohru let him dive under the covers with her and snuggle against her.

Tohru cast Yuki a bit of an apologetic look as he cautiously approached the bed. Neko-chan watched him as he tentatively placed his hand and then his knee onto the mattress, but he only dared to show his displeasure with a feline scowl as Tohru was watching, so he had to let Yuki climb into bed and under the same blanket, but that didn't stop him from jabbing a claw into his side when Yuki tried to give Tohru a goodnight kiss or from scratching him after Tohru had fallen asleep until he forced Yuki to occupy the minimal amount of space on the edge of the bed.

Yuki wasn't surprised when he woke up in the morning on the floor, aching all over and with dried blood staining his pajamas, and saw Neko-chan seated on Tohru's stomach with a satisfied smirk, waving his tail in victory.

This sleeping arrangement soon became a nightly ritual, though Neko-chan always made sure Tohru never suspected him as the cause to Yuki's sudden increased clumsiness, dutifully distracting her with his morning greetings of playful licks and nuzzles and keeping her occupied for the first hour of the morning. If Yuki was lucky, Tohru managed to sneak him a small peck on the lips and Neko-chan would only glare.

Day time didn't pass much differently. Neko-chan got Tohru to move his dishes right under her spot at the table so he could keep himself pressed against her legs at all times by refusing to eat until she did so. This also allowed him to sneak attacks at Yuki's unguarded legs under the cover of the table, so Tohru only ever saw Yuki flinch periodically, and of course, Neko-chan always safely snuggled himself back on Tohru's feet before she could even ask Yuki what was wrong. This played out breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Between meal times, Neko-chan felt it his duty to make sure Yuki could not make contact with Tohru at all without risking the safety of his limbs. If they happened to want to watch a movie at night, Neko-chan would hop up onto Tohru's lap and curl up against her until the movie ended. He would whip Yuki with his tail if Yuki even tried to reach for Tohru's hand, so Yuki always found himself a cat's tail length away from Tohru on the couch. If they happened to want to work on the garden in the backyard, Neko-chan would dance around Tohru, successfully acting as a barrier around her to Yuki. He'd get so much mud on his fur that Tohru would have to spend the rest of the night giving him a bath and combing his fur, and unlike most cats, he'd only seem to smile the whole time she did so, or at least he grinned every time Yuki spotted Neko-chan and Tohru together in the bathroom.

And heaven forbid that Yuki should find himself at home alone with the cat, cat-sitting while Tohru spent the day with Hana and Uo. Tohru didn't do so out of malice, of course. Rather, she believed Neko-chan had changed his mind about Yuki and started to like him since the cat knew how to act like an angel whenever Tohru was near, but every second she stepped out of earshot, he ambushed Yuki like a trained assassin, so every time Tohru left the house, Yuki either had to flee his own home or tread across his own floor at his own peril.

Tohru might as well not return as it didn't seem to matter if they were home together or not- Neko-chan always made sure Tohru didn't have a single free second for Yuki. Neko-chan not only barred their physical contact, but also any communication. Each time Tohru tried to speak to Yuki, Neko-chan would tickle her with his tail until she couldn't speak through her giggles, and if she seemed about to leave him to spend some time with Yuki, he'd quickly recall her attention, pulling all his cute tricks. He never seemed to tire of acting clumsy as he pounced on his stuffed mouse toy and rolling around as if he hurt himself to make Tohru fret over him.

And he was an expert of cute. Even Yuki had to admit the cat knew how to scrunch up his furry face ever so adorably that Tohru had to stop whatever she was doing and forget whatever she had been thinking about to gush over the kitten and rub his belly affectionately.

Then there had been that awful experience when Tohru had embraced Yuki out of guilt for not even being able to speak over three words to him for the past few days. She seemed to have forgotten about the curse, and he found himself trapped inside Neko-chan's mouth within seconds of the transformation. He thought he was going to die in there after Neko-chan caught him with his sharp claws and gnawed with his sharp teeth, but fortunately, Tohru's distress immediately forced Neko-chan to relinquish his treat to her. The only bright side was that Yuki got to spend hours of alone time with Tohru as she dressed the deep puncture wounds while Neko-chan sulked in the kitchen.

Of course, those few hours were only a very small fraction of the time that had elapsed since Neko-chan joined their home.

The cat was easily winning the contest for Tohru's time and attention, and Yuki had never felt less like Tohru's husband since he believed she was in love with Kyo when they were in high school.

He would have felt more jealous had Neko-chan not made Tohru so happy, so Yuki had no choice but to try to hide his frequent wounds from Tohru, though she always inevitably found out, like today, and Yuki was always grateful for the hour or so of alone time with Tohru as she nursed him because it was the only time he really got to spend with her without the threat of Neko-chan's claws.

...

"B-But I don't want you to keep getting hurt like this! Besides, I think we'll be busy enough sooner or later with our own baby. I don't want Neko-chan to feel neglected or lonely, and it'll be awful if Neko-chan doesn't get along with our baby either," Tohru mused.

She looked at him with a thoughtful crease between her eyebrows and her head tilted to the side. Then her frown deepened as she leaned in closer and scrutinized a thin cut next to his eye. His eyes widened, and he tried to define the emotion he saw darkening her brown eyes, but he could hardly tell with her face mere inches from his. Her left hand kept a firm grip on his jaw and kept him from moving his head to get a better look while she generously doused his cut with alcohol. Then she turned around to dig around in the large first-aid kit to find the perfect bandage, so he had no choice but to try to voice his muddled thoughts.

"But I thought the test was negative…?"

"Yes. This time. But I'm sure it won't be soon enough!"

Yuki sighed, taking Tohru's hand in his. He tugged her away from the box she had been rummaging through and back towards him. Though Tohru looked rather disconcerted with her eyebrows arched and five different bandages in her free hand, she let him pull her onto his lap and hold her as close as he could without risking transforming and getting squished or successfully eaten by the cat he heard prowling outside the door. He tried to ignore the feline shadow the crept in under the crack of the door as he kissed her gently on the side of her forehead.

"You love Neko-chan," he repeated firmly. "And I'm sure Neko-chan will love the baby whenever it comes."

"But I would rather be able to hold my husband's hand without him flinching in pain!" she protested, lifting his bandaged hand with a grimace.

Again, Yuki sighed.

"Then what are we going to do with Neko-chan?"

She looked at him with her mouth half open, perplexed, but after a minute, she grinned. "I think I know someone who will enjoy Neko-chan very much!"

But a few weeks later, after Tohru finally got the positive test she had been praying for, Neko-chan's new orange-head owner and supposed cat and cat aficionado called in a very disgruntled voice.

"Oi! What are you thinking? Giving me that devil cat?! Is this some sort of joke your damn rat husband is trying to play on me?"

Because I love stories in which Yuki acknowledges Tohru's love of cats.