A/N; Merry Christmas, raythecomputerart!
22. Post-Adventure Fun Times
As much as Haru loved her mother, she couldn't help but feel glad that Naoko hadn't managed that second ticket in time to take Haru with her. Although quilts ran through the mother's soul like blood, the daughter could think of more enjoyable ways to spend most of her summer break than sitting behind a curtain and watching her mother give lecture after lecture in some hotel in China.
The first of which was sleeping in as late as she liked. After escaping the Cat Kingdom, Haru was willing to make the extra effort to get up at a decent time for school and be more responsible in general, but summer break was intended to be that; a break.
It must have been noon when the brunette finally forced herself to get up. She even considered the comfort of staying in her pajamas all day since her mother wasn't around, but ultimately gave in for one of her favorite t-shirts and decent slacks just in case she needed to answer the door.
It would just be her luck to be wearing pajamas if the delivery man came by with another package for her mother.
She yawned while carefully stepping down the small stairs and into the kitchen. Since Haru didn't feel like washing dishes later, she made cinnamon sugar toast with her daily experiment on tea, an orange and cinnamon blend that turned out well enough to her to put a star next to that recipe.
Munching happily, Haru wandered into the small living room. 'I don't have to dodge fabric squares or pins!' she thought with contentment while deciding to indulge herself just a bit more. She turned on the tv, made the necessary adjustments, and retired to her couch with her favorite controller.
She brushed the remaining sugar dust off her fingers on her shirt, finished her cup of tea, and started her game.
Haru wasn't huge into video games, but she liked having the option open when in the right mood. Heaven knows she probably wouldn't have been able to play them in the Cat Kingdom, especially if she had needed to get used to paws first.
A shudder wracked her body, distracting her at just the right moment for her character to die on screen.
"It didn't happen," the poor teenager told herself firmly, starting again from the beginning. "I was born a human, and I'm going to die a human."
Her heart seemed to sink a bit at the declaration, making her sit there in confusion while her character just stood at the first bit of the first level, waiting for her to make him move.
Without warning, a tapping sound came from the glass of her kitchen window. Since there wasn't so much as a tree near that window, Haru set aside her controller to go see what it was.
One glance, and her heart leaped back into her chest where it belonged. "Toto!" she cried happily, racing for that window to let him in.
Thanks to the size of that window, the large crow had to fly in a big loop before zooming through with his wings close to his sides.
As the black bird flew past her into the living room, Haru's heart began dancing unsteadily in her throat.
Baron had flashed her a grin from his familiar perch on Toto's back.
'Thank heaven I got dressed!' "Where's Muta?" Haru asked to distract herself from her own emotions.
"Check your front door," Toto hinted, flying once around the room before settling himself on the back of one of the dining chairs.
Haru wasted no time racing for the front door and opening it wide.
"That took you long enough," the fat white cat griped at her as he nearly waddled into her home.
"I've missed you too," she laughed, knowing by now that his grumpy nature was nothing to take injury to. She then turned to see Baron swinging himself off Toto's back to stand on the table she usually ate her meals on. "I've missed all of you. Is something up?" she asked while shutting the door.
Baron flashed her a smile while removing his beloved top hat. "Just calling on a friend. We noticed that your mother doesn't seem to be home; how much time do we have?"
"Three more days. She's out of town for a conference," she assured him while taking back her seat on the couch.
"Good. The Refuge has been pretty boring lately," Muta admitted while hopping onto the couch next to her and laying his head on one of her legs.
It could have been Haru's imagination, or perhaps just wistful hoping, but she could have sworn that Baron looked just a bit upset when she reached over with one hand to start scratching Muta's neck and back in response to his silent plea for attention.
"I certainly won't complain about having you guys around. But if you and Toto start feeling the urge to get into a fight, you have to take it to the back yard," she informed the large cat with a steely tone, making sure to keep eye contact with the crow when she said it. "I don't want Mom thinking that I threw a party without asking her first."
"I won't start anything," Toto promised, smirking at the fat cat who could only growl in response.
Baron looked at the tv to see where the upbeat mechanical music was coming from. "A game, I presume?"
"It's one of the classics," Haru assured him with a grin, though now she was considering moving Muta's head from her leg so that she could shut it off. "The idea of it is that you're a short guy trying to rescue a princess from the clutches of a bad guy that's incapable of leaving her alone, but you have to go through multiple worlds, power ups, minor lackeys that are ridiculously easy to defeat if you don't let them touch you, even some costume changes before challenging the bad guy and taking him down in a pretty humiliating way before winning the game."
Baron hummed with a fist to his chin, hooking his cane on an elbow in thought. "My, my. I wonder why that sounds familiar."
He gave her one smirk, and Haru flushed with embarrassment as that night once again came crashing down on her.
"Oh crud, I didn't think about… well… I was never a princess!" Haru reminded him with almost a desperate smile and silently wishing for the carpet to swallow her whole.
"But the 'bad guy' thought you had the potential," Toto reminded her with a sly grin. "Just yesterday Baron said-"
"So why don't you show us how the game is played, Haru?" the Cat Creation suddenly begged, cutting his equally immortal friend off with a warning glare that was rewarded with another smirk.
Even though it was impossible, Haru couldn't help but feel the fragile hope in her chest begin to bloom.
Since Muta was still on her leg, the teenager very carefully used her ankle to hook a leg of the chair Toto was on to slowly drag him to a better view of the tv. Baron used the seat of the chair to hop off the table and onto the couch with her.
Surely it was only an accident that he landed on Muta's stomach to make him grunt in pain before bouncing onto her lap.
That didn't stop Haru from gloating that her lap was Baron's property for the rest of the day.