Pets

When the cat gets sick one day, Tsurara blamed Kurosaki for its condition. The cat lets out a weak, sad cry and Tsurara pouts at its helplessness. She embraces the feline and through its fur gently, hoping to sooth it, “Poor thing…”

Kurosaki shakes his head at the scene, “Tsk, tsk, tsk…Can’t even take care of her own cat.”

Tsurara gave him the glare; the one expression he himself was afraid of sometimes and pokes at his chest, “This is animal abuse!”

With a furrowing brow, Kurosaki takes hold of her finger, “What are you talking about?”

Tsurara snaps her finger away from his grasp, “You didn’t give it the love and care it deserved! You’re a horrible owner! Horrible, horrible person! No heart at all!”

“Or maybe it got sick from the mediocre brand of cat-food you’re overfeeding it.” He casually replied while scratching the side of his head.

She narrows her gaze at him and purses her lips, “Neh! I found it shivering in the corner in front of your apartment! You were supposed to take care of it while I was out studying for my final exam today. You promised!”

Kurosaki snorts at that, “I don’t remember promising you anything. And I bet you were out fooling around with what’s his name...Soymilk-lover. Don’t tell me, did that idiot boyfriend of yours feed the cat soymilk? Pfft, I’d say you’re the animal abuser since you’re the owner now.”

Tsurara stomps her foot in frustration and shakes her head, “You idiot! What I’m trying to say is…Neko-chan misses you! It’s feeling home-sick!”

Kurosaki becomes silent and stiff as a statue, “Wh-what?”

The little woman continues to explode with her rant and threw more imaginary poisonous-guilty daggers at him, “That’s why I set up the date to study with Akira-kun today! That way, Neko-chan can spend time with you!”

Tsurara turns her back to him and huffs, “But I guess you’re too blind to see that it misses you, so forget about it.”

“Give her to me.” Kurosaki suddenly demands.

“What was that?”

Sighing, Kurosaki forced Tsurara around and pulled the cat out of her arms, “I’ll…let her stay at my place…for the weekend.”

The frown on Tsurara’s face gradually disappears and turns into a gentle smile, “Make sure to play with her often, hold her when she wants you to and kiss her to show that you love her. Make her happy again.”

The cat purrs and snuggles comfortably within Kurosaki’s arms.

Kurosaki sighs and strides over to his apartment, “Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first ten times...”

+++

In the evening, when it was time for dinner, Kurosaki pulls Tsurara from her “study-date” with Akira and drags her into his house,

“Hey, Kurosaki-kun, what are you doing?! Can’t you see I’m—”

“She’s homesick alright, but she won’t let me feed her…She wants YOU to do the feeding, in MY house. She’s become such a picky cat…” Kurosaki annoyingly poked at her shoulder as he told her that.

“That’s because you’re giving her the wrong kind of cat-food.”

Kurosaki rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “It used to like the cat-food I gave it until you came along and ruined everything.”

Tsurara sticks out her tongue and dumps the brand of cat-food she recently bought from the pet store into the cat’s dish, “Well sorry. Tastes can change you know.”

He lets out a heavy sigh and crouches down next to her,” You’re spoiling her too much, you know that? Look, she’s getting fatter and fatter every week.” 

Kurosaki gently pokes at the cat’s side and it sways to the opposite direction a little.

Tsurara tugs on his arm sleeve and pulls his hand away, “Let her eat in peace!”

“If this continues, she’ll be too big to sleep in that small wicker basket you made. Don’t blame me when she breaks it, I warned you.”

“Then she can sleep with us.”

“Eww, no way…That’s disgusting, why would I want to sleep with you? I told you already…No matter how many times you ask…I’m not sleeping with you! Ever. Either way, wouldn’t your boyfriend get jealous?”

Tsurara huffs at that statement and ruffles her hair in frustration, “You’re so…” Here, she lets out a groan and snaps at him, “Why do I even bother talking to you? You’re not even going to listen…as usual.”

“Exactly, so stop feeding it so much and do as I say. Now get out of my sight, I’m sure Akira-kun doesn’t want you to be here as much as I do.” Kurosagi scoffs, pointing at the direction of the exit.

Tsurara rolls her eyes and kisses the cat’s head while it was chewing away happily with its cat-food before getting up to leave.

“Fine, but don’t come crying to me if she gives you any more problems. Remember, she’s homesick, so give her the love and care she deserves, you cruel, cruel man.” 

And with that, she finally disappears from his view and slams the front door.

“That woman never ceases to amaze me…” The side of Kurosaki’s lips curve into a small smile as he gently his cat’s fur. She looks up at him from her dish and purrs gleefully.

+++

“It misses you.” Kurosaki suddenly tells Tsurara two and a half days later, as she was walking up the stairs.

Tsurara quirks an eyebrow, “How do you know that?”

“It kept clawing at your door all day today. See.” He points at the bottom of her front door and shows her the deep, visible scratches made all over the surface,

Tsurara gasps and looks back and forth between the cat and the door, “Eh?!”

The cat looks up at her innocently with big, beady eyes and purrs, pushing and brushing its body against her leg, “Meow…?”

With hands behind his back, Kurosaki slowly circled around her, the sound of his boots echoing loudly into the air, “Now, are you going to pay to fix that with cash…or cash? Oh and you still haven’t paid for rent either…” 

Tsurara gawks and drops her notebooks, “Why did you let her do that to my door?!”

Kurosaki grins steps close to her before brushing his fingers tenderly across her flushed cheek, “Because Yoshida…” Here, he plays with a lock of her hair and kisses it,

“I miss making you mad…I can’t move on without doing something to see that horrible flushed face of yours…”

After that, he lets out an evil chuckle before sauntering down the stairs, leaving her stiff as a statue and red as a tomato.

The cat continued to purr and brush its body against Tsurara.

—OWARI—