Nekomaru Eiji?
By Hikaruchi

Spring was Kikumaru's favourite time of year. He loved the way everything looked so fresh with the newly blooming flowers and the gently falling cherry blossoms. Then again, Summer was also his favourite time of year with the holidays and the chance to visit the sea; but Autumn was good too when the trees turned a lovely golden brown colour and the air was always so crisp; Winter couldn't be forgotten either though, because snow was impossible to hate - there was always so much fun to be had!

Shaking himself out of that train of thought, Kikumaru jumped onto a nearby fence to get a better look around at where he was. Things seemed so much different now he was a cat... Larger. It was strange somehow to be trying to find his way to school like this. Judging from the amount of teenagers on the streets and the pace at which they were walking (or running as the case may be), Kikumaru guessed the time to be somewhere around 8:20. He needed to hurry if he was going to find Oishi before the first lesson started.

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It wasn't until lunch time that Kikumaru eventually made it to the school. Being a cat was tough - too many troubles and distractions around. So far he had got lost three times, nearly been run over twice, been stopped to be stroked five times, been chased by a dog once, fallen off a fence four times, been teased by teenagers twice, and been distracted countless times by butterflies and falling feathers and swaying flowers. But still he had had no breakfast and by now he was absolutely starving.

"Lucky! At least it's lunch time," Kikumaru thought to himself upon finally entering the school gates, "Now I'm definitely gonna get something to eat!"

That was Kikumaru for you, always able to look on the bright side of things.

He scanned the area quickly before opting to stay hidden from sight while he was here. It wouldn't do him any good to be caught and labelled as a stray, and besides, there were too many high-school girls around - he wouldn't get a chance to find Oishi at all with the amount of times he was bound to be stopped and cooed over. Diving behind a row of bushes that ran around the perimeter of the school ground, he hurried to the place he usually ate lunch with Oishi.

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"Fuji!"

The brown haired prodigy turned around in the hall to face the tennis club's vice-captain, smiling nonchalantly.

"Did you want me, Oishi?"

Oishi frowned slightly. Was Fuji doing this on purpose? He'd been calling him from behind since the beginning of lunch, and the same thing had been happening all through lunch - just when he thought Fuji had heard him, he'd walk away into a crowd of people and so remove himself from Oishi's sight...

No, Oishi didn't have time to worry about that now. He had more important things to think about. So thinking he shrugged it off and regained his breath before answering Fuji's 'innocent' question.

"I was wondering if you'd seen Eiji at all today."

"Eiji-kun? No, he wasn't in class today..."

Oishi's frown reappeared, deeper this time. He knew something was wrong yesterday, why didn't he try and do something about it earlier? He should've followed Kikumaru home or something.

Noticing the darker haired boy's troubled expression, Fuji continued, "But we did have English and Science homework due in today - maybe he was just planning to skip the morning lessons and didn't want to come in until after lunch when it was safe..."

Oishi's face brightened slightly. That did sound like something Kikumaru might do, and they had been particularly busy recently with their tennis training for the upcoming tournament. The thought of that possibility helped him relax more.

Still smiling, Fuji opened his eyes slightly.

"Then again, he could be sick after drinking that juice yesterday..." He trailed off.

Oishi's face lost its briefly gained brightness and he bit his lower lip nervously. Just what he didn't want to hear.

"I'm going to go check he's ok..."

"You're going to his house now? In the middle of school?"

"..."

What else was he supposed to do? He was worried for his friend.

"Why don't you go eat something? I can hear your stomach growling," Fuji suggested, eyes closed again and smile unfaltering.

Sighing, Oishi admitted defeat. Kikumaru would be ok, he always was somehow, and it was true he wouldn't be able to just leave school like that. Plus it was also a fact he was hungry, but that was only because he had skipped breakfast in order to get to school early in the hope of meeting his double's partner, and because he had spent most of lunch chasing after the brunette prodigy. He decided it wouldn't help Kikumaru at all if he ended up starving himself.

"Ok, I'll see you in practice then..."

So saying, Oishi turned and headed for where he usually shared his lunchtime with Kikumaru.

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He wasn't there. Oishi wasn't there.

Kikumaru felt like crying. He was dirty, tired, hungry and bruised and his hopes of eating lunch with Oishi were gone. Craning his neck to look at the school clock told him that lunch would be over in five minutes, and it was just like Oishi to head for class earlier than most. He'd missed him.

Ears and tail drooping, Kikumaru moved to curl up in the corner, wrapping his tail around himself. Now what was he meant to do? Suddenly his thoughts of depression were disturbed by approaching footsteps. The redhead debated running to hide, then decided to stay where he was - after all, there was always the chance a nice young schoolgirl would come round the corner and rescue him from his plight of hunger! Standing up, Kikumaru went to meet his saviour, eyes sparkling brighter at the chance of eating something for the first time that day. Who was it going to be to help him? He'd make sure to remember their face and pay them back! They're getting closer! It's!

Kaidoh.

Kikumaru's features visibly dropped. Kaidoh? He was the worst person to meet at a time like this - the least likely person to give him decent food!

"Huh? I knew I heard a noise back here..."

Kikumaru sat back on his haunches and stared up at Kaidoh in amazement. Was he taking something out of his lunchbox for him? It smelled good, whatever it was...

"Sushi," Kaidoh said softly and lay it in front of the tabby's feet.

Sushi! If it was fish, it was safe to eat, right? Kikumaru didn't think twice before pouncing on the treat before him. He hardly noticed a warm hand begin to stroke him gently on the head, only when he had finished his sushi and Kaidoh was scratching him behind the ears did he realise what was going on. Before he could help himself he was purring loudly at Kaidoh's touch. It felt surprisingly good and Kikumaru made a mental note to stroke cats like this more often when he met them.

Just then the school bell rang. Kaidoh grunted in annoyance at having to leave so soon. Taking another two pieces of sushi from his bag, he put them on the floor for Kikumaru to eat, then ran his hand along his back and down to his tail before standing up and taking a last look at the cat.

"I have to go back to class. You should get out of here before someone else finds you."

Kaidoh sauntered back round the corner, pulling his bag back onto his back as he went.

Kikumaru stared at his retreating figure for a while, still mildly shocked at the second year's behaviour towards him in his feline state. Grinning to himself Kikumaru decided he'd pay Kaidoh back by not revealing his secret to anyone, and maybe buying him a soft cat plushie - ginger, of course.

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Notes: Awww Kaidoh really is a sweetie - my third favourite character after the Golden Pair! The next chapter should be up pretty soon-ish, hopefully with more shounen-ai. o.O Don't forget to review and tell me what you think! ^^V