Snippet #2719375

Tak tossed and turned on his bed several times before he finally decided to just lay on his back, and stare up at the ceiling. He let out a loud, almost animal-like yawn as he stretched up his arms. He knew it was gonna be a bad day. He slowly rose out of his bed with an almost zombie-like quality. He tried to shake off the restlessness of the night.

For whatever reason, he couldn't get Velonix out of his head. He replayed the conversation they ended the night with over and over in his mind. Each time his chest tightening up. He's said worse to people over seemingly trivial matters, and never felt bad about it. But for some reason after hearing the shakiness of her voice he just couldn't get it out of his head and felt a strange, unpleasant sensation swirl inside him.

Tak looked around his ‘room’, the old storage space of the bakery in the attic. It was covered wall to wall with extra chairs and tables of varying sizes for a variety of occasions they may cater to, but with some ingenious stacking techniques he had himself a decently sized open area for his small bed, old box TV set with stolen cable, and a decent sized bookshelf with an underwhelmingly small amount of books, just a few copies of some of the Dune series, and a couple books by Arthur C. Clarke. Not nearly enough to warrant the size of the bookshelf.

He rummaged around one of the two laundry baskets that held two pile of clothes. One basket was for clean clothes, and the other dirty. Rather than just using a dresser or closet to keep his clothes he just leaves them in their respective baskets until laundry day. While he might live on a small island in an ocean of chairs and tables, it was a surprisingly clean and tidy area. After spending time in what was pretty much a prison he's found that keeping his room tidy to be a particularly hard habit to break.

Despite him being invited to stay in the spare room of Ruri and Yosuke, Tak preferred to stay alone, and away from people. While hesitant at first, the couple eventually allowed him to stay, since he doesn't really do any harm to the place. Once he was dressed in a pair of black shorts, and a white sleeveless shirt he quickly made his bed, another habit that he picked up inside, he went down stairs for some breakfast.

Tak scrounged around in the kitchen cabinets until he found himself a box sugary cereal. After making himself a bowl of cereal he stepped out of the kitchen, and hopped up on the counter, and began eating his breakfast.

Right in the middle of his meal, he was interrupted by the front door bell chiming, signaling someone had entered, and that someone was Ruri. Looked like it was her turn to open up the shop today. ”Well good morning Ladykiller, strange seeing you here so early. How'd the date go?” She greeted him with a mischievous smirk. Tak merely rolled his eyes. ”It wasn't a date! Besides, she's just some rich kid bored with her life, and wanting a charity case.” He stated, his cold expression and tone covering the unease he felt over Velonix.

Ruri puffed up her cheeks and flicked him on the nose. ”You're such an idiot! She obviously had a thing for you, and you obviously have a thing for her! Sheesh! I'm gonna have to get her number to invite her over so you can apologize!” She growled at him, starting up their usual bout of fighting. ”As if! She's just using me for something! Either to make herself feel like a good person, or else to piss off someone! My guess she's just hitting her ‘rebel’ stage, and looking to piss off her parents! So just drop it!” He shouted.

Ruri let out a loud, and frustrated sigh, scratching her head over what to do. Then a slick grin crossed her lips. ”Ok Takeo, I won't talk about her, but you gotta make those delicious treats of yours! That's the price of my silence!” She said, her mouth nearly watering. Tak groaned, wiped some milk off the corner of his mouth. ”Pfft, fine.”

It took awhile, but he was finally finished with the many imagawayaki that Tak was forced to make to satisfy Ruri. Once he was finished, he grabbed a tub and began filling it up full of dirty dishes. ”I swear, one of these days you're gonna tell me how you make them this delicious!” Ruri nearly squealed in excitement, it was a treat to be able to eat his cooking, despite how good he was at it, he's never been enthusiastic about it, just treating it like a chore. ”You just suck at cooking!”

Tak felt an intense gaze fixed in on him, causing him to turn around and see Velonix standing outside the shop's window, just staring at him. His heart almost stopped at that moment, his throat getting dry, and a strange surge of emotions swelled up inside of him. He focused his intense gaze on her, his stern face not betraying the strange sensation he felt when she looked at him.

Their eyes met for a moment that felt like an eternity, with her amber eyes becoming his sole focus. What was it that those eyes saw of him? Was he just some charity case to her, or some stray animal to be nursed back to health? The more he wondered about it the redder his face became. And then he noticed something: her eyes were moist; was she going to cry? Velonix suddenly turned away, catching Tak by surprise. He looked away from her, keeping her in a small corner of his vision. Once she was out of sight Tak let out a frustrated sigh. Why was she about to cry? Did the mere sight of him just cause her to cry? Did he hurt her that much? Or did she hate him that much? Why did he even care? He pushed those questions aside as he hurled the tub of dishes to the kitchen.

Ruri stood in the doorway of the kitchen, silently watching as the two gazed at each other. Her eyebrows were perked up in curiosity, and slight amusement. She pressed down on a plastic container full of Tak’s treats, securing the lid on top of it. She gave him a mischievous grin as he passed by her, awkwardly shuffling along, keeping his eyes to the ground.

After getting the dishes into the sink, next was the load of garbage that needed to go to the dumpster. Tak carried two full black garbage bags, both almost the size of him. He managed to wrestle them into the dumpster, and afterward he dropped down to the ground, taking a breather on the back steps.

”Dammit….why is she so goddamn irritating!” He sighed, never once has one person managed to irritate and confuse him like she has.

~You know, he’s kind of a silly human. Why is he shouting at himself?~

Dusk peered around the corner of the bakery, Mio peeking his head just over hers. They had branched off from their mistress not too long before, having told her that they were going to explore some more of the quaint town that they had so abruptly found themselves in. Obviously, that was a lie - or was it? - given that they had opted to, instead, spy on the human boy that had piqued Harmonix’s interest so much. Whether their interest was out of concern for her well being or general curiosity, neither of them could say, but it was definitely there.

~I’m not really sure, Selene. Maybe he’s not mentally stable? I don’t want a mentally unstable human so close to our Harmony.~ Dusk scoffed in response to that, rolling her dazzling blue eyes. ~You do realize that that’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you? Seeing as Harmonix isn’t quite mentally stable herself~ Mio growled slightly, looking down at the top of her gray head. ~Don’t talk about her like that. You know as well as I do that none of that happened because she wanted it to. Dusk turned a cool gaze up to meet Mio’s slightly hotter one, and if anyone looked at her, they could have sworn that the cat raised an eyebrow - if she even had one. ~I do realize that. But that also makes me wonder if something may have happened to this boy, as well. I don’t believe him to be unhinged in the same way that our lovely lady is, but I do believe that he’s been through quite a bit in his short life. How can you rightly stand there and adamantly defend Lady Harmonix for a mental disability, just because she didn’t want it to happen to her, but then judge this boy for perhaps having similar circumstances?~ The lack of a response from Mio was enough of an answer for Dusk, who straightened, pushing him slightly off of her. With her head high, she strut around the corner and walked right up to the boy, letting out a loud yet pretty, ”Myow,” as she reached him. She moved her head against his calf, nuzzling him through his clothes. ~Hey, Mio, he smells really good! Like the best tuna and salmon!~ ~No way he smells just like the fancy stuff,~ Mio argued, trotting after her, his own curiosity winning out as well. As he neared the boy, he sniffed, and immediately darted to his side, sniffing around his ankles. ~Ooooh, he does smell really good!~

Tak looked down at the two cats that suddenly appeared. They looked familiar. He looked up and down the alley, looking for any sign of their owner. Once he was sure she wasn't there he began to relax. He looked down at the two cats, his expression softening. ”You're the Cinnamon Roll’s therapy animals or whatever right?” He asked as he leaned down, and rubbed underneath Mio’s chin with his index and middle finger. He's been around stray animals to realize how to approach animals in a surprisingly non-threatening way. He then reached his other hand down, scratching at the back of Dusk’s head. He moved his hands in a circular motion, causing them to purr loudly. Mio tried to hold it back, but when Tak slowly moved his hand from underneath his chin to the back of his head he couldn't contain it any longer.

”I'm surprised you two like me so much, since Miss Goody-Two-Shoes can't seem to look at me without being a big cry baby.” Tak sighed. Why did it bother him so much? He's used to getting scornful looks from people, but that. He's never been looked at like that. ”Why is it so hard to deal with her? What does she want from me?” He sighed. People were so complicated, it's so much easier to not deal with them. ”And why am I asking her cats for answers?” He let out a stiff laugh. ”This is why I hate dealing with people….it's too much of a hassle.”

They were then interrupted by the sudden arrival of the Bob-tailed cat that always hangs around the shop. The stray cat waltz over to Tak, slipping in under his arm, and sat down his lap. She started nuzzling her head into his chest in a jealous manner. ”Well, at least you guys like me…...I guess that's something.” Dusk rolled her eyes at the stray. ~Oh, come now. No need to act so territorial, child. Trust me when I say that you can have the boy. We’re simply curious; investigating him out of worry for our own mistress. We don’t want him.~ Mio snickered a little, obviously trying to seem more masculine after having crumbled under the hand of the boy. ~We really don’t want anything to do with him; we’re just looking out for our own lovely lady. He’s all yours.~ The stray glared in their direction, slightly baring her teeth. ~Don’t talk about Takeo like that! He’s a good person! You should want him - he’s the best! And why would you need to ‘investigate’ him for your mistress, anyway? He’s not a bad person - he’d never do anything to her!~ Dusk fixated a cool stare on the cat, sitting down directly beside Takeo’s foot so as to be pressed up against his leg. ~He’s already made her cry twice, and they’ve only met each other twice. Of course, that’s reason enough for us to find out what type of person he is. However … Our findings so far have been quite promising. I’m looking forward to seeing how things play out and go between him and Lady Harmonix. We will not interfere unless he proves to be a directly negative impact on our mistress.~ The stray looked away in a huff, nuzzling her face against Takeo’s chin. During the conversation, though, Mio had made his way over to the dumpster, where Takeo had recently tossed the garbages. After searching through it for a minute - all the while grumbling over how disgusting and lower class it was of him to dumpster dive - he emerged with a very specific pastry in his mouth. It had been tossed due to it being burnt on one half, and he scampered down from the dumpster and over to Takeo. As soon as he reached him, he promptly dropped the vanilla frosted cinnamon roll on the ground before him, nudging it closer with his nose, before sitting up regally. Dusk made her way to his side, dropping down beside him in the same position, and together they fixated what they hoped to be serious looks on the human boy. What they were attempting to convey was their wishes for him to not lose hope over the interactions that he had had with their mistress, but instead follow the lead that his piqued interest could take him in.

Or something along those cheesy lines. It wasn’t as though they could just tell him what they wanted to say; if they did, he’d think he was going crazy, or worse, would suspect otherworldly magic or mysticism, and they couldn’t have someone suspicious of the siblings running amok. So the best thing that they could do, at least for now, was to give him subtle hints that nothing was as it seemed, and that he should push through the self-doubt and confusion.

Tak raised an eyebrow at the two cats, as they seemingly presented him a burnt cinnamon roll from the garbage. He stared deeply into their eyes. There was something off about those two. ”Sheesh, you two are so weird. If you're hungry you don't need to go rooting around in the trash.” Tak said as he picked up the stray cat off his lap, and placed her down on the ground. ”Wait here, I'll be back in a sec.” Dusk and Mio looked at one another, rolled their eyes in unison, and sighed internally. Clearly, manipulating him was going to prove to be more difficult than they initially thought. The boy was a bit slow.

Tak returned to the kitchen for a brief moment. The stray cat began circling around the two unfamiliar cats, sniffing them as she did so. ~This mistress you keep talking about. How do I know if she's good enough for Takeo? For all I know she doesn't deserve him!~ She stopped in front of them, and sat down, keeping her gaze fixed on their eyes. ~Takeo saved my life, he saved me from getting run over, and he's been feeding me every day since then. He's cared for me while other humans ignored me. Without him, I wouldn't be here. And it's not just me either! He cares for other strays as well! He's the kindest, and bestest person!~

~As I said before, child; the boy has already made her cry twice. Not simply once, but twice, and both of those times were the only times that they’ve met. However …~ Dusk trailed off, seeming to lose herself in thought. ~... However, we can both tell that she has an odd interest in him. And believe us when we say that for her or anyone in her family to take an interest in someone from here is very, very rare. They’re … Solitary people, so none of them really like outsiders. But Har-Velonix, that is, for some reason likes the boy.~ Dusk refocused on the conversation. ~Trust us when we say that we know our mistress’s feelings very well. And while Takeo appears to be crude, rude, dishonorable, immature, and sloppy on the outside, because let’s be honest, he does give off such an appearance.~ She held up her paw as the mortal cat began to argue, silencing her. [i]~However, that doesn’t seem to be the case behind closed doors. He clearly uses that brutish demeanor as a defensive maneuver so as to keep humans at an arm’s length, minimum. Obviously, there are some mental scars caused by previous traumatic events that are stunting him from becoming the kind person that he so very clearly is in front of people of his own species.~ Mio bared his teeth slightly, his eyes glinting in warning. ~And besides that, our mistress is one of the most gentle and sweetest of girls that anyone could ever meet. Don’t you dare insinuate that she is anything but. Any man, especially a mortal, should count his blessings and consider himself so far beyond lucky to have her, if he were to win her heart. She couldn’t harm a fly, but instead would opt to do whatever she could to help it.~ His tone was snappish, obviously taking it as a sore topic to probe, and Dusk gave the cat a slightly apologetic look.

Tak returned with a small plate with a single slice of turkey on it. He ripped the turkey up into three pieces, and sat the plate on the ground for the cats. The Bob-tailed stray quickly ran over to the plate, making sure to be the first one to get a piece. ”Huh, you hang around here so much I guess I should really give you a name.” He looked the cat up and down, trying to think of a good name for her. ”Hmm….how about Mochi? You look like a Mochi to me. What do ya think?” The stray looked up at Tak, and let out a pleased meow, obviously showing a liking to the name. ”Glad you like it. Mochi it is.” Dusk and Mio stood back for a moment and exchanged glances. A memory momentarily flickered between their minds.

“Thank you for the milk for Mio and Dusk. I don’t want what I say next to undermine how appreciative I am of you doing that for them. However, I wouldn’t make it a habit of giving cats or kittens too much milk. It can be really bad for their health, despite what cartoon depictions have given you of felines and milk. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant, actually,” she said, taking a breath before continuing. “I’d personally recommend giving them some sort of meat, fish, cheese, eggs, or vegetables, with simply a bowl of water to wash it down. It’s a lot better for them, and not to mention a great deal more filling. Milk should usually be reserved as a special treat every now and again, and only given in small amounts.”

Mio nodded slightly, turning to face Takeo once more.They had gotten what they had come for, so without bothering to approach the plate, while he was focused on Mochi they took off silently, and so swiftly that when he looked it, it would be as though they had simply disappeared.