The bright afternoon sun shined down brightly as you walked down the street, Ikuto stepping in sync with you with the two neko in front, their ribbons swaying in the wind behind them. Kyosuke was snuggled up in your arms, purring in content watching the surroundings with large, curious ice-blue eyes.
You didn't really come by this area too often, it was a bit farther out near the outskirts of town. There wasn't really anything out here aside from a few small shops and a decent-sized park.
But all of those things you could go to closer to your place. There was a bigger park near you where you and Tsukiko would go sometimes. And the shopping district near the school had anything you might need shopping-wise, so there was no need in coming out this way.
Koneko suddenly let out a loud squeal and began running up ahead, Kuriko swiftly following after her, before they both turned a corner.
Ikuto let out a chuckle and held out his hand to you, "C'mon. Let's go after them."
You blushed a bright red and hesitantly grabbed onto his hand. Kyo turned his head up to you questioningly before looking down at both of your hands joined together. He let out a small hiss. Your eyes widened as Ikuto began pulling you forward and before you knew it you both were lightly jogging to catch up to the neko that ran away.
As you both turned the corner, you slowed down your pace. Koneko and Kuriko were stood behind a male who looked to have been taking a walk. Coming closer, you noticed the male had a bookbag on his back, with a little cat residing inside; the back was see-through.
"Will he be okay?" Koneko had asked, lifting her hand to the bookbag where the cat rubbed his head against.
The male had chuckled and nodded his head, "Yes, he'll be fine. He got into a fight the other day and is taking just a little longer to heal fully."
"So he'll be back at school then?" Kuriko mumbled. "That's good. I saw the other neko had so many scratches all over. Must've been a bad cat fight."
The male laughed again turning his head to look at them from behind, "Yeah, he'll be fine to return. The other neko won't be back for awhile though. Heard he's in some big trouble."
Koneko hummed and nuzzled her head against the see-through part of the bookbag. You and Ikuto finally caught up and Ikuto gave a wave to the male, "Good thing it wasn't too serious. Hope he's all well soon." He smiled brightly.
"Of course, he's all good. We'll be going now, we'll see you later!" The male called out and walked away, the cat in his backpack meowing loudly and pawing at the see-through screen.
Koneko gave a loud meow and turned to her sister, laying her head on Kuriko's shoulder. As you all began walking again, curiousity got the best of you and you asked, "So what's this about a cat fight? I didn't hear of any fights at school?"
Kuriko snickered and Ikuto smiled, slapping her softly on the shoulder. Kuriko turned around, walking backwards as she said, "Not your school, baka. Our school."
Ikuto gave her another light-hearted slap, "Be nice, Kuriko."
"It's our neko school, (Y/n)-chan. Didn't you know about it?" Koneko asked with a small smile.
You shook your head as light pink dusted across your cheeks. "No, I know nothing about neko. Didn't even know they existed until Kyosuke showed up on my doorstep." you mumbled and looked down at said neko in your arms. He was purring contently once more and you pet his head softly.
It seemed neko were more known than you thought. Probably because you didn't get out very much. Ever since coming here all you did was hang out with Tsukiko or hide away in the library to sneak glances at the vice student council president.
You snuck a glance up at him now to see him looking down at you warmly. Another blush tinged your cheeks.
"Okaasan can help you," Ikuto said and then paused walking, gesturing to the side, "And we're here."
You nodded and lifted your head to the house before you. You remembered this place from before, however now it looked decent and nice. Last time it was crumbling and decaying and in ruins.
The brick wall out front held a plaque on the front that read "Akihiko Residence". A white fence surrounded the perimeter of the blue house and large backyard.
Ikuto opened the black gate in front and offered you to step through. Before taking a step, Koneko and Kuriko ran in front of you, hurriedly prancing away and ripping open the front door of the home and heading inside.
With the front door open, all you could hear was chaos from inside.
Your eyes widened slightly and Ikuto placed a hand on the small of your back. "It's okay, (Y/n). We're a little rowdy, but there's no need to worry."
You nodded and heard yourself gulp audibly. You stepped forward and headed inside the large home. Almost immediately after closing the door, a small little girl ran to Ikuto, hiding behind his leg and giggling loudly. Her tail wrapped around his leg and her snow-white ears twitched.
A tall male with the same white hair suddenly came running forward, snatching up the small girl and nuzzling her tummy as she laughed uncontrollably. He then faced Ikuto and said, "Imouto! Who's this?" and then cocked his head, gesturing to you.
Ikuto smiled and held out his hands to the elder male, lifting the small female into his arms and holding her upright on his hip. "Oniisan, this is (L/n). She's a classmate of mine."
The small girl then started making grabby hands towards Kyosuke in your arms. His ice blue eyes were dancing around the home and looking at everything wildly.
"And this is her neko, Kyo-san-"
"KYOSUKE?!"
Two more males came running into the room behind the first. All three of the elder males looked identical. You weren't able to tell any of them apart. But all of their shouting suddenly had you gripping onto Kyo tighter and holding him protectively against your chest.
He mewed loudly and wiggled in your arms, you couldn't help but pout a little as he managed to hop down to the floor and out of your arms, running around the three males before you.
They all crouched down and began talking animatedly to the kitten, swinging their arms around and laughing with each other.
Then suddenly, your mind clicked. Oh, that's right! These males must've been Kyo's friends from before. You smiled fondly as he chirped and mewed at them.
Ikuto placed a hand on your shoulder which made you jump, startling you.
He gave a small chuckle, "These are my older brothers, Keiji, Keito, and Keigo. They were best friends with Kyosuke when they were younger." He patted the head of the little girl in his arms who gave a giggle, "And this sweet little baby is Keiko."
You cooed and held out your hand to her, "Hi, Keiko. Nice to meet you." you said softly. She paused and leaned forward, sniffing your hand. After a moment she hummed and butt her head against your hand.
"Now then, we should go find Okaasan. Kyosuke should be fine here with them." Ikuto said and began walking away down a hallway to your left.
One of the triplets stuck his head out of the circle and smiled widely, holding up his thumbs to you, "We'll look after him!"
You gave a nod, a bit unsure, before slowly following after Ikuto.
This was all really confusing to you. Ikuto was calling all of these neko his brothers and sisters. But no ears sat atop his head or tail swaying behind him. Ikuto looked like a normal human just like yourself. Does that mean he's not the owner of Koneko and Kuriko? But their brother?As you followed Ikuto throughout his large home, many more neko passed by you, doing their own thing. Ikuto introduced you to all of them, though you knew you weren't going to remember all of them right away. There were way too many of them. So far, he's introduced you to 8 of his siblings, and you still haven't even reached the kitchen yet.
There were the eldest triplets consisting of Keito, Keiji, and Keigo. There was a set of quadruplets of 3 girls and 1 boy; Kaoru, Kana, Kagami, and Katsu. And then there was the sweet little baby who sat on Ikuto's hip, baby Keiko. Combined with the addition of Koneko and Kuriko, that made 10 of them already. Were there any more? You were starting to feel very overwhelmed.
Ikuto stepped through the back door of his home, coming outside to the backyard. An older female and male was sitting out in the grass with a small white kitten on the ground between them. The older female had long white hair with striking blue eyes while the male had dark raven hair with green eyes. Both sported ears atop their head.
They must be the parents.
"Okaasan! Otoutosan! I brought someone for you to meet!" Ikuto called out. He set Keiko down on the ground and she ran off to her parents, jumping into the male's arms.
"Ah! Ikuto! I was wondering what time you were coming home." The female said and smiled warmly. She glanced to you with a smile still on her lips, "And who's this? Are you two dating?" she asked Ikuto teasingly.
At once, heat rushed to your face and you shuffled your feet nervously, looking down to the ground. You could hear Ikuto beside you laughing nervously and stammering.
"N-no, Okaasan! We're not- I'm not-" he trailed off and took a deep sigh, the red from his face disappearing. "This is (L/n), (Y/n). She recently got a neko and was looking for some help."
"Oh!" She clapped her hands together and leaned forward to grab your hands in hers. "I'd be delighted to help! Who's your neko? We might know him. What do you need help with?"
The male next to her chuckled and said, "Slow down, my love. You're overwhelming her."
The female's eyes widened and she nodded, laughing it off. "Right, right! Gomen! I got a bit carried away. You may call me Yukki, dear," she gestured to the male, "and this is my husband, Makoto," and finally she gestured to the small kitten, "and this is Kiyoji, he's still learning yet. How can we help you, (L/n)-chan?"
You took a few deep breaths and smiled. "Oh, (Y/n) is just fine by me," You started off and sat down on the grass before them and leaned out to pet the top of the baby kitten's head. He purred loudly and mewled.
Ikuto's parents seem really nice. Hopefully they can help you after all.
Time to figure this shit out.
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Yay, another chapter! Hope y'all enjoy! :)
In case anyone hasn't seen yet, I've recently added a drawing of Kyosuke up on Chapter 2. There's also a new drawing of Koneko too on Chapter 5.
I've been working on a new cover image, but life threw another curveball (or two) my way. I'm so sorry for the late update.😭
My laptop took a shit and won't turn back on so I need a new one. That might be awhile so for now there won't be anymore art until i can get a new computer. I've also been homeless for the past few months😅 (trying to afford housing in this generation is near impossible) but i can still try and cop out some more chapters if i can!
Anywhooo, as always, until next time, my lovely kittens~