What The Cat Dragged In

What The Cat Dragged In

DISC: I do not own Fruits Basket or its characters. I do not own
Azumanga Daioh or its characters. I don\'t own anything. I just
borrow these things to make me feel better about my own ownin\'-
nuthin\' life.

They walked along silently, her hand through his arm.

She had never been much of a talker. Neither had he. But since they didn\'t know each other, they had no way of knowing that.

Even though they were both silent, their thoughts raced as they walked along.

At the first street they had to cross, he glanced over at her. Not down, just over. `How unusual to meet a young lady this tall. She\'s almost as tall as I am.\'

He glanced at her bandaged hand. `Maybe that\'s why Kyo bit her – she\'s almost four inches taller than him. That had to be a blow to his ego. He really does worry about the wrong things.\' He sighed. `I hope he learns more than his classwork while he goes to
college. He\'s grown so much already, but he still has a lot of things to learn.

`Like how to accept people – if someone as beautiful as this young lady tried to pet me… Odd how she instinctively knew he was a cat – she must be really attuned to animals.\' He turned to look at her as he smiled at the thought. `Well, she certainly has chosen the
correct career path. Sometimes I wish we had a vet in the family – it would help me treat the rest of us when we transform.\' He sighed derisively at himself for even thinking that.

Throughout all this, Sakaki was looking at the people they passed along their way. She noticed people smilling at the two of them. At the first crosswalk, she heard an elderly lady murmur to her husband, \"Oh, what an adorable couple. So suited for each other.\"
The blush that came to her face was immediate. She glanced up at the man walking next to her. `My god, he\'s beautiful.\' Her blush deepened, and involuntarily, her hand grasped his arm a bit more tightly. She thought he must have felt the increase in pressure because he turned to look at her and smiled. Without realizing she was doing it, she smiled back. Then she turned her attention toward where they were going, and guided him to make the necessary turn. `Now that I think of it, Kyo was pretty attractive too. I guess,\' she thought, her brow furrowing, `I just didn\'t notice it because… well, because… the only thought in my mind when I looked at him was \"kitty\".

`That\'s just weird though. It was kind of like… that dream. The father cat. So very strange.\'

They reached another stoplight, and she heard Hatori sigh. She pulled a little on his arm to get his attention. When he looked at her, he saw the question in her face. \"Are you okay, Sohma-san?\"

Radiating a beaming smile toward her, he responded, \"I am quite well, Sakaki-san. I was just thinking how long it\'s been since I\'ve had the pleasure of walking in the company of such a beautiful young lady.\"

Sakakit blushed and looked down toward the ground. But she was smiling shyly. Internally, he gaped at himself. `Who the hell was that talking?\' he thought. `Ayame and Shigure at their best couldn\'t have managed a smoother line.\' Scolding himself for his behaviour, he reigned in his smile to a more appropriate level, ignoring that for the first time since Kana, it felt unnatural to be as cold as he always attributed himself to be.

\"So you\'re studying to become a veterinarian. That\'s very admirable.\"

The girl shrugged. \"Not so admirable.\" She smiled her private smile. \"I just really wanted to spend as much time around animals as possible. This seemed… the logical choice.

\"It\'s not like I\'m going to be a doctor.\" She looked at him pointedly, her glance clearly stating, \"like you.\" \"You actually help people.\" She waved her bandaged hand at him as evidence of his great benevolence.

He shrugged – very much like she had a moment ago. \"Well, since my practice really only encompasses my own family, I rarely get the opportunity to assist anyone.\"

\"Then I am especially grateful to have had your assistance today, Sohma-san.\" She smiled at him and was surprised to see him blush. \"This is it. Perhaps you\'d like to come in and I could brew you a cup of tea in thanks?\"

Turning to face her fully, he saw she had both hands clasped in front of her, as if she really wanted him to come in. As if she wasn\'t just saying that to be polite. He knew, though, that he really should be getting back to the main house.

When she realized he didn\'t look like he was going to answer, she inserted her key into the apartment door and said, \"And you could come meet Yamamaya.\" She held the door open for him to enter.

\"Yamamaya?\" The surprise was evident on his face. She\'d said that wild cats didn\'t try to bite her – only domestic ones did. But she couldn\'t possibly have a wild cat in –

He\'d entered as she\'d held the door. To do otherwise would have been rude. He turned back to the door, toward her, as she closed it, locked it, and turned back to him with a smile. \"Yes. Yamamaya. My cat.\"

`Oh! She meant her OWN cat was the only one that didn\'t bite her – not that only wild cats don\'t bite her.\' He smiled back at her, berating himself for his assumption. `How cute that she named it-\'

As he stepped back to allow her to pass, she gestured to him. \"Please, come in to the kitchen.\" He followed her into the kitchen, and when she gestured to a chair, he took a seat. \"I\'m sorry there really isn\'t a proper dining room – it\'s just a small apartment – but it serves my needs fairly well.\" Sakaki had begun bustling around the kitchen, setting up the teapot, and pulling out a teapot in the shape of a cat.

He looked around the kitchen. It was tastefully decorated, not overly done, but the theme was very clear. Mostly it was cats and kittens, but there were puppies, bunnies, horses, and on one wall, she had a Chinese Zodiac chart with chibi animals prominently displayed.

He cleared his throat. \"So… You like the Chinese Zodiac?\"

Spinning around toward him, she was surprised to see that he looked a little embarrassed at his question. She smiled at him and sat down opposite him at the table to await the teakettle boiling. \"Yes, I do.

\"I\'m sure you\'ve heard the old story about how the zodiac came to be? God invited all the animals – \"

Hatori held up one hand, forestalling her. His tone was ironic yet kind as he said, \"I\'m more familiar with that story than you could possibly imagine.\"

\"I think that story might be why I love animals so much.\"

Without saying a word, Hatori cocked his head, and Sakaki instantly recognized it as invitation to continue.

\"My father told me that story when I was little.\"

\"Really? And what do you think of the story?\"

\"Now, I wonder if it isn\'t just an allegory to show that it\'s important not to miss opportunities when they arise. But when I was little…\" The teakettle screeched out it\'s announcement that the water was boiling. \"Oh! Excuse me.\"

Gracefully she stood to brew the tea. His eyes rested on her hips\' swaying motion as she walked to the stove, and poured the boilingwater into the teapot. Then she picked up the tray, and turned around to bring it to the table. With an effort, he yanked his eyes up to her face.

\"I hope you don\'t mind – this is the only good tea I have right now – all the rest is just bags.\" She set the tray down and set out in front of each of them a small British-style tea service with a tiny cup and saucer, and a little strainer to catch the leaves. She poured for both of them, then set the strainers in their catchers. Only then did she sit down across from him.

Holding the cup to his face, he inhaled the delicate fragrance. \"Sakura Green Tea!\" he exclaimed.

\"It\'s my favorite,\" they declared in unison. And blushed in unison. They buried themselves in their teacups to hide for a moment, until Hatori broke the silence.

\"So you were saying: when you were little, what did you think of the zodiac story?\" He blushed deeper and took another sip of tea.

She looked away awkwardly. \"Well… I felt bad for the cat. Not only did he miss out on the banquet, he was tricked by the rat, and then shunned. But I also felt really badly for all the animals. I mean, the God was supposed to be throwing the banquet to honor the animals. It was supposed to be a good thing. But then one doesn\'t show up and he\'s punished. I kept thinking how awful it must be to serve a God who was only benevolent when you did everything he wanted you to do.\"

Hatori looked at her, stunned. She\'d pretty much hit the nail on the head there.

\"And I thought, if God won\'t take care of his animals, then I\'ll make sure to do whatever I can that\'s nice for them.\" She chuckled self-depricatingly. \"I wished I could just hug every single one of those poor animals and show them that not everyone will be nice to them only if they do exactly what\'s expected.\"

Hatori felt his color rising as he looked at this beautiful woman who quite obviously had no way of knowing what impact those words would make on one of the Sohmas. She also appeared to have no clue how amazingly attractive she was. `Tohru kinda beat you to that task, but if you wanted to hug me…\' He shook his head slightly to try to shake that thought out of there. `My god! I must be hanging around Shigure too much.\'

\"Anyway, Mom yelled at Dad for telling me that story later, though. Because I kept asking for a cat after that. But Mom was allergic to animals.\" She smiled gently. \"Anyway, it really was pointless for me to even ask. There was never a cat who wanted to be with me until Yamamaya.\" She held her bandaged hand up as proof.

\"So what do YOU think of the Zodiac story, Sohma-san?\"

\"Please, call me Hatori.\" He noticed her blushing when he said that so he quickly added, \"All my patients do.\"

She nodded at him in acceptance but thought, `But didn\'t he say that all his patients were family members?\'

\"Well, Miss Sakaki –\"

\"If I\'m to call you Hatori,\" she blushed as she said his name, \"then it\'s only fair you call me Azuma, right?\"

\"Fair enough, Azuma,\" he intoned and her pulse rate sped up.

\"So you were saying?\"

He clasped his hands together with forefingers extended and tented, tapping them on his lips. Then he pulled them away and said, \"I think I\'ve heard the zodiac story too many times to be able to form an opinion that really means anything. But your interpretation of the story is probably the most insightful one I\'ve ever heard.\"

The cat had walked past him unnoticed as he was looking at her. Hatori jumped back startled as it jumped up into her arms, then purred and rubbed against her chin in greeting.

As he watched the cuteness of the scene in front of him, he was startled to realize, \"That really is a Yamamaya!\" The markings on the cat were distinctive – it could only be a real wild cat. But it seemed moderately well-behaved, just like any other housecat. Well, any cat OTHER than Kyo.

\"I… met him on my class trip, and when his mother died, he… came and found me.\" The warmth of her love for the single cat who had ever shown her any affection radiated off her in waves, and the normally stoic doctor briefly thought, `Spring.\' But he was caught up in the tableaux enough that he didn\'t realize what he was thinking, even as he thought it.

She sighed – a little contentedly, and just a little bit grudgingly. \"Yamamaya, you know you\'re not supposed to jump up when I\'m at the table.\" Leaning over, she set Yamamaya on the floor and patted his head. \"I… have a hard time disciplining him. He\'s had a rough life.\" She smiled down at her kitten on the floor.

The cat, however, didn\'t seem to notice. He had walked around the table and was staring up at Hatori. And sniffing the air. Yamamaya walked closer, as if he was following his nose. Hatori looked down at the cat, and was just about to reach over and pat his head when he jumped into the unsuspecting doctor\'s lap.

\"Oh! He likes you!\"

But the cat was sniffing closer, and when he licked his lips, the dragon/seahorse felt a moment of panic.

Which was immediately followed by surprise as the cat rubbed against his chin, and then started licking the doctor\'s neck. As Sakaki looked on, the doctors hands thrust out to the sides, fingers splayed. Then he began to thrash about, convulsively. From across the table, she heard him say, \"Ti… Ti… Tick… Tickl… TICKLISH!\"

He was obviously without a clue. He wanted to stop the cat, but it felt good, and yet, not. He was laughing hysterically, screechingly. His arms continued to flail, and soon his feet were off the floor as his legs started twitching. \"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!\"

Sakaki couldn\'t help herself. She started to laugh – full out. The girl laughed, and he found himself drinking in the sight and the sound, even as he convulsed, even as he screamed. `Like bells,\' he thought, listening to the tinkling sound of her laugh, `tiny silver bells.\'

Yamamaya abruptly cut off his ministrations. Perhaps the cat was disappointed that even though Hatori smelled like seafood to him, he apparently didn\'t taste like it. OR perhaps the cat realized that his point had been made: `I recognize you for what you are.\'

Yamamaya sat back and looked into Hatori\'s eyes, and Hatori was suddenly convinced it was the latter. The cat broke the stare, looked Hatori up and down once, then appeared to nod, jumped off his lap, and walked out of the room.

Simultaneously, the two looked away from the cat and up at each other. Simultaneously, they felt their stomachs fly up into their hearts. Simultaneously they swallowed. And simultaneously they began to speak.

\"Would you care to stay for dinner?\"
\"I really should be going back to the complex.\"

Even though they both spoke at once, they had heard what the other had said. Sakaki tried her best to not look disappointed. After all, he was a doctor, and probably very busy, and he had taken a great deal of time out of his schedule for her already.

Hatori inwardly smiled. `She wanted me to stay for dinner?\' Then he schooled his features. `She\'s just started college. It would be completely inappropriate even without our curse.\'

\"I really do have to go. I have a patient that requires a great deal of care.\"

\"I understand. Thank you so much for everything.\" She said, as they walked toward the door. She opened it to let him out and he turned to her.

He reached out and picked up her injured hand, checking the bandages. \"It was my pleasure,\" he said, and in an uncharacteristically chivalrous move, he kissed the back of her hand, \"Miss Sakaki Azuma.\"

Her free hand floated over her heart, and she found she had no words. Then he turned, and walked out the door. Out of her life.

Closing the door behind her, she sighed.