Purple Eyes

Akiyuki held the kitten in one hand, against his chest, as he walked into the pet store. “Okay, first things first…” he murmured to himself and to the cat a bit. He grabbed a cart and set the cat in the seat. Guiding it toward the cat food, he stared at all that there was; all the different brands and flavors. Now, how in the world was he going to decide on what kind of cat food his new pet would like?

Sighing a bit to himself, he shook his head as he grabbed little cans of cat food, one of each flavor that there was. He hoped that his kitten wasn’t very picky. He figured the cat wouldn’t have much of a problem, especially if he was going to get fed everyday.

“Now, cat litter,” Akiyuki murmured to himself, pushing his cart to the next aisle where the cat litter, scoopers, cat boxes, toys, and such were. He stood in front of the different brands of cat litter and shook his head. This was impossible. Cats were so expensive!

“Do you need help?” asked a voice from behind him. Akiyuki turned his head to see a small teenage boy looking at him, wearing the uniform of the store; beige pants and a dark forest green shirt that had the store logo on it, with his nametag. Nu, it said. Akiyuki blinked at the name for a moment before looking up into the boy’s blue eyes, his blond hair falling in front of them a bit. The boy was thin and scrawny. He looked around sixteen or seventeen. Akiyuki also noticed the snake bites in his bottom lip, surprised that he was able to wear them at work.

“Yes,” Akiyuki admitted, nodding a little bit at the employee. “This is my first pet. He’s a stray, I just got him last night,” he said, glancing back at the cat litter, absentmindedly stroking the kitten down his back.

“What’s his name?” Nu asked as he stepped forward and grabbed a heavy bag of one of the best cat litter and put it in Akiyuki’s cart. Then, he walked down a bit and picked up a sturdy looking litter box and set it in there as well.

Akiyuki was impressed by how quickly Nu was getting what he needed. ‘Well, I guess he does have experience with people like me. He must know a lot about cats and dogs and things…’ he thought to himself as he watched the boy. “I haven’t exactly named him yet. I’m still thinking. It’s a decision between Yoru, Noire, or Kokoro.”

“Night in Japanese, black in French and heart in Japanese. Cute.” Nu said, smiling a little bit and lead Akiyuki toward the toys. “Cats are playful. They like to stalk and pounce after things. If he doesn’t have a toy, he might end up attacking your feet or something. He’ll be playing of course, but it still might hurt a bit. And if it’s a stray, you better get it a flea collar for now, just in case. Oh, and take him to the vet soon, for shots and things.”

Akiyuki nodded, his head spinning at how much this was all going to cost. He looked down at his purple eyed cat and shook his head. “You are costing me a fortune, you know…” he murmured softly, licking his lips a bit as he looked in his cart as Nu basically threw stuff into it.

“Okay, there you go,” Nu said and smiled brightly at Akiyuki. “That should do it.”

“Thanks a lot. This would have taken me hours to do,” Akiyuki said with a grateful sigh. He chose to ignore how much this was going to cost him. He really had no choice in the matter if he planned on keeping the cat.

“No problem. Come on, I’ll check you out,” Nu said and led Akiyuki and his cat to the register in front of the store.

Leaving the cat in the seat, Akiyuki started loading everything on the belt. “Don’t tell me the cost. I don’t want to know. I’ll just pass out,” he murmured, not looking at the screen that showed what he was buying and how much it cost.

Nu laughed softly, sucking on one of his pierces as he ran everything through the scanner and into bags. “Let me guess. You are a college student, living on his own and not wanting to go to your parents for any money. Especially money for a cat.”

Akiyuki rolled his eyes at the boy. “And let me guess. You are a high school student who works at this pet store because he too doesn’t like asking his parents for money and you have to pay for something.”

Nu smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, well. It’s nice to have my own money in my pocket. Do you work? Or do you just go to school and this is leftover scholarship money?”

“Ha, I wish,” Akiyuki murmured, swiping his card through the machine, still not looking at the amount. “No, I work part time at the little grocery store that’s near my apartment. The pay is okay, but I do have a few scholarships that help pay.”

“What college do you go to?”

“Tokyo U.”

Nu almost dropped the heavy cat litter he was carrying and stared at Akiyuki for a moment. “Seriously? That school is for geniuses!”

Akiyuki smirked a bit at Nu and shrugged a little bit. “Yeah…well…I was top on the national exams and the entrance exams.”

“And you are still poor?”

“I got full intuition, but the books didn’t pay for themselves, you know and my books cost a fortune. That’s where most of my money goes too. Supplies, food, and rent. My name is Akiyuki, by the way.”

“Nu,” Nu said, pronounced new, grinning and held out his hand for Akiyuki. The two of them didn’t notice the angry, low sound that came from the kitten in the basket. “Well, thank you Akiyuki. Hope to see you again.”

“You will. I’ll be coming here when I run out of food or litter. Or when I want to spoil my cat.”

“Maybe you will have a name for it by then,” Nu joked, folded up his receipt so Akiyuki couldn’t see the price and handed it to him. “Here you go. Have a great day.”

“You too,” Akiyuki smiled and pushed the cart out of the store and to his cart. He loaded everything in the trunk and picked up his cat. “I hope you are satisfied, cat,” he said, laughing softly and shook his head a bit. He couldn’t help but smile when the cat leaned up and licked at his chin affectionately. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, petting his cat as he got into his car.

Driving back home, he sighed happily as the kitten curled up in his lap. “I think I am going to call you Noire.”