Chapter Text
Things were going great, perfect even.
Some could even say it was the year of the tiger.
Not only did Ju Fufu manage to get some time off from her duties as the senior most disciple of Suibuin Temple, but she even managed to stop the advances of her fellow felines encroaching on her territory (Wise).
Yep, she imagined it as her arriving in the Knick of time and repelling her rivals causing them to cower under the might of a fearsome tiger.
Then she managed to spend the rest of the day playing and eating to her heart's content with her favorite disciple.
And now, she just so happened to “miss” the last ride back to Failume Heights. Meaning she now has to spend the night with the target of her desires.
“Everything’s going just as planned, hehe.” Fufu snickered.
Coming into the room with a handful of folded up blankets and pillows, Belle noticed the girl’s snickering and asked her, “what was that Senior Fufu?”
Thinking no one heard her, Fufu’s eyes widened and her tail stood on end as she quickly recovered.
“Oh! Nothing! Nothing at all Junior disciple, just uhh…” she thought of what got her into this situation in the first place.
“Just cursing my bad luck is all! But thankfully I have two super dependable Juniors to rely on.”
Setting down the blankets on the floor, Belle got up with a smile.
“Oh it’s no trouble Senior Fufu. If any of our friends needed a place to crash for the night, we’d be happy to host them,” Belle explained.
‘The Juniors seem like they know a lot of people. I wonder, how many other people have slept over?’ Fufu thought.
Narrowing her eyes, a thought occurred.
‘Surely those two haven’t as we’ll have they?’ She thought of Nekomata and Pulchra.
The former most likely not as she said she was going home earlier and left despite it being rather late at night. The latter however may have.
Based on the way she dresses, that feline was from the Outer Ring so staying the night isn’t out of the question. Besides, she made herself at home in Wise’s room when Fufu first encountered her.
As the two girls settled down in the staff room, Wise came in with a variety of snacks in hand.
“Alright girls, we have candy, popcorn, chips, chocolate for Belle and jerky for Senior Fufu.” Wise listed off.
Having to entertain so many friends over the months, he skillfully slid the spread onto the coffee table with grace even Victoria Housekeeping would be proud of.
“Snacks!/Chocolate!” the girls squealed.
Giving a chuckle at the small girl's reactions, Wise strode back into the main store and browsed their selection of tapes from the action section. After deciding on the right one, he walked back into the staff room where Fufu was in the middle of polishing off the last bowl of chips.
With full cheeks, Fufu had a content smile on her face as she moved onto the jerky.
Seeing the glutton so happy, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“Ha ha ha. I’m guessing you enjoy the snacks, Senior?” Wise asked with a smirk.
Pausing her eating, Fufu stared at him with crumbs falling from her mouth. A slight blush building up.
“But are you ready for Final Punch?” He showed the movie they were going to watch tonight.
“Its a story of redemption. Of overcoming hardships and finding a new life through the blazing hot passion of fighting.” Wise explained.
Belle however groaned.
Leaning over the coach, she looked directly at Fufu. “Its a testosterone filled action movie where everyone fights each other into a bloody mess. Yes, its because they had no other choice and it's good for their mental health, but at the same time, there’s little of anything else.”
Hearing the two siblings' description of the movie, Fufu had only one thing to say.
“That ... .sounds…perfect! Let’s watch it right away!” She bounced in her seat.
Exchanging glances, the two siblings smiled and sat around the tiger thiren.
After an incredibly long movie filled with gaps, laughter and cheering for the underdogs, the credits rolled with a very content Fufu jumping for the ceiling.
“Woweee! That was an incredible film! I wish I could see more like it in Failume Heights!” Fufu exclaimed.
Yet instead of receiving an equally enthusiastic response, she got Belle’s light snoring instead and a drowsy Wise who was pulled away from the dream world.
Standing up, he stretched his arms.
“Mhm! It’s getting late Senior. I think it’s time for bed.” Crossing her path, he stood in front of Belle and picked her up in his arms.
“I’m going to take her to her room. Please, feel free to make yourself comfortable. The bathroom is upstairs and the kitchen as well if you want a drink.”
At that, Fufu gave a slight bow in response.
“Thank you once again my juniors for letting me stay in your humble abode.” Fufu said respectfully.
“It’s no problem Senior-“ his words were abruptly cut off.
“Junior disciple, it’s just us now. You can just call me by my name.” Fufu interjected.
“R-right. Sorry, have a good night Fufu.” Wise said.
“Good night…Wise.” Fufu said with a slight blush and a smile.
As his footsteps clambered against the stairs, Fufu turned off the tv and got herself comfortable on the couch.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His footsteps continued to a different part of the house followed by the closing of a door.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Fufu traced his steps with her keen hearing.
Then there was silence.
The slight hum of the H.D.D being the only thing she could hear in the otherwise dark room.
Now that she was all alone, she counted the minutes. Meditating in place.
But after hours of silence, she grew restless.
Truthfully, she was too embarrassed to move, yet her tail was already raring to go as it swayed from side to side.
‘Its time! It’s time! Wise is probably already in bed right now. So if I sneak into his room, I can make him mine!’ Fufu formulated her plan.
Scurrying to her feet, she tiptoed upstairs, careful to not make a sound. Slowly traversing the hallway, she cautiously eyed the room at the end of the hallway as if her life depended on it.
Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she rested a palm and her ear against the closest door to her and heard the muffled sound of snoring on the other side.
Heat overtook her features as she began to pant.
‘I can’t believe I'm doing this! But-but I want it so bad! I’m sorry Junior disciple~’ Her thoughts raced as she creaked open the door.
Poking her small round ears in first, she gazed into the room and was struck with the musty smell of her surroundings.
‘So this is what his room smells like! Strange, it doesn’t really smell like him.’
With a railing separating the bed to the rest of the room, Fufu creeped up to his bedside and began nervously sweating.
Swallowing a gulp, she prepared herself for the long night to come.
“H-h-here goes nothing!”
Fumbling with her outfit, she stripped herself down and joined him underneath the covers.
Drawing him in for a quick embrace, she wrapped her arms tightly around him and nestled her face into the nape of his neck.
But one thing stood out immediately.
He was soft.
Or rather Belle was soft.
Stirring awake from the sudden movement and foreign heat, Belle felt Fufu’s body and immediately realized who was in her bed.
“Mhm, Senior Fufu? What are you doing in my bed?” Belle asked, baffled by the strange behavior.
“....Sleepover?” Fufu suggested.
Silence stood between the girls and Belle just stared at the tiger as if trying to dig deeper.
‘Please, please, please, please!’ Fufu mentally chanted in order to save herself from the embarrassment.
“Ok, just ask next time please. You scared me a bit.” Belle replied as she moved further to the wall to give the woman some space.
“S-sure no problem, Belle. Good night.” Fufu said as she laid down comfortably.
‘Dammit all!’ she mentally weeped.
“Good night Senior.” Belle said, and just like that, she returned to dreamland.
At the same time in Wise’s room.
He too had trouble sleeping.
Spending the day with Nekomata and Fufu was fun, but exhausting. On top of that, he also had to stay up to watch a movie to entertain his guests.
But even so, he couldn’t help but think about the look of betrayal on Pulchra’s face when she stormed off.
Spending so much time with her, hanging out or simply playing videogames, he knew it took a lot of effort for her to open up to him. And he’s gotten so invested in their relationship, that he eventually found out her sensitivity to betrayal.
Truth be told, he felt like a total jerk for trying to prioritize everyone’s enjoyment when he already had a hangout scheduled.
Resting a hand over his eyes, he stared at the ceiling until eventually he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.
“Why can’t we all just get along?” He asked nobody in particular.
Vmmmmm!
A message lit up his phone resting under his window.
Reaching for it without even looking, he quickly checked the notification and saw Pulchra’s name on it.
Sitting up quickly, he immediately opened the message and read it.
"Godfinger?" Checking outside his window, he saw Pulchra standing outside alone in front of the arcade.
Her arms were crossed and she was staring directly into his window, at him.
Seeing a second chance, he quickly got dressed and carefully snuck out of the store to not wake Belle.
Once outside, the cold breeze of the night hit him hard and sobered him up.
But he didn’t care about the cold.
Instead he rushed over to Pulchra and stopped a few steps away.
“Pulchra…” he whispered longingly.
She didn’t respond. She just stared at him.
“I-i thought you would’ve returned to the Outer Ring by now…” He admitted sheepishly.
She only scoffed as she looked away.
There was silence, then she clicked her tongue and walked over to him with a glare.
Giving him a scolding glare, she tapped her finger impatiently against her forearm.
“Today was a rare day off for us and you decided to blow me off.” She stated his crimes.
Yet Wise refused that narrative.
“Come on Pulchra, that’s not true. We could’ve hung out together. It was my Senior who came all the way from Failume Heights! As a Junior Disciple, I have the responsibility to make sure she feels at home in a foreign land,” Wise tried to reason.
Pulchra could only scoff and turn her back on him.
“So what? Just because she’s your senior at some karate school, that gave you the right to side line me? You know how much I don’t like being around crowds.” Pulchra rebutted.
Shaking his head slowly, Wise could only agree.
“You’re right. I did sideline you. I thought you’d be comfortable enough hanging out with my friends as long as I was with you. I thought that you could use more friends. And they’re good people, I guarantee it.” he confessed.
“But that didn’t give me the right to trample on your feelings, Pulchra. So-” He gently tapped her shoulder with his fingers, careful to not apply any force to let her move at her own pace.
When she finally gave him a look, he had a sad look on his face.
“Let me make it up to you. We could do anything you want, play anything you want. As long as I'm not busy, I'm all yours. What do you say?” Wise extended his hand towards her and flashed a genuine smile.
Little did he know, it was that very smile that disarmed and swoon many of the women in his life.
“Keh!” Pulchra recoiled.
Hiding her eyes behind the back of her hand, she peeked out from behind cover and attempted to hold strong.
Biting the inside of her lips, she did her best to not show it, but he wore down at her defenses and she could feel her anger disappearing.
But his eyes.
His super handsome face.
Her body temperature rose the more she stared at him until finally-
“Ok ok! Fine. You’re forgiven.” Pulchra hissed.
Lighting up immediately, Wise couldn’t help but celebrate his small victory.
“Thank you for forgiving me Pulchra. I promise to not force you out of your comfort zone again or overlay plans on the spot,” he announced.
“Tsk, yeah yeah. Just prepare yourself for tonight.” Pulchra muttered.
“Huh tonight?” Wise asked curiously.
Walking towards random play, Pulchra placed a hand on her hip as she turned around and pointed to his room with her thumb.
“That’s right, Proxy. I’m still miffed that we couldn’t progress in our gaming session. So you’ll have to play with me until I'm satisfied.” Pulchra smirked deviously.
Swallowing a gulp, Wise could only follow her in defeat. This was going to be a very long night.
30 minutes later…
“Mhm!” Wise muffled a scream and Pulchra stifled a laugh.
Not long after their session started, the two had made significant progress playing Reanimar. Unlocking secrets, lore, and wacky cosmetic masks, the two continued to joke around as they traversed the nightmarish levels until a jumpscare spooked Wise.
“Man this game is a lot scarier than I thought it was,” Wise whispered.
Jokingly, Pulchra asked him to speak up just to hear him admit his fear.
“What was that Proxy? Couldn’t hear you over the looting.”
Taking her seriously, Wise leaned right next to her ear and whispered.
“I said, this game is really scary.” He repeated slowly.
Feeling his hot breath tickle the inside of her ears, a shiver of excitement surged through her spine causing Pulchra to straighten up quickly.. And despite unintentionally doing it, she puffed out her chest, exposing her well endowed cleavage.
Even with the slightest movements, they recoiled like jelly.
Reacting automatically, Wise looked away like the gentleman he was and trained his eyes on his computer screen. Yet the image of her bouncing bosom continued to replay in his mind causing his cheeks to heat up.
He was incredibly thankful for the fact that they were playing the game in the dark for a more fitting atmosphere. Had they continued to play during the day, she would have no doubt teased him for his reaction.
“Haha, let's get back to the game, shall we?” He suggested.
Wanting to get out of her own shock and forget about her own embarrassment, she agreed immediately.
“Y-yeah, let's do that. Hope you don’t scream loud enough to wake up your sister, Proxy.” She smirked playfully.
“I wouldn’t hear the end of it…” he replied.
Into the night, the two flew by the game's content, solving puzzles and joking until eventually they got into a slow part of the game where Pulchra had to solve a puzzle for Wise to rejoin her.
It was at this moment where the gameplay slowed, did Wise’s eyes finally give way to his exhaustion.
Once again, sleep pulled him in and he wobbled on his bed.
As Pulchra was distracted by her puzzle, a heavy weight fell onto her shoulder causing her to lean to her right.
Her eyes widened from the sudden contact as she turned to find Wise resting his head on his shoulder.
Sitting there by herself in the dark with only the game illuminating the room, she didn’t utter a word.
“...”
She simply eyed his sleeping form and heard his shallow breaths.
Exchanging glances between him, the computer screen and their progress in the game. She decided they’ve gone far enough for the night and gently laid Wise down as she got up from the bed.
Quietly turning off his computer, she stood over him like a guardian and gently tucked him in slowly to not wake him.
For a moment, she couldn’t believe what she was doing.
There she was, one of the baddest mercenaries in the Outer Ring, tucking in some nerdy city boy who couldn’t even deal with a simple thug.
It was crazy where life would take you sometimes.
After putting Wise to bed, she looked over to his phone sitting on the bedside table.
2:03am
She could walk downstairs and hop out the back of her car in the parking lot and get some sleep or she could just crash on the couch in the H.D.D which was the smarter play.
Her ears twitched for a second at the thought of sleeping in the H.D.D. room before flattening against her head.
“Man, that place is always buzzing with gears and humming annoyingly.” She whispered to herself.
Her sensitive hearing always picks up the inner workings of the electronics around the Proxy’s house which is why she doesn’t like crashing here often.
But tonight she had no choice as she felt a tug on her fluffy tail as she tried to walk away.
“Gah!” she let out a sharp yelp before quickly slapping a hand over her mouth.
Turning her head to see what caught her, she stopped dead in her tracks after finding Wise clutching onto it.
If there was anything Pulchra hated, it was when someone else touched her tail. Especially without permission.
But she’s also more than reasonable, especially given the circumstances.
Waving a hand over his face, she confirmed him to be asleep and could only sigh in frustration.
“Oh brother…”
Carefully, she grabbed her hand and tried to pry her tail out of his grip to no avail.
“What the!” she tried harder and harder. She even went as far as to digging her nails into the crook of his fist to loosen his grip, but he wouldn’t budge.
“What’s going on here?” she sounded even more frustrated.
Increasing the pressure, she pulled on her tail only to stop once she felt the stinging pain of having your hair pulled on.
“Crap…”
‘Should I wake him up?’ She thought for a moment.
Glancing up at him peacefully sleeping, she shook her head in denial.
‘Nah, not happening. I wouldn’t want to be rude to the person who’s home I'm gonna crash at.’
Letting out a tired yawn herself, Pulchra looked down at his queen sized bed and judged how much room there was.
“Well…If i had to choose…I could just sneak out once he lets go…” she muttered bashfully.
Climbing onto the bed, Pulchra laid down right by his side and took off her mask. Resting on his bedside, she pulled the blanket to cover her as well.
It was too bad she couldn’t change out of her clothes, but that was a luxury she had long since lost.
As she laid there in the dark, she noticed how much quieter it was here than in the H.D.D.
There was no computer buzzing, no fans whirling. Only the sound of Wise gently breathing right next to her. And the familiar scent of the proxy slowly wrapping itself around her senses, almost like he was wrapping himself around her.
That was when she felt her eyes feeling droopy.
‘Huh, that was fast,’ she thought. As a mercenary, she could sleep at any moment, but under the circumstances where her heart was beating quickly from the sheer intimacy of the situation, she was surprised to find herself nodding off so soon.
Eventually sleep would win as the two slept through the night.
By morning, the light snores of the two could be heard intermingling as the first rays of sunshine burst through the window.
Hearing the first signs of life waking up and walking through the streets, Pulchra stirred awake, feeling the immense amount of heat wrapped around her.
“Mhm…” She moaned softly.
Fluttering her eyes open, the unfamiliar setting caught her in a moment of confusion as she wondered where she was.
It wasn’t until she felt Wise tightening his grip around her did she remember where she was and how she got into this situation.
“Sh*t, I forgot to leave when I had the chance.” she said out loud.
With one hand on the bed, Pulchra grabbed Wise’s arm and tried to pry him off, but just like last night, he wasn’t letting go.
“Oh come on Proxy, where were you hiding all of this strength?”
Struggling for a bit, she could faintly hear the voices of Belle and one other coming through the walls.
“Junior Disciple! Did you hear that?” Fufu asked.
“*Yawn* Hear what senior?” Belle replied.
“I think I heard a voice coming from Wise’s room!” Fufu exclaimed.
‘F*ck!’ Pulchra worked overtime on getting Wise off of her.
“Sh*t! Sh*t! Proxy, you gotta wake up! You gotta wake up now, otherwise your sister is gonna think we hooked up!” Pulchra shook him awake.
Luckily for her, she succeeded.
“Mhm…what? Pulchra? Is that you?” Wise asked sleepily.
Letting her go, Pulchra immediately sprung to her feet with a thud and put on her mask.
At the same time, the sound of her feet landing on the floor alerted the two girls in the next room.
“Did you hear that thud!? Wise would never get out of bed so hastily. Something’s wrong!” Fufu exclaimed.
Jumping to her feet herself, she started sprinting towards the door.
Hearing that, Pulchra grabbed his blanket and sprinted to the couch, hopping over it, and curling into a ball.
Just in time too as Fufu blasted the door open.
“My disciple! Your elder sister has come to save you!” the tigress announced.
Scanning the room, she didn’t find anything out of place. No signs of a struggle, no broken window, and Wise safe and sound in his bed looking at her confused.
“Uhh, Senior, I'm alright. There’s no need to check up on me.” Wise said with wide eyes.
But he couldn’t fool her.
Her instincts told her otherwise.
Sniffing the air, she could smell something that didn't belong.
A pungent smell of dirt, sweat and pheromones that couldn’t possibly belong to a human.
Following the trail of the odor, she arrived at Wise’s side. Leaning forward to smell further, Wise leaned back unconsciously.
“Fufu? What are you-argh!” Fufu didn’t let him finish his words, instead she grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him right up to her.
Now that he was just inches from her face, he noticed that her eyes were wide open and her pupils had turned to slits.
“Junior disciple…” Fufu said in a long drawn out voice that put him on edge.
“Why do I smell another feline scent on you? And why does it smell like that thiren from yesterday?”
In a rare display of aggression, Fufu bared her fangs at him and a low growl rumbled in her throat.
This was uncharted territory for the Proxy where one wrong move could end it all.
It was like confronting a jealous girlfriend. Something he knew nothing about.
“Pulchra was here yesterday, maybe her scent lingered on my bed?” He tried to deceive her with sound logic.
“Her scent would’ve been light or completely faded away. But this is fresh, it’s stronger than yesterday.” Fufu immediately replied.
Tightening her grip on him, she then smelled the trail moving away from the bed.
Trusting in her nose, Fufu followed the trail to the couch and found a massive mound covered by a blanket.
Grabbing hold of it, Wise called out to her in vain.
“Fufu wait!”
Freeing the blanket from gravity, Fufu threw it over her shoulder revealing a very alert Pulchra who covered her eyes with her hands.
“Hey! I’m trying to sleep here!” She lied through her teeth.
With her growl intensifying, Fufu snarled at Pulchra.
“You! What are you doing here!? Fufu shouted with a pointed finger towards her.
Brushing the finger away, Pulchra stood tall and glared back towards the tiger thiren.
“That’s none of your business pipsqueak! I just crashed the night is all.” Pulchra explained.
“Liaaaar! Your scent is all over him! That doesn’t happen from just sleeping in the same room. Admit it you vixen!” Fufu grew more agitated by the second.
It wasn’t until Wise finally stood up with a somewhat stern face of his own did things settle down.
“Senior Fufu! I can’t just ignore what you just said. Pulchra and I played games last night until we passed out, that's all. And I can’t forgive you for calling my friend a Vixen. I think you owe her an apology.” Wise scolded.
Gasping, Fufu couldn’t believe that her favorite Junior was scolding her so harshly (from her point of view) and was taking the side of another feline.
Collapsing onto her knees, the color from her pallet turned white.
“It’s over… Wise hates me..” she said in despair.
Sighing, Wise shook his head tiredly. Kneeling down to her level, he placed a hand on her should and lifted her chin up so their eyes could meet.
“I don’t hate you Fufu, I just don’t like it when my friends are threatened. So now that you’ve calmed down, can you tell us why you were so aggressive?” He asked gently.
Sniffing, Fufuf held back her tears.
“We feline thirens are highly territorial.” She began.
“The people in our lives are akin to possessions or territory. So when another feline entered our instincts takes over and we become aggressive to stave off intruders,” fufu explained.
And although her explanation made a lot of sense, it wasn’t exactly true.
In reality, she was just repelling rivals who would compete with her for Wise, but she didn’t know how to explain it any other way.
Of course Wise was oblivious to the clear display of jealousy.
Having thought the situation was resolved, he picked his senior up from off the ground and suggested breakfast.
“Come on everyone, let’s clean up and get
something to eat.”
As he ushered everyone outside, Pulchra and Fufu shared a glance, then a glare.
All the meanwhile, Belle recorded the whole scene to send to Ellen.