Chapter Text
Princess Nene was a happy little fish. She had a large tank, a very spacious one, a little castle where she slept on a little clam with a pearl cushion inside.
She had clean water, good food, a clean home and a nice owner who loved her lots.
So, she was quite happy...
For the most part, that is.
There was just one thing that really ruffled her gills:
Her owner’s feline companion, Haneko.
He was the most annoying cat she’s ever met, and well, he was also the only cat she’s ever met.
The dark colored tomcat had dark brown fur with a small white patch around his right ear. He was small, but he was fast and could jump high and far.
He just wouldn’t sit still, ever!
He had two large golden, bulbous eyes that shined with mirth whenever he laid eyes on her and it seemed as though they could stare at you forever, unblinking and slightly unnerving.
It made Princess Nene shiver and quiver.
The cat would always, every morning at the exact same time, jump up from the couch that he lay on and onto the table that her tank sat on and lay down beside it, staring at her with his golden eyes. It was kind of creepy and it scared the ever living hell out of her.
The way he stared at her made her tail swish uneasily, her gills puff out and her fins tremble. It creeped her out, it were as if he wanted to eat her! And she didn’t doubt that he would if he had the chance.
Oh, how she hoped that wasn't the case. She didn’t want to end up a cat’s side dish, that would be awful!
Anyhow, Princess Nene would be a very happy fish, for all of the time, if it weren’t for the damn cat, Haneko.
She was certain of it.
“Absolutely sure!” She bubbled to herself. “Most definitely sure!”
She swished her fluttery white and green tail angrily as her frilly gills puffed out in frustration. “I would be so much happier if he weren’t here!” She bubbled again. “If only he weren’t here!”
“If only who weren’t here, Princess~?”
The little white fish gasped and spun around in the water, only to come face to face with two large golden eyes and a smirk.
“AHH!” Princess Nene squealed, her tail slapping the glass of her tank loudly. “H-H-Haneko!”
“That’s Haneko-Kun to you,” The dark colored feline waved a paw nonchalantly. “Oh dear,” he purred, “have I scared you, Nene~?”
The fish trembled as she stared, transfixed, into the cat’s large eyes, her green fins deflating and her gills lowering as she slowly backed up until she had herself completely pressed up against the glass walls of her home. “H-Haneko-Kun... when did you—?!”
The tomcat sighed and began to lick at his paw, now sitting up beside the glass bowl and tilting his head, his ears twitching and tail swishing off of the edge of the table as he grinned down at the little fish. “I was waiting for you to notice me for a while now~” he meowed. “I was just starting to get bored so I had to say something!”
“You scared me!”
“Oh did I? I’m sorry~!”
His tone told Nene that he really wasn’t very sorry at all and his smirk..
Oh god, she absolutely hated that smirk. It was as if he were taunting her, he probably was anyway, knowing him.
“You don’t sound very sorry!” The fish huffed with the flick of her fins. “For someone who’s saying that he’s sorry!”
Haneko chortled and rested his face on his paws. “But I am~” he purred. “But if her majesty has doubts, I don’t think I can change them~”
“Don’t joke with me!”
“Ah, I forget, you’re a bratty princess,” the dark brown cat sighed, closing his golden eyes for a brief moment as he slowly bowed his head, mocking the fish. “I’m terribly sorry your highness~ please forgive me!”
Nene bustled, her scaly cheeks flushing red, her fins beginning to flap angrily. “Stop teasing me, Haneko-Kun!”
“But you make it so easy~” the cat retorted as he began to tap on the glass of Nene’s tank with a sharp claw. “Too easy, even.”
Nene squealed, “S-Stop that! You’ll crack the glass!”
But Haneko didn’t stop, giggling as he continued to claw on the glass, leaving long claw marks.
“I do not! And it isn’t, you haven’t even tried!”
“Yes I did~”
Another scratch.
“No you didn’t! Stop that, I said stop!”
Another scratch and a small meow.
“Yes I did, it’s just hard!”
“Haneko-Kun!”
The feline sighed and removed his paw from the tank’s glass. “You’re so annoying,” he hissed, “you cant even take a joke.. just stop your bubbling.”
Nene froze.
Had he just— he didn’t!
Her gills flared as she swam over to the glass and pressed herself against it, her fishy face blotchy red.
“W-well you, you—!” She gasped at the cat. “You’re an inconsiderate idiot!”
“You’re an ugly fish!”
“Dumb cat!”
“You’re the one with the small brain!”
“You have fish breath!”
Haneko scowled. “Well,” he hissed, “I wish that my owner never brought you here!”
The little fish blinked at the cat, large crystal tears welling up in her maroon eyes. “Wh-what..?”
Haneko nodded angrily and hopped off of the table. “Yeah,” he huffed as he flicked his tail, stalking off, “you heard me!”
The little fish stared after the small cat in shock.
“Haneko-Kun...” she gasped, but the cat was long gone.
What in the world just happened?
They’d never fought before!
Sure there was the usual teasing, but they’ve never had to fight, and their banters had never ended like this.
Haneko-Kun said that he wished that the human had never bought me...
Does he mean that..?
Or is he.. Is he just angry?
The white fish let out a sad bubble and with the flick of her tail, turned around and swam back into her castle and curled up into a ball, her fins tucked in under her tail and her head tucked in between her fins, on the indigo pebble flooring as small droplets fell from her eyes.
Did he mean that?
Nene shook her little scaly head and puffed out her gills, flipping her fluttering fins to wipe away her tears.
He couldn’t have...