Chapter Text
Finally the midterms were over. This sure had been an awfully stressful time for Liao. Not only did he struggle with his studies this semester, he also got himself three cat spirits fighting over him. He certainly had to make some nasty decisions, but he started to feel like he did the right thing. Life was becoming quiet and peaceful at last, even though many questions remained unanswered. Did Senpai really change for the better? Sure, he didn't need to consume humans anymore, but they forced that onto him. Was he truly happy with his new life? After all, he could be quite the deceiver if he wanted to be, and no one would ever notice if he was secretly plotting something against them.
But even if he was, Liao trusted his Guardian Tiger Lin Hu and the Rukai spirit Likulau to protect him, no matter what. He just had to believe everything was going to be alright. His “relationship” with Senpai felt a little strange, after all it was hard to re-build trust after what happened. Of course Senpai acted like nothing ever happened at all, he even tried to hold hands with Liao in public. It still felt a little weird, but by now he didn't mind him anymore doing so. Liao wanted to trust him after all.
For now it was time to relax. Their class had held a little after-school party celebrating the end of that stressful time, and Senpai urged Liao to join them. After spending some quality time with their classmates both of them were really tired, and didn't feel like going out this evening. Even though Senpai would usually beg Liao for a date, this time he simply sank down onto the bed once they were back home. Senpai still had his old apartment, but he claimed to feel much more comfortable in Liao's room, even if he had to sleep on the floor sometimes.
“Whew, now that was a cool way to end the midterms, don't you think, Liao?” Senpai said with his eyes closed, wagging his tail happily. Meanwhile Likulau eyed him a bit nervously, since it was his turn to spend the night in Liao's bed. Senpai and Liao might have became boyfriends, but they still decided to take turns using the bed with everyone, so no one would have to feel left out.
“If you say so, Senpai.” Liao didn't quite feel like talking back to the cheeky Leopard Cat, he was way too tired. Lin Hu didn't look amused though. “Don't you have any empathy, kitten? Liao was clearly not in the mood for celebrating, yet you still forced him to join you! Is that how you treat your boyfriend?” The little cat pouted. “Jeez, calm down, old man! Liao should cherish the time with his classmates while it still lasts. One day he'll thank me for that.”
Liao turned his head away from his computer to look at them. “Guys, no fighting today, please! I just want to look for something to relax and then go to sleep.” Senpai chuckled. “You know Liao, with my allowance I could afford to get us a TV, so you wouldn't have to rely on internet videos as evening entertainment.” Likulau nodded in agreement. “Would be nice to watch News at home.” he said. But Liao shook his head. “No can do, guys. Senpai needs all the money he can save. Don't forget, you're stuck in that body til you die of old age, so better start saving for later.”
The cat groaned. “Liao, you're no fun! Watching stupid animal videos all day is so lame!” His boyfriend sighed. “Alright, then how about some creepypasta to fall asleep?” Lin Hu looked confused. “I'm not sure what that's supposed to be, but I think you'd rather not eat before going to sleep.” Senpai laughed. “You still have a lot to learn, old geezer! Creepypastas are scary stories from the internet.” The tiger looked a bit embarrassed. “Oh! Oh, yeah. I, I knew that.” However Likulau seemed to be interested. “Scary stories nice thing. Don't know many from here.”
“So it's settled, scary story time it is.” Liao declared while he was browsing for a good video. Lin Hu on the other hand didn't look so thrilled. “Do you really think that's the right kind of entertainment for the kitten? You know he can get quite emotional.” Now the little Leopard Cat was up and looked like he was ready to pounce Lin Hu. “Who are you calling an emotional kitten, old man!?” The tiger just patted his head and smiled. “See what I mean? I bet he won't be able to sleep at all afterwards, and tries to sneak into bed with you later on.” Likulau pointed at the bed with a stern look on his face. “But is my turn this night!”
Liao groaned. “Lin Hu, stop trying to get on Senpai's nerves, please. Senpai, I think everyone will be able to enjoy the video I picked, and Likulau, don't worry, I won't forget it's your turn. So please everyone, could we just spend the final minutes before bedtime together in peace?” With that settled the four of them sat down on Liao's bed, watching the monitor as the video started. It was mostly still pictures of dark sleeping rooms and ominous music, while some slightly depressed sounding person was telling their story. Something about an entity torturing the narrator via computer for days, and slowly driving them mad. Likulau looked entranced by this story, even though he might not understand it in it's entirety. Lin Hu looked like he was pondering, probably about the best way to get rid of such a monster. Senpai on the other hand remained impossible to read, he just got bigger eyes by the minute.
The story went for half an hour, ending with the narrator setting the monster free to haunt other people, just to get rid of that thing. “Well, that was dark.” Lin Hu drily noticed, with Likulau agreeing. “Sad ending. Poor storyteller.” “That wasn't real, Kulau.” Liao said as he got up the get ready for bed. “Creepypastas usually try to sound as realistic as possible, to scare the audience.”
After Liao was done with his sleeping routine it was Senpai's turn, but tonight he seemed a bit slower than usual. By the time he was done Liao and Likulau were already sharing the small space on the bed, with Lin Hu just returning into his statue. “Senpai, please remember to switch off the light when you're done.” Liao said yawning. The Leopard Cat nodded, but still he hesitated. At the end he had to do it though, and so he laid down on his usual sleeping spot on the floor.
Time was passing. Liao was snoring gently while Likulau just laid there right next to him with his eyes closed. Meanwhile the only thing the cat could do was staring at the ceiling wide-eyed. His heart wouldn't stop racing, and he didn't dare to move an inch to not make a sound. That was ridiculous! He was a powerful half-god, what was there to be afraid of? Still, the cat didn't manage to get that stupid story out of his head. Dammit, why couldn't he just stay awake? The other two spirits didn't need to sleep! For a moment he considered leaving Yan Shu-Chi's body so he could stay awake too. But his punishment consisted of him taking care of that human body til it died of old age. And trying to evade those restrictions didn't seem like a good idea, since Likulau and Lin Hu certainly wouldn't forgive him.
Who was he trying to fool, the cat was actually scared to fall asleep, just because of that stupid pasta! More than ever he wished it was his turn to share the bed with Liao. Then he would have someone to cuddle up for comfort, but Likulau was quite possessive when it came to his sleeping place. Maybe he could sweet-talk the Clouded Leopard into giving in, but there was no way the Rukai spirit would fall for his lies again. Perhaps if he was being honest?...
Or what about Lin Hu? Would the tiger consider sharing the floor with him? What the heck was he thinking? Asking that old geezer for help? All he woould do was laughing at him and calling him a scaredy cat! Or would he? After all, he was Liao's boyfriend, that meant Lin Hu wanted him to be happy as well, right? Anyway, there was no way he would spend the night alone on the floor! But what should he do?