Chapter Text
The day didn’t start the desirable way for Ren with the way his eyelids were closing heavily down his eyes after a weird nightmare he got the night prior, and the weather was so gloomy and sad, that he didn’t have much of a choice but to yawn while leaving his little apartment. It was time for him to get to his class (as he took a job of a dancing instructor; a leading one, that is) and then get some groceries, as he was almost fully out of food due to the fact that he barely went out a few days prior, and didn’t really have any will to do so. The summer raining season had hit hard, both on the ground and his mental health. Rainy weather was definitely his least favorite.
His keys clanked and the little Ditto keychain wobbled to the motion of his hand turning one of the keys in the lock, before setting off and getting his busy day started. He itched the back of his head, pulling slightly at some of the short black hairs at the nape of his neck, and sighed out dramatically at the sight of the rainy clouds getting together. He was glad that his handy backpack was packed with the raincoat and an umbrella to protect him from the undesirable contact with the water falling from the sky. On the way down the stairs, a medium sized carton box caught his eyes, as something pink and white was barely visible inside of it. His vision was a little blurry after the lack of sleep, so he got closer to the object on the floor. It was right beside the wall to the left from the path that led to the stairs. Now that he got closer, he noticed a small body, little pink furry ears were folded against the head a bit too big in the relation to the body of the.. creature that Ren was witnessing. It looked like a little toddler, but with a bigger head and with cat-like attributes - ears and tail. Finding himself quite a bit dumbfounded by the sight, and as a few drops of rain landed on top of his head, he looked around for the clues to where the box could’ve possibly come from. Nothing in particular caught his attention, so his efforts were all in vain. Deciding that he’d rather see the weird creature safe than getting soaked in rain or even being taken by some weird person who might do vile things to it as it often happens with stray animals, he took the box in his hands and propped it against his lean arms, going back up to his apartment. On his way up the stairs, he noticed a little paper note right under the creature’s hand (or was it a paw?..), clutching to it with all three of its pointy claws. “Earn his trust” was all it said, and once again, it didn’t explain anything to Ren, leaving him even more confused to what he had gotten himself into. At least now he knew that the creature was male, or so he thought, now that he read the pronoun “he” on that tiny piece of paper.
Jiggling the keys and that little Ditto keychain again, he got inside and places the box in the living room of his small, barely illuminated thanks to the cloudy weather apartment right before running out and hurrying to catch the train to his workplace. He was sure to be late thanks to all the events that had just happened, but it didn’t quite bother him. Maybe it would be something nice? Maybe it’d turn his life into a more positive direction? That’s what he thought while lightly jogging in the direction of the train station, thanking himself for the fact that he picked an apartment that was pretty close to one.
Ren let himself get lost in his thoughts, plugging earphones hastily on the go, not even noticing a figure appearing right in front of him, running much faster than he did and in the direction of his apartment complex. The male was a lot taller than him, a mop of black hair on top of his way too small head in relation to his body, and a black tracksuit plastered on top of his skinny body. His face expression worried and looking around, then at his phone.
“Where is he?..” was all he said, clearly mumbling to himself and running forward hastily.
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Ren spent quite some time at work, most of his students being kids and teens and having a load of questions to be asked during and after every lesson he had with them. It was okay, he loved his job, but this time he really wanted to hurry back home and see if the little creature was okay, and if he didn’t trash the whole place while he was away. His trip to the grocery store was quick, thanks to both his organization skills, as he had a list of the things he wanted to buy written down in his notes app, and his mind nudging him to hurry home. It was pretty dark outside, his watch telling him it was 7pm as the streetlights started igniting up on the both sides of the street he was walking. Thankfully, it didn’t rain at that moment, much to his surprise, as it has been while he was still at the grocery store. He rushed as much as he could, heavy bags not letting him to run much freely. It took him ten, maybe fifteen minutes to finally get home, jitterly turning the lights on everywhere possible because it was pitch black inside and he wasn’t able to see anything. Much to his surprise, everything was the same way as he left it, all the things being in their places, the box too. It made him let a heavy sigh in relief, grocery bags being placed near the kitchen counter that was connected to the living room. He thought that unpacking could wait, he’d like to check on the little one more than do the chores anyway. So he closed the distance and crouched down in front of the box, noticing how it was trembling slightly. He tried reaching forward with his hand, but jumped back instinctively while hearing a quiet hiss, which resulted in him landing on his butt right beside the carton object. While he was busy smacking his ass against the floor, two little hands placed themselves on the fold of the box, small head following. Wait.. was he that small before? Ren couldn’t not notice how the creature was even tinier than compared to his last encounter with him, moreover, his eyes were almost invisible behind the fluffy pink bangs, little eyelashes were sticking out just a little bit. The small one followed with some more hissing, eyebrows frowned. Ren finally snapped out of the spiral of his thoughts and cleared his throat from the lump that formed there thanks to small bits of fear.
“Okay, listen.. I’m not here to hurt you. I found this box, and it was about to rain so i just instinctively brought you home and..” - he stopped, noticing the creature’s ears twitching slightly to his voice, his little trembling body getting more stable. “I just couldn’t let you stay there, okay? My conscience would eat me away if i did..”
He sighed with the last words. Some tiny sniffs could be heard as the little one was trying to smell something in Ren’s direction. Without even thinking properly, the boy reached his hand out, palm down, as he read how to properly approach cats, and letting the small thing sniff on his fingers. He loosened up, little arms curling on top of the box, his eyes looking attentively at Ren, as the latter one finally noticed how rosy and round the creatures cheeks were, a small smile creeping onto his face in desire to pet the little one. He didn’t though. If he did, he’d probably just get scratched, as the small one clearly acted like a cat, thus being extra careful around the objects and people he didn’t yet know.
They sat for a while in silence, with the clock on the wall ticking and the light buzzing of electricity in the background. Ren was about to get up on his feet, as his butt was starting to ache both due to the fact that he fell on it, and him being way too boney to not feel the parts of his skeleton crush into his body with the pressure against it, but the light rumbling noise coming from in front of him made him halt.
“Are you hungry?” - he asked the little one, eyes fixated on his pink hair. Much to his surprise, the creature was blushing vigorously, making the boy snicker, as he found that reaction very adorable. The small one nodded, hiding his face behind the wall of the box, sliding completely down, his round hands following right after the rest of the body.
Ren jumped up, promptly balancing and dusting himself off before reaching for the unpacked grocery bags near the kitchen counter. With quite a bit of noise, he started getting all the stuff out, some fresh fruits and veggies followed by a variety of snack packs and pockets with instant food. Yeah, he wasn’t the most healthy eater, especially with his mind not being the most friendly with him at times. He was turned to the small cat-like creature with his back, thus failing to notice any movements or sounds (thanks to the loud grocery bags) behind him. When he was mostly done, a muffled shriek got to his ears, making him turn around with the waves of his hair bouncing from behind his ears and falling on his face, blocking some of his vision. Quickly brushing it back with a palm of his hand, Ren hurried back to the living room, finding his favorite Ditto plushie plastered across the little body and making the small one choke under its weight. The stuffed toy wasn’t even that big, but the kitty sure was small enough to get in trouble with it, and so removing it quickly was the only option to save him from the asphyxiation.
The little one looked dizzy, with his hair all over his face and floor, a small bow on his pretty ruffled shirt untied and falling off his tiny body. He gathered all the strength he had left, and pulled himself together, getting up onto his four while looking a bit out of it and clearly upset. How did he even get there? Ren had only turned around for a couple of minutes, and this little body somehow got himself out of the box, and marched across the room to tug at the plush twice his size. Ren sighed in disbelief, and was abvbout to pat the creature’s head, but stopped midway when he saw him sniffing the air and looking at the kitchen counter where some of the snack bags were visible. The silver haired boy got up again, hurrying to pick up some of that appetizing junk food, and came back, an assortment of bags placed in front of the little kitty. It didn’t take long for him to tug on one of the plastic bags with sparkly eyes (was Ren imagining things?), carrying it over to himself and struggling to tear it open, gaining an angry glare at first the bag, and then Ren (as if he was demanding to open it). The boy opened the pack of the gummy bears obediently, placing it back in front of the creature, and picking up some of the chips himself. The kitty chewed on one of the sweet bears and the air around him shifted, sort of buzzing with electricity, before a cloud of smoke poofed around him and revealed him in the way that Ren saw him first — a little bigger in size, his clothes fitting him better, and eyes more sparkly. Did.. did he change form or something?? Ren shook his head in disbelief, but the scenery remained the same — the creature’s body changed both its size and appearance. The thought of it made the boy’s head spin, so he munched on more of the chips, and reached for one of the gummy bears too, getting a death glare from the little kitty. He muffled a laugh and put the bag of chips in front of him, offering a compensation of a sort for the sweet treat he got earlier for himself. The creature didn’t mind, and chewed on both snacks, stuffing his mouth full, while leaning into the Ditto plush beside him. Now the two of them were of a similar size, the plush being a bit smaller.
Ren wanted to get the rest of the bags out of the way and clean everything that was thrown around on the floor, but the kitty suddenly leaned onto his thigh, while still munching on the snacks. The boy smiled and hesitated at first, but then placed his hand gently on top of the creature’s head, petting it lightly and smoothing down the hairs that were standing up in all directions after the plush accident. It felt pretty nice and peaceful, the small body cuddling against his leg, giving away its warmth and almost magically getting the negative feelings out of Ren’s system. He forgot when was the last time that he felt this relaxed.
“I know you probably can’t talk,” he started, looking in the window just a little above him. “But if you actually can.. could you tell me your name?”
His gaze shifted to the creature and for a moment their eyes met, but maybe it was too awkward for the little one, since Ren was so much bigger than him, that he averted his eyes quickly and stared at the floor instead. His cheeks puffed a few times and some abrupt breaths followed.
“N-nyan.. kumi..” was all he said and then hissed under his own breath, trying to say something more. All that could be heard was a ton of muffled and angry “nyan” noises, so Ren figured that nothing else could be done about it. He ruffled the creature’s hair again and slid his other hand to tie a neat bow around his neck with the ribbon that was hanging loose around it.
“Guess I’ll have to call you Kumi for now,” he smiled and got his hands away from the creature, leaning back onto his arms and stretching his limbs on the floor. All the kitty could do was glare at him for a second, but then he sighed and climbed on top of Ren’s lap, while curling into a ball. His eyelids felt heavy and he started to fall asleep just like that, no covers or comforter on top to warm him up. Ren guessed, he was really like a little cat. And that would surely make his life a lot more interesting.