Chapter Text
“Ko-to-ha!” Yelled a too loud voice followed by the sound of the door slamming open.
It caught Kotoha so off guard that she briefly lost control over her magic and dropped the bottle of cinnamon. Luckily it was already close enough to her so she was able to reach out and catch it before it fell to the floor.
She glared back at the cause of the problem only to find him completely unaffected and wearing a huge grin, as usual.
“Kotoha, what are you making?” He asked, leaning on the counter.
She turned her back towards him and continued with her task. With a flick of her wrist she opened the oven and floated a tray right next to her. “I’m making chocolate chip cookies for the kids at the orphanage. I’m thinking of giving these to them as a little first week of school reward tomorrow.”
“Woah! I’m sure they’ll love them, especially if you made them from scratch.” Said Umemiya, with a smile.
Kotoha couldn't help but smile too. With a soft wave, the tray with cookie dough floated into the oven and closed as she let the batter fill the room with the scent of butter and chocolate.
Like most of the people that populated this world, Kotoha was a magic user with the ability to make objects around her float. It wasn’t anything fancy but like others with her core of magic it made things more convenient. It wasn’t just the ability to make things float either. Some could sense emotions, others could fly and some could even turn invisible for short periods of time. There were even some who weren’t magic users. Genetics never really held a big role on what you get, you were kind of just born with it. But those were all pretty common and involved most of the population.
Enchanters, however, were very rare, such as the one sitting in front of her right now. Unlike her, enchanters couldn’t use their magic core directly and instead had to use certain items to express their magic. On the upside they could perform a much larger variety of magic and didn’t have as many restrictions as an average magic user.
“Speaking of school, everything ready for tomorrow?” She asked.
“Yep, got it all set and even though I already know most of them I’m still excited for all the little brothers I’m gonna get!” cheered Umemiya. “You should have seen the list Kotoha! I can already tell each and every single one of them is gonna be great! Let me tell you Kotoha, this year is gonna be really interesting!”
“Oh, really? Anyone caught your eye?” She asked, after all this was his last year in Furin.
“No, not yet, but,” He trailed off mid sentence and looked towards the far end of the bar. Kotoha didn’t have to turn around to know what he was looking at.
“I’m surprised it took you this long to notice.” She remarked.
On the far end of the bar was a very small, and very cute tuxedo cat with a bowl of milk resting in front of him. It had black messy fur except for his little paws and belly that were white. And on one side of its face was a patch of white fur that made his golden eye shine like the sun, while the other eye was a shiny black with black fur around it.
“I found the little guy on my way here after buying some food. I, um- some thugs were harassing a girl and he scared them off.” She corrected. Kotoha really didn’t want to mention that it had been her who was getting harassed. Who knows what Umemiya might do.
“Scared them off?” Asked Umemiya, turning back to her.
“Yeah, the little guy here bit one of the guy’s ankles before climbing on top of the other with his claws out. After that it was a mess of screams and scratches before they all ran away in fear. You should have seen it, the little grump here even looked smug about it.” She recalled. “After that I somehow managed to get him to follow me back here but he left after a while. He only came back a few minutes ago.”
“Oh so this little guy was protecting Makochi.” Exclaimed Umemiya. Said little guy was currently glaring at them as if he was personally offended that they were talking about him.
Something that Kotoha was beginning to notice a lot about the cat. He was very expressive.
“Yeah, I gave him the bowl of milk when he got here but he hasn’t touched it.” She said.
“So you have been protecting my family, little fella?” Umemiya said loudly, standing up and walking up to the cat. “Thank you so much!”
“I wouldn’t do that.” Kotoha said, but she doubted he would listen to her.
The cat on his part quickly got up on his legs and started backing up as the looming figure got closer. It started hissing as Umemiya’s hand got closer.
“Don’t worry I’m not gonna hurt you.” Reassured Umemiya, tone much softer than before. “I just wanna say thanks, besides I know a great spot in the back of your ear that’ll feel great after a good scratch.”
“Meoowww!”
Kotoha turned just in time to see the cat swipe his paw down and scratch Umemiya’s hand. Umemiya didn’t react but it did work as a distraction for the cat to quickly jump off the bar table, up a few shelves and out the window. Surprisingly nothing fell during his escapade.
“Come back again soon!” Yelled Umemiya. And to Kotoha’s surprise she heard a loud meow from outside as if the cat was answering him. Though he sounded a bit angry.
“Huh.” She said.
Umemiya sat back on his stool, as if his hand wasn’t bleeding all over her table.
“Don’t make a mess.” She scolded. “Let me get you some rosemary.”
“Thanks Kotoha!”
Kotoha wielded a jar to hover down from the top shelf towards her, and after popping it open she gave a small strand to Umemiya. He crumbled it in a tight fist and sprinkled it on his hand. In seconds the scratch was gone and the room was filled with the soft scent of rosemary.
“You know, I don’t know about an interesting year,” Kotoha leaned forward, looking out the window “But I’m pretty sure we at least got an interesting cat.” She said.
Umemiya gave her a wide grin. “Yeah, I sure hope we see him again!”
Kotoha was sweeping the cafe’s floor when she heard the soft noise of the door opening.
“Good morning Granny Sato.” She greeted at the sight of the old lady coming in.
“It’s not just me,” She said, looking down at her feet. Kotoha followed her gaze and found a familiar pair of gold and black eyes on the tiny cat. “Found the little cat on my way here. I guess he must have realized my old hips and accompanied me all the way here when he heard me.”
Kotoha knew for a fact that the granny had excellent hips for her age, but kept that comment to herself.
“Well I’m happy he came back.” She said instead. “The little guy came in yesterday after he saved me from a couple of morons.”
“Oh? Did he now?” Asked granny.
“Yep, I owe him one. Didn’t think he’d come back so soon though.” She leaned down towards the cat with a smirk. “Aren’t you a softy under all those hisses.”
The cat on his part meowed loudly in protest and the sight made Kotoha laugh a little. Avoiding looking up and with his ears flat the cat turned to walk out.
“No no no.” Said granny, closing the door before he could leave. “You don’t plan on leaving me alone here now do you? After you accompanied me all the way here it’s only right if you stay a while with little poor old me.”
The cat kept making noises of protest but eventually gave up. He didn’t sit with granny in the booth, but he did jump on the bar and sat down with his tails curled up. It looked like he was pouting.
“What kind of cat are you?” She asked,as if the cat was gonna give her an answer, but before she could get anything out of the cat an extra voice entered the cafe. And slammed face first on the floor.
And there was Nirei wearing a horrible outfit but looking as bright as ever with his brand new Furin uniform. He quickly got back up, already diving into conversation about how excited he was to finally be a part of Furin.
The only thing stopping his ranting was a simple meow coming from his feet. Nirei and Kotoha looked down to find the cat staring right at Nirei and without breaking eye contact, swatted the price tag on his ankle.
“Uh? The tag?” Noted Nirei trying his best to get rid of it along with the one on his jacket. The cat on his part simply sidestepped as Nirei tumbled down and went back to his spot on the bar.
And was Kotoha seeing things or did the cat actually roll his eyes?
“Got it! Phew, that would have been embarrassing. By the way, Kotoha, who is this little cat? I don’t think I’ve seen him around Makicho?” Nirei asked, already up and throwing questions as usual.
“Not sure. Little guy saved me yesterday from a group of thugs and I convinced him to follow me here. Wasn’t sure if he was gonna come back though.” She answered.
“Really? Wow! I’ve never heard of a cat defending the town!” Exclaimed Nirei. “He does have quite the interesting look too. Pretty sure I would have noticed him if he was from here.”
With a small flick of his wrist a pen flew out of his pocket and into his right hand, and a small notebook with the words ‘too secret’ landed on his left. Just like her, Nirei’s magic allowed him to levitate small objects.
“Does he have a name? I want to make sure I remember him.” He asked.
“You know I haven’t really thought of that.” Kotoha admitted. “I’ve been calling him little guy in my head this whole time.”
“What? Well that won’t do.” Nirei’s eyes caught the clock before he could comment further. “Oh no! I should get going! Orientation hasn’t started yet but I wanna patrol the town before heading to Furin.”
“Goodbye Nirei.” She called out as he sprinted outside with a wide grin. “Oh don’t be like that.” She scolded the cat.
The cat only looked at her and glared.
“His name’s Nirei and stop making that face, that's just the way he is. He’s been wanting to join Furin since Umemiya united it and now he can finally join.”
The cat, of course, didn't answer but he turned his glare towards the door. Right where Nirei had just been.
It made her laugh a little seeing just how expensive the little guy could be. “Aw, come on don’t be so harsh on him. You haven’t even properly met him yet. There’s nothing fun about judging others before you get to know them.”
After that she went back to cleaning dishes, but she could have sworn that she saw something different in the cat’s eyes. She couldn’t quite place it though before he left again.
Nirei was speechless.
The cat let out a small ‘mrp’ sound as he walked by Nirei. Head held high and long strides filled with the kind of confidence that Nirei has never seen in a cat. But then again he’s never seen a cat scare off thugs before.
One second Nirei was crying at the heavy blows he was receiving and the next a blur of black and white fur flew over his head attacking the thugs.
The cat jumped, ran, and climbed on top of each guy. Each move with clear intention and as agile as, well, a cat.
“I’m absolutely pathetic!”
He knows it’s strange, pouring his heart out to a cat, but Nirei has always been emotional. And besides he didn’t really know what else to do at the moment.
But then he felt something hit him.
It wasn’t hard, in fact it was kinda soft.
He turned around and found the cat kicking him with his back legs, along with a multiple of cries of protest.
Nirei wasn’t really sure what kind of situation he was in. He twisted around to face the cat. “What’s with the kicking-?” Before he could ask, the cat lounged forward and for a second Nirei thought he was gonna bite his hand off, no matter how small his teeth were. But the cat only bit into his sleeve and started tugging him forward.
“What are you-?” He started, but was cut off by the muffled noises from the stubborn cat. Finally Nirei let himself be pulled and crouched down in front of him, but the cat still refused to let go. It wasn't until he stood up that the cat finally let him go and glared at him from below.
The stare down lasted for about a minute before the cat did something that somehow resembled a sigh (could cats sigh?) and lifted his front paw to his face.
Nirei just looked at the cat with growing confusion. The cat just meowed at him again. As if scolding him or something, before going back to wiping his face.
Unconsciously, Nirei lifted his hand to his cheek only to find it damp. He knew he was a crier but it was still embarrassing for him to have cried that much.
After that he looked back at the cat who had stopped wiping his face. The cat gave a flick of his tail and turned to walk away.
“Wa-wait.” Nirei mumbled, looking at the cat, then back to where he had been laying and crying, then back at the cat again. It couldn’t be, right? “Were you… were you trying to cheer me up?”
The cat quickly got into a defensive position as it turned around to face Nirei. He let out a string of hisses and yowls before quickly stopping, looking almost embarrassed with his ears flattened.
With one finally hiss the cat trotted away from Nirei.
“W-wait!”
After quickly making sure the nice lady was alright Nirei quickly ran back to the streets to try and find the cat. It took far much longer than he would have thought to find such a unique cat but he eventually finally found him. The cat was walking at the ledge of the roof, looking completely unbothered by how high he was.
The cat seemed to have heard him come because he turned to look down at him and meowed while giving him a weirdly accurate annoyed look.
Nirei stumbled a bit, not expecting that look from a cat. He squeezed the bag behind his back and the crinkle of plastic sounded lightly. The cat’s ears twitched at the noise and he took a tentative step forward.
“Um?” Nirei couldn’t tell if it was weird or not to talk to a cat but he didn’t really know what else to do. “I didn’t really get the chance to thank you earlier. So um, here?” He pulled the bag from behind him and reached in to pull out some bread he got from Cactus bakery. One of the best bakeries in town.
The cat let out a curious sound and swiftly climbed down from the roof and in front of Nirei. He slowly crouched down noticing the cat’s hesitant steps trying not to scare him away.
“Oh I should probably take the plastic off- AAHH!”
With a quick dash and leap the cat snatched the bag out of Nirei’s hand leading to him stumbling back on his butt. To his surprise the cat didn’t scratch or bite him in any way during the leap. It was kinda funny seeing the cat drag the bag of bread considering his small size, but he managed to get a hold of it and waddled away.
Nirei was a bit embarrassed by how long he sat there staring at where the cat had been. Thankfully no one had seen him.
He checked the time and realized and realized he still had some time left before he had to head to Furin. Not having anything else to do he took the long way towards the school. Hopefully he won't attract any more trouble.
As he walked he couldn’t help but bring out his notebook and jot down some stuff about the cat.
Sure he had gotten the notebook specifically so he could write about matters concerning Bofurin and he barely knew anything about the cat, but the cat was too interesting for Nirei not to write about him. The only thing missing was a name.
Kotoha had called him ‘little guy’ but that wasn’t really a name.
He was so lost in thought he almost missed the noise of a soft little sneeze. He hadn’t even realized that he was almost at the school’s entrance. The Sakura blossoms making the beginning of spring more present and Nirei more excited for what the new school year will bring.
But back to the noise.
It didn’t take him long to notice, under the Sakura tree, the little cat with split fur.
“Oh, it’s you again!” He exclaimed. Maybe a little too loud seeing how the cat jumped in place.
It hissed at him.
“Sorry about that, we keep bumping into each other it seems.”
The cat just gave a disapproving look before grabbing a plastic wrap from the floor and started walking. Nirei hadn’t even noticed the plastic but now that he did it looked familiar.
“Wait, is that the wrapping from the bread I gave you earlier?” He asked. The thing was sealed, even Nirei sometimes struggled with opening it with the way the plastic tended to stretch in weird angles. “How did you get it open?”
The cat completely ignored his question, not like he could answer anyway, and walked past Nirei without so much as a glance. Nirei, ever curious, followed the cat.
He only walked a few steps until the cat stopped right in front of a trash can. Before Nirei could fully question why, the little guy crouched down and jumped on the edge of the trash can.
Unfortunately, the trash can wasn't really the easiest place for a cat to stand in, so instead the cat slipped and ended up falling in.
“Oh no!” Yelled Nirei, leaning inside the trash can. The poor cat was trashing around along with the rest of the trash, clearly not happy there. “Don’t worry I’ll get you out of there.”
Lifting his right hand, the cat slowly levitated out of the trash can, though Nirei did have to concentrate a little more than usual considering the cat was screaming and flailing as he hovered above the ground. It was clearly not happy.
The second Nirei released his hold on him he dashed to put some distance between them and growled at him in a threatening pose.
“I’m sorry but that was the quickest way to get you out and I didn’t want you to scratch me.” He explained.
The cat did calm down a bit, though it still seemed on high alert and to Nirei’s surprise it kinda looked like the cat was embarrassed, if that made sense. Judging by the way he avoided looking his way and had his ear flat.
It was at that moment that a small breeze picked up, scattering the blossoms into the sky. One of them gently floated on top of the little guy and landed right in between his eyes and for a second he relaxed. His ears weren’t as flat and tension in his brow relaxed. Nirei had to admit it was a sweet sight.
“Sakura.” He blurted out.
The cat turned to look at him, straight at him this time, both eyes beautiful and wide.
“You like that?” He asked. “I’ve been trying to come up with a name for you but haven’t had much luck. Do you like Sakura?”
He obviously didn’t get an answer but the cat didn’t look away so he took it as a sign. Quickly taking out his notebook Nirei flipped through the pages until he found the section dedicated to the cat and right at the top finally wrote a name, ‘Sakura’.
“It’s perfect,” He cheered. “What do you think?” He turned his notebook to show Sakura but the cat was nowhere to be found. Sakura just vanished as quickly as he came.
Nirei was startled by an alarm on his phone. “Oh no! I’m gonna be late!”