A Kitty Situation

It was a rainy morning. Well, it's probably going to be a rainy day honestly. What, with a typhoon nearby and all. Anyway, it wasn't anything too dangerous, so school was still open.

I was walking with my umbrella all depressed when I heard something from an alley.

*Meow*

"Hm?" I looked down the narrow passage and saw a cardboard box.

Confused, I looked around more to search for the source of such a cute meow. Finding nothing, I decided to study the box closer and entered the alleyway. When I squatted down in front of it, the flaps suddenly popped up a little.

Woah! That was close. I almost fell on my butt! Showing up to school with a wet butt was not on my bucket list!

*Meow*

Oh, yup. That's definitely from the box.

Getting a little closer so my umbrella would cover the box, I lifted the dilapidated cardboard flaps to reveal a little calico kitty. It had heterochromatic eyes, one green and the other yellow. It also had a black patch of fur across its eyes that made it look like it had a mask on.

"Cute!!!" I gushed as the kitty looked at me with it's dilated eyes.

If you look at me like that, I'll squeal!

It blinked before mewing again.

Ahhhh, too cuteeeee!!!

Excited, I slowly reached my hand out towards it. The kitty backed up first, scared, but I didn't move and waited patiently. It then cautiously moved its nose towards my hand and sniffed.

Then, it rubbed its tiny little head against my finger.

"Uwuwuwuwu." My heart was melting!

As the kitty started purring and moving against my hand, I noticed it had sat upon a piece of paper. I carefully reached for it as to not startle the kitty and read it.

"Please Take"

Wow. Simple and direct, huh?

Ugh, but Granny was allergic to cats. I'm sure she wouldn't have minded, but I can't.

"You were abandoned, too, huh?" I softly whispered as I rubbed its little head. "What am I gonna do with you?" I asked the little kitty in my despair.

*Nya~*

"You're right! I can't just leave you!" I nodded vehemently. "Who knows what'll happen if I leave you in the rain? This box is clearly not gonna hold up." I looked at the already falling apart, soaked container. "And what if a bad person comes along!"

*Mew*

The kitty stood up and placed it paws on the edge of the box, clearly wanting out.

"Ugh."

It'll be fine if I bring it with me for now, right? I mean, don't protagonists do it all the time in anime and manga?

*Meow*

"Alright, alright. You know I can't leave you." I conceded and pulled out a handkerchief.

I always wondered why some Japanese people constantly carried one, but I'm not gonna lie. It comes in handy sometimes.

I wrapped the little kitty in the fabric and held it close to my chest. It immediately pressed itself against me, probably for some warmth. I smiled at it helplessly.

It's too adorable!

Wait, adorable.

Yuu!

I definitely need to hide it from him! There's no way he would pass up such a cute test subject.

I shivered as I thought about other strays he must've played with. May you all rest in peace.

"Don't worry. I won't take my eyes off you." I proclaimed to the kitty who was settling down, looking ready to sleep. "I'll protect you from him. I promise." I whispered.

I headed to school and kept a look out for the fluffy head that was Yuu.

Once I made it to the entrance of the shoe lockers, I awkwardly walked off to the side, so I wasn't in the way of others. I placed down my umbrella before sliding off my school bag to the floor and carefully placing the sleeping kitty on top. I couldn't help but notice the stares I got from almost every student that walked in as I did so. I hurriedly shook out the umbrella and closed it. Once I put it away in a rack, I came back to see some girls crowding around my bag.

"Aww, it's so cute~" I heard the one squatting down squeal.

"But, who brought a cat to school?" The one standing beside her questioned.

"Ah, that'd be me." I said from behind them. They quickly turned around and eyed me.

"Oh, a first year." The one that was squatting stood up. "Why do you have such a cute little kitty?"

"Oh, I found it in a box and thought it too pitiful to leave there in this weather." I sheepishly explained.

The girls blinked before looking at each other. They seemed to communicate with their eyes and looked back to me.

"If you need help looking for an owner, we can help!" The bubbly one offered.

"Neither of us can take it in, but we can help by asking around." The stoic one added.

"Oh, thanks! That'd be a big help!" I smiled.

"Let's exchanged numbers, so we can contact you if we find someone." The friendly one pulled out her phone.

"Sure." I nodded and pulled out my own.

"I'm Sakura Misakawa, by the way! Your second year senpai!" Sakura amiably introduced herself as she typed her phone number.

"I'm Yuki Asukasa, also a second year." Yuki coolly spoke.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Haruka Suzuki." I greeted as we handed our phones back.

"Wow. Didn't know you were such a lady killer, Haru!" I was ambushed by an arm around my neck.

"It's not like that, Akira." I leered at the grinning boy.

"Eh? You wouldn't happen to be Akira Miyamoto, would you? The freshman?" Sakura asked with glittering eyes.

"The one and only." Akira proudly said.

Sakura looked to get even more excited, but Yuki grabbed her shoulder. Sakura looked at her, and Yuki shook her head.

"We'll be going now." Yuki calmly announced before pulling Sakura away with her.

"So, you got a date?" Akira wiggled his eyebrow up and down suggestively.

"No, you dolt." I scowled and went to the forgotten kitten.

"Is that a cat?" Akira asked when I stood up with said kitten in hand.

"Yup. Found the little guy abandoned in a box in the rain." I softly patted it's head as it snuggled to get comfortable.

When I heard nothing from Akira for a bit, I glanced up at him. I blinked as I saw the softest expression I'd ever seen from him. It swiftly morphed into his regular smile.

"Hah, you would be one to not abandon something pitiful." Akira ruffled my hair.

"Hey! Here, take it for a second." I carefully held out the kitty to him. "I need to put on my school slippers."

"Yes, sir~" Akira accepted the kitten.

Agh, rainy days are the worse for this reason. I gotta take off my wet shoes and put it in the locker.

"Alright." I closed the locker and turned around. I paused at the sight that awaited me.

The kitten had woken up and had left the handkerchief. It was now climbing up Akira's arm, and Akira watched it with a curious gleam in his eyes.

"Maybe I don't need to take it off your hands." I said with a raised eyebrow after the cat made its way to his shoulder comfortably.

"Haha, I guess not." Akira headed off to his locker.

*Mew*

Well, you don't need me anymore, do you, you little bandit. Hmph.

As I thought that and walked behind Akira, the kitten turned around to face me and jumped off! I stumbled forward to catch the little thing before it barreled into the ground. I barely managed to and crashed into Akira's back.

"Oof." My nose rammed right into his shoulder blade. "Ow."

"Pft! W-What happened?" Akira looked over his shoulder. I backed up and rubbed my nose.

"This guy is insane!" I exclaimed as I held up the guilty cat. "He jumped off you and almost smashed onto the floor!"

"Haha!" Akira finally let out his laughter as we trudged along. "Oh, man. You always attract the funniest situations." Akira sighed, satisfied.

I didn't say anything and just puffed my cheeks out.

Bandit, you're more trouble than I thought you would be!

"So, are you taking it in?" Akira asked as he slipped on his slippers.

"I can't. Granny's allergic to cats." I laminated while the kitty started climbing my clothes now. "Oh, could you?"

"Oh, uh, I can't." Akira immediately shut me down.

"Oh, okay." My shoulders slumped down.

"But, I can help you look for someone who can. I've got a lot of connections." Akira casually boasted. I stared at him unimpressed.

Well, I guess this is an upside to having a popular friend.

"Please do." I nodded.

"Don't worry! I gotcha!" Akira gave me a thumbs up.

The walk to our classroom was mostly filled with me doing my best to hide Bandit from sight. However, when we entered the classroom, and I was assaulted by an ice beam, I knew there was no hiding it from him.

He's not gonna like this, is he?

"Suzuki-kun, what on earth are you carrying?" Tatsuya scowled.

Bandit stopped it's clawing and curled into a ball in fright.

Ah! He's scaring the poor thing!

"It's just a stray kitten! Since it's raining, I couldn't just leave it out there. It won't be a distraction. I promise." I babbled away while holding the kitty protectively away from Tatsuya.

Tatsuya's glare didn't let up.

"I'm not allowing an animal in the classroom." Tatsuya coldly stated. I looked at him helplessly. "Take it to the infirmary. I'm sure the nurse wouldn't mind babysitting it for the time being." Tatsuya ordered as he turned back to his book. I lit up.

"Yes! I'll go now!" I bowed to Tatsuya and nodded to Akira before rushing out.

I gotta hurry. Homeroom's about to start!