A neko. A humanoid cat. They all shared similarity to humans in body and facial appearance, but depending on the breed had more or less cat-like features too. A long time ago they had been prized as pets - everybody with any amount of fame or money had had at least one. Then the number of nekos living in the wild had crashed due to overhunting and they had been put into the endangered species list, but it had not stopped the popularity boom. All it had done had been to force the market underground.

Sakuya and Haruka had both been born in captivity, in illegal kitten factory. When they had been "rescued" by the law enforcement as children, they had been deemed too weak and sickly to be returned to the wild. If not for Taka-san and his organization trying to preserve their species, they would have most likely been put to death.

That had been over five years ago. Both of them had grown into healthy young adults.

Sakuya was of short-fur breed and mackerel tabby in coloration - his ears and tail were striped light and darker brown. His short hair was also light brown, and he had light blue eyes. Otherwise he highly resembled a small human at the height of 4'8''.

Haruka was more refined in appearance and slightly taller than Sakuya. His fluffy hair, fuzzy ears and tail (also fluffy) were all white. He also had long collar fur around his neck and down his chest, as well as circling his hips and dipping down between his legs. His eyes were pink.

Taka-san had suggested once that now that they were grown up they could live in the shelter with others of their kind. He had been met with such horrified expressions that he had never brought it up again. He was their human. It was completely out of question that they'd move somewhere where he was not.

He worked long days as a lawyer, though - whatever that was. During those times he always left them plenty of food. If you left a neko hungry, there was a very high chance they would pillage the fridge and whatever cupboards they could reach. And then they'd get sick since not all things humans could eat were healthy for them.

Both Haruka and Sakuya were watching TV on the couch when they finally heard the sound of the apartment door opening and closing. They cast one look at each other and pounced almost over each other in their hurry to see Taka-san.

"It's good to see you too," Taka laughed as he was assaulted by two mewing and purring creatures. He was quite average-looking Japanese man on his mid-30s. Not any kind of supermodel, but not ugly either. He was dressed in suit as always for work, and wore his hair stylishly short. "You know what? I brought sushi."

Haruka's ears perked and he moved away from the human instantly. "I'll go set the table."

"Can I have one now?" Sakuya asked and tried to dig into the plastic bag Taka was carrying. It was instantly raised out of his reach.

Haruka huffed. Sakuya just didn't learn the pack rules. When Taka-san came home, they ate together at the table or not at all. Attempting to make him change his mind on this or any other matter was a waste of time.

Although what the human didn't know wouldn't hurt him. The two nekos had a deal that whatever happened while Taka-san was absent stayed between them.

Other than Taka having to keep the nekos on their seats and not fighting over the best pieces a few times, the dinner went well enough. Well, they were both still kids mentally, and perhaps that was what made them so adorable.

"I'll just wash these dishes and then we can go for a walk together," Taka said as he collected the empty plates from the table. Since there was still an underground market for nekos, he didn't want Haruka and Sakuya going outside alone.

"Hai~!" Sakuya instantly replied and then bounced out of the kitchen. He could see the light drizzle outside through the window, so he'd need to find his raincoat. And Haruka's too.

But midway through the living room something caught his attention. It was a large beetle calmly crossing the floor.

Sakuya's mouth broke into a grin and his hands practically itched. He dropped to all fours and started stalking the bug.

Just as he got close enough and prepared to attack, the beetle took flight and flew over to the large flowerpot containing...whatever it was. Palm tree or something. He really only remembered Taka-san's order not to eat it.

'Cunning, cunning,' he thought as he watched the bug dig into the soil. But not cunning enough!

He scooped up a handful and picked through it to find his prey. While he was at it, he spotted the beetle still in the pot. Gotcha!

But there was still one in the pot? Just how many were there?!

"Sakuya!" Haruka yelled at him, shocked, as he saw what his friend had done. There was dirt scattered everywhere around the flowerpot, and the other neko was just digging deeper.

"Did something happen?" Taka called from the kitchen.

"Um...Nothing! Nothing at all!" Then he turned to Sakuya with a definitely furious expression. "Fix this right now!" he hissed.

"You're not my boss." Sakuya didn't really know what "boss" was but in the television it seemed to be someone everyone obeyed.

Haruka's ears fell flat and his tail stiffened in anger. "Then don't expect me to pull you out of trouble either!"

Sakuya grabbed the spray bottle for watering the plants and aimed it at the other neko.

"Stop that!" Haruka tried to cover his face with his hands. It was wet and it smelled strange too. Without looking, he shoved Sakuya hard.

...The flowerpot tipped over.

Taka rushed to the living room at all that noise and beheld the disastrous scene. Haruka's hair was dripping wet. Sakuya was down on his tail, tripped on the fallen flowerpot and with the watering spray still clutched in one hand.

"Don't eat that!" he hurried to tell Haruka as the neko made an attempt to lick his wet hands. "It has fertilizer mixed in." Quickly he dried the neko with the dishwashing towel the best he could and straightened the fallen flowerpot. Then he turned to Sakuya. "As for you..."

"Mreow?" Sakuya tried to appear as innocent as possible.

Taka grabbed him, carried him to the entrance hall, placed him on the carpet where shoes were kept and told him to stay there.

Then he took the handheld vacuum cleaner from the closet for cleaning supplies and returned to the living room. With two nekos around, having these handy little things was a necessity.

Haruka fled to the top of a bookshelf as quickly as he could. One of those things had once snatched his tail into its greedy mouth. Not an experience he cared to repeat.

"You can come down now," Taka told him as he turned the vacuum cleaner off after he had returned most of the soil to the flowerpot and vacuumed what remained on the floor.

Sakuya thought he had gotten off the hook when nothing happened for a good while. Then Taka came back, picked him up and carried him to...the bathroom where a bathtub filled with water was waiting for him.

Sakuya grabbed the doorframe and clung to it with all his strength. "Nyaaaa! Let go of me! I don't want to!"

"You shouldn't have played with the flowerpot if you hate water that much. I can't have you...*tug*...leaving dirty prints...*tug*...all over the apartment."

"Haruka, help me!"

The other neko calmly moved past Taka and Sakuya to the bathroom. "I will take a bath first then."

Unlike Sakuya with his short hair, Haruka hated the icky feeling of dirty fur. He didn't mind water that much, and Taka always grooming him with a brush and a hairdryer after bath was a luxury he wasn't inclined to give up on.

Surprised, the tabby loosened his hold a little. Was he saved?

Taka took advantage of this lesser resistance, pulled him away from the doorframe and dumped him into the tub, dirty clothes and all.

"NYAAAA!!!"

It was actually quite nice, though...Warm and smelled good. But it was still water!

"Not that bad, right?" Taka asked with a smile and petted his head.

Sakuya just sunk a little deeper into the water with a pout.

A few minutes later he had given his soaked clothes away and was in the tub naked with Haruka. Taka had rolled up his sleeves and was scrubbing them with soap and a sponge. That was definitely nice.

After the bath Taka started grooming Haruka again. Sakuya amused himself with the other neko's tail for a moment, but returned to the television when Taka shooed him away.

"Haruka...I've been meaning to ask you something."

The neko tilted his head to look at the human sitting on the large bed behind him. "What is it?"

"There's a very nice girl of the same breed as you in the shelter."

"I am not moving there."

"That's not quite it..." He switched the hairdryer off. "You know I work with others to preserve nekos as a species, right?"

"Yes."

"So what I'm trying to say is basically...she'd like to have kittens. Would you be the father?"

Haruka looked at him like he had lost his mind. "...No."

"Please..."

"I said no!" He wrapped his arms around himself like it could somehow shield him from all the bad things. "I may have been young, but I remember how it was done. I want no part in that. I will not hurt a girl like that..."

"Hush." Taka hugged him comfortingly. "It's alright. What you saw was wrong. That's not...how it should be."

"...Then how?"

Taka smiled. "Not that different from how it is between you and Sakuya when the mood strikes you two. Seriously, if you want to keep me in the dark, you need to change bedsheets and air out the room."

Haruka didn't say anything.

"Well, think about it." Taka switched the hairdryer back on and moved to Haruka's tail. "If you are still adverse to mating with a female, it doesn't have to be...the natural way. I only need some of your seed, and the doctors can do the rest."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Taka chuckled. "I guess you don't."

Perhaps some sex education was in order. Beyond what Haruka and Sakuya had already figured out together.