20. My Kitty Prince

"Just..." he breathed a hot breath. "...Promise not to leave my side ever again."

"W-Wha—? Uhh—" you swallowed nervously, feeling your cheeks surface with warm hues before you furiously crinkled your brows and looked off to the side, quite unsure why your heart began to accelerate at his sudden request.

"I...I rather buy my own things rather than getting stuck with you," you retorted louder than intended, before you let go of his arm and tried to walk off, but he held onto you tighter before you could bother to leave.

"Gosh, I'm not letting you go off by yourself again," he declared, while you tried to squirm out of his grasp. "I don't hate you enough to let you fend for yourself, especially with weirdos lurking around."

"Weirdos?" You let out a forced laugh, before you retracted your back to him and playfully pointed onto his chest. "You're the weirdo here, Shinsou."

He simply rolled his eyes before tugging you along. "If anything, you're the weirder one out of the both of us, you always seem to attract trouble."

"Ha? I don't!" You protested with a cloudy pout. "Are you saying that you're the trouble to me? You seem attracted enough to be with me right now."

He abruptly stopped, snapped his eyes at you with a blank glare. "You know what? Let's go home."

"What? Nooo! Please no!" You whined like a little child, having your candy taken away. "Shinsooou, fine, I'll stay by your side for the rest of the time, happy?"

"Tch," he snarled, nearly having before he tugged you tighter by the arm. "You better keep your word."

You simply rolled your eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you better babysit me then."

"Alright then," he responded with a curled smirk underneath his mask, feeling the freedom to around joke with you. He turned his head towards you, eyes filled with squinted amusement before he parted his lips to speak, "...What does this bratty baby want today?"

You rolled your eyes once again, pouting before you smiled cheekily, going along with his little joke. "...This baby wants some new clothes."

"Hm, alright, let's get this baby some new clothes, shall we?"

"Yes, daddy," you joked tauntingly, with your tongue sticking out playfully.

"Oh, please no, don't call me that."

"Okay, daddy Shinsou."

"I said don't call me that," he spoke sternly with a furrowed glare.

"Sorry daddy!"

"I said—"

"Okaaay!" You cut him off, as you tugged him to drag him along somewhere.

"Tch." He rolled his eyes, averting his eyes to front, covering his own flushed demeanour. "...I need to go buy some cat food too, then we'll go to whatever store you like."

"Mmhn, sounds good." You nodded with a sweet hum, smiling widely.

—

Both of your hands stuck up against the glass window, displaying little kittens of three distinctive colours of ginger, white, and black. The circular light above illuminated the large glass display on their little baskets with blankets. Your eyes were filled with hearts and warmth watching two of the kittens lick their paws, while the black cat was playing with a little ball.

"Awe—!! They're so cuteee~!" You gushed excitedly, pouting your lips forward at their adorable antics.

"Tch, I'm pretty sure that my Princess is way more adorable," Shinsou corrected, while glancing over at the various kittens with a blank stare.

"Yeah, yeah, of course," you responded sarcastically, kept your eyes affixed onto the white one. "I wonder what their genders are."

"Two of them are female, while the white one is male."

"Huh?" You immediately turned to the left, found a female employee standing upright with a white uniform.

"Are you interested to purchase one?" She prodded with a gentle voice.

"U-Um, no," you replied quickly with a nervous smile. "I'm just looking around, but I'm wondering, how much do they cost?"

"They don't necessarily cost much, you can adopt them, but you just have to pay additional costs for their medical care," she replied assertively with a sweet smile. "But, there is a special draw this month to get them for free."

"WHAT? Really?" You asked excitedly, eyes glimmering at free things. "How do I enter the draw?"

"It's simple, you just have to take a picture with the three kittens over there at the love seat."

She pointed over towards the middle of the large store where there's a large wallpaper of coloured bubbles with a blue love seat, with a long queue of people taking pictures with other kittens from the other displays.

"It's that easy?!" You inquired with your jaw wide open, before your eyes lingered back towards the female employee. "I'll do it!"

"Alright, please line up, I'll get the kittens ready."

"Thanks!"

"...Seriously, [Last Name]? We don't need another kitten, my Princess is enough."

You huffed, averting your eyes over to those bored-looking violet ones, glowing majestically as always from the bright light above. You simply shrugged at his statement with your eyes fluttered shut in confidence.

"Well, who knows? I might win my own kitten, and he'll be my Prince," you spoke, matter-of-factly with a taunting smile.

"Tch." He crinkled his brows before looking to the side, arms being crossed. "There's a very low chance of winning especially with that many people in the draw."

"Oh well," you shrugged with a thin smile. "If not, then I'll just get one myself."

"But, I thought you said you were broke?"

You smiled cheekily, averting your eyes at him assertively. "I'll use the money I have available, but the repercussion is that I won't be eating for a month though."

"Tch," he scoffed, sounding more like a laugh, before he abruptly bumped your shoulder in a playful manner. "You dork."

—

"Alright, Miss, it's your turn!"

You nearly jumped in excitement when she called you out. Immediately, you tugged Shinsou along, while he remained glued on one spot, making his way to the side.

"What are you doing?" he snarled, quite bewildered at your intentions. "I'm not going."

"Yes, you are, Shinsou," you asserted, while tugging him closer. "You said to stay close by you, so I'm just simply helping you fulfil your little request."

"Tch," he rolled his eyes, before stepping back. "Just close enough for me to watch you, but not that close."

"Uh...Miss?" The employee called you out.

"Yes?" You immediately turned your head back and found that she was holding two kittens, with another employee who was holding the white one. "...Please sit soon, if you want your boyfriend in the photo, please tell him to move in soon, there are other people waiting."

"N-No, we're—

"Agh, come on!" You entreated, cutting him off in the process, before you wrapped your hand around his larger, colder ones, causing his eyes to narrow with brows curled in slight confusion.

You took advantage of his sudden silence and pulled him along with you, until you sat down and dragged him along with your hands locked with his own.

His violet eyes still remained blank, confusion slightly settled on his features, mask remained on his mouth as he looked over to your beautiful [e/c] eyes. You smiled gleefully when the assistant brought the two kittens over, immediately removing yourself from his hand to make a belly rub against the ginger kitten.

Soon enough, the assistant brought the white kitten and placed it atop of his lap. Shinsou tried to distract himself from you by forcefully stroking his fingers through the furry animal, until the cat screeched and scratched him in the process.

"Darn cat," he growled, grimacing at the scratch that showcased his exposed flesh with fresh blood pooling at the surface.

"Shinsou!"

You quickly removed the ivory-furred creature off his lap, while you watched the furry kitty circle around your lap and snuggled against you.

"...Tch, I don't get how every cat is drawn to you," He muttered, while the black cat was placed in the middle—in between you two.

You quickly took ahold of his right arm, across the other side, leaving him to glare at your sudden reaction, in silence. Your lips pursed upwards as you stared intently at the scratch. Immediately, you wiped off the blood from his arm, to your surprise, the scratch was already patched up with fresh skin, leaving you to stare at it motionless.

"...h-how—"

"Com'on, it's nothing, let's just take that darn picture and get outta here."

The purple-haired male swiftly removed his arm from you, playfully elbowed you before placing his arm behind you, against the blue seat—to recline himself to topple his head, therefore his hair slightly towards your direction.

You smiled softly before you replicate likewise—ambled your head to meet his own with a cute smile, while you held onto the two kitties on your lap.

The snapshot was taken, Shinsou immediately stood up with his hands shoved within his pockets before his violet eyes lingered down to meet your cheery own.

You locked your eyes with his violet own, gleaming in splendor, yet splattered with mystery questioning everything about him, rummaging within your peanut brain.

You reached out and pulled his arm down to make him sit, while he stifled a flinch at your sudden gesture—succumbing to your efforts of pulling him back to sit.

"What?"

You looked into his violet eyes without a reply, yet feeling your heart ever increasing in its drumming rhythm before you shyly looked down.

"Shinsou..." you began gently, before reaching up with the tip of your finger on his mask. "...will you remove your mask for me?"

"Ha?" He snarled, stifling back from the touch of your warm finger. "...that is not happening, especially with you this close...but why?

You looked up to him your own adorable orbs, looking like a kitten in his eyes. "...it's because..."