Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ If This Cat Could Talk... ❯ Wakeup Call ( Chapter 3 )

If This Cat Could Talk…

By: Ellipsis the Great

DISCLAIMER: Kingdom Hearts and everything affiliated with it belongs to SquareEnix and Disney. All I own is the plot…

Summary: Axel's therapist suggests that he get a cat to help him get over an accident involving his little brother's best friend. It doesn't take him long to realize that strange things are afoot, however…

Rated: T just in case. May change later on.

Spoilers: None that I know of…

Warnings: Definite yaoi on the horizon, a little angst (obviously), and I suppose I should point out that this is AU…

 

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CHAPTER FOUR: Wakeup Call

 

I didn't wake up suddenly the next day like you would think after such a weird dream. Instead, I started out in that strange state of mind where everything is dark, and while you're vaguely aware that you aren't asleep, you haven't quite realized that you're awake just yet.

Unfortunately, I wasn't to stay in that halfway state for long.

“You damned cat, I just want to wake him up!” My dad's [superbly pissed] voice said.

There was a distinct hiss from my chest area, and I jerked awake as Cricket's claws dug into my skin.

“Holy fuck!” I cursed as Cricket vaulted off of me with a parting hiss and took refuge under my bed. “The hell, Pops?”

“You slept through your alarm, dumb ass! It's noon already!” He snapped back at me. “And when I came to try and wake you up, that…that demon cat started hissing at me!”

“Leave Cricket alone, old man.” I said, immediately on the defensive. “It's his first night…er, day here, remember? Jesus…wait, I slept through my alarm?”

“Yeah. I didn't realize it until Riku started bitching about being late to class.”

Riku took classes at Destiny University. DU was in Hollow Bastion, which was the biggest city near Twilight Town—a good half an hour away, but that's what he got for wanting a good education. He was getting a degree in medicine, and wanted to specialize in brain damage…three guesses as to why that is, and the first two don't count. It was my job in the mornings to wake him up before I left for work—no alarm clock woke him up as well as I did, and I also didn't break as easily when he tried to (or actually did) punch me.

“Ah, shit—why didn't he wake me up?” I said, practically leaping out of bed and rummaging through my things for some decent clothes to wear.

“He said that monster of yours attacked him.” Pops said, jerking a thumb at my bed to indicate Cricket. “And I already took him, so calm down.”

“I have work!” I said. I worked at a garage with an old friend of the family's. “Cid will kill—”

“I called you in sick.” He cut me off, watching apathetically as I froze halfway through pulling on a pair of not-disgustingly-dirty pants.

“I'm not sick.” I said, stopping my mad scramble for clothes and plopping back down on my bed.

“You haven't slept that deep since Sora got put in the hospital.” He said rather somberly, a strange expression on his face. “Usually I hear you raiding the kitchen halfway through the night because you've had a nightmare. I didn't…I didn't want to ruin that, yo.”

It was one of his rare moments of total fatherhood, as opposed to his usual grouchy, buddy-buddy…ness. He looked kind of embarrassed about it, too.

He cleared his throat awkwardly. “But it's twelve now, like I said, so I got kind of worried. You sure you're not sick?”

“I'm fine.” Actually, I felt more rested and at ease than I had in years, cliché as that sounds.

“Okay.” He said dubiously. “Well, Rufus is here, and he brought Smoosh-Cat to celebrate you getting that little freak.”

“That's not funny.” I said, giving him an un-amused look. “And quit talking about my cat like that, Pops.”

“Don't call me Pops, yo.” He retorted as he left.

“Yeah, yeah.” I muttered, shoving the pants off and taking a more leisurely pace for gathering up some actually, totally clean clothes from my closet and dresser. I stripped off my boxers and pulled a new pair on, quickly followed by a tight black shirt and a pair of slightly baggy old jeans with holes in both knees and a trail of torn up jean hanging from the bottoms. I yawned and stretched, laying down on my floor and peering under the bed. “Cricket?”

I spotted him on the farthest side from me and sighed. “Cricket, come here, you stupid cat. Come on, Cricket.” I said as gently as I could manage. His tail twitched, but otherwise he didn't move, and after calling to him for a few more moments my mind reminded me of my dream.

“By the way, Axel…my name is Roxas.”

“Roxas?” I said hesitantly, not quite wanting to think about the fact that I was actually paying attention to something that had happened in a dream.

This time, I got an immediate reaction. The cat—Cricket? Roxas?—turned around toward me, his movements a little too fast to be inconspicuous but not fast enough to be overly suspicious.

I smirked. “Come here, Roxas.” I coaxed. “C'mon.”

As if he hadn't just been ignoring me, the tiny kitten pranced over to where I was, licking my nose as I picked him up. I couldn't help but laugh, setting him on my shoulder as I straightened and headed for the dining room.

Sitting at the table, as prim and proper as ever, was my old man's `friend,' Rufus Shinra. Before Mom passed away, he had been my dad's boss—he was president of Shinra Electric, and my dad was his bodyguard. After Mom passed away, he had put my dad on extended leave and kept in close touch. They—along with my dad's partner, Rude—had become pretty close friends, and I'm pretty sure he was one of the deciding factors behind my dad's not losing himself to alcohol. Riku and I had just begun to suspect that they were teetering on the edge of being more than just friends and employee/employer. And, in spite of his far-too-gelled and slicked back blonde hair, I must admit he's not a bad guy for Pops to hook up with. We got along okay, and he'd donated some money to help Sora out, too (Sora's dad worked for him), which immediately won Riku over.

Not that you'd ever hear that from my dear younger brother.

“Would you like some Smoosh-Cat?” Rufus asked politely (only he could actually sound polite when offering someone `Smoosh-Cat'), waving a hand at the partially eaten pan of chip dip sitting on the table.

“That's really not funny.” I grumbled, grabbing a handful of tortilla chips and dipping one in the dip, eating it with a rather vindictive crunch. Roxas meowed at me, swiping softly at my mouth. “'S not really cat, Cricket.” I assured him, ruffling his fur and somehow not at all phased by the fact that I had apparently decided subconsciously not to call him `Roxas' around anyone else. “It's chip dip. Rufus is just a sick freak.”

Pops rapped me on the head with a spoon. “Watch it. And don't fill up on chips; eat real food, yo.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I muttered, handing the last broken chip, appropriately dipped, to the cat on my shoulder and heading for the cabinets so as to make a sandwich.

“You probably shouldn't give him human food.” Rufus said with a grimace as Roxas munched on his chip happily.

“He's not gonna die from one chip.” I said even as I handed Roxas a smidgen of the turkey.

“If you spoil that cat…” Pops began, giving me a no-nonsense look.

“Fine, fine.” I looked at my kitten. “You can blame those two when you don't get anymore num-nums, Cricket.”

“Num-nums?” Rufus repeated slowly, blinking, then jumped when Roxas arched up and hissed at him. “Did that cat just—?”

“Yes. It's a demon cat, I tell you.” Pops said.

“Cricket is not a demon cat.” I insisted, pouring myself a glass of milk and taking a swig from the jug before setting it back in the fridge. Roxas mewled piteously at me, swaying precariously as I slunk into a chair.

“Sure.”

“Whatever. Oi, cat!” I exclaimed as Roxas tumbled off of my arm, having been toddling down for a closer inspection of my food (especially the milk). “Be careful!”

“Idiot cat.” Pops muttered.

“Shut up.” I said, standing again and grabbing a small bowl from the cupboard. I poured some milk in it and set it down. “There, Cricket. And don't go after my food again, you hear me?”

Roxas just meowed happily, all but diving into the bowl to get after the milk.

I sat back down, picking up my sandwich and taking a huge bite out of it.

Rufus smiled a little, obviously recognizing that I had inherited my old man's eating habits, and stood, giving Pops a significant look.

“We'd better go.” Pops said, grabbing his Electro-Mag Rod—this weird-ass weapon of his that was basically a glorified and modified stun gun…although he would probably rip you a new one if you told him that. By the way, Rufus had reinstated him as a bodyguard a while back, and had hired him as a friend, not as a CEO for Shinra, so he wasn't on the company payroll. I guess maybe that was Rufus's way of sidestepping the employer/employee taboo.

“See you.” I waved. I'd learned early on not to ask where they went; it was all top secret crap, for whatever reason. “Have fun and whatnot.”

Pops ruffled my hair, a habit of his that dated back to before Mom had died. “Take care, kiddo. No getting into trouble, yo.”

“I won't.” I said. “Thanks for the Smoosh-Cat, Rufus.”

“My pleasure.” Rufus said with a smile and a nod of his head, and twitched a little when Roxas looked up at him and meowed. “That cat…”

“Probably best to just leave it alone, yo.” Pops said, grabbing Rufus' shoulder and steering him toward the door. “Bye, Axel. Bye demon cat.”

“He's not a demon cat!” I yelled, but was ignored as the door slammed shut behind them. I sighed and stood, throwing away the paper towel my sandwich had been on and digging some plastic wrap out of a drawer to put over the Smoosh-Cat.

“At least, I don't think he's a demon cat.” I said as I ripped off a sheet of the wrap and turned toward the table. “Ah! Roxas!”

The aforementioned kitten looked up at me with wide, innocent eyes from the pan of Smoosh-Cat, bits of the dip stuck to his chin and whiskers.

“Damn, cat, you could've just told me you were hungry!” I said, grabbing him and setting him on the floor. I pulled the bag of cat food out of the cabinet and poured it into the bowl that had previously been holding the milk. “There you go, buddy.”

I patted his head and stood, looking at the kitchen and rolling my eyes. I gathered up all of the dishes my old man and brother had left out and began washing them, throwing out what was left of the Smoosh-Cat (no longer enough to attempt to save—that cat ate fast) and washing it as well. By this point Roxas had finished, so I put his bowl in the dishwasher and picked him up, letting him snuggle in his customary perch on my shoulder.

“So now what?” I wondered aloud. Our cable was out (we'd just changed companies and it was freaking on us), Riku had left our memory card at Demyx's (there would be death, I swore; I was nearly done with my new game!), and I really didn't feel like watching a movie.

“I guess I could go hit up Dem for that card.” I mused, already knowing that I wouldn't. Demyx wouldn't be home anyhow—he went to Twilight Community College, so he would be at class.

I checked a clock—it was already half-past one, somehow, which meant that normally I wouldn't be getting off of work for another two and a half hours.

“I could go into work and make up the hours.” I wrinkled my nose. Cid would kill me and my dad for that, probably, and if I went in I would more than likely get roped into closing. Cid knew I hated to close, and usually he understood why, but his temper might make him forget that I had to get to the hospital before visiting hours were over, even if it was just for a few minutes.

That thought, of course, gave me an epiphany.

“You're supposed to help me, right?” I asked the kitten on my shoulder, who was suckling on my shirt again.

The only way to help me, I figured, would be to help Sora.

 

~*~ENDCHAPTERFOUR~*~