Sho VS Shouyu
Title: Sho VS Shouyu
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff, Humor
Pairing: Sho, Aiba
Summary: Aiba found a stray black cat skulking around his apartment. And Aiba, bring Aiba, brings it home. It was just a case of bad luck that the feline didn't quite like Sho.
Sho VS Shouyu
“Aiba-chan,” Sho called out as he shuffled into his co-member’s apartment. He heard an almost imperceptible reply from the kitchen going, “I’m in here!” Sakurai smiled to himself before prodding over to the place. “Yo,” he greeted his friend when he saw him. “Brought those DVDs you borrowed me the other day.”
“Sho-kun, hi!” Aiba flashed a grin at his co-member as he continued stirring his food on the stove. “Oh the DVDs. Just… dump those somewhere,” he said carelessly with a wave of his hand. Sho placed the DVDs on the nearest flat surface before walking over towards Aiba.
“Whatcha cooking?” Sho peered over Aiba’s shoulder. The bubbling pot emanated a delicious aroma throughout the kitchen. It smelled somewhat like creamed chicken with a tinge of spice in it-probably Aiba’s improvisation to the usual. Before the taller of the two had a chance to tell him, Sho had reached forward for the ladle. “Give me some,” he said.
Aiba slapped his hand away. “Sho-chan! Don’t use the ladle!” Sakurai was left standing near the stove, rubbing his hand, pouting like a petulant child as Masaki scrambled over for a spoon. “A spoon, Sho-kun,” Aiba admonished, though with a slight twinkle of amusement in his eyes. He scooped some of the soup and held it up as Sho sipped it.
“Umai~” he said.
Aiba laughed. “You sound like Riida,” he announced.
To which Sho replied with a charming grin.
A low growl was heard from the entrance of the kitchen.
Both of them turned towards the sound.
A sleek black cat stood elegantly at the entrance, her green eyes narrowed as she leered his gaze on Sakurai. Aiba let out an excited squeal before turning off the stove and scooped the cat in his arms.
The feline purred loudly, sounding much like a small rumbling tractor as she nuzzled her head in Aiba’s neck. He giggled as he sat next to Sho at the dining table. Sho unconsciously backed away slightly. He liked animals -well, most animals anyway-but somehow, he could feel that this cat had a certain dislike towards him.
“I didn’t know you had a cat, Aiba-chan,” Sho said.
The lanky idol looked up from the cat, a grin plastered on his face. “Found her a week ago, skulking in front of the apartment. So, I took her in.” It was so much like Aiba to take in stray animals into his home, Sho thought. He would’ve continued his thoughts, but was cut short when Aiba brought the feline closer to him.
Sho had to hold back his surprised yell when Aiba told, “Pat it.” Sho was uncertain about that, really he was. He held back a bit and hoped Aiba could see his hesitancy. “Shouyu likes it when you scratch behind her ears,” Aiba continued.
“Um…”
Clearly, he did not see the tentativeness in his eyes nor hear the uncertainty in his voice.
Sho blinked back at the unblinking cat. Shouyu -that’s her name- was glaring at him, he knew it; the cat’s eyes were narrowed and something dark and menacing flashed behind the emerald orbs. There was a low grumbling sound coming from the back of her throat. A warning.
“Maybe later, Aiba-chan.”
Aiba shrugged and, much to the newscaster’s relief, he placed the cat on the floor. NOT to the newscaster’s relief, Shouyu stayed, her eyes still locked on to him.
“So!” Aiba exclaimed, standing up. “Wanna stay over for lunch, Sho-kun?”
The cat’s attention was back to her owner. Sho almost released a sigh of relief.
“Yeah,” Sho agreed. “Why not.”
******
“Ah~” Aiba stretched his lanky body on the sofa after lunch. “Mm… it’s so nice to sleep after lunch.” He curled himself to the corner of the settee and laid his head on the armrest.
“Sleep if you want, Masaki.” Sho sat himself on the other end of the couch, grabbing the newspaper on the coffee table. (Aiba only bought the daily newspaper for the comics.)
“Sho-chan~” Aiba’s lazy voice drifted in the room. Tiredly he held his arms up. “Come here~ I want a hug…”
Sho’s head snapped up and looked to Aiba with a slightly perplexed expression on his face. “What?”
Aiba laughed and kicked him lightly. “Not you, Sho. Shouyu-chan.”
“Then call him Shouyu. Sho is me, you know.”
At that exact moment, the cat gracefully plodded into the living room and jumped on Aiba’s chest, purring pleasingly. For a moment, Sho thought she gave him a glance, but he ignored it and continued reading the sports section.
*******
Sho glanced at the ticking clock. 3.30pm. Unnoticed, two hours had passed since he came. He folded the newspaper and placed it back on the coffee table before glancing at his co-member.
Aiba was asleep. His right foot dangled over the sofa and his arms were carelessly placed around Shouyu. The feline was also fast asleep with her tail curled neatly around her lithe body. It was purring softly with a tone of contentment.
For a brief moment, Sho thought the cat looked somewhat cute.
He reached over to pat Shouyu.
The newscaster pulled his hand back before it could touch the midnight-black feline. He hesitated. He saw how the cat looked, or more specifically glared, at him. He was sure that the cat was protective of Aiba. Very protective.
Nope. He wasn’t going to do it.
Instead, he patted Aiba’s cheeks.
“Aiba-chan, oi, Aiba-chan,” he whispered, trying not to wake Shouyu. He read that cats don’t sleep 100% deeply, keeping aware of any dangers even as it slept. He also read somewhere that cats tend to get violent on their territory-in this case Aiba-chan.
And Sakurai Sho did not want to get on the bad side of that kitty.
“Aiba, I’m going now.”
He muttered something indecipherable.
Sho frowned. He wasn’t going to leave unless Aiba was absolutely sure that he was departing. The last time he left without telling, about two hours later, Aiba called him, frantically asking where he was, was he okay, why did he just disappeared like that etc etc. Trust him to magnify a typical small situation into a full blown panic-inducing predicament.
Sho vowed to himself that he won’t just ‘just disappear like that’ anymore.
A low meow was heard. Shouyu was awake. She was leering up at him, tail flicking, teeth baring. That’s it. He knew that look. It meant: Stay. Away.
The rapper held his hands up as a I-come-in-peace gesture. He held back and leaned back to the armrest. That cat scared the heck out of him for some reason.
Shouyu stood up on all fours and jumped lithely on Sho’s lap. He cried out a small squeal of surprise, but Shouyu didn’t progress with anything. She was staring blankly at the idol with those emerald orbs. A shiver ran through his spine.
Something bad is going to happen.
Shouyu jumped to his shoulder and crept closer to face. Sho said nothing, merely backing away. The cat meowed, a lengthy low meow. A black paw was raised…
SWIPE!
“Argh!!” Sho covered his face with a hand and tried to strike the attacking cat with the other. Shouyu jumped over the incoming hand as Sho fell on the floor with an ungraceful thud. Shouyu was still clawing, hissing madly at him.
Aiba awoke. He saw his friend and his cat tussling frantically on the floor. And from the looks of it, Shouyu was winning. Sho was yelling as loud as he can for all he’s worth, his arms and legs akimbo. Shouyu was clawing, hissing with pure vehemence.
“Sho-kun!” Aiba jumped from the sofa and quite literally pulled Shouyu from Sho’s hair.
The cat’s paws were still clawing air as Sho collapsed on the floor, breathless.
************
“This will sting a bit,” Aiba warned. “Stay still, Sho-kun.”
Both of them were on the floor, a first aid kit open next to Aiba. There were scratch marks on his arms and collarbone, but the most apparent ones were three long red lines across Sho’s left cheek to the bridge of his nose.
He was sniffling.
Aiba held on gently to Sho’s shoulder as he brought the antiseptic-dipped cotton ball nearer to his wound. On reflex, Sho grabbed hold of his arm. At a corner of the room Shouyu’s eyes narrowed.
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait!” Sho cried out, pushing the offending arm away. Aiba waited… for five seconds. He brought the cotton ball closer towards him again. “Aiba-chan! Wait!”
Aiba could do nothing but smile. Always the scaredy-cat. Ironic really, because now cats were in his list. Sho sniffled again.
“Your cat hates me- OW!!” Aiba dabbed the cotton ball to his wound as Sho spoke. He held tighter to his shoulder as he dabbed it again. “Ow! Ow! OW! I told you to wait!”
“There, Sho-kun. Done.” Aiba plastered a band-aid across his face.
“MatsuJun will tease me tomorrow…” he whined, as he ran his finger across the band-aid on his face. “Or as bad as things get, he’ll thank me for letting him shine as the sexy one in Arashi.”
Aiba patted his shoulder, a grin on his lips.
Shouyu growled.
The rapper glanced at the cat. He was absolutely positive that the cat was extremely protective of her owner. Despite himself, Sho smirked. He poked his friend on the arm, keeping his eyes on Shouyu.
“Let’s tease Shouyu,” Sho whispered, leaning closer to Aiba. Completely understanding, Aiba grinned in agreement. Sho slipped his arms around his waist and laid his head on the idol’s shoulder.
“Ne, Masaki-chan?” he affectionately called out.
The cat hissed.
Aiba could do so much as to control his laughter. He glanced at Shouyu before looking at his friend. The cat had stood up, but didn’t progress with anything. “Mm? Sho-kun?”
His lips were trembling with held-back laughter. “Masaki-chan, I love you~” he said in a much-too-sweet tone. It was so filled with fakeness, but it seemed to add to the cat’s annoyance. Without both of them knowing, her claws were bared, and her tail was threateningly stiff.
Sho had just managed to place a chaste kiss on Aiba’s cheek before-
“Argh! Ow! OW! OWW!”
Later that day, Sho had another band-aid covering the wound on his forehead.
Lesson learnt: NEVER, EVER provoke a possessive cat.
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