章 205: Calicodependence
Akane pushed the front door of her apartment shut, hanging her backpack on the inside half of the doorknob and rubbing her eyes. Seriously, next time I try to schedule a class at eight in the morning, somebody should just stab me and put me out of my misery. She hadn't even had time for breakfast, not that she'd have asked Ranko to cook. The poor thing still hadn't slept more than an hour or two at a time since finding out her mother was in town, and on the rare occasion that she had managed to sleep at all, she'd nearly always had nightmares.
Akane was starving after skipping breakfast, but the idea of a nap sounded far more appealing than food at the moment. She'd stayed up half the night with Ranko, and a sociology exam on short sleep was nobody's idea of a good time. After kicking off her shoes, she pushed the bedroom door open, flopping down onto her mattress with a groan. Hello, pillow. I have missed you.
She rolled onto her side, not even bothering to change out of the seafoam green dress she'd worn to class, but just as her eyes started to close, she noticed that the bedroom window was still open.
Dammit, Ranko, you need to be more careful about this if you're gonna practice in the morning. We could get robbed, not that we really have anything to steal. Ranko hadn't even come down yet when Akane left for class; Akane had been forced to yell her goodbyes up from the window as she left. Akane stood, grumbling as she closed the window. Turning back to the bed, she had one knee on the mattress before she noticed something laying on the opposite side of the mattress that shouldn't have been there.
Ranko's school uniform? But that can't be, she should be in second period by now. What the…
Akane looked back at the window she'd just closed. Oh, Ranko, baby. Please tell me you didn't skip school so you could break more pieces of wood.
She slid a pair of slippers on her feet, reopening the window and climbing out onto the fire escape. Ascending the twenty steps to the rooftop, Akane peered around the whirring air conditioners and drab green electrical junction boxes. "Ranko? Baby, you up here?"
She approached the far corner of the roof, but before she could reach it, something darted out at her legs. She started to jump back, but she felt something soft and furry rub across her ankle. Akane glanced down to find the orange alley cat she often saw hanging out by the dumpsters, weaving slowly between her legs with a gentle purr.
"Hey, little guy. We've talked about this, you know. You can't hang out up here, buddy. One of these days you're gonna catch my girl up here, and then you're gonna be really confused by your new playmate. Go on, go catch a mouse or something." She bent down, giving the cat a brief scratch behind its ear, and it darted off in the direction of the fire escape.
Akane turned the corner, quickly discovering that her prediction had already come to pass. Curled up on a wooden pallet in the center of a sunbeam, Ranko idly licked at the back of her left hand. She wore a black compression tank top and a pair of matching black shorts.
Oh, baby, what are we gonna do with you?
Akane shook her head, sighing with an amused smirk. "Alright, here, kitty, kitty…"
Ranko looked up at her contemplatively. "Mrao." After a moment, she resumed licking her hand, clearly uninterested in what the silly human had to say.
Akane closed the few steps, kneeling next to her lover on the wooden slats, speaking soothingly and softly. "Hey, pretty girl." She gently pulled a loose strand of Ranko's hair behind her ear, gently stroking the side of her head. Ranko purred quietly, leaning into her hand.
"Yeah, I love you, too."
Ranko craned her head around, gently licking at Akane's palm.
"I already had a bath today, but thank you. You're being such a good helper, aren't you?" Akane giggled. She felt terrible for laughing at what she was sure was a traumatic experience for her fiancee, but she had to admit, Ranko was absolutely adorable in this state, when she wasn't tearing somebody to shreds.
"What did that mean old tomcat do to you, baby?" Akane smiled, running her hand down the length of Ranko's back.
"Mraaawoow."
"Yeah?" Akane giggled. "And then what?"
"Mew. Mraow."
"That's not what he said. Are you sure?" Akane cocked her head at her love skeptically.
"Mraaaaoww!"
"Alright, if you say so."
Laughing, Akane offered her hand down to her lover. "Come on, wanna go back inside?"
Ranko eyed her hand, raising to her hands and knees. She crawled a half-step forward, headbutting her girlfriend's hand playfully.
"Yes, okay, okay, I'll pet you, silly girl. But come on, let's go inside where it's comfortable." She patted her thighs with her palms. "C'mere, you."
Ranko pounced from all fours at Akane's torso, and the larger girl caught her such that Ranko was seated on her right forearm, curled up and resting her cheek against Akane's chest. As Akane turned toward the fire escape, she could feel her lover's body vibrate slightly with the low rumble of a purr.
"I know, we just wanted to be carried, huh? I bet that gravel doesn't feel too good on your hands, does it?" Akane spoke in a cutesy voice, carrying her lover down the steps.
Akane pulled the window open with her left hand, bending down a little bit. "Okay, kitty, inside."
Ranko slid down her forearm onto her hands and knees on the bedroom floor, pouncing up onto the bed. "Mrraaaow."
Akane followed Ranko through the window, closing it behind her, and sat on the bed. As soon as her heels were up on the mattress, Ranko was curled up in her lap, purring gently.
I gotta admit, this is kind of fun. Part of me feels like I should just tackle her and hold her until she snaps out of this, but this is the most carefree I've seen her in almost two weeks, and the second she's back in her right mind, she'll be right back in all that misery. Maybe it's better if I don't rush it?
She looked around the room for something to stimulate them both, grinning as her eyes fell on the TV tray that served as Ranko's nightstand. She reached over, picking up the length of red satin ribbon Ranko had put her hair up in for school a few days before.
As weird as it is, maybe giving her mind a little time off is the best thing for her right now. I hope I'm doing the right thing for you, baby. I hope somewhere, deep down, this is fun for you.
"Hey, what's this?" Akane dangled the ribbon teasingly in front of her lover's face, and Ranko blinked as she saw it. She watched it as Akane bounced it a few times, before swinging her hand out with lightning-fast reflexes and snatching at it. She managed to almost close her fingers around it, but Akane pulled it back at the last possible moment. "Come on, get it!"
Ranko leapt forward with her wrists, enthusiastically pouncing on the end of the ribbon as Akane snaked it across the mattress. She pinned it, but Akane pulled it out from under her hands. "Uh-oh, you let it get away! Some hunter you are. Come on, you can do it…" Akane giggled, leading her lover in circles around the bed with the bit of ribbon.
Thatta girl. Just play. Let go. Relax. If you're purring, at least it lets me know you're happy.
As Akane got lost in her thoughts for a moment, Ranko caught the ribbon, pulling at it. Akane tossed the other end of it in the air, and it landed right across her lover's face between her eyes. Ranko plopped to her side, rolling over on her back and playing with the little satin strand.
"Oh, you did it! You slayed the vicious, sinister murder ribbon! Good girl!" Akane tittered loudly, watching as Ranko flailed in an attempt to manipulate the ribbon off her face without her fingers before finally shaking her head to throw it off.
Akane slid one of her legs under the duvet cover, moving her foot back and forth. Ranko rolled back onto her hands and knees, pouncing on the moving bulge in the blanket and taking hold of Akane's ankle through it.
"Oh, no! I've been captured by the ferocious wildcat! Whatever will I do?!" Akane giggled as Ranko laid down on her right side, resting her cheek on her prize and softly purring.
Akane reached down, ever so softly stroking Ranko's neck behind her ear. Her lover purred far more loudly, rubbing her cheek forcefully against Akane's thigh.
"Yeah, that feels good, doesn't it, baby? I know it does. You haven't been a kitty since you've had the Cat's Tongue, have you? Do we like that, sweet girl? I know, every spot is that spot now, isn't it?"
Beats the hell out of doing your English quiz, huh, baby?
Sitting up a bit more, Akane began slowly running the fingers of her other hand up and down Ranko's back through her tank top. Ranko rolled back onto her hands and knees, lowering her head by bending her elbows and arching her back up into Akane's hands, her head still cocked to the side to allow her girlfriend access to her neck as well.
"Oh, that's just like the best thing ever, isn't it? Does that just feel so good? Are we just the happiest little kitty in the whole wide world today?"
"Mraaaaaaaaaaaaooow."
"I know! Tell me all about it, baby girl. I love you, you know. You're such a pretty girl, aren't you? I can tell you all kinds of sweet things, and you can't deny them or push back on them right now, can you?" Akane moved her hand down, softly stroking under Ranko's chin and lifting her head up with her hand.
"You can't fight me when I tell you that you're the most beautiful girl who's ever lived. You're just the most perfect, wonderful thing the gods ever made, and I am so, so lucky I get to keep you for myself. Did you know that, precious? Do you know how sweet you are? How proud of you I am? How absolutely amazed I am by you every single day?"
Who knows, maybe it'll sink in more when she's like this.
Ranko's purr was nearly a roar, and she flailed back and forth between Akane's left and right hands, not sure which set of scratches to lean into and wiggling indecisively between them.
"Aww, we just don't know which end is up, do we?" Akane laughed, watching the love of her life squirm between her hands.
Surrendering to her sensory overload, the redhead flopped over on her side against Akane's leg, still purring loudly. As she did, Akane noticed another rumble, this one coming from Ranko's abdomen rather than her throat.
"What's the matter, kitten? Is somebody hungry?"
"Mrraaaaooowwwww."
"Yeah, me too. Let's go see what we can find in the kitchen." Akane slid down onto her feet. "C'mon, kitty!"
Ranko pounced down onto the floor on all fours, padding along after her.
Akane opened the pantry. "Let's see… here we go!" She pulled out a large silver foil bag.
Before Akane could turn from the pantry, she felt Ranko leaning her body weight into her. Purring softly, Ranko dragged the entire length of her torso slowly across Akane's knee.
"Aww, I know, sweetheart. I love you too." Akane reached down, running her hand tenderly through her partner's hair, down to her neck, and along the length of her spine. "C'mere, you…"
She sat in one of the wooden chairs at the dining table, tearing open the bag. Ranko dropped her backside to the ground, her hands and knees still on the floor.
Giggling, Akane pulled a strip of salmon jerky out of the bag, offering it down to her. "Look at you, waiting so pretty…"
Ranko snatched it in her teeth, laying down on the floor and tearing into it as Akane nibbled on a piece of her own.
By the time Akane finished chewing, Ranko had resumed her position, waiting for another strip of jerky. "Is that good stuff? Yeah, we're lucky we had some snacks in the cabinet, because I'm not sure even a kitty would eat something I cooked." Blushing, Akane happily handed another strip of jerky down to her with an exuberant laugh. "There you go, cutie."
After repeating this exercise a few more times, Akane grinned, tearing a piece just three centimeters long off of the end of one of the strips, resting it in her palm and lowering her hand. I wonder…
Ranko approached on all fours, lowering her head, and tentatively scooping the little square of dried fish off of Akane's hand with her tongue.
Akane giggled. "Hey, that tickles!"
Still, she offered Ranko another bite the same way. Akane blushed as her hand was tickled again with Ranko's nose and tongue. "Such a good girl, being so gentle…" Akane softly ran her right hand down the side of Ranko's scalp, stroking her lover's hair as she chewed.
The fourth piece offered in this manner was sniffed, but not taken, and Ranko headbutted Akane's hand instead.
"Are we full? Alrighty, then…" Akane popped the last piece in her mouth, resealing the bag and standing to return it to the pantry.
Akane walked to the bedroom, her fiancee plodding along on the floor behind her. "Let's see… anything else we can find to entertain a human kitty for a while?" Her eyes scanned the room for ideas, smirking devilishly as they fell on something Ranko had left on the top of their shared dresser after her show two nights ago.
Oh, I shouldn't. She blushed, smiling down at Ranko. But I'm gonna. This is what you get for not putting away your things, cutie.
She snatched up the small object, patting her hip. "Come on, baby." Akane led her girlfriend back out into the living room, sitting on the couch and patting the spot next to her. "Up?" Ranko pounced up onto the couch, plopping hard on the cushion and nuzzling her cheek against Akane's forearm with a quiet purr.
Akane rubbed her partner under her chin, and Ranko stretched her neck out to allow her better access. When she did, Akane reached around her, clipping the black lace choker Mei had given Ranko for her birthday around her neck. "There we go. So pretty." Akane giggled wildly, poking at the little silver heart that dangled from it with her finger. Ranko butted hard into Akane's hand with her head.
"You're welcome, princess. Just be glad I'm not getting out your bell earrings from Christmas."
Ranko curled up on the couch, resting her head and shoulder on Akane's lap, purring quietly.
"Oh, you just wanna snuggle for a while? Alright, we can do that." Akane picked up the remote control, clicking the television on, and running her hand idly down Ranko's back. The redhead purred louder, nuzzling into her leg forcefully.
"Oh, I know. Oh, my goodness. Does that feel just so good? Is that just the best thing in the whole wide world? That's it… Just relax, baby. Thatta girl."
~~~
Some fifteen minutes later, Ranko blinked hard in confusion. Where the… how did I get here? I'm supposed to be in school! I don't even remember coming in from the roof.
Her eyes fell on the television, which was showing a rerun of one of Akane's favorite movies. She felt a hand resting on her back, smiling warmly at the feel of it.
Huh? What happened? This feels… I feel better than I have all week. Like I got a really good sleep and a really good massage at the same time.
She turned her head gently on Akane's lap, looking up at her. I guess we fell asleep watching TV? But why don't I remember it? Was I really that exhausted?
As soon as she felt Ranko stir, Akane opened her eyes, blinking the sleep from them. "Oh, crap. I'm sorry, cutie, I didn't mean to nod off on you." Her hand started tracing a line up and down Ranko's back again. "Purring kitties can do that to you, can't they?" She giggled quietly.
Kitty? Purring? What? I was training, and the last thing I remember was that damn cat jumping out at my legs… did I… oh, shit. The freaking Cat Fist. Ranko blushed deeply into Akane's thigh as the possibilities of what could have transpired over the last few hours started pouring into her mind.
What could I have done while I was like this? What did she do with me all that time?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the increasingly euphoric sensation of Akane's fingers running up and down her back. Gods, what she's doing feels so good… I don't even remember the last time I felt this relaxed.
Akane reached over with her right hand, gently running it down Ranko's chin and neck. "Oh, don't you worry, kitten. I'm not gonna stop loving on you until you're ready to give me my human fiancee back."
Ranko bit her lip, smiling involuntarily as she basked in her hypersensitive skin's reaction to her fiancee's touch, willing herself as hard as she could to avoid shivering. There's only one thing to do.
She lifted her head off of Akane's lap, making eye contact with her.
"What is it, princess?" Akane smiled lovingly down at her beloved, both of her hands still exploring her ever-sensitive skin.
"Meow?"
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