Disclaimer: I do not own xxxHolic..

.

.

Catnip

By letmeupme

.

.

..

.

.

Once upon a time, in the outskirts of Heian City, there was a bedraggled piece of fur shivering by itself in the cold.

The ball of fur was, in fact, a tiny kitten.

It was a pitiful little thing: all bones and skin.

Its slanted golden eyes shone in the heavy rain.

There had once been a warm bed, with brothers and sisters, and a mother who had lovingly licked him clean from head to bottom.

One day, all had changed, and the world had become the harsh, unforgiving place the kitten now knew it to be.

And so the kitten stayed calm, waiting out the stinging rain, for it also knew that there was nowhere else to go.

And it was on such a day, full of rain and wind, that something caught the kitten's eye.

The kitten blinked.

Standing on wobbly paws, it began its long, agonizing journey across the road.

It was a dangerous journey, punctuated by lightning in the sky and horse shoes stomping in the mud.

There was a reason why the kitten was determined to make it to the other side of the road, however.

For you see, like calls to like, and there was another shivering bundle of fur- no, straw, across the street.

And upon sight, the kitten had just known that it had found a kindred soul; a brother with which it could perhaps share food, or play with.

.

"Hello, there."

Apparently, the human with straw fur was of the same opinion.

Why else would it smile at him with chattering teeth, or lift its fur to share its warmth?

"Miao."

The human might or might not have heard him over the rain, but the kitten was content.

Snuggling into the warmth, the kitten slept soundly for the first time in its short life.

.

Grey thunderclouds had given way to glaring sunlight, and the muddy streets had reverted to their usual dusty state.

Pawing the straw fur of its newly found 'sibling,' the kitten poked its head out from under its shelter.

Looking up, it met the eyes of the human.

It looked to be almost as young as itself, and just as hungry.

Its cheeks were gaunt and its black fur was infested with lice, but its expression was soft and its voice pleasant.

"You hungry?"

The kitten did not know what the human meant.

So it stared at the human, cocking its head.

The human chuckled, and cradling the kitten in its hands, stood up.

"Well, then, let's go find some lunch, eh? The oden shop by the corner always keeps some really good slop for me."

.

.

..

.

.

..

.

.

..

.

.

Author's Note:
The following is intended as an omake, an alternative ending for this chapter.
If you dislike unhappy endings, this is the place to stop for today.

.

.

..

.

.

Sundowns blended into mooncycles and then seasons.

Life was not easy for the kitten and the child, but the duo had grown a steadfast friendship.

The kitten grew steadier on its tiny paws, and the child seemed to find it easier to smile.

Foraging for food, running from irate merchants and frightening armed men, they were busy. Days could pass by with the two of them not meeting.

During the quiet days, however, the days that were full of drowsy sunlight and gentle, cooling rain, the two would find each other over and over, as easily as birds take to the skies.

.

And it was on just such a day, another day, that the kitten found the child to be unmoving.

It knew not why- for why would a kitten understand that living on the street was a very different thing for a growing human child and a kitten?

But after a few days waiting for the human to return to its usual state, the kitten- which seemed not so tiny, now- stood on its four paws, and silently padded away.

For while it still did not understand the phenomenon that had taken its playmate away, it did know that the warmth it had come to like in the human was gone, and so were the welcoming smiles and the soft spoken voice.

.

.

..

.

.

..

.

.

..

.

.

Author's notes:
Just in case you're interested, 'Doumeki' here is actually a very young cat who just happened to have the bad luck to be born with a long tail and white fur.
I intentionally excluded all mention of this in this chapter, but if you like cats and if you like folklore…

In the old days (especially in the Edo period, which I admit does come quite a bit later than the Heian era) it was believed that cats with long tails could become Bakeneko / Nekomata (the superstition concerning white fur is more of a Chinese thing).
As such, cats with long tails often lost their tails to fearful townsfolk, and white cats in China were sometimes killed upon sight. Doumeki quite probably was born in a human household, and his owners feared him becoming a bakeneko, but weren't hard-hearted enough to kill him, and so threw him out.

Glossary:
Bakeneko, or Nekomata – Something akin to werecats in Japanese folklore. Size, age, tail length and manner of death are all considered to be factors in how cats come to be bakeneko.