Sorry for the short last chapter Jade Rojo :P I promise this one won't be as short :P

So here is the next one - Sports Days and then Labour Day, so was not at school for a while (My preferred use of internet and computer, rather than typing on an iPhone)

Tetsuhiro smiled softly at the clearly upset Tatsumi Neko. His thin frame shaking slightly from the held back anger and fear. He should have expected that Souichi was not feeling his best, particularly since it seemed that Isogai-san seemed to have a very strange sense of humor.

The poor neko was dressed in normal slacks and long sleeved shirt, but over his clothes he was wearing a bright pink frilly apron with floral designs. On his throat a soft pink collar with small gems designed in little flowers was fastened, and in his long blonde hair, which was loose, were little flowers, bows and ribbons. All of this along with the flushed face, and his twitching ears and flicking tail, made Souichi seem so very cute in Tetsuhiro's opinion. An opinion he was going to keep to himself for the time being. He knew that if he made any comment about the neko's appearance, Souichi would either lose confidence or become extremely violent to hide his embarrassment; and knowing the Tatsumi neko's personality, it would most likely be the latter.

"Sempai?" He called out softly again, hoping to gain the stressed neko's attention, "Isogai-san has agreed to sell you to me," At the immediate growl and furious glare, Tetsuhiro softened his features the best he could, "That means you can go back to the university and continue your research, neh? I've been looking after the cultures for you while you were gone."

Souichi stared at him suspiciously, well it was expected, as sempai was a very suspicious neko and he already knew of Tetsuhiro's declaration of love. Even though he had chosen to ignore and still accepted his presence.

"You sure there is no other ulterior motives, Morinaga?" Souichi growled, his whole posture becoming aggressive, "Are you sure this is not a means to an end? An end by which I end you?"

Tetsuhiro burst into a laugh, he'd been caught, but he'd never admit it, "No, I'd never! There are not motives! Just think of it as me taking you out of an annoying situation."

Still the neko glared at him, but there was some relief evident in those soft eyes. He could see that Souichi obviously didn't like being with Isogai, and learned that Isogai had only purchased the aggressive neko in pity and to keep Tomoe from falling into a deep state depression. From the sounds of it, if Tetsuhiro had been any later than he already was, his beloved sempai would have been either destroyed or sold to an illegal underground ring.

Tetsuhiro had heard of these underground rings where nekos in heat were put together for performances, and bets were taken on who would mount whom, and if the seme nekos would fight over the uke nekos who were secreting the mating pheromones which were irresistible to seme nekos. Most ukes came out traumatized, and many semes became psychologically imbalanced and aggressive. In his spare time, Tetsuhiro helped out in volunteer work in raising awareness of the illegal performances and matches, and putting a stop to them.

Realizing that his neko could have ended up in such a place, chilled Tetsuhiro to the bone. He couldn't bare to think about it.

"Come on, stop glaring at me, and lets get that stuff out of your hair." Tetsuhiro decided to change his mood, deciding that he'd rather tease the neko than think of such scary thoughts of what might have been. At least he got the sight of seeing sempai in a state of total cuteness.

Souichi froze, and then seemed to remember his attire and the girlish accessories in his long mane. Pulling at them furiously, he allowed Tetsuhiro to help him remove the tough ones that wouldn't comb straight out. He removed the pink apron and tossed it away, but stopped and fingered the pink collar.

Knowing how nekos never took off their collar, Tetsuhiro sighed, "I'll buy you a new one later, but for now can you deal with it?"

He watched Souichi scowl and nod slowly, "Not a gaudy one either, I won't wear a stupid looking collar again."

Grinning, Tetsuhiro placed his hand on Souichi's head, "I promise," and he quickly dodged the claws that came at him for his presumptuousness, "Sorry, sempai, but you are my neko now..." he teased in good nature as another dodged swipe came at him.

"Ahh, I see you both are having fun," Isogai's voice floated from the doorway, where he held a matching pink leash and a manila envelope which contained all of the Tatsumi neko's registration documents, medical check ups, and other important documents, "Can I join in?"

The scowl on Souichi's face quickly morphed into demonic glare accompanied with a hiss and a deep chested growl. The tension which had been slowing ebbing from the neko's taunt body returned with full gusto as Souichi became aggressively defensive. His ears flatted against his head, his his twitching tail started to vibrate and flick side to side angrily.

Not liking the abrupt change in his neko, Tetsuhiro stood between them. During the playful teasing of his neko, Souichi had stood from the bed and his height barely reached Tetsuhiro's chin. Placing a placating hand on sempai's shoulder. Testuhiro tried to send soothing thoughts and feelings to the clearly enraged neko.

"Isogai-san, what exactly have you been doing with sempai?"

Isogai smirked, and took the dangling cancer stick from his lips, his eyes twinkling, "Oh nothing much, just house work and general entertainment."

Tetsuhiro frowned, when Souichi growled, from what he'd gathered earlier from Isogai and his companion at the bar, both men had not used the neko in any sexual way, Kurokawa obviously being terrified of Souichi despite owning the younger Tatsumi brother.

"General entertainment? What do you mean by that?"

Just as Isogai was about to answer, Souichi growled, "He didn't do anything!"

Both Isogai and Tetsuhiro stared at the neko, his face was flushed, and he had his head turned away, his lean frame trembling ever so slightly. The growled from the neko made Tetsuhiro immediately suspicious of the older gentleman, has he glared at Isogai, who just smiled widely, obviously enjoying some private joke with himself. That did nothing for Tetsuhiro's possessive streak that rarely ever raised its ugly head up. Acting possessive around Souichi, he knew was a big mistake and could lead to him being attacked.

Deciding to ignore the other man, and to not think of what had happened between the neko and now former master, Tetsuhiro guided Souichi from the bedroom as Isogai handed over the documents and the matching bright pink leash.

A quick exchange of contact information, and soon Tetsuhiro was heading home with his beloved neko, who seemed to be still slightly confused at the change in circumstances, otherwise Tetsuhiro would have felt those sharp claws dig into the skin of his arms as he had clipped the leash onto the neko. It was unnecessary, but laws stated that any neko who was unmated or of certain breeds had to be leashed after 9pm, or they could be deemed as strays.

xxx Thank you for reading xxx

XXX Next chapter will be worth the wait XXX