The Inventor's Neko

[CrystalTears]

Before Itsuki could say anything she had already left, and he only sighed. "Suppose I'll let her do it alone..." he muttered as he walked up to his office and grabbed the tray from his meeting. It was an excuse to walk into the kitchen and a small excuse to see how Korina was doing. "Here's the tray from earlier," Itsuki said as he began cleaning the cups they had used to drink tea. The smell in the kitchen was quite good as he looked over to see her make some steak. He smiled as it was good to see her doing something she liked, and later she would begin learning how to read. At the very least he had lots of time to spend with her, hopefully cheering her up. The soap occasionally stung his cut from yesterday and flinched a bit once it hurt too much, but tried to keep Korina from seeing him flinch.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina looked at him at the sink, she sighed and turned the stove down so she wouldn't burn anything "I can wash it later, I-it's ok.. Really" she nodded noticing him wince as the soap and water got into his bandages. Her hand went up and down her arm "I-it's fine, you go and relax..." Now she looked up at him "I'll tell you when dinner is ready" biting her lip she gently took the sponge from him only because she knew he wouldn't give it to her without insisting he do it for her. "It'll be ready soon..." She added looking back down and at the contents in the sink

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki smiled as the sponge was taken away from him and let out a small sigh. "If you insists... I am in the living room if you need anything. Just don't overwork yourself okay? It's okay to be tired," he said and patted her head gently as he walked upstairs ans brought his prototype along with some tools as he began fixing it once more, trying not to worry about Korina as she became more distant aftet the meeting he had. Maybe it really frightened her... he sighed again as he continued.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina sighed as he left and turned the sink off, she would wash the dishes later when he was done with his meal. When his meal was finished about a half hour later she plated it and went to go set his place, just his place and poured him a glass of red wine as well. With a small smile she wiped her hands, though it really was driven by fear, things... Felt normal this way, as they should be. Sure she would like her kind to be treated so much better, things would be like this for a while as it's always has been, she accepted it. There wasn't anything she could do about it so accepting it was all that could be done. She walked into the living room and bowed "dinner is ready" she said quietly

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki was completely in another world as Korina entered and sighed. "Do I need to make a rule for you to act more casual? You don't need to be so formal," Itsuki said to her as he placed his device down on the table and smiled as he was close to fixing it. "This is a holographic phone. It shows small images of the people calling and yourself," Itsuki said as he smiled and patted her head before he walked into the kitchen. The table was only set for one person and he felt confused right away. "Are you not going to eat?" Itsuki asked as he began looking for a plate for her to sit too. "I already told you that pastries aren't food..." Itsuki said as he placed the plate on the table.

 

[Mari_Rose]

"I will eat" Korina replied as she followed him into the dinning room "there are still left overs from last night, and I only made one steak" she watched as he put a plate down and looked down "besides there are no more pastries, you and your guest finished them." With another nod she bowed "please enjoy, if you need me I'll be in my room" giving him a small smile to say she was fine with all of this, hoping he didn't worry. Before she went to her room she quickly heated up some left over fish and poured herself a glass of milk. She ate in the windowsill leaving the bed perfectly made for use in case a guest wanted to stay for he night. That was her logic and that's what she would leave it at. Though she didn't hear any news about the investment she still didn't want to almost ruin another one.

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki was filled with worry as Korina was almost avoiding him at this point. It wasnt as if he wanted to pressure her to be with Itsuki either, but she seemed so different. Maybe the sight of the girl imprinted to Korina, maybe she was scared of him now? As Korina smiled to him he sighed and let it slide, as he ate his meal alone enjoying the steak and the red wine. Once he finished it, he secretly did the dishes, as they were left in the sink, still occasionally flinching and neatly placed them to their rightful place as he walked Korina's room knocking first. "You ready to read?" He asked a smile planted on his face.

 

[Mari_Rose]

As Korina was changing into some pjs to get ready to sleep she had heard a knock and a voice coming from the other side. The books... Right... She had thought he forgot again with the events of the day and forgot herself as well. Quickly she got the rest of her clothes on and walked to the door slowly putting her hand on the handle hesitant to open it. She wasn't necessarily avoiding him, she was just trying to not overstep her boundaries, to stay in her place in society. Though with the master she was given it would be hard to stay there, she was lucky he let her say no to the other things but this she couldn't say no too. With a deep breath she put on a small smile and opened the door now seeing his excitement "sure.." She replied "I still have the book out from last night, though you were asleep when I went to ask"

 

[CrystalTears]

"I'm sorry about that... suppose I stressed myself too much," Itsuki said a bit embarrassed as he entered and grabbed a chair and placed it beside her bed. "Next time just wake me up, I should try my best to keep my promises after all. I must have disappointed you..." Itsuki said a certain sadness in his voice as it was not the first time he said that sentence, he petted her head and smiled as he placed the book on the nightstand and smiled once again. "You go and find the book you wanted to read, we can begin with that one," Itsuki said as he changed the subject rather quickly.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina closed the door after him and turned to look at him "there's no need to apologize, sleepiness can come over anyone of us like that" she nodded and slowly went to go sit on the bed not wanting him to question about the windowsill. She handed him the book she chose the night before "I knew you would keep your promise." With a smile she hugged her knees waiting for him to start, a feeling of anxiousness falling over her in the anticipation of what was written inside, not knowing what so ever what the book was about.

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki looked at how they sat, as the book was a fantasy book. It was the story odq Alice in Wonderland. He smiled as the story was a good one, and of course shortened in this book, but a good pick nonetheless. Itsuki sat next to Korina, holding the book in between them as he smiled to her. "This way it'll be easier for you to see what I'm reading," Itsuki said with a smile as holding his arm around Korina's small body was easier than he had thought. He began reading out loud, trailing his finger were he was reading to make sure Korina saw the connection and stopped to explain some words.


Once he finished he began talking about the alphabet in an easy way as for her to easily understand and smiled. It almost felt as if he had gotten a younger sister or a child, reading a bed time story and all, but he enjoyed it nonetheless as he finished his lesson.

 

[Mari_Rose]

In the beginning Korina was a little more focused on how close they were in proximity, she was practically sitting in his lap. Shaking her head to shake the thoughts from her mind helped her focus on the book and what he was saying. Most of these words looked so familiar, like some she uses everyday just now written down and visible. When he was done she took the book in her own lap looking over the words, high she didn't know this completely she had enough to practice on her own. Gently pulling away from him she crawled off the bed and yawned her ears pressing against her head as she did. "Thank you" she said quietly turning around to face him and bowing before walking and sitting on the windowsill.

 

[CrystalTears]

"You don't need to thank me. I already said I was going to read for you," Itsuki said and patted her head, smiling as he closed the door after himself when he left, sighing a bit relieved as it went better than he had thought. "I should get back to work then..." Itsuki said as he grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee, retuning to the living room where wires, tools and various metal parts were scattered, without thinking about it, he began working and writing down some math equations, trying to figure out what happened before the meeting, as the device had almost crashed on him. In the end, he stayed up the entire night trying to fix it.

 

[Mari_Rose]

When he left she curled up on the windowsill as a cat would on a pillow. It was actually as comfortable as it was to sleep in the bed as a human, she even drank her milk like she normally would, as a cat. Not only did it help her keep her place it reminded her of home, of who she was. Tonight she purred in her sleep, her tail swayed lightly off the edge of the windowsill. Though she was content on waking up early not get the day started the previous day was long and practically exhausting. The image of the neko girl was still planted firmly in her mind, she didn't think she could forget it and she would use it as a reminder of what might happen if disobeyed him again. She slept through the night and almost well into the morning.


@CrystalTears

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki had been working the entire night as he managed to fix the device, there was a few wires scattered on the floor and metal parts everywhere as he put it down on the table. The clock was almost six in the morning as he sighed and let out a loud yawn, before he went upstairs into his own bathroom and tapped the water, ready to try and wake himself up. He quickly undressed and walked into the comfortable bath, letting the warm water cleanse his body as he made sure to wash through his dark brown hair, leaning a bit back as he closed his eyes, almost falling asleep as he forced his eyes open, and splashed some cold water in his face.


Once he finished he figured he might as well make breakfast for the two of them to enjoy together, and quickly got dressed as he begam preparing some bacon and egg, his eyes were barely open, but the bath had helped a lot too.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina's ears twitched when she heard the running water of the bath tub. When she processed the sound her eyes shot open and she sat up. Itsuki must already be awake. She looked around the room for the clock which was on the bed side table. She should have been up an hour ago, she must of over slept. Quickly she changed out of her pajamas and into the outfit she wore yesterday, it made her look like his servant rather than an equal. Her fingers straightened out her hair as she ran into the kitchen seeing him already cooking dinner, and he looked tired. The first thing she did was bow "I-I'm sorry... I woke up later than I should have"

 

[CrystalTears]

"Oh Korina you're awake?" Itsuki said with a smile as he let out a yawn, and placed the food on the table, walking over to her and tilted her head to look up at him. "What's up with the bows? You don't need to bow to me. Okay? Plus, you've must be tired as yesterday was quite long," Itsuki said and rested his hand on top of her head befors petting her, looking at her clothes as he let out a small chuckle. "You know. I did say you were cute in that outfit, but there are no visitors here today, so you're free to put on something else," Itsuki said to her as he looked at how she had rushed to wake up and how her hair was a bit messy. He let out a small chuckle as he grabbed a comb and brushed through her hair. "It's okay to sleep in, you must have been tired," Itsuki reassured her as he let the brush slipt through her short hair.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina flinched feeling his hand under chin and bring her head up, she wasn't wearing the clothes because she wanted to hear him call her cute. No way was she supposed to look at him that way, maybe all of this was to stop her from doing so. As he combed out her hair she froze, it felt good but she wouldn't let him continue like she did last time he brushed her hair. She pulled her head away and backed up a little bit folding her hands in front of her "please don't..." She muttered her ears dropping "I-I... I don't.. Deserve it" by the looks of how tired he was, he was probably up all night trying to fix her mistake.

 

[CrystalTears]

"Korina we've talked about this..." Itsuki said as he pulled her into a small gentle hug. "You're not a pet, servant or a maid. You're my friend, a living being okay? You're not worth anything less than me, and you deserve as much as I do okay? I know that the girl from yesterday might have scared you, but you don't need to worry. You won't be treated like that," Itsuki said reassuring to her as he smiled to her and petted her head. "Don't think about it, okay? I guess Yutou taught you something different, but that's not how it works here," Itsuki said to her as his amber colored eyes met her dark eyes, but he was still smiling hoping she would understand. It had to be confusing and weird for her to be treated like this, but he wanted her to get used to it as she didn't deserve anything less. It was basic human rights after all, and despite her not being human she deserved those rights because she was alive.

 

[Mari_Rose]

Korina put her hands on his chest to push herself awa from his embrace. He obviously had no idea what she was talking about, or even that she broke his device. " N-no, " she muttered backing up and hugging herself. "Although yes, I do appreciate everything the done for me...." She swallowed and closed her eyes shrinking away "if I don't have a purpose here, then what was the point of leaving my family! And I'm lying to them! For all they know my master cold and hard because that's how he was when he bought me." Her eyes went up to him filled with a medley of emotions, some anger, some confusion "I was supposed to go into worse conditions so that my family could live better with the money that was used to buy me" a few tears started to swell up "it's just... Not fair... Especially with the mistakes I've made"

 

[CrystalTears]

Itsuki looked at her, her desperate expression as she was desperate for an answer. He smiled to her, dried away her tears and petted her head gently, trying his best to comfort her. "No one knew who you would end up with, and you do have a purpose. You're staying here with me helping me right? You've helped me a lot, like how I cut myself the other day. You've also helped me open up a bit, as I would usually just stay here alone, barely wishing to talk to my own reflection, I'm glad you were brought here as you've helped me a lot," Itsuki said with a smile, as he kept drying away a few more tears, looking into her eyes at all times, trying his best to comfort her. "I do understand leaving your family is hard, but do not worry. The mistakes you've made are few, and none of us are perfect. Okay? You're not lying to them, how could you know that you were to be brought to me? If you wish, we can try and seek them out, so you can tell them what's happening," Itsuki suggested as this explained Korina's weird behavior yesterday, she didn't have it easy, but he couldn't do a lot about it either. If she was released then some other master would pick her up, and she would probably not be treated like he was treating her right now.

 

[Mari_Rose]

(Sorry)


Korina hugged herself and looked down "I told you before there's no way to track them down..."she sighed and wiped her face, there was no point in all of this frustration "I'm sorry" she said quietly "and I've made a great mistake that you still have not yet to realize..." She swallowed and avoided his ongoing eye contact. " though you don't seem angry about it it is quite great and burdensome to me" this was the part that she feared, either he would find out on his own or she would have to tell him what happened. Either way he would probably get angry, and she wasn't sure what he was like when he was angry, that made her the most afraid.

 

[CrystalTears]

(It's okay. I am quite the patient person ^^)


"I'm sorry too. This must be very hard for you to be taken away from your family like this, and this 'mistake' you're talking about. Enlighten me about what you mean you've done wrong. I can't know if you don't tell me, and it seems that either way I'll figure it out," Itsuki told her as he didn't try to force her to look up at him, as she was clearly flustered with everything that was going on. He thought that she might be sad due to her family being gone and seemingly gone forever, but he was more curious about this 'mistake' she kept talking about. He was still tired from working all night, but this seemed to have waken him up pretty well. Whatever she must have done it must have been something terrible as she seemed scared of what would happen after he found out.

 

[Mari_Rose]

"Well..." Korina swallowed and continued "you see the other day when I was cleaning your office. You came in to get your device but left momentarily." She nodded holding her hands and fingers to make them stop shaking "I-I got... Too c-curious for my own good" she looked up at him momentarily before looking back down "I just wanted to see what it did for myself..." Her voice faded away and cracked a little bit as she explained, she was straying to hold back some tears from remerging "it startled me.. And I-I d-drop... Dropped it" she managed to get out and shrank away expecting blows

 

[CrystalTears]

"You dropped it?" Itsuki asked as he now understood the malfunction that he had used up all night to fix. He reached out his hand for Korina, as it gently placed itself on Korina's head and he smiled. "That was the reason for your weird behavior then? You mustn't scare me like that Korina. I thought I had done something to upset you," Itsuki said relieved as he let out another yawn, he was quite tired from not sleeping at all, but he was still not entirely finished. He had gotten the investment, so he could definitely do some more work on it, but that was not an issue right now. "Tell me next time. Okay?" He asked her, tilting her head up to look him in the eyes to show her that he wasn't angry with her.