AN: To the guest reviewer that I couldn't reply to: I'm very aware that the pet name kitten is not cannon and is OOC for Asami. I'm sorry that you don't like it and think it's nonsense, but I like it and will continue to use it. That's the beauty of fanfiction, I can be as in or out of character as I choose to write. I was feeling pretty crap and needed something cute to brighten up my day and this image of Akihito made me giggle.

Akihito was sitting on the couch watching TV when he heard the tell-tale sound of the penthouse door opening and closing. Looks like Asami was home early today. He could hear footsteps and shuffling around before the man himself walked into the lounge with a bag in his hand.

"Welcome home, you're back early today."

"My meeting with a company that I am investing in was shorter than we thought and I had nothing scheduled afterwards. So I get to come back and keep my kitten company for the evening." He placed the bag down and removed his jacket, gloves and tie.

"You seem in a pretty good mood. Managed to take over the world today or is it just because you got to come home early? Also what's in the bag?" Curiosity was eating at Akihito. Asami didn't often bring things home, other than food and generally things just appeared in the penthouse. It was also rare for him to be in such a visibly good mood. He watched as Asami left the bag and went to pour himself a drink. He came back with a tumbler of the usual amber liquid and sat it down on the table after taking a drink before sitting himself next to Akihito.

"It's a late model prototype of the product under development that I am investing in. They gave a few out at the meeting. They wanted the investors to try the product out and verify for ourselves that it's quality worth investing in. The head of the company believes they can sell themselves. They also would like a video of it in action to show to the others who didn't get to take one, this proves the videos are unedited and are from an unbiased source. They are asking for a lot of money and are trying to prove that it is worth it."

Asami leaned forward and pulled a plain looking box out of the bag. Akihito shuffled forward so that he was pressed up against Asami's side as he tried to get a better look at the front of the box.

"If they get the funding they are after, then this could be going into production as early as next month and will be on the market in time for Christmas."

Asami opened the box and pulled out-

"Cat ears?" There was a band with oddly shaped splayed ends and two ears perched on either side of the band. The ears looked very soft and fluffy, the side that Akihito could see was a yellowy colour a few shades darker than his own hair with small black spots.

"You're kidding right?" Had Asami lost his mind? The man himself was still looking far too smug.

"They are cat ears but there's a little more to them than that." Asami turned the ears around so Akihito could see the inside of the head band. There was lots of little silver lines that looked like a circuit board covering the entire inside of the band.

"It detects brainwaves and moves the ears like a real cat. There is a coating on the inside which protects the circuits from damage while still allowing them to detect what they need to."

He reached forward and settled the ears on Akihito's head.

"Why do I have to wear them?" He sounded whiny even to himself.

"You're my little wildcat aren't you?" Akihito pouted at that. Asami seemed to press on one of the sides of the head band and sat back to look at him. His lips were curving up into a smile.

"What?" If Akihito was whiny before, he was petulant now.

"It seems as though they are working." Asami reach forward and gently stroked one of the ears.

"They've laid flat to match your pout." He chuckled and grabbed his phone, after playing with it for a minute, he passed the phone over, set to show the face camera. Akihito was staring back at himself with the ears perched on his head, but lying flat and off to the side. He watched as the ears twitched and perked up. As he started into the phone, Akihito could see the ears twitching occasionally as though they mirrored his curiosity. They seemed surprisingly realistic.

"That's actually kinda cool."

Asami reached forward and claimed his phone back.

"Now we need to take a video. Will you meow for me kitten?"

Akihito gave Asami a flat look. "No way." He crossed his arms and looked away, determined that he was not going to give in to any teasing. It was humiliating enough having to wear these this once.

"No? I'm there's something I can do to get you to meow for me."

Akihito felt his cheeks flush a little at the insinuation and pushed away the thoughts of what Asami might do to get the desired response from him.

"I'm not meowing for you." He kept his gaze away, knowing that as soon as he looks into those golden eyes he would be hard pressed to maintain his refusal.

"I did bring something else home for you." Akihito watched out of the corner of his eye as Asami pulled something else out of the bag. He felt his interest peak as a familiar small box was pulled out.

"Pocky?" Akihito felt his resolve waiver a little but kept the determined set to his shoulders. "I'm still not meowing." He heard the rumble of Asami's laugh.

"That's okay for now. Here." He passed over the treat and Akihito eagerly snatched it out of his hands and tore open the package. He was happily shoving two into his mouth at once when he noticed that Asami was laughing at him.

"What?" He watched him warily with he continued to eat the chocolatey treats. Asami was still chuckling a little when he reached forward and played with one of the ears.

"It's a shame you can't feel these, I can imagine if they were real they would be just as sensitive as the rest of you. Now we just need to get you a matching tail." Akihito choked on the pocky and felt the earlier blush come back in earnest.

"Hey now, don't get any ideas you pervert."

Asami just laughed.

VFVFVFVFVFVF

Akihito didn't think too much more on the ears until a few days later. He was wandering into work for a fashion photo shoot and got mobbed by multiple models as soon as he walked through the door.

"Aki-chan! You are so cute with the ears! I'm jealous that you got to try them early. What were they like? They seem so real!"

"Wha-?" He didn't get a chance to ask as he got bombarded with more questions and more 'Aki-chan's so cute!'.

"We couldn't believe it when we saw you in the announcement video!"

"Wait, announcement video?"

"Didn't you know it was out? For the NekoEars! You were in the background of the video while they explained how it worked. It was super cute!"

"Can I see it?" Akihito asked cautiously. He was feeling a little bit over whelmed from all the attention. And video? What video? One of the models whipped out her rhinestone encrusted phone and passed it over with a video paused on the screen. Akihito took the phone and cautiously pressed play. He watched for a few minutes as the presenter gave a run down on the ears and how they worked while videos of various people wearing the ears played in the background, showing off the movement. And then there he was. It was definitely him with the very familiar surroundings of the penthouse barely visible behind him. He was pouting, looking away from the camera and had his arms crossed, ears flat. He watched as the camera videoing him shifted and the ears twitched and sat up a little. He could see them slowly perking up with little twitches even has he remained facing away in an apparent huff. The little box of pocky came into view and suddenly the ears were standing straight up and almost quivering in excitement. Akihito groaned.

"No wonder the bastard was laughing at me."

VFVFVFVFVFVF

Kirishima was trailing along behind his boss and his boss's lover on their way to the pre-launch dinner for the investors in the NekoEars product. The product was due to hit the shelves tomorrow in time for Christmas and there was already a lot of hype around it. It looked as though it was going to be a successful investment, although a rather unusual one for his boss. Or perhaps not.

Asami was walking just ahead of him in his usual three piece suit and sulking next to him was Akihito, looking nice in a suit as well but in contrast to his apparel there was two fluffy ears perched on his head. Both of which were lying flat and out to the side to match his mood. He had been very against even coming to the event and had flat out refused when he realised that he was supposed to wear the ears. He didn't want to know exactly how Asami convinced him to come but here they were. Akihito's brief appearance in the announcement video had surprisingly been what convinced most of the early critics of just how promising the product could be. The photographer always showed his emotions clearly in his expression and the ears were just as expressive when he wore them.

He watched throughout the evening as Akihito was mobbed by various women, all cooing over him and his expressive ears. Everyone else who wore them to the dinner seemed to get only a small range of movement out of the ears, their emotions seemed to stay controlled within a certain range. Akihito very much stood out with his flat, sullen ears but the people gathering around him worked out very quickly that the way to get the photographer to perk up was to give him food. They seemed to have great fun watching the expressive ears move and twitch and Asami was told numerous times throughout the night just how cute his boy is.

What Kirishima found particularly amusing was the only other thing that could perk up Akihito's ears like food could was Asami himself. He smiled to himself as he watched Asami slide his arm around Akihito's waist and Akihito's ears stood upright, quivering slightly. His actions had proved his feelings before but it was nice to see such an obvious sign of affection. Well, considering how much Akihito liked food, if he liked Asami even just that much, that was enough for Kirishima.