Curious blue eyes peered into the dark velvet sky with variously scattered sequins of stars and a dazzling moon hung as a backdrop. Karupin tilted his head to the side as he saw one particular star, glowing brighter than the other ones.

"Mreeow?" he inquired curiously to no one in particular. He then padded down, before curling himself into a ball, purring a few times before closing his eyes. A few seconds later, Nanako check the backyard to check on the noise she heard earlier. She looked around to see what was the source of the sound, only to see a small bundle curled up on the floor.

"Ara? Karupin, is that you?"  She asked, receiving a light purr in response. Nanako smiled. It was a nice night out, so she decided to let Karupin be, after she placed a small blanket around the little cat. As Nanako left, the bright star that Karupin was looking at was glowing brighter than before.

~*~

"Itakkimasu!" Mrs. Echizen said, as she was about to leave the house. "Ittarashai, obaa-sama." Nanako replied as she started serving Ryoma and Nanjiroh their breakfast. Nanjiroh was reading his newspaper-covered magazine again, causing Nanako to once again grab it from him. Nanjiroh grumbled and walked off, saying something about ringing the temple bell.

"Ne, Nanako. Have you seen Karupin? He went to sleep in my room last night, but he wasn't there when I woke up." Ryoma asked biting on the yakisoba that was served to him. Nanako smiled as she remembered how serene Karupin looked as he was sleeping under the moonlight.  "Yes I did. He was-"

"ACK!!"

Nanjiroh's voice cut through their conversation, even though he was outside. Looking at each other, the two cousins ran out to check on Nanjiroh.

"What's wrong with you now, Oyaji?" Ryoma asked arms crossed as he looked at his father.

"N-n-Nanako-chan, you didn't let anyone in at night, by any chance, did you?" The former tennis pro asked, his voice having an unusual shaky tone. Nanako looked at him, confused at what he's talking about. Deciding to check it for herself, she gasped as she saw a sleeping boy, curled up into a ball and covered with a small blanket.

"Nani? What's wrong?" Ryoma asked, finally peeking out the door. He then made a face as he saw the boy sleeping on the floor. "Ne, Oyaji, who's that?"

"If I knew, do you think I would've screamed?" Nanjiroh yelled, causing the sleeping boy to stir. The unknown boy's eyes slowly blinked open the same time he was sitting up. Curious azure eyes looked at the three people sleepily until something in Nanako's mind seemingly clicked.

"Ne, Ryoma-san. Do you mind if you lend him some of your clothes for now? After getting him dressed, then we'll ask him questions." Nanako asked, going beside the boy and covering him with a towel. Ryoma shrugged, considering he's only going to be lending the boy something to wear.  Nanjiroh, on the other hand, disappeared before Nanako asked Ryoma for some clothes. Most likely, the monk didn't really want to be around the half naked boy.

After getting the clothing from Ryoma and gotten dressed, Nanako sat the unknown boy on the table across from her and Ryoma. The boy's eyes looked at them inquisitively, before looking down to his hands with fascination. Nanako studied the boy's features carefully before finally asking, "Karupin?"

The boy's ears perked up and smiled towards Nanako with a cat like smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but the only thing the came out of his mouth was, "Mreeow!"

Ryoma blinked, looking at both Nanako and 'Karupin'. "I had a feeling it might have been you, Karupin." Nanako smiled, standing up, getting something too eat for the other boy.

"Ne, are you sure this is Karupin?" Ryoma asked, still somehow doubtful. "I mean, how are you sure?"

"Well, I wasn't too sure in the beginning, but then I remembered that he was sleeping in the backyard last night. I was the one that placed the blanket on him." Nanako replied, placing a plate of cooked fish in front of Karupin. Blue eyes shone with delight before he attacked the fish with earnest. Ryoma watched with a critical eye. 'He has Karupin's collar and eating habits as well… I guess to be sure, I better grab the cat toys I have of him. If he is Karupin, he should know which one is his favorite.' Then, Ryoma stood up from his seat and headed towards his room.

"Ryoma-san, where are you going?"

"I'm just going to grab some things." Though Ryoma's answer was pretty vague, Nanako didn't ask what it was.

Karupin let out a very satisfied purr before eyeing carefully the tissues on the table. Considering he usually licks his paws clean, as a human, he tried to imitate what his owners do. Nanako giggled at Karupin's attempts and after the fifth ripped table napkin, Nanako reached over and wiped his face for him. She then lightly scratched the back of the boy's ear, just to see if he would give the same reaction as to when he was a cat, and she was right.

Light footsteps interrupted the two as Ryoma emerged from the door. "Here." He said, placing three cat toys into the table. Karupin's eyes once again shone with happiness as he saw the toys lay in front of him.

"Ne, look at these three toys. Which one is Karupin's Favorite?"

Without as second thought, Karupin swiped the green cat toy with the yellow fuzzy head. He then held on to the cat toy like a little kid would hold on to their most precious teddy bear.

"AH!" Nanako said suddenly, standing up from her seat. "Gomen, Ryoma-san, Karupin. I have a meeting today, so I must leave the both of you."

"Oi! Matte!" Ryoma protested, "I'm getting picked up by Momo-senpai in a bit and we're going to the street courts."

"Take Karupin with you." Nanako said, rushing to grab her bag. "I don't want him getting influenced by ojii-san. It's bad enough that he's around, as a cat, ojii-san while reading his magazines. I don't want Karupin corrupted as a boy."

"Wait, what am I suppose to tell them?"

"Tell everyone that he's your cousin or something." Nanako said, pointing to Karupin who was slightly leaning towards Ryoma due to drowsiness. Ryoma then thought about it. Karupin has been around his baka oyaji and he didn't want his 'cat' to be corrupted…well, he was hoping that Karupin wasn't as corrupted as his father yet, if he was.