~Chapter Twenty Five : A Secret~
~Start~

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"Man~! This is so delicious~!" Natsuki said as he devoured a large piece of meat. "Ash Ecspheched ohf Akhikho~! (As expected of Akito)"

"What." Chikage said as he stared at the blonde cat boy across from him, unable to decipher his words. He raised his eyebrows and stabbed a piece of meat himself. "You really need to stop talking when your mouth is full."

Natsuki finished chewing his food and swallowed all of it. He then pouted at Chikage. "Well, I can't help it, you know~?" Natsuki said as he went to get another piece. "Akito's cooking is just too good~!"

Everyone sweatdropped at his carefree behavior and just shrugged it off, focusing on their own food instead. As they continue eating, (Y/N) suddenly had remembered something that she wanted to ask Natsuki. "Hey, Natsuki?" She asked as the said cat boy turned to her with his mouth full and hummed in response. "I was wondering, you talked to Yui about something earlier, right? What did you guys talk about?"

Natsuki slowly swallowed the food in his mouth and blinked at her. He looked to the distant as if wondering about something. "Something we talked about..." He said as he placed his finger on his chin, as if trying to recall the earlier events.

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"So, what did you want to talk about?" Natsuki tilted his head to the side. "I'm guessing it's a serious one since you want to keep private about it?"

Yui blinked and went over towards the giant tree that was near the (L/N)'s house. She shook her head and sat down beside the tree. "No, it's nothing like that..." She said as she smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I may be wasting your time but I really need to get this out while I still can."

Natsuki smiled back and sat next to her. "Yeah? It's fine. I'm not good at serious topic either." He said. "What's it about?"

Yui looked away from Natsuki with a somehow sad smile. She looked hesitant from saying anything and so, she looked back at the blonde cat boy with a nervous smile. "B-But before that! Let me ask you something first..." Yui said, causing Natsuki to tilt his head on the side once more. As the cat boy gave her the permission to ask away, Yui looked down. "...About your Master... She's a nice girl."

"How did you guys met?" She asked, looking at Natsuki.

Natsuki blinked and wondered. "How, you say...?" He said and looked up. As he saw the leaves of the tree being blown by the wind, he began to giggle. Natsuki looked back at Yui and pointed upwards. "She fell from there~!"

"She's literally like an angel falling from the sky~!" He commented and he looked away as his eyes twitched. "...Except the heavens didn't provide her anything soft to land on, so..."

"A-Ah...I see..." Yui said as she imagined what happened and gulped. "That must've been...Pretty painful, is it...?"

Natsuki nodded and turned to her once again. "But other than that, I still see her as an angel." He said as she looked down with a slight blush in his cheeks. "I owe her my life so much that if she weren't there for my comfort, I would've been a goner right now..."

Natsuki gave Yui a goofy smile and scratched the back of her head. "I guess I'm a lucky one, eh?" He said as he laughed.

Yui blinked and stared at Natsuki talking so whole-heartedly about his gratitudes towards (Y/N). She bit her bottom lip and soon, she gave him a big smile as well. "I'm happy to know that you're in good hands, Natsuki~!" She said. "You know, I asked to talk to you in private because I'm embarrassed myself but..."

Being an expert at reading emotions, Natsuki then noticed a shift in Yui's personality. Her large happy turned sad as she looked at him. "...I guess I already got my answer..." Yui said and took a deep breath. She looked at Natsuki with bright eyes. "I love you, Natsuki."

"...Since we were children but I never really got the courage to tell you." She said with a smile.

Natsuki widened his eyes at Yui's confession. He never had anyone confessing like this to him so he doesn't really know how to reply to such words. "U-Um..." Natsuki said as he looked down. His eyes looked everywhere but Yui's, who was patiently waiting for his reply. However, Natsuki just felt as if he's disregarding her confession and built up the courage to look at Yui.

Then, his eyes widened once again as Yui was still looking at him with a gentle look in her eyes. There was no expectations or hope, as if she already knew what Natsuki's answer would be. This made Natsuki feel guilty, so he took a deep breath and looked at her straight in the eyes. "Yui..." He said. "I-I'm...I'm sorry. I can't return your feelings."

Yui's expression remained neutral for a few seconds, which made Natsuki nervous. Sweat was forming in his forehead, scared that he said the wrong words. Then, suddenly, Yui burst out of laughing which suprised Natsuki, causing his tail to freeze. "Haha! Your expression is the best! I just love seeing those kinds of expression!" Yui said as she continued on laughing. Natsuki pouted and crossed his arms. Yui calmed her laughter and flicked Natsuki's forehead. "Idiot~! I told you, I already know your answer, silly!"

"Then, why the hell did you even asked me!?" Natsuki asked as he puffed his cheeks and looked away. "I can't trust you, after all~!"

Yui giggled a bit more and looked at him. "Sorry, sorry~!" She said. "So? What made you reject this Young Maiden's feelings~? How rude~!"

"I see no Young Maiden here though~?" Natsuki said and smiled once again. He looked towards the distance. "What made me, huh...?"

Yui looked at what he's looking at and saw (Y/N) and the others coming out of the house, looking as silly as ever. Her eyes soften and took a glance at Natsuki to see his cheeks going red. "...It's because..." Natsuki said, not looking away from the (H/C)-colored hair of a certain girl. "My feelings already belongs to someone else."

Yui smiled at his response and looked at that scene, peacefully. "Is that so?" She said as she felt somehow proud of her blonde cat boy friend.

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"What we talked about, huh~?" Natsuki said as he pretended to think very hard for the memory. Then, he lightened up and looked at everyone. "Oh, I remember!"

Everyone leaned in hopes of hearing the details however, Natsuki smirked. "It's a secret though~!" He said, teasingly.

"Aw, what the hell is up with that?" Chikage said as he leaned his cheek on his hand with a disappointed pout. "Such a secretive individual, right, Master?"

"Yup, such disappointment, boo-hoo~" (Y/N) said, playing along. "But I guess that's fine. I'm gonna respect Natsuki and Yui's privacy.

"But that's frustrating, isn't it?" Fuyuko suddenly said as he looked up at everyone. "It's like when you're reading a really good Manga and the artist suddenly stop just before the climax of the story because of their badly timed desire for vacation."

Everyone looked at the white-haired Otaku cat boy and couldn't help but think that what he's saying right now is something that he himself had experience many times. Nothing makes Fuyuko this talkative unless it's about food, anime, or manga. Fuyuko then went back to his food and began to eat once again. "...But since Master respects people's privacy, I'll do it too." He said and went back to his emotionless and quiet self.

"Yeah...What he said." Akito said and everyone nodded in agreement.

Everyone soon just shrugged off the situation and laughed after a while. However, suddenly, in the midst of their joy, someone remembered a certain something.

"Oh." Akito said as he turned to look at the calendar near them. "Our summer vacation's almost over, did everyone already finish their homeworks?"

In that moment, the joy that they were feeling suddenly crumbled away and everyone else froze. Well, except for those who've done their share of work.

"Ah, I'm pretty sure I did all of them." Haruki casually said and scratched his cheek. "But...I don't know if they're correct though..."

"I've done all of them." Chikage said as he finished his food and is wiping his mouth. "Haru, I can check your work if you want."

"I-I'm not finish yet..." (Y/N) said, nervously. She hopes that Akito wouldn't nag about not finishing her homework. "But I'm almost there! Yep! I'm very close to the end! I just need to solve all my algebra problems and I'm good to go!"

Akito sighed and decided to let his Master slide for this one. He then turned towards the other two, who was awfully quiet since Akito mentioned about homeworks. "And you two?" He asked, crossing his arms.

"I-I'm right there..." Natsuki said, looking away from everyone's eyes. "Just like Master, I'm there..."

"He hasn't done anything yet, has he? " Everyone thought as soon as they saw Natsuki's way of talking. Akito turned towards Fuyuko who looked at him back.

They stare at each other for awhile, as if passing a secret message. After a few seconds, Akito finished decoding his message and sighed. "I see." He said and turn towards everyone. "Well, I guess we gotta have a study session, after all."

Akito then smirked as an evil glint in his eye appeared. His tail began to move left and right mischievously. "Tests are coming up after all and good students always have to study before they're even announce, don't they?"

Let's just say everyone wound up in one room, forcibly being told to study by Akito, who generously offered to be the teacher. Despite not being the nicest teacher, Akito can somehow bring the potential inside the people he teaches. It would now be quite unlikely for everyone to be getting a low grade.

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Indeed, just as everyone predicted, the happy and relaxing summer vacation had ended. School came back and continued on bombarding students with lessons. Some teachers were merciful, letting the students relax for one day but some were just outright savage. Those teachers who started out the lesson without giving the students the chance to adjust to their situation. Let's just say, the teachers in the school where our characters goes in became the star of that day.

The same could be said to (Y/N) and the cat boys. Not only do they have to be overwhelmed by the amount of work the teachers gave them, they also have to exert more effort in working on their cafe. That's why, for the past few weeks, the cat boys and their Master had been mentally and physically drained.

"Aghh~! I can't take this anymore!" Natsuki groaned as he placed his hand on his head. His eyes seems to be spinning in despair. "What's the point of giving us happiness if they're just going to take it all away!?"

Natsuki whined even more as he placed his head on the wooden table infront of him. "I can't even keep up with our algebra lessons and we also need to work!?" Natsuki complained and turned to his Master with a pout on his lips. "Hey, Master~! Can't we just temporarily quit our job? Hiromi's rich so he can afford more workers, right?"

(Y/N) sweatdropped and smiled at Natsuki, apologetically. She pat his head in hopes of comforting him. "We could but Hiromi is suprisingly having a hard time finding new employees." She said. "But even if he did, doesn't it make you feel bad that once we have another vacation, we'll have to kick them out?"

Natsuki puffed his cheeks and leaned more towards (Y/N)'s touch. "Hm...I guess so..." He said.

Though, Natsuki exaggerated a bit on their situation, his whole fact was no lie. They were indeed require to work if they wanted to keep the café business going. Even Akito, the one who's supposedly the most organised in the group were feeling a bit troubled. He sighed and got his phone to message something to someone. "Natsuki, for once, has a point. If we do work and school at the same time, we'll be in a bad situation." He said. "I messaged Hiromi for a break so that we could relax for a bit."

Natsuki smiled in relief and attempted to hug Akito in joy but ended up getting pushed. "Waah~! Akito, for once, you've done something that's not telling us to study or do work~!" He said with fake tears on the side of his eyes. "Thank you, I'm happy~!"

Akito grew a vein and kept on pushing the blonde cat boy away from him. (Y/N) smiled as she sweatdropped, she looked back at her own homework and began answering like everyone else. Suddenly, she encountered a problem that she doesn't quite know. "I don't know this problem..." (Y/N) thought and looked at the cat boys who are doing their own different homeworks. She hopes of someone teaching her how to do it but then, decided against the thought as she saw everyone else were having the same difficulty as her. "I...Shouldn't bother them..."

(Y/N) gave out twitchy smile and picked up her pen. "I payed attention in class so I should be able to answer it..." She thought as she began to write what she thinks is the answer to the problem. "...I think?"

After a while of answering, trying to make sense of the problem, (Y/N) ended up in a dead end. She lowered her shoulders and tilted her head to the side, troubled. "...Nope, there's no way that's the answer." She thought as she sweatdropped. "But damn, I don't know what else to do..."

(Y/N) sighed in defeat as she began to write her surely wrong solution as the final answer. "Well, I guess it's better than nothing." She thought.

However, as she began to write, a certain black haired cat boy beside her took a look at her work. He blinked and pointed at his Master's work. "Master, I don't think you're using the correct formula." He said.

(Y/N) flinched and turned to him with an embarrassed smile. "Y-Yeah...I kinda got that already." She said, scratching the back of her head. "The lesson's kinda getting hazy in my head so I don't really get it now."

Chikage blinked and smiled. "Let me teach you, then!" He said as he completely disregarded his seemingly unfinished homewrok and focused on her work isntead. "You see, this formula-"

"Wait, wait! Chikage, don't you have your own work?" (Y/N) worriedly asked, only for Chikage to giggle at her.

"Master is so cute~! I love it when you worry for me..." He said with a slight blush on his cheeks and his mouth formed a lovesick smile. He leaned in closer to her face and tilted his head to the side. "It's fine, I don't care about this homework anyway. Master is my top priority."

"I-I see..." (Y/N) said, still unsure of his answer. "Thank you, then. I appreciate it, Chikage."

Chikage blushed and looked away as he placed his hands on his cheeks. "Waah~! I'm so happy~! Master appreciates me~!" He said like a fanboy meeting his idol in person. He looked back at her and looked down. "You see, Master...I hate it when I see you working so hard."

(Y/N) tilted his head, confused however Chikage looked up at her in panic as he hold out his hand. "O-Oh, but I didn't mean that it's a bad thing because Master is cute too when she's working hard!" Chikage said and fidgetted with his fingers. "I-I'm just scared...That you'll...Overwork yourself so..."

Chikage looked up at her with his big red eyes. "Please...Take it easy, okay?" He said. "O-Or atleast, rely on us for some time! Rely on me!"

(Y/N) widened her eyes but eventually smiled and pat his head in appreciation. "Alright, thank you, Chikage." She said. "I won't overwork myself, I promise."

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"Is Master asleep?" Chikage said as he kept his eyes over the checkered board game. He moved a chess piece before looking at the orange-haired cat boy infront of him with a slight glare. "Aki~! Did you make sure that she's asleep? She might continue working on that stupid Art project that's due next week, you know~!"

Akito's eyebrow twitched in irritation as he moved a chess with barely any time lag. "Of course, I did, you idiot." He said. "You're just really paranoid, seriously."

"Call it "Protecting"! " Chikage protested as he pouted his lips. He looked at the board and moved a piece.

They continued on playing with the chess board, thinking of their own strategies to beat each other. Suddenly, as Chikage was thinking of his next move, Akito thought of a question and leaned his head against his palm. "I just noticed something, Chikage..." He said.

"What is it, Aki~?" Chikage asked as he didn't even look at him and continue thinking of his strategy.

"I noticed..." Akito started. "You're always trying to stop Master from doing work. Why is that?"

Chikage froze for a moment but went back to his usual mood. "...Isn't it obvious?" Chikage said as he smiled at him. "Master has always been working hard for us, that's why I kinda felt like she wasn't relying on us very much. It makes me kinda sad and guilty."

"So that's why, I want her to take her life easy and leave the work to us. We're Cat Boys, after all. That's what we're made for." He said as his eyes darken slightly as he stared at the chess board, as if analysing every move he could make in the game. "If one of us breaks, it's fine. But if Master breaks, it'll be the end for us. For me."

"I don't want Master to end up like Her, after all~!" Chikage said in a sickeningly sweet manner as he ephasized on the "Her" part of his sentence. He stared at Akito with dark eyes and a smile as he tilted his head to the side. As if unconcsiously, his hand moved a chess piece that was dangerously close to Akito's queen piece. "Hey, don't you agree too, Akito?"

Akito gulped as he felt the black-haired cat boy's bloodlust. He looked down at the board as he kept on his facade. He sighed and his hand went to the one piece that Chikage seemed to disregard. "Honestly..." Akito began and stared at Chikage with a determined and serious look. "I think you have the wrong here."

"It's Master's choice to work. You don't have to tell Master when to stop. She's not dumb. She knows her limitations." Akito said as he knocked a chess piece of Chikage to replace its spot. "...The problem here is you. You're the one who don't know their limitations because to me...It just looks like as if you're stealing Master's freedom to choose for herself."

"Master is a nice person. There is no way she could make us work for her own gain but...I'm sure you know that by now, right?" Akito said as his face softened and smirked. "Checkmate."

Chikage blinked and looked down at the chess board. After a bit analysing and he pouted and sighed out loud. "Eeh!? I lost!" He said. "As expected, you're really good at this, Akito!"

"Well, of course. This is my hobby, after all." He said, crossing his arms.

Chikage just puffed his cheeks in frustration and soon, he yawned. He stood up lazily and placed his hands on his hips. "Well, I'm sleepy. I'm gonna go snore away now." He said as he smirked. "Since it's your hobby, you can clean the mess just fine, right?"

Akito's eye twitched. "Just shut the hell up and go to sleep already!" He yelled. "You're pissing me off, seriously..."

Chikage left with a mischievous chuckle, leaving Akito to indeed, clean up the mess. As he began to gather the pieces, he looked at the board once again. Akito remembered the last move he made and gulped when he picked up the chess pieces. "If he knew what he was doing at that time..." He thought. "He would've won against me."

"Chikage...He learns way too fast. I honestly can't tell if that's a bad thing and a good thing." Akito thought and bit his bottom lip, anxiously. "He looks like he understood what I said but..."

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this...?"

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~End~
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A/N :

Ooh! It seems that Candy has updated! What a suprise! This time, Natsuki's problem is fully resolved, but what's this? Another problem is slowly emerging from the shadows!

Anyway, enough for dramatic Notes, I really have nothing to say this Author's _:('ཀ'」 ∠): It's currently midnight in where I am and I was staying up to finish this chapter. Finally, after a few hours I finally did it!

Thank you very much for reading and I'm sorry if I can't say much this day! (￣▽￣) I really want to sleep now and enter the dream world! Sorry for the mistakes in this Chapter, I'm really sleepy!

Maybe when I get enough sleep, I'll edit this! Until then, please settle with this! ( ；∀；)

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**Please Wait Patiently For The Next Chapter, Nya~**