Secret santa!!

Michelajul Lortelia, otherwise known as Mii-chan, watched his boy fondly as the child practiced his trademark ninjutsu. The child’s name was Janua Ein, and Mii-chan was his pet cat(or his ninja companion according to Janua).

Only eleven years old, the boy had jet black hair neatly cut to chin length, aside from the lengthy bangs he left to cover his cerulean right eye, and a carnelian left eye burning with determination and excitement. He had been out here in his backyard under the unrelenting summer sun for the past half hour, training as best he could based off of his favorite ninja shows and collecting more than his fair share of bruises when he made a mistake.

Janua scrunched his nose and furrowed his brows in concentration. In the center of the lush, green yard stood a makeshift dummy, constructed from a pillowcase stuffed with straw and tied to a pole. Suddenly, the boy shouted a vehement “Hi-yaaaaahhh!” and threw something at the dummy. That something fell embarrassingly short of the target and landed in the grass.

Mii-chan rose from his spot under the shade of an old oak and trotted over to the object. It was a paper shuriken, clumsily folded and colored with marker. The cat picked the mock weapon up in his teeth and ran it back to his friend.

“That’s my ninja companion! Thanks Mii-chan!” Despite having missed his target by a mile, Janua didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. His smile was wide and exuberant when he took the shuriken from his animal comrade and affectionately pet him.

“I may not be able to hit the target right now, but just you wait, soon I’m going to be hitting bullseyes every time!” Janua straightened and proudly propped his fists on his hips, thrusting his chest forward. “The training of the legendary ninja Janua Ein has only begun!”

If cats could smile, Mii-chan would be grinning. That was one of the things he loved about his boy, Janua’s enthusiasm and passion for the things he loved. Even though he was only a child, Mii-chan could tell that he would never give up on his dream, no matter how many bruises he collected or mistakes he made, no matter how many people ridiculed him…

“Eeeehhhh? You still going on about that ninja nonsense?”

Mii-chan and Janua started from the unexpected voice and turned around to face the newcomer, Mii-chan faintly hissing in displeasure. The stranger was another child Janua’s age, leaning over the short backyard fence and flanked by four other boys Mii-chan didn’t recognize.

Janua seemed to though and responded defensively. “It’s not nonsense! I’m going to train hard and be a real ninja when I grow up!”

Another one of the boys sneered, “Are you stupid? There aren’t any ninja anymore, that was like, forever ago.”

The rest of the boys joined in to jeer at Janua mercilessly. Naturally, the ninja-in-training refused to back down. Both sides were adamant and trading insults back and forth until it became a shouting match, which brought Janua’s mother out to see what was causing such a ruckus.

The moment the other boys noticed an adult had arrived they did what any other child would have, ran as fast as they could to avoid taking responsibility. Mii-chan glared after their retreating backs. The views of the other children regarding his boy were common, but these had been particularly nasty about it. Why couldn’t they see how wonderful his human friend was?

Mii-chan was envisioning himself covering them in scratches when the voice of Janua’s mother caught his attention. While he had been daydreaming, Janua was explaining what had just occurred to his mother. The older woman’s mouth was turned down in a scowl, but her eyes were filled with sadness, not anger.

 “—just worried that you won’t make any friends this way. Yes, those boys were wrong to pick on you, but they do it because you refuse to play with other kids. You go off on your own and train instead of playing with other children your age. Not having any friends makes you a target, that’s how bullies work.”

Janua’s mother sighed and pulled her son in for a hug. “Why don’t you try making at least one friend, okay? Things will be better once you do, you’ll see.” After a few more seconds she released Janua and stood with a smile, “In the meantime you can help me with grocery shopping. I’ve got a lot of things to buy, so I’ll need you to help me carry all of the bags.”

The boy perked up at the thought of helping his mother and dutifully followed her inside, leaving Mii-chan alone with his thoughts.

The other children will stop bullying Ja-kun if he has a friend?

Mii-chan’s eyes shone with hope, then hardened with resolve.

If I know Ja-kun though, he’ll forget all about making a friend the moment he gets caught up in his training again. If that’s the case……then I’ll have to find him a friend!

His mind set, Mii-chan hopped over the fence to go find the perfect friend for his boy.

Mii-chan’s search brought him to the local park. He was perched in one of the many trees that offered refreshing shade to the visitors, a perfect vantage point from which to assess his targets.

Despite the sweltering heat of the summer afternoon, there were still a good number of children running about the playground. A good number of candidates for Janua’s first human friend.

The sage-green feline eagerly scanned the youthful crowd. Surely one of these children would be a good friend for Janua.

The first child he spotted was, to his surprise, asleep. He seemed to be Janua’s age or slightly older, with the messiest head of ebony hair he had ever seen. Mii-chan watched as a second child, a girl apparently the same age with short, shockingly blue hair and eyes tried to wake him.

“Come oooooooonnnn Teuffy! You can nap later, it’s summer vacation! You can nap whenever you want! So play with us nooooowwww!”

The boy merely cracked open an eyelid, revealing a grey eye with two unusual white rings in the iris, and mumbled, “If I can nap whenever I want, then I wanna nap right now.” With that said, the boy closed his eye again and, seemingly, went right back to sleep.

“Ooooooh~ You’re no fun.” The blue haired girl pouted and stomped off to two other children, a boy and a girl who were probably a year or two younger.

Mii-chan shook his head. The boy was no good, he didn’t seem like a bad kid, but he obviously couldn’t keep up with even his own friends’ energy, let alone Janua’s.

He turned his attention back to the girl and the other two. The new girl had long, golden blond hair tied into a pony tail and bright, sky-blue eyes radiating innocence. The boy on the other hand had an almost intimidating air, with a face that seemed to rest naturally on brooding and duller, flaxen blond hair as opposed to the girl’s shining gold. Despite his somewhat menacing aura however, his honey-colored eyes betrayed a hidden softness.

The boy was the first to speak. “I told you he wouldn’t, and haven’t you known him longer than I have? You should have known he’d say no.”

The blunette just grinned in response. “Yeah, I knew he’d say no. But sometimes I can get him to do it anyway, you just have to be pushy enough. Buuuut…” The girl paused for a moment, looking thoughtful. “He’s probably really tired today. The bags under his eyes looked worse than usual.”

The blond girl giggled. “You know, you treat Teufel like a lackey most of the time, but you actually do care don’t you, Ares?”

“Well of course I do. I need him in top condition so I can use him!” The older girl proudly declared. The younger two stared at her with a mixture of exasperation and disbelief.

The blue terror’s expression slid from smug to sly as she continued. “Speaking of caring Hime-chan, wouldn’t you say there’s someone here you care a lot for? Hmmmmm?”

The girl called Hime-chan let out a tiny squeak, her face flushed cherry red, and glanced over to the boy. He returned her look with confusion written all over his face.

Suddenly, she lashed out at both the older girl and the boy, beating them senseless with nothing but her bare fists in an overwhelming storm of violence. “IT’S NOT LIKE THAAAAAAAAAT!!!”

Mii-chan shivered in his tree. What he wouldn’t give to be the recipient of that flurry of blows, but his masochistic streak had to wait. He was here with a mission! Mii-chan shook his head to clear it of envious thoughts and considered the group. The girl called Ares was clearly bossy and liked to tease, although not in a mean way. Mii-chan personally liked Hime quite a lot, she seemed like a very kind young lady but her outbursts might scare Janua away. He didn’t have a good feel for the boy, but he had a hunch that the child was the aloof type, difficult to befriend but well worth the effort.

Mii-chan mentally sighed. They were good kids, but probably not the best choices for Janua’s first friend. Maybe after Janua was more comfortable with other children he could befriend them.

He went back to searching and noticed another small group playing on the jungle gym. This one was composed of three boys, ranging from just a little older to just a little younger than his boy. The oldest, a brunette with fluffy, wild hair and sparkling cobalt-blue eyes was gesturing to the other two wildly from the top of the jungle gym. His grin was as warm and bright as the sun, even covered with dirt. The second oldest, who appeared to be the closest to Janua’s age, had unkempt ink-black hair much finer than his friend’s and ruby eyes that Mii-chan thought could cut with just a look. His face screamed boredom or disinterest as he stared up at his elder, but there was the slightest glimmer of affection in his eye. The youngest was another brunette, with hair the color of coffee heavily lightened with creme, trimmed shorter than the other two aside from long bangs parted to frame his face. His eyes were the same shade of brown and shone with a gentle kindness as well as fondness for his two companions.

“—truly think you can defeat the mighty Ros! Greatest adventurer in the world! In that case, come try me if you dare! I—“

The oldest’s playful boasting was abruptly cut off by the middle child, swinging a long stick that almost managed to knock him off the jungle gym. “Mr. Greatest-adventurer-in-the-world doesn’t seem that tough to me~”

“GUWAH!” The oldest toppled to the ground and landed with a resounding ‘thud’.

“Crea!” The youngest dashed forward to check on his fallen companion. Once it was clear that the object of his concern was perfectly alright, he helped the older boy up. After that, he turned to the one who had knocked him off and glared. “WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING SHION!? CREA COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY GOTTEN HURT! ISN’T HE YOUR BEST FRIEND!?”

Mii-chan flinched, this child’s voice was a harpy’s screech when was upset.

In response, the boy who must be Shion merely shrugged off the rebuke. “Eh, Crea’s tougher than that, it’d take way more to actually hurt him.”

Said Crea propped his fist on his hips and threw his head back in laughter. “He’s right Alba, don’t worry about it. Shi-tan’s done worse to me plenty of times, it’s how he shows he loves you—UGH!”

At the word ‘love’ Shion had thrust forward with the stick and jabbed Crea in the stomach, hard.

“CREAAAAA!!” Alba wailed like he watched his friend receive a fatal blow.

Crea lay on the ground, disoriented and clutching his stomach. In the meantime, Shion dropped the stick he had just used as a devastating weapon and come up to stand beside the other two.

“Don’t worry. He’ll recover in a second.” He stared at the writhing brunette for a minute before directing his gaze to Alba. “What was with that ‘best friend’ talk anyway? You make it sound like he’s my only best friend.”

“Wh—huh?” Alba stared right back in astonishment, the slightest of blushes adorning his cheeks.

The two locked eyes with one another, the sudden silence stretching on…until the moment was abruptly ruined by Shion punching Alba in the gut.

When Alba hit the ground with a whispered “whyyyyy?”, his attacker looked on with what could only be described as a face of pure malevolent bliss. “Ahhh~ How fun~”

Once again, Mii-chan was filled with the overwhelming urge to fling himself toward promised pain. He struggled to control his heavy breathing and calm down. While he personally would love to fall victim to the sadistic child, he was fairly certain that Janua would not appreciate that type of affection. Crea and Alba were very good children and would probably befriend Janua easily, but their group struck him as a tightly knit one. Shion would most likely accompany them at all times, meaning that both of them were out by association. A pity, but again, perhaps they will make good friends in the future, once Janua was more at ease with others.

Mii-chan resumed his search. The perfect friend had to be around here somewhere…Ah!

He spotted another group of three.

Two of the boys were Janua’s age, and a third much younger—boy? girl?—was holding the hand of one of them. He couldn’t tell if the youngest was a boy or a girl because they were wearing some strange costume. The child was wearing an astronaut suit of all things, with a small pair of plush angel wings on the outside as well as a halo. They were holding the hand of the older boy with fluffy black hair, storm gray eyes, and a cheshire grin. The older boy had an aura of mischief and confidence that Mii-chan could sense a mile away. The third member of their group was glaring at the trickster with eyes remarkably similar in color. He had ash blond hair grown out to chin length and stood straight with his arms crossed firmly in disapproval; he gave the impression of a responsible young man exasperated with the situation in front of him. Truly, aside from their eyes, the two older boys appeared to be exact opposites.

The stern blond was the first to speak, with a tone that suggested the speaker was trying their best to remain calm while what they really wanted was to tear the other apart. “Elf, why is Zehn wearing that?”

“Well why not? It’s cute! ‘Sides, Zehn wanted to wear it. Right Zehn?” The roguish boy, Elf, looked down at who Mii-chan assumed must be Zehn with equal parts affection and amusement.

The young Zehn nodded their head and answered, “Yeah! Zehn’s a as’ronawt!”

The blond’s eye twitched, this time when he spoke he was anything but calm. “Why not? WHY NOT!? BECAUSE IT’S ALMOST NINETY DEGREES OUT HERE! DO YOU WANT YOUR COUSIN TO GET HEATSTROKE!?”

Elf laughed off the other’s furious shouting before switching to a smug look, striking a pose and giving a thumbs up. “Don’t worry ‘bout that Alf, I’ve got it covered! The suit’s stuffed with ice packs, so if anything he’s gonna be cold!”

As if to prove his point, Zehn shivered noticeably.

That was clearly the final straw for Alf. “YOU IDIOOOOOOT!!” He slammed his fist into Elf’s face.

While Elf lay disoriented on the ground, Alf crouched down to Zehn’s level, sounding much calmer than he had a mere second ago. “Zehn, you make a very good astronaut but I’m afraid if you want to play outside you have to take it off. So, do you want to take it off and play outside, or do you want to keep it on and play inside?”

Zehn seemed to contemplate his choice for a minute. Eventually, he told Alf that he wanted to keep it on and the two of them began to walk away, presumably to go back indoors, holding hands. Elf brushed the dirt off his clothes with a nonchalant air that implied he was used to being sucker-punched by his friend and ran to catch up with them. Once he did he cheerfully slung an arm around Alf and started talking a mile a minute. Shockingly, Alf didn’t seem the slightest bit angry anymore and responded to Elf like nothing had happened.

Mii-chan shook his head in bewilderment. He couldn’t begin to imagine how two people who were so different became friends, yet the two were clearly attached at the hip. He also wondered if all children were so violent these days.

He considered the two older boys for a moment before mentally writing them off. Elf was too wild and probably a troublemaker. In contrast, Alf was clearly a responsible child with a great deal of tolerance if he could befriend the eccentric Elf. The problem was, once again, that the two were obviously a set.

Mii-chan growled in frustration. Surely there had to be a child on their own here, someone who needed a friend as much as Janua did.

Desperate now, he scoured the playground with every scrap of intense focus he could muster. All of the other children were playing in groups, too young, or too old. He did briefly spot a child the right age with black hair slicked back and…dice patterned eyes? But said child was quickly chased off by an enthusiastic short-haired girl with a bandana around her forehead.

After about half an hour, Mii-chan heaved a heavy sigh of defeat. He needed to return home before Janua and his mother came back from shopping, or they would worry over his disappearance. It seemed that finding Janua a human friend was going to take longer than he had thought.

The dejected house cat rose from his crouched position and stretched, clawing at the bark of the tree branch he was perched on. Without hesitation, he jumped from the branch straight to the ground and walked away.

Mii-chan was almost home when they cornered him.

One minute he was padding along on the sidewalk, still deep in thought over how to find the perfect friend for his boy, and the next, he was being chased by a group of nasty looking teens on bikes into an alley.

Unfortunately for him, his only way out was now blocked by four teenagers with glaringly obvious intent. While Mii-chan was usually all for pain, it was all too clear that he would not enjoy the kind of pain these sneering boys planned to give him.

Already they were pulling out knives, or tape and firecrackers. One of them even held a bottle with some kind of liquid that he definitely didn’t want to know the contents of. He bared his teeth with a threatening hiss, back arched and fur bristling. Like hell they would take him without a fight. Right now, he was the only friend Janua had, and no matter what they threw at him he was going to make it back to his human.

The group drew closer. Mii-chan eyed each boy and singled out the one who looked the least athletic. If he charged that one, then maybe he could climb over him and dash out of the alley before any of them knew what happened.

He crouched and extended his claws, muscles tense, preparing to pounce—

“Just what do you think you’re doing?”

All four delinquents turned to the entrance of the alley. There, outlined by the light of the shining sun, was a boy. He couldn’t have been any older than twelve, and yet he radiated a certain maturity and confidence that made him seem like an adult. His blazing red hair was styled into a crazy, spiked version of a pompadour and his obsidian eyes held a righteous fury that made even Mii-chan tremble. Judging from his clothes, he had probably been headed to or from a dojo, and he stood with a firm, wide stance that clearly demonstrated his familiarity with martial arts.

There were a few seconds of bewildered silence before the largest, and most likely the leader, of the group scoffed. “Run on home to your momma kiddo, before we decide you’d make a better plaything than the cat.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

The mysterious boy lunged forward and scored a crippling blow on the leader, landing a solid punch just under his sternum, knocking the wind right out if his lungs, and aiming a roundhouse kick at his knee. With a strangled cry, the leader fell to the ground, clutching his quite possibly broken leg.

With their leader fallen, the other teens hesitated. That moment of hesitation was all it took for the younger boy to spring into action again. Dealing decisive and heavily damaging blows, he systematically took each and every one down, although not without incurring some injuries himself.

Finally, his enemies neutralized and groaning in pain on the ground below him, the boy crossed his arms and spoke once more.

“Only the pettiest and most cowardly of men torment an innocent creature. A man’s fist should only be used to defend the innocent and the weak. Reflect on your pathetic hearts and the error of your ways.”

Mii-chan watched all of this unfold with awe. A powerful conviction surged inside of him. This was the one.

The boy turned away from the scene of carnage and crouched down in front of the now rescued feline. “Are you all right kitty? It’s okay I’m not going to harm you.”

As he said this, he slowly reached out and lifted Mii-chan into his arms. He took a moment to pet the purring animal before tugging at Mii-chan’s bandana to look at the collar underneath. He was looking for an owner’s address and he found it.

“Looks like your home isn’t too far from here. I bet your family misses you, so why don’t I take you back?” The boy smiled and stood up. He barely cast a glance down at the teenagers who flinched away from him and strode confidently out of the alley, a very satisfied Mii-chan in his hold.

They didn’t even make it all of the way there before Mii-chan heard Janua calling for him.

“MII-CHAAAAN!! MII-CHAAAN!!”

His friend sounded so worried and desperate, Mii-chan felt a pang of guilt for making his human feel that way, but he knew it would all be worth it once the two boys met. He called out with a loud meow to catch Janua’s attention.

The call didn’t go unheard. With another shout of his name Janua came barreling around the corner and very nearly collided with the new human companion Mii-chan had brought for him. Thankfully, he managed to skid to a stop just a few inches in front of them.

Janua took in the newcomer with a wide eye, similar to a deer in headlights, before noticing that his beloved pet and partner was pawing at his shirt from the stranger’s arms.

The frozen expression of surprise gave way to a brilliant, relieved smile. “Mii-chan!”

The cat leapt into Janua’s open arms and happily accepted the cuddles and pets given to him(although sometimes he wishes Ja-kun would be a little rougher, he’s just such a gentle child). Overjoyed at being reunited, Janua completely shed any anxiety he might have had about encountering a stranger and thanked Mii-chan’s savior with fervor.

The red headed boy seemed embarrassed for a moment at the massive amount of gratitude directed at him, but quickly recovered. “There’s no need to thank me. I only did what any man should have done.”

Again, that aura of maturity and manliness radiated from him, and Janua was completely entranced. However, he wasn’t distracted enough to not notice the few bruises that covered the other boy. He pointed toward one on his arm and asked, “How did you get these?”

“Ah…some older guys had chased your cat down and were going to hurt him. I told them to back down and they didn’t.” The boy shrugged. “So I made them back down.”

Janua gasped. “You fought off a bunch of older kids to save Mii-chan!?”

That look of awe was back, but also mixed with a little concern. “….You know, I bet my mom has something for those bruises. And I’d feel really bad not doing something after you got them protecting Mii-chan…” Janua stared at him hopefully.

The boy appeared to consider the offer. Eventually he grinned and replied, “If you insist. My name is Samejima by the way.”

Mii-chan’s friend grinned in return, “Mine’s Janua! You must be really strong if you beat multiple older opponents! I’m in the middle of training myself, but I’m not that strong yet—“