Early Morning [open]

[Tamaki Niwa]

The cool morning air pushed against his face and hair. Tamaki's feet hit the ground in an even, rhythmic beat as he jogged down a path through the forest. It wasn't unusual for him to be there at such an 'early' time. It was about seven thirty by now, and he had been running for nearly half an hour. A light sweat broke off across his brow, but otherwise he showed no weakness. This was his morning ritual, so it was no surprise he would not be winded after a mere thirty minutes.

A narrow path branched off on his left. Tamaki noticed this out of the corner of one of his violet eyes. Normally, he did not stray from the path he was on, but he was feeling adventurous this morning. He veered off, noticing the thick brush that soon eloped him. It must have been a path made by an animal, perhaps a fox or something along those lines. Tamaki had to be careful as to leap over twisted tree roots and rocks. It was no wonder people didn't use this trail.

After another twenty minutes or so, Tamaki found the path had led him to a small clearing, and he stopped, slightly confused though not surprised. A fallen tree trunk lay off to one side so he took a seat and calmed his breathing and thudding heart by placing his head between his knees.

A noise from somewhere behind shocked him to his senses, and he snapped into an erect sitting position with his hands on his knees. Quickly, he looked around. It was probably just an animal, but no sense in being unprepared...

[Manami-Chan]

Manami had been in an adventurous mood the previous day and had been wandering around the woods. It almost felt like home and she wasn’t sure about if she liked that. She had had fun climbing trees and jumping off from branches to branches giggling while doing so. Hopefully for her, no human was around. The Takashi family didn’t seem to worry about the fact that she always went out of the temple since she always used to come back for some yummy food. Their mother was an amazing cook and she wouldn’t miss her food even if it was the end of the world.

Though, this day she had forgotten about it for some odd reasons. Maybe it was because of the fact that she had had too much fun out there. She had even found a nice clearing and a spot on a tree trunk where she could take a nice nap. The sun has been hot and when it was either raining or too hot she always used to sleep.She went over there and curled up, purring lightly and immediately fell asleep not aware that she’d sleep there all night.

Next morning, she was still sleeping, not aware that someone else was near by, her tail was waggling up and down once in a while. The purring could be heard and she seemed to be in an heavy sleep.

That is until she heard some noise. Her ears perked up and she yawned lightly before opening her eyes wondering about who on earth could’ve awaken up. She made a face to herself and then spotted the human. She meowed before talking. “Human…you woke me up…” she rubbed her eyes and studied him cautiously.

[Tamaki Niwa]

For a moment everything was quiet. In that split second, Tamaki concluded that he must have just been imagining it. Then he picked up on the soft purring, and not to long after he heard a soft meow to his right. When his violet eyes found the girl curled up not even a yard away from him, they practically popped out of his head with surprise.

"Human... You woke me up," came the words almost simultaneously with his shocked reaction. Tamaki immediately leapt up and tried to scurry backward, only to trip over the log and fall flat on his back. "Yee-ahh!" He scrambled to his feet. What was that thing doing there? It had ears... and a tail.. Though was cute in a way, and his shock passed quickly into apprehensive curiosity.Tamaki smoothed his expression and swallowed, trying to ignore his initial reaction. It really wasn't like him to react in such a way, but it seemed like this girl.. This creature, whatever she was, appeared out of no where. How could he not have noticed her before??

"Where did you come from?" Tamaki asked, much more composed now but still stood with cautious posture. He couldn't keep his eyes off the girl's tail. What was she? Some neko come alive from some drawings? This couldn't be real. His dark brows were drawn with confusion and his mouth set in a firm line.

[Manami-Chan]

Manami arched an eyebrow at the boy’s reaction. She didn’t think she looked that scary. She didn’t think she looked at all. She was cute, like a lovely kitten you liked to pet, not a scary weird thing. She ran a hand through her dark blueish hair cleaning them and trying to get off some grass that had gotten into it before studying the purple eyed boy.

“I was sleeping up there, I live at the Takashi Temple…” she told him with a shrug before climbing in the tree and sitting in a cat like position before staring at him once again. She gave him an odd look as he was staring at her tail. Had he ever seen a cat before? Cats always had tails. She didn’t see what was so special with her. She was a human only with ears and a tail. It wasn’t that much of a big deal.

She didn’t trust him yet though, she didn’t like people who thought she was weird. She wasn’t weird! She was…well…normal! They just wasn’t used to see a Neko that’s all. She humphed at the thought before resting her head back on the tree trunk and curling up in an attempt to go back to sleep.

[Tamaki Niwa]

Tamaki could tell that this girl had taken offense of his previous actions. He tried to soften his expression, though he still did not smile. Tamaki rarely smiled anyway, so it wasn't like it was unusual of him or anything. She seemed to act as though she were completely normal with her ears and tail, and that he was stupid to even wonder about them. This irritated him. However, he did not want to offend this girl, as she was rather adorable...

“I was sleeping up there, I live at the Takashi Temple…” She had said. Tamaki knew about the Takashi Temple. It was rumored that the family had special powers or something, but being the logical guy he was, Tamaki had always dismissed such tales as to be mere stories made up to amuse small children. Maybe if this girl lived there, the stories were true after all. Man, he hated being proved to be wrong.

So she had been sleeping. Maybe that was why he hadn't noticed her, as she was very still, and as she curled up once more he noticed her small form. She was much smaller than he, and very delicate, very much like a feline. Deciding he wanted to make up for his obvious offenses, Tamaki cleared his throat.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to offend you," Tamaki offered, hoping she was still awake and able to hear him. Otherwise, he would just feel like an idiot. "You merely surprised me. I thought I was alone. What is your name?" His words were cordial, though not overly kind. His tone was polite.

[Manami-Chan]

Manami purred once again but still was aware of Tamaki’s presence. He seemed to be somewhat the kind of person she couldn’t trust only by saying hello to them. In fact, it took her always some time before she could trust anyone. The only humans she trusted for the moment were the Takashi family even if they tried to make her go back to her home.

She didn’t want to go back to her home. Here in that placed they use to call Tokyo was much more interesting than staying in some boring and dumb woods. Yes she did was in a wood but she didn’t mind that small detail. She felt like home and that’s what was the most important. Her ears perked up as she heard him talking once again. His voice seemed to have softened a little and this time, she didn’t bother to lift her head up not finding much interest into this boy. “I guess I accept your apologizes…” she mused before closing her eyes.

An inaudible sigh escaped her lips as he spoke again. So she wouldn’t be able to continue her nap. She frowned a little but sat up nonetheless wondering about what he wanted with her. After all, he didn’t seem to appreciate much her presence…

“My name is Manami.” She answered to his question before playing along with her tail as her eyes were not locked to him as if she was ready to hunt him down if he’d do anything to hurt her. “What’s your’s?” she then asked curiously.

[Tamaki Niwa]

The acceptance came as a relief to Tamaki, although he was not exactly sure why. Why should he feel bad about the way he reacted? It was only natural. It wasn't like he had attacked her or anything of the sort. He was merely taken aback.

"I am thankful for your acceptance," he formally replied. Friendliness did not come easily to him. When she turned around and introduced herself, aphantom of a smile curved onto Tamaki's lips. The way she watched him conveyed her interest. The dark haired boy thought with an inner laugh that she must be curious, for she could have easily ignored him.

"Tamaki," he replied, giving her his first name. "Nice to meet you, Manami-san. However, it would be easier to officially greet you if you came down from the tree." Maybe all she needed was a little coaxing. Tamaki was very much interested in her. This mythical girl with cat ears and tail... He had been complaining to himself about how boring his life was. Maybe this girl was a chance to make things... well, interesting.

[Manami-Chan]

Manami nodded as he seemed to be glad she had accepted him. Psh, humans could be odd at times. Nah… humans were odd all the times. All they’re way of thinking, the way they acted… this made her even more curious about them wanting to know their way of thinking and why they acted in such ways.

Though, she smiled innocently at him as he gave her his name. At least he was being polite… unlike he has been previously. She made a face as he asked her to come down of the tree. She was perfectly fine up there but after a few moments of reflection, she decided to get down. She stood up on the trunk and jumped down gracefully; after all she was an expert in tree climbing and such other things.

He was much taller than he was she thought looking up at him. She smelled him as her ears went back and fourth. He did smell good… she snapped out of it as she thought she should act more like a human around him and just stood going back in front of him. “Officially greet?” she asked wondering about how humans officially greeted. She gave to Tamaki a curious expression and tilted her head to the side.

[Tamaki Niwa]

Tamaki watched as Manami seemed to consider leaving her post in the tree. She sure was strange, not very much like any human girl he knew. Not that she was human. He had a feeling that if he was too harsh in any way, she might run, and then he would be left with unanswered questions. Tamaki hated that. There was nothing worse than not knowing. Well, for him anyway.

For some reason, he was not surprised when she jumped down so gracefully. She obviously had some of the same features of a cat, both physically and mechanically. When she stood before him, he noted that his calculations were correct when he had assumed that she was much small than he. She barely reached his shoulders. He had to be at least half a foot taller than her. Tamaki watched her with amazement as she began sniffing him, noting her expressions and the way her ears moved back and forth. He wanted to reach out and touch them, but something told him that would not be a very good idea at the moment. She seemed pleased by the way he smelled, so he offered her a small smile.

“It makes it a little difficult when the one you are trying to speak with is up a tree,” Tamaki pointed out. The real reason he had asked her to come down was so that he might inspect her at a closer ranged. As he looked down, he noticed her green eyes that were almost yellow. She looked a year or two younger than him, but he couldn’t be too sure about her actual age. The rest of her was very much like a girl.. If you didn’t count the tail. He found it kind of cute, actually. Sort of like those girls who dressed up in the cat costumes on Halloween… Well, Tamaki found himself smirking at that thought and quickly banished such things from his mind. He had a neko to attend to.

Tamaki thought carefully before speaking, as he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. He had a hard time coming up with something. He didn’t often start conversations, but in this situation, it looked like he would have to be the one to get the ball rolling if he wanted any answers.

”So, Manami-san,” he said slowly. “You said you live at the Takashi Temple. Have you lived there long?” He knew of the place, and had never seen this girl before. Perhaps she was a new addition, he had no idea. Hopefully she would feel talkative. That was a first, Tamaki wanting someone to feel talkative. Usually it was the other way around. This was different, though. He had a reason to listen, to speak. Most of the time, he tuned out because everything was useless babble.

[Manami-Chan]

Manami continued to study him. She had to admit that he was an interesting kind of human. She had never seen one yet who had purple eyes. She figured out that everyone was special in their own ways. She hadn’t seen any human that looked alike yet…well except for those who they used to call twin or something like that. She didn’t remember. She had so much things to learn that she didn’t even know where to start. At least she had all the rest of her life to get to know them since she hadn’t plan to go back to her home yet. Besides… she was still young! For a Neko that is.

She paused at what he told her first. She would’ve been fine up there in the tree but she knew that if she wanted to meet other humans she needed to be less untrusting than she usually was. Not all of the humans were suspicious. Some were indeed weird and freaky but she couldn’t do a thing against it beside running away and hiding from them.

Her head perked up to stare at his eyes as he questioned her and paused for an other moment. It has been a while since she was at the temple but didn’t know how long. She didn’t even know how their system of years and ages worked out there in the human world. An other confusing thing she’d have to learn. She mentally made a face to herself at the idea and decided to answer to him nonetheless.

“I don’t really know… since a while I guess.” She said before placing one of her fingers on her lips and twisting her body from right to left a few times.