It was getting really late, Nao was pacing around the living room.

It was Friday. This was normal. He’s probably out drinking somewhere with his friends.

Nao was nervous anyway, and went to check on the black car. It was there, so it wasn't with Ryan, which meant he was probably alright.

Nao decided to wash himself to kill the time.

An hour later, time was killed, but still no Ryan.

Worrying had made Nao hungry, so he decided to steal some food. He changed into his real form, stretched out his arms and cracked his neck. Then he walked up to the fridge, opened it and peered inside to check if there was anything he could eat without it getting noticed.

As he stood there pondering, he heard voices coming up to the house. One voice was Ryan, the other one an unknown womanperson.

Nao closed the fridge and immediately changed back to his cat form.

He ran to the front door meowing loudly to welcome Ryan home. As the door opened Nao was hit in the nose by a sweet flowery smell. The womanperson was wearing a sickening perfume that overpowered even the smell of alcohol.

Ryan bent down and patted Nao on the head.

“Hi Kitty, I’m back, this is Lilah.”

"Hey Kitty! You're a cute little thing, aren't you?" she chirped.

Tsss, I’ll just call her Smelly, thought Nao to himself. He let himself be petted by Smelly for the three seconds he could hold his breath, then walked to the kitchen. Ryan would probably get his guest a drink, and then Nao could use his I’m-the-hungriest-cat-in-the-world-pose to get something good. That trick always worked when Ryan was drunk.

As he entered the kitchen Nao noticed he was alone.

Strange… It’s not hospitable to refrain from bringing drinks to your guest.

He turned around and walked back to the living room. There were clothes in the living room, but no people.

Oh shit.

Nao ran to the bedroom fast as his legs could carry him. There, he found Ryan shirtless and kissing Smelly, who was in her underwear and in the process of being undressed further.

Nao had to do something! Ryan’s virginity was at stake!

It was probably somewhere in the contract that he should protect that at all cost, right?

Nao panicked. He had to stop this, but how?

He hissed at Smelly.

That didn’t help. She started to undo Ryan’s pants, not even noticing how out of line she was. He had to act NOW!

Nao jumped on the bed, and bit the hand that was fiddling with Ryan’s belt.

That worked.

Smelly screamed and pulled away her hand.

She looked at Nao, eyes wide in shock and horror. Ryan, clearly not having noticed what happened, looked at Smelly, one eyebrow raised, and asked her what’s wrong.

“Your cat bit me!” she yelled and showed him the finger. It had bitemarks on it, but was not badly injured.

“He was probably just playing” Ryan said as he kissed Smelly’s finger. The bastard.

He picked Nao up and petted him. Oh nice, he changed his mind.

“Sweet Kitty, I’ll play with you tomorrow. Now it’s time for some human games.”

Nao didn’t listen, and just purred at Ryan’s touch. He only realised the meaning of his words when he was put outside the bedroom and the door closed behind him. Human games?!

He could not let this happen. He just couldn't.

Nao clawed at the door, meowing loudly. It didn't help. Sounds were coming from the bedroom, Smelly's awful nasty sounds. Then one moan from Ryan that flared his determination to end this NOW.

He jumped up to the door handle several times, until he got the door open. Without any hesitation, he ran towards the bed and jumped up, clawing at Smelly’s back, who was sitting on top of Ryan.

“MINE!!” Nao screamed, which startled himself.

Smelly screamed. Ryan screamed. And both jumped up from the bed.

Nao was still startled by his own actions, and therefore didn't move an inch, when Ryan picked him up by the scruff of his neck like a little kitten.

“Bad Kitty!” Ryan shouted, and proceeded to throw Nao outside the house. He even closed the cat flap from the inside.

***

Nao sat outside.

He was actually locked out of his house.

Smelly was inside, doing naughty things to Ryan. And he was outside. Alone.

Bad Kitty.

The words hadn’t hurt by themselves. Ryan had called him a bad kitty before, but always looking at him with tender eyes or a slight smile. There was nothing tender about this time. His eyes had been cold and his expression one of real anger.

Nao couldn’t get it out of his head. He felt a stabbing pain in his chest and noticed he was crying.

“Mine” he had screamed. He had actually used his real voice and screamed “mine”.

Why?

Why was he so hurt?

He was a guardian. And although Smelly was obviously nasty and evil, Ryan’s life was not actually in danger here. So why? Nao felt his aggression grow as he thought about her, so he decided to think about something else.

It didn’t work. He kept seeing Ryan’s angry eyes. Nao curled up in a ball on the doormat and cried some more until he fell asleep.