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Wandering along the busy shopping district of Ikebukuro, a young Korat looked about her with lowered ears and a lonely expression. Behind her, her tail hung low, and her arms swung uselessly at her sides. People milled all around the cat as she walked, but she paid them no attention. Her emerald eyes were searching for the tail-less cat she had grown so attached to, but couldn't seem to find. It seemed that Demi was busy with other things lately, and so, not really knowing anyone else yet, Natsuki had been left to her own devices to explore the unfamiliar town. With a light sigh, she slumped against the door frame of one of the many shops and stared down at her paws.

Suddenly, a glimmer from the corner of her vision snagged her attention, and the Korat blinked a few times and lifted her head. Like magic, a small rainbow was dancing against the sidewalk. Where had that come from? As she watched it with growing interest, the rainbow moved suddenly, beginning to shift back and forth in it's place. Both slate-gray ears shot up as the colors went into motion, and Natsuki was on her paws again in an instant, her distress apparently forgotten with this new distraction. Keeping low, she slunk over to the rainbow and pounced forward, slapping both forepaws against the concrete. To the girl's amazement, the shimmering colors seemed to evade her capture, slipping up through her paws to rest across the tops of them before suddenly flitting off. The cat's eyes began to shine and she happily gave chase.

Unknown to her, a couple of humans had paused to watch the curious, amusing spectacle. A young clerk inside the shop giggled to herself, carefully moving the prism about.

Natsuki was having a wonderful time darting to and fro, completely enchanted by the dancing rainbow. The young girl wasn't aware that a crowd of humans had gathered until a sudden hiss snapped her attention away from her game. Green eyes shot up to the familiar figure of an orange tomcat, and though it didn't take her long to recognize him, every short, grey hair on her pelt had bristled with the shock of his sudden arrival. "Fox!" She chirped brightly, straightening and padding up to stand behind him, what was he doing? At his warning, she blinked and looked up at the crowd of humans surrounding them, her ears lowering a little in realization. "Oops...? guess I was being a little careless... eheheh..." The girl slicked a paw over one ear, giggling nervously and inching even more closely to Fox's back as the threat the creatures presented began sinking in. "I don't really know my way around this part of town... do you?" Natsuki's long, thin tail hung low behind her, curling against her leg a little.

Natsuki smiled brightly at him when he turned to grab her hand. "Ah! Okay!" She chirped, fighting back a giggle at the way the humans seemed to recoil from a small creature such as they were. Curling her hand around in the young tom's, the Korat held on and ran with him. She made sure to pay attention to where they were going so that she could use it in the future, but otherwise, she had fun fleeing the dangerous situation with Fox. When they seemed to have reached safer territory, they slowed, and the dark-haired girl was surprised at the sudden question. All the same, she grinned at him and shrugged, "No, it wasn't anything like that... I was bored I guess." Tilting her head at him, she let one ear fall back to the side and giggled, "I was a little lonesome too. I had fun playing with those weird earth colors though! That's why I didn't realize all those people had gathered!" The girl giggled again like it really wasn't a big deal and waved her tail excitedly behind her.

Natsuki found herself a little disappointed when his hand finally slipped from hers, but a giddy smile still held her face. Her tail wagged slowly behind her as she watched him, a little surprised that he actually looked up the meaning of the nickname he chose to call her. "You're right," She giggled, her face flushing a little when he moved her hair behind her ear, "Ah, thank you for saying that, even though I don't really think it's true." Sheepishly, the Korat thought back to Elarinya; the Burmese didn't seem to take to her too well. Natsuki was amused by the way the orange cat seemed to get flustered, but perked her ears forward with interest as Fox suddenly turned back to her and held out his hand again. "Rainbow... is that what it was called?" She asked with an eager grin, bouncing forward to take the offered hand again, "Okay, I'll go with you! I'd really like to see this place! Is it colorful?" Her tail waved happily in the air behind her, an a light color danced on her cheeks as she smiled brightly to the tom.

Natsuki blissfully followed the striking orange tomcat, content to follow him wherever he was taking her. Fox made the girl forget about her loneliness, and she didn't want to go find Demi when he was nearby either. Listening to him describe their destination, the Korat smiled softly and looked ahead eagerly. "It sounds nice, I'd like to see it when the flowers are in bloom..." It wasn't exactly a promise, but she was sincere in her desire. The two of them stepped through the last of the brush and came face to face with the waterfall. Natsuki's eyes widened and glimmered happily, and she clapped her hands in front of her chest, admiring the amazing array of colors dancing in the mist. Her tail wagged joyously and she breathed in an awed gasp. "Oh, Fox! It's so pretty! Amazing!" Even though the foliage around it was barren, dormant for winter, the sight was still quite breathtaking for the young cat. Glancing up at Fox, the Korat found herself blushing again, and she ducked her head a little, ears tilting back a little. For the first time, the dark-haired girl found herself feeling somewhat awkward and nervous, and she wasn't sure why. "Thank you... for bringing me here." She mewed quietly, tail still wagging slowly, "And for saving me earlier."

Natsuki smiled brightly and watched Fox sit down at the edge of the lake. She was excited to be able to come back to this wonderful place when all the plants woke up and bloomed. Tail still wagging at the air behind her, she absently played with the barren branches of a bush, bright green eyes returning to admire the colors shimmering in the mist of the falls. Although she was at peace here with the orange tom, her body was feeling oddly warm.

Both of her slate-grey ears perked up and she glanced over at Fox at his sudden confession, only to see him look down again quickly. Instantly, the warmth in her body intensified and her cheeks felt like they were glowing with the heat. Having never been courted by a boy before, or even been on a date, the young she cat wasn't sure what to make of it. She kind of understood what he was saying, and she knew that his nickname for her was a word of affection. Connecting two and two suddenly made a lot of things make sense, and Natsuki nearly felt dizzy with it all. Her heart thumping at a light, fluttery tempo, the young girl made her way over to Fox and sat next to him quietly. Staring into the water in front of them, she thought about what to say, even though he said it wasn't necessary to respond.

When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet and hesitant, "I...erm..." She was entirely certain that her face really was glowing by now, and so the korat didn't dare look at him, ducking her head instead, "...I like spending time with you too, Fox." Could he hear her heart beating? Why did it feel so hard all of a sudden? Her tail brushed against the ground, twitching rapidly as she tried to think of what to say to him. Finally, the girl glanced up at him through a curtain of dark bangs and gave a small smile. "I don't know what it feels like to really like someone, but I have a lot of fun when I'm with you!"

Leaning over, she set both of her hands over his and peered up at him after another pause, a giddy smile on her face. "I'd really like it if we could play more often!"