"This is why Granny refused to have children�" Grandpa moaned, waiting for Klonoa to stop splashing for long enough to dash in and scrub him with the soap.
Klonoa DID stop for a few seconds, just long enough to try to climb out of the wash tub. He had tiny cat-like claws on his hands and feet, but couldn't get enough traction on the slick surface of the wet wood. He slipped back into the tub and under the surface of the water, still wailing. Grandpa rushed over and pulled him out of the water by one ear.
Klonoa spluttered and shook his head vigorously, eyes wide. He seemed to be surprised by the fact that he couldn't breathe underwater. He stared straight at Grandpa and flopped his free ear helplessly.
"There now, you see? Just sit still and you won't drown." Grandpa began to scrub the stunned Klonoa with a bar of lye soap, working the burrs and leaves out of his fur. The soap had an instant effect, both on the boy's black coat and on his behavior. Playing with soap suds was much more fun than splashing around and crying. He sat in the tub obediently and picked up soap bubbles from the water, holding them in his small hands and gazing at them in placated wonder.
The doctor had been right; when his fur was wet and plastered down, Klonoa was woefully thin. His ears were thicker than his arms at the shoulder, and Grandpa could make a ring around the boy's belly with just his hands. They'd made a little progress at dinnertime, however - Grandpa discovered that Klonoa was not a finnicky eater. Two peaches, rye bread, milk, a cup of strawberries, cheese, a piece of rhubarb pie, a hard boiled egg, and a little bit of leftover roast all vanished from the tiny child's plate before Grandpa decided to call an end to dinner, for fear that Klonoa would make himself sick.
Meanwhile, back at the wash tub, Klonoa's fur was being dilligently relieved of an astonishing amount of dirt. Grandpa had to change the water in the tub twice and find an extra bar of soap before bathtime was over. Then there was a flurry of towels, catching, losing, cornering, and catching Klonoa again and again until he was satisfactorily dry.
Finally cleaned, Klonoa ran around the elder's hut to finish drying off with nothing more than a towel (the last dry one) wrapped around his waist. Grandpa flopped onto his down bed and watched Klonoa with a mixture of relief and exhaustion. The thought of performing the same ritual everynight was terrifying.
"Wa-hoo-wa-hoo-KLONOA!" Klonoa giggled, jumping up next to Grandpa and bouncing on the bed. At the top of each jump, he flapped his ears like bird wings and kicked his legs, enjoying the newfound energy of a healthy meal.
"Yes, yes. Wahoo to you too," Grandpa chuckled, rolling over and watching the boy enjoy himself. Regardless of the trouble, he was very pleased to finally have a son.
A sudden knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Yes, coming!"
Grandpa pushed himself off the bed, took up his walking stick from where he had left it against the wall, and went to answer the door. Klonoa stopped jumping and sat on the bed, watching curiously.
The elder opened the door to see the faces of three of the village children, a male cat and rabbit named Lute and Sedge, respectively, and a younger cat girl known as Niki. The boys were about Klonoa's age, the girl was a year younger.
"Hey, Grandpa! Can we see the harvest demon?"
Grandpa blinked.
"The what?"
"The harvest demon! The weird-lookin' spirit you found in the field today! We wanna see him!"
"Is he ugly? Does he turn kids into weeds? Did he try to turn YOU into a weed?!" Sedge asked eagerly, bouncing around his companion.
The little girl stood back aways from her brother and his friend, watching shyly.
"C'mon, please show us!" the cat boy said, flicking his tail, "We've never seen a real demon before!"
"He's not a demon. He's a little boy, and he's going to live in Breezegale from now on." Grandpa frowned and narrowed the doorway a bit, hoping to prevent the two from looking past him and searching for Klonoa.
"But everyone says he looks really weird! He's got super-big ears and scary glowing eyes and fangs and he bites and he's got magical powers and he talks backwards and-�"
"Enough of that!" Grandpa said, cutting the rabbit child off, "he looks perfectly normal, and he acts just like you. Now please.. you'll see him in the morning. It's nearly nine o'clock, I'm sure you should be at home by now�"
But as the elder tried to close the door, disaster struck. Klonoa, still wet and wearing only a towel, wiggled past him and jumped out onto the front step, inches away from the boys. They instinctively took a step back and stared at Klonoa, particularly at his huge yellow eyes reflecting the twilight and his long, fluffy ears, swinging gently in the night wind.
"WOAH� he looks even creepier than I thought," said Lute, gaping.
"Go back inside, Klonoa," Grandpa said nervously, "and you three, please go home�"
The children just continued to stare. Klonoa shook himself, ears flopping around madly, and lost his towel.
The little girl covered her eyes and blushed terribly.
Grandpa grabbed Klonoa by his ears and yanked him inside, slamming the door quickly with his other hand.
The children, a little stunned, eventually left the elder's front porch and went back home. Grandpa heard the cat child talking to the rabbit as they left:
"What a wierdo!"
(to be continued very soon... Osoi da. >.<)
