Chapter Text
The next morning, Joe woke up feeling Kaoru pressed against his back. It was enough that he had slept through the night, and now there was nothing more that he wanted than just to live in the peace that he was enveloped in. That was until a familiar and horrifying sound forced his eyes open.
Hanamaru chirped happily, and shifted on the pillow next to him. Joe watched as the kitten stood, and scrunched into a stretch that made his body take the shape of an upside down ‘U’ before straightening out like an untangled cord. But it was what came next that Joe dreaded. Without fail, the deafening motorboat of a purr cut through the previously silent room. Some portion of the kitten's brain was hardwired into detecting even the slightest bit of consciousness.
It was only two steps before a fluffy white pelt was pressed into his neck, and the vibrations of the purr echoed through his skull. Kojiro groaned, hoping that the kitten would leave him alone long enough that he could wake up without having the awkward wake up make out session.
That was when Kaoru groaned, his head pressing harder into Kojiro’s back. “Why are we awake?”
Joe couldn’t help a soft chuckle escaping from his lips. He closed his eyes, feeling Kaoru’s hands grip into his shirt and knees tuck up into the curve of his legs. “The tiny white fur child.”
Kaoru groaned, head now trying to hide under the covers from the dim rays of light flooding the room.
“I can make us breakfast, if you want.” Joe shifted, but found Kaoru had a very firm grip on his nightshirt.
Cherry grumbled, and gently shook his head. Joe laughed, his chest rumbling with the noise. “Well if I can’t do that-” He shifted, displacing Hanamaru, pulling Kaoru instead into his chest. “-what do you propose we do?”
“Sleep.” Kaoru seemed to adjust to Kojiro’s arms around him, holding them together in the tangle of the sheets.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Even as he spoke, Hanamaru was repositioning himself as if nothing had disturbed him, “the child is hungry, too.”
There was another grumble as Kaoru’s pink head slipped back under the blankets, pressing into Kojiro’s chest. “Fine.” he finally admitted, although he didn’t move from his spot.
After another moment, where Kojiro swore he didn’t accidentally nod back off, he spoke. “You are going to have to let me leave.”
The silence was calm and almost dream-like, even with the low rumbling purr around his neck. Kojiro couldn’t help but smile. All week, this was the best he’d felt; a full night sleep and the two things that meant the most to him right there. While Hanamaru had been a pain when it had come to attempted shut eye, he was really growing on the green haired chef.
“Fine.” The response finally came and the long calligrapher’s fingers finally released the fabric of his shirt. “I’ll be here.” Kaoru yawned before turning over.
“As you wish.” Kojiro pressed his lips gently on the momentarily exposed temple, which did disturb Hanamaru.
The kitten was fine as soon as he realized that Joe was getting up and he was going to be getting breakfast. Happily, tail straight up in the air, Hanamaru led the way, high pitched trilling announcing his excitement. The tiny fluff ball knew he owned the place, which was impressive since it had only been weeks since they had gotten into a sort of routine.
However, it was easy for Kojiro to fall into it, too. He pulled a clean bowl from the dishwasher, and the half can of kitten food from the fridge. He also freshened up the water and the bowl of kibble that Hanamaru had nibbled away at all night.
While Hanamaru ate, Kojiro started breakfast.
It was easy to fall into his thoughts while he worked. As he woke up, he remembered that previous night. He had thought that Kaoru wasn’t going to come over. His memory was foggy on if he had woken up or if that had been part of his dream.
“It must have been real.” He reasoned, the sounds of the coffee percolating to his left. There was a small pit growing in his stomach as he remembered locking Hanamaru out of the bedroom. Was Kaoru just waiting to scold him about proper pet parenting?
The sausage sizzled on the pan as he let his thoughts take over. He had almost formulated an exact and precise set of responses when he heard the bathroom door close gently and Hanamaru excitedly trot over to the door.
Kojiro let out a slow breath and moved over to the fridge. He grabbed several eggs, intending on an omelet for their meal. With the new frustration of defending his need to sleep, he began scrambling the eggs vigorously. He not only needed to incorporate the milk but also add enough air to make the omelet light and fluffy.
He knew the moment that Kaoru entered the kitchen, because the man went straight for a cup for his coffee. “Morning.” He yawned, moving to the fresh pot.
“Morning.” Kaoru let out a soft yawn as the coffee poured into his favorite mug. He drank his coffee with a single sugar cube and a splash of milk. Kojiro, on the other hand, preferred a very sugary coffee creamer additive that Kaoru teased him about constantly. That had been one thing he hadn’t adopted from his time in Italy.
“What’s for breakfast?” Kaoru leaned back against the counter, black and pink cup in hand as he nursed the concoction he had made for himself.
“Omelet with a side of hash browned potatoes.” Kojiro felt nervous, wondering exactly when his boyfriend would pounce.
“Hmm.” Cherry seemed neither pleased nor upset with the noise, which only threw Joe off even more. “If anyone else was cooking I’d be worried.”
It was a complement, especially coming from the Prince of Picky. “You’ll love it.” Kojiro insisted, pouring the eggs into the pan.
“I am aware.”
They fell back into silence for a while, Joe focused on making the perfect eggs. Once he flipped it and filled it, he turned back to Kaoru.
“So, when’d you come over last night?” There was enough time for him to pull his eyes from the food to address Cherry.
“I believe it was around ten at night.” There was a slow way about the words as Cherry lifted a brow. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, but there was still something serious about his gaze.
“How’d you get in?” Kojiro felt his heart leap in his chest at the question. There were only two answers, and neither were pleasant.
“You left the door unlocked.” There was a particularly unreadable aspect to the golden eyes as Kaoru peered over the top of his coffee mug.
Kojiro swallowed hard, his throat feeling dry. “Oh.” He felt stupid, not remembering to lock his own flat after a long days work. He cursed under his breath as he turned and went back to the food. Since it was ready, there wasn’t much more that he could continue with the conversation.
“You need to take better care of yourself.”
So they were going to continue the conversation, even as he split the omelet in half and divided it between two plates. He added a sprinkling of cheese atop the plates, letting the residual heat from the cooking steam the cheese into the perfect gooey consistency.
There was no way for him to justify that. Kojiro had a tendency of neglecting himself when his passions were suffering. It wasn’t as if he hated his job, but he just did what was needed to his own detriment.
“I have four guys starting in the next two weeks. A cook, a hostess and two waitstaff. It’ll help.” Kojiro insisted, trying to at least find a good reason for his blunder. It could have ended much worse, a drunk patron lost on his way to the washroom, or worse.
“Is Hanamaru causing you that much sleep loss?” Kaoru’s face was flat, as he obviously attempted to read the large buffoon in front of him.
The question seemed to come out of nowhere, and it took Kojiro’s mind a moment to reel from the shock. “I mean, he does seem to want attention at, you know, midnight?”
“Hmm.” Kaoru nodded once, and moved over towards the dining table. “I guess I will have to move in then.”
“What?” Kojiro stumbled over his own words, eyes wide in surprise at the sudden announcement. It wasn’t that he was opposed to the idea, or even cared if Kaoru wanted to move in. Up until that very moment, Cherry had been strict with his need for his own apartment. It was located over his calligraphy studio, as his own flat was above Sia La Luce.
“I won’t be giving up my studio. But I will spend more of my nights here. He seems to behave better when we are both in the house, does he not?” Kaoru spoke in a normal voice, which floated over the open bar that looked into the kitchen.
“I mean,” Kojiro was still busy picking up his chin from the floor, when he remembered he still had potatoes on the griddle. “Yeah.” He clicked the burner off, the open flame dying instantly. Luckily the hash browns were perfect.
Quickly, Kojiro plated the remainder of the breakfast and placed them on the table. “You really want to move in?”
“I will simply need a key. I am a little afronted that you haven’t given me one yet.” Kaoru looked up, and the expression made Kojiro burst into a short succession of laughter.
“Yeah. You’re right.” Perhaps it was the fact that Kaoru wasn’t mad at him for locking up his precious angel, or the fact that he was inviting himself to live in his flat in as permanent a facet as he was able. It wasn’t that difficult to order a second set of keys. “How could I have not gifted you with the most basic of dating necessities.”
Without waiting for an answer, Kojiro turned on his heel and headed back into the kitchen. There was a grumbled complaint that the chef chose to ignore. “How silly of me.” He laughed again, bringing out his favorite mug for a cup of joe he was desperately needing.
“I am going to copy your key today. I’ll move in my things while you are at work. Don’t worry about any of it. I can hire someone to do any heavy lifting I need.”
There was another laugh as Kojiro shook his head. There was a warm spot in his chest that came from Kaoru being Kaoru. “I might be able to take some time off to help, if you wanted instead?”
“No need. I’ve already got a company hired for ten o’clock.” Kaoru had already started to eat as Kojiro took a seat, and looked down at his own plate.
In one of the many cat posts, Hanamaru lay curled up in a ball. Of course he was smug. He had just gotten exactly what he wanted.
A purrfect little life.