Chapter Text
“Saru.”
“Nn?”
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“Damnit, Saru. Let. Me. Go.”
“No.”
“For fuck’s sake, I’m glad you’re glad I’m human and all, but it’s fucking cold in your room and I’m fucking naked.”
“Let me warm you up, then.”
“I swear to god, if you don’t let me go, I’m gonna – “
“Fine, fine.”
Fushimi had just finished the most emotional speech of his life, and it had felt pretty good to do so. It was an amazing experience, but with the kind of luck he has, it was short-lived. As soon as Fushimi blinked, there was a strange popping sound followed by a thud, and it took Fushimi a while to realize that that thud was actually a large lump of Yata that had fallen on top of him. When the shock of being pushed back and suddenly losing hold of a tiny cat subsided, he opened his eyes to find a head of red hair resting on his shoulder. Fushimi’s arms were wrapped around the person’s neck, and he didn’t really know if it was because he was about to snap his neck in surprise, or because they were just wrapped around a cat a moment ago.
Fushimi released his arms from around the redhead and Yata immediately scrambled to cover himself in Fushimi’s bedsheet. Fushimi clicked his tongue, turning away quickly to give Yata some privacy. “You have clothes by the door, idiot.”
“Stupid monkey, Kusanagi’s outside.” Yata had practically growled. Fushimi imagined a pair of cat ears on Yata, and almost laughed at how cute it’d be if he still had his cat ears at least.
Instead of laughing at his own thought, Fushimi clicked his tongue again, and then stood up to dig through his drawer in the other corner of the room. He fished for a pair of black boxers he doesn’t recall ever using and a random blue shirt that he had flung inside the drawer next to it. He tossed it over his back and towards Yata, listening to the shuffling of fabric and contemplating whether Yata would be okay if he turned around at any moment.
“You can turn around now.” Yata muttered, interrupting Fushimi’s mental sermon for even thinking to peep on Yata. Fushimi’s clothes were quite long on him, and when Fushimi noticed how much smaller Yata looked in his clothes, he had trouble suppressing the urge to walk up and squeeze him. Yata was clutching his red collar with one hand, and the bedsheets with the other. When he noticed Fushimi looking it at the collar, he set it on the nightstand and occupied his newly-freed hand with the hem of Fushimi’s shirt.
The mood in the room was extremely awkward, to say the least. Yata was having a mental breakdown at the edge of the bed, while Fushimi was debating whether or not going to sit with him was going to make things any better. Neither wanted to speak through the thick air. The faint sound of something scratching at the door managed to break the spell, but neither of them spoke as Fushimi went to open the door.
Kusanagi was sitting up on the couch, speaking to what Fushimi thinks is Awashima on the PDA. Fushimi picked up the darker kitten (who had been watching the orange one paw at the door), allowing the orange kitten to wander into the room and straight to Yata. Yata in turn picked up the orange kitten and began petting it absentmindedly.
“Guess I can’t really speak to you guys anymore, huh?” Yata wondered out loud. Fushimi stood by the door with the black kitten in his hands. He and the kitten were watching Kusanagi on the PDA, who was seemingly trying to calm down the person on the other line.
“I’m safe, don’t worry.” He assured the other party. “I’m just at Fushimi’s.” The other person spoke for a while before Kusanagi laughed and ended the call with “I’ll be back soon, then. Bye.”
He turned to Fushimi, whose observant eyes seemed to see right through him, and he sighed. “Awashima wants me home now that Yata’s back to normal.” He looked past Fushimi and noticed Yata’s familiar red hair. He smiled, glad to see that it didn’t take as long as he thought for him to return to normal. “So you finally figured it out.”
Fushimi nodded slightly and looked back towards Yata, who was watching him intently. The orange kitten was vying for his attention, but sadly wasn’t getting any. “Kusanagi has to go.” Fushimi said to Yata, unsure as to why he wanted to tell him in the first place. He wasn’t sure of anything right now, actually. The air in the bedroom was terrible despite Yata being human again, and he couldn’t figure out what was plaguing Yata’s mind at a time like this.
“Alright.” Yata said, and turned his attention back to petting the orange kitten. The kitten mewled in protest now that they had too much attention, but Yata’s mind was too far away to hear their pleas.
Fushimi put the black kitten down and lead Kusanagi to the door. When he opened the door to let him out, they were both surprised to find Awashima right outside with her hand in the air, looking as if she was about to knock on the door. She put her hand back to her side and cleared her throat. “I’m just here to get him.”
“Yes ma’am.” Fushimi muttered before opening the door a little more and allowing Kusanagi out. Kusanagi gave a small wave towards Yata then walked out. “Goodnight.” Fushimi called out to their back, albeit very quietly.
Awashima turned and looked at Fushimi, shocked. It was her first time ever hearing Fushimi say any sort of farewell to someone that wasn’t a return farewell.
She cleared her throat again. “Yes. Goodnight.” She said stiffly, making Kusanagi laugh. He turned and said his own farewell before pushing a half shocked, half annoyed Awashima towards their own dorm. As Fushimi closed the door, he could faintly hear Awashima going off about staying at another person’s dorm without her permission while Kusanagi apologized repeatedly, which seemed to anger her even more. Fushimi sighed a little, and as soon as the door clicked and automatically locked he turned back to his bedroom and practically sulked inside, nearly slamming the door shut.
He was exhausted; first Yata poofs back naked, then the kittens wake up at the dead of night, and now he wasn’t so sure if Kusanagi was thinking anything absurdly lewd due to Yata practically shouting that he was naked just a few moments ago.
He wanted nothing more than to sleep, but he was faced with a seemingly disoriented Yata and two very awake kittens. He could kick the three out and make them stay at Yata’s dorm for the rest of the night, but that wouldn’t have a considerably good outcome no matter how he looked at it. Just as he was about to walk out and sleep on the couch, Yata called out to him.
“Saru.” Yata murmured, letting the orange kitten drop out of his lap and join the black kitten, who was seated at Yata’s feet and watching the two of them. When the orange kitten landed on the floor, they immediately started pouncing on each other, completely ignoring their owners as they played around in the room. “Come here.” Yata whispered solemnly, his words barely reaching Fushimi.
He did as he was told and stood in front of Yata, looking down at him. Yata wasn’t meeting him in the eyes; his focus was elsewhere and his hands gripped the bedsheets so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Neither of them moved; the kittens had made their ways back to the living room and were fumbling around with the bell toy, its ringing a nice distraction from whatever was going on between the two of them. Ever-so-slowly, Yata unclenched his fists and wrapped them around Fushimi’s waist as gently as he could. He pulled Fushimi to him and buried his face in his stomach inhaling Fushimi’s scent. Fushimi was surprised, but let Yata do what he wanted to do. He didn’t understand what was going through Yata’s head, but leaving him alone probably wasn’t the smartest idea at the moment.
The longer Yata hugged Fushimi, the more Fushimi wanted to wrap his arms around Yata, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. Not until he figured out why Yata was so upset. When Fushimi’s feet started feeling weird from staying in one spot for so long, he finally asked Yata, “What’s wrong?”
Yata shook his head against Fushimi’s stomach, tightening his arms just a little. “I don’t know,” Yata replied, words muffled by Fushimi’s shirt. “I’m happy, but I’m also upset because I can’t talk to the kittens anymore. It’s only been a day, too, but I feel weird walking on two feet. And you buy way too much chicken, I swear I’m going to get a stomachache from all the chicken you fed me….”
Fushimi patted his head. “It’s always weird after a Strain’s power has been lifted, and chicken isn’t unhealthy for you. It was all I knew to feed you.”
“I know but…” Yata sighed. “Anyways, I never even got to figure out what to name them…”
Fushimi sighed, but let Yata comfort himself. Going to sleep right that moment was most likely out of the question for the two of them, but he still had the day off tomorrow anyhow. “Let me get some coffee started.” He murmured, pulling away from Yata a little. “Want me to help you up?”
Yata nodded and let go of Fushimi. He held his arms out and let Fushimi pull him up a standing position. Yata was surprised to see that he was adapting to being a human a lot faster than he thought it’d take, but he still felt weird seeing things from so high up again. It felt like he had been crawling for an entire day, and he was starting to feel funny from the sudden change in bodily functions. Fushimi let go of Yata’s left hand and tugged him to the kitchen with his right. He sat Yata down on one of the chairs and walked over to the coffee maker he had, but barely ever used.
Fushimi got two small cups of coffee ready and sat next to Yata, bringing the two cups, a spoon, and some sweetener with him. He added a little more sweetener in Yata’s than he did with his own, hoping that a little sugar would be enough to cure him of his gloomy state. Yata tested the coffee, and after a satisfying smile he downed almost half of it in one go. Yata sighed and leaned a shoulder on Fushimi.
“Can you tell me what’s really wrong, now?” Fushimi asked him. Yata was twiddling his fingers as he spoke.
“We-well, you saw me… na-naked.” He muttered, tilting his head down to make sure Fushimi never caught his blush. He was caught by surprise when he felt Fushimi’s body tremble, then he realized that Fushimi was actually trying not to laugh. “It’s not funny!” Yata nearly yelled, pulling away and glaring at Fushimi. The glare didn’t really work, because Yata’s cheeks were tinged a deep red and he looked more embarrassed than mad.
“I’m sorry.” Fushimi smiled a little, suppressing his laughter. “But that’s an absurd reason to be this upset.”
“Why aren’t you fazed by this? I mean, seeing someone fucking naked – “
“Well, I’d see you naked anyways, since we’re going to live together.”
Yata’s blush deepened, if that was even possible. “Damnit Saru, it’s times like these when I can’t really tell if you’re joking or not.”
“I’m not.” He said softly, looking Yata right in the eyes as he spoke. “If we’re going to act like soulmates, it’s already a given that we’d see each other naked and all that.”
Yata sighed again, this time in exasperation. He looked away from Fushimi’s unrelenting gaze. “Weird.”
“It’s nice to see you back to normal again.” Yata could literally sense Fushimi’s smirk. He snuck a glance at Fushimi, and when he realized that his smirk was more of a genuine smile more than anything, he mentally slapped himself for letting his mind drift south for a split second.
“A-anyways.” Yata said, looking for something else to talk about. “How about we give the kittens names?”
“Go ahead and name them, Misaki.”
“No! I want both of us to name them. What should we name them?”
“I don’t want to name them, though.” Fushimi yawned. Even with caffeine in his system, it was proving to be difficult to stay awake much longer.
“We’ll each name one of them, how about that?”
“Whatever you want, Misaki.” Fushimi murmured, setting his forehead on the table. Yata sighed, bending down to lean his head on Fushimi’s back.
“Want to go to bed?” Yata asked.
“The kittens, though.” Came Fushimi’s drowsy reply.
“They’ll go to bed soon. They sleep a lot.”
“How do you know?”
“The black kitten told me so.”
“Hm.” Fushimi sat up slowly, forcing Yata off, and rubbed his eyes. He wanted so badly to go to bed, but he didn’t want to leave Yata out alone with the kittens.
“We could just put them in your room for the night.” Yata said, fighting a yawn himself. “I should head back – “
“No.” Fushimi said, rejecting the idea of Yata leaving his side so soon. Even if Yata would be right next door, he was technically still on observation duty. He needed to see if there was an aftereffect. And what if something attacked him again? They were both accident prone, but Fushimi still handled such situations much better than Yata ever could. Yata frowned at Fushimi’s sudden rejection.
“Why can’t I go back to my dorm? I’ll take the kittens if you want me to, ya know.”
Fushimi put his hand on Yata’s shoulder, gripping it a little tightly. “Just don’t.” he murmured, looking towards the floor.
Something clicked in Yata’s mind, and after seeing Fushimi’s lonely face a night ago it became more apparent to him that leaving Fushimi alone was probably a bad idea.
“Where will I sleep, then?” Yata asked Fushimi.
“On the bed with me, of course.”
Yata stood up abruptly and stared at Fushimi. The screech of the chair made the kittens jump, but they went back to playing right after. “You know we’ve only been all close and shit for about two days, right? And I was a cat like eighty or ninety percent of the time, right? How are you so comfortable with this? You didn’t even want a soulmate in the first place.”
Fushimi shrugged. Yata sighed; he was the one that wanted to jump into a romantic relationship in the first place, but he still couldn’t handle physical contact. Fushimi, on the other hand, didn’t mind the contact one bit, despite having been against the idea of soulmates for the longest time. “Fine, fine. But don’t do anything weird.” Yata said through gritted teeth, downing the rest of his coffee and turning away from Fushimi. He was facing the living room now, where the kittens were running around.
“I wouldn’t.” Fushimi yawned loudly. “I’m too tired to do anything right now.”
“Right. We’ll just name the cats later…” Yata watched the two kittens pounce around in their bed. It seemed like they were playing tag, despite them being just inches away from one another. Yata smiled a little, remembering when he was just a little larger than them and messing around as if he wasn’t ever planning on turning back into a human.
“Should we just leave them out here?” Fushimi was fighting yet another yawn.
“Just leave the door open a crack.” Yata replied. “I already talked to them about the litterbox and how they’re not supposed to come in here when they’re not invited in.”
“Such obedient kittens.” Fushimi drawled.
“Well, I don’t know if they’ll actually do what I say, but you never know.” Yata shrugged. After watching Fushimi’s eyes droop just a little lower, Yata gave in and pulled him by the hands, slowly leading him to his bed. They both needed sleep, but Fushimi looked like he was about to drop dead any moment.
When he finally made Fushimi lay down under the covers, he removed his glasses before Fushimi could roll over and potentially break them, like he’s done more times in the past than he’ll ever admit to. Yata laughed at how bent Fushimi was on sleeping; he still had some energy left but could probably fall asleep fairly quickly too. Caffeine usually meant nothing to either of them if it was nighttime, so even if they both had a little coffee, it wouldn’t keep them awake for very long.
After Fushimi rolled his way over to one side of the bed, Yata laid down on the other side with his back to Fushimi. Yata secretly wanted to roll over and sling an arm over his sleepy soulmate, but Fushimi already beat him to it by slinging his own arm over Yata’s waist. Yata blushed, hiding his face in the pillow. Fushimi’s breath tickled Yata, but he’d never tell him that.
“Goodnight.” Yata murmured, hoping Fushimi was awake enough to hear.
“…’Night.”
_____________________________
It was already well past their usual breakfast time when Fushimi woke up. He wasn’t sure if they slept at all, but the two kittens were already up and running about again, no doubt starving after having not eaten in so long. Fushimi tried to go around Yata slowly so as to not wake him, but Yata wasn’t as deep of a sleeper as anyone would think he was; he woke up with a start as soon as Fushimi had Yata right under him.
“Wha – “ Yata’s eyes widened.
“I’m just trying to get around you.” Fushimi said immediately, hoping that Yata wasn’t getting the wrong idea. Yata sighed and turned to his side, grabbing Fushimi’s pillow and sandwiching his face between that and his own pillow.
“Go feed the kittens while you’re at it.” Yata murmured before attempting to drift back to sleep.
Fushimi made it the rest of the way around Yata and stood up to do what Yata told him to do. He went to the kitchen and scooped a cup of cat food into each of the two bowls, and as soon as he set them on the floor the two kittens immediately darted over and started digging in. Fushimi suddenly felt bad for the two and patted their heads, muttering a quick ‘sorry for not feeding you sooner’ before going to the bathroom to do his business. When he finished brushing his teeth, he went back to his bedroom and found Yata already sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“I thought you were going to sleep more.” Fushimi said, walking over to the drawers to pull out some clothes to change into after he took a shower.
“’dun want to anymore.” Yata yawned. “I need to go back to my dorm.”
“We’ll get your stuff moved into this one soon enough.” Fushimi said. Yata looked at him, puzzled. “You forgot?”
Yata nodded. Fushimi sighed, thinking of an easy way to explain the situation.
“What happens when a member of Scepter 4 finds their soulmate?”
“They live with them.”
“Exactly.”
“But we’re right next to each other already, though.”
Fushimi shrugged. “Captain’s orders. Now hurry get your stuff from your dorm into mine. I have a report to write and you need to schedule an appointment with the vet.” Yata groaned in protest.
“Too lazy…”
Fushimi clicked his tongue. “Then do it when you’re not lazy. Go get some more rest. We probably won’t get called back to work until after the weekend.”
“That’s four days!”
“I know, so go rest. I need to do reports. If the vet asks, the kittens are about three months old.”
Yata sighed. “Yeah yeah. But your reports… Do them in bed.”
“… huh?”
Yata’s cheeks were turning a dark shade of red. “I-I mean, do your reports in your room so… you know…”
Fushimi looked at him oddly. “Are you okay?”
“I am! I just want to… uhm…. Lay down with you, that’s all.” Yata finished his sentence in a whisper.
Fushimi suppressed a smile. “Let me take a shower and get the laptop, then I’ll think about letting you nap next to me.”
Yata frowned while watching Fushimi walk into the bathroom to take a shower. Why was he smiling?
It didn’t take very long for Fushimi to finish showering, and when he left the bathroom Yata couldn’t help but notice how much nicer his hair looked when it wasn’t styled the usual way.
“You should wear your hair down like that more often.” Yata said, looking to the floor. He wasn’t used to giving anyone compliments outside of battle. “It looks better on you.”
Fushimi blinked; he never considered wearing his hair down ever since he dropped out of high school. Yata didn’t expect Fushimi to actually say yes to what he just said, but hoped that the silence meant that Fushimi was at least considering wearing it down at least sometimes.
Fushimi dried his hair off with a blowdryer and put it back to the way he always wore it before grabbing his laptop and taking a seat on the bed. Yata still hadn’t left the bed, but he moved a little to give Fushimi some room. Yata suspected that the report wouldn’t take too long to finish, but he figured he’d use the time to schedule a visit to the vet anyhow.
“Saru, let me borrow your PDA.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know where mine is and I want to get the vet call over with so I can sleep.”
Fushimi put the laptop on the bed and got up to get Yata’s PDA from the other side of the dorm. He also picked up whatever clothes and other small articles were lying there, so that Yata wouldn’t need to walk very far to get them if he needed them. Yata’s belongings were dumped at the farther corner of the bed, and Fushimi crawled back to his previous spot on the bed with Yata’s PDA.
Fushimi handed the PDA to Yata and was rewarded with a bright smile and a “thank you”. Fushimi just nodded and went back to his laptop, making sure to do things as quickly and thoroughly as he could so he could rest a little more. Yata sat up and clicked his PDA on. It had been turned off when their team retrieved his belongings the day he was turned into a cat.
“Saru, what’s the vet’s name?”
“I don’t know. Just look at the map for the nearest one and schedule a checkup.”
“The store didn’t recommend any?”
“I’m sure they’ll give your babies the best possible treatment once they find out that their patient’s owner is part of Scepter 4.”
“You speak as if Scepter 4 is some sort of scary police force or something.”
“Aren’t we, though?”
Yata laughed. “I dunno about you, but I’m not that scary. At least I don’t have a hundred knives hidden everywhere.” Fushimi scowled and Yata laughed. “I’m not scared of you, though.”
The conversation died and Yata used that opportunity to look up nearby vets with good reviews. When he finally picked one he felt was best for the kittens, he clicked on their call icon and waited for someone to pick up, then hung up almost immediately when a voice came through the PDA.
“Saru.”
“Yes, Misaki?”
“What if they ask me for their names?”
Fushimi listened to the rustling in the living room. “Just name them something simple.”
“Didn’t I tell you that I want us to name them?”
“Are you sure you weren’t thinking that when you were a cat?”
Yata sighed. “I’m not even sure anymore.”
Fushimi thought for a moment. “Name the orange one Mi, then.”
“Why?
“Why not, Misaki?”
Yata glared. “You’re just making fun of my name!”
“It’s a simple name though, right? The cat even looks and acts like you, too. It’s perfect.” Fushimi smirked.
Yata huffed. “Fine! I’m naming the black one Ko!”
“Why?”
Yata shrugged. “You’re using part of my name, so I’ll use part of yours. Besides, it means happiness, anyways.”
“And you’re not bothered at all by Mi’s name meaning beautiful?”
Yata blushed. “Well there’s no helping it! You named him!”
Fushimi gave him an odd look, but didn’t press the subject. “Go call the vet now.”
Yata grumbled an incoherent response, and hit the call button again on his PDA.
“Hello! This is the Shizume Pet Society Veterinary Clinic! My name is Kato Yuka. How may I help you?” Yata stared at the PDA, speechless.
“U-uh. Hi. Uhm.” Yata was at a loss for words.
“Idiot. You’re still afraid of girls? Virgin.” Fushimi grumbled, taking the PDA from Yata. “Hi. My name is Fushimi Saruhiko. I’d like to schedule an appointment for new patients. We have two three month old kittens in need of a checkup. I’d like the checkup to be scheduled for tomorrow morning.”
Yata just watched Fushimi as he casually set up the appointment, as if he’d already done it thousands of times before.
“Yes, yes,” Yata saw Fushimi click his tongue. “Mi and Ko. Yes, kittens. Yes, yes.” Fushimi’s eyebrows were starting to knit together in irritation. “Yes,yes. Thank you. Bye.” He ended the call and threw the PDA at Yata. “Annoying.”
Yata just laughed. “Thank you.”
“Mm.” Fushimi went back to typing out the report. “You’re going to have to write your own report, so get started on that.”
Yata groaned. “I don’t have a laptop.”
“What’s the point of a modified PDA if you won’t use it?”
“No no no. Don’t remind me.” Yata said dramatically, putting the PDA in his lap and throwing his hands up in the air. “The Almighty Saru made the idiot Misaki a modified PDA that’ll act as a laptop when I need it to.”
“See? You know you can make it. Make the draft. I’ll fix it when I’m done.”
Yata picked up a pillow and buried his face in it. “I don’t wanna.”
“Misaki.”
“Fine!” Yata threw the pillow at Fushimi and picked up his PDA. “I was a cat for early twenty four hours. I had the ability to speak to cats, and I still retained my memories of being a cat when I was turned back into a human…” Yata thought out loud as he typed. Fushimi had been around Yata long enough to block out his ramblings, but having Yata leaning on him while doing that distracted him and made it difficult to move his left arm.
“Misaki, lean on the headboard, not me. I need to type too, idiot.”
Misaki huffed. “Fine, fine.”
_____________________________
“Misaki, hurry up or we’ll be late!” Fushimi called out to the poor redhead from half a block away. They had played a game of rock-paper-scissors to see who had to carry the cats, and Yata lost.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Yata yelled back. “I wasn’t the one taking for-fucking-ever in the shower this morning.” He grumbled.
It was the next day and they were on their way to the vet for a checkup. Yata was feeling much better now and was no longer queasy when he stood up for a long amount of time, and he even managed to force Fushimi to eat a bowl of vegetables by threatening to skip dinner last night if he hadn’t. The kittens would wake up to play for a couple hours then take another nap, which Yata learned would be their normal schedule until they became almost a year old.
Fushimi had arrived at the vet clinic much sooner than Yata, and had already checked in at the counter by the time Yata made it through the doors. They were both wearing dark blue shirts with even darker colored jeans, which became a norm for the both of them since they joined Scepter 4. Yata still went out in lighter clothes, but he still wasn’t given permission to go back to his dorm even if it was just to get some clothes.
“Slow.” Fushimi muttered when Yata sat down next to him.
Yata glared. “You’re not the one that has to carry their carrier now, are you?”
“Nope.”
“Exactly. Now stop complaining.”
Fushimi fell silent, and they waited just a few more minutes before being called in. Yata wasn’t sure if Fushimi revealed that they were part of Scepter 4, but the near-VIP treatment felt nice. They were given cups of coffee and the kittens even got matching sweaters.
“What, I don’t get one?” Yata muttered. Fushimi chuckled.
“Last I checked you’re human again, Misaki.”
“It was a joke, damnit!”
“Sure it was.”
Yata and Fushimi watched the vet go through the usual checkup routine, and seemed to be pretty satisfied with whatever results were on his clipboard when the examination was finished. He looked it over twice before turning to the kittens’ owners.
“They’re very healthy.” The vet said with a smile. “Ko’s nice and strong, and I can tell that he cares a lot about Mi.”
“Well yeah,” Yata said, “They’re like, best friends.”
“It may not be that way, though.”
“… hah?”
“The way that Mi interacts with him shows us that she shares a deeper bond than that.”
“….”
Yata stared. The room was silent, but his mind was reeling.
She, the vet had said. Mi… she…?
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa.” Yata said, standing up abruptly. “Mi’s a girl? I thought Mi was a boy!” He turned to Fushimi. “Was that why you gave the kitten a girly name? Did you know the entire time!? Why didn’t you tell me? ”
“Weren’t you the one that could talk to cats? How did you not figure it out?” Fushimi fired back. Yata blushed.
“But we were all over each other when we played…”
“Cats do that, Misaki. Now sit down so we can finish this.”
But Yata didn’t sit down. Instead, he started pacing back and forth, muttering nonsense as he tried to wrap his mind around the simple fact that he mistook Mi for a boy. Fushimi and the vet agreed that he wasn’t going to listen for the rest of the report, so they continued, only stopping when Yata would suddenly yell out a profanity.
Eventually the report was done, and Fushimi grabbed a copy before herding the kittens inside the carrier. Yata was still lost in wonderland, and Fushimi was getting fed up with how freaked out he was about Mi being a girl, so he left Yata pacing in the clinic room while he waited in the lobby.
When Yata finally snapped out of it, he realized that Fushimi and everyone else was gone, and freaked out again.
“Saru? Hello?” Yata burst out of the room, looking wildly from side to side in search of his soulmate. He couldn’t remember where the lobby was, and ended up jogging around random hallways and hoping that the next turn would bring him somewhere recognizable.
After who-knows-how-many turns, he suddenly bumped into the vet from earlier, who just smiled and showed him out. Yata finally made it out of the maze that was the vet clinic, only to find Fushimi watching the two kittens playing around in their new sweaters. Yata’s heart squeezed at the sight; even if Fushimi’s face seemed apathetic as usual, it was nice to see him watching over the two kittens anyways.
Yata ran up to them, panting from all the running he had to do. “Saru,” he wheezed. “Why did you leave me?”
“It didn’t look like you were going to stop anytime soon, so I came here to let the kittens play.” He said boredly, not even bothering to glance at the redhead. Yata glared.
“So you left me there?”
“Mmhm.”
Yata sighed, but sat down next to Fushimi anyhow. Neither of them wanted to go back that very second, but the kittens were probably worn out from the checkup. After a few more minutes had passed by Fushimi stood up, and Yata put the kittens back in the carrier before Fushimi could leave without him again.
As they walked back to the dorms, Fushimi listened to Yata rattle off about being able to go back on duty soon, and how excited he was to finally be able to ‘kick some ass’ again.
Fushimi sighed. “Make sure you’re in physical shape for that, idiot.”
“I know, I know!” he grumbled. The kittens were watching the outside world with wide eyes, making Yata smile. He wanted to take them to the park someday, but it was still a little too cold for that.
For the rest of their walk home, they discussed how they were going to balance their work life with the cats, and came to a conclusion that they’d just leave a lot of food out in the mornings and hope that they don’t starve by the time that they got home.
“Or we could make someone feed them for us.” Yata said absentmindedly. Fushimi scowled.
“That’s our dorm we’re talking about. I’m not letting anyone else in.”
“Fine, fine!” Yata laughed. “Stingy much.”
“Hmph.”
They made it back to the dorm with a lot of the day left to spare. Yata was finally given permission by Fushimi to go pack his things, and Fushimi vaguely wondered if Munakata would agree to tearing down the wall that was between their dorms, giving them –and the cats, no doubt – more room. He made a mental note to mention it to their King once all the reports were settled and Yata was once again preoccupied with ‘fighting the bad guys’, as he would often put it.
Yata didn’t have much to move; a small box of casual clothes, his other weaponry, a skateboard, and some small knick-knacks he had collected over the years was all he brought over. Their dorms were very spacious, and if they needed to they could just convert Yata’s dorm into a temporary storage room, which seemed like the best plan of action.
When Yata had finally finished shoving things into empty drawers, he sighed. “Are you really okay with this?” He asked Fushimi, who had ended up putting his pajamas on and lazing around on the couch the entire time.
“It’s unavoidable.” He said rather apathetically. It ticked Yata off.
“So you would rather not have me move in, right?”
“I’d rather we get a bigger place to stay.” He muttered, poking around on his PDA while watching Yata from the corner of his eyes. “If we can get Munakata in a good mood, we might be able to convince him to let the Special Ops team keep the old dorm building.”
“You mean that small one with really big rooms in the back?”
“Yeah.”
“Man, I wish that’d happen.”
Fushimi chuckled. “Probably not.”
Yata sighed. “We can dream, at least.”
Fushimi yawned. “Are you done yet? Let’s take a nap.”
It was Yata’s turn to chuckle now. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Now.”
“Wait.”
“No.”
“You’re such a child, Saruhiko.”
“You love me anyways.” He smirked. Yata scowled.
“Jeez, who knew you had this side to you?” He grumbled. “The calm, apathetic Fushimi Saruhiko suddenly the clingy, talkative type.”
“You rather I be cold and distant, then?”
“No, no,” Yata said, looking up at the ceiling. “I think it’s nice. It’d be better if you were more open to the others, though.”
“But I only want Misaki to see my friendly side.”
“You? Friendly? Please.” Yata drawled. “I’m just surprised you actually took this whole soulmate thing pretty well.”
Fushimi made a harrumph and turned away from Yata. “What, should I have let you sulk around on your 21st birthday then?”
Yata shook his head; he didn’t know what they were even talking about anymore. “All that matters is that you did, and now that you’re stuck with me forever, let’s at least agree that only I get to see this clingy side of Saruhiko, okay?”
“I’m not even being clingy right now.”
“For you, it’s pretty much being very clingy if you ask me to take a nap with you.” Yata laughed. He walked over to Fushimi and sat at the edge of the bed, petting Fushimi’s hair absentmindedly.
Fushimi let him pet his head for a while, and when he got tired of it he tossed his PDA to the floor and pulled Yata down by his arm, making him fall on top of Fushimi. He pulled him over to his side and held him in his arms while gently nuzzling Yata’s hair. “Let’s sleep now.” He murmured.
Yata chuckled. “Yes, sir.”
_____________________________
9 Months Later…
It was the beginning of April, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom again. Fushimi and Yata were once again ditching their duties in favor of crepes and cherry-blossom viewing, and Fushimi couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.
Except this time, instead of just thinking to hold his soulmate’s hand, he really did do it this time. And it felt really nice to be able to. They both learned to ignore the looks of other people as Yata tugged on Fushimi’s arm enthusiastically, bringing them back to the bridge where Fushimi first started thinking of Yata a little differently.
“It’s beautiful.” Yata breathed, looking out at the park like they did just a year ago. Fushimi didn’t care about how beautiful the park was though; he was preoccupied with memories of a year ago and how he had found himself lost in Yata’s eyes before. This time around, though, something seemed to shine in his eyes, and Fushimi couldn’t help leaning in and kissing the corner of Yata’s left eye. Yata blushed.
“What was that for?”
“Nothing.” Fushimi murmured, leaning closer to his soulmate. “I have something for you, Misaki.”
“What is it now?” Yata groaned. Fushimi loved playing tricks on Yata; sometimes Fushimi would give him a cat toy or a stuffed cat, which always ended up with the kittens back at the dorm.
Fushimi spun Yata around so that they were facing each other. “Close your eyes.”
Yata did as he was told, expecting a cat toy to magically appear on his hand again, but nearly jumped as he felt Fushimi’s arms wrap around his neck breifly. His heart was racing, thudding so loudly that Yata swore Fushimi could hear it. When Fushimi pulled away, he felt something light on his neck, and when Fushimi pulled away completely he spoke again.
“There.” Fushimi said. “Now we match.”
Yata opened his eyes then and felt for the item that was placed on his neck. He felt a chain and pulled at it, then realized that at a simple silver ring was dangling from the bottom of the chain. True to his words, Fushimi had one around his neck too; something Yata somehow always didn't notice until just now.
“Saru…” he was at a loss for words.
“You kept bugging me about showing you my love or whatever, so there.” He said, turning to lean his arms against the bridge. “Now stop complaining about me not taking you seriously.”
Tears pricked Yata’s eyes. He wasn’t used to Fushimi ever displaying any sort of affection aside from the usual cuddling he demanded when he was tired. They never even kissed in the past nine months, because Fushimi would always ruin the mood with taunting words.
Yata hugged Fushimi from the side. “Thank you.” He said into the fabric. “Thank you, thank you…” He couldn’t stop the tears then, and Fushimi turned so he could hold him, letting him cry on his shoulder.
When Yata’s crying had turned into hiccups, he pulled away slightly and bent down so that they were eye-to-eye.
“Misaki,” Fushimi murmured, his face just inches away. His minty breath tickled Yata’s face. “I love you, okay?”
Yata only nodded before throwing his arms around Fushimi’s neck and kissing him. The kiss took Fushimi by surprise, but soon enough he melted into the kiss and pulled Yata closer, almost desperate to try to convey his feelings to the boy he was stuck with for life.
Yata’s lips twisted into a smile, and he sighed as he pushed Fushimi against the bridge’s railings. Neither dared to take it any farther, and as soon as Yata had to pull away for air Fushimi pulled Yata in closer, forcing him to lean his head on his shoulder. They stayed like that, watching the cherry blossom petals dance all around them. The mood was light and happy, but the sound of their Vice Captain clearing her throat from the bottom of the bridge pretty much ruined it. Fushimi clicked his tongue, holding Yata in place as he started blushing like mad and panicking.
“Are you two done yet?” Kamamoto asked them. He had taken the title of ‘big brother’ for the two of them, but still didn’t care too much about what they did when they were in the dorms. As long as you two are happy and don’t fuck anything up were his brotherly words to them the first day they were back from their near-week-long break when Yata had been cat-ified. Ever since then, he took it upon himself to keep them safe while Awashima and Kusanagi played mother-and-father with them, making sure they didn’t overdo it when they were either on patrol or doing a job.
“Yeah, yeah, we’re done.” Fushimi said, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes at the three people that were waiting on them at the bottom of the bridge. Yata was having a mental breakdown, but he was slowly learning to compose himself a little better while on the job.
“Saru, let go.” He said, pushing Fushimi a little. He finally let go, and they both straightened their uniforms before walking back as casually as they could. For Fushimi, it was a piece of cake, but Yata was having trouble looking anyone in the eyes, especially Awashima.
“You two…” she muttered, sighing. “Come on. There’s been a Strain sighting not too far from here. It’ll be a fun one for you two.”
Yata’s eyes lit up almost immediately. “Will Saru be in the fight?”
“Of course.” Kusanagi said. They had been training a team of people to handle Fushimi’s previous role in the team, and now that he was relieved of that, he lead the fight with their Yatagarasu by his side.
Yata whooped. “I can’t wait to kick some ass!”
Fushimi clicked his tongue.
Here we go again.
_____________________________
One Week Later…
Mi and Ko were finally a year old, and their owners even threw them a small birthday party to celebrate.
"How do you even know when their birthday is?" Yata had asked the taller male a month before.
"Just pick a day in April." He had replied. "The pet store wasn't even sure of their real birthdates."
"14, then." Yata smiled. "In between our own."
Fushimi smiled. "Sounds great."
Now, the kittens were supposedly no longer kittens. They were getting too big to be called a kitten, but Yata still loved calling them that. It annoyed Mi a lot, complaining to Ko every now and then about being too big to be called that, but Ko didn't care; he secretly wanted to keep calling Mi a kitten since she acted like one all the time.
"Ko, what do you think they'll feed us later?" Mi asked, big round eyes focused on the darker cat.
"I don't know." Came his reply. "They always give us surprises though."
"Ooh, I'm so excited!" Mi mewled, hopping a little. "I hope it's cake!"
"But you've never had cake before."
"True. But Saruhiko's cake was so pretty back then!"
"We can't eat the same things they eat, sweeheart."
"Oh, right..." Mi said dejectedly.
Just then, their owners came home with a box that smelled absolutely delicious tucked under the shorter one's arm.
The redhead placed the box on the floor, and the two cats immediately ran up to sniff it out. The clear plastic that served as the top of the box revealed that it didn't look as colorful as the one Yata brought home for Fushimi, but it still held the same shape as a cake. Rather than it being a single cake, it was two very small identical cakes, one for each of them.
Yata opened the box and exclaimed "Happy birthday!" while Fushimi gave them a small smile and his own small greeting. They sat on the floor, watching the two kittens chow down on their cake, which was made of tuna; coincidentally, seafood was one of Mi's favorite foods, which was something their owners rarely ever fed them.
"Mmm!" Mi mewled in delight. "This probably tastes a lot better than Saruhiko's cake!"
Ko watched Mi chew through a mouthful of the cat cake, and swatted her with his tail when he saw that she was making a mess.
"Be careful. Don't eat too fast, too." He scolded her. She just looked at him with those bright eyes of hers, acknowledging what he had said but not taking it to heart, as usual.
When they had finished eating, Fushimi brought out a small bag. Mi and Ko figured out early on that Fushimi was the one that always bought them toys, despite Yata being the one that took care of and played with them the most. Ever since the two went back on duty, Yata would always make sure to pay extra attention to them after work, much to Fushimi's dismay.
"You should spend more time with me." Fushimi always complained, but would sit with Yata and play with them until Yata had to start dinner.
For their birthday, Fushimi and Yata bought them a toy that resembled something furry clinging to a ball, and when they flipped a switch it seemed to come alive, twisting and rolling this way and that. Mi and Ko found the new toy very amusing, and chased it around the kitchen floor, bopping it with their paws and swiping at it when it rolled their way.
Their owners had to work that day, so it was getting pretty late. The two of them had come home late because they had to pick up the toy and cake, but it was worth it to see their cats so happy. Mi got tired pretty quickly, and went to sit on her new bed, which they had bought when they couldn't fit in a single one any longer.
Ko left the toy and joined his mate, sitting right outside the bed and leaning his head in, just barely touching Mi's stomach. There was a soft click from the kitchen, followed by a loud thunk as Yata put their new toy in a small bin filled with their other toys.
They lay there, listening to their owner's bickering as Yata forced Fushimi to eat his vegetables, and the both of them were about to go to sleep when they felt a hand pet the both of them.
Yata smiled down at them. "Take care of Mi, okay?" He murmured. Fushimi was already walking towards their room. "You guys are lucky," his voice turned wistful, "You're already gonna be parents soon..."
They both mewled a goodnight and Yata smiled a little sadly before leaving them to sleep.
"Hey, Ko?" Mi said, raising her head a little to watch Yata walk into their room. "Why does he look sad?"
"Don't you remember?" Ko seemed to sigh. "They can't have children like we can."
"But they have each other, shouldn't that be enough?"
Ko sneezed. "Yes, that's true."
Mi laid her head back down. "Misaki needs to cheer up," she mumbled. "They have each other's scent all over themselves anyways."
"Mm."
"I hope Misaki cheers up soon."
"He will."
"Saruhiko promised to make Misaki happy all the time."
"He did."
Mi suppressed a yawn. "They deserve to be happy."
"Yes they do. Now go to rest, Mi."
"Yes..."
...
...
...
...
"Hey, Kou?"
"Yes, Mi?"
"Do you think they've mated already?"
"..." Ko buried his face into Mi's stomach, completely ignoring her question. "Goodnight, Mi."