Chapter Text
KAI'S POV - 24th December, Before Dinner
Kai had been ecstatic about having a fun dinner with friends on Christmas eve, so he was really looking forward to dinner tonight.
He'd dressed in clothes fancier than usual, still wouldn't be considered the neatest, but fancier nonetheless.
It still wasn't seven yet, it had barely reached six, so he decided he would go out and buy a present for the two, and maybe feed the cats while he was at it.
Downtown, he'd seen a few shops that caught his eye, but he didn't know what they'd like.
Maybe a new eyepatch for Rei? Rei said Vivian was an artist, but he didn't know what kind. She was probably a painter, he wouldn't have just said artist if she wasn't, he would've specified. He decided he'd go to the craft store.
Inside of Mishima's Crafts, it was warm and there was a citrusy smell to the air that surrounded him. The gas lanterns inside wobbled and shook with the gusts of cold wind that entered as Kai opened the door. He quickly shut it behind him, his teeth chattering. As he wobbled inside, shivering, he scanned the various shelves and items displayed before him.
"Thank you!" --he called as he shut the front door, the little bell above it jingling and a brown paper gift bag in his hand.
He sighed and started walking in the direction of the motel Rei and Vivian stayed at but, looking at the time, he still had fifteen minutes until seven o'clock, so he decided to head for the alley by his house first.
Mishima's was pretty close, so, even when he got back, he was still left with six minutes to spare. As he reached the alleyway, he expected to hear a familiar meow from his favourite fluffy friend, but the kitties he saw at his feet were different to what he expected; a white--although coloured grey/brown by all the dirt and grime-- cat, and a little calico.
"Oh, hi, Maro." Kai had a tinge of disappointment in his voice as he greeted the dirty white cat. "Who's this one over here?" --he crouched down to their level, hoping to let the newcomer get to know his smell.
Mashumaro mewled at him in response, but the small calico stayed back by some trash, scared to come close.
"Don't worry, I'm Kai Sayazaka- and who are you, little calico?" --he spoke in a low voice, careful to not scare the kitten away.
The calico slowly padded closer, keeping its guard up as it sniffed Kai's nuckles, then brushed its face up against them.
"You're an affectionate one, aren't you?" --he smiled at the cat as it purred lightly, sensing Kai was trustworthy.
"Can I call you Kenzo? You look like a Kenzo." --Kai asked the cat, and it let out a small 'ppreow' in response, which he took as a yes.
"Alright, Kenzo, Maro, did either of you see Miyuki? I was hoping to see her."
Maro turned to look at him from the puddle of rainwater it was drinking from for a small second, before turning back around and licking the murky puddle once more.
Kenzo licked Kai's fingers.
"Hm... Sorry kitties, but I have to go now." --he quickly stood up, leaving Kenzo feeling quite betrayed.
Maro paid no attention to Kai as he walked further down the alley, planning to head towards his parents' yard. Miyuki didn't go there much, but maybe it changed it's mind, and decided to hang out with Kuma tonight; the cat who was always creeping into the house and yard.
REI'S POV - 19:00
"Vivian, are you sure he's actually coming? We don't know him that well, he could've ditched us to go eat with someone else." --Rei informed her, looking at the clock.
"Stop being such a worrywort and wait for him, he can arrive a minute or two late if he wants to." --Vivian rolled her eyes and leaned back on her chair before she lost her balance and went crashing to the ground, the chair leg snapping beneath her.
"Ow!" --Vivian exclaimed, but Rei was just cackling at her stupidity.
"Did you- did you break the chair?!" --he asked between giggles, struggling to regain his composure.
"Yeah... Ouch..." -she strained, struggling to get up from her position on the floor. "Hell me out over here, will ya?"
Rei couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter again before calming down and helping her up off the ground.
"Go get an icepack, beetlehead."
Vivian glared at him as she wobbled away to get some ice, still in pain but also snickering as she went.
As Rei was duct taping her chair's leg back together, Vivian sat on the ground by him, with an icepack on her head where she collided with the tiles.
"I think I'll have a great big purple bruise tomorrow, if not on my head, then on my ass." --she stated, breaking the silence.
Rei stopped taping the chair to rest his forehead on the cushion, snickering.
"You're such an idiot."
"Hey!"
DING-DONG - the doorbell preventing her from whacking him on the arm with the cold ice.
"There it goes, can you get that?" --he asked, staring at the front door.
Vivian glared at him, taking the icepack off her head to shove it in his face.
"I'm the one fixing your chair... unless you'd like to be sitting on the ground for the rest of dinner."
She groaned, burying her head in her hands before reluctantly standing up and mumbling:
"Fine..."
Rei grinned to himself as he continued fixing the chair and Vivian sauntered over to the front door, it loudly ringing the moment she reached to unlock it.
"He-- oh, sorry, you weren't answering." --Kai, now standing in front of Vivian, had a pink tint to his cheeks, either because of the cold or from the embarrassment.
"Ow- it's okay." --she groaned in pain, pressing the icepack even harder to her head.
"Are you good? What happened?" --Kai asked, concerned.
"I-uhh, well I-"
"She fell backwards on her chair." --yelled Rei from behind her.
While Vivian turned around to glare at him, Kai peeked over her shoulder to see Rei a few feet back, testing if the chair was stable by pressing down on it, and when it was fine, he tried sitting on it.
"Vivian, let him come in or what?" --Rei glared right back at her.
Vivian rolled her eyes but stepped aside, letting Kai take off his shoes and step in, taking in his surroundings.
Rei, now finished mending the chair, was now by Vivian.
"Hi, Kai."
"Hello." --he awkwardly smiled at him, before holding out his hands and showing him the brown gift bag.
"Oh- is that for me?" --Rei asked, taken aback, not expecting to be gifted a present.
"Yep, for you and Vivian."
"Oooo, for meee?" --Vivian was excited now, and she seemed to completely forget about the throbbing pain in her head.
Kai smiled at her and handed Rei the bag.
"Thanks, we didn't exactly get you anything, I'm really sorry."
"It's ok, this dinner is my gift."
Rei smiled at him and turned to look at the table.
"Sit down, I'll be your waitress today!" --Vivian declared excitedly, and strolled over towards the kitchen cupboards.
Kai froze, staring at Rei, not knowing if he should sit or not. Rei didn't notice, instead he walked over to the rightmost chair, closer to the kitchen, and sat down. Kai followed, and sat on the chair in the middle, the one Vivian didn't break.
The table was so small, and it was really cramped, their knees would touch if they tucked in the chairs, so Rei kept his chair untucked, giving Kai space to make himself comfortable. (Very good host.)
"So.... Uh... You're a vet, right?" --Rei confirmed.
"Yep."
"So, you like animals then. Do you like all of them or is there any you don't like?"
"Uhm....." He thought for a bit, uncertain if there an animal he doesn't like existed. "I guess I don't really like mice?"
"Really? I think they're cute." --Rei was a bit shocked, a vet not liking mice? Surely he sees them all the time.
"I used to have this... cat plush that I really loved, especially since my parents gave it to me... then a mouse snuck in while I was gone, and it only went and ripped it to shreds..." --Kai looked upset, he must've really liked the toy.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's alright." --Kai chuckled, finding this whole situation rather silly.
Vivian then entered, breaking the silence with her loud(-ish) presence.
"Starters!! Coming right up!" She sauntered in, carrying a basket of mildly fresh bread in her arms.
She placed it on the table, and grinned excitedly at them. She was now wearing an apron and a makeshift work hat made out of an old cap and a piece of paper with "Vivirei's Diner" written on it in colourful bubble letters.
"Que désirez-vous boire en cette belle soirée, monsieur ?" --her pronunciation was almost perfect, like a fluent French person. There was a slight accent to it, but almost perfect nonetheless.
Kai simply blinked at her, not understanding anything she had just said, and also very taken aback. Rei just sighed.
"Oh. Does monsieur not understand moi?" --Vivian said, acting hurt.
Kai just shook his head frantically, and Rei laid his head down on his plate as there was no space to lay it on the table, and closed his eyes, ignoring her. Vivian sighed too.
"Drink. What would you like?" --she translated into simpler words for him.
"Oh, uh... What do you recommend?"--he tried to act polite, but he really just didn't want to ask for something they didn't have.
"Water and tea. Actually we have coffee too, but no milk to go with it, unless you like your coffee bitter." --she smiled widely at him.
"Uh, tea. Please."
"Et toi, monsieur numéro deux?" --she turned to the annoyed Rei.
"The same." --he mumbled, still not lifting his head from the plate.
"Nuh-uh-uh, français." --she shook her head dramatically to add to the effect, her braids whipping around, hitting her in the face.
"Vivian..." He groaned, but she insisted. "Uhm... Le... Le-le.... Le même?"
"Bravo!" --she clapped her hands and went to brew their drinks.
The moment she left, Rei let out a big sigh and lifted his head from the plate, running a finger through his flattened hair.
"Wow, I didn't know she speaks French." --Kai declared, stiffling his laughs because he knew Rei didn't find it funny.
"She is French, and she won't stop doing that." --Rei grumbled.
"What do you like?" --Kai asked bluntly.
"What do you mean?" --Rei was confused, not expecting the random interrogation.
"I mean, you know I love cats, and I know you hate fish, but what do you like?"
"Oh... Uhm..." He looked off into the distance, debating what he should tell him. "I like... Music, I guess."
"That's cool, what genre?"
"I like all genres. Rock is preferred, I like metal too. But jazz is also sick. I don't know, I can't choose."
"I understand, I can't pick either." --Kai laughed.
"If you love cats and animals so much, why don't you have any pets?" --Rei asked the question now, curious.
"I want to... But my parents won't let me." He sighed, looking down at the floor. "When I move out I'm going to have one though."
Rei nodded and looked at the floor too.
"Do you want a pet?" --seems like they were taking turns asking the questions.
Rei's eyes widened and he looked back at Kai, who was still staring at the floor, he seemed like he was hypnotised by the tiles, but really, he was deep in thought.
"I-uhm... Not really, no." He didn't explain any further.
"Why not?" --Kai pushed, not taking any signals from him.
Rei pressed his lips together and looked out the window, before looking back at Kai, who was staring intently at him now, instead of the floor, waiting for a response. Now they were both staring at eachother, the air thick around them.
"I..." --Rei started, but he eventually trailed off.
Vivian then came in with two steaming mugs of green tea.
"Had no sugar, I thought green tea would be best." --she explained as she set the mugs down in the tiny spaces in-between the plates.
Rei's mug was chipped at the brim and a handle that had broken off too many times to count, so they just gave up on reattaching it. Kai's mug was one of the nicer ones, freshly re-painted by Vivian not so long ago, and it wasn't broken. Scratched? -yes, but broken? -no. (Not yet atleast 🥺😁)
"I'll bring out the main course soon, messieurs." --she curtsied and strutted away, proud of her work once again.
Rei pulled his knees up onto the chair and hugged them, meanwhile Kai watched him. Then they sat in silence.
The lights were dim, there was a eucalyptus scented candle on the floor to really set the scene, and on all of their plates there was some overcooked turkey, peas and some oily roast potatoes. Not perfect, but not bad either.
"Soooo, let's eat?" --Vivian asked, prepared to devour the food infront of her.
"Yep." --Rei and Kai said at the same time, causing all three of them to burst out laughing.
They all ate and enjoyed it, until Vivian decided to announce, while raising her duct taped mug of green tea up:
"I know we're all drinking tea, in mugs too, but I'd like to make a toast anyway, like at one of those proper fancy dinners."
"Sure!" --Kai said, raising his mug too.
Rei followed along, raising his mug, but he ended up spilling his tea all over his plate and the mistletoe.
Kai and Vivian laughed at him, so much so that Vivian almost fell off her chair again.
After Dinner - 21:47
Rei was cleaning up the table, left to put all the dishes away, leaving Vivian and Kai alone to accompany eachother.
"Hm- hey, Sayazaka?"
"Yes?" --he was a bit confused on why she was calling him by his last name, but he made no comment on it.
"How about staying over? Like a sleepover. You know, the ones in those stereotypical rich American films?" --she suggested, already excited by the idea of having someone stay the night.
"Oh-uhm... Uhm, I'm not sure... I have this cat--Miyuki--, and she went missing, and I was hoping I-" --but she cut him off.
"Please, Kai? It'd be so funnnn! Imagine all the board games we could play together, all three of us! I've always wanted to have a sleepover." --she pleaded.
Kai went silent, contemplating.
"Vivian, I'm sorry, but I'm really worried for Miyuki. I wouldn't be able to sleep if i didn't look for her anyway." --Kai declined, feeling horrible but knowing it was for Miyuki.
Vivian frowned at him, clearly dissatisfied, not understanding why he cares so much about a stray.
"How about Rei and I help you look for her? That way we could locate her faster, and you'd be able to sleepover with us!"
'There's no chance he can say no now' --Vivian thought, grinning widely.
"Are you sure? What if Rei doesn't want to?"
"Oh it'll be fine, I'll force him. And if he doesn't come anyway, we can go looking together!" --she reassurred him.
"Ok, ok. I'll sleepover, happy?"
"Yayyyy!!!!" --Vivian cheered, practically jumping from her seat.
Rei shivered as he followed behind Vivian and Kai through the dark alleyways, towards where he said the cat would most probably be.
"I told you to bring a coat, dumbass." --Vivian insulted him as she looked over her shoulder, only to find him slowly hobbling behind, slowly freezing in the mid-December night wind.
"I thought the- thought that, if I refused you would- you'd let me stay ho-home." --he mumbled through chattering teeth.
"Why would I do that? You're twenty-one, Rei, not a baby." --she rolled her eyes and looked ahead of her again, following Kai's lead through the almost pitch black alleyway, the only light being the flashlight from his phone.
Rei kept shut, the numbing winter air was biting at his skin, and he could barely feel his hands anymore. It didn't help that he was horrified too, they kept passing by cats and he was just waiting for one to pounce on him, but he was holding back the tears because he didn't want to cry in front of his friends on Christmas eve.
KAI'S POV
The only thing on Kai's mind was finding Miyuki. Sure, he was pretty chilled too, but he couldn't focus on anything over the thought of having lost Miyuki.
"Miyuki!" He called.
"Miyu!"
"Pspspsps..."
He came across a shivering Maro, Kenzo, and many other strays he was familiar with, yet no Miyuki.
"Maybe she's been here all along, hiding somewhere, right under our noses. But her dark fur makes it hard to spot her in the night." --he told himself.
But no Miyuki.
Kai was horrified of what could've happened to Miyuki, or where she was, but he was holding back the tears because he didn't want to cry infront of his friends on Christmas eve.
Vivian walked a bit faster as though to catch up to Kai, leaving Rei trailing off behind them.
"Hey, Kai?"
"Yeah?"
"What does this cat look like? It would help us find her, theres a lot of cats nearby, you know."
"She looks like me, I guess. I'm pretty sure she's a domestic shorthair, with sleek black fur and yellow/blue eyes." --he pictured his cat with great detail, almost like it was right here infront of him.
"Oh, she really is like you." --She hummed and continued looking ahead, trying to spot any coloured eyes or black ears through the darkness.
For a while, they continued walking in silence, all of them intently searching the dark streets for the shorthair. But what they didn't know, was that not all three of them were searching.
"Kai?" --Vivian eventually asked, breaking the long silence.
"Hm?"
"Where's Rei?" --she asked.
He turned around, and--like she said--, he was gone.
"Wha- Rei?!" --he called.
Nothing.
"Oh, absolutely lovely. First, we lose a cat. Now, we lose Rei?!" --Vivian was starting to get fed up.
They started walking back to where they came from, searching for a human this time, and taking it as a chance to double-check for the cat, too.
"Rei!?" --Vivian yelled.
As they returned to the excavated area that widened the alleyway between the CD store and a block of flats, they found Rei, curled up on a mattress someone threw out.
"Rei?" --Vivian said, more worried than annoyed now.
He didn't respond, but just meekly turned his head to look at her. By now it had started to lightly snow, and the snowflakes that landed on his hair made it look like he had dandruff.
Kai and Vivian approached him, and Vivian sat down next to him, taking one of his hands into hers.
"Rei, you're chilled to the bone!" --she exclaimed, shivering just from feeling his hand.
"I know..." --Rei murmured, still terrified of a cat emerging from the darkness.
Kai took off his coat and handed it to Rei, immediately shivering as he felt the cold air burn his skin and snow on his neck.
"Wha- no, t-take it back... You'll be freezing." Rei said, baffled.
"It's alright, my sweater is warm enough, and we'll stop by my house soon, I can get myself another coat there." --Kai insisted, forcing the faux fur-lined coat into Rei's arms.
Rei was too cold to argue, so he just shrugged the soft coat on weakly, instantly hugging himself to warm up.
"Kai, don't you think we should head back? We can look for Miyuki some other time, it's too dark and cold. She's probably hidden away from the snow right now anyway." --Vivian suggested, embracing Rei in a warm hug, trying to warm the poor guy up.
"Exact-tly! Imagine how c-cold Miyuki must be right now." --Kai shivered, but this time not from the cold, but from the thought of his cat freezing in the snowy streets alone.
"Kai, you're being nonsensical, please, she'll be fine, we're all going to get horribly sick on Christmas." --Vivian warned, not wanting their fun day to get ruined.
"You guys can go back, I need to find Miyuki. There's no convincing me out of this." --Kai stated, being stubborn.
Vivian kept shut, she turned to look at Rei and then back at Kai. But he was being serious, he wouldn't budge and she knew that. Vivian let out a sigh and got up, holding out a hand to help Rei up.
"I'm sorry, Kai, but I don't want my best-friend sick on Christmas." She looked Kai in the eyes as Rei stood up on wobbly knees, slowly but surely regaining his strength. "You're welcome to come back if you change your mind." --she adds.
Kai just nods as he watches her and Rei walk off, leaving him alone, without his coat, in the snow.