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Mattsun tapes up the wanted ad for a roommate to the outside of the café he owns near his apartment. After he kicked out his old shitty roommate, he realized he should have waited until he found a replacement. He sighs. He could move in with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, but it would almost feel like third wheeling and he does not want to be reminded that he is alone and single.
He would get a neko, but he isn’t sure what type to get. He wants someone to be able to joke around with and has a great sense of humor. Plus, someone to help tease Oikawa with.
“Damn man, back at it again with those white vans!” Somebody calls out. Mattsun looks down at his feet. Yes, he’s wearing white tennis shoes, but they aren’t vans. He looks up, looking eyes with a smirking stranger.
The stranger is wearing skinny jeans, converses, a beanie and an unbutton plaid shirt. He has a backpack slung over the one shoulder and a suitcase by his feet. Under the beanie is pink-brown hair. It’s winter out, with snow all over and this guy is dressed for warmer weather.
“Dude, that meme is so old.” Mattsun calls back. “Step up your meme game.”
The stranger walks closer. He shrugs. “Sorry dude. I had the chance and I took it.”
“Jokes on you cuz I ain’t even wearin’ vans.”
The stranger follows the arm that Mattsun has leaned against the window. “Lookin’ for a roommate?”
“Yea, you interested?”
“Can’t dude.” The man takes his beanie off. “I don’t have a job.” He puts the beanie back on.
“Are you looking for a job and place to stay?” Mattsun asks. He could hire this guy to work at the café, plus a roommate. Two birds with one stone. So far, this guy seems just perfect for Mattsun to befriend.
“Yea, I guess so.”
“Will your owner be ok with this?”
“Considering my owner doesn’t care about me, I think I’ll be ok.” The stranger smiles. “Hanamaki Takahiro.”
“Matsukawa Issei.”
“What kind of job we talking about?” Makki asks.
“This coffee shop right here.” Mattsun gestures to the coffee.
Makki looks up at the name. Deja Brew
“It’s a perfect name bro.” Makki smiles.
“Bro? Oh god, I think this relationship is moving too fast.”
“I’m sorry bro, I just feel such a strong connection…I-I’ll try to suppress my feelings until you’re ready.”
The two laugh. Mattsun has a feeling he made the right choice.
~~
“This is the place.” Mattsun opens the door to the apartment. The apartment is two bedrooms, one bathroom. The place is decorated plain, mostly since Mattsun’s old roommate did not like his sense of décor and humor.
“Woah…everything is so bare…and lifeless.” Makki says, looking around.
“Yea, my roommate didn’t care for the posters and shit I had.” Mattsun rubs the back of his neck.
“Break that shit out bro.” Makki smiles. “I have a few meme posters in my bag.”
“Awesome!” Mattsun grins at the neko. “Your new room is the door down the hall. Drop your shit off and let’s decorate the hell outta this place.”
Makki nods, heading down the hall, into the bedroom. It was basic, with a desk, dresser and bed. Makki drops his backpack to the ground and throws the suitcase on the bed. He opens it up and digs through the clothes until he finds the posters rolled up. He smiles, heading back out. When he gets back to the living room, Mattsun has two boxes by the coffee table.
“Here’s posters and some other shit I never put out.” Mattsun digs out a few posters, unrolling them out.
“Dude, you have Pepe the Frog poster too?” Makki exclaims, unrolling his Pepe the Frog.
“Bro, we were destined to find each other.” Mattsun gives a lazy smile. “We gotta hang them up together.”
“Totally bro.”
Together, they hang up posters, adding a bit more personal touch to the apartment. Mattsun brought out a lava lamp and a Buddha statue and a Beckoning cat statue. Mattsun orders takeout and they collapse on the couch, leaning against each other as the tv plays and they eat.
“Later, you gotta my best friend and his neko.” Mattsun says. “Oikawa is pretty easy to mess with and Iwaizumi is chill.”
“Sounds great bro.”
~~
“Can we surprise them? Like, I come in all human like then, bam!” Makki hits his palms together. “I reveal the surprise.”
“Sounds pretty cool man. Or maybe just casually take your beanie off and wait for them to notice.”
Makki smiles at Mattsun. “Bro, you have some thick eyebrows, like caterpillars bro. Kinda sexy lookin’.”
“Thanks bro. Your hair is a pretty color.” Mattsun comments.
“Bro, you’re too sweet.” Makki shies away, pretending to be embarrassed.
“Ok, you ready?”
“With you, I’m always ready bro.”
Mattsun knocks on the door. There’s a bit of yelling from the other side, then the door opens. Oikawa smiles.
“Mattsun!” Oikawa cheerfully greets. “Come in.”
Makki follows Mattsun inside, sitting down on the couch. Iwaizumi sits in the chair, wearing only sweatpants. He looks like he just woke up. He stretches and yawns.
“Iwa-Chan, Mattsun brought over his new roommate.” Oikawa sits on Iwaizumi’s lap, who frowns but does nothing more.
Hanamaki Takahiro.”
“Hmmm….”’ Oikawa hums. “Makki-Chan!”
Iwaizumi groans. “Really?”
“Yes really. All my friends get nicknames.”
“Even Kageyama?” Matttsun asks, a sly smirk on his face.
“I…well, of course not. Tobio-Chan is rude and thinks he’s better than me.”
Kageyama Tobio? Wasn’t that the kid Mattsun told me about? I think I saw him on that video, but the ball was most interesting. “Isn’t he better?” Makki asks.
“Oh no you didn’t.” Mattsun snickers.
Oikawa makes a few facial expressions, along with a few weird noises. “Mattsun! Your friend is very rude. I am better than Tobio-Chan!”
“Whatever you say Oikawa.” Iwaizumi says, poking Oikawa in the cheek.
Makki stretches his arms, removing his hat and scratching his head. Oikawa gasps. “Why didn’t you tell me he was a neko? Now we can take them to get their fur groomed together.” He smiles.
“NO.” All three say together.
“Rude. I feel so attacked.”
“But did you come here to have a good time?” Mattsun asks.
“Of course he come out to have a good time, but he’s just feeling so attacked.” Makki heads, draping his body over Mattsun. He doesn’t bother removing himself either. Mattsun runs his hand through Makki’s hair.
“Great. Just what Mattsun needed.” Oikawa complains. “A neko that likes memes.”
“How did you two meet?”
“He challenged me to a ‘meme war’.” Mattsun cries out dramatically.
“Baby, you challenged me.” Makki lifts a hand to cup Mattsun’s face. “You said I had to step up my game.”
“It’s true sweetie.” Mattsun says softly. “That meme was old.”
“But you were wearing white shoes.”
Oikawa gags. “You two are gross.”
“No one is as gross as you two.” Mattsun gives the couple the look. Iwaizumi shrugs, not denying it while Oikawa tries to deny it.
“You’re just jealous of Iwa-Chan’s muscles!” Oikawa cries out. He gropes Iwaizumi’s bicep.
“That literally has nothing to do with anything.” Iwaizumi grumbles.
“Hmmm…” Makki sits up. “I challenge you to arm wrestling.”
“Deal.” Iwaizumi smirks, pushing Oikawa off, heading to the kitchen table. Makki follows, stretching out his arm. They sit across from each other, right hands connecting. Oikawa and Mattsun join them.
“You know babe; I want to support you, but Iwaizumi has never lost before.” Mattsun says.
“Just for that, you can sleep alone.” Makki smirks.
“Ready…go!” Oikawa starts them off.
Makki is struggling, but he holds out for a few minutes until the back of his palm hits the table. Oikawa cheers, kissing Iwaizumi’s cheek.
“I want a rematch.”
Iwaizumi and Makki battle five more times before Oikawa calls it quits.
“Iwa-Chan needs to rest his muscles.” Oikawa uses as an excuse.
“You need to rest your jaw.” Iwaizumi mutters.
“Do you think…?”
“Are you thinking…?”
“Sore from giving too many blow jobs!!”
Iwaizumi just rolls his eyes.
“Rude! Rude! Rude!” Oikawa cries, pouting. “Teach your neko some manners!”
“Hey baby, lighten up.”
“No can do baby.”
Mattsun shrugs. “I tried.”
~~
Mattsun does a double take when he glances over at Makki in cat form. The pink-brown cat, Turkish Van, is sitting so ridiculously, it has Mattsun scrambling for his phone to take a picture. Makki is siting on his butt, his legs spread out and front paws at his sides. Mattsun can see a lazy smile on his face.
He sends the picture to Oikawa.
Do cats normally sit like this?
> Iwa-Chan doesn’t sit like that
> Maybe he’s special?
Mattsun doesn’t think much on it. Makki gets up then, strolling off the bedroom. He reappears a few minutes later in sweatpants only, hands shoved in the fabric despite the pockets. He plops back down on the couch, right next to Mattsun. Mattsun is surprised to see sweatpants on Makki. The man seems to only own skinny jeans. Mattsun looks closer. Those are his sweatpants. That little shit.
“Do you always sit like that?” Mattsun asks, referring to the picture he took earlier.
“Yea. My last owner loved it. She always laughed.”
“Totally fits you baby.” Mattsun reaches out to ruffle Makki’s hair.
“Babe, I don’t want to sound rude, but our relationship is just moving so fast.” Makki makes his voice sound higher, to act like a girl.
“I’m sorry sweetie…my love is just too strong. It hurts to suppress my feelings for you.” Mattsun drapes an arm over his forehead. “I-I’ll try…for you.”
“Thank you baby.”
To Mattsun’s surprise, Makki leans over and kisses Mattsun’s cheek. Makki settles back at Mattsun’s side like nothing happened, eyes trained back to the tv. Mattsun can feel his face getting warm. He learned after the first week that Makki is a touchy person, so is Mattsun. They both joke around about being in a relationship with the pet names and cuddling, but that’s the first time Makki has kissed him. IT doesn’t gross Mattsun out, instead, he almost wants to see what Makki’s lips feel like. Or what sounds he can make? Maybe even…
Stop it. He scolds himself. This is your bro. Bros don’t think about doing that with other bros.
“So, I was thinking…” Makki starts off. “Am I actually gunna work at your coffee shop?”
“If you want. You don’t really have too.”
“I do. Beats sitting around here all day when you leave.” Makki had tried to help with the cleaning, but he was awful at it. Mattsun had come home to find half the kitchen in soap bubble because Makki used half a bottle of dish soap. Mattsun wanted to bed, but after Makki had said “Looks like you came home to a soapy situation.” It wasn’t the best, but he figured that was the best Makki could think of on the best. Mattsun had smiled, forbidden Makki to ever try and clean anything that wasn’t his own room.
“Alright. You can come tomorrow morning.” Mattsun agrees. “If you can get up early enough.”
“Please, I’m half cat. Cats are early risers.”
~~
In fact, Mattsun had to dump water on Makki to wake him up. Makki was still pissed about it an hour later when Mattsun was unlocking the back door. Mattsun removes his coat, hanging it up. Mattsun came to the conclusion that Makki doesn’t own any winter clothes, considering the man dresses in skinny jeans and long sleeve shirts with no sweatshirt or coats.
“In my defense, you said cats were early risers.” Mattsun lazily points out.
“Well I’m not.” Makki pouts.
Damn, that’s cute. “Ok, so right now I don’t trust you to do anything yet, so just sit somewhere and behave.”
“Fair point.” Makki smiles.
Mattsun heads in to the main part of the shop and gets the coffee machines up and running. He flips the lights on, stocking the dessert display case with goodies. He heads back into the kitchen, seeing Makki sitting on one of the counters, one leg bent up on the counter, his tail moving back and forth. He has Mattsun’s phone. When did he even grab that from me?
“Bro, when did you grab my phone?” He asks, going into his office.
“It was in your coat pocket.” He sounds distracted, but Mattsun lets it be. Mattsun leaves the office, carrying a bag of money for the front registers.
Mattsun opens the money bag, sorting the money out and putting in into the different slots. He hums along to the music he plays in the shop. He jumps, feeling a fair of arms wrap around his waist, one hand slipping his phone into the apron back and a warm forehead resting between his shoulder blades. He can feel his back getting a little wet, assuming Makki is crying. Right away, he can tell something is upsetting Makki.
“Oi baby. What’s wrong?”
Makki grumbles out something. Mattsun sighs, knowing it’s a lost cause right now.
“Wanna help me make some creampuffs?”
Makki perks his head up, the grip around Mattsun’s waist tighten. “Creampuffs?”
“Yea man. My shop is known for its creampuffs.”
“I like creampuffs.” His voice is small and quiet.
“Perfect bro.” Mattsun walks back into the kitchen with Makki still hugging him from behind. “Alright bro, you gotta let me go.”
“Sorry bro.”
Mattsun misses the warmth immediately. Mattsun shows Makki how to make the creampuffs, only speaking when he gives instructions. The silence is weird for Mattsun. He talks about how his uncle owned the shop before passing it down to Mattsun. Mattsun then changed the name, attracting a younger audience with the university a few blocks away. He holds a creampuff out to Makki. He accepts, taking a bite. His lips slowly turn into a smile.
“This is a bad ass creampuff.”
Mattsun smiles, glad that Makki seems to be better. “Thanks bro.”
Makki finishes off the puff, reaching for another, then another.
“Bro, I need to sell these.”
Makki pouts. There’s some cream on his upper lip. Mattsun reaches forward, swiping his lip gently with his thumb, then sticking the thumb in his mouth. Makki watches, holding his breathe the whole time.
“I’m gunna go open up.” Mattsun heads into the main part, pulling his phone out as he unlocks the front door. He opens his Facebook app, seeing it open to a profile. Sakura Seo. Was Makki looking her up? There’s a picture of the girl, with a male neko in the picture. Or does he know the neko? Whichever the case, Mattsun knows it’s a sore subject right now.
“Hey bro?”
“Yea babe?”
“Do you even own any winter clothing?”
“Not really. I like the snow and water.” Makki answer. Mattsun studies him for a full minute to see if he’s joking or not.
“Are you serious?” Mattsun doesn’t know many nekos, but he knows they do not like water.
“Yea. I’m a Turkish Van. Our breed’s fur is water-resistant.” Makki explains.
That does explain why Makki tried to get in the shower as a cat while Mattsun was using it on multiply occasions. “Weird.”
~~
“Are you watching porn?”
“…yea…”
“Can I join you?”
“Yea.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“You can take care of that, you know?”
“Same to you bro.”
~~
Of course, Makki is sitting weird again. Mattsun has over fifteen pictures of the damn cat sitting in weird positions. This time, he’s lying on the couch, looking exactly like the meme ‘Draw me like one of your French girls’. Mattsun opens snapchat, snapping a picture and captioning it ‘Draw me like one of your French Cats’. He says the saying out loud to Makki, getting a few meows in response. He assumes that means good.
“Alright bro, I’m going to bed.”
Mattsun heads to the bathroom, then into his room where he strips down to his boxers. He climbs in bed, getting comfy. He’s deep asleep when Makki jumps in the bed and curls up at his middle.
Mattsun should have been more freaked out when he woke up the next morning with Makki naked and curled into his chest. Makki is snoring softly and Mattsun finds it adorable. Mattsun reaches for his phone, causing Makki to follow, seeking out body heat. Mattsun smiles, taking a few pictures.
Makki scrunches his nose, sneezes, then cuddles closer to Mattsun. Makki mumbles something in his sleep, sounding like Mattsun’s name. Mattsun feels his body getting warm, despite that the comforter is covering half their bodies. Mattsun has never felt attracted to anyone before. Yet now, his body is reacting to Makki sleepily saying his name. Mattsun sucks in a breath when he feels something pressing into his leg, creating two problems now.
Mattsun rushes out of bed, almost tripping when Makki wouldn’t let him go. He stumbles into the bathroom to take care of his problem.
Later, Makki finally crawls out when Mattsun is on the couch. He’s wearing Mattsun’s boxers with his hands shoved on the inside of the fabric. “Morning bro.”
“Bro, you know you snore loudly right?” Mattsun teases.
“I do not bro.”
“Yea, like this.” Mattsun fake snores, loud and obnoxious.
“Liar.”
“I’m kidding. It was quiet. Kinda cute.” Cute? Why did I just say that?
“Thank bro.”
Is he blushing? He never blushes before when I said something like that. Am I in love with him?
Makki drapes himself over Mattsun. “You are the best baby. I just love you.”
“Wha…” Mattsun glances down to see Makki wiggling his eyebrows. Right, he’s joking. “I…love you too baby.”
Later, Mattsun goes over to Oikawa’s. Kuroo is over too. Good, he needs advice.
“So basically, I think I’m in love with him. Like, we watch porn and masturbate together. What kind of bros do that? Just today I jerked off thinking about him. Oh god, I’m awful.” Mattsun buries his face in his hands.
“You have it bad.” Kuroo comments. “Bokuto is my best bro, but I wouldn’t masturbate with him, nor jerk off to him.”
“Now now Mattsun, it can’t be that bad.” Oikawa comforts. “You two have been close since day 1, but I’m sure he feels the same.”
“Iwaizumi, some help?” Mattsun looks to Iwaizumi with a desperate look, who has been silently observing.
“I think you need to tell him before one of you say something worse.”
“He jokingly said he loves me and I said it back. I-I think I really meant it. Like, I would date him.” Mattsun sighs. “I have never wanted somebody so bad.”
“I don’t think you’ve even shown interest in anyone.” Oikawa comments.
“Which is another reason I say go for it.” Kuroo says.
“He’s not even my neko.” Mattsun confesses quietly. “He said his owner didn’t care about him anymore.”
“Has he said anything about his owner?” Oikawa asks.
“No. I’m afraid to bring it up.”
“Look…” Iwaizumi says sternly. “You need to get your shit together and say something to him.”
“Ok…I will.”
~~
A week later and Mattsun doesn’t say anything. It’s March 1st, a day that should be special, but is not. Mattsun could give two shits about his birthday, so he never told Makki and Makki never asked about it. He jumps in the shower early in the morning, not hearing his phone ringing.
Makki answers his phone since it’s only Oikawa. “Hey Princess.”
“P-Princess? I am the prince and Iwa-Chan is my knight clad in beautiful muscles.”
Makki gags. “What do you want?”
“Mattsun’s birthday. I wanted to say happy birthday.”
“He didn’t tell me it was his birthday.” Makki mutters, feeling hurt.
“Mattsun doesn’t like his birthday.” Oikawa explains. “But I still like to tell him happy birthday.”
“Ok, thanks man.” Makki hangs up. He wants to get something for Mattsun. Maybe the gifts will make Mattsun happy.
Makki changes clothes, grabs his money, shouting to Mattsun that he’ll be back later, unbeknownst that Mattsun didn’t hear him. He heads to the mall, wondering around, looking for the perfect gift. He appreciates Mattsun, as a friend, but maybe more. He loves cuddling with Mattsun, doesn’t even sleep in his own bed now. Hell, he even jerked off thinking of Mattsun. He’s in deep and he has no idea what to do.
He wanders around the mall, unsure what would be the perfect gift.
“Yo, Mattsun’s neko!”
Makki turns his head to see a tall man with crazy hair and a small neko with black roots and his face buried in a PSP. “Uhh…”
“Mattsun’s neko right? Kuroo Tetsurou.”
“Makki.”
“Right, sorry. I never formally met you but Mattsun sends us pictures sometimes.” Kuroo explains. “Is Mattsun here?”
“No, it’s his birthday today, so I wanted to get him something.”
“Cute. I’m looking for skirts for Kenma.”
Kenma looks up at Kuroo like why the hell would you just tell someone that? Kuroo just grins.
“Right, good luck with that. I’d recommend that store right there. Cute and affordable.” Makki points to a store selling girls’ clothing.
“Thanks. I’d recommend something for Mattsun, but all I know is that he likes memes.”
“Thanks for trying.” Makki waves them off, Kuroo dragging Kenma to the store. Makki wanders around until he finds the store with just what he’s looking for.
He buys three things, leaving them right in the bag. He heads home, a smile on his face. When Makki enters the apartment, Mattsun rushes over and hugs him.
“Bro, I didn’t know where you went. I was gunna send a search party.”
“Bro, I yelled that I was going to be back later.” Makki says, squirming a bit in Mattsun’s embrace.
“Where did you go?”
“To the mall. I got you something.”
Mattsun tenses up, releasing Makki. “Uh…”
“Oikawa called and I found out it’s your birthday so I wanted to get you something.” Makki glances down at his feet. The way Mattsun is acting makes Makki nervous now.
“That shithead.” Mattsun curses, walking off.
Makki follows. “What happened?”
“What happened to your owner?” Mattsun snaps.
Makki cringes. “She didn’t want me anymore…” He admits quietly. “Her parents didn’t like me and she didn’t fight to keep me…I thought she loved me. Then she replaced me.”
Mattsun remembers the day in the café, the Facebook profile that was opened up. It makes sense now why Makki was upset.
“My parents told me they were getting divorced the day of my 9th birthday. After that, life sucked.” Mattsun confesses.
“I think you have it worse.” Makki says weakly.
“Nah bro. You total have it worse.”
Makki laughs. “We’re both idiots.”
“You think?”
“Do you still want your gifts?” Makki holds the bag up.
“Yea, I do. You got them for me, even when I didn’t tell you what today was.” Mattsun hugs Makki first, then takes the bag. He pulls the first thing out, a coffee mug that has ‘Meme Lord’ written across it. A t-shirt that says ‘What do you meme bro?’ and the new card game What Do You Meme? “These are pretty great man. I love them.” He puts the mug and game in the bag and slips the shirt on over his. “Perfect fit.”
“So, there’s something else I have to tell you and I’m dying not just tellin you.” Makki says. “Bro, you really meme a lot to me. Like, so much more than bros.”
“Did you really confess by saying that I meme a lot to you?”
“…Yes.”
“I really wish I thought of that.” Mattsun hugs Makki again, kissing him hard. “You meme a lot to me to.”
Makki grins, blushing. Mattsun snaps a photo, telling his friends the good news, all the messages saying that it was about time they got their shit together.
“Will you make me some creampuffs?”
“You’ve cat to be kitten me right meow?” Mattsun fake groans. “Only been my boyfriend for five minutes and you’re so demanding.”
“I demand something else, but that will wait until later.” Makki wiggles his eyebrows.
“Gross bro.”
“So…those creampuffs?” Makki asks again.
“I’m going call you creampuff.”
“Then I’m calling you eyebrows.”
“Deal bro.”