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“Maa-kun left without me…” Ritsu whispers, still feeling somehow sleepy after just waking up from an afternoon nap, checking his childhood friend’s locker and seeing that his indoor shoes are being kept inside, his outdoors shoes gone, meaning that he has gone back home. “Even if I wanted to walk back with him…” He continues his complaint, this time opening his own locker to take his shoes as well. “How inconsiderate…” He adds, still not done with the complaints.
Still, even if he could complain for a longer time, he seems to realize that there isn't anyone listening to him so he lazily puts on his outdoor shoes and then starts walking barely raising his feet from the floor, almost as if he wanted to slide instead of walk.
“It's still early…” He decides to start complaining once again, groaning as he sees that even if it's setting, the sun is still out, it's still daytime, it's not his time to be awake.
For a second he considers going back to school, go to the classroom his coffin is in and lie down inside until the sun sets, and maybe even until tomorrow.
But when he thinks about the effort of changing his shoes again, walking all the way to the classroom, opening the lid of the coffin…
It's almost as much effort as just walking back home.
Besides, if he falls asleep at school, some teacher might lecture him, and on top of that, he won't be able to have Maa-kun wake him up first thing in the morning.
As much as he loves being lazy, he doesn't want to sacrifice that small bit of happiness he receives every morning.
“Maa-kun is useless without me after all~” He says to keep himself motivated on the quest of walking alone all the way home, for who knows how many times this month already.
He already has half the way done when he decides to take a small detour, wanting to find the vending machine in which his favourite drink gets sold. The drink that had changed its flavour, the one that made him throw it away at first, but that somehow after a few more takes after days and days, had found himself taking a liking into it.
“Oh, that's good, that's good, you didn't leave anything at all~” Hearing that voice surprises Ritsu so much that he almost chokes in his drink, looking around to make sure that he isn't hearing anything, wondering who he's talking about.
He can see at the end of the street, right before turning to a different one, Maa-kun is crouching on the floor, smiling at a small black ball of fluff, a black cat that, judging by the empty bag next to Mao, has been eating cat food from the small bowl in front of it.
Ritsu feels confused when he sees that, not remembering that the Isara household owned a cat, or Mao being found of that kind of animal.
Still, he decides to observe for a little longer, taking his phone out and, after making sure that he turned the volume off, taking pictures of his cute Maa-kun playing with a cat, ready to turn it into his new lockscreen picture.
It will also be useful to tease him about it, so it's like killing two birds with one stone.
He has to admit that seeing that animal getting so close and friendly to his Maa-kun makes him jealous though, frowning as he snaps the last picture, but his feelings quickly change when Mao speaks again.
“Come on Ritsu, stop it.” Ritsu was sure that he hadn't been spotted yet, he's on Maa-kun’s side after all, mostly covered by the wall, and Maa-kun hasn't turned around to look at him even once.
It's okay though, even if he has been found, it doesn't change the fact that he got a nice new collection of pictures that he definitely has to make a safe copy of.
“Come on Ritsu! It tickles!” He hears once again, seeing that the cat is licking Mao's cheek, before Mao puts him down on the floor.
Ritsu, the self-proclaimed vampire, blinks twice connecting the dots.
Maa-kun name the cat after him.
He doesn't know what does that mean though, if it's a good or a bad thing, if Maa-kun has any reason to do that at all.
Ritsu, human, sees that Ritsu, cat, tries to climb back to Mao's arms, but this time instead of wanting to play it looks like it wants to sleep, closing its eyes while being held in Mao's arms.
Ritsu wishes he could change places with his namesake. Being held by Maa-kun while falling asleep, feeling his warmth and having him look at him with that smile on his face…
Ritsu is definitely feeling jealous.
“Man, you sure are cute when you are sleeping like this, Ritsu.” Mao says cheerfully, not taking his eyes away from the cat.
“Meow~” Ritsu replies, monotone, sleepy.
Mao turns around as soon as he hears that meow, because the one that has replied to him wasn't the cat but his the last person he would ever like to see him like this.
The surprise is so much that he accidentally ends up dropping the cat, who ends up running away as soon as he sees the stranger, scared.
“Maa-kun, am I cute too~?” The self-proclaimed vampire says, a smile on his face which very obviously mocks Mao, whose face is about to turn as red as his hair as this rate.
“Ri… Ritsu…” Mao calls as he tries to pretend that everything is alright, standing up even if his legs feel numb after spending so long in the same position, not being able to bring himself to look at Ritsu into his eyes.
“Is this why Maa-kun didn't want to walk home with me lately?” Ritsu asks, the teasing smile not disappearing from his face as he tries to meet his childhood friend's gaze.
“How long have you been there…?” Mao asks, feeling that he definitely wouldn't mind if he were to be swallowed by earth right in this moment.
“Mhm, I wonder how long~” Ritsu replies, showing him his brand new lockscreen, the picture of Mao playing with the black cat while smiling. “Too bad I could only get a side view~” Ritsu teases, moving his phone aside when he sees that Mao is trying to reach for it.
“Change it! Delete it!” Mao yells, embarrassed rather than angry while Ritsu laughs and puts his phone back in his pocket, safe from Maa-kun’s hands.
“No way~” Ritsu denies, still smiling, enjoying the situation more than he should. But it's Maa-kun’s fault. If he had been a good boy and walked home with him, he wouldn't tease him like this, in a way, this is punishment for leaving him behind. “Maa-kun, you were taking care of the wrong Ritsu.” He complains then, finally dropping the smile and frowning instead, showing a slight hint of anger in his words and face.
“It's… Just a cat, Ritsu.” Mao answers, sounding like he's trying to scold him, managing to understand what's going on through his childhood friend’s head. “I found him meowing one day, and leaving him aside was too much trouble… So I started feeding him and he got attached to me, that's it, you don't need to feel jealous.” He explains scratching the back of his head, starting to walk away in direction of their neighbourhood.
“I wasn't jealous…” Ritsu lies, pouting, following Mao and realizing that there's an important question he hasn't answered yet. “Why did you name him… Like that?” He asks, not too sure about what kind of answer to expect, his heart already beating too fast.
There's a silence, and Ritsu has to walk a few steps faster to be able to walk next to Mao, staring at his face, wondering what his expression means.
“Maa-kun?” He asks, letting him know that he isn't letting him leave without answering his question.
“No reason.” Mao answers, but as soon as he sees Ritsu's face he knows that he isn't taking that as an answer. “Well, you know… I take care of him, his hair is the same colour as yours… I saw him sleeping and for some reason he reminded me of you…” He replies, finally giving a honest answer and Ritsu hums, which Mao feels that it means he has accepted that answer.
“He reminded you of me when he slept, huh~” He repeats cheerfully, a smile on his face and a faint blush in his cheeks.
“Man, you sure look cute when you are sleeping like this, Ritsu.”
The sentence repeats in his head, feeling that it has a whole new meaning now, thinking that the one who should feel jealous is definitely the cat.