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It’s been storming outside for what feels like hours. The power went out almost thirty minutes ago, so Eita’s swaddled up in a blanket on his bed, his back against the window and a book open on his lap. It’s hard to read in the dark, but if Eita said he was actually trying to read, he’d be lying.
The sounds of the storm outside are soothing, the rain a steady drizzling drone with the occasional rumble of thunder. On the other side of the room, Tendou looks to be drifting in and out of sleep.
There’s another boom of thunder just as Eita’s phone buzzes at the foot of his bed.
Discord, now
Ushijima Wakatoshi (#general, Volleyball Club)
Can someone come let me in?
“Wakatoshi forgot his keys,” Eita says, unsure if Tendou’s even awake enough to answer.
“Hmm, what?” Tendou mumbles into his sleeve.
“Wakatoshi’s stuck outside,” Eita says, rephrasing. “I’m gonna let him in.”
Tendou rolls over to face him as Eita stands up and starts looking for his shoes. The hood of his sweatshirt falls so that it almost covers his eyes. “What’s he doing outside?”
Eita shrugs. “How should I know?”
“Mm, bet he’s soaking wet.”
“Probably not. He’s got a rain jacket.” Eita locates his shoes under his bed. He pulls them on and grabs his roomkey. “You wanna come get him with me?”
“No, I’m sleeping,” Tendou says, and that’s the end of their conversation.
Eita locks the door behind himself and then takes the two flights of stairs down to the ground floor. There are a few first years in the bottom floor lounge playing a card game, and Eita waves at Goshiki as he passes them.
When Eita gets to the front door of the dorm building, he finds Reon already talking to Ushijima, who is indeed wearing his raincoat. It’s zipped up, but his arms aren’t in the sleeves, instead bunched up over his stomach.
“Hey,” Eita starts, and then Ushijima’s jacket meows.
Reon blinks. “Was that a cat?”
“Yes,” Ushijima says. Then, without missing a beat, “Let’s go upstairs.”
They settle down in Ushijima and Reon’s room, using Reon’s phone flashlight as a light. Eita sends a text to Tendou letting him know that he’s in their friend’s room with a cat just in case he really wakes up and wants to join them.
Ushijima kneels down and unzips his jacket to reveal a tiny silver and white kitten. It’s sopping wet, and there’s a visible wet spot on Ushijima’s shirt. He’s cradling it in his hands, and the kitten mewls shrilly when Reon leans over to get a closer look.
“Where did you find her?” Eita asks.
Ushijima just says, “Outside,” like that clears up everything.
“What are you going to do with her after the storm clears up?” Reon asks.
“Keep her.” Ushijima has clearly already thought this through.
Eita blinks. “What, like, in the dorms?”
Ushijima nods. “Her name is Amaya.”
There’s a light knock at the door, then, that makes Reon flinch. Eita whips his head around to look at the door while Ushijima casually zips the kitten back up in his jacket and calls, “Come in.”
It’s Tendou, dragging a sleepy-looking Hayato behind him. They close the door once they’re in the room and Tendou wastes no time in saying, “There’s a cat?”
Ushijima unzips his jacket again.
Reon and Eita fill Tendou and Hayato in on the kitten situation while they fawn over Amaya. Her mews are quiet and squeaky, and as she pads around in a circle in front of them, she eventually dries off enough to reveal an exceptionally fluffy coat.
“So, did you actually forget your keys,” Hayato asks, scratching behind Ayama’s ears, “or were your arms just too full of kitten to unlock the door?”
“I forgot them in the gym.” Ushijima reaches out to scratch the kitten under her chin. Between the chin and ear scratches, she looks just about in little kitty heaven.
Tendou snorts. “Taking a page out of Hayato’s book, I see.”
Hayato frowns. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” Tendou assures him. Then, “Actually, Hayato, do you know where your phone is right now?”
Hayato maintains eye contact and reaches into his jacket pocket. The his face falls. “I don’t have to answer that.”
“Don’t you need a litterbox?” Eita says. Ayama, now being ignored by the boys who were petting her before, is sniffing at his knees. He reaches out to stroke the top of her head with two fingers. “If you’re keeping her here, I mean.”
Tendou’s eyebrows shoot up. “We’re keeping her?”
“Well,” says Reon.
“Yes,” says Ushijima.
“Okay, I love that for us.” Hayato reaches out to let Ayama sniff his hand but she turns her head away.
Tendou snickers. “Oh, she doesn’t like you anymore.”
Hayato shoves him lightly. “Fuck off.”
“We might get in trouble if she’s loud,” Reon says. “I think we should bring her to a shelter, or see if one of our parents will watch her for a while.”
Eita picks at the beds of his nails. “If anyone gets suspicious, the rest of us could always cover for you. Like, take her for a few days or something.”
“What if we just all took turns watching her?” Tendou suggests.
Eita raises his eyebrows. “You want a litterbox in our bedroom? Really?”
Tendou shrugs. “I doubt it’s that bad.”
“Have you had cats before, Satori?” Ushijima asks. He’s scooped up Ayama now, and she’s curled in his lap, purring.
“Well, no, but-”
“Then if we have a litterbox in our room, you can be in charge of cleaning it,” Eita says. “I agree, she’s baby and I love her already, but I hate taking care of that shit.”
“ Literally ,” says Hayato, and then, because everyone’s looking at him now, “Really? Nobody thought that was funny?”
Tendou snorts.
“Okay,” Eita says, “let’s just make a list of cat supplies we need.” He pulls up the notes app on his phone.
Tendou raises his eyebrows. “It’s ‘notes app’ serious?”
“She needs to eat and pee and play.” Eita starts making a list. “Also, we’re out of our rooms for most of the day, so she’ll need stuff to keep her occupied.”
“We should get her catnip mouse toys,” Ushijima suggests. “And those feather-on-a-stick toys.”
Tendou props his elbow on his knee and leans his face into his fist, leaning over to look at Eita’s phone. “This is kinda complicated. Won’t she sleep all day? Does she need so many toys?”
“Kittens are really active,” Hayato says. “Bet we could bring her to practice and tire her out, though.”
“That’s a bad idea,” says Ushijima.
Hayato hums. “Is it though? Sure, Washijou-san would kill us, but it’d be worth it to see Goshiki’s face.”
Eita’s eyes widen. “You cannot tell Tsutomu about the cat.”
Reon nods. “Agreed. I love him, but sometimes he can’t keep his mouth shut.”
“Hmm, do you think Shirabu or Taichi-kun would snitch?” Tendou’s leaned so far forward that his hair is blocking Eita’s view, and Eita has to gently push him out of the way.
“They wouldn’t,” Ushijima says. He’s still petting Ayama - who appears to have fallen asleep - gently. She’s so small already, but she looks even smaller in Ushijima’s hands. She looks happy, though. Eita can’t help but crack a smile. “We should probably keep her a secret, though. The less people that know, the harder it will be for it to get out that we have a cat.”
“Secret Shiratorizawa Volleyball Club cat!” Tendou starts quietly humming the Mission Impossible theme.
Reon barks out a laugh and Eita nudges Tendou, not unkindly, with his elbow. “You’re a dork,” he says.
Tendou looks up at him and bats his eyelashes. “I’m your dork.”
“No, you’re not,” Eita says at the same time that Hayato exclaims, “ Get a room!” and kicks Tendou’s side gently. Tendou grabs Hayato’s ankle, and the two end up in a slight, friendly tussle.
Eita looks over at Reon and Ushijima just in time to see Ushijima crack a slight smile.
“How much is all this cat stuff gonna cost?” Reon asks once Hayato and Tendou have calmed down (or, have calmed down as much as those two can).
Eita shrugs. “I haven’t had a cat in, like, four years.”
“I’ve never had a cat before,” Ushijima says.
“Well, whatever. We should leave soon to get her her things.” Hayato stands up and stretches his arms.
“It’s, like, ten-thirty,” says Tendou.
“I really don’t want her to pee on the floor,” says Reon.
Eita scratches his cheek absentmindedly. “She needs stuff now , but how are all five of us gonna sneak off campus, get a litterbox and litter and cat food and toys, and sneak back on with all those things without getting caught?”
“Just Reon and I can go,” Ushijima suggests.
Tendou wastes no time in whining about that. “ I want to go to the cat store, though.”
“You just wanna look at snakes,” Eita says.
“They’re cute , Semisemi, can you blame me?”
“I agree with Tendou, I also wanna go to the pet store,” Hayato says.
“We can just all go next time we’re free,” Reon says. “But if we get caught with cat supplies, it’s all over.”
“...What if you two get caught?” Tendou asks. “Then what do we do?”
Ushijima lifts Ayama and places her in Eita’s lap. “You can watch her until we get back, just in case.”
“We won’t get caught, though,” Reon assures them. “But just in case.”
Back in Eita’s room, the now-awake Ayama chases her tail beneath Tendou’s desk. Eita and Tendou sit on the floor with their backs against the foot of Tendou’s bed, watching her.
“She’s cute,” Tendou says offhandedly.
Eita slumps over and rests his head on Tendou’s shoulder. “She’s making me tired just watching her.”
“Hmm.” Tendou takes Eita’s hand in his own and starts gently playing with his fingers. “Well. We have practice tomorrow anyway; you should sleep.”
Eita exhales softly through his nose. “ You should be the one sleeping, then. I can watch her. It’s not like I’m really doing much at practice now, anyways.”
Tendou tilts his head to the side just enough so that he’s resting on Eita’s own head. “O-r, we could both stay up watching her.”
Smiling, Eita turns and presses his face into Tendou’s neck. “‘Kay.”
He does, in fact, fall asleep.