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Kanao got Tanjirou when she'd been coming home from work and heard a scrambling noise from between two tall buildings. It had been raining that day and the sky had been dark, and she was holding an umbrella over her head which would definitely hinder her movements if she needed to throw a punch or two, but she blinked and went into the alley anyway.
She found a small, tattered cardboard box, and inside of it, she found an even smaller kitten. It had big maroon eyes and such puffy red fur that it looked more like a ball of hair than anything else, but when it saw her, it sat on its haunches and mewed cutely up at her in a squeaky voice.
She could feel her heart melting as she bent down into a crouch and reached out her hand. The kitten sniffed her fingertips curiously before licking them gently, his tongue tiny and scratchy against her skin, and she cooed.
"You're all alone in the rain," Kanao said softly. The inside of the box was abhorrently damp, and with that, she lifted the umbrella over the kitten, not blinking when she felt her hair and clothes immediately start to get wet. The kitten mewled, tiny and warm and looking at her like she was its savior, and that was what had her scooping in with a gentle hand and lifting it into her coat.
It fit perfectly just at the collar of her jacket, peeking its tiny face out and the tops of its fluffy ears tickling her chin, and with that, she was marching off, home all forgotten and now heading straight for the vet.
It turns out that the kitten was three months old, was a boy, and also loved to give attention. He was named Tanjirou because Kanao was terrible with names and so was the vet, and before she knew it, she was going home with a purring kitten in her arms and the thought that she couldn’t believe that she’d impulsively gotten a pet.
When she went to the store the next day, she went all out. Her cart was full of all sorts of things like toys and bowls and towers, and she felt a little guilty for practically interrogating an employee about which cat food was the best brand and best quality because Tanjirou only deserved the best, and she had to hold back a wince at the amount of money it all charged up to.
It was worth it, though, when Kanao came home and coaxed Tanjirou onto her lip with wiggling fingers and soft kissing sounds. The kitten didn’t even squirm as she clipped the collar around his neck, only licked at her hand and purred when she scratched him gently behind the ears.
The collar had a tag patterned like a Hanafuda earring, and on the back of it was Tanjirou and Kanao’s name as well as her address.
“You’re stuck with me, now,” Kanao said fondly, and Tanjirou mewed.
Two years passed and Tanjirou had grown into a big cat. And when she said big, she meant big. It probably had to do with the fact that his fur was as poofy and large as always, but she’d had to go and resize his collar so many times that it was habit by that point.
Tanjirou was the sweetest cat anyone could ever ask for. He wasn’t one to directly seek attention - instead, he seemed to love giving attention, always finding her if she was working in her office and as if smelling her stress, he’d jump onto her lap and purr so loudly and so much that she’d forget why she was frustrated in the first place.
Tanjirou was a lovely cat, but this time, Kanao was nervous as she hauled the carrier out of her car and grimaced at the loud yowling coming from inside. It had been yet another impulse pet that she couldn’t resist - she’d seen the most gorgeous cat when she had been flitting around the pet store for more cat food, and when she saw him, she couldn’t resist.
His name was Zenitsu (again, she was horrible with names) and he was one of the most gorgeous cats she’d ever seen. He had golden fur that tapered off into orange on his tail, paws and ears, and he was just a little beneath three years old. He’d apparently been returned so many times because of his constant wailing, but Kanao was determined to keep him.
“Tanjirou,” Kanao said softly, unlocking the door with her key and gently placing down the carrier with Zenitsu in it, who let out a whimper at the soft impact. “Tanjirou, baby! Come here for me, kitty.”
There was the soft clinking noise of his collar as Tanjirou appeared around the corner, and she knew that he knew something was different. His pupils were narrow and his ears and tail were pointed straight up, and the sight had her nervous. Tanjirou had never been around another cat before, had never even seen or smelled one, and she hoped that he wouldn’t be aggressive about another cat joining them.
Zenitsu wailed louder and Tanjirou jumped, seeming alarmed while the fur on his back bristled, and Kanao sat down on her legs beside the carrier. “Tanjirou,” she said, beckoning him closer, and he did, slowly putting one paw in front of the other before sniffing her hand uncertainly when she reached for him. “We have a new family member, so be nice, okay?”
Tanjirou let out a small mew while Zenitsu cried.
The vet had said that the meeting needed to be slow and careful, especially if Tanjirou had never seen another cat before. She couldn’t put it off forever, however, and it was crucial that she was there to monitor the whole situation if something got out of hand, so she bit her lip before slowly reaching down and unlocking the carrier.
Immediately, something golden shot out, so fast that he was nothing more than a blur, and Tanjirou was right on his tail, making Kanao cry out in worry when the large cat bowled into Zenitsu and the two tumbled before coming to a stop on her carpet. Looking at Tanjirou pin Zenitsu down only served to remind her how big he was - Zenitsu looked small and frightened against such a big cat, and Kanao was ready to march over and tug on Tanjirou’s collar so he’d get the hell off -
Except when Tanjirou leaned down, he didn’t bite at Zenitsu or hiss. Instead, there was a slow, purr-filled lick as he began to groom Zentisu’s cheek. The golden cat blinked like he couldn’t believe what was going on, and honestly, Kanao could relate. What was going on?
“Tanjirou?” Kanao called out, but for the first time in his life, he ignored her.
He gave a small flick of his ear in her direction to tell her that he heard her, but he continued to groom Zenitus, now lying down on the other cat and covering him in red fur as he purred louder than ever before and began to clean around Zenitsu’s ears.
Zenitsu stared up at Tanjirou with wide eyes, and it occurred to Kanao just then that he’d stopped crying despite the fact that there was a cat twice the size of him currently trapping him to the ground. To her disbelief, Zenitsu then stretched his neck up, curiously sniffed Tanjirou’s fur, and then gave a tentative lick to the other cat’s nose.
Tanjirou’s tail flicked excitedly and when Zentisu began to purr, he only began to lick the smaller cat even more, nudging him every now and then and grooming his neck when Zenitsu tipped his chin up.
Kanao stared, her legs going numb from sitting on them for so long, and she had the distant thought that her cats were gay.
Zenitsu was different from Tanjirou in a lot of different ways. For one, he craved attention from her - he’d always crawl into her lap crying for pets, and when she finally gave them, his purrs were so loud that they resembled thunder more than anything. Despite the disastrous wailing he’d sobbed the first time they met, he only seemed to give small sniffles now and then.
It probably had to do with the fact that he and Tanjirou were mates.
She knows that they were - it was too obvious. They always seemed to be at least six feet within each other’s space, shared their food with each other, and when they slept, it was with Zentisu curled into a ball and Tanjirou wrapped around him protectively. When they liked to lie on the windowsill and bask in the sunlight, their tails were often intertwined, resembling a golden and scarlet spiral.
They were constantly grooming each other, and it was funny to see Zenitsu’s tiny tongue trying to desperately sort out his boyfriend’s wild fur while Tanjirou gave one swipe of his tongue and a good portion of Zenitsu’s golden fur was flattened.
It was such a cute and sweet relationship that Kanao had to check twice with the vet to make sure that Zenitsu wasn’t a female because she wasn’t sure if she could handle litters of kittens running around.
The best days were when it was Sunday and Kanao didn’t have to go to work. She’d make herself lemon ginger tea with a spoonful of honey stirred in, and for once she wouldn’t be dressed like she was a corporate CEO. She’d be in her comfortable sweats, her glasses on her nose and her favorite book in her lap as she curled up on the couch, right where the sun hit just at the correct angle and warmed her skin. She’d sip at her hot tea, and just as she’s about to turn the page to where she last left off, there’d be the gentle jingling of two collars before a red and golden cat jumped onto the couch.
Zenitsu would bask in the sun, his belly up and tail moving slowly, and Tanjirou would be right beside him, looking at him with adoration and licking his stomach fur every now and then, and Kanao would smile.
“I can’t believe my first two pets are boyfriends,” she’d sigh, and if she imagined hard enough, she could think they’d laugh.