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There is a cat living on Tetsurou's porch. It doesn't care to leave and Tetsurou doesn't blame it. It's raining, and has been on and off for the past few days. Between the rain and finals, Tetsurou doesn't want to leave either.
They both lounge around the entire morning. Tetsurou occasionally peeks out his window to check if the cat is still there. He realizes the cat will probably keep hanging around his house an hour after the rain stops. So, he decides it’s a good idea to get it some food.
*
The cat is gone when Tetsurou returns. Which is a shame, because he wound up buying premium wet food, a bed, and a scratching post. If only he wasn't so willing to drop all his life savings on cats.
He complains about this to Yaku, who says the same thing then invites him to study.
There are poop droppings near the door when Tetsurou returns. He considers purchasing a litter box then decides against it on the basis that it's too dark and he'll do it tomorrow.
(He doesn't. Luckily, it’s gone the next morning and never happens again)
The cat returns the following day for the wet food. Tetsurou forces himself to hold back on petting it. Partially because he isn't one hundred percent sure it won't scratch him. And partially because then it's obvious he isn't studying for his finals.
Tetsurou isn't stressed about his finals. He's reasonably concerned. So, like any reasonably concerned person would, he teaches the cat everything his professors did over the semester.
The cat doesn't care. It settles onto one of the lawn chairs and falls asleep less than halfway through the calculus lesson. But Tetsurou does feel more confident about it (just a little bit) so it's a win-win. The cat gets a nap and Tetsurou aces his final (hopefully).
Cat trains itself to ride on Tetsurou's shoulder. It’s small enough to be a kitten and hardly feels like it weighs anything. So, as Tetsurou clears away snow, he forgets Cat is there a few times. It digs its claws into his shoulders whenever he leans too much in any direction. Otherwise, it seems content to stay there for as long as it possibly can.
Cat is still there when Tetsurou runs some errands and visits friends. They absolutely love it. Yaku even tries to convince Tetsurou to let him keep it.
Inevitably, Tetsurou tells Cat about his day. He can’t tell if it’s listening or not, or if it even cares, but he takes the fact that it’s still awake as a good thing. When he runs out of things to say, he teaches it everything the calculus practice sheet it slept on.
Cat doesn't show up the next day. Tetsurou looks all over the outside of his house. When that doesn’t yield any results, he checks the inside despite never once letting Cat indoors. He feels cheated by the time he leaves for class.
So, during his break between classes, he agrees to head out for sushi with Yaku and Kai. As a treat. They agree to meet up in the student center, near the arcade machines. It’s the best spot when Tetsurou has half an hour to waste before Kai and Yaku are out.
Halfway through the last lap of Mario Kart, Tetsurou feels eyes on the back of his head. He pauses to check his phone — Kai and Yaku should still have twenty minutes left — then looks behind himself. He nearly falls off his chair when he comes face to face with another person. They also startle, taking a few steps back.
They don’t take long to recover though. Before Tetsurou can say anything, the stranger gestures towards the screen. When he looks, he’s in fourth place but not by much. Computer Toad and Peach are close behind and third place is far ahead.
“You suck,” the stranger says with a voice that sounds like they haven’t slept in a few days. There’s also a challenge somewhere in there, though, and Tetsurou’s never been the kind of person to turn one down.
“Yeah?” Tetsurou asks, and the stranger nods. Tetsurou gestures to the empty seat next to him. “Best of five wins.”
“Okay,” says the stranger, holding out a hand. Tetsurou shakes it then restarts the game.
*
Stranger wins three of five rounds, though Tetsurou gets the feeling the two losses were intentional. They very well could’ve won all five if they wanted.
“That was alright,” they say as they hop down from their chair. They hold out their hand again. “Kozume Kenma.”
Tetsurou shakes it. “Kuroo Tetsurou. Nice game, Kozume.”
“Kenma,” they say then head off in the direction of the cafeteria.
“Let’s do this again, Kenma!” Tetsurou calls after them.
Kenma doesn’t respond but he does wave.
Again, Cat doesn’t appear today. It’s alright, Tetsurou thinks, because Kenma is hosting a study session and they’re catlike enough to make up for it.
Bokuto is also there and was the one to invite Tetsurou. Apparently Bokuto’s friends with Kenma via one Hinata Shouyou (whom Tetsurou meets quickly). He isn’t surprised that Kenma has friends — not in the slightest. He is, however, surprised that the friends present are both loud and talkative.
"Here ye, here ye," Bokuto starts when they reach the living room. "Kenma’s specially requested math major."
“Hi,” says Kenma. They don't look up from their Switch despite appearing bored with whatever game they’re playing.
Tetsurou raises an eyebrow. "How'd you know I'm a math major?"
Kenma shrugs. "You look like the kind of nerd who stays up late doing calculus."
"Hey," shouts Tetsurou, crossing his arms. "I'll have you know I go to bed at a reasonable nine at night."
"Nerd," says Kenma. "Besides, Bokuto told me."
Tetsurou accepts that.
*
The study session becomes a classroom with Tetsurou as the teacher. They’re all familiar with Mario Kart so he structures problems around it. That turns into playing Mario Kart during break and keeping score of their wins. It’s not long before the study session becomes a gaming session.
*
Bokuto and Hinata leave midafternoon to meet with other friends. Tetsurou tries to leave as well but Kenma starts another round of Mortal Kombat before he can. In the end, he stays until snow starts falling that evening.
Cat and Kenma become a routine. If Cat doesn’t appear at Tetsurou’s doorstep, he’ll wind up spending most of his day with Kenma. And if Kenma doesn’t text by ten, Cat will be meowing and scratching at the door for breakfast.
Then, a few months later, Bokuto meets a shapeshifter at the university’s West campus. His name is Akaashi, and he’s an owl shifter who uses his ability to avoid traffic.
That’s when Tetsurou starts to wonder if Kenma and Cat’s alternating schedule is something more than coincidence.
He never thought about it much. He’d assumed that Cat was fickle and Kenma had impeccable timing. Of course, there were times when Kenma knew too much. They always had some kind of explanation, though, and they were good enough to stop Tetsurou from dwelling on it.
But, in hindsight, it does seem fairly obvious. Yaku and Kai agree when Tetsurou tells them. Tetsurou spends a month wondering if and how he should ask about it only for Kenma to do it themself.
*
After three days of studying, Tetsurou wants to take a break. Introduction to physics is rough, though, so he brings out his textbook and cat food the second he hears Cat meowing.
Thirty minutes later and Cat is loafing on Tetsurou’s textbook. He tries to move it out the way but it threatens to scratch him whenever his hands get close. So Tetsurou tilts his head up, deciding to list off formulas from memory instead.
Until a hand covers up his mouth and weight settles on his lap.
“Shut up,” comes Kenma’s voice. Tetsurou doesn’t want to look down, somewhat afraid that Kenma would be naked like every fictional shapeshifter he’s read about.
There’s a sigh then: “I’m decent. I wouldn’t shift outside otherwise.”
So Tetsurou looks down as Kenma rolls off his lap and onto their feet.
Kenma holds out their hand, “Come on, let’s get something to eat.”
“Didn’t you just eat?” Tetsurou asks but takes the hand anyways.
Kenma frowns. “You haven’t.”
“True.”
Kenma doesn’t release their hands as they lead Tetsurou inside and to his kitchen. They have him sit while they prepare breakfast for the both of them. Tetsurou goes over his plans for the day while he and Kenma eat. They refuse to let him study for the rest of the day but they do accept the date he proposes.