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Kiyoomi and Atsumu stared into the freezing rain.
Life hated the two of them, that much was evident.
“You, uh,” Atsumu cleared his throat, “Ya don’t happen ta have an umbrella, do ya?”
Kiyoomi shot him a look.
The two of them decided to get snacks and food after Kiyoomi invited Atsumu over to his house after a night out with the team. They were having a good time in the supermarket, and lost track of time. They didn’t even hear it start to rain outside, so they were in for a surprise when they walked out of the doors. The sky seemed to be dropping buckets of water, and it was about 5° outside. If the temperature dropped any lower, they would have an even worse problem. The rain would probably freeze, and then they would have to deal with sleet.
“Okay,” Atsumu looked outside the structure they were standing under, “What’s our game plan, Omi-kun?”
“Nothing,” Kiyoomi was already regretting ever going out that night, “The only thing we can do is walk back to the apartment.”
“But it’s cold out there!” Atsumu complained, already shivering from not nearly wearing enough layers for this.
Kiyoomi’s breath shuttered, and he was just glad that he was still wearing a face mask because otherwise, Atsumu would have been able to see it as his breath condensed, “Then keep close, but I’m not standing outside of this market all night, you hear me?”
Atsumu nodded and shuffled over. He was close, but not as close as Kiyoomi would have liked him to be. He was freezing his ass off and Atsumu looked warm, well warmer than he was now. Atsumu took a step forward, but Kiyoomi grabbed his arm, not ready to get rained on quiet yet. Atsumu looked back, a little surprised, but the look on his face melted into a smile.
“We can do it in 3, is that alright with ya?”
Kiyoomi clutched the bags in his hands. It was true what he said earlier, he really didn’t want to be there all night, but he also really didn’t want to be running in the rain. He hated the rain. He clutched Atsumu’s arm tighter, trying to psyche himself up, and found that it was working a little.
“Yeah,” Kiyoomi breathed.
Atsumu pulled Kiyoomi’s hand from his wrist and instead grabbed his hand, “It’ll be okay, Omi. Yer apartment isn’t far, and then we can take a shower when we get there. It’ll be okay,” Atsumu placed his other palm on Kiyoomi’s face very briefly, warming his face just a little before pulling it away.
“I can do it.” Kiyoomi said it outloud, mostly for himself.
Atsumu nodded, and started the countdown just loud enough so they could hear it over the rain, “1...2...3…, let’s go.”
Atsumu pulled Kiyoomi along, and they raced down the streets. Kiyoomi kept his eyes shut, trusting Atsumu to not pull him astray. All the while, Atsumu ran his mouth, probably to keep Kiyoomi’s head busy with his words and not the rain still bucketing on their heads.
“Man! These damn coats are do’n noth’n fer us, ay Omi-kun!”
Kiyoomi knew that Atsumu couldn’t see him, but he nodded his head anyways. It was the truth, anyways. After the coats got drenched within the first few minutes, he was sure they made the two of them colder, but it wasn’t like they could ditch them right now.
Atsumu stopped running and Kiyoomi ran right into his back, effectively toppling both of them into a puddle.
“What the hell, Atsumu!” Kiyoomi looked around while sitting in the puddle. He just wanted to be in his apartment but they had a few other streets to go before they would get to his building. He felt his heart rate spike as he thought about the fact he was sitting in a puddle in the middle of the city. Kiyoomi stumbled up to his feet as quickly as it had taken him to realize it. Atsumu was slower to rise.
He groaned, “Jeez, Omi, yer elbows are bony. I might be sore in the morn’n.”
“Why the hell would you stop?!”
“I thought I saw a cat.”
Kiyoomi brushed rain out of his eyes, “You thought you saw a cat? ”
Sure enough there was a small meow that emanated from the side of one of the buildings. Atsumu looked a little shocked, but gained a smug expression when it dawned on him that he was right. Kiyoomi backed away from the building a little, while Atsumu walked closer.
“No, Atsumu!” Kiyoomi noticed what he was doing, and he would have none of it, “You are not going to get that cat.”
“Yer cold right now, aren’t ya Omi?”
“That has nothing to do with anything.”
“The cat is probably cold.”
“It’s from the streets!”
“It’s cold, Omi!”
Kiyoomi opened his eyes wide for the first time since he ran out into the rain and saw Atsumu standing by the building. Kiyoomi folded his arms against his chest, feeling the chill much more now that they weren’t moving. He was very hesitant about the idea to get the cat from the building, but Atsumu was smiling so damn wide through the rain. Kiyoomi could see the white of his teeth from perhaps the widest grin he had seen in a while.
“I can get it!” Atsumu insisted, as he calmly walked towards the building the cat had apparently ran to.
Kiyoomi had all but forgotten the bags of snacks that they had bought. To him they were ruined, so he didn’t pay them any mind. Instead he was focused on Atsumu calling the cat. It was never going to work. Cats take time to trust people.
“Omi!” Atsumu called over, “I think you have the bag with the beef jerky. Can I have a piece, please?”
Kiyoomi paused, but hesitantly pulled the beef jerky out of the bag he was holding. Might as well feed it to the cat, he most certainly wasn’t going to eat it. It was Atsumu’s anyways, so he supposed that Atsumu got to decide what to do with it. Kiyoomi walked over to where Atsumu was kneeled down in a puddle calling the cat.
“Pspspspsp,”
He looked stupid. His hair was plastered to his forehead from being in the rain for so long. His puffy winter coat that he had worn to keep warm, had taken in a lot of water and now was looking misshapen. Not to mention that he was calling a cat, who probably wanted nothing to do with him. Still, Kiyoomi handed him the bag of beef jerky, and Atsumu took it immediately.
“Where is it?” He really just didn’t want it to come running out at him, but he also wanted to know what it looked like.
“There,” Atsumu pointed behind a couple boxes where a small brownish white kitten poked its head out, interested in the noise those two were making.
“What are you even gonna do with a cat, Atsumu?”
“Oh I can’t own it. My apartment complex don’t allow animals.”
Kiyoomi blinked, the words not translating properly, “Wait, huh?”
“My gift to ya, Omi-kun, you get a cat.”
“I don’t want a cat.”
“-but it’s my gift. Ya can’t return it.”
“It’s from the streets.”
“That is classist, Sakusa Kiyoomi, I’m personally offended. Besides, it reminded me of ya.”
Atsumu pulled out a piece of beef jerky and placed it just outside of the box-fort the cat had hidden behind. Kiyoomi watched in fascination as the cat stuck it’s head out, and sniffed the little piece of meat. The animal took a hesitant bite, finding that it enjoyed the treat, it retreated.
“Wait, wait, what do you mean it reminded you of me? I’m not that skinny, am I?”
He laughed a little in response, and pushed his soaked hair out of his face, “Now I wasn’t make’n jokes about yer stature, Omi-kun. I didn’t even know it was a stem ‘o insecurity. I just meant that it looked uncomfortable sitt’n out in the rain, just like yerself.”
Kiyoomi mellowed out a little, now seeing it from a slightly different point of view. His tense shoulders slacked, and he looked at the little cat behind the boxes quizzically. The cat kept it’s nose pointed out, smelling the beef jerky that Atsumu was holding, but still too scared to make a move for it.
“Whaddaya say? Ya want to do the next one?” Atsumu offered him a piece of beef, and he found himself reaching down for it without thinking. The cat didn’t seem feral, it actually seemed fairly well-mannered.
“What do I do?”
“Well, now ya have to put it just a little bit away so the cat will come out of boxes.”
Atsumu had put his piece right outside of the box structure, and Kiyoomi had to put his a bit away from the cat’s little home. It made him feel just a little better about the whole thing. He dropped the piece of meat Atsumu had given him, and fled immediately.
“Omi, I swear to God, yer being so loud, shush.”
“Don’t shush me.” Kiyoomi whispered back, equally offended.
“I do what I want, now shhh.”
Atsumu and Kiyoomi huddled together and waited for the cat to come out to see them. It took a second, but then the kitten walked out of the boxes. That was when Kiyoomi saw it for the first time. It was a pitiful little thing. The rain had matted it’s fur to itself, and Kiyoomi couldn’t imagine how the cat must have been feeling. The conditions out here were terrible.
“My turn,” Atsumu shot a grin at Kiyoomi, and threw a piece of the beef jerky just a few feet from the cat. It sniffed the air after finishing the second piece and walked over, less hesitantly, to this third piece.
Kiyoomi watched the cat with his entire interest, he didn’t even feel uncomfortable in the rain anymore. Sure he was still shivering, but he at least wasn’t noticing it too badly. The cat looked up at Atsumu, who was holding the bag, and meowed.
“Oh, ya want some more?” He tossed another piece, this one closer to the two and the cat trotted forwards to get it.
Kiyoomi stood there, almost amazed. He didn’t have much experience with animals. His parents didn’t let him have many pets growing up, his only one being a bird that he and Komori had won at a fair. He loved the bird, but it seriously didn’t like anyone. The amount of scratches Kiyoomi would get from it was insane, but he was still sad when it died. Osamu had a cat too, he wondered if that was where he had gotten all his experience from.
The cat meowed at them again, and Atsumu set another piece of meat down on the ground in front of them. It walked up and ate it without hesitating, the cat now trusting Atsumu fully.
“Look at that Omi, I think I must be a cat whisperer or something.”
“Or you have food, and the cat is starving. I- I don’t know what you think you did.”
“Omi, why must ya always undermine my achievements like that?”
“I’m sorry?”
“Yeah, ya better be, because you couldn’t do this if ya tried.”
Kiyoomi frowned, with his skills now being in question, he needed to show up Atsumu, “Give the jerky.”
“This one you have to keep it in yer hands.”
Atsumu dropped a piece of jerky into Kiyoomi’s open palm, as Kiyoomi tried to push down the anxiety. He knelt down to the small cat, and was met with the strangest thing. The cat was purring, loudly. Kiyoomi tried to keep still, as still as possible, he didn’t want to freak out the cat.
“Yer do’n good.” Atsumu sent the praise his way, and he smiled a little as the cat nestled it’s head in the palm of his hand.
“Ya know, the cat almost looked like the bread we bought a few weeks ago. That’s what really caught my eye. It was sitt’n in a puddle, and I don’t know.”
“The bread you drowned?” Kiyoomi looked away for one second, but his eyes shot immediately back towards the cat when it started rubbing it’s head against his hand.
“Aw look at you, yer like a cat whisperer too.”
“Let’s go home, Tsum.” Kiyoomi leaned his hand into the purring cat.
“Ya want me to hold her, or do you want to hold her?”
“You hold her.”
Kiyoomi was afraid he was going to drop the cat. Once again, he didn’t have much experience with animals. Atsumu fed the cat one more piece of beef jerky, and then scooped it up. The small thing looked absolutely tiny in Atsumu’s hands.
“It wasn’t so bad, was it Omi?” Atsumu asked as they were on their way to Kiyoomi’s apartment once again.
The cat was sitting in their long forgotten snack bag. It seemed to be fine just sleeping there, and so Atsumu and Kiyoomi just let it be. Atsumu was the one carrying the bag, Kiyoomi couldn’t stomach the thought. He was more comfortable with letting the cat in his house, but he still couldn’t stomach the thought of it touching any of his skin, although he did still feel absolutely gross.
“We’re both going to take a shower when we get upstairs, you got it.” Kiyoomi turned to Atsumu after greeting his doorman.
“Loud and clear, Omi.”
“It’s raining cats and dogs out there, ain’t it Sakusa-kun?” His doorman called out to the two of them already boarding an elevator to take them to Sakusa’s apartment.
He had no idea how right he was. Atsumu reached into the bag and pet the cat who was now purring amongst the various foods. The cat had already accepted it’s new life, and seemed to embrace it with open arms, well whatever you would call a cat's appendages, legs maybe? Either way, Atsumu had dropped a few pieces of beef jerky into the bag for the cat and it was happy to be there.
“How’s it feel to be a dad, Omi-kun?”
Kiyoomi glared over at Atsumu, already fed up with his quirks for this evening. He had half a mind to send the cat to an animal shelter right then and there. He would risk the rain to scare Atsumu like that, if only for a minute. He could do it. He eyed the bag that Atsumu was holding, containing the cat. He didn’t, of course. He wouldn’t be able to go anywhere because they were still in the elevator that was going up, but also Atsumu seemed excited about the prospect of owning a cat.
“Oh,” Kiyoomi feigned surprise, “I’m the dad? I thought you were the parent. You were holding the bag after all.”
Atsumu’s face contorted, “No, wait a sec, Omi. That’s not how this is going to work. I’m gifting this cat to you. I’m not raising it at all.”
“What if I was allergic to cats and this thing was going to kill me.”
“Ya aren’t allergic to cats.” Atsumu shrugged dismissively.
Kiyoomi said nothing and let the tension in the room brew a little as things continued onwards. The elevator went up floor after floor and he still didn’t say anything. Atsumu began to get a little uncomfortable and coughed to clear the air, “You aren’t allergic to cats, are ya?”
“You don’t know that,” Kiyoomi wriggled his eyebrows at him and Atsumu’s face soured.
“I hate ya. You aren’t allergic to cats. Yer an asshole sometimes, aren’t ya? I thought I was killing ya and you were be’n too nice to say anything. I should’ve known, yer an asshole through and through.”
“Hey,” Kiyoomi complained, “I’m nice. I’m opening my home to a dirty homeless brat I picked up off the street who’ll probably ruin the order of things in there.”
“Omi that’s not very ni-”
“Oh and the cat. You can’t forget the cat.”
It took a few seconds for the insult to sink in, but when it did, Atsumu was livid. If they were cartoons, Kiyoomi could swear that Atsumu would have steam pouring out of his ears right about now.
“I’m not homeless! And you didn’t pick me up off the street!” He complained.
“I wouldn’t know that. And where did I pick you up this afternoon?”
“The subway station.”
“Which is?”
Atsumu sighed in defeat, “On the street. I hate ya sometimes, do ya know that?”
Kiyoomi hummed in content, “Yeah, I believe I’ve heard you say something like that a few times before. Anyways, we are washing the cat first so it doesn’t make a mess of my house. I can trust that you won’t ruin the carpets with the rain, right?”
The elevator doors opened and the cat in the bag meowed in acknowledgement of the noise. It seemed to realize that it wasn’t in the rain anymore so was instead sleeping in the still damp food. It seemed like a good thing to do. Kiyoomi himself was actually really tired as well. He could sleep right now, if not for the fact that he was covered in rain and wanted to shower before anything else. Thinking about it, he didn’t know what he and Atsumu would even do. It’s not like he had the energy for much else other than a movie, but a movie would probably put him to sleep if nothing else. This would probably be one of those nights where they would both fall asleep on his couch.
“M’not an animal, and the fact that ya trust the kitten more than me is very off-putt’n.”
“The kitten is smaller than you Atsumu.”
Kiyoomi pulled out his key and opened the door quickly for the two of them.
“I don’t want water on my floor.”
“I don’t know what ya want me to do, ‘cause we’re drenched.”
Kiyoomi bit his lip. He really didn’t want to have to deep-clean his floors if they got water on them because he was tired. He could make Atsumu clean the floors, but that would require a lot of babysitting just to make sure he knew where all the proper cleaners were, and what to use, and when. It seemed more exhausting than doing it himself if he was being frank.
“My ma used to make ‘Samu and I do this all the time. I know ya might be uncomfortable. I’m lett’n ya give the go ahead, but we probably need to strip, and make a run for it.”
Kiyoomi could swear all the breath in his lungs got vacuumed out.
Atsumu back tracked, “Just to boxers!” He exclaimed with wide eyes, but honestly it wasn’t anything Kiyoomi hadn’t seen already. He flushed remembering that night between them all those months ago.
“Just to boxers” eased his panic a little bit, and It really wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before. They did share a locker room on the daily, after all, but this was different. It wasn’t in the harsh lights of the locker room, or with the bustle of a couple other people. Instead it was just the two of them in Kiyoomi’s apartment.
Kiyoomi felt his face flush red as he unzipped his thoroughly soaked jacket. He dropped it on the doormat and got to work with the rest of his clothing, and he had to admit that it felt good to get out of those clothes. They had been making him uncomfortable ever since they first went running out into the rain. Atsumu, thankfully, had his back turned to him, and Kiyoomi did the same. He found that the apartment was cold, too cold, even without the freezing clothing. The hair on the backs of his arms stood erect, and all he wanted to do was jump in the shower and stand there for a while until the cold seeped away.
Now that Kiyoomi was half naked, and freezing, he stood up awkwardly to see Atsumu grabbing his clothes.
“I’ll, um, I’ll take those for you,” He gestured for the clothes and Atsumu passed them over, “I’ve got a washer and dryer so your clothes will be clean.”
“I forgot,” Atsumu blinked.
“Forgot what?”
“What you looked like.”
Kiyoomi felt his entire body grow five degrees warmer at the simple statement. His mind raced at the simple prospect that Atsumu was checking him out. It had been a while. Kiyoomi wasn’t in the habit of being semi-naked in the outer part of the locker rooms, preferring to at least put on pants in the showers, so it was a valid statement. Atsumu probably hadn’t seen him this exposed in a long time. Kiyoomi was speechless so instead he piled his own clothes on top of Atsumu’s, put on his pair of slides sitting by the doorway and walked to his laundry room just outside of the kitchen.
“Can you get started washing the cat? I’ll meet you in a second.” Kiyoomi called, already in the laundry room.
There were towels in the laundry room, ones that he hadn’t gotten around to putting away yet, and he counted himself lucky. He pulled one off the rack and wrapped it around himself to block out the air conditioner. Usually Kiyoomi kept his apartment cold, he found that it helped him think easier, but he felt like he was about to develop frostbite in his fingers. Regardless, he shoved the clothes into his washing machine, started it, tightened the towel around his shoulders, and walked towards his bathroom.
“OMI!!!” Atsumu yelled from the bathroom.
Kiyoomi’s eyes widened, already assuming the worst, “Oh hell no, what did you do to that cat, Atsumu!”
He threw open the door to his bathroom and was surprised to not find Atsumu in a state of panic. In fact, he looked really relaxed as he sat on the side of the bathtub, washing the cat. Kiyoomi just exhaled, “So you’re not in danger? Nothing’s dying in here?”
“Nothing’s dying in here, Jesus Christ Omi, did you think I managed to off her in a minute?”
“I don’t know! You’ve done stranger things!” He was calming down from the scare, but his heart was still racing.
“I just wanted to show ya how well she was adapting to the water, but I guess not. Damn Omi.” Atsumu shook his head and went back to scrubbing the cat who was just lounging in the tub without a care in the work.
Kiyoomi took a seat on the edge of the tub, and looked down at the cat who was playfully nudging and nibbling at Atsumu’s hands, “I guess she is kind of cute. A pretty color too.”
“Is this yer way of thanking me?”
He shot him a glare, “Keep pushing your luck, and I’ll make you go home with you, damn your building rules. I don’t care.”
“Scary,” His eyebrows shot up as he pulled the cat out of the tub as she meowed in protest, “How dare you even say that. I might just have to take your cat back from you.”
“No, leave her be,” Kiyoomi narrowed his eyes, “She’s obviously comfortable here.”
“Omi, are you even gonna be okay if I leave her here with ya? You have yet to have touched her.”
It was a fair worry, but Kiyoomi was fairly certain he’d be fine as soon as she was dry. He had never really had a problem with cats. They were fairly clean animals.
“Give her to me,” Kiyoomi gestured for the cat.
“Um, are you sure?”
He nodded and Atsumu handed over the cat who he had wrapped in a towel. Kiyoomi almost dropped her when he felt the small thing begin to rumble.
“Jesus Christ, Omi, ya can’t go dropping yer cat. That’s not good fer them.”
“She’s so small.” Was his only response.
The cat just carried on, purring, in his arms. Kiyoomi was not completely sold. He had been very hesitant at the beginning, but she seemed like a good companion to him now. He shifted her over to one hand and scratched her head lightly as she yawned.
“She is a cutie,” Atsumu agreed, “Now, are you showering first, or am I? I don’t mind either way, as long as one of us is getting in the shower soon.”
“You can shower first, I don’t mind waiting.” Kiyoomi responded absentmindedly, not looking away from the cat.
She had the prettiest green eyes. They had twinges of yellow in them, Kiyoomi noted.
Atsumu patted Kiyoomi’s toweled shoulder, “I’m glad ya like her. It broke my heart to see her sit’n in that rain.”
“Thank you.” Kiyoomi stood up, mumbling, and quickly walked out of the bathroom.
He instead took a place by the door. The mat was still a little wet from when they had stepped in earlier. Kiyoomi figured he could just throw it in the wash after their clothes, so at least he needed to wash it anyways. The cat, still wrapped in the towel, opened its eyes lazily.
She probably needs a name.
He toweled off her head, and thought back to something Atsumu had said earlier.
“Ya know, the cat almost looked like the bread we bought a few weeks ago. That’s what really caught my eye. It was sitt’n in a puddle, and I don’t know.”
“The bread you drowned?” Kiyoomi looked away for one second, but his eyes shot immediately back towards the cat when it started rubbing it’s head against his hand.
“Aw look at you, yer like a cat whisperer too.”
“Let’s go home, Tsum.” Kiyoomi leaned his hand into the purring cat.
The cat did kind of look like the bread loaf, he gave him that.
Atsumu got out of the shower only ten minutes later. Kiyoomi had left him a pair of comfortable clothes outside of the door, and they switched places. Atsumu takes care of the cat, and Kiyoomi gets clean. It took him a little while to realize that the uncomfortable feeling that had started when he first ran out into the rain was gone before he even stepped in the shower. It was strange. He didn’t even know when it went away, but it was gone. It had never been like that, not since he was a kid. The only thing that ever relaxed him was showering off, especially when he determined himself to be unclean, but tonight was different.
Strange.
Kiyoomi ran through his routines, and then walked out of the bathroom feeling better than he had in a while. In his living room, Atsumu was lounging on his couch, watching the cat. The cat, who Atsumu had entrapped within a square made of several laundry baskets he had taken from Kiyoomi’s laundry room, was happily playing around.
He sat on the other end of his couch and joined Atsumu in watching the cat jump around, playing with various make-shift cat toys Atsumu had piled into the square.
“Wait, is that my shirt?” He asked as the cat began to pick and pull at a piece of fabric sitting in the middle.
“Yes,” Atsumu responded bluntly.
“Why?”
“I’m setting you up, Omi. She needs to get used to ya, and the best way to do it is this.”
“She’s gonna rip it.”
Atsumu scoffed, “She’s a small thing, She can’t do jackshit to it. Besides, it's old as hell, I’m not that much of a dumbass.”
They watched her get acquainted with her environment for a little while longer. They sat in silence, neither feeling the need to say anything. Kiyoomi suddenly felt that their distance was so far. In truth it was only a couple feet, but Kiyoomi couldn’t help but note that aside from a few instances they were more like glorified best friends. Yeah, they were like glorified best friends. Kiyoomi looked over at where Atsumu was laughing to himself about the cat attacking a string. When was the last time they had even kissed? A couple weeks ago.
The sudden realization of this froze Kiyoomi in his tracks. How had he let themselves get like this before establishing what they were in the first place. He was moving in the wrong direction, and soon enough anything romantic between the two of them would be dead. They would just be a couple of friends who rescued a cat together, and all for what?
Was Atsumu trying to respect his boundaries? This that was this was about? Kiyoomi found himself looking over at Atsumu. That must have been it. Kiyoomi looked over at him again. He had always tried, and Kiyoomi loved that, but he treated him like he was going to break. Kiyoomi wasn’t going to break. He had faced the world without Atsumu for years, and he didn’t like feeling sheltered. He didn’t need to be sheltered, and Atsumu needed to know. He needed to tell him, because Atsumu couldn’t read his mind, if he could, they wouldn’t be in this situation.
“Atsumu.” Kiyoomi was now facing him again.
“Yeah, Omi, what’s up?”
Kiyoomi was an adult. A strong one at that. He didn’t need his “romantic endeavors” to be reduced to a platonic adventure. Atsumu needed to know that. Leaning in, he bit the inside of his mouth. He couldn’t be static in his own life. Things weren’t going to change if he stood still. Kiyoomi wouldn’t break. Atsumu needed to know that.
“Why don’t you touch me anymore?”
Atsumu’s eyes widened, “W-what? What are ya talking about, Omi?”
“I mean,” He sat on Atsumu’s thighs, “why don’t you?”
“I really don’t know what yer talking about,” Atsumu placed his hands on his waist, “Honestly. No idea,” He placed a soft kiss on his forehead.
“No idea?”
His hands started traveling higher.
“None here Omi-Omi.”
Kiyoomi leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to his lips, “You might have to show me again.”