Chapter Text
Cover Art by @thiscatdraws
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
The cry of the alarm shattered the quiet morning calmness. Hajime groaned and rolled over towards the nightstand where his phone was. After a few unsuccessful tries, he managed to grab his phone and hit the snooze button. With the alarm silenced, he rotated his body to lay on his back, and his head collapsed back on the pillow. It wouldn’t hurt to sleep a few more minutes, right?
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t get a chance to do that.
Only a few seconds after his alarm was turned off, something came into his room and hopped on his bed. It made its way over to the sleepy man and climbed onto his chest, sitting down there. The weight of the object got uncomfortable after a little and Hajime opened his eyes. Only to meet a pair of red feline ones staring back at him.
“Alright, alright. I’ll get up. You can get off now,” Hajime managed to get out in between heavy breaths. The dark shape’s ears twitched a bit before it got off the human. Hajime sat up, encouraging his body to take in more oxygen as he glared down at the perpetrator. That being his cat, Izuru.
Izuru was a Maine Coon with pitch black fur and red eyes. He had been a lab animal for the first part of his life and the experiments performed on him had changed parts of him. Such as his eye color and level of intelligence.
When the lab that had done these things to him got busted for being unethical and cruel to its animals, Hajime was offered the opportunity to take him in due to his familial connections to the police chief. On a whim, he had accepted. And even though there had been some points where Izuru had been a little troublesome, he was glad he had some company.
And that meant he had to forgive the cat for forcing him to relinquish extra sleep. After all, it wouldn’t be good if he was late for his job.
“Fine, you win. I’ll get dressed and then I’ll get you food. Sound good?” Izuru blinked once at him before turning around and exiting the room. Hajime shut the door as soon as he was out. The fact that Izuru seemed to understand what he said was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, Izuru could follow more complex instructions. But on the other, Hajime had to be very careful when planning to take his cat to the vet. Izuru… wasn’t too fond of anything that reminded him of the lab.
Brushing that aside, Hajime finished getting dressed. He exited the room and walked down the hallway of his apartment to the kitchen. Izuru was sitting there next to his food and water dishes, patiently waiting. He grabbed a can of wet cat food and opened it, placing the mush into the bowl on the floor. He knew it wasn’t super fancy cat food, just the generic kind. But Izuru didn’t seem to mind it at all. Must be loads better than what they fed him at the lab, he thought to himself.
Deciding to not dwell on that any longer, Hajime whipped up some breakfast for himself. Scrambled eggs and toast, which was consumed much faster than they took to make. Once finished, the dirty plates were put in the dishwasher, and Hajime began to get ready to leave. He grabbed his bag, his phone, his keys and wallet, and got his shoes on near the doorway.
Right before leaving, he turned his head and saw Izuru sitting behind him, staring. “I’ll be back in the late afternoon. Don’t break anything.” All the response he got was a single blink. Satisfied with that, Hajime opened his door and shut it behind him, making sure it was locked. And he set off for work.
~~~~~~~~~~
Work for Hajime was being a guidance counselor for a school. And not just any school. The one he worked for was a prestigious private school that was known for its smart and talented youths. Hajime wasn’t sure how exactly he had managed to snag this job, but he definitely wasn’t complaining. The pay was especially nice as well. And an added bonus was that the principal had given Hajime permission to bring Izuru with him to work on occasion. Because having a fluffy creature around tends to help calm people down.
He hadn’t brought his cat this time due to the weather forecast predicting some rainfall around the time he would be heading home. And he didn’t think Izuru would approve of his coat getting wet. But that was fine. Hajime could do his job without his pet there.
Time flew by quickly and the school day wrapped up before he knew it. Glancing at the bottom corner of his computer screen, he realized that it was also a Friday. Which meant two days of relaxation. That knowledge put some pep in his step, and was not dampened by the sight of rain coming down outside his window. He had brought an umbrella so he would be fine.
Passing by various staff and students, Hajime walked down the hallways to the school’s entrance. Grabbing his umbrella, he unfolded it and stepped out of the building. A few stray drops hit his face and he realized it was cold. He felt bad for those who didn’t bring anything with them.
He began his walk home, taking longer than usual due to him having to avoid the large puddles on the sidewalk. This weather certainly was gloomy. Maybe he could find a large blanket and throw it in the drier for a few minutes. He knew Izuru would probably come join him to cuddle in the warmth.
He carefully stepped around another puddle and began walking past an alleyway. His thoughts of planning what he would do when he got home were interrupted when his ears caught a barely audible sound.
*mew*
Hajime stopped dead in his tracks, looking down into the alley. It had been difficult to hear due to the rain, but he was sure he heard something. After making sure that no one else was in the alley, he stepped in. He scanned around, failing to see anything at first. Just trash cans and garbage bags spilling litter onto the pavement. But on one of his scans, he saw a faint movement behind a trash can. He slowly walked up to where he saw the movement and bent down.
Hajime pushed the trash can aside that had been obstructing his view and he finally saw what he had been looking for. A small, shivering kitten. Its fur was covered with dirt so there was no way to tell what its true color was at the moment. The rain had plastered its fur to its skin, showing off that this kitten was underweight. And it was staring up at Hajime with big, scared green eyes.
His heart hurt at the sight. The poor thing looked freezing, hungry and terrified. Perhaps he could try and help this little guy out. But first, he had to show that he didn’t mean any harm.
Slowly, Hajime reached a hand out towards the kitten. It tried to back up at first, but it’s back legs soon met the wall. Realizing it had nowhere to go, it silently watched the hand get closer. But Hajime halted right before he touched it, allowing it to smell him. The kitten’s nose twitched and it’s eyes lost some of the fear as it smelled. He must have had a lingering scent of Izuru on him. Or perhaps it smelled his snack from earlier. Whatever it was, the cat seemed to understand that he was trying to help. So Hajime felt confident and reached forward some more.
His fingers made contact with the kitten’s head. He began to gently stroke the wet fur on its head. It was so much smaller than Izuru. But then again, a lot of cats were.
The kitten seemed to know now that Hajime was a good person so it decided to walk towards him and rub against the back of his hand. It started purring as well. Seeing this trust solidified his decision.
“Hey, I’m going to get you out of this rain and take you home. You’ll be safe there.” Hajime wasn’t sure if the kitten really understood him, but it stared up at him with those big green eyes. He took that as the signal to go for it.
Reaching under the kitten’s belly, he gently scooped it up and tucked it against his shirt. His clothing got dirty from all the grime on the fur, but Hajime just figured he could toss his shirt in the washing machine once they got home.
Feeling the body heat radiating off him, the kitten snuggled up against his chest. He could really hear the purr now. Hajime gave a soft smile at the sight before readjusting his grip on the umbrella and walking purposefully back to his apartment.