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It had been a sickeningly long day, rainy and grey and ugly. Everyone around Hajime seemed to be pissed, upset, or going through something of their own, leaving him on his toes the entire day trying to navigate through terse interactions. A student had walked into him during his lunch break, soaking his pristine white shirt in coffee. The heavens had opened up in the afternoon and drenched the laundry he had left out to dry on the balcony, with no one home to take it down in time.
The elevator had stopped working again during the day. Hajime sighed, staring at the 4 flights of stairs that awaited him in the fire escape. He was 4 flights away from the warm comfort of home and Jiji, and maybe Tooru, too, if he was already home.
Thank fuck it was Friday.
He pulled the strap of his backpack tighter over his shoulder, and began the uphill climb to his apartment. His feet dragged and his head was hung down, shoes scraping against the rough concrete. It wasn’t a huge trek on a normal day, but today it felt like he was trying to scale Mount Fuji.
With one foot after the other, the infinite number of stairs eventually dwindled. He was at his apartment door, and he leaned his forehead onto the neatly painted number and composed himself for a moment before slotting the key and turning it.
“Tadaima,” he called out. He carefully stepped out of his damp shoes in the genkan, and waited for a response. His already slumped shoulders deflated just a touch more when he was met with silence - Tooru wasn’t home yet.
Jiji was laid out in front of the genkan, tail swishing languidly. Her jade eyes followed Hajime as he peeled off his jacket and hung it up on the coat rack. She flopped onto her side and exposed her belly.
Hajime smiled and crouched down next to her. “Hey pretty girl, how are you?” he asked softly.
She let out a meow, twisting around on her back and staring at him expectantly. He huffed and buried his hand into the warm fur covering her stomach and indulged her.
She meowed again, louder this time, and Hajime dropped onto his ass to pet his cat with the vigour she deserved. Already, it felt like the tension of the day was seeping out from his muscles, with Jiji preening and purring under the attention he was giving her. He crossed his legs and patted his thigh, and she immediately took his invitation and settled herself into his lap.
“Mreow,” she said.
“I had a shit day, you know? I’m glad you’re here,” Hajime sighed. “What did you get up to today?”
“Meow,” she meowed.
“Sounds eventful, kiddo. What would you like to have for dinner, hmm? Kibble or fish?” he mused.
He sat there while absentmindedly petting her, grateful for the stillness and quiet calm after such a long and tedious day. Jiji had really started purring up a storm now, with her lithe, small body producing rumbles that could put a motorbike to shame.
Hajime was lost in his head, drifting while staring blankly at their apartment door. He yelped when he felt claws dig into his pant leg. Jiji had started making biscuits.
“Goji,” he scolded. “Don’t do that.”
She let out a little chirp, and continued kneading Hajime’s leg. Sometimes, it felt like she really could understand him but chose to spite him by not listening.
Being a parent was so tough.
Content with her biscuit-making efforts for the day, Jiji stood and turned in Hajime’s lap before settling down again into a compact little loaf. It was shaping up to be a laid back Friday evening, one that he desperately needed, with just him and his cat. Maybe he could have a glass of wine, if he ever decided to move from his spot on the floor.
He was in the process running through his fridge inventory when he registered the front door lock clicking. Hajime looked up just as the door swung open, and made eye contact with Tooru as he shuffled into the apartment, looking as pristine as he did when he got ready in the morning.
Tooru processed Hajime sitting on the floor with Jiji in his lap, and startled in a comically delayed reaction.
“Jesus, Hajime, you scared me,” he said, clutching a hand over his chest. “Tadaima.”
“Okaeri,” he replied slowly. “It’s been a day.”
“Why are you on the floor?” Tooru asked, kicking off his boots unceremoniously.
“It’s been a day,” Hajime repeated. “Jiji was lying here and she has excellent taste in lounging spots so I decided to join her.”
Tooru smiled softly and offered Hajime a hand. “I’m sure both you and Jiji will enjoy the couch more. C’mon, big guy.”
Hajime cradled Jiji in one arm, and took Tooru’s hand to stand up. He was pulled almost chest-to-chest with Tooru, and if his hands weren’t already full, he’d have hauled Tooru into his arms too.
Luckily, Tooru managed to decipher whatever look Hajime had in his eyes and wrapped his arms around Hajime’s shoulders, drawing him into a warm, blissful hug. Jiji was sandwiched between them, still purring like a machine.
For a few blessed moments, Hajime’s mind was completely blank. With the two loves of his life held so close to him, it was easy to let himself drift off for a moment. He was unsure how long had passed in this state until Jiji started to squirm and bat her paw at Tooru to be let free.
Tooru ignored her, and squeezed Hajime a little tighter. Jiji yowled and twisted, swiping a claw at Tooru before finding enough room to jump out of Hajime’s arms.
“Little demon,” Tooru scowled. “She’s so mean to me.”
“Maybe if you let her go the first time she asked, she wouldn’t try to scratch you,” Hajime sighed. “She’s my little baby, you’re the problem, Tooru.”
“Iwa-chan is so mean to me, too! Like father, like daughter!” Tooru whined, except Hajime could hear the smile in his voice.
It was such a comforting, familiar and frequent routine that Hajime felt himself fall into Tooru a little more. With Jiji out of the way, he brought his arms up around Tooru’s slender waist and pulled himself flush to his body and rested his head on Tooru’s shoulder. He took a deep, shuddering breath and felt the coil in his chest unwind at the faint traces of the cologne Tooru had spritzed on in the morning. It had dispersed and mingled in with the scent of the day’s sweat and the soft, warm smell that was intrinsically Tooru’s.
“Can you make dinner tonight?”
“Of course, baby,” Tooru said. “Can I change first?”
“Mmm, in a second,” Hajime said. “Had a bad day.”
“Poor thing,” Tooru crooned. He raised a hand and carded it through Hajime’s hair, sweet and slow, before settling at the nape of his neck and massaging strong fingers into the tight muscles there. “Go change and I’ll get dinner started.”
“What’re you gonna make?” Hajime mumbled, face pressed up against the fabric of Tooru’s coat. “I think there’s some gyoza left that Mum folded for us last week.”
“Yeah, that sounds good. Go change,” Tooru said, lightly tapping Hajime’s ass. “Sooner you get comfortable, the better.”
Hajime pulled away slowly, extricating himself from Tooru’s arms. He began to turn away before Tooru tutted disapprovingly.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he said. He pouted his lips and stared expectantly at Hajime.
Hajime chuckled before leaning back in to press a kiss against Tooru’s pout. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Tooru said, smiling into the kiss. “Missed you.”
Hajime let himself melt into the kiss for a moment before stepping away and shuffling towards their bedroom. Tooru dropped his coat on the arm of the couch and made his way towards the kitchen, untucking his shirt and undoing the top button. Hajime turned around back at the bedroom door to catch sight of Tooru’s broad back at the kitchen counter, rummaging through the cupboards for a pan while Jiji circled figure-8’s around his legs for attention.
He peeled off his dirty day clothes and threw them in the hamper, and began rummaging through Tooru’s side of the wardrobe for his biggest hoodie and his softest pants. Being in his husband’s presence was enough to loosen the coil of anxiety that had built up in his chest through the day, but being shrouded in his clothes would eradicate it completely.
When Hajime walked back out into the living room, the gyoza was sizzling in the pan. There was a hiss and a cloud of steam as Tooru poured water into the pan and rapidly covered it with a lid. Tooru turned around and caught sight of Hajime in his old university hoodie and broke out into a smile, honey-sweet. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, and his ass looked phenomenal in those work trousers of his, and Hajime felt a dizzying rush of fondness flooding through him.
“Your turn to go and change,” Hajime said, gently hip-checking Tooru out of the way at the stove. “I’ll watch over these if you want to take a quick shower.”
“I’ll shower before I sleep,” Tooru said around a yawn. “Did you want to do the frozen takoyaki as well?”
“I can put them on if you want. I’m going to pour myself a glass of wine, did you want one as well?” Hajime asked. He pulled out another pan and set it on the stove to heat up.
“Yeah, wine sounds good. I’ll be back soon,” Tooru said. He pressed a kiss against Hajime’s temple before heading towards the bedroom.
Hajime drummed his fingers on the countertop before pulling the takoyaki out of the freezer, dumping five into the pan. Tooru tolerated the frozen stuff; the texture was never as good as the street vendors, but it did the job of satiating the craving at home. Five was about as many as Tooru could handle before he started complaining.
“Go and get your wine, I’ll bring this over when it’s done,” Tooru said gently, pushing Hajime away from the counter. “You’re so lost in thought today, Iwa-chan, you didn’t even notice me asking you about your students today.”
“I’m tired, sorry,” Hajime offered. He rummaged through their drinks cabinet and pulled out a bottle. “They were fine today, except one of them walked into me with his coffee and stained my shirt. I had a spare in the office, thankfully.”
Tooru hmm’d in response, poking around at the takoyaki with a pair of chopsticks. Hajime drove the corkscrew into the cork of the wine, twisting until it popped open. He reveled in the glug-glug-glug of the wine falling into his glass. It had been a gift from the department a few ago for outstanding student reviews for his course last semester, and he had been dragging his feet on opening the bottle. Tonight seemed like the right night to bust it open.
He passed over a glass to Tooru and made his way to the couch, sinking into the cushions with a sigh. Jiji was sitting at the other end, scrutinising him with her judgemental eyes, before she stood and curled up against his leg. He absentmindedly pet her and took a slow, breathy sip of the wine and rolled the liquid over his tongue, letting the flavours unfold. He had to give it to their department head, she had great taste. It was smooth, full and almost buttery in a way that had him giddy.
Like this, he was content to drift in his thoughts with the backdrop of Tooru shuffling around their kitchen, unstacking the dishwasher and poking around at their food. He was humming aimlessly to himself, some song from a TV show they must have been obsessed with as kids. Jiji had started purring again, rubbing her face against his thigh.
“Go-ji-raaaa-chan, Ha-ji-me-chan,” Tooru sang, breaking Hajime and Jiji out of their stupor. “Dinner time!”
Hajime startled, jerking abruptly before sitting up straighter. He turned over his shoulder to see Tooru making his way towards the coffee table, plates balanced in one hand with his glass in the other. He carefully set everything down on the table before going to grab a pouch of Jiji’s dinner, shaking it in her line of sight before putting it in her bowl.
Jiji bounded off of his lap with a brrt, skidding to a halt at her bowl and headbutting Tooru’s legs in gratitude. He scratched her under the chin before crossing the living room to drop himself onto the couch, far too close to Hajime. He was squished up between the arm of the couch and Tooru’s warm body, and it was exactly what he needed right now.
“Thank Anabara-san for this wine, won’t you? It’s really good,” Tooru said, holding out his glass to Hajime.
Hajime tipped his glass towards Tooru, until they clinked. “I’ll let her know. I like it too.”
Tooru was fiddling with his phone, trying to connect to their bluetooth speaker. A piano collection Tooru had been listening to obsessively for a few weeks burst out through them, melodious and slow. He set his phone down next to him and handed Hajime a pair of chopsticks.
“Itadakimasu,” Tooru said.
“Itadakimasu,” Hajime echoed. He shifted and leaned to reach for one of the gyoza, blowing at it before eating it whole. Immediately, he began huffing and fanning at his mouth.
“Hajime… every single time,” Tooru laughed. “I just took them out of the pan.”
“Shu’ u’hp,” Hajime panted around the food in his mouth. He hadn’t burned his tongue too badly and he’d be more careful on the next one. “I miss mum’s cooking.”
“Maybe we can go up and see her again in a week or two?” Tooru suggested. He sensibly bit off a corner of the gyoza before blowing at it to cool it off and shoved it in his mouth. “That’s how you do it.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Hajime griped, digging an elbow half-heartedly into Tooru’s side. “I have marking to do over the next two weeks, but after that would be good. Does your team have any competitions coming up?”
“Not for a while. The kids have their finals coming up and we’re easing off for a while. I didn’t want to force them into coming to training when their thoughts are on their exams.”
Hajime nodded. Tooru was a coach at one of the best schools in Tokyo, and adored his team to pieces. He had been tossing up on going back to university to get qualifications for teaching, because even though coaching filled part of the hole that had formed in his life after he retired from playing professionally, it wasn’t enough. Hajime had been watching the restlessness grow over the last two years as Tooru tried to convince himself that coaching was enough.
“You should become a teacher, too,” Hajime said gently. “You love the kids and I know you want to do more.”
“The more I think about it, the more I want to,” Tooru said quietly. “Coaching is fun but it’s only part time and I miss having something to do all the time.”
“It sounds like it’d be good for you. You know, I had a kid come into my Intro to Physiology class last semester who you coached? He had nothing but praise for you because you helped him with his science homework one time,” Hajime said.
“Matsumoto-kun? Really, he was in your course?” Tooru said, excitedly turning to face Hajime and grabbing onto his arm. “Oh, he was so worried about passing his entrance exams!”
“Yeah, he was in my class. It slipped my mind to tell you when it happened. He was in the tutorial I ran, too, and he knew more than most because he was doing the training routine I put together with you for the team last year. Bright kid.”
“Did you tell him you knew me?”
“Mm, I thought about it. Didn’t see any reason to, but it does make me happy to know you have such an impact on these kids,” Hajime said. “It suits you.”
“You smooth talker, you,” Tooru said, grinning. “You’re one to talk as if you haven’t got your entire department and all your students swooning after you every single semester.”
Hajime flushed, hiding behind his glass and gulping down what remained. Warmth was slowly flowing out through his core, into the tips of his fingers, the wine warming him up inside-out. “The only person I care about swooning over me is you.”
“Rest assured that that’s all I do, babe,” Tooru sighed. “Such a trial trying to go about my day when I think about my handsome, beautiful husband and all of the wonderful things he does.”
“Shut up,” Hajime grumbled. It was a mystery as to how Tooru still made him feel giddy and restless, like a teenager, even after 8 years of dating and 12 of being married.
“Just telling it as it is, Iwa-chan,” Tooru sang.
He stood and grabbed the bottle of wine from the kitchen island before refilling Hajime’s glass and topping off his own. He set the bottle down on the coffee table before picking up his plate and shoveling takoyaki into his mouth.
Hajime followed suit and did the same, slowly chewing. Jiji had finished her dinner and hopped up onto the couch next to Tooru, pushing at his elbow with her head.
“Hi, baby,” Tooru cooed, lifting his arm up for her to make her way onto his lap. “My lovely, gorgeous girl.”
“She’s your baby when she’s in your lap, but mine when she scratches you?” Hajime pondered. He set his plate down and scratched her between the ears, before reaching up to flick Tooru on the forehead.
“Glad you’re feeling better, Iwa-chan,” Tooru said drily. “And yes, she can be your responsibility when she misbehaves. I want to stay the fun dad, after all.”
“You are so, so full of shit,” Hajime laughed. “We need to take her to the vet for her annual check up soon, by the way.”
“We’ll work it out tomorrow,” Tooru said. He sneezed all of a sudden, and Jiji startled before clambering onto Hajime’s legs.
Hajime immediately passed him a tissue and set a hand on Jiji to stop her from jumping around and scratching through his clothes. “Did you get scared, pretty girl? Did Tooru scare you?”
“Sometimes, I think you like the cat more than you like me,” Tooru said under his breath. He wiped at his nose and threw the tissue on the table before stretching his arms out and dropping one across Hajime’s shoulders.
“Mm, jury’s out on that one,” Hajime said softly, leaning over to drop a kiss on top of Jiji’s head. He covered her ears and leaned towards Tooru. “Don’t tell her, but you’re my favourite.”
Tooru squeezed Hajime into his side and kissed his cheek. “Iwa-chan is my favourite, too.”
Hajime melted into Tooru, and closed his eyes. “Thanks,” he said, voice a whisper. He didn’t feel the need to say more than that, because Tooru would understand. Thanks: for making dinner, for taking care of me, for being my friend. Thanks: for being my partner.
“Anything for you, Hajime,” Tooru said. “Always, anything for you.”