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The sound of the dismissal bell echoed across the Kamiyama campus, giving Rui a burst of excitement as he realized the school day had finally ended. He’d been eagerly anticipating the end of classes ever since he’d received a text from Mizuki inviting him to walk home with her that afternoon. Mizuki didn’t often attend school, so it was always a pleasant surprise when they did.
Rui practically made a beeline for the front of the school, grateful—for once—that people tended to step out of his way. He spotted Mizuki as soon as he left the building. She was waving at him excitedly, a huge grin plastered across her face. Rui felt his stomach flutter at the sight.
“Hi, Rui!” Mizuki greeted brightly when Rui got closer.
“Hello, Mizuki. Nice to see you still remember how to get to school.”
“Oh, shut up,” Mizuki said lightly, unfazed by Rui’s teasing. “I don’t skip school that often.”
Often enough for me to miss you, Rui had to stop himself from saying. Instead, he said, “Whatever you say. Shall we get going?”
“We shall,” Mizuki replied playfully.
The two of them set off on their way to Mizuki’s house. They were talking at first–catching up–but they soon fell into silence. Rui normally wouldn’t have minded that, since silence was actually quite comfortable when it was with Mizuki. What concerned him was that Mizuki wasn’t doing anything to break it. Mizuki was typically the one to talk first whenever there was a lull in the conversation, but they seemed oddly tense today.
Rui stole a few glances at Mizuki as they walked. She didn’t seem to notice. She was determinedly staring straight ahead and she looked quite troubled–as if she was deep in thought.
Should I ask…?
Before Rui could think of anything to say, Mizuki spoke and their expression melted back into their normal smirk.
“So, um, Rui,” Mizuki started casually, “Wanna hang out at my place for a bit when we get there?”
Rui raised an eyebrow at that. They didn’t normally hang out at each others’ houses. Rui thought that was probably for the best; he feared what he might accidentally say if they spent more time together than they already did. Spending more time with Mizuki sounded so appealing though…
Before he could stop himself, Rui agreed. He knew it wasn’t a good idea–he felt like he was one conversation away from blurting out his feelings. But when Mizuki beamed at him, flashing him that smile he couldn’t get enough of, he knew there was no way he would back out.
“Awesome! A new episode of my favorite anime just came out, so maybe we can–”
Mizuki was interrupted by a loud meow. Both Mizuki and Rui snapped their heads toward the sound to find that there was a little white cat standing in the alleyway to their left. Mizuki’s face lit up immediately—whatever they were about to say was abandoned in favor of a possible fuzzy friend.
“Look, Rui, it’s a cat!”
“Aww, what an adorable little thing.”
“Do you think he would let me pet him?”
“Wait, I have some cat food,” Rui said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a can of wet cat food. “You should feed him so he’ll trust you.”
“Thanks, Rui, you’re the best!” Mizuki exclaimed, taking the can gratefully. “Wait, why do you even have this in your bag?”
“Well, I’ve been planning to make realistic cat robots for a new show my troupe is going to put on, but cats are somewhat strange creatures and I’m not yet confident in my ability to depict their behavior accurately. I’ve been carrying around cat food so that I can befriend stray cats and observe their—“
“Okay, actually,” Mizuki interrupted, chuckling, “it doesn’t matter why you had it.”
Mizuki peeled the lid off the can and slowly approached the cat. He raised his tail slightly and looked up at Mizuki, but didn’t run away. She carefully placed the can on the ground in front of the cat and stepped back a bit. The cat looked between Mizuki and the can, seemingly making a decision. He eventually walked up to the can and started eating out of it after a few moments of deliberation.
“Oh my god, he’s eating the food,” Mizuki squealed in delight. “Maybe he’ll let me pet him now?”
“He probably will after he finishes eating.”
Luckily, Mizuki didn’t have to wait long for the cat to finish his meal. He practically inhaled the contents of the can.
“Wow, he sure ate that fast,” Mizuki remarked with amusement.
“Well, he’s probably a stray. I bet he hasn’t eaten in a while…”
Now that Rui was really looking at him, he realized the cat was kind of thin. He’d seen his fair share of stray cats, but the sight of them never failed to sadden him.
Mizuki frowned, clearly feeling the same twinge of sadness that Rui was. She took a tentative step towards the cat and crouched down next to him when he didn’t move. The cat looked up at Mizuki curiously, but he didn’t seem alarmed. Mizuki slowly reached for the cat, offering their hand for him to sniff. Rui half-expected the cat to shy away from Mizuki, but he actually nuzzled up against her hand.
“Aww,” Mizuki cooed, “hi, kitty.”
The cat was the picture of content as he closed his eyes and continued to nuzzle Mizuki’s hand. As for Mizuki, they looked absolutely delighted. A fond smile found its way onto Rui’s face at the sight.
“I think he likes you.”
Mizuki just looked up at Rui and smiled in response, then looked back down at the cat. She giggled as the cat jumped up and put his front paws on her leg. After an expectant meow from the cat, Mizuki carefully picked him up and stood.
“Oh my god, I’m literally holding a cat right now.”
Rui chuckled and said, “It’s remarkable how quickly he warmed up to you. Although, if there’s anyone who can befriend a cat so quickly, I’m not surprised that it’s you.”
“Huh? Why do you say that?”
“Well, you’re… Cats are excellent judges of character.”
Mizuki’s face reddened slightly, but they grinned and said, “Aww, thanks, Rui. I didn’t know you thought so highly of me.”
You have no idea…
Still carrying the cat, Mizuki walked over to stand next to Rui again. The cat looked up at Rui curiously, but didn’t seem to mind their close proximity.
“Are you going to take him home or something?” Rui asked, gesturing toward the cat.
“Well, I think he just adopted me.”
Rui couldn’t argue with that, but he was still wary of the idea. “Do you think your parents will let you keep him?”
“They’ll probably understand.”
“Probably?”
“I’ll… persuade them,” Mizuki said with a cheeky grin.
Rui simply smiled and shook his head, figuring Mizuki had made their mind up and there was no point in arguing with them anymore.
“Just look at us,” Mizuki said, holding the cat up so that his face was next to hers. “My parents won’t be able to say no to these faces.”
…
Mizuki invited Rui inside when they finally reached her house. Her parents weren’t home, so she had a bit more time before she had to explain the cat situation. The cat had been silent for the entire walk–apparently content to be in Mizuki’s arms. He meowed in protest when Mizuki put him down in the living room, but he quickly settled in on the couch. Mizuki and Rui followed, sitting down next to him and watching as he quickly fell asleep.
“He looks right at home,” Rui remarked.
“He sure does,” Mizuki agreed happily. “I guess I’d better buy him some food.”
“Oh, I have a couple more cans in my bag. They should be able to hold him over until you work everything out with your parents.”
Rui reached into his bag to retrieve the cans. He handed them to Mizuki, nearly flinching when their hands brushed against each other. Mizuki looked startled as well, the two of them making strangely charged eye contact. Rui looked away awkwardly, suddenly very aware of how close together he and Mizuki were sitting.
“Um, thanks, Rui,” Mizuki said, standing up to put the cans in the kitchen.
“Of course,” Rui called to her, sounding a lot more put-together than he actually was. He tried his best to recover before Mizuki could come back and sit next to him again.
Mizuki returned after a few moments and turned on the TV, putting on the anime episode they had been talking about earlier. They sat down on the couch next to Rui again, still sitting close enough to make him nervous. He mentally scolded the butterflies in his stomach, trying his best to focus on the anime.
Mizuki and Rui sat watching the episode mostly in silence, although there was no shortage of interruptions from Mizuki to talk about her predictions and opinions. Rui didn’t mind–he thought he could listen to Mizuki talk about anything.
Rui tensed up as the end credits rolled, apprehensive because there was no longer an excuse for him to not speak. He glanced at Mizuki and was surprised to find that they had that troubled look on their face again.
“Mizuki, are you alright?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m alright,” Mizuki said hastily, snapping out of her thoughts. She took a deep breath and looked Rui in the eye as she said, “It’s just… I didn’t exactly invite you here to watch anime.”
“What?”
“I was… stalling.”
“Stalling… what?”
Mizuki looked embarrassed, but they pressed on.
“I wanted to tell you that… I like you, Rui.”
Rui couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d had feelings for Mizuki for a long time now–probably since middle school–but he never wanted to ruin their friendship. He sat there in utter shock for a few seconds.
“I know we’ve been friends for a long time,” Mizuki continued, “and I’ve been scared of ruining that. I think you have, too… But I don’t care anymore. I care about you so much Rui–I don’t think anything can take that away. So I say, fuck it.”
Rui didn’t say anything for a few moments–he couldn’t. He was trying to process what he was hearing.
“Oh, you don’t feel the same way… Sorry, I–”
“Mizuki,” Rui interrupted, “can I kiss you?”
Mizuki’s eyes widened, but she nodded. Rui tenderly placed a hand on Mizuki’s cheek and leaned in, smiling softly at her before pressing their lips together. Mizuki leaned into Rui’s touch as years’ worth of pent-up feelings were expressed in that one kiss.
They only broke apart when they were interrupted by the cat, who had woken up and hopped into Mizuki’s lap. Mizuki burst out laughing at the sudden intrusion. Rui almost didn’t mind that their kiss had been cut short since it meant he got to hear Mizuki laugh.
“We’re in the middle of something, here,” Rui said to the cat with mock annoyance. The cat simply looked up at him innocently and stayed in his spot on Mizuki’s lap.
“Well, I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend, Mizuki, but it appears your new friend doesn’t approve,” Rui said lightly.
“Oh, he’ll survive,” Mizuki replied as they moved the cat out of the way and leaned toward Rui again. “And yes, I will be your girlfriend.”
Rui grinned wider than he ever had, feeling like the luckiest person in the world.