Work Text:
One of the kittens tried to get its claws into his sleeve, but Kaoru swiftly got it out of its reach. The kitten, having missed its target, fell on the ground of the blacksmith workshop. It struggled a little to get back on its legs, meowing its indignation. Kaoru smiled.
"Do you torment even cats?" Souji asked as he was petting the mother cat which had taken residence away from her litter on his knees.
"If you dislike my presence so much Souji, you can just go back to the Shieikan. We don't need you here."
"No thank you~," the teenager almost sing-sang.
Souji was not here to accompany Chizuru, he was here to avoid Fude's fury of washing thoroughly the Shieikan. So he was in no hurry to leave them alone. But a bored Souji was always insufferable. And Kaoru had to endure him.
Another kitten, a black little thing with yellow eyes, started climbing his hakama. It did not have to strain itself for very long to reach his knees, Kaoru was squatting. It then proceeded to walk precariously on his leg toward his torso. It rubbed its little head against him, and Kaoru gratified it with a small scratch behind the ear.
"Look, you are finally being liked by someone who isn't your sister, Kaoru-kun."
"Kondo-sensei does not seem to mind me as much as you think, especially when Kojima-san comes by to study The Tale of the Heike*. I did not hear you speaking much that evening," Kaoru clapped back making sure to press where he knew it hurt.
Even with his attention fixed on the kittens, he could see in the corner of his eyes Souji's feet twitching. Good.
Right at this moment, another kitten tried to follow its sibling up Kaoru's leg. The little black dread would have none of it. It got away from Kaoru's fingers just to go and caterwaul at the potential interloper. The latter fell back on the ground and ran to its mother, who kept ignoring him from her pedestal on Souji's knees.
"Oh, that makes sense now. That little meany is just as agreeable as you are."
"Don't be jealous because something with a little bit of backbone likes me. It will happen to you one day too."
"I am not the one worried about people liking me, Kaoru-kun."
Kaoru ignored him. And he ignored him even more because the small cat was back rubbing its head against him, now starting to purr. He would never say it out loud, but it made him strangely happy. It had been a while since someone who was not his sister had wanted his attention without him having to work his ass off to get it. So, even if it only came from a cat... And besides, the little black ball of fur acted as if Kaoru's attention was worth fighting for.
"Kaoru, Okita-kun! Are you ready to go?"
Hearing his sister coming, Kaoru got up taking the kitten into his hands. It let it happen as if it was glad for the attention, and Kaoru could not hide his smile. Souji did not get up from the bench he sat on.
"Done already Chizuru-chan?" the teenager asked, nonchalant.
Chiruzu nodded as the blacksmith walked behind her to see them out.
"I have got the new needles Inai-sensei wanted to replace the old ones, and Urio-san was nice enough to give me an extra one just for me," she specified as if it was a great honor.
"No need to make a fuss about it, Yukimura" the blacksmith answered. "You sew me up good last week, it's the least I could do."
"Once again, I am the one indebted to you. Thank you for letting me practice on you."
Chizuru bowed to the man who was scratching his head, slightly awkward. Kaoru gathered that he did not really "let Chizuru practice" on him rather than take advantage of Inai's discount rates when one of his assistants was performing the bulk of the work. But he was not about to confess that and Chizuru was not about to even imply it. Kaoru withheld a sigh as he brought the kitten against its chest.
He did not really like the blacksmith anyway. Mainly because it was obvious that the man did not like him. He was still ill at ease with the fact that he and Chizuru were twins, and he had apparently decided to deal with this by only ever interacting with one of them and ignoring the second one. Of course, he had chosen Chizuru. Everyone always chose Chizuru.
"Oh!" Chizuru interrupted his train of thought. "Is that one of O-Mike's babies?"
Ignoring the blacksmith who took a step back as Kaoru got closer to his sister, he showed her the kitten.
"Yes, it climbed on me."
Chizuru cooed as she reached for the small cat. But she stopped at the last moment.
"Can I pet it?" she asked, the mother cat having not always been the nicest to her.
"Yeah, it's friendly."
Delicately, Chizuru started scratching the kitten behind its ear. The cat let her do it for less than a minute before moving its head away from her hand into his chest. Chizuru stopped at once.
"I am surprised it lets you handle it like that. It is not very sociable usually. It scratched me more times than I can count," the blacksmith surprisingly addressed Kaoru directly.
If that comment was made to deter him, it only endeared the kitten more to him. It had good taste in people. How nice.
"Would you like to take it..." Urio stopped, hesitated, before making up his mind. "Yukimura-kun."
"Me?"
"Yeah, I always give all of O-Mike's kittens away anyway, and it is already weaned. Since it seems to like you, why not?"
His hands closed more tightly around the cat without his consent. Could he keep it? Really? He was not even sure he wanted to, but now that the proposition had been made the idea of putting the kitten back on the ground and leaving the place without it did not sit right with him. He heard Souji getting up in his back.
"And why not? We don't have one yet at the Shieikan and a cat would help with the mice that keep attacking our garden."
"You think it would be all right with everyone?" Chizuru asked evidently excited at the idea.
"I don't see why it wouldn't?"
Well, Kaoru could see how even if Souji was not smart enough for it. That being said, if the adults of the Shieikan were to be made aware of the cat when it was already there and after Souji — technically an adult even if it was a laughable idea — had said yes, would they have the heart to send it back? Probably, not. Kaoru settled the kitten more comfortably against his chest, putting it more or less inside his kimono.
"Since it is offered so generously, Urio-san, I think I am going to take you up on your offer."
He started asking questions about how to take proper care of the kitten, not trusting Souji's input one bit, before realizing that the blacksmith answered everything by talking to Chizuru. So Kaoru let her lead that conversation again and spent the time petting his cat as he plotted about one day tripping the man in the street. It would serve him right.
As the three of them left for the Shieikan, Chizuru could not take her eyes away from the kitten that was napping in his collar. She ended up asking:
"What are you going to call her?"
"Umh... good question."
"Kuro-chan**?" Souji offered.
"You thought very hard about this one, didn't you?" Kaoru answered.
The wakizashi hilt that ended in his right ribs did not escape Chizuru's notice.
"Okita-kun!"
"He asked for it."
"Still!"
"Fine, I will only escalate conflicts verbally from now on. I am sure Kaoru-kun won't mind getting into the physical part of it himself, given the right incentive."
"This is not what I meant..."
"And yet this is what you got. Stop being too greedy, Chizuru-chan."
His sister whined at this, but Kaoru did not miss the weird affection in Souji's tone. If he had liked how fast Chizuru came to his defense, he hated the playfulness he was seeing in their back and forth. The good thing about this was that it had given him the time to find a name and therefore a good reason to shut them up.
"I am thinking about Murasaki*** for her."
"Oh, this is so elegant!" Chizuru switched her attention back on him and his cat.
"Isn't that a bit much for a cat?" Souji could not prevent himself from adding.
"You think so?" Chizuru asked genuinely. "I think it is very pretty. And she is pretty."
Souji merely hummed a sort of ascent, before bringing his hand toward Murasaki's head. Even in his sleep, the cat moved into his touch and Kaoru rolled his eyes. Damn Souji, and damn his thing with cats.
* * *
"Achoo!"
Umh... That was Hijikata's third sneeze in less than fifteen minutes. It was starting to get suspicious. Nothing of note had changed since Souji had entered the room and sat by Kondo. So, he had to guess that this was somehow due to his presence.
"Are you alright Toshi? It’s a bit too warm for you to get a cold," Kondo commented.
"I am fine, it’s just something that is bothering me…
"I thought we agreed Hijikata-san could not get a cold…" Souji interjected too happy to finally be able to integrate himself in this conversation.
"This joke is really getting old Souji. Time to get some crea… a… a… Achoo!"
Oh, something wasn’t right. As much as Souji found it funny to see Hijikata battle snort trying to escape his nose, the young man had a good idea of where this was coming from. And it did not bode well for Murasaki the cat, who might have tried scratching Chizuru but was a nice ball of fur to him.
"Fuck!" Hijkata swore. "Is there a cat around or something?"
That was the exact time Chizuru chose to come back from settling the kitten in Kaoru’s room (which he currently occupied alone, having managed to make his last roommate run to safety) and join them. Her eyes widened and Souji knew right there that she was about to spill the beans. Souji sighed. He was always the one doing everything around here:
"Of course not. Why would there be?"
They had planned to just mention the acquisition of Murasaki without any sort of mystery, but Hijikata's current reaction made Souji reconsider. It would not be as smooth sailing as they had thought:
"Cats always make me sneeze like this, and they make my eyes watery."
"Umh... Is that true?"
"What? Why are you ask…"
"It sounds fake."
"What do you know about that?"
"Well, I know cats don’t make people sick."
"They can."
"No, I am pretty sure that if cats made people sick, people would know. Right, Chizuru-chan?"
She was frozen at the entrance. She was such shit liar.
"Well, it's... I don't think... Inai-sensei..."
"Clearly she isn't as sure as you are Souji."
"Don't bully her, Hijikata-san. You are making her nervous."
Despite another sneeze, Hijikata managed to click his tongue in reprobation. Souji used this moment of inattention from the man to stare at Chizuru. Could she get the hint already? That was not the time to hesitate.
She turned around, seemingly to close the shoji behind her, but really she was using this time to compose herself. Souji could see her breathing in and out twice thanks to the movement of her shoulders. When she faced the room again, she seemed calmer. Great.
As she came to sit by him, she started mumbling an answer:
"Actually, some people seem to be sort of intolerant to cats, or even dogs... We don't know why."
It was a good thing that she had not reached him yet, because he would have pinched her at least. She was not that slow usually.
Of course, Hijikata heard her loud and clear.
"See? Achoo!"
As she sat by his side, not seeming concerned about his mood in the slightest, but maybe she had not noticed it since she had her eyes glued to the ground, she added:
"They react even to hairs... Didn't you play with O-Mike at Urio-san's forge?"
That was said with enough naturalness that Souji was almost impressed with her. Kondo did not seem to notice anything, and Hijikata was sneezing again. But Souji was sure Chizuru knew exactly what she was doing. She even started picking at his kimono. He refrained himself from catching her hand and stopping her. It was okay if it was her, she was doing that for a reason. She grabbed a white hair that the blacksmith's cat had left there.
"See? That must be why. You should go and dust your clothes to be sure."
From under her bangs, Chizuru was nearly the most red Souji had ever seen her. He could not have been prouder.
* * *
Murasaki-chan firmly secured against her, Chizuru ducked into the first room available to avoid capture. It was one of the adult dormitories and she was not supposed to be here, but at this hour it was most likely empty. So it should not be a great transgression.
Well, sometimes Chizuru was not a lucky person. Because there was someone inside, and while she might not be able to make out who it was just yet — her eyes had not gotten used to the difference in light between outside and inside — there was no way the person had not noticed the cat in her arm.
Chizuru was not comfortable with what she was doing. Keeping a cat without Kondo-sensei or Fude-sama's knowledge was not a good thing. Especially, because she was pretty sure they might have some reluctance about letting her live here considering that she was making Hijikata-san sick (despite Chizuru's best efforts to try to rid their clothes of hairs). Still, Murasaki-chan was very cute and she was making Kaoru so happy. Chizuru had not seen her brother that happy in a long time. He mellowed considerably while playing with his cat and even quoted poems to her as if she were a little poetess. In return, Murasaki-chan was quite besotted with Kaoru, always escaping however she had been interacting with to come purring against him the minute he stepped into the room. She even played with a little soft ball full of sand that she brought back to Kaoru when he threw it. Chizuru had heard about dogs playing that way, but never cats.
While she was always perfect with Kaoru, sometimes Murasaki-chan was not very tolerant of humans around her. Or rather, she was not completely tolerant of Chizuru (she was always nice to Okita-kun too, all cats were nice to Okita-kun). She had scratched her several times in the past month, and sometimes she refused to let her grab her even in "emergency" situations. She gathered she was not handling Murasaki-chan perfectly and it was probably her fault (though Okita-kun's handling also looked somehow rough sometimes).
Chizuru was sure that if they could work on a system and introduce the idea slowly to the adults (the other adults besides Okita-kun), they would come to accept the cat. Of course, they would.
Today, Murasaki-chan was particularly well-behaved, especially considering Chizuru was sure she was sort of squishing her right now. The cat was probably feeling that it was important to stay quiet. She was quite clever.
"Well, well, Chizuru-chan~. What are you doing in the adult dormitory?"
She blinked several times to finally be able to see properly and confirm what she already knew by sound alone. Thankfully, it was Okita-kun in the room with her. She exhaled in relief, but fast. She still needed to find a safe place for Murasaki-chan where the cat could stay:
"Fude-sama almost walked on Kaoru and me with Murasaki-chan. I took off with her. But Fude-sama was looking for me. And now..."
She brought her hands holding the little black ball of fur away from her as a demonstration. Murasaki-chan stayed relatively calm, slowly blinking her big yellow eyes. Maybe she was a bit tired.
The situation seemed to make Okita-kun smile but, the minute she was about to start again to make him understand how precarious it was, he quieted her with a hand gesture and a "sshhh".
Oh, he was listening to something. She tried to hear whatever it was.
Footsteps.
Her hands constricted against Murasaki-chan. The cat mewled pathetically. Chizuru unclenched her finger but the tension remained.
"Fude-sama?" she dared to ask.
"Fude-sama," Okita-kun confirmed.
Chizuru let out her own small cry of panic. If Murasaki-chan was discovered under her watch she would never forgive herself. She had to be a good sister for Kaoru for once. Her panic grew tenfold when she heard Fude-sama opening the shoji of the dormitory by the one she was currently in. She could not go out anymore, and Fude-sama was about to check the room. Oh no.
Okita-kun sighed and moved from where he was sitting to reveal what he had been doing. There was a pile of sort of unmade futons in front of him. What was that?
"Jump in. I am covering for you."
Chizuru hesitated a second. Okita-kun’s usual smile took a mean edge.
"Isn’t Murasaki-chan important?"
Her decision was more physical than intellectual. Chizuru jumped into the pile of futons. The cat struggled against her a little especially when Okita-kun flipped covers over them, but thankfully she made no noise. Chizuru heard the shoji opening.
"Chizur…" Fude-sama started. "Is that you Souji?"
"That’s where I sleep now Fude-sama," he answered.
"I know that."
"Looking for Chizuru-chan, are we?"
"Yes, she is supposed to help me with the laundry but I can’t seem to find her. It’s not like her."
"Isn’t she at Inai-sensei’s?" he asked with all the innocence in the world.
"Not today, no."
Okita-kun’s hand came resting on what was, for all intent and purpose, her waist. She must have moved without realizing it because the weight he was putting on her through the covers did not ask for anything but perfect immobility.
"Well maybe she is slacking off?" he offered very ungenerously.
"I don’t know." Fude-sama continued audibly annoyed. "I was sure she was with her brother in his room when I went there. I could have sworn I heard her speak with him. But when I entered it was just Kaoru-kun and he swore he had been alone."
"Kaoru-kun is weird enough to talk to himself."
"Umh, it’s more Chizuru-chan who has this tendency."
A bark of laughter escaped Okita-kun for which Chizuru was almost grateful. She was pretty sure she had let a little sound come out in her indignation. She did not… Well, maybe she tended to talk to herself, but it helped her think! And… Had people noticed her doing it? Was it weird? Had she been weirding people out without realizing it?
Murasaki-chan moved against her, and try as she might, she was unable to prevent her from partially escaping her hold. The cat came to pop her head against her chin and started rolling around in some hair strands that had come loose from her bun. At least, Murasaki-chan was not having a bad time.
"That’s true," Okita-kun started again. "She does look like she doesn’t realize people can hear her."
Well, that at least she had heard loud and clear.
His hand left her waist just as his other one found its way under the covers. As if possessing a sixth sense, it found the same hair strands Murasaki-chan was currently playing with and started toying with them too. Was he trying to play with the cat or just teasing her? Chizuru had no idea. The only thing she knew was that when he was not baiting Murasaki-chan with her hair, he ended up stroking her face with it. Chizuru felt her face burning up, and not just because she was too hot under all those covers.
"I am getting tired of looking for her everywhere," Fude-sama finally said. "If you see her, tell her to meet me by the well. And tell her that I am disappointed by her lack of punctuality today. She isn’t like this usually and I hope she won’t make a habit of it."
In any other situation, Chizuru might have felt some shame hearing this. But she was way too busy with Okita-kun playing with her hair. It was starting to tickle. She could feel a sneeze coming.
As a desperate measure, she decided to try catching Okita-kun’s hand. Unfortunately, he avoided capture with efficiency.
"What on earth are you doing with those futons anyway?"
Chizuru was not moving at all anymore. She was only barely breathing. What an idiot she had been.
"I am putting needles in Kobayashi-san’s one," he answered the most naturally possible.
"What?"
"He snores when he turns around in his sleep. It’s unbearable. Call that an incentive to stay put."
Chizuru was almost offended not to hear any sort of outrage from Fude-sama. That was not right!
"I am not in charge of handling you all," the woman sighed. "Do as you must, but if you have trouble with this I won’t back you up."
"Fair enough! Good luck with the laundry Fude-sama~!" Okita-kun almost singsonged.
Finally, Chizuru heard the shoji closing behind the woman. Still, she did not dare come out. Murasaki-chan yawned and laid by her face, her fur so soft.
"You can come out. She is far enough."
She did just that. She emerged from the covers, disheveled and red, and her clothes askew, so she took a minute to straighten her kimono collar. It was a meager measure to find back some dignity but it was better than nothing. Okita-kun was looking at her visibly amused.
"I think you forgot to thank me Chizuru-chan."
She bowed her head to him.
"Thank you very much Okita-kun. Was what you said about Kobayashi-san’s futon the truth?"
"Straight to the point I see… Maybe~."
It was her time to sigh.
"Are there already needles in there?"
"Possibly?"
"We are taking them out."
"Oh, you are no fun Chizuru-chan! And what about my sleep?"
"I will tell him to drink less at dinner," she said as she started looking for the sharp points in the futon Okita-kun dragged their way. "It should fix a big part of the issue."
"Eager to see you tell a grown man what he should do."
Okita-kun could be so vexing sometimes.
* * *
"Not fast enough."
Kondo's voice came out as a sentence, and Kaoru had to refrain from groaning in annoyance. The man was not trying to be a pain but he could be obtuse about kenjustsu. What had Kaoru done that was not perfect this time?
Rather than asking it like this out loud, he took a minute to find his composure and scratched his left wrist discreetly. His ankles were killing him, but he could not exactly drop everything to scratch them too. It would be ill-bred, and Kaoru was a lot of things but not that.
"I don't manage to pull out that move faster than that, Kondo-sensei," he finally settled on.
"Umh that's a problem..." the man continued. "Because at this speed it leaves you wide open for more than one counterattack."
Kaoru followed Kondo's eyes to his sparring partner of the day. The boy was his age, slightly taller and thicker, yet Kaoru's "too-slow" move had found its target without difficulty. The boy looked almost sheepish. He bent his right leg to "discreetly" bring his foot close to his hand and scratched it. What a challenge he was.
But Kaoru could not say that like this to Kondo. The man cared about making the new students feel welcome.
"I wasn't countered," was all that Kaoru dared.
"In other situations, you would be. You should start practicing with the kata again."
He did not sigh — he was getting good at guessing what would make Kondo dislike him — but for once his eye role did not go unnoticed.
"Nothing short of muscular reflex will be good enough in a real fight Kaoru-kun. You know it. Rework on this kata at least ten times."
He obliged as Kondo moved on tutoring his "opponent" on his reactivity. The boy scratched his neck. Good luck with this.
The "shitsureshimasu" that interrupted the training session was slightly hoarse but firm. The shoji did not wait for any kind of permission to open, so Kaoru was unsurprised to see Fude appear. She seemed red, and out of breath. Recently, the woman was not as vigorous as she used to be, but some sort of frenzy seemed to inhabit her right now. Well, someone had done something.
"Okaa-sama? Is everything alright?"
"As any of you been scratching themselves?"
As she asked, Kondo was scratching the back of his neck and the other boy was still going at his feet. Kaoru wanted to scratch his wrist again, but he refrained. There were five people in the room excluding Fude, and three of them were scratching themselves. Kaoru had a bad feeling about this.
Fude clicked her tongue in what could only be called fury. She finished entering the practice room and grabbed the first young student within her reach by his collar. Kaoru was glad it was not him. The woman knew he disliked being touched, and manhandled even more, but considering how distressed she seemed to be, she probably would have ignored that.
The boy tried to escape her grasp but a look from Kondo made him stop. Fude never played any sort of a role in kenjutsu teaching and never interrupted practice without a very good reason. So her adopted son was about to let her do her thing.
"Here they are! Flea bites! I am sure you have them too Isami. I for sure do!"
Kondo raised his sleeves as Kaoru hid his hands in his. Shit!
"Check your ankles rather. This is where they tend to bite."
Everyone followed the woman’s advice in the room as if her words were law. Kaoru remained unmoving, he knew where this was going and he did not need to participate. Exclamations arose in the room and he had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Why were they actually surprised? Fude had spelled it out for them already, were they expecting a plot twist?
"How?" Kondo asked.
"How?" Fude continued with anger. "How?! The same way Toshi-kun has been mysteriously sneezing and scratching his eyes routinely for weeks! The same way fish has been disappearing from the kitchen! Someone has smuggled a cat in! And now we are invaded by dirty parasites!"
Kaoru resented that. Murasaki had entered the Shieikan by its front gate, in his arms. She had hardly been "smuggled in". As for Hijikata, well his condition was weird even if Chizuru insisted it was real. He just had to toughen up. Besides, Kaoru had caught him scratching the head of another cat on an outing, so how serious did the man himself think it was? Maybe, Kaoru had been a bit careless with fish. He might have stolen a bit too much for it to go unnoticed. But Murasaki liked her fish and she was a really good cat. So Kaoru had no qualms about taking food that would have ended in an underserving stomach otherwise. He should have been more prudent, though.
The current situation was not the best, but Kaoru was not extremely worried either. He would have to introduce her another way (he had hoped Murasaki would catch a mouse or two that he could have shown to Fude to make their case) and he had no idea about how he would do it right now. However, he would find something. No one but Souji and Chizuru knew about Murasaki and her connection to him. So Fude knowing there was a cat was not dangerous to him, yet.
The woman put her hand on her hip, probably trying to make herself look more intimidating. It worked on the other young students who straightened up in one big collective movement. Wimps.
"Do any of you know something?"
Kaoru saw a boy swallowing his spit. Was there no end to how impressionable they were? Then, his sparing partner of the day blurted out.
"I saw Yukimura-kun carrying something black that looked like it was moving two days ago!"
Fude and Kondo's eyes fell on him but Kaoru did not shudder. No. He brought all his attention to the snitch. He did not know how this would turn out for Murasaki. But he knew this kid would not stay long at the Shieikan. Kaoru would make sure of it.
* * *
As her workday came to an end, Chizuru took as much time as she dared to walk Kinu-san through the peculiarity of taking care of Murasaki-chan. Inai-sensei’s wife listened to her patiently, despite her struggling with her words. Chizuru herself recognized that she was not at her most eloquent. She was upset.
In a way, entrusting the now flea-free after a bath Murasaki-chan to Inai-sensei’s household was a good outcome. Inai-sensei, Kinu-san, and their son were nice people. Chizuru knew that personally. And they lived close by. And Chizuru came to their house several times a week so she could keep an eye on the cat.
Besides, the discovery of Murasaki-chan by the adults at the Shieikan had turned out relatively well. Only Kaoru and her had landed in hot water because none of them had said anything about Okita-kun knowing. They had just said the truth about the cat: that they had brought her from the blacksmith, that they thought she could be a good addition to the Shieikan by hunting mice as she grew older, and that she was nice.
They had explained all that as she was napping on Kaoru’s lap. Her brother had been petting her in long strokes that Chizuru knew Murasaki-chan did not like. Yet, the cat had not moved, proving that she was as much a good kitty as they claimed. Murasaki-chan's good behavior had not been enough. Between the flea invasion she had caused, and the fact that she was making Hijikata ill on the regular despite Chizuru dusting their clothes with abandon, the Kondo household had decided that it was not possible to keep her. That they should find a new home for her. Chizuru understood where they came from.
Still, it was upsetting nevertheless. One of the most upsetting things that happened to her in a while. Because it was not happening to her. It was happening to Kaoru, and he did not deserve that. He did not deserve to lose his pet which loved him and which he took good care of. He did not deserve to once again forsake something that made him happy.
Chizuru was powerless to protect him. She felt small and useless. Sometimes she even caught herself thinking that maybe Kaoru would do better without her.
"Don't worry Chizuru-chan," Kinu-san interrupted her train of thoughts that was not helping making her more coherent. "If you forget to tell me something, you will be able to tell me tomorrow. Or the day after. You will see Murasaki-chan every time you come working here."
"You are right Kinu-san. Thank you," she stopped rambling and bowed.
"Your brother is welcome to come and see her too. I don't find him disagreeable."
"That's generous of you."
The way Kinu-san had phrased it did not sound very generous, but it was. Kaoru did not like her son and made no mystery about it. Yoshiki-kun was more or less distressed by Kaoru's open animosity so he avoided him as much as he could. Of course, his parents had noticed and that made them uneasy about her brother too. So Kinu-san openly inviting him was, in fact, generous.
"I mean it. He can come whenever he wants, make sure to tell him."
"I will."
"Then off you go. You need to go back to the Shieikan and help Fude-san. Giichi-san wants you here bright and early as usual tomorrow. And maybe, if we find a minute, I will fill you in on Murasaki-chan's first night here."
Chizuru left the clinic after having petted Murasaki-chan on the head for the last time that day. The cat mewed as she did and Chizuru had to speed up on her way out.
Kaoru was waiting for her outside. He had come to pick her up at the end of her day and took the opportunity to bring Murasaki-chan. Despite Inai-sensei's invitation, he had refused to enter the house, simply handing him the cat and letting Chizuru fill everyone in with the details about her. As she joined him outside, he seemed like he had not moved ever since the cat had left his arms.
"Are you done for the day?" he asked as if it was a perfectly normal occasion.
"Yes. Murasaki-chan is exploring the house. She does not seem too distressed by her new surroundings. Kinu-san said you could come back and see her whenever you want."
Kaoru had started walking back to the Shieikan before she had even finished her sentence. Chizuru swallowed and ran after him. She could not be sadder than him. She needed to be here for him.
"There is no need. I won't come see her. I know she will be well cared for."
Her brother's eyes were red, but no tear escaped him. Not even his voice was shaking. Yet, she could see his hands balling into fists in his sleeves. It was not fair.
During the night, when she was sure that everyone was sleeping, Chizuru got up silently. She knew she was not the most discreet person, despite her size, but she apparently woke no one as she was moving through the Shieikan. Not even, Fude-sama whose small private room was beside hers.
As fast as she dared, she reached her brother's room. He was still staying there alone, so she gathered she could take advantage of this. Chizuru knew that people regarded them wanting to be close physically with suspicion, and now she knew why. Fude-sama had alluded to it and Inai-sensei had filled in the details. She thought it was a frankly vicious and uncaring belief. Yet, it sometimes made her feel ashamed of herself even if she did not believe it. She was mindful of how she behaved around Kaoru to not add grist to the mill of people who might think ill of them on principle.
But tonight she did not care. Tonight she only cared about her brother.
She entered his room without asking. She knew he was awake by how unmoving he was. Generally, Kaoru twitched in his sleep quite a lot. It must have taken him a minute to recognize her because he pretended to be asleep some more before asking:
"Chizuru?"
"Yes."
"What on earth are you doing? It’s the middle of the night."
"I have come to be with you."
"Go back to bed. I don't need anyone."
There was something in his voice she did not recognize. It was not the usual voice crack Kaoru had not been able to shake off just yet and which annoyed him to no end. No, it was something else. Had her brother been crying? Chizuru kept creeping closer to his futon. No matter how much he was telling her off, she was determined to stay.
"Maybe I need you," she offered knowing full well he was not about to confess any vulnerability.
Kaoru sneered in a way she did not recognize. Yes, something was definitely wrong with his voice.
"You know they don't want you here, and you know why," her brother continued.
"Yes, and I don't care. I want to be with you."
The sigh that welcomed her declaration was more defeated than annoyed, but she heard him shifting in the dark as if he was lying down once again.
"Do as you want, but be sure to be out of here before dawn."
As he said that, Chizuru settled just next to his futon, directly on the tatami. Kaoru moved his covers around so she would also be under them, but he did not offer to share his pillow. She did not care, she grabbed his hand and kept hold of it. Kaoru squeezed right back.
"I will," she said in lieu of goodnight.
Not everything was well, the world was unfair, but at least Chizuru was glad she could be here for her brother.