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“Hello…” Ritsu reached forward cautiously, offering his hand to the kitten to smell it. That’s what the book he’d read on befriending cats had said to do, at least.
Sorata took small steps towards him, sniffing the back of the teen’s hand curiously before rubbing his face against it.
“D-does he like me?” Ritsu looked to his upperclassman for confirmation, Saga looking on with the same neutral face he always seemed to be wearing.
“He’s a nice cat, I’m sure he wouldn’t dislike you unless you gave him a reason to.” Saga reached across his boyfriend’s lap to scratch the top of the cat’s head. “You afraid of cats or something?”
“Well, most animals never seem to like me…” Ritsu went rigid as Sorata leapt over his legs, passing him and settling on Saga’s lap instead. “People always say it’s because I’m giving off nervous energy around them or something…”
“Yeah, that might be part of it.” He went right back to running his fingers through Sorata’s fur, rubbing his belly as he squirmed around. “I’m sure with time you’ll get more used to it.”
“You think so?” Ritsu reached out towards the pet again, flinching back when Sorata pawed at him playfully.
“I’m sure of it. I can at least guarantee that Sorata likes you.”
“You know where Masamune keeps all of the pet supplies, right?” Yokozawa watched Ritsu carefully, noting the way he seemed to close himself off.
“Yeah, in the cabinets over there.” Green eyes drug across the floor in the direction of the kitchen as he continued shifting uncomfortably. “You said all he needs at first is the litter box and that meal time comes later, right?”
“Yeah.” Yokozawa crouched down, pulling open the pet carrier and leaning down to look at his old companion. “You can come out now, Sorata.”
The senior cat stretched, exiting his carrier slowly as he arched his back. He took in his surroundings and paused when his eyes landed on Ritsu.
“You’ve met before, right?” Yokozawa asked as the cat took ginger steps in the brunet’s direction.
“Um, yes, but it’s probably been around eleven years since he last…” Ritsu’s shoulders stiffened as the creature circled his ankles, sniffing at his pant legs. “…I-I think the last time he was this close to me was when he was still a kitten. He was small enough to fit in just one of Takano-san’s hands back then...”
“All the way back then, huh?” Yokozawa mused aloud, watching the feline stand on its hind legs, pawing at his co-worker’s legs. “He really seems to like you.”
“Takano-san said the same thing back then.” Ritsu bent down somewhat to offer his hand to the little creature. “Most animals seem to dislike me, so I’m sorry if I seem a bit…”
“Skittish.” Yokozawa concluded. “Definitely skittish.”
“Hey there, Sorata.” Ritsu smiled sheepishly as whiskers tickled against his closed fist. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“Mrawh!” He meowed cheerily, returning to all fours to begin circling him again.
“...Did you eat dinner right before we got here or something?” If Ritsu didn’t know any better, he’d think Yokozawa might be amused or something. “I’ve never seen him like this before without food being involved.”
“Huh?” Ritsu looked up from where he had begun squatting to better accommodate the feline. “I was going to wait to start cooking until it was closer to when Takano-san got home.”
“I’d watch out for him then.” Marukawa’s Wild Bear started heading to the door, opting out of a more formal goodbye. “He has a tendency to hop on the counter when he smells anything he likes.”
“Wh-what?!” Ritsu looked down at his new friend, getting the sense that he’d be better off heating up a frozen meal tonight for everyone’s safety. “Aren’t you a little too old to be getting up to trouble like that?”
“Mmrr.” Sorata let out a gruff noise, plopping beside his former owner’s lover and exposing his fluffy belly.
“...I bet Takano-san would appreciate a picture of this.” Ritsu took out his phone and snapped a few pictures, getting a few different angles of his cute pose. “And I bet he’s more excited to have you over here than he’d like to admit. I see him browsing cat toys online sometimes, you know. Sometimes he drops them off with Yokozawa-san at the office to bring them home to you.”
Sorata just kept looking cute, wriggling around his little body on the hardwood floor as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
“I’ve heard Takano-san talk to you before.” Ritsu spoke quietly, watching the cat’s almond-shaped eyes slowly close in complete and utter relaxation. “I thought it was a little silly since you obviously can’t understand what we’re saying, but I think I get it a little better now.”
Prrrrrrrrr.
“And don’t tell him, but I think it’s cute how much he likes cats. I never would have expected that all those years ago until he picked you up in the rain.” Ritsu could almost bring himself to smile at the memory of that day, but when he thought about what happened not that long after, he sighed. “At least he still had you after everything went wrong. Thanks for sticking it out with him when he was having a rough go of it.”
The two of them sat there in silence for a few minutes, Ritsu just watching as Sorata continued to lay there in contentment. If he was going to be like this the whole time, maybe Ritsu would actually be able to handle him.
“You can stay here, okay? I’m going to get everything set up for you.” Ritsu padded off towards Takano’s lower kitchen cabinets, pulling out an empty litter box and bag of litter, various toys tumbling out onto the floor after them.
“Mraawh…” Sorata stretched out his legs, watching lazily from across the room as a twenty-something year old struggled to figure out setting up a litter liner around an empty box.
After he put together what he hoped was a serviceable area for their visitor to do his business, Ritsu grabbed one of the feather wands that had fallen out with the rest of Sorata’s things and walked back over.
“Takano-san mentioned that on days when Yokozawa-san knows that he’ll be out late working, he has one of the neighbor kids come over to feed and play with you. Supposedly, she figured out that you really like these.” He dangled the feathers and string around from a good distance across the room, pausing when what had been calm eyes went wide, staring at what he sincerely hoped was the toy. “...Please don’t attack me, okay?”
Sorata flopped onto his side and stood up, prancing towards Ritsu before diving towards the bundle of vibrantly colored feathers.
Slowly but surely feeling more certain that Sorata’s interest was in attacking the toy rather than himself, Ritsu kept him entertained, jogging around Takano’s living room with the toy tottering behind him for far longer than he expected. So long that he didn’t realize how late it was until the owner of the apartment called out a greeting.
“...You’re home early.” Ritsu panted as he came to a stop, Sorata trotting right past him to welcome the more familiar face home.
“If anything I’m late.” Takano crouched down to give his old friend a pat on the head. “Were you two running laps around my living room or something?”
“...Maybe.” Ritsu wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, silently noting that he needed to work out more.
“So you’re finally over your fear of animals then?” Takano asked.
“Uh, no, probably not.” Ritsu took a seat beside the pair, watching them be all sickeningly sweet as they tended to get during their little reunions. “Sorata is just that nice to me that I can’t bring myself to avoid him.”
“Well he was raised by me.” Takano smiled as the cat rubbed against his hand, purring loudly. “It stands to reason that we’d have the same type.”
“So your jealousy does have limits.” Of course, having to look to a completely different species to find that limit was ridiculous, but Ritsu supposed it was something.
“We’re cool so long as he doesn’t try to give you any kisses on the face.” He moved lower, scratching the cat on its chin. “You hear that, bud?”
“Huh? But he’s a cat!” Ritsu probably would have panicked himself into an early grave by the point a cat was that close to his face, but he couldn’t help but speak up for the little guy. “You can’t seriously expect me to believe that you’d be jealous of a cat!”
“No, it’s not that.” Takano waved him off dismissively. “It’s just that he’d be using the same tongue he uses to lick his butt. I’d rather not kiss a face that’s seen that kind of action before I get to it.”
“Ew! Takano-san!”