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"Sabito... is that... a cat?"
The small gray cat stared at him with large green eyes.
Sabito looked nervously at Giyuu as he did at the cat.
"...Do you have something to say, or are you just going to stand there in the hallway?" Giyuu looked up from the cat to Sabito, crossing his arms as he waited for his answer.
"Look how cute he is! I've told you a million times to get a pet! Besides, I'm doing this for you! I'm often away, so the kitten will keep you company!!" he said.
The truth was, Sabito had been nagging him for a long time about getting a pet. At first, it was supposed to be a dog, but that wasn't even an option. Giyuu doesn't like dogs, and besides, they both have school, so who would take care of the dog?
Giyuu hadn't even expected Sabito to adopt a cat. And it was so Giyuu wouldn't feel too "lonely" in the apartment.
"We have school, so who will take care of him when we're not at the dorm?" Giyuu asked Sabito.
He wasn't against having a cat, but it wasn't a decision made overnight!
"Giyuu, it's a cat. It doesn't need that much attention!!" Sabito knelt down in front of the cat and began petting it.
Not that Giyuu expected a better answer. Looking at Sabito with the cat, he already knew that the cat would stay there, regardless of his decision. "Are cats even allowed in the dorms?" Giyuu asked after a moment.
Sabito nervously rolled his eyes and smiled. "Does it matter?" he said.
Without further discussion, Giyuu sighed; there was no point in discussing it further. Satisfied with the turn of events, Sabito picked up the cat and walked with it to the kitchen.
Wait, does this cat even have a name?
From the kitchen, he could hear Sabito filling the cat's bowl with food. "Where did Sabito even get a bowl from?"
Giyuu looked at his friend, "Does he even have a name?" His gaze remained fixed on the cat.
Sabito's eyes widened and he began scratching his head. As expected, he hadn't even given the cat a name!
Sabito said after a moment, "Can't he be called... just cat?" He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"...cat? he want to name the cat cat?"
Giyuu stared at his friend in disbelief. Who in their right mind wants to name a cat cat!?
"Alright, alright! Don't look at me like that!" Sabito said, embarrassed. "Choose a name for him, you know I'm completely clueless!"
So, Giyuu was entirely responsible for choosing a name. How could you possibly name a small gray cat with green eyes? The cat itself began to eat the food Sabito had given him; the cat was the only one who seemed to dont give a damn about everything that was happening.
Sabito waited carefully for Giyuu's answer; the longer Giyuu thought, the more impatient Sabito became.
‘’Kanzaburo, let's call him Kanzaburo." Giyuu replied after a moment (which, according to Sabito, lasted forever).
‘’Kanzaburo? The name cat was already better!" Sabito laughed.
Giyuu looked at him and slapped him on the back of the head.
"Hey! What was that for!" Sabito grabbed his head. Giyuu rolled his eyes and looked at Kanzaburo, who was still eating from his bowl. He sighed and looked back at Sabito.
Sabito seemed to have accepted the cat's new name and went back to observing the animal.
Giyuu knowing, that there is no point in entering into any discussion with Sabito left the kitchen and went to his room, lying on the bed and starting to review his school material.
Meanwhile, Sabito continued admiring the new animal. The cat definitely needed a bath; who knows how long it had spent outside before Sabito decided to take it in? Sabito took Kanzaburo in his arms and went with him to the bathroom, when he wanted to put him in the bathtub, he remembered that there were no special shampoos for cats.
Irritated by his behavior, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted Mitsuri.
"Listen, this is a crazy story. I found a cat and took it in. It's from the street and I need to bathe it. Do you have any shampoo I can borrow? I'm begging you’'
Mitsuri, who had three cats herself, immediately replied,"You're only telling me now?!! I'm going to help!!''
Sabito breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the cat, and smiled. "You'll be clean soon," he said, waiting for Mitsuri.
The wait didn't last long, after all, they lived in the same dormitory not far from each other.
Mitsuri knocked on the door. Giyuu, irritated by the interruption of his studies, went to the door and opened it for her. "Mitsuri?" he said, after a moment he looked at the supplies Mitsuri was holding. Sighing, he said, "Sabito is in the bathroom, good luck," and then returned to his bed.
Mitsuri immediately ran to the bathroom. She fell in love with the new cat. Without talking, They immediately started washing Kanzaburo.
It took them a while, but after 20 minutes, they managed to clean Kanzaburo up. Satisfied with their work, they smiled, but Kanzaburo didn't seem happy. He definitely didn't like water.
They dried Kanzaburo thoroughly, and he immediately went for a nap after the bath.
Not long later Mitsuri said goodbye to Sabito, wishing him good luck with the cat.
Sabito looked contentedly at the cat, who was sleeping soundly on the couch. He wasn't the least bit tired himself; he looked around the room, trying to find something to kill his boredom. He found nothing, so he went to pester Giyuu.
"Giyuuuu!!!" Stop crying over these books and let's go do something together!" he said, entering Giyuu's room.
Giyuu looked up from the laptop at his friend. "Sabito, I can't today, I'm going out with Rengoku soon."
"Rengoku? Since when have they been close?"
"Oh? I didn't know you and Rengoku were friends." Sabito leaned against the dresser, still looking at Giyuu.
Giyuu sighed and closed the screen. He looked up and at Sabito, who was definitely waiting for an answer. "We've been in touch recently... He invited me to a restaurant."
"To a restaurant? Rengoku invited Giyuu to a restaurant? That sounds like a date!''
Sabito was definitely not happy with this turn of events. "What time will you be home?"
"I don't know, why are you asking?" Giyuu, surprised by his friend's sudden change of mood, asked. Sabito sighed, gripping the doorknob. "I can't know the details of your date with Rengoku? Fine, have a nice date." And he left, just left.
"date?"
"Hey! This isn't a dat—" he didn't get to finish. He sighed and got out of bed to change out of his pajamas and into more normal clothes. It really wasn't a date; Giyuu didn't want Rengoku. He let his hair down and left the room.
Sabito was still in their apartment, but he couldn't see him anywhere; he must have been locked in his room. Not wanting to disturb him, Giyuu left. He closed the door quietly and walked toward Rengoku, who was waiting for him.
No matter how quietly Giyuu tried to leave, Sabito still heard him. Lying on the bed, he petted Kanzaburo. He shouldn't be angry that Giyuu was gong to date; it was normal, right? Sabito was angry, but not only that.
Kanzaburo stared at him with green eyes. Sabito smiled, looking at the cat.
Sabito's curiosity was endless: did Giyuu have feelings for Rengoku? Or maybe Rengoku had feelings for Giyuu? Or maybe it wasn't even a date? Maybe he was already making up a lot of things himself? Not that he had any way to find out the truth now; all he could do was wait for Giyuu. He stopped petting Kanzaburo and began to wander in his own thoughts.
Who was Giyuu to him? Just a friend? Sabito didn't want Giyuu to be just a friend to him. There had been many moments when Sabito hadn't looked at Giyuu as a friend. Although, once, after a party, they'd kissed in a dark garden. Neither of them brought it up again; they both blamed it on the alcohol.
Or when one of them went to the other room at night because he couldn't sleep because of nightmares.
When Giyuu blushed whenever Sabito praised him in any way. All these moments definitely didn't make Sabito see Giyuu as a friend. Sabito wanted more, wanted to kiss Giyuu again like he had in the garden after the party.
Sabito stopped daydreaming when he felt Kanzaburo scratching him, clearly upset that Sabito had stopped paying him attention.
He started petting the cat again. He'd taken him in for many reasons, but mainly because Giyuu wouldn't feel too lonely at home, as Sabito often stayed late at school.
How ironic that it was Sabito who felt lonely, and Sabito was the one who Kanzaburo was helping.
Without much choice, he closed his eyes and went to sleep, hoping that when he woke up, Giyuu would already be at the apartment.
...
...
Giyuu was returning from a meeting with Rengoku. It was really good; Rangoku spoke much more than Giyuu himself, but he still considered the meeting as good. Of course, not as good as any other meeting with Sabito.
Giyuu knew that what he felt for Sabito wasn't just friendship; he still remembered the feeling of Sabito's lips on his. He knew they'd both have to talk about it eventually.
When he opened the door to the house, he didn't expect to see Sabito; it was already late and they both had school in the morning. Nevertheless, he went to check if Sabito was in his room, just to be sure.
Sabito was asleep, and Kanzaburo was lying next to him. Giyuu hadn't had time to examine the cat properly yet. He sat quietly on Sabito's bed and looked at the cat.
Kanzaburo woke up feeling the weight of another person on the bed and the feeling of someone petting him. A cat wasn't such a bad idea; Giyuu was often alone in the apartment, so Kanzaburo would keep him company.
Kanzaburo purred at Giyuu's touch, waking Sabito in the process.
"Giyuu?"
Giyuu stopped petting the cat and looked at Sabito, who had just gotten up, still half-conscious. "It's late, Sabito, go back to sleep." Giyuu got out of bed and walked to the door.
"So? Was the date great?" Sabito asked, trying to sound unconcerned, but the tremor in his voice gave him away.
Giyuu looked at Sabito. "It wasn't a date, Sabito, I don't want Rengoku."
So it wasn't a date after all!
Sabito breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good," he said before even considering his choice of words. Giyuu looked at him, unsure what Sabito meant.
Sabito himself didn't know what he was thinking with that sentence. "Ohh, I meant that I don't think Rengoku is right for you!!" he said nervously. Giyuu wasn't listening. "Sabito, can I stay in your room tonight? Please." Sabito felt his cheeks heat up and looked at Giyuu nervously. After all, they'd slept in bed together many times, why was he nervous now?
..“Sabito?”
Giyuu's voice brought him back to earth. "Uh, yeah, right," he said, trying to hide his embarrassment.
Giyuu sat down next to Sabito, and Kazaburo lay down next to them. Sabito, feeling Giyuu's presence, smiled, even though he was still nervous; having Giyuu around always made him happy.
"I don't want Rengoku, I've never even thought of him that way." Giyuu suddenly started talking out of nowhere. Sabito was surprised by the sudden topic, but he was happy nonetheless. Not wanting to wait any longer, he asked, "And me? Am I just a friend to you too?"
Giyuu suddenly held his breath. He hadn't expected Sabito to suddenly ask something like that. "No... or at least I don't want you to be just that," Giyuu confessed quietly.
Sabito smiled, "and what do you want me to be for you, Giyuu?" Giyuu stared at Sabito, unsure how to respond.
"Giyuu, can I do something? You have to close your eyes."
Giyuu nodded and then closed his eyes. He felt Sabito's lips on his again.
The first kiss was gentle, the second filled with desire. After a moment, they broke apart, both still gazing deeply into each other's eyes. "I only want you, Sabito." Giyuu broke the silence after a few moments.
Sabito smiled at that, "I only want you too, Giyuu," he said, then kissed his forehead.
They both went to bed, Giyuu resting his head on Sabito's chest and falling asleep. They both fell asleep smiling.
Kazaburo, on the other hand, wasn't at all pleased with the fact that they both took up most of the space on the bed, forcing him to change positions again.