Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Akamatsu, I'm back."

Kaede rushed out from the bathroom, clutching the towel around herself. "I told you to stop calling me by my last name, Maki. It's been two years already!" Her hair was still wet and the water began to drip on the hardwood floors.

Maki only rolled her eyes, unfazed by her roommate only in a towel in the middle of the room. After a year being college roommates and a year of living off campus together, both girls have grown accustomed to each other's weird quirks. It's not like Kaede ever questioned Maki's kitchen knife collection or that one apron in the back of the closest that says, "fuck the chef".

"Fine, Kaede. I brought back some leftovers from lunch, so if you want it, it will be on the counter." Kaede nodded before heading back to the bathroom to change.

"So how did the lunch date go?" Kaede called out through the door.

"It went fine. And it wasn't a date, it was a get together with three people."

The door unlocked, "oh yeah? To me, it just sounds like a date and a poor guy as a third wheel." Kaede walked into the room finally fully clothed and sat on the couch with Maki.

Maki puffed her cheeks out while also trying to glare at her friend. "Whatever, it doesn't matter what you call it. My personal life is none of your business."

"Aww, Maki, I wish I had cute relationship like you," Kaede flopped onto her back on the couch, legs hanging off the arm rest.

"Didn't you tell me there was a guy in one of your classes that you liked?" Maki had very little interest in this conversation but carried it along to at least move the topic away from herself.

Kaede immediately lit up at the thought of the boy from her history class. He was smart and kind and really shy. She didn't know his name, but that was because he would always seem to run away the closer she was to him. Kaede began to babble away about her crush, while Maki did her homework and nodded every once in awhile. She described what he looked like, the color of his bag, the way she loved how he took notes. Kaede knew that Maki wasn't really paying attention, but she was definitely grateful to let out some steam to someone other than her reflection.

---

"Friday's lunch was fun," Shuichi mentioned as he shifted the bag strap on his shoulder, "even if you and Maki disappeared for ten minutes."

"Haha, sorry about that, man."

It was a Saturday. And like all Saturdays, Kaito, Shuichi, and Maki all hung out by the park just outside the school, almost like an ode to how they all met in freshman year. Even if the winter air bit down on their skin, they all still enjoyed their Saturday routine together.

"Hey, Maki!" Kaito's voice boomed in her ear. "Midterms are over. You need to get your head out of that textbook." The girl frowned, shutting her book and putting it next to her on the bench. "There we go," Kaito continued, "you need to stop and smell the roses for once. Go take a walk, do some shopping, bake a cake. Speaking of which," he draped his arm around her shoulder, "I hope you like the apron I gave you for your birthday."

"Never worn. In the back of my closest. I think my roommate saw it and secretly judges me for it."

Kaito leaned back and laughed, "your roommate probably won't be able to handle me then." He looked over to Shuichi who was clearly staring off into space. "Shuichi!" Kaito lightly shoved his best friend's arm.

"Huh? Oh... Sorry, I was just thinking." Kaito gave him a look to continue. "Well," Shuichi scratched the back of his neck, "I was thinking about you two guys and how I wish I had a relationship like that."

Maki and Kaito looked at each other then at their dense, best friend.

"You mean?" Kaito prompted.

"Yeah, your close friendship."

There was an audible sigh from the two as Kaito shook his head and Maki went back to reading. Shuichi didn't notice and continued his train of thought.

"You two are so close. I wish I had the courage to get close to a girl like you are with Maki." Shuichi frowned and Kaito rolled his eyes.

"What happened to Chabashira and all her friends? I thought you guys were buddy-buddy?"

Shuichi put his hand on his chin. "Tenko doesn't count. We're friends, but I want someone like... like," he paused.

"Like the cute blonde in our history class?" Kaito finished for him, grinning widely. Shuichi blushed; he could practically feel the blood rushing to his face and fingertips.

"You think I don't notice you checking out and then chickening out at that girl in our class? Every time she comes our way you speed walk in the other direction. You're doing it to yourself, you know." Kaito reached behind Shuichi and placed a firm grip on his shoulder.

"I know, but I jus--"

"It's going to be alright, Shuichi," if it was possible, his smile got wider, "because I'm going to help a brother out!" He turned to his right, “hey Maki, vouch for me. Aren't I the best wingman?”

Maki looked up from her book, having absolutely no idea of the context of this conversation. “Mm, yeah sure?” She went back to reading.

“See!” Kaito exasperated.

“What? But I don't want to accidently--” Shuichi tried his best to hold back the escalation of his problem. It wasn't working.

Kaito jumped out of his seat. "On Monday, we are going to follow her. And you are going to go up there and ask," he turned to see Shuichi's petrified expression, "ask for her name… You are going to ask for her name! Baby steps, bro. Baby steps..." Kaito patted his friend's shoulder.

Shuichi whimpered in distress all the way back to the dorms.

Chapter Text

"So, how do our bets stand?"

"Well, he came close yesterday but no cigar."

Kaito, Maki, Tenko, Himiko, and Angie all sat in a circle in the latter girls' suite. The three girls probably had the messiest suite in the entire building.

The bedroom had a bunk bed and one single bed off to the side, and they decided to evenly split up the room to place their belongings. There were strings of handkerchiefs laced around the top bunk along with a cape and a hat. There were dozens of hair accessories and self defense items, whatever was allowed on campus, scattered on the dresser next to the bottom bunk. And there were various art supplies on the floor by the single bed. That was their version of "tidy".

The sitting room on the other hand, it was like their three personal sections threw up in one room, according to Kaito and Maki at least.

"Close? Really!?" Angie stood up excitedly, her arm accidentally hitting one of the random canvases laying around.

Maki cleared her throat, "if by close he means 'really good friendship', then yes, Shuichi was close." Angie rolled her eyes as the other two girls that also weren't present at yesterday's event sighed in defeat.

"Tenko doesn't know why Shuichi is so dense! It's been almost two years since you two got together." Tenko huffed at the thought of her friend being denser than a pound of rocks.

Kaito laughed, "well I only have a few more months riding on this bet, so I hope he realizes soon." He opened the red box that was placed in the middle of their circle. "Anyone want to make another bet?"

Himiko groaned, "ehhh, I bet two weeks and it's been two years. I lost a long time ago." She flopped her head into Tenko's lap.

"Ooh! Angie wants to make another bet!" She pulled out her wallet, "I've betted on one year and three months, but since that has passed, I'm going to say three years!" Angie placed her money in the box.

Kaito wrote the new bet on a clipboard. “Okay let me give a rundown. Angie, three years. Himiko gave up. Tenko by May. Me by September. And Maki,” Kaito looked at his girlfriend, "are you sure you don't want to change your bet, Maki?"

"No."

"But you betted on, and I quote, 'never'."

"Nope. My bet still stands."

Kaito exaggerated his frown, "what about our wedding?! Won't he find out then? He's going to be my best man, you know," Kaito said, jokingly.

"And knowing Shuichi, he's going to congratulate us on our deep, everlasting friendship." Maki shifted from her position on the floor as she brushed her hair behind her shoulder. "Look, I love Shuichi as much as you do, and he even works at his uncle's detective agency. But let's face it, he couldn't find his way out of a social paper bag."

"Maki!" Tenko shot up from the floor, inevitably knocking down whatever was on the table behind her, "that's so harsh!"

Himiko snorted at the thought. "She's not wrong though."

All she got was a pout back from Tenko.

---

"For the last time, I'm not letting you drive the car, Miu." Kaede had her keys up in the air, away from Miu's grabby hands.

"Aww, why not?" Miu pouted as she leaned onto Kaede.

"Last time you drove, Rantaro threw up on my seats and we ended up in a strip club." Kaede shoved her friend off herself and stood up straight. "Plus, Kiibo was with us that day. That poor boy was traumatized!"

"Hey," Miu's voice went serious as she tossed her hair behind her back, "Kiibo finally saw his first set of real tits, and they weren't even mine! I call that a win."

While her friend was reminiscing about last week, Kaede took this moment to hop into the driver's seat first.

"I'm driving us to the café. Rantaro is already waiting for us, and we both know that he gets real fidgety when he's alone." Kaede looked dead into Miu's eyes. "Now hop in the car."

Miu frowned, which quickly turned into a whimper. "Damn, Kaede," a sniffle, "why’d you have to be so meannnn?"

Kaede gave a sympathetic smile before she sighed, "you know we love you, and we know you mean well," she leaned over to open the other car door, "but get in the car."

The café was a local shop, so it had a very active atmosphere. Many plants. Lively music. Lots of college students worked there, including Kaede. But she only played the keyboard every Tuesday.

She scanned the back set of tables for Rantaro, and much to her negligible surprise, there he was twiddling his fingers and playing with his rings.

"Rantaro!"

He looked up and waved, motioning them to come over. Miu sat next to Rantaro as Kaede took the seat across from him.

"So, what's up, Amami?" said Miu as she scouted for a waiter to come by.

Rantaro looked in all directions around him before leaning into the table. His voice was a near whisper, "I adopted a cat."

"Daww!" Miu lifted her hands in the air. "That's so cute!"

"Shuuuuush," Rantaro placed a finger over his lips. "Pets aren't allowed in my dorm, but she just looked so cold and hungry. One thing led to another. I even took her to the vet..."

"Wait, wait," Kaede waved her hands in front of herself, "you're telling me that you stole a cat from the streets and took it to your room?"

“I didn't,” Rantaro accidentally raised his voice. He looked side to side before lowering it again. “I didn't steal her. She doesn't seem to have an owner either. She didn't have a collar and she seemed like she hasn't eaten in weeks.” He started playing with the rings around his fingers again.

“So what do you need from us then?” Kaede leaned back in her seat, trying to see the point of this emergency meeting.

“Weeell, I need her to stay in one of your dorms.”

“What? I thought you've been keeping that cat around in your room for a couple of days by now?”

Rantaro let out a heavy sigh, “my RA caught me with the kitten. I applied for a pet friendly room, but I won't be transferred for another two weeks.” He looked up at the two girls with pleading eyes.

“So you need us because we're the only friends you have that can host pets.” Kaede said it more as a statement rather than a question. He nodded urgently.

It was quiet between the two girls, debating on who should speak first.

“Rantaro,” Kaede finally started, “you’ve met my roommate once before, right?” he nodded in agreement. “Good. Then you should know that she would actually kill me if I brought an animal into our apartment.”

Rantaro sighed as he immediately turned to Miu. He gave her his best pout, best pleading eyes, and best whimpers.

“Ha! If you keep begging like that people would start thinking you were my sub or something,” Miu crossed her arms.

Rantaro didn't budge.

“J-jeez, stop looking at me like that…” Miu’s cocky attitude quickly started to crack.

Rantaro's eyes only begged for more until Miu finally gave up and broke down.

“FINE! Okay! You win. I'll take the cat.” Rantaro smiled brightly at his victory. “But, I'm not in my dorm a lot so if she's a social butterfly, that's not my problem.”

Rantaro nodded excitedly. He stopped listening after she said fine. “Thank you, thank you, Miu!” He got up from the table, “she's a good soul. I promise that you won't regret it!” After bumping into some tables, he turned at the corner and was out the door.

Kaede looked at her friend from across the table. “What in the world did you just do? Do you even know how to take care of a cat?!”

Miu shrugged sheepishly before she slowly realized what she just agreed to do. The sudden realization hit her in the face, and she started to cry on the table.

Kaede regrettably ended up having to drive her crying friend to her favorite strip club to feel better.

Chapter Text

Shuichi sat in the back of the lecture hall. He was two rows back and one seat diagonal from her. Shuichi remembered when he used to be attentive in class. Now, he just ended up reading the textbook to understand the material. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear as she scribbled something down in her notebook. He didn't know why he was so drawn to her. In fact, he found it a little bit creepy himself, so he did nothing. For six months he has done nothing.

Kaito elbowed him from the side. Shuichi knew what today meant. He had been dreading it for the past two days.

"You ready?" said Kaito.

Shuichi shook his head. "I know I'm just going to introduce myself but," he glanced down to see her twirling her pencil, "it's still a little nerve wracking."

Kaito latched his hand onto Shuichi's shoulder as a way to comfort his best friend. The seats and the desks clanged together as the professor dismissed the sea of students. They didn't even realize the class had ended until Kaito noticed the blonde get up from her seat.

They quickly grabbed their belongings before making their way down the steps, trying to catch up to the girl.

"Kaito, don't shove me," Shuichi whispered while being nudged down the stairs.

"You're going to miss her."

"I'm going to fall--"

And he did.

Two steps in front him was the girl. His books were sprawled right next to her foot. She whipped around at the sound of the hard thud behind her. Shuichi put weight on his arms to try to raise himself up. He quickly tried to grab his things while he still had some dignity left.

He looked behind himself, wanting to glare at Kaito but he was nowhere to be found. Shuichi turned his head back in front of him, only to have his notebook nearly shoved in his face. He scooted back and she was there. She was on her knees to be about eye level with him, and boy, did she have the prettiest eyes.

"I-- uhh," that's all that dared to come out.

The girl chuckled and placed the book in his hand, while picking up the other pencils and pens that rolled off.

"Umm," Shuichi's head throbbed, "thank you by the way."

"No problem," she handed him back a collection of pens. She then extended her arm and pulled them both off the ground. All Shuichi could think about was how warm his face must have been.

"I, umm, I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves," the girl started. "My name's Kaede, Kaede Akamatsu."

Kaede.

Shuichi fumbled with his words. He had this whole scenario planned out in his head, and now he had no idea what was happening.

"Shuichi," he stuck his hand out and released a shaky breath, "Shuichi Saihara."

Kaede gently took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Shuichi," she smiled.

Okay, now he recognized this situation. Hiking up all his courage, Shuichi took a deep breath.

"Kaede,"

Why did that name sound so nice on his lips?

"Are you," he swallowed, " are you doing anything this afternoon?"

Kaede's smile flattered. "O-oh I actually have something planned today." Shuichi's heart sank. "But, I'm free tomorrow night before work? If that's alright with you anyway?" She glanced at him. His eyes were wide and even she should tell he was surprised.

Kaede bit her lip. "I have to be somewhere soon but," she grabbed one of the pens in his left hand. She pushed back his sleeve and marked up his arm. "Here is my number. I work at the nearby café around seven. Meet me before then? Around six?"

Shuichi blinked, "u-uhh yeah sure."

"Okay, I got to go," she shifted the backpack straps on her shoulders, "but I hope to see you tomorrow?"

Shuichi nodded and waved as he watched her leave the lecture hall.

"Oh my gosh," he whispered as soon as she was out of his line of sight.

"Oh my gosh. I did it," Shuichi's smile widened. "Maybe the last six months weren't entirely worthless after all..."

---

"Maki, can we please watch a movie or something? I'm bored..." Kaito rubbed his cheek on Maki's neck.

"I told you, Kaito. You asked to come over to study, so we are going to study." Maki ignored the warm body that was nearly clinging onto her.

Kaito huffed, "since when were you so into studying?"

Maki sat up and looked him directly in the eye. "I don't know, maybe if last semester we didn't spend so much time doing nonsensical activities then I wouldn't have a C in my language class."

Kaito only grinned as he put an arm around her. "I thought you liked it when we hung out together," he hugged her tighter in order to tease her.

Maki grabbed the couch pillow and playfully whacked it into Kaito's face. She checked the wall clocked as the hands moved to a quarter to eight.

"Kaito, you should go. It's late, and my roommate will be home soon." Maki pulled him off the couch so that he stood in front of her.

"Okay fine, but tomorrow night, we are heading to the gym. No studying. No compromises." Maki rolled her eyes. She did miss working out every now and then. She nodded her head in agreement. "Good," he quickly pecked the top of her head. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

He waved goodbye and headed towards the elevator. He stepped aside for the passengers getting out. Kaito smiled at the thought of having fun again with his girlfriend and prepared to make his way back to his dorm.

Kaede lazily got out of the elevator. She was covered in scratches and bandages. Rantaro’s new kitten was not fond of Miu’s place. In fact, the two girls lost the kitten at some point, only to find her an hour later in a giant pile of costumes from Miu's roommate. 

“Thank goodness Rantaro already had the little scamp checked for major diseases because these scratches really suck,” Kaede rubbed the wound on her shoulder before opening her apartment door.

Maki was laying on the couch, finally putting away her notes.

“Hey, Maki!” Kaede dumped her bag on the ground before sitting next to her. “What have you been up to?”

“Oh, just reviewing some things. It was a quiet night.”

Kaede glanced at the coffee table and noticed two glasses set on it. She looked at the cups then at Maki before she started to smirk.

“Ooh really?” she began, “and there wasn't someone else here by any chance was there?”

Maki pursed her lips together and squinted her eyes at Kaede. “Why do you tease me like this?”

“I knew it!” Kaede poked her index finger into Maki's side. “Your boyfriend was here again,” she pouted. “You know how much I've been wanting to meet him, please, please, pleasee.”

Maki only sighed as her eyes drifted to the small gash on Kaede's shoulder. “Oh my god, what happened?” Deep down, Kaede knew she was trying to change the subject, but she also knew that Maki got genuinely concerned whenever she was injured.

“This thing?” she waved her hand around her arm, “it's nothing, just me being reckless.” She tried to laugh it off until at least Maki looked less tensed. “Haha, so anyway, speaking of being reckless. Guess what?”

Maki raised an eyebrow, “what?”

“I asked the guy I like out on a date! Err-- I mean he asked me, and then I said no and had to reschedule. And I guess it's not really a date, it's just meeting up before I have work…”

Maki laughed at her friend’s blunder. “I'm happy for you, Kaede. You're finally pulling up your big girl pants and taking action.”

Kaede playfully shoved her roommate. “Stooop it, Maki. Not everyone can be as suave as you,” she was being coy and Maki knew it.

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Kaede got up from the couch and stood up on the rug. She grabbed her hair to make two ponytails and put on her best Maki impression.

“Hi, I'm Maki. And I love my boyfriend soooo much. We go to the movies together, we exercise together, and we even sleep in each other's dorms when our roommates are not in town, thinking that Kaede wouldn't notice.” Kaede smirked as her friend turned beet red right in front of her.

After her initial shock, Maki looked up and glared at Kaede. “What do you want?”

“I want advice on first dates and help with figuring out what to wear. Deal?”

Maki took a deep breath and sighed as she stuck her hand out, “deal.”

Chapter Text

"Here's your drink, Ma'am. Let Angie know if you need anything else!"

After placing down the glass, she went to bus the empty table by the takeout register.

"Korekiyo," she leaned on the granite counter tops, "can you hand me another towel from back there?" He nodded at her and reached to the bucket by his feet.

"Are we still doing the poetry reading on Thursday?" He asked while handing over the towel.

Angie placed a hand on her hip. "First off, it's a poetry slam . Second of all, yeah! These late night events are what keeps this place open after all."

It was a quarter to six, and the cafe didn't get busy until the later hours. Angie and Korekiyo chit-chatted while cleaning until they both heard the front door's bell chime. Angie glanced up only to see someone nervously walk in.

"Is that...?" her eyes followed him until he sat down at a table.

He didn't talk off his hat, but Angie could tell that it was Shuichi.

"Huh," Angie looked back at Korekiyo, "Angie will talk to you later, okay!" He nodded and returned to working behind the counter.

Angie and Shuichi didn't know each other too well. They went on trips with their mutual friends, but their circles didn't fully connect. That being said, Angie had no problem investigating a friend of a friend.

She grabbed a cup of water to not look empty handed, and putting on her most cunning smile, Angie strode over to Shuichi's table. She dragged out the chair across from him and dropped herself into it.

"Hey, hey, Shuichi!"

He jumped up in surprise. "Angie? W-what are you doing here?" He violently looked around to see if their other friends were also there too.

"Angie works here, Silly!" she grinned, "and you would have know that if you ever visited the cafe, but you don't." She set the glass down in front of him.

Shuichi opened his mouth to retort back, but the best excuse he could come up with was that he didn't like the chattery noises of a cafe. However, he figured if he said that, Angie would get offended, so he closed his mouth again.

"Anyway," Angie placed her elbows on the table as she leaned forward, "what are you doing here?"

Shuichi took a sip of his water.

"It's not like Shuichi has a hot date or anything, right ?" Shuichi sputtered out his water.

"Wha--" he took time to wipe off his mouth, "what makes you say that?"

Angie giggled at him, "Angie was making a joke. But... Shuichi seems to actually be on a date!" She laughed a bit more as Shuichi's face got more embarrassed. "Ooh! Angie can't wait to tell Tenko and Himik--"

"NO!"

Shuichi covered his own mouth after the outburst. He shook his head to clear his mind and started again.

"Ahh, please no?" Angie gave him a confused expression, "if you tell the girls, I know at least Tenko will tell Kaito about the date." She nodded in agreement.

"But doesn't Kaito already know?"

Shuichi sighed and laughed inwardly, "he ran off when I met Kaede, so I told him I only found out her name and not that she invited me here." Shuichi twiddled his fingers, "I didn't want anyone following me. I wanted to do this on my own. Please don't tell the others."

Angie only vaguely nodded. She was still hung up on one particular word he said.

Kaede .

She's heard that name before, she swears.

And, it was as if god heard her, she walked in the cafe.

Recognizing the face immediately, Angie grinned at Shuichi and got up from the table. "Well, Angie is still on the clock. Have fun on your dateee." She drew out the word as she walked away, leaving Shuichi with his eyebrows raised and jaw half opened. It was quite a sight, especially since it was the one that greeted Kaede when she sat down.

"Hey, Shuichi!"

"Ahh!" He turned to see Kaede looking as bright as ever, despite himself looking like a confused animal. "K-kaede, hello."

She smiled at him, "we're you waiting long? I hope not."

Shuichi tried to pull up his confidence, "uhh, nooo. You're perfectly on time. It's all good." He coughed to prevent his voice from cracking any further.

"He's been waiting here for thirty minutes!"

They both looked up to see Angie. She was holding her notepad and pen, and smiling like a madman.

"Is that true, Shuichi?" Kaede furrowed her eyebrows.

"I just got here early! It's okay!" Shuichi watched her worry expression fade, but the awkwardness still loomed.

Shuichi let Angie take their order, and they sat in silence for a while as they waited.

Kaede cleared her throat, "I'm sorry if I actually was late. A cat was threatening to scratch up my car."

"Oh! You have a cat?" Shuichi hoped for some sort of conversation starter.

"Nope."

There was more awkward silence. Shuichi drummed his fingers on his lap. He noticed Kaede was no better as she chewed on her bottom lip. It was quiet and Shuichi was desperate to fill the silence.

"You have nice lips."

Kaede's face reddened at the comment before Shuichi could even registered his own words.

"W-wait," Shuichi panicked, "I-I mean, I wish I had ice in this?" He grabbed his drink and held it close to his chest.

“Here you go, Sir!” Seemingly out of nowhere, Angie poured more iced water right in front of his face. She leaned in closer to his ear, “ask her about her hobbies. You're killing the mood here.” Angie turned and walked away before he could question her.

He looked back at the unsuspecting Kaede as she blinked innocently. “So Kaede,” he coughed, “do you have any hobbies?”

Kaede's eyes lit up, and Shuichi scrapped for any sort confidence he could get from it.

“I play piano!” she started. “Well, it's not just a hobby. It's basically my life, haha.” Her laughs were like little bells. “Since I was a kid, I was practicing. I played until my fingers went numb.” Shuichi looked at her with concern. “Oh don't worry, I enjoyed it. I'm even studying it now as my major.”

“So I assume you're good at the piano?” Shuichi couldn't help but tease her.

“Of course I am!” she folded her arms, “I would even say I'm an ultimate in it.”

He smiled, “you know that is not a real noun, right?”

Angie, with a tray of dishes in her hand, watched from afar with Korekiyo by her side.

“Look at them, Korekiyo! Aren't they cute?” Angie shifted the plates she was holding, “Angie wishes she could at least tell Tenko…”

He stood there with his arms folded across his chest. “What fascinating humans indeed. It's very odd to take someone to your workplace for a date.”

Angie shrugged as returned back to her section of tables.

---

“So your roommate has a collection of knives?”

Kaede giggled as she shoved a fork of cheesecake in her mouth. “Yeah, but it's nothing to worry about! She loves cooking,” she leaned forward, “she usually feeds me the leftovers.”

“That's really nice of her.”

Kaede stared at the clock. “Hmm, it's almost seven.”

Shuichi put down his fork. “Didn't you say you had work at seven?” His heart lumped at having the night get cut off like this.

“I do, but…” she stood up from the table, “do you want to stay and watch me?”

“Watch me?”

Kaede smiled as she got up from the table and walked over to the keyboard by the back of the cafe. She took a seat in front of it and adjusted the microphone closer to the keyboard. Kaede thought through all the songs she's memorized. Obviously, she would choose the most impressive one she could perfect . She closed her eyes and ran her fingers across the board.

Shuichi nearly dropped his drink when she started playing. The rest of the cafe was going on as normal, but Shuichi could only focus on her music.

Kaede smiled as she could feel Shuichi's eyes latch onto her every move. The night definitely started out rough. Rantaro's cat decided to eat her leather seats and there was an incredible amount of awkward conversation earlier, but by the end of the night, finding out her childlike crush ended up being a bigger, shyer sweetheart than she initially thought, that was a big win on her.

She played piece after piece as she blissfully tanned in Shuichi's gaze. Sure it was a little weird to bring a date to her workplace and she was sure her co-workers were definitely judging her throughout the night, but for this moment, Kaede didn't care.

As the night ended, Kaede finished up and walked over to Shuichi as he clapped at her performance. In order to not loiter, midway through the show, he paid for their dinner and left the table for a wooden chair pulled up closer to where she was playing.

“That was amazing, Kaede!”

Kaede lightly blushed, “oh it's nothing, I only play once a week here, for fun really. It's just a keyboard too. You should see my videos when I'm on a grand piano .” Her voice enticed his curiosity.

“Oh yeah, can I see them?” Shuichi asked.

“Sure, we can do it at my place in a few days. I'll call you when I'm free.” Kaede imagined another day just as calming as this.

Shuichi nodded in agreement and gave her a smile that nearly melted her heart.

“Yeah… I would love that.”

Chapter Text

"Miu, you know you live in a dormitory building right?" Kaede inspected the cramped space as she stepped inside.

"Yeah, hello? Of course I do," Miu glared at her friend, "why do you ask?"

Kaede jabbed a finger on to the wall. "Well, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to paint anything," she took a step back, "and I'm a hundred percent sure that you aren't supposed to paint a room half pink and half blue straight down the middle."

Kaede's arms were spread wide opened as her eyes shifted from the blue catastrophe to the pink monstrosity to back at Miu.

"Whaaat? My roommate is into blue." Miu jumped on her bed as she spread out her arms and legs in an unflattering manner.

On the bed in the opposite corner of the room, Kaede pulled out a short, frilly maid skirt. "Is your roommate also into the roleplay kink? Because this is..." Kaede also picked up some leather thigh straps from the bed, "this is horrifying," she finished.

Miu waved her hands around, trying to dismiss the comment. "She has her secrets; I have mine. I don't kinkshame."

"Yeah, but I do..." Kaede lowly whispered under her breath. She coughed into her fist to change the topic. "Anyway, where's the cat?"

"What cat?" Miu shifted her back to pull down the fronts of her shirt.

Kaede blinked, not at her friend's chest-- not this time-- but at the fact that she must have completely and totally misheard her friend forgetting about the cat she had full responsibility over.

"Haha, very funny, Miu," Kaede placed her hand on her heart, "for a second there I thought you seriously forgot about taking care of Rantaro's cat, ha.. ha..."

Miu's eyes went wide. "Fucking shit. I forgot that damn rat existed."

"Miu?!" Kaede threw her hands up in the air, "what the hell?! What were you doing this entire time??"

Her friend stuttered at Kaede's raised voice, "h-hey, don't yell at me. I have a project due on Monday. I've rarely even b-been in this room this whole week." Miu looked up to see Kaede's heavy glare at her. "Don't look at me like that, Bakamatsu! "

Miu threw her pair of goggles at Kaede. It missed and hit the pile of clothes on her roommate's bed.

Meow

The two girls looked at each other then back at the clothes pile.

"Fucking hell, Tsumugi is going to kill me if her worbla gets scratch up."

They stripped through the layers of fabric, wigs, and accessories. All Kaede could think was that this roommate may be even wilder than Miu.

Meow

"Oh my god!" Kaede slowly pulled out a small gray kitten from the tossed pile of clothing, and lifted her up into her arms.

"Aww, she's so cute," Miu reached out to pick up the cat, but Kaede reflexively swatted her hands away.

Kaede frowned, "no cat for you. You didn't feed this poor kitten for how long again?"

"Hey!" Miu moved over to the side to show off a cereal bowl with a mix of water and a glob of canned tuna inside of it. "Look, I gave her food. Like, the first day or something, and I wasn't coming back here for the night so, bam! I gave her a week's worth of food!" She tapped her forehead with her finger. "See, always thinking."

Kaede gave her a deadpan look. "This is coming from the same girl that thought she could bake cookies faster by setting the oven to 500 degrees for 5 minutes," she folded her arms together.

"I mean, it sorta worked?"

"No!" Kaede waved her hands above her head, "no, it didn't! You nearly burned my apartment down."

Kaede held the cat in her arms and took another glance at the dorm she was in, "you know what, this cat is coming with me. I'll call home, and you'll clean up this mess."

Miu looked down at the floor, looking ready to sob, "fine... But I thought you said your roommate hated cats?"

While shifting her arms, Kaede pursed her lips together. She thought about Maki and how she would literally kill her if she brought this kitten back. She would have to be really good at hiding her and make sure she did not scratch any furniture. But Maki, on typical nights, was not home that often anyway.

How hard could this be?

She already decided in her mind that she's taking the cat back home. No matter how much Miu whined to her.

----

"Okay, food, water, and the litter box are all in my room," Kaede spoke to the cat while resting her hands on her knees, "why don't we hang out there for a while before Maki comes back?"

The cat purred and rubbed its head on the sofa they were both sitting on.

"Akamat-- I mean... Kaede, I'm back!"

Kaede's eyes went wide as she picked up the cat and shoved it under the couch. She leaned over onto her side, propping her head up with her arm, to cover the cat hair on the rest of the cushions.

"Hey there Maki, you're using my first name for once!" Kaede beamed at her friend, looking absolutely ridiculous while spread out along the couch.

"I'm trying, even if I don't really want to do it," Maki took a glance at Kaede. She raised an eyebrow at her pose, "why are you sitting like that?"

“Oh uhh, no reason?” Kaede adjusted her position on the couch, “it's… comfortable like this.”

Meow

Kaede's eyes widened, hoping her roommate didn't just hear that.

“What was that?” Maki looked back and forth, “was that a cat?”

“What?! A cat? Nooo ,” Kaede shook her head frantically. That girl was in a panic and even Maki could tell. “It was just a noise from my phone.”

“Are you hiding something from me?”

“What makes you say that?” Kaede tried to play it cool for as long as possible. With Maki's eyes trained on hers, Kaede blindly typed for cat videos on her phone.

Maki squinted her eyes in suspicion. She stuck her hand out and motioned it towards the phone. Kaede gladly handed it over, knowing that she would ask for it.

There was a slight pause. “Akamatsu, please tell me why you searched 'kitty play’.”

Kaede shifted her eyes back and forth, confused.

“Because all the results here are people with cat fetishes ,” she held up the phone to Kaede's face. Nothing lewd or sexual was in the thumbnails, yet Maki's face was burning red. Kaede just sighed at the implications of the search results.

These are the first few results? Why are people like this?

“H-here, take it back. I don't need to know about your kinks, Akamatsu.” Maki usually was never this flustered. It was quite the sight to behold.

“Hey, what did I say about first names?” she pouted.

Maki huffed, “first names are with people who don't like to dress up as animals that could kill me.” She tapped her foot and seemed exasperated at just the thought of a cat.

Kaede sat up and waved her hand up and down in the air. “Cats aren't so bad. They can be really swee--”

“I'm allergic though.”

It hit Kaede like a bag of bricks. She hates animals in her room; she hates cats in her room; she hates cats because she's allergic . The worst part is, she's definitely heard her mention it before.

“I thought I've told you before?”

You did, Kaede's mind broken down, I fucked up. In a panic, Kaede got up and pushed Maki towards her bedroom, which was thankfully not that close to Kaede's room.

“What the--” Maki looked behind her to see a mess of a girl dragging her away. Unfortunately for Maki, some of the cat hair got on her in the process. She rubbed her nose in aggravation and sneezed a few times.

“Oh my god!” Kaede threw up her hands when Maki was promptly in her own room. “Look at that. You sound terribly sick! Must be the cold weather we're having.” She spun Maki around and shoved her further into the room, “I'll try to make some soup for you! You, you stay in bed.”

Maki would have argued at Kaede's strange behavior, but her energy was gone and her nose kept on twitching.

“Just don't burn the apartment down,” she said sleepily as she got into bed.

Kaede only nodded as she slammed the door shut. God, she felt bad, really bad . She had to move the cat, but that can wait until morning after she bought soup for Maki and after she cleaned up every single piece of cat hair from the apartment.

She heard another sneeze through Maki's bedroom door.

“I… I suck.”