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Jun couldn’t tell if time was passing slowly or too fast. But his eyes were starting to hurt, and seeing the hands of the clock mockingly change to midnight just made him tap his foot more furiously. He unlocked his phone for what felt like the thousandth time that night in the hopes of seeing a notification, but he was only disappointed again. At half past twelve, through the constant ticking of the clock and the pitter-patter of rain hitting the windows, Jun heard a different sound.
He was already scrambling off the couch the moment he heard footsteps outside the apartment, and he flung the door open right as strong fingers rapped on it.
“Tetsu!” he yelled, panic lacing his voice. “Are you okay?! Why didn’t you answer your goddamn phone?!”
Tetsu still had his hand raised from knocking on the door, and he looked a little surprised by the yelling. Before he could even reply, Jun kept going.
“And you’re soaked!! What the fuck happened?!”
Tetsu touched Jun’s shoulder to calm him down.
“Jun.”
“What?!”
Tetsu lifted his drenched hoodie and pulled out something dark and wet.
Jun’s eyes went wide. “Is that...a kitten? Tetsu, you picked up a kitten?!”
As if to answer the question, the kitten opened its bright green eyes and mewled.
Tetsu smiled. “I couldn’t just leave it, Jun.”
“W-what...ugh. Fine. Come inside first and dry off. Then we can talk.”
He stepped back into the apartment, letting Tetsu enter.
“Could you hold him?” Tetsu asked, holding out the tiny animal.
“Sure,” Jun grumbled, carefully taking the kitten from Tetsu’s arms and cradling it in his own. While Tetsu went to change, he grabbed a towel from the kitchen and started rubbing the kitten gently to dry it off. He tried to be as careful as possible, but his hands froze when it started mewling. He started to make kissy noises and pet it, and he couldn’t help smiling in relief when it began to purr. He didn’t notice Tetsu was by his side again until he spoke.
“You seem fond of him already, Jun.”
He almost jumped in surprise. “Tetsu!” For a second he was embarrassed that Tetsu probably saw him being soft, but then he remembered that he was supposed to be annoyed with him. “I still can’t believe you brought an animal home.”
Tetsu hummed as he scratched the kitten’s head. “It was pouring out, and I couldn’t ignore it. No one else was going to take him.”
“That’s just like you…” Jun mumbled. “But you couldn’t call or text me back? I was gonna go crazy.”
“I’m sorry, Jun. I was distracted.”
Jun ran his hand through his hair in frustration, letting out a deep yet resigned sigh. “Fine, I get it. Anyway, did you feed it anything? It needs milk, right?”
“I tried to give it milk from a convenience store, but it wasn’t easy.”
Jun nodded. “Okay, I’m gonna heat some up, then.”
Leaving the kitten to Tetsu, he opened a cupboard and pulled out a saucepan which he placed on the stove. Then he grabbed the milk from the top shelf of the fridge and poured a good enough amount, before turning on the heat and setting it on low.
Tetsu had the kitten wrapped up in a new dry towel, and he was softly petting it while holding it close to his chest. Jun felt his shoulders relax at the sight, and he smiled through another sigh. He switched on the kettle and picked two matching mugs from the shelf, then dropped a bag of ginger tea in each mug. He continued to admire Tetsu’s gentle expression until the kettle dinged, and he poured the hot water over the tea bags. Taking the ends of the bags with the little orange tags, he bounced the tea bags around. Tetsu always said it didn’t make the tea steep faster, but Jun’s impatient, so he always does it anyway. It feels like it makes a difference, to him.
The milk’s warm by then, so Jun took the saucepan off the heat and poured the milk into a shallow bowl. He stuck a finger in, testing the temperature. He was about to taste it when Tetsu sidled up next to him.
“Is it too hot?” asked Tetsu.
Jun looked up at him. “I’m not sure. You can try it,” he said.
Tetsu nodded and leaned in, licking the milk off Jun’s finger.
“Hmm, I think it’s fine.”
Jun sputtered. “T-Tetsu??”
Tetsu cocked his head to the side. “You told me to try it, Jun.”
“Yeah, but,” Jun choked out, trying to fight down a blush but failing miserably. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
“I hope not,” Tetsu smiled. “I like being with you.”
Jun lightly punched his shoulder. “You better like being with me, idiot.”
Tetsu smiled even wider. “Let’s go to the bedroom, Jun.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jun grumbled, despite his own painful smile. “You grab the milk. I’m bringing the mugs.”
Tetsu nodded and followed the instruction, holding the bundled-up kitten in one arm and the milk in his other hand. He led the way to their room, Jun right behind him with the tea.
The bed was slightly messy and unmade, which meant Jun had been there earlier, since Tetsu always makes the bed in the morning. Jun set the mugs down on one of the bedside tables and crawled onto the bed. He held his hand out for the milk, which Tetsu handed to him. He held it carefully to make sure it wouldn’t spill as Tetsu joined him in the bed with the kitten. He unwrapped the kitten from the towel, and Jun set down the bowl in front of it. They both sighed with relief when the kitten lapped up the milk right away.
Jun could tell it was a huge weight off Tetsu’s shoulders. He reached out and held Tetsu’s hand, rubbing his palm with his thumb. Tetsu turned to look at him and smiled before threading their fingers together.
“The tea’s going to get cold, Jun.”
Jun chuckled. “You’re right. And you hate it when your tea gets cold.”
Tetsu nodded in thanks when Jun handed him his mug, taking it with his right hand. Jun held his mug in his left. They always liked to hold hands while drinking tea, so Jun had little trouble holding the mug in his non-dominant hand.
He licked the drops of ginger tea off his lips as he watched the kitten stretch.
“What are you going to name it?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. Tetsu had just found the cat, after all.
Tetsu hummed. “I was thinking of Kyo.”
Jun raised his eyebrows. “Kyo?”
“From that anime you like. What was it called... ‘Fruits Basket’?”
Jun coughed, almost spilling his tea. “Are you serious? You’re so embarrassing sometimes, Tetsu.”
Tetsu chuckled. “I thought you’d like it.”
Jun huffed and tried to scowl to hide his smile. “Whatever.”
Tetsu just squeezed his hand, happy with the reaction he got from Jun.
“We’ll have to go grocery shopping tomorrow morning. For milk and cat food. And litter.”
Jun groaned. “Great, there goes my plan of sleeping in on the weekend.”
“I’ll make it up to you,” Tetsu promised, and Jun knew he would. He always did.
“Whatever,” he scoffed jokingly. “I don’t care as long as you’re happy.” He took another sip of warm tea to hide his reddening cheeks.
Tetsu blinked, and Jun could easily tell that he was happy. Putting his mug on his bedside table, Tetsu scooted over and kissed Jun, warm and steady. Jun closed his eyes as a warmth radiated through his chest. Their kisses always tasted like tea and happiness. With a little urging from Tetsu, Jun parted his lips, and they drank in the taste of ginger from each other’s mouths.
Tetsu slowly pulled away first, his lips curling upwards. He tapped Jun’s hand.
“Your tea’s going to spill,” he whispered.
Jun could only nod and put his tea away, and Tetsu was already slipping his hand into Jun’s hair and pulling him back in once the tea was safely placed on the table. Jun groaned, happy with the way Tetsu wanted him. He rested his hand on Tetsu’s neck and tilted his head, letting Tetsu kiss him just a little deeper. His teeth grazed Tetsu’s lips as they parted again for air, and he almost bit down in surprise when a high-pitched meow broke through the silence. They both turned to look at the source, and found the brown kitten watching them, eyes wide and curious. Tetsu chuckled, and Jun couldn’t help laughing as well.
“I think someone wants to sleep,” Tetsu stated.
Jun nodded, rubbing the back of Tetsu’s neck where the hair was starting to grow out. “I guess it’s time for bed,” he chuckled.
Tetsu smiled and kissed Jun softly on the lips. “Another thing I have to make up to you.”
Jun grinned. “That’s fine with me. We have forever.”