Yagyuu Masaharu (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dontgiveafox) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tennis_hell2018-04-08 12:02 am
dontgiveafox) wrote in tennis_hell2018-04-08 12:02 am
[LOG] Niou Masaharu and Yagyuu Hiroshi
Who: Niou Masaharu and Yagyuu Hiroshi
What: Niou and Yagyuu go to a cat cafe and catch up. Yagyuu pays :')
When: To define is to limit
Where: Some dodgy cat cafe
Rating: G
His watch informed him that it was already half past one in the afternoon. Yagyuu looked around, trying to find a familiar shock of silver hair amongst the sea of black and brown. Maybe he should have suggested that they meet directly in the cafe instead of here in the middle of the station. The cold was beginning to numb the tips of his ears as he shoved his hands into his the pockets of his coat. Well, this was fine, it has been a while since he last saw Niou. The thought of seeing him after so long and strings of promises to meet won over Yagyuu’s distaste for the combination of the chill and the station’s heavy crowd.
NIou was lounging against a wall, keeping an eye out of the gate that apparently Yagyuu was meant to be coming out of. And he was always easy for Niou to spot in a crowd, with his stupidly perfect part and straight back. Niou pushed himself off the wall to skip closer, hiding his hair under a blue beanie. At least until the last minute where he pulled it of with a flourish and knocked into Yagyuu. “Hey Hiroshi,” he said, pushing the beanie into his hands. “A present for you.”
Yagyuu nodded in thanks and pulled the beanie over his head, not caring whether or not it messed up his hair. He could always fix that later. Remembering the paper bag by his feet, he picked it up and handed it over to Niou.
“Here, these are from my mother.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Please share them with An-chan as well. I can only imagine the trouble she gets at work with the multitude of part-timers you employ.”
Well, Yagyuu just looked silly wearing the beanie. Niou reached up to tug it down properly, making sure to pull up the top slightly to make it sit nicely. Much better.
“Thanks,” he said, sneaking a peek inside the paper bag - all nicely wrapped up as well, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to find out what they were until later. “I’ll have you know, we only hire the most considerate of co-workers,” he said, elbowing Yagyuu sharply before starting to head off for the cafe. “None of them make any comments about when she picks her undies out from her ass, or when she doesn’t look well groomed.”
“I’m sure she offers them the same courtesy when they do so as well and more, Niou-kun.” He snorted as he followed Niou, walking alongside him. “Besides, Kamio-kun and Ibu-kun would attempt to hurt them if they say otherwise.”
As they passed by several shops along the street, Yagyuu glanced over at Niou. It’s been a while since they last saw each other. Although Niou obviously appeared different from the boy who disappeared right after their high school graduation, he still looked essentially the same. It was as if someone pointed to a few parts here and there, and hit the pause button for the rest of him.
Yagyuu shook his head. He pulled his hands out from his pockets and rubbed them together to warm them up. There wasn’t much use thinking about the past year, he thought as a corner of his mouth quirked up. Niou was Niou and that’s all there was to it.
“I don’t think Tachibanana’s old friends really keep much of an eye on her while she works, we’re safe,” Niou said, shrugging a bit as he made sure to match his pace to Yagyuu’s, falling into the stride naturally. It was almost second nature, especially with imitating Yagyuu once a week at least, while he worked.
It wasn’t very far to the cat cafe and Niou veered off the street when he spotted it, making sure to grab Yagyuu by the sleeve to pull him in too. Up the stairs and Niou was already pulling out his point card for the store. “What do you want to drink, Hiroshi?” he asked, scanning the menu already. “Tea, to be nice and proper? Cocoa for your sweet tooth?”
Yagyuu adjusted his glasses and took another copy of the menu. “I’ll have a hot milk tea,” he said, flipping the laminated sheet to the other side to check the shop’s other items. “Do you want anything to eat, Niou-kun?”
“A hot milk tea and a hot cocoa,” Niou ordered, getting his point card scanned. He elbowed Yagyuu and peered over his shoulder at the menu, eyeing the desserts. “Are you paying? I’m not actually really hungry but I won’t say no to like, pudding or something.”
“Hmm, then add a pudding and a lemon tart to that as well please,” Yagyuu told the waitress. Estimating the total price of their orders, he pulled out his wallet and took out a few bills to pay with. He turned around and scanned the cafe for a place to sit. Having spotted an empty table by the corner beside the window, Yagyuu tugged at Niou’s elbow to follow him towards it.
Oh, such generosity, Yagyuu! Niou grinned at him and then got promptly distracted by the cat starting to rub around his legs. Which continued, until he was rudely pulled away, towards a sadly cat free table.
Not that it worried him too much, he could already see one or two coming to look at the new people. “So.” Niou drummed his fingers on the table and stares closely at Yagyuu. “It’s been a while.”
Even though he’d been in Tokyo for a year already since he vanished after high school… it was just hard catching up with people. Plans always fell through, or they were just always too busy… and maybe in Yagyuu’s case, Niou was a little bit regretful about that.
Yagyuu made a meaningful humming sound and watched Niou’s fingers tap to an unknown rhythm on the table. “...It has,” he folded his hands onto his lap and held Niou’s gaze. “You look well, Niou-kun.”
Now that they were just seated across each other, the thoughts from earlier slipped back into his mind. The initial elation he felt shifted into a quiet unease that had him itching for something to occupy his hands with. Maybe they should have stuck to talking on social media instead, Yagyuu mused to himself.
If Niou noticed the awkwardness, he didn’t show it, turning his attention to the cat that was steadily approaching. He waggled his fingers and leaned down to scratch under its chin.
“Yeah I’m going pretty good,” he said, bopping his fingers against the cat’s nose and grinning when it twitched at him. “Having someone else worry about food and stuff helps. Not paying rent is handy too.” Even if it was at the cost of having to work parttime, but it wasn’t like working in the bookshop was particularly taxing. “You look like you’re more stressed than normal, Hiroshi.”
He gave a half shrug. Their orders arrived and Yagyuu added two teaspoons of sugar into his milk tea, mixing it. “Exams are coming,” he explained with wry grin. No matter how many times it happened, his professor’s habit of cramming their lectures before a test irked him.
“Just how did you meet your landlady, Niou-kun?” Yagyuu took a sip of his drink. “Your situation sounds like a dream, to say the least.”
Niou just hummed a bit as he mixed up his hot cocoa before he put the lid back on and took a sip. Lovely. So was the explanation about Yagyuu’s stress, and he thought he could see extra wrinkles as he leaned a little closer across the table to peer closely.
“I met her while in the Russian circus,” he said, stretching out his legs and letting a cat jump on his lap. Niou grinned. “Just kidding, it’s a secret. She’s threatened to cut me off if I ever reveal it to people. Even my closest dearest friends.”
“It would be unfortunate if that happened,” Yagyuu said, pushing up his glasses.
In the corner of his eye, he saw another cat silently slink up to them. He mirrored Niou’s actions but dropped his hand to the side, letting the cat sniff his fingers before it rubbed itself against his legs. Yagyuu grinned, propping his head up with his other hand. “Maybe next time then.”
And just like that, Yagyuu’s grin seemed much more like his own. It really was uncanny. Yagyuu Hiroshi, truly was dangerous.
“How quite cunning of you, Yagyuu-kun,” he said, sitting up a bit straighter. Niou laughed a bit and slouched again, scratching the cat on his lap’s ears. “You’re not being worked too hard at your shop, right?” Niou asked, gesturing vaguely at Yagyuu with his cup. “Are you still getting disappointed faces for dropping medicine?”
Yagyuu quietly laughed as well and sat up straight without moving his legs to avoid disturbing the cat that had decided to nap by his feet.
“Iwai-san is a gracious manager,” he said amicably, placing his hands on top of each other on his lap. “He allows me to catch up on my studies when the shop is empty and the hours are rather flexible as well. And with regards to my father,” Yagyuu’s mouth stretched into a thin line. “I suppose things could be worse.”
Niou watched Yagyuu intensely as he spoke, glancing at his posture and his small facial expressions. He narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned his elbows on the table. “You should’ve been like me,” he said, pausing as their food was brought over. And he had to pause for a bit longer to ward off a curious cat sniffing at the pudding. “Not given them such expectations of your brilliance, so they can’t be disappointed.” He grinned and stabbed his spoon into the pudding, squashing it a bit. “It’s your fault you know, for being too clever, Hiroshi.”
“Ah,” Yagyuu gave Niou a wry smile as he cut into the tart with his fork. “But that’s not how it works for me.” He looked at his food as he sliced it into small even slices. Then he looked up and held Niou’s gaze, the corners of his mouth still quirked upwards. He slid his fork underneath a piece and held it towards Niou’s mouth. “If I hadn’t given them any expectations then we wouldn’t be here right now, isn’t that correct Niou-kun?”
It was kind of hypnotising watching Yagyuu cutting up the tart into such even bits. Niou had to force himself to look up from it and he raised an eyebrow at Yagyuu. “What, you mean you would’ve stayed boring without their expectations?” he asked, leaning a bit more forward to take the offered tart into his mouth before he sat back to chew thoughtfully. “You wouldn’t have been inspired to grow your seed of rebellion and followed me into the dark world of tennis?”
Yagyuu snorted. “If I remember correctly, it was you who came by the golf club’s practices until I agreed to visit the tennis team’s.” He leaned against the back of his seat and briefly smirked. “Rather than following you, I’d say you dragged me into it.” He pierced a piece of the tart and popped it into his mouth.
Niou squashed up his pudding a bit more and stared closely at Yagyuu as he ate the first bit. His pudding was definitely better than the lemon tart. “Don’t try to deny it, Hiroshi,” he said, sucking on the spoon and he got momentarily distracted pulling faces at the cat nearby. “You had so much more fun with me in tennis than you would’ve in boring golf. Even that year I was away, I bet you shrivelled up a bit from the lack of excitement and whimsy in your life.”
After everything Niou had done to the poor dessert, the pudding was nothing more than a lumpy gloop in its bowl; a far cry from how it had looked when it first arrived at their table. For a brief moment, Yagyuu thought it painted a very apt description of everything. His eyes flickered from the dish to Niou.
“Who knows, Niou-kun,” he shrugged as he felt the cat that was napping by his feet shift against him. “If it weren’t for you, I could have been well on my way to becoming a celebrated golf champion.”
Niou just waved his hand with the pudding spoon dismissively. “And you would’ve been the most boring person ever if you were.” Golf champion. With a little ugly visor and pants pulled up too high and one of those fancy gloves on one hand. … It was disturbing how easy the image came to him, actually.
“Maybe I should’ve done more to tie you to me, when I convinced you to join,” Niou said, rubbing at his mole as he stared at Yagyuu and pondered this. “Maybe professed my undying love or something. Talked about soulmates.”
Most of what Niou had said flew past by him. As he watched him rub the small beauty mark by his chin, he barely heard a thing until he caught the words, ‘undying love’ and ‘soulmate.’ Yagyuu looked up and blinked. “Tennis isn’t marriage, Niou-kun.”
With that, an image of Yukimura dressed in a suit while holding a racket covered with a thin white veil immediately entered his mind. Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at the thought and adjusted his glasses. He peered at Niou as his lips pursed. “Has Oshitari-kun been discussing with you about his novels again?”
“I know that,” Niou said, still steadily gazing at Yagyuu. Instead of answering the question Niou pushed the cat off his lap and stood up. “The cats over there look much too peaceful, I have to go harass them,” he said, gesturing vaguely at a corner. “Be back.”
And then Niou was off, getting down into a crouch and inching forward towards the cats with his hand outstretched. They came to him easily enough, rubbing around his hand and his legs.
The cat by his feet had disappeared along with the one Niou pushed off his lap, leaving him alone with his scattered thoughts. As he stared at Niou’s hunched back, Yagyuu felt his grip tighten around the fork before letting it drop onto the plate with a short clatter.
His mind repeated the scene over and over again. With every replay, the clarity and focus of Niou’s gaze sharpened until it felt like a knife cutting right through him. Love and soulmates. Even in his head, the words sounded absurd. But there was something about it that felt almost fitting. As he let his thoughts wander, Yagyuu picked up the fallen utensil and began to idly push his food around the plate.
Niou had his hands and attentions occupied by patting the cats and he slowly shuffled through them to make sure he patted them all. Gosh, being so popular with cats was so difficult.
Eventually though he did stand up and make his way back to the table, flopping down in his seat opposite Yagyuu. Niou prodded him in the leg with his foot and swirled his hot cocoa around the sealed cup before he took a sip. “You must be thinking hard about something, Hiroshi. You have that constipated face on again,” Niou said with a grin, holding his drink out questioningly towards Yagyuu.
Yagyuu’s face twisted into a scowl as he lightly batted the drink away from him. “It’s nothing, Niou-kun.” He looked past Niou’s shoulder and tilted his chin at the corner he played at. “I take it you’ve had fun with cats over there?”
Oh, Yagyuu wasn’t interested in testing his drink out. Well, more hot cocoa for him, then. Niou purposely made a show of drinking it too, eyeing Yagyuu’s drink sitting on the table. “I did. I love cat cafes.”
And going to parks to play with cats.
And playing with neighbour cats.
And just random cats on the street.
“You know not telling me things just makes me annoy you more until you do,” Niou said easily enough, staring at Yagyuu over the rim of his cup. “You should just tell me why you were thinking so hard.”
From the eyeing the bob of Niou’s throat as he drank, Yagyuu followed his gaze towards his own drink. He wrapped his hands around the cup as if the heat resonating from it would explain the warm feeling that begun to spread through him. He smiled at Niou and shrugged.
“It’s not as if that ever stopped you,” he said, staring back as he traced the edge of the drink with his thumb. “Why don’t we see if your mind-reading skills are up to par and tell me what I’m thinking about, Niou-kun?”
Oh now that was a challenge. “Alright then.” Niou propped his elbows on the table and leaned a bit closer to stare at Yagyuu, rubbing his chin. He always had been a little difficult to read and Niou’s gazed flicked over his face, down to his hands and back up to his eyes.
“You’re thinking… right now, about how stupidly attractive I’ve become. Gosh golly, Hiroshi, what a nice compliment, thank you.” Niou grinned and peered a little closer for a few more silent moments before he pulled back and went back to his drink. “Otherwise… Are you worried about the state of our soulmate bond because we haven’t played tennis together in so long?”
Yagyuu propped his head on one hand and flicked Niou on the forehead. “It’s good to see that you can still dream, Niou-kun,” he grinned. “I was worried that life on the road and moving into a strange old lady’s attic would’ve robbed you of your daydreams by now.”
Then the grin dropped from his face as he stared at him. He watched Niou, glancing from his face to his posture and back. Without looking away, Yagyuu tilted his head slightly to the side and leaned his elbows on the table. “Not everything is about tennis.”
Niou’s face scrunched up at the flick and he rubbed at the spot absently. “If they start disappearing, I’ll just crash at your place until they come back, don’t worry,” he said, reaching across the table to prod Yagyuu on the cheek lightly.
It was almost as if Yagyuu was mimicking his posture from before and it was so tempting to make Niou sit up a bit straighter and stare back just as evenly. “Okay, I’ll try again, then.” He hummed a bit. “You’re worried about how you’re being replaced in my heart by fictional characters in my books and tv dramas.”
Turning away from the intruding finger, Yagyuu smirked. “I see that your landlady’s addiction has gotten to you.” He opened the cap of his drink to peer at its contents. “Maybe I’ll just send you back to her when you come knocking by.”
No denial on that one - clearly that meant that Niou was right.
Niou just sighed dramatically though, stifling his triumphant grin with an overly dramatic, sad drink of his cocoa and a spoonful of pudding. “Your lack of love really hurts me, Yagyuu,” he said with another drawn out sigh. “A few years ago you would’ve surely let me crash on your floor at the very least. Given up your bed so I could rest on something comfortable…”
Yagyuu sat up and narrowed his eyes at Niou. The drawn out sigh had felt ominous. “Niou-kun…” He began but stopped. Instead he tapped his fingers lightly on the table and then leaned back. “I don’t recall ever giving up my bed.” He paused to take a sip of his milk tea. “You either snuck under the covers or pushed me out.”
Niou made a dismissive noise as he kept eating his pudding, only stopping as a cat came to investigate him again. “You never complained,” he said, bopping the cat on the nose and he looked sideways at Yagyuu. “I feel like you would’ve ended up sour and miserable if I hadn’t given you a regular dose of bed sharing back at school. It kept you young and sprightly.” Maybe that was why Yagyuu was so uptight and on edge now…. “Do you miss it?” he asked suddenly.
Yagyuu gave Niou a pointed look before turning his attention to another cat that had jumped up to the space beside him. He began to pet it slowly, careful to not make any sudden movement that would surprise the cat. Its fur was soft as it stretched underneath his hand and purred contentedly. It was relaxing.
Niou tilted his head slightly as Yagyuu distracted himself with the cat and he snorted as he nudged Yagyuu with one foot. “That’s a yes, then,” he said with a grin. “You could always ask me to come join you for a night, you know, Hiroshi. If you get too sour and miserable by yourself. I’d just need to leave early to get back to walk my landlady’s dog in the morning.”
He clicked his tongue, an unperturbed look appearing on his face. “Assuming makes an ass out of you,” Yagyuu said without continuing the rest of the phrase. He shook his head and crossed his legs as he shifted his body away from Niou’s foot. “I don’t need anyone disturbing my sleep as it is.”
“You don’t need it, but you want it,” Niou said with a mischievous smile. “I’m onto you, Hiroshi.” He finished off his pudding and fished out his phone. “Besides, what if I really need and want it? Are you going to deny your closest, dearest friend something like that?”
Before Yagyuu could reply though, Niou pushed himself up to go heckle some more cats off to the side and take photos of them.
Yagyuu sighed. For a moment, it felt like he’d lost something. Not that there was anything to play at but it felt like it. He resisted the urge the squash the remainder of his tart into a bright yellow mush. Instead, he stood up and followed Niou to the other side of the room. He waited for a few moments before nudging him with his foot. “It’s nearly time,” he said with nod to the large electronic clock on the wall. There were a few minutes left before the waitress would ask if they wanted to extend.
Niou barely noticed Yagyuu approaching, too caught up in getting the perfect picture of a cat. It involved a lot of clicking noises to get the ears perked up and looking at him.
He jumped a bit at the nudge and followed Yagyuu’s nod to the clock. … What a shame.
“Yeah, okay.” Niou reluctantly stood up, snapped a quick photo of Yagyuu’s face - probably blurred - before he put his phone away. “You should probably grab your food though, before it gets eaten by a cat.”
Yagyuu shot the pocket where the phone was with a dirty look. His lips formed a thin line as he pushed his glasses up. Later, he’d delete that photo when Niou wasn’t looking...
Without as much as a glance back to their table, he waved his hand. “They can have it.” He said dismissively. He pulled out the beanie from his coat’s pocket and pulled it down onto Niou’s head. “Don’t forget your things, Niou-kun. It’ll be troublesome if we have to come back and get them.”
No that was terrible Yagyuu. You can’t let cats eat lemon tart. But Niou was stopped from berating Yagyuu about that with the beanie shoved on his head. “Fix up your hair in the meantime, Hiroshi,” Niou said, reaching up to ruffle up Yagyuu’s hair with a laugh before he headed to the table to scooped up the last piece of tart and his bag.
Yagyuu huffed and ran his fingers through his messy hair, trying to settle any stray strands that stuck out. He checked his reflection on the cafe’s window to make sure everything was in place. With a final sweep of his bangs, he nodded and waited by the door.
It was so tempting to come up behind Yagyuu and mess up his hair again, but Niou resisted, giving as many cats one last pat as he made his way over to the door.
“Alright, I’m good to go.” He patted Yagyuu on the back and reached to open the door. “Thank you!” he called out to the people behind the counter, who waved him away.
What: Niou and Yagyuu go to a cat cafe and catch up. Yagyuu pays :')
When: To define is to limit
Where: Some dodgy cat cafe
Rating: G
His watch informed him that it was already half past one in the afternoon. Yagyuu looked around, trying to find a familiar shock of silver hair amongst the sea of black and brown. Maybe he should have suggested that they meet directly in the cafe instead of here in the middle of the station. The cold was beginning to numb the tips of his ears as he shoved his hands into his the pockets of his coat. Well, this was fine, it has been a while since he last saw Niou. The thought of seeing him after so long and strings of promises to meet won over Yagyuu’s distaste for the combination of the chill and the station’s heavy crowd.
NIou was lounging against a wall, keeping an eye out of the gate that apparently Yagyuu was meant to be coming out of. And he was always easy for Niou to spot in a crowd, with his stupidly perfect part and straight back. Niou pushed himself off the wall to skip closer, hiding his hair under a blue beanie. At least until the last minute where he pulled it of with a flourish and knocked into Yagyuu. “Hey Hiroshi,” he said, pushing the beanie into his hands. “A present for you.”
Yagyuu nodded in thanks and pulled the beanie over his head, not caring whether or not it messed up his hair. He could always fix that later. Remembering the paper bag by his feet, he picked it up and handed it over to Niou.
“Here, these are from my mother.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Please share them with An-chan as well. I can only imagine the trouble she gets at work with the multitude of part-timers you employ.”
Well, Yagyuu just looked silly wearing the beanie. Niou reached up to tug it down properly, making sure to pull up the top slightly to make it sit nicely. Much better.
“Thanks,” he said, sneaking a peek inside the paper bag - all nicely wrapped up as well, it seemed he wouldn’t be able to find out what they were until later. “I’ll have you know, we only hire the most considerate of co-workers,” he said, elbowing Yagyuu sharply before starting to head off for the cafe. “None of them make any comments about when she picks her undies out from her ass, or when she doesn’t look well groomed.”
“I’m sure she offers them the same courtesy when they do so as well and more, Niou-kun.” He snorted as he followed Niou, walking alongside him. “Besides, Kamio-kun and Ibu-kun would attempt to hurt them if they say otherwise.”
As they passed by several shops along the street, Yagyuu glanced over at Niou. It’s been a while since they last saw each other. Although Niou obviously appeared different from the boy who disappeared right after their high school graduation, he still looked essentially the same. It was as if someone pointed to a few parts here and there, and hit the pause button for the rest of him.
Yagyuu shook his head. He pulled his hands out from his pockets and rubbed them together to warm them up. There wasn’t much use thinking about the past year, he thought as a corner of his mouth quirked up. Niou was Niou and that’s all there was to it.
“I don’t think Tachibanana’s old friends really keep much of an eye on her while she works, we’re safe,” Niou said, shrugging a bit as he made sure to match his pace to Yagyuu’s, falling into the stride naturally. It was almost second nature, especially with imitating Yagyuu once a week at least, while he worked.
It wasn’t very far to the cat cafe and Niou veered off the street when he spotted it, making sure to grab Yagyuu by the sleeve to pull him in too. Up the stairs and Niou was already pulling out his point card for the store. “What do you want to drink, Hiroshi?” he asked, scanning the menu already. “Tea, to be nice and proper? Cocoa for your sweet tooth?”
Yagyuu adjusted his glasses and took another copy of the menu. “I’ll have a hot milk tea,” he said, flipping the laminated sheet to the other side to check the shop’s other items. “Do you want anything to eat, Niou-kun?”
“A hot milk tea and a hot cocoa,” Niou ordered, getting his point card scanned. He elbowed Yagyuu and peered over his shoulder at the menu, eyeing the desserts. “Are you paying? I’m not actually really hungry but I won’t say no to like, pudding or something.”
“Hmm, then add a pudding and a lemon tart to that as well please,” Yagyuu told the waitress. Estimating the total price of their orders, he pulled out his wallet and took out a few bills to pay with. He turned around and scanned the cafe for a place to sit. Having spotted an empty table by the corner beside the window, Yagyuu tugged at Niou’s elbow to follow him towards it.
Oh, such generosity, Yagyuu! Niou grinned at him and then got promptly distracted by the cat starting to rub around his legs. Which continued, until he was rudely pulled away, towards a sadly cat free table.
Not that it worried him too much, he could already see one or two coming to look at the new people. “So.” Niou drummed his fingers on the table and stares closely at Yagyuu. “It’s been a while.”
Even though he’d been in Tokyo for a year already since he vanished after high school… it was just hard catching up with people. Plans always fell through, or they were just always too busy… and maybe in Yagyuu’s case, Niou was a little bit regretful about that.
Yagyuu made a meaningful humming sound and watched Niou’s fingers tap to an unknown rhythm on the table. “...It has,” he folded his hands onto his lap and held Niou’s gaze. “You look well, Niou-kun.”
Now that they were just seated across each other, the thoughts from earlier slipped back into his mind. The initial elation he felt shifted into a quiet unease that had him itching for something to occupy his hands with. Maybe they should have stuck to talking on social media instead, Yagyuu mused to himself.
If Niou noticed the awkwardness, he didn’t show it, turning his attention to the cat that was steadily approaching. He waggled his fingers and leaned down to scratch under its chin.
“Yeah I’m going pretty good,” he said, bopping his fingers against the cat’s nose and grinning when it twitched at him. “Having someone else worry about food and stuff helps. Not paying rent is handy too.” Even if it was at the cost of having to work parttime, but it wasn’t like working in the bookshop was particularly taxing. “You look like you’re more stressed than normal, Hiroshi.”
He gave a half shrug. Their orders arrived and Yagyuu added two teaspoons of sugar into his milk tea, mixing it. “Exams are coming,” he explained with wry grin. No matter how many times it happened, his professor’s habit of cramming their lectures before a test irked him.
“Just how did you meet your landlady, Niou-kun?” Yagyuu took a sip of his drink. “Your situation sounds like a dream, to say the least.”
Niou just hummed a bit as he mixed up his hot cocoa before he put the lid back on and took a sip. Lovely. So was the explanation about Yagyuu’s stress, and he thought he could see extra wrinkles as he leaned a little closer across the table to peer closely.
“I met her while in the Russian circus,” he said, stretching out his legs and letting a cat jump on his lap. Niou grinned. “Just kidding, it’s a secret. She’s threatened to cut me off if I ever reveal it to people. Even my closest dearest friends.”
“It would be unfortunate if that happened,” Yagyuu said, pushing up his glasses.
In the corner of his eye, he saw another cat silently slink up to them. He mirrored Niou’s actions but dropped his hand to the side, letting the cat sniff his fingers before it rubbed itself against his legs. Yagyuu grinned, propping his head up with his other hand. “Maybe next time then.”
And just like that, Yagyuu’s grin seemed much more like his own. It really was uncanny. Yagyuu Hiroshi, truly was dangerous.
“How quite cunning of you, Yagyuu-kun,” he said, sitting up a bit straighter. Niou laughed a bit and slouched again, scratching the cat on his lap’s ears. “You’re not being worked too hard at your shop, right?” Niou asked, gesturing vaguely at Yagyuu with his cup. “Are you still getting disappointed faces for dropping medicine?”
Yagyuu quietly laughed as well and sat up straight without moving his legs to avoid disturbing the cat that had decided to nap by his feet.
“Iwai-san is a gracious manager,” he said amicably, placing his hands on top of each other on his lap. “He allows me to catch up on my studies when the shop is empty and the hours are rather flexible as well. And with regards to my father,” Yagyuu’s mouth stretched into a thin line. “I suppose things could be worse.”
Niou watched Yagyuu intensely as he spoke, glancing at his posture and his small facial expressions. He narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned his elbows on the table. “You should’ve been like me,” he said, pausing as their food was brought over. And he had to pause for a bit longer to ward off a curious cat sniffing at the pudding. “Not given them such expectations of your brilliance, so they can’t be disappointed.” He grinned and stabbed his spoon into the pudding, squashing it a bit. “It’s your fault you know, for being too clever, Hiroshi.”
“Ah,” Yagyuu gave Niou a wry smile as he cut into the tart with his fork. “But that’s not how it works for me.” He looked at his food as he sliced it into small even slices. Then he looked up and held Niou’s gaze, the corners of his mouth still quirked upwards. He slid his fork underneath a piece and held it towards Niou’s mouth. “If I hadn’t given them any expectations then we wouldn’t be here right now, isn’t that correct Niou-kun?”
It was kind of hypnotising watching Yagyuu cutting up the tart into such even bits. Niou had to force himself to look up from it and he raised an eyebrow at Yagyuu. “What, you mean you would’ve stayed boring without their expectations?” he asked, leaning a bit more forward to take the offered tart into his mouth before he sat back to chew thoughtfully. “You wouldn’t have been inspired to grow your seed of rebellion and followed me into the dark world of tennis?”
Yagyuu snorted. “If I remember correctly, it was you who came by the golf club’s practices until I agreed to visit the tennis team’s.” He leaned against the back of his seat and briefly smirked. “Rather than following you, I’d say you dragged me into it.” He pierced a piece of the tart and popped it into his mouth.
Niou squashed up his pudding a bit more and stared closely at Yagyuu as he ate the first bit. His pudding was definitely better than the lemon tart. “Don’t try to deny it, Hiroshi,” he said, sucking on the spoon and he got momentarily distracted pulling faces at the cat nearby. “You had so much more fun with me in tennis than you would’ve in boring golf. Even that year I was away, I bet you shrivelled up a bit from the lack of excitement and whimsy in your life.”
After everything Niou had done to the poor dessert, the pudding was nothing more than a lumpy gloop in its bowl; a far cry from how it had looked when it first arrived at their table. For a brief moment, Yagyuu thought it painted a very apt description of everything. His eyes flickered from the dish to Niou.
“Who knows, Niou-kun,” he shrugged as he felt the cat that was napping by his feet shift against him. “If it weren’t for you, I could have been well on my way to becoming a celebrated golf champion.”
Niou just waved his hand with the pudding spoon dismissively. “And you would’ve been the most boring person ever if you were.” Golf champion. With a little ugly visor and pants pulled up too high and one of those fancy gloves on one hand. … It was disturbing how easy the image came to him, actually.
“Maybe I should’ve done more to tie you to me, when I convinced you to join,” Niou said, rubbing at his mole as he stared at Yagyuu and pondered this. “Maybe professed my undying love or something. Talked about soulmates.”
Most of what Niou had said flew past by him. As he watched him rub the small beauty mark by his chin, he barely heard a thing until he caught the words, ‘undying love’ and ‘soulmate.’ Yagyuu looked up and blinked. “Tennis isn’t marriage, Niou-kun.”
With that, an image of Yukimura dressed in a suit while holding a racket covered with a thin white veil immediately entered his mind. Yagyuu raised an eyebrow at the thought and adjusted his glasses. He peered at Niou as his lips pursed. “Has Oshitari-kun been discussing with you about his novels again?”
“I know that,” Niou said, still steadily gazing at Yagyuu. Instead of answering the question Niou pushed the cat off his lap and stood up. “The cats over there look much too peaceful, I have to go harass them,” he said, gesturing vaguely at a corner. “Be back.”
And then Niou was off, getting down into a crouch and inching forward towards the cats with his hand outstretched. They came to him easily enough, rubbing around his hand and his legs.
The cat by his feet had disappeared along with the one Niou pushed off his lap, leaving him alone with his scattered thoughts. As he stared at Niou’s hunched back, Yagyuu felt his grip tighten around the fork before letting it drop onto the plate with a short clatter.
His mind repeated the scene over and over again. With every replay, the clarity and focus of Niou’s gaze sharpened until it felt like a knife cutting right through him. Love and soulmates. Even in his head, the words sounded absurd. But there was something about it that felt almost fitting. As he let his thoughts wander, Yagyuu picked up the fallen utensil and began to idly push his food around the plate.
Niou had his hands and attentions occupied by patting the cats and he slowly shuffled through them to make sure he patted them all. Gosh, being so popular with cats was so difficult.
Eventually though he did stand up and make his way back to the table, flopping down in his seat opposite Yagyuu. Niou prodded him in the leg with his foot and swirled his hot cocoa around the sealed cup before he took a sip. “You must be thinking hard about something, Hiroshi. You have that constipated face on again,” Niou said with a grin, holding his drink out questioningly towards Yagyuu.
Yagyuu’s face twisted into a scowl as he lightly batted the drink away from him. “It’s nothing, Niou-kun.” He looked past Niou’s shoulder and tilted his chin at the corner he played at. “I take it you’ve had fun with cats over there?”
Oh, Yagyuu wasn’t interested in testing his drink out. Well, more hot cocoa for him, then. Niou purposely made a show of drinking it too, eyeing Yagyuu’s drink sitting on the table. “I did. I love cat cafes.”
And going to parks to play with cats.
And playing with neighbour cats.
And just random cats on the street.
“You know not telling me things just makes me annoy you more until you do,” Niou said easily enough, staring at Yagyuu over the rim of his cup. “You should just tell me why you were thinking so hard.”
From the eyeing the bob of Niou’s throat as he drank, Yagyuu followed his gaze towards his own drink. He wrapped his hands around the cup as if the heat resonating from it would explain the warm feeling that begun to spread through him. He smiled at Niou and shrugged.
“It’s not as if that ever stopped you,” he said, staring back as he traced the edge of the drink with his thumb. “Why don’t we see if your mind-reading skills are up to par and tell me what I’m thinking about, Niou-kun?”
Oh now that was a challenge. “Alright then.” Niou propped his elbows on the table and leaned a bit closer to stare at Yagyuu, rubbing his chin. He always had been a little difficult to read and Niou’s gazed flicked over his face, down to his hands and back up to his eyes.
“You’re thinking… right now, about how stupidly attractive I’ve become. Gosh golly, Hiroshi, what a nice compliment, thank you.” Niou grinned and peered a little closer for a few more silent moments before he pulled back and went back to his drink. “Otherwise… Are you worried about the state of our soulmate bond because we haven’t played tennis together in so long?”
Yagyuu propped his head on one hand and flicked Niou on the forehead. “It’s good to see that you can still dream, Niou-kun,” he grinned. “I was worried that life on the road and moving into a strange old lady’s attic would’ve robbed you of your daydreams by now.”
Then the grin dropped from his face as he stared at him. He watched Niou, glancing from his face to his posture and back. Without looking away, Yagyuu tilted his head slightly to the side and leaned his elbows on the table. “Not everything is about tennis.”
Niou’s face scrunched up at the flick and he rubbed at the spot absently. “If they start disappearing, I’ll just crash at your place until they come back, don’t worry,” he said, reaching across the table to prod Yagyuu on the cheek lightly.
It was almost as if Yagyuu was mimicking his posture from before and it was so tempting to make Niou sit up a bit straighter and stare back just as evenly. “Okay, I’ll try again, then.” He hummed a bit. “You’re worried about how you’re being replaced in my heart by fictional characters in my books and tv dramas.”
Turning away from the intruding finger, Yagyuu smirked. “I see that your landlady’s addiction has gotten to you.” He opened the cap of his drink to peer at its contents. “Maybe I’ll just send you back to her when you come knocking by.”
No denial on that one - clearly that meant that Niou was right.
Niou just sighed dramatically though, stifling his triumphant grin with an overly dramatic, sad drink of his cocoa and a spoonful of pudding. “Your lack of love really hurts me, Yagyuu,” he said with another drawn out sigh. “A few years ago you would’ve surely let me crash on your floor at the very least. Given up your bed so I could rest on something comfortable…”
Yagyuu sat up and narrowed his eyes at Niou. The drawn out sigh had felt ominous. “Niou-kun…” He began but stopped. Instead he tapped his fingers lightly on the table and then leaned back. “I don’t recall ever giving up my bed.” He paused to take a sip of his milk tea. “You either snuck under the covers or pushed me out.”
Niou made a dismissive noise as he kept eating his pudding, only stopping as a cat came to investigate him again. “You never complained,” he said, bopping the cat on the nose and he looked sideways at Yagyuu. “I feel like you would’ve ended up sour and miserable if I hadn’t given you a regular dose of bed sharing back at school. It kept you young and sprightly.” Maybe that was why Yagyuu was so uptight and on edge now…. “Do you miss it?” he asked suddenly.
Yagyuu gave Niou a pointed look before turning his attention to another cat that had jumped up to the space beside him. He began to pet it slowly, careful to not make any sudden movement that would surprise the cat. Its fur was soft as it stretched underneath his hand and purred contentedly. It was relaxing.
Niou tilted his head slightly as Yagyuu distracted himself with the cat and he snorted as he nudged Yagyuu with one foot. “That’s a yes, then,” he said with a grin. “You could always ask me to come join you for a night, you know, Hiroshi. If you get too sour and miserable by yourself. I’d just need to leave early to get back to walk my landlady’s dog in the morning.”
He clicked his tongue, an unperturbed look appearing on his face. “Assuming makes an ass out of you,” Yagyuu said without continuing the rest of the phrase. He shook his head and crossed his legs as he shifted his body away from Niou’s foot. “I don’t need anyone disturbing my sleep as it is.”
“You don’t need it, but you want it,” Niou said with a mischievous smile. “I’m onto you, Hiroshi.” He finished off his pudding and fished out his phone. “Besides, what if I really need and want it? Are you going to deny your closest, dearest friend something like that?”
Before Yagyuu could reply though, Niou pushed himself up to go heckle some more cats off to the side and take photos of them.
Yagyuu sighed. For a moment, it felt like he’d lost something. Not that there was anything to play at but it felt like it. He resisted the urge the squash the remainder of his tart into a bright yellow mush. Instead, he stood up and followed Niou to the other side of the room. He waited for a few moments before nudging him with his foot. “It’s nearly time,” he said with nod to the large electronic clock on the wall. There were a few minutes left before the waitress would ask if they wanted to extend.
Niou barely noticed Yagyuu approaching, too caught up in getting the perfect picture of a cat. It involved a lot of clicking noises to get the ears perked up and looking at him.
He jumped a bit at the nudge and followed Yagyuu’s nod to the clock. … What a shame.
“Yeah, okay.” Niou reluctantly stood up, snapped a quick photo of Yagyuu’s face - probably blurred - before he put his phone away. “You should probably grab your food though, before it gets eaten by a cat.”
Yagyuu shot the pocket where the phone was with a dirty look. His lips formed a thin line as he pushed his glasses up. Later, he’d delete that photo when Niou wasn’t looking...
Without as much as a glance back to their table, he waved his hand. “They can have it.” He said dismissively. He pulled out the beanie from his coat’s pocket and pulled it down onto Niou’s head. “Don’t forget your things, Niou-kun. It’ll be troublesome if we have to come back and get them.”
No that was terrible Yagyuu. You can’t let cats eat lemon tart. But Niou was stopped from berating Yagyuu about that with the beanie shoved on his head. “Fix up your hair in the meantime, Hiroshi,” Niou said, reaching up to ruffle up Yagyuu’s hair with a laugh before he headed to the table to scooped up the last piece of tart and his bag.
Yagyuu huffed and ran his fingers through his messy hair, trying to settle any stray strands that stuck out. He checked his reflection on the cafe’s window to make sure everything was in place. With a final sweep of his bangs, he nodded and waited by the door.
It was so tempting to come up behind Yagyuu and mess up his hair again, but Niou resisted, giving as many cats one last pat as he made his way over to the door.
“Alright, I’m good to go.” He patted Yagyuu on the back and reached to open the door. “Thank you!” he called out to the people behind the counter, who waved him away.
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also, iwai-san, hm. how is the metaverse, yagyuu?
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