Archive of Our Own ^beta

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"Here, Minato-san." Misaki eased the felt toy forward, trying (and failing) to soothe her nerves. "I made this for you. Kanon-san and I were practising, and, uh… yeah. Figured it'd be a good idea to… Yeah."

Yukina stared plainly at it for a moment, presumably making a judgement.

Misaki gulped. Suspense like that was as good as murder.

"Is this…" The toy flipped in her hands. "... a cat?"

"Well… Yeah."

Another moment passed.

Misaki dared not breathe.

"... Hm."

With more tenderness than she had ever seen from her, Yukina raised Misaki's creation to level with her eyes.

"Mwah."

"Wait, hold the—" Misaki stuttered. "M-Minato-san?"

Smiling quietly, Yukina walked over and faced the cat towards Misaki.

"Mwah." The cat leant down slightly. "It likes you. As do I."

And with that same happy smile, Yukina left the room, leaving Misaki dazed and wondering.

Chapter Text

"Hey, Yukichi, look!" Hagumi called out. "This little fella has a wet nose! Isn't he cute?"

"He is," Yukina agreed. "You look very cute too, Hagumi. I almost want to take a picture with him in your lap."

"Really? Thanks!" she beamed, cuddling the ginger cat so close to her it blended with her hair. "I'm sure he'll look cute on you too, y'know. Do you wanna try?"

There were pros and cons. The pros of taking him: cat in lap. The cons of taking him: catless Hagumi, meaning an interruption of the dreamy scenery Yukina was enjoying.

"I'm not sure," Yukina answered finally. "Either is beneficial, and yet still less than satisfactory."

"Hm… I know!" Hagumi cheered. Tugging on Yukina's cardigan like a child, she succeeded in pulling her into her lap, resting the cat in Yukina's. "There! Isn't that better?"

"Yes. Although," she commented, "I'm a little too big for this."

There was nothing she could really complain about, though.

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“A-Ah!” Sayo exclaimed dramatically, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and holding it to the dim studio light like a golden ticket. “This coupon… it expires today!”

Not even the crickets stirred.

“A two-for-one deal, huh… If only there was someone to go with me…”

Hearing the muffled sound of barely contained laughter, Sayo’s head turned like a heavily offended sunflower to the light.

“What?”

“Do you want… me to go with you?” asked Rinko, her gaze light with mirth.

“W-Well… It is a two-for-one coupon, is it not?”

“Then,” Rinko began, returning the last piece of equipment to its origin and smoothly catching up to Sayo, “it’s a date.”

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Although she didn’t feel too strongly about the matter, Aya was probably a cat person.

She didn’t dare to admit it - she hardly dared to think it. Aya never felt stifled around Chisato, but there were certain boundaries she knew better than to cross. The perennial war between dogs and cats was one such forbidden topic, especially when Leon was concerned.

This was one of those nights. Crushed under the iron giant that was Leon, Aya sent out a silent wish for all the comparatively weightless kittens she never got to adopt.

Leon was a lovely presence - and Aya was well aware that she lived in his home, not the other way around - but he was a heavy one, and very intrusive when her girlfriend was lying mere inches away, forcing Aya to starve from a lack of evening cuddles.

She supposed she would just have to cope with it. Besides, Leon’s weight was good practice for the day their children would come rushing in.

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“It’s been so long since we’ve come here,” says Himari, gliding effortlessly out from the worn down swing as she looks out at the park they used to frequent as kids.

“So long because of you,” Tomoe thinks. A pinch of spite, a douse of woe, flooded with unadulterated hurt. ”So long because you left us. So long because you thought I could bear you being away. So long because no matter how often you text me, it doesn’t change the fact that you forgot that you left me all alone and shattered what our relationship was about to become.”

But Tomoe doesn’t know how to say all that. She doesn’t know how to break Himari’s heart like she broke hers, how to reduce the light inside her to nothing but the memory of kindling and how to reopen the ugly pit in her stomach called loneliness that, in the warmth of Himari’s company, she had forgotten all about.

So Tomoe looks down at the park they used to frequent as kids and says, “Let’s come again next year.”

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When she hears the rain before seeing it, Saaya already knows there’s no way she can confess today.

Just her luck. She’d been working up to this for weeks, finding the words and then the confidence to tell Himari how she feels and maybe even ask her on a date, but she should have known that would all fall to the ground in the stormy face of Mother Nature. She wasn’t even given the mercy of an umbrella.

“Guess we’ll be giving the cafe a miss today. If only there wasn’t such bad weather…”

“There’s no such thing as bad weather,” Himari replies with a grin. “Only those who are too scared to risk a little.”

Saaya doesn’t have the time to feel nervous when Himari grabs her hand. She isn’t given it.

With a yank and a laugh, Himari pulls them out into the rain and begins to sprint to safety. Saaya watches the water stain her back as she runs behind her.