Chapter Text
Javier wasn't having a good day.
First of all, he'd slept through his alarm and so woke up horrendously late for work and to about three hundred missed calls and texts from Deniss and Stephane: his coworker and boss. Then he came down to find that his beloved cat had thrown his beloved jar of ground coffee across the floor and he didn't have a spare. Ripped apart from his morning dose of caffeine, he half choked on the piece of toast he tried to inhale as he stumbled out of the door, finishing tying his shoe as he walked.
But Javier's misery didn't stop there. Oh no, that would have been too easy. Instead, the deities looked down on him and laughed as they made it rain as he walked to work and, in his haste, he'd left his coat at home. He cursed every deity he could think of, and some he probably made up, as he made his way into the small quaint cafe run by two men. The one cleaning the counter top started chuckling at the sight of Javier before him who looked like a drenched cat.
"Good morning sleepy head."
"Shut up Deniss," Javier mumbled as he pulled off his coat and ran a hand through his hair to fluff the curls up slightly, "not my fault my morning is off to a crappy--"
"Language, Mr Fernandez!" Another man with soft brow hair, light stubble, and chocolatey brown eyes stepped out of the back room carrying a tray of cookies out to put in the display case.
"Sorry Stephane," Javier mumbled as he tugged off his soaked sweater as well and tied the apron around himself, "I'm just having the day from hell today."
"Poor baby," Stephane passed him a black americano and a blueberry muffin, "go and take some time to dry off before you drip even more over the floor, and Deniss ends up slipping on it. He's a klutz and you know he is."
"Hey!" Deniss shouted to Javier from where he was heading into the backroom. "Not funny!"
Okay, Javier's day wasn't that bad. It could get better. Or so he thought. Only about twenty minutes later, Deniss decided to take his break. Javier was happy as he cleaned the counters when a new customer came in: an asshole who, no matter what Javier did, sent back his cappuccino and complained about the price, the temperature, the coffee taste, the milk taste, and about the fact he was offered chocolate on top. No matter what Javier said to try and calm the man down, he insisted on calling out his manager, so Javier had to fetch Stephane from the back. The Swiss man somehow had a way with people and he could calm down even the angriest of customers with his soft white jumper and even softer, calmer demeanour. Once the customer left, Stephane just sighed at Javier and, with a gentle smile, helped him clean up the counters.
"You should go home early. Don't worry about it. You're just having a bad day, and need some space. Go home and rest, and take tomorrow off if you need it too, okay?"
"Okay," Javier nodded with a sigh as he untied his apron and hung it up in the backroom before he collected his still soaked jumper and coat and trudged out into the rain again, sticking his hands into his pockets and lowering his head.
The deity controlling his day once again decided to mess with him as a car hit a puddle too fast, soaking Javier even further and a soaked flier hit him in the face, sticking to his cheeks with the water. With a grimace and Spanish curses muttered under his breath, he peeled the paper off and was about to screw it up when something caught his eye.
Do you love cats?
Javier thought back to his hell cat who had ruined his beloved morning drink and sighed, rolling his eyes. "Yes, I love her," he mumbled to himself before he kept reading.
Do you have a heart?
"I like to think so..."
Come down to Keiji's Kat Shelter, the adoption centre for all your feline friends. Abandoned cats found by us are taken care of and looked after until a new home can be found for them. Could it be your home that is destined to be shared with theirs?
Javier stood there, getting soaked by the pouring rain, as he read the leaflet over and over. He read the address and raised an eyebrow; it was only a few streets away from the cafe and where he was. Inhaling sharply, he shook as much water off the leaflet as he could before he pocketed it and turned, heading towards the cat shelter instead of home.
From the outside, it looked warm and comforting. The front of the shop had been painted in pale cream, and written in black paint and a cursive, loopy script was Keiji's Kat Shelter and a cream awning that matched. Javier ran underneath it and shook the water out of his curls again. With a sigh, he pushed the door open, bell ringing, as he stepped in.
Seemingly everywhere he looked, there were cats. Cats climbed over every single surface, meowing and rubbing up against his legs as soon as he came in. The ran to him like he smelled of fish and catnip. Javier made sure to shut the door behind him so that none of the cats or kittens could run away into the street or the road. Javier almost unconsciously and idly crouched down and offered a hand for the cats to sniff at. Immediately, four tried to shove their heads against his hand for pets and scratches behind their ears. Javier laughed and knelt down, letting the cats climb onto him and into his arms.
"Hi, hi, sorry about this! We've only just properly opened everything up and there are so many cats that we don't really know what we're doing at the moment. Can I help you?"
Javier looked up and his brain short circuited. There, standing with two cats in his arms, was the most beautiful young man Javier had ever seen. He was slender, with long limbs and the tiniest waist ever. His fingers, half dug into the fluff on the calico cat's back, were long and slender with clean cut painted nails and neat cuticles. His cheeks were slightly flushed pink from running around the shop, hectic as he tried to sort everything out. His jawline was sharp enough to cut diamond from the side, and Javier couldn't help but want to trace it with his fingertips. Hanging around his neck were three distinct necklaces: a black diamond that sat neatly between his collarbones on a beaded chain, a black necklace that came to a point at the front below his Adam's apple, and another black necklace with a blue metallic ball clasp that also came to rest between his collarbones. Dark trousers covered in white cat hairs covered his legs, and he had on a soft white jumper with black and white stripes on it with sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He had on black and white vans and a red apron with a pocket on the front. A little white kitten stuck her head out of the front pouch, and the young man stroked her head lightly as the tabby cat climbed up onto his shoulder. His voice sounded like honey or sugar to Javier when the other spoke, even if it was a little breathless and
But it was his face that really caught Javier's attention and took his breath away. Soft black hair fell to his eyebrows, parted in the middle. Pale pink rosebud lips formed a sunshine smile with straight white teeth. His eyes were so dark and captivating. Near black, they sparkled a little when the light caught them and his pale skin contrasted both them and the orange, brown, and black fur of the calico cat in his arms.
"Can I help you sir?" The young man asked again, still juggling the two cats in his arms as the kitten in the pouch of his apron let out a little squeak and quiet meow. "Are you looking to adopt one of our cats? Or would you maybe like a coffee? Or do you want to just sit and cuddle them for a little while?"
Javier opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally regained his senses. With a light smile, he stood with a kitten in his arms and spoke to the other.
"Hi," he started before he cleared his throat and tried again. "Hi. I'm sorry, the weather out there is so bad, and I was hoping I could stay in here for a little bit and just dodge the rain?"
The young man raised an eyebrow at him before he nodded with a little smile, stroking the tabby resting on his shoulder. "Follow me, sir. I'll lead you through to the back room. We have a couple of areas where you can play with the cats for a little and," he half smirked at Javier's drenched and half drowned state, "warm up and dry off. You can sit back here and warm up."
Javier could not believe how his luck had changed. From his terrible day, he had somehow stumbled upon a beautiful angel in a room filled with his favourite animals that was offering him free coffee. He stood, still holding the kitten in his arms, and shrugged off his coat as he followed the other down the corridor.
Javier's dream was getting better and better. In the front room, there had been cats on every surface it seemed. In the back room the other took him in, there were sofas set up as well as more cat beds than Javier had ever seen. Cats of every size from the front room ran after the pair and, as soon as Javier settled down on the sofa, they swarmed him, cuddling up to him. They squeaked and meowed as a soft calico rubbed up against his neck. A British Shorthair decided to balance on his shoulders. A chartreux cat curled up on his lap. Javier stroked their backs lightly as the other young man flitted around.
"Keiji! Keiji, it's really wet outside. There's a guy in the back room. He needs to dry off, and I said he could sit in for a bit and play with the cats and have coffee. Anyway, can you sort out some of the front of house stuff for me? I'll sort out the stuff back here and make you a cup of tea and feed all the cats later, I promise." The young man spoke in Japanese, words flying over Javier's head.
"Alright alright, no worries. I've got it covered. But sencha green tea would be great right now, thanks. And then can you do the kittens tonight? Feed them and put them away Yuzu."
"Hai!" Javier, too preoccupied with trying to balance the five cats sitting on him, only paid attention to the sound of the kettle starting to boil. Soon, the young man came back into the room with three mugs balanced on a tray along with a little milk jug and sugar pot with a silvery spoon. He stopped by Javier and handed him a mug decorated with different shades of blue and white swirled together in ripples to rival the swirls in the sky of The Starry Night. Javier stared, almost transfixed, at the other's hand. His fingers were long and elegant, as if crafted carefully by a deity, and his nails were painted with a gradient from dark blue nearer the cuticles to white nearer the ends of his hands. They were flecked with a light covering of gold sparkles, and they almost matched the mug. He was so distracted, he almost forgot to take the mug.
"T-thank you," he stuttered out, looking up at the other only to look away once he caught his eyes. The other smiled a little at the pale pink blush that dusted over Javier's cheeks.
"Milk and sugar?" he asked as he adjusted the other two mugs on the tray to offer him the small jug and pot.
"U-uh, no, I'm good thanks," Javier said gently, and the other raised an eyebrow at him.
"You drink it black?"
He handed the black and white checked mug to someone behind Javier, and he turned to take a better look. Another Japanese man was standing behind him, with the same red apron on. Instead of straight black hair, he had brown curled hair. Instead of nearly black eyes, his were a rich, deep brown. His smile was a little more of a smirk, and he wasn't quite as slender as the first. He had on a plain grey jumper underneath his apron, and his nails weren't painted but were still clean cut and well taken care of.
"Yeah, it's better," Javier finally answered the question when he got himself out of observing mode again. The two other men exchanged a look, and Javier cleared his throat. "So, uh, which of you is Keiji?"
The man in grey sipped from his mug and waved his hand. "That would be me. I'm Keiji. Keiji Tanaka. This is my friend and coworker Yuzuru."
Yuzuru bowed his head lightly and drank from his own purple sparkly mug, smiling as the tea warmed him from the inside. Javier nodded, sipping at his coffee with a satisfied smile, before he spoke up himself.
"I'm Javier. Nice to meet you guys. I work at Stephane's Sweets when I'm not studying at college."
"Oh?" Yuzuru sat down on the sofa next to him as Keiji shut up the front of the shop and then joined them, sitting opposite the pair, "what are you studying?"
"History," Javier said softly into his mug, almost shyly, "yeah, history major and I'm doing languages on the side."
"What languages?" Keiji asked, tilting his head at the other as he kept sipping at his tea.
"Spanish and Japanese, but I help out with the English course too."
"The English course," Keiji raised an eyebrow at Yuzuru as a sly smirk blossomed across his face, "isn't that the language course you're doing along side your degree?"
Yuzuru glared at him before he sighed, sipping at his tea to hide his blushing face. Javier looked between the pair.
"So, are you two together?"
Yuzuru choked on his tea and Keiji burst out laughing. Javier again looked between them in confusion.
"What's so funny?" He asked quietly.
When Keiji had calmed down enough to stop laughing, he took a calming sip of tea before he spoke. "Yuzu is like my brother, Javier. I could never date him, never! Besides, he's a pain in the ass really."
"Keiji's worse than I am," Yuzuru said indignantly. "I could absolutely never ever date him! I'd rather die!"
"Dramatic much?" Keiji gave him a pointed look. "Now, Javier--"
"Just Javi is fine, please."
"Javi," Keiji said softly, "so you're doing history, huh? Plans for after?"
"Hopefully teaching," Javier couldn't help but smile as the cats in his lap shifted and curled up towards him, "but honestly I don't know. I'd love to be a teacher."
"Well, if you need help with Japanese, one of us is happy to teach you," Keiji offered before he checked the time and sighed, pushing himself to his feet. "I study world literature. If you see me on campus, say hi sometime yeah? Or come and see me here. And Yuzu and I are both happy to help you with Japanese if you need."
"Thanks," Javier smiled at him brightly as Keiji handed Yuzuru his mug and flitted around, doing more work with the cats. The younger took it with a sigh before he settled down more on the sofa, "so, what do you study Yuzuru?"
"Human informatics and cognitive science," Yuzuru said with a small sigh, "basically psychology, statistics, and mathematics. Oh, and English courses as well because mine is...." He gestured slightly wildly, "not very good at the moment."
"It doesn't sound that bad," Javier promised, "I've heard a lot worse, and isn't it meant to be one of the hardest languages for Japanese people to learn?"
Yuzuru shrugged. "Efforts will lie but they will ever be in vain," he mumbled to himself in Japanese before he swapped back to English. "It can be a lot better."
"I'd be happy to tutor you in English?" Javier offered, "since Keiji said you'd help me with Japanese and everything?"
"You'd do that?" Yuzuru asked, looking over the top of his mug with a smile. "You'd really do that?"
Javier nodded, and a bright smile blossomed across Yuzuru's face. He dug around into the pocket of his jeans and smiled as he unlocked his phone and held it out.
"Add your number. Then we can arrange a study session sometime."
Javier couldn't help but smile as he fought with Yuzuru's phone to swap the Japanese keyboard to the English one he had installed when he first started learning. When he finally got it to cooperate, he entered his name and number. Yuzuru took the phone and smiled, typing away before Javier felt a buzz in his pocket. He checked and, sure enough, there was a message that came through.
Hi! ヽ( ・∀・) ﾉ 私 の なめ わ 羽生結弦 です
Javier chuckled lightly before he sighed and moved the cats carefully off him, standing up. "I guess I should get going. Looks like the rain has died down a bit and I can get home."
"Do you want me to call you a cab?" he asked softly. "I can get you one if you'd like?"
"I can walk," Javier said as he shrugged on his still damp black coat, "but thank you though Yuzuru."
"Text me!" Yuzuru said with a smile as he scooped up as many cats as he could in his arms and carried them to their beds, where none stayed put. He waved with one hand, stroking the head of the little kitten sitting in his apron pocket with the other hand, "Bye Javi-san!"
Javier waved back to him before he stepped back out into the rain. Even through the intense downpour, nothing could wipe the smile off Javier's face.