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Animals made Kazutora uncomfortable. Not because he disliked them, not at all, but he couldn't see them without feeling a bit uneasy. He was never allowed to have a pet at home, his father had strictly forbidden it. One day, noticing how he was interestingly watching a report about pets on the local news, he had taken him aside to talk to him in his usual calm but icy tone.
"I've already given you everything you need, everything you could possibly want is already in here. Besides, animals are messy, they distract you. You don't need them, do you?"
Her mother had meekly nodded as he kept making lunch.
They never mentioned it since and Kazutora hadn't even tried to bring up that subject again. His parents taught him not to bother, to be quiet and not complain about such trivial things.
However, when he happened to notice a dog running with its owner in the park, or a cat slinking out from under a car under which it had sheltered from the sun, he would always follow them with his eyes until they slowly left his field of vision.
Maybe his father was right, vet, food, litter box, a messy house, clothes covered in furs, maybe having a pet was really just a nuisance. He could make better use of his time, focus on school and study hard to make them proud of him. It had to be like that since for once his parents agreed on something and then didn't contradict each other. Nevertheless, his eyes lingered on cats or dogs a little longer every time he spotted one.
Baji had not yet shown up for the weekly Toman gathering that day. He hadn't notified anyone and no one knew where he was. Draken exchanged dubious glances with Mikey, not knowing whether to call everyone out with the usual shout and start the meeting regardless.
They all waited for a few minutes, some of them sitting on the stairs of the shrine, others standing crossed-armed or pacing back and forth. Kazutora was his closest friend, Mitsuya and Pah approached him and asked if he perhaps knew anything but he couldn't answer either.
Eventually, Mikey nodded for Draken to start anyway. Maybe Baji had forgotten about it, he was an idiot. Or maybe he'd gotten into another fight.
At the end of the gathering, Mikey sent Kazutora to look out for him.
Kazutora headed first to the most obvious place, Baji's home. He wasn't expecting to find him there but maybe his mother knew where he could be. He imagined him in a shitty parking lot sitting on some asshole he was just done beating the shit out of for some stupid ass reason or on a top of a wall admiring the evocative sight of a rattletrap eaten up by flames.
He turned the corner and strolled to the door of the building to press the number of the apartment he was very familiar with on the intercom. No one answered, he waited a little more and tried again.
"Tora! Hey, Tora!" he got called out. Someone energetically tapped his shoulder.
"Baji!"
Baji was right there behind him with a worried face.
"Where the fuck were you? We were supposed to meet with the guys today, why haven't you-"
"Something came up, just come with me" he cut it short and grabbed his wrist.
Kazutora didn't know what to expect, he just let himself get yanked to the back of the building, near the residents' bike parking lot. In front of him, there was just a box. A weird noise came from it and at times it even seemed to shudder.
Kazutora wasn't afraid. He was not a chickenshit. If that was one of Baji's usual pranks he wouldn't fall for it, he wouldn't even let him have that satisfaction after he'd ditched them and he had to come looking for him.
He stepped toward the box wide-eyed, caring to show a confident expression, albeit he was as much uneasy as curious. He found himself facing a quartet of small kittens, which, as soon as they saw the stranger so close to them funnily hissed in his face.
"I found them earlier, someone abandoned them," Baji hummed, leaning over them in a worrywart way.
"That’s why you haven’t come?"
"Yeah."
Kazutora watched as his friend petted one of the kitten’s back, which was rubbing his head against him without even trying to get out of the box. It was kinda cute but he was also a little envious of how animals loved Baji so much.
"I can’t keep them, I have too many and my mom said she doesn't want to see any more of them around," he whined "I must find a home for them."
Kazutora stared at him puzzled. The reason why he ditched them was as stupid as he thought, though not stupid in the sense of dangerous but in the sense of things Baji did that made him feel a bunch of strange things and doubt if that was just his best friend or something else. And that was definitely worse than any of his bullshit.
"I don't know who could take them," he replied to not keep watching him with his mouth shut like an idiot while he still played with the cats despite them torturing his hand with scratches and bites.
"I do know someone. Can you help me?" Baji suggested "We'll go around the neighbourhood then if that doesn't work out we will put ads around, we'll find a way" he then chirped enthusiastically.
Baji could never say no to Kazutora. But Kazutora couldn't say no to Baji either.
"Alright. Let's do this quick." he gave in. He hadn't even tried to think of a guise.
"Maybe we could give them to the guys," Baji chuckled, not listening to anything he said.
"Come on, imagine if the other gangs saw us cuddling kittens."
"They see me sometimes and when they dare say something I just bunch up their fucking faces."
Kazutora looked away. That was one of those things that made him so dizzy. Baji kept talking cheerfully as if nothing happened. He didn't even notice.
"Anyway no, they wouldn't be good with them, maybe Pah, but he already has Pochi. While Mikey would forget they exist after two hours."
He scrambled back to his feet and lifted the box off the ground, then noticed Kazutora's large eyes grow unsure at the kittens as if he had to tell them something he didn't know yet.
"Pet them, they won't hurt you" he encouraged him with a smile.
"They hissed at me."
"They were a little scared, it's normal. But they're quiet now. Pet them."
He looked at him for a moment at a loss of words then obliged. He placed two fingers on the tiny head of a white and grey kitten, first brushing it then scratched behind his ears. The cat meowed loud and another pawed at his hand, seeking attention.
"You see?" Baji laughed softly so as not to bother them "Now let's go"
They had been walking for at least twenty minutes. Baji said he knew a lady who might adopt them, although she lived a little far off. They had met because one day her cat had gone missing and Baji was the one who found him, he was in his room eating with the other strays. So he had brought him back to her and she had rewarded him with some yens he had spent at the arcade in the naval battle game. Unfortunately, the cat died a few months after.
Kazutora was so absorbed in his talk and the cats that he forgot to call Mikey and tell him if he had found Baji as agreed.
When they were almost at the apartment building his phone rang. It was Draken.
Kazutora stepped back for a moment to answer, he didn't want Baji to overhear but by doing so he just aroused his nosiness even more.
"So where is he?" asked Draken, annoyed from the other end of the phone.
"I'm here with him, it's all fine"
"He didn't screw things up again, right? We can't deal with that right now."
"Nah, just bullshit."
"I see."
"Anyway, I have to go now, bye!"
Kazutora hung up soon after but could swear he heard someone else crack up laughing during the call.
"Who was that?" asked Baji as he scanned the intercom with his eyes to find the lady's name.
"Nothing important"
The woman had answered the intercom and allowed them to come in. Kazutora followed Baji up the stairs and began drumming his fingers on his shoulder.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" he whispered.
"I hope so. I don't know."
If someone suddenly showed up in front of his parents asking if they could get some stray cats he wouldn't be greeted very warmly. Even though they were now divorced and he hadn't seen his father in years now he couldn't help but think about it. It would have been very bad.
Kazutora would have had to choose between giving them home or obeying his parents.
The lady, on the other hand, was very kind. She greeted them with a polite smile and invited them in, perhaps because the single cat ladies of the neighbourhood were very fond of Baji. They would have definitely changed their minds if only they had seen his grades.
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am," Baji said, staying in front of the threshold, "we found these stray kittens and we don't know who to give them to."
Kazutora beside him just nodded forwards
"Oh, I'm so sorry. How many are they?" the woman asked.
When she bent down on the box all the kittens shot their eyes wide and backed away instinctively and she got frightened, thinking she had done something wrong.
Baji could barely hold the box in place, the kittens were trying to get out in every way. Kazutora found that all too laughable, he stifled a giggle getting Baji to almost laugh too.
"Well, I can adopt these two," the lady finally answered, pointing to the two white and grey ones.
"That's fine!”
As soon as she stretched her hand closer one of the cats hissed at her and attempted to scratch her, Baji put down the box and tried to calm him down.
"I guess this one doesn't want to come with me," she joked
Kazutora looked at the naughty cat, he was scrawnier than the others, white, orange and black fur and two terrified eyes. He looked like he was going to jump out at any moment. He hadn't tried to touch him yet but he was very unlikely to make it. He didn't want to end up with his hand full of scratches like Baji’s usually were either.
"Anyway, I'm gonna go make some room for him."
"Wait please, let me help you. Tora, watch the others," Baji reminded him before entering the apartment along with the lady with the two grey kittens in his arms.
He had been inside it for a long time already, Kazutora sighed. He was planning to go to the arcades that night and maybe take a long walk on the seafront, his mom would come home late from work and wouldn't even notice.
Instead, there he was in front of an old hag's apartment, alone in the dark looking after two evil little gremlins that wouldn't stop meowing for even a second. It was all Baji's fault, almost like he knew he would do anything for him and took advantage of it.
Although that wasn't true at all and Kazutora knew it well. Baji would never do that to him
Kazutora crouched down next to the cats thoughtfully, hoping that no one would come down the stairs and bump into him. Luckily enough, they were on the fifth floor and most people took the elevator.
He was getting bored to death. He gave another look at the kittens. One was quiet, leaning against the right corner of the box and was falling asleep. The other kept staring at him, his yellow eyes shining brightly in the darkness.
"Quit it," muttered Kazutora, "No one will want you if you don't behave."
The cat didn't move. For some reason he didn't know, Kazutora felt like trying to imitate Baji. He inserted a hand into the box and tried to pet it. His pulse was shaking a little, he wasn't used to being around animals and the cat would have noticed it right away.
He decided to try anyway though. Maybe that old woman was making him nervous, she smelled of an awful strawberry perfume and her glasses looked more like two fishbowls than actual lenses.
He would have been nervous in his place too. His siblings were leaving one by one, and the only person he seemed to trust was gone with the evil hag.
Kazutora placed his hand on his back, began to move it slowly.
The cat winced but stood still for some reason. Was he trusting him too? The boy rested only his fingertips on his furry back, waiting.
Baji came back just when he managed to touch him.
When they came out of the apartment building Baji bragged with bright eyes.
"Ahahaha! I knew she'd adopt them," he sing-sang with a triumphant grin.
"Actually, you said you were afraid she wouldn't even want them!" protested Kazutora, who was now in charge of carrying the box.
“I was just anxious, shut up! Anyway, that leaves us with two"
"So what do we do?"
"Let's go around the block again."
He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Are you going to knock door to door and ask if they want a cat?"
Baji scratched his head pensively, he just couldn't see the problem.
"Well, we might try... We have no other choice."
"You're such a dumbass," huffed Kazutora, picking up the pace behind him as the last glimpses of the sunset reflected on the bus stop shelters around them.
Fortunately, they didn't have to bother too many people before finding an owner for the third cat.
A girl who lived in one of the buildings was passing and saw them, she decided to adopt one of the two cats and take care of him.
Kazutora noticed how she was looking at Baji from time to time as he thanked her all smiles. Lame. How the fuck was he so popular with girls? He was rather handsome, yeah, but he was a goof, loud and stubborn, he had no idea how relationships worked or what romance even was. Sometimes he was like kids who made disgusted faces at couples making out in movies. He'd probably treat a girl not much different than he treated him or Mikey.
Yet girls kept swooning over him and he didn't even care. It drove him crazy.
Kazutora wasn't popular with girls at all, he got rejected or those few times there was mutual interest it hadn't ended well at all. Maybe it was because of his difficult personality, but more likely it was because of that shitty face he would gladly rip off his skull. Those who said he was pretty should definitely get their eyes checked.
Baji instead had simply said that he wasn't interested in those things and that was the plain truth.
Girls would often look for Kaxutora and ask him if he could introduce them to him and Kazutora would always reply with the usual and simple “no sorry, he's busy” with relief.
He would never admit how much he enjoyed dismissing those poor girls who thought they were going to date the perfect guy, not even to himself.
When they left, Baji would come to him and happily wrap an arm around his neck. He would always hold it tight around him when he talked about something he found funny, be it some show he'd seen the night before on TV or Mikey being awkward in fast foods. Kazutora couldn't help but think about how many girls wished they were in his place.
When that girl had also walked away, Baji came back to him and apprehensively looked at the only kitten left.
"Tora, what do we do now?"
His face was very sad, the glow that had been in his eyes so far was gone. It was also getting late, by the way, people were coming home from work and cast curious or annoyed glances at them as they bustled along the sidewalks, soon to be brightened by artificial lights.
As walking back, they had stumbled upon a coffee shop. Baji came up with one last idea, the last resort.
"I'll try to ask here before it closes!"
Kazutora glimpsed at the cat, his eyes shifting from the pet to the human silhouette who was hurrying away and running into the shop, probably to get many nos as an answer, along with soft chuckles. Then he looked back at the cat.
"You're small, scrawny and scrappy, nobody wants you, you see?" he told him.
The cat meowed at him, the fur of its tail standing He wanted to look much bigger than he what when he was nothing but a flea-ridden stray kitten.
"And yet you think you're as strong as a tiger."
Kazutora immediately heard Baji's breathing hard in his direction before he could even think about what he had just said.
"No way!" he groaned, "they all told me no!"
Baji was heartbroken. It was incredible how his heart was so big but broke over something so little. He couldn't even hide how he felt, he had never had to unlike Kazutora.
Kazutora approached him, stared at his disheartened face for a few seconds in silence.
"Look, can't you keep him at your place for a day or two?" he suggested.
"I can't keep him, I told you!" Baji complained.
"Just for a few days"
"Why?"
"I'll take him."
Kazutora slightly blushed, lowered his eyes as he fiddled with his thumb over his wrist because of the sudden uneasiness.
"I’ll have to talk my mom into it" he explained "I don't know anything yet but since she doesn't see my dad anymore she's been a lot more permissive towards me. Maybe she'll let me keep him."
He looked at Baji's face, it had kind of lit up again. Maybe those girls weren't so stupid after all.
"Are you really going to do this?"
Baji was beaming.
"Yes."
"Tora! Oh, Tora thank you!"
Kazutora allowed himself to be pulled into that tight embrace, so affectionate that he nearly lost his breath. Baji's hair brushed against his ears, tickling him as his heartbeat thundered so loud he could feel it on his own chest.
Sometimes Kazutora didn't want his heart to be that big. He’d prefer it to be big just enough for him, after all, he didn't take up much space, he never did in other people's hearts. But in Baji’s, there was enough room for him to dwell there forever.
The strength of his arms even when he just wanted to show affection.
Kazutora felt tossed about by that unconditional love, he could remember small pecks lazily laid on his cheeks, sometimes absent-minded ruffles on his head when he was a child or other more heartfelt kisses moistened by hot angry tears, but not that.
Their friends often complained about how Baji was too physical at times. That thought had never crossed Kazutora’s mind. He was even willing to put up with the many questions he kept pestering him with as long as he could stay that close to him and didn't have to let go of that feeling.
"What are you going to call him?"
"I don't know yet."
"But he needs a name, poor guy!"
"I'll think about it later. As long as you won't be the one choosing it."
"Why?"
"You suck at giving names!"
"That's not true!"
"You wanted to name your bike Goliath beetle!"
"That's a fucking cool name!"
The kitten watched them from inside his box no longer meowing despite them being so loud. Kazutora gave him a soft look. He would take care of someone for the first after getting taken care of so unreservedly.
It was a rainy day, the kind of day where you really want to get dressed and get ready to go out. Rain fell on the alleys, quickly swallowed up the streets.
"Kazutora-san, do you really have to go to the cat shelter today?"
When he saw him leaving, Chifuyu was still sweeping up although no customers would be coming by that day.
"Yeah. I promised the owner I'd be able to find that cat a home by today."