The Cat and the Crow

Tetsuro awoke with start. He wasn’t sure what woke him, but his heart was racing a mile a minute. Outside, the sky was just beginning to change from dark to grey; the sun would be up soon. He checked the time on his bedside clock: 5:16am. Most importantly, Kei was still asleep beside him. So why…?

He eased himself up, making sure not to wake Kei, and looked out the window. It was Sunday, which meant time would not be on his side. Again. Before they’d fallen asleep, Kei had told him that his train didn’t leave until 10pm, which meant they had all day, and much of the evening to spend together. But still…

He watched the sun rise, and listened to Kei breathing. It was going to be a beautiful day, so he decided that they’d have to spend some of it outside. He loved the idea of not going anywhere, which is what Kei preferred. But on a pretty day like today? Well, even if it rained, he’d still try to get his love out of the house.

Since he was awake for the day, he reached for his phone. The little green light was flashing, which meant he had messages to read. Swiping his lockscreen, he tapped on the most recent one.

[HOPE YOUR BIRTHDAY WAS THE BEST ONE EVER!]
[Very much so. Thank you]

Tetsuro waited. It wasn’t long before Bokuto replied with a video attachment. He waited for it to download, and then tapped it once it was ready to view.

“Happy birthday, Tetsuro.” Kei said in the video.

Bokuto had captured the moment perfectly, showing both himself and Kei behind him. He could see his face flush, not to mention the way he’d stiffened with shock. Then, of course, his eyes had gone wide, and it looked like he was happy, confused, and surprised all at once. ‘Bamboozled’ was the perfect word for what he looked like. As soon as he started turning, the video went off-kilter, and then ended.

[I HAVE NEVER SEEN A MORE PERFECT MOMENT]
[What do you mean?]
[IF I HAD TO PUT IT INTO WORDS, YOU LOOKED LIKE YOUR MOST FAVORITE PERSON IN THE ENTIRE WORLD WAS FINALLY HOME, AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERED]
[That’s… amazingly accurate]
[WHY SO SURPRISED?]
[Your serious moments are always surprising]
[YEAH, WELL, YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND, AND I REALLY DO LIKE SEEING YOU HAPPY]
[You act as if I’m only happy sometimes]
[YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT, DORKWAD]
[I do, and I am. Very much so.]
[KEEP HIM]
[You say that as if I hadn’t already made up my mind about him]
[KEEP HIM]
[I’ll definitely try]
[DO, OR DO NOT. THERE IS NO TRY]
[LOL! Yeah, thanks, Yoda.]

He ended the chat and realized he was smiling. Bokuto had helped him feel a little better, and that meant a lot to him. Especially knowing that things between his best friend and boyfriend could have gone so much worse.

Deciding to get a move on the day, he got out of bed, made sure he hadn’t woken Kei, and pulled on a sweatshirt and sweatpants. Then, he adjusted the blankets so that Kei wouldn’t get cold, leaned down and kissed him on the temple. “I love you,” he whispered, and then left the room. He had at least a few hours before Kei would even stir; he was a deep sleeper.

Knowing there wasn’t much he could do without making too much noise, Tetsuro settled for making hot tea and toast, sliced up an apple, and grabbed his phone. He opened the door to the porch, and settled in at the picnic table. Scrolling through his social media accounts, he read and replied to posts, reblogged memes, and posted a few new pictures.

“Happy belated birthday,” he heard a familiar voice say. Looking up from his phone he smiled at Kenma.

“Thank you. Sit down. I’ll go get you some tea, if you want?”

“No, thank you. I haven’t slept yet.”

Tetsuro eyed his best friend. “You were so exhausted you were about to pass out yesterday. What happened?”

Kenma shook his head. “Just the usual. Too tired to sleep, too wound up to sleep. I played a few games, and here we are.”

“You can borrow the sofa if you need to,” Tetsuro offered, but Kenma shook his head again.

“No. I know you have company, and I don’t want to intrude.” He took a moment to look around. “Where is Tsukishima, anyway? Figured he’d be with you.”

“Still asleep. He’s not a morning person, actually.”

“I see.” Kenma looked a little uncomfortable, but he stayed quiet. Then, he yawned, and shook himself. He slowly got up from the table and smiled tiredly. “Well, I guess I’ll head back. Just wanted to touch base with you, and all.”

He started to leave when Tetsuro stopped him. “Come by after practice tomorrow. We can talk more then, and I… I’ll need company.”

“Sure. See ya at school.”

“Yeah. See ya.”

Kenma turned and left, and Tetsuro watched him go. Since meeting Kei, he hadn’t really hung out with him as much as he used to. If he needed to talk, he turned to Akaashi and Bokuto. But, when he didn’t want to be alone, he invited Kenma over to just hang out and play video games.

Checking the time, he saw that it was almost 8am. Going back inside, he did what he could to clean up, made a list of what groceries they were out of, and just busied himself around the house. Quite domestic of him, he thought with a smile. The irony about it was, everything he was doing was something he did everyday. But with Kei here, it felt different somehow. He couldn’t put a finger on how, or why; it just did.

At 9:30, he couldn’t wait anymore, so he went to the bedroom to see if Kei was even awake. What he found was enough to make him cover his mouth and take a few steps away so that he could at least attempt to laugh quietly. When he was able to control himself, he went back into the room. Kei had somehow ended up buried underneath the blankets, with only the very top of his blonde head, and a single foot, sticking out.

Tetsuro couldn’t resist; he reached down, and slowly ran his finger along the bottom of that foot, from heel to toe. Instantly, it retreated under the blankets, and Kei groaned, curling up into a ball, and sending a shiver down his spine. That was almost enough to tempt him back into bed. However, as awesome as being in bed all day sounded, he did want to spend time doing other things, too. Plans had been made, and time waited for no one.

Taking a few steps to the bed, he sat down on the side Kei was facing, gently brushed the blankets away from his face, leaned down and kissed his cheek.

“Good morning, love,” he said quietly. “Time to wake up.”

“Too early,” Kei muttered, trying to cover back up. Tetsuro smiled and chuckled, taking hold of the blankets so Kei couldn’t huddle under them.

“It’s nearly 10am. Come on, Kei. I have plans, and I can’t do them without you.”

Kei groaned again, turning over onto his back and opening his eyes. Bracing an arm on each side of his love, Tetsuro leaned down and kissed him again. It was a lazy kiss, soft and gentle.

“How long have you been awake?” Kei asked breathlessly, once the kiss ended.

“Since just before sunrise.”

“Really? Why?”

“Dunno. I don’t remember having a bad dream, but something woke me up, and I couldn’t go back to sleep.” Tetsuro explained. “Come on, sleepyhead. We need to go to the store for a few things, and it’s going to be a beautiful day, so maybe we could stop at the park, too.”

“Ew. Outside. Why?” Kei squinted at him for a minute, before smiling brightly. “Okay, fine. I guess I could stand to be in the sun for a little bit,” he groused playfully.

Tetsuro moved back as Kei sat up, letting the blankets drop to his waist. His eyes traveled slowly over the expanse of pale skin, settling here and there on the marks he’d left behind. Most would be hidden by clothing, but there was one that no one would miss, if they were looking. It was high on the neck, just below Kei’s right ear. Of course, he bore a mark similar to Kei’s.

When his eyes met Kei’s, his love perked an eyebrow and smirked. “Think you could let me out of bed?”

“I’m beginning to reconsider my plans…” he replied huskily.

“Yeah, I know. But if you want to run those errands and go to the park today, I need to take a shower and get dressed.”

“A shower sounds like a good idea.”

“I thought so, at least.”

“Smartass.”

Kei leaned forward and touched noses with him. “You love it, though.”

“Yes, I do. Very much.”

Eventually, Tetsuro moved back so Kei could actually leave the bed, and he waited there until his love returned… fully dressed and looking beautiful, wearing a cream colored, v-neck sweater, both necklaces, and light blue jeans. He admired Kei for a few minutes before he took his turn in the shower. He returned wearing a beige sweater, his necklaces, and dark jeans. He went to find a pair of socks, but stopped when he realized Kei was staring at him.

“What?”

“Y-your hair. It’s down. It’s not in its normal, messy state,” he answered. The look on his face was priceless.

“I wrestled it into submission,” he joked. And then he smirked. “I have a word for how you look right now.”

Kei blinked a few times, and then started laughing. “You can’t come in here with your hair looking like that, and expect me to not look bamboozled.”

“You know, I really think you just like saying that word.”

“Only because it’s accurate.”

“True enough,” Tetsuro agreed. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat and then run those errands.

“Give me a few minutes. I’ll meet you at the door.”

Curious, but wanting to get the day started, he nodded and left Kei to do whatever he needed to do. Several minutes later, they left the house, walking through the neighborhood hand in hand.