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“Akira, no.”
“Oh, come on! Pleeeease?”
“I said no. We’ve already got one cat in this apartment and even that’s pushing my limits.”
“What, am I not enough for you??” Morgana asks from his place atop his cat tree.
“Morgana, you’re barely a cat,” Akira says, facing his friend and throwing his arms up dramatically. “Goro, I can’t even cuddle with him without him trying to scratch my eyeballs out!”
“Don’t put your eyeballs so close to my claws and we won’t have a problem.”
“Which is exactly why we need another cat, Goro,” Akira looks at his boyfriend earnestly. “Preferably one that isn’t fucking rude.”
“Hey, Morgana, do you want another cat?” Goro asks without looking at the creature.
“Of course not!” Morgana whines. “Why would I want another cat here? There’s only so much fatty tuna to go around!”
“You both suck,” Akira pouts, collapsing onto the couch with a huff. “It’s like you don’t even love me.”
“Of course I love you, you dimwit,” Goro says with a warmth in his voice that never used to be there. “I just don’t love cats.”
Akira glares at him, his arms crossed in protest.
“Plus, cats aren’t crazy about me either. Isn’t that right, Morgana?”
“I once watched a cat bite Akechi’s ankles just for walking too close to it.”
“See?” Goro sits next to Akira on the couch, scoots closer to him, and attempts to put his arms around him. Akira rejects his affection. “Alright, now you’re just pissing me off. Can’t you just cuddle me instead?”
“I already cuddle you,” Akira says. “You’re just not fluffy enough.”
“I can be fluffier.”
“Sure, but you don’t get all nuzzly with me.”
“Like this?” Goro snuggles his head into the crook of Akira’s neck and laughs, playfully kneading at his stomach.
“Stoppppp!” Akira wiggles in an attempt to escape, but Goro pins him down so that they’re laying on the couch together. Akira finally laughs with him, wrapping his arms around Goro and sweetly rubbing his cheek against the top of Goro’s head.
“What if I just came home with a cat one day? Would you make me get rid of it?”
“Would you forgive me if I did?”
“No, never.”
“Even though you forgave me for shooting you in the head and trying to kill you and your friends?”
“This is worse.”
“You are wildly inconsistent with your boundaries.”
“It’s true. I’d much rather you shoot me in the face again than make me get rid of a cat.”
“Do you really want a cat that badly?”
“Well,” Akira sighs in resignation. “Not if you really don’t want one. And if Morgana doesn’t want one either. I’m outnumbered, I guess.”
“Maybe someday.” Goro pulls Akira closer. “But Akira, we’re both really busy with school and work as is. That poor cat wouldn’t get enough attention.”
“Morgana can keep them company.”
“I’d rather die,” Morgana says. “There’s not enough room in your bag anyway.”
“Goro can carry them.”
“I don’t think the cat would enjoy that,” Goro mutters.
“I would enjoy it.” Akira huffs and turns away from Goro.
“I’m sorry, love.” Goro encircles his arms around Akira’s waist from behind and pulls him closer. “Let’s talk about it again next year, okay? After you’ve graduated.”
“Fine,” Akira relents, releasing a dramatic sigh. “I’m holding you to that, though.”
“I’d expect nothing less.”
Akira, clearly disappointed, doesn’t respond.
“Hey,” Goro grabs Akira’s face and turns it towards his own. “I love you.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Akira murmurs, reluctantly laying a kiss on Goro’s lips. “I love you too.”
Goro holds Akira’s face close to his own and presses his lips against his boyfriend’s, intensifying their kiss. For them, making out usually solves the problems that words can’t.
“Should I leave?” Morgana asks.
“Yes,” Goro yells back.
“I hate you both,” Morgana grumbles before exiting the room.
“See?” Akira whispers. “I want a cat who doesn’t even notice if we’re making out.”
“Shhhh. Don’t ruin the moment.”
The two kiss each other lovingly, their bodies melting together, the sense of comfort and familiarity soothing them both.
Goro smiles. Never in a million years did he expect to be 22 years old, alive and well, arguing with Akira Kurusu about whether or not they should get a cat together.
He loves it so much.
_____________
Goro dismounts his bicycle near a bench in Inokashira Park and wipes the sweat off of his forehead with his sleeve. He checks his smartwatch and grins. He beat his personal record again.
Fuck yeah.
He sits on the bench and pulls out his water bottle, sipping from it and staring at the pond in front of him.
“Isn’t that…” Goro hears a girl’s voice a few feet away. “Isn’t that Goro Akechi?”
“No, it’s not,” he barks without looking at the girls. “Keep walking.”
“Oh!” One of the girls giggles. “Nevermind!”
Goro rolls his eyes at them as he watches them walk away.
Every fucking time. He sighs, screwing the lid back on his water bottle. Whatever.
Being back in the public eye after his few years in rehab has been interesting to say the least. Despite his questionable decision-making abilities, he was hired back at the SIU full time upon his return. He was a pretty good detective, and they knew that. So, here he is, one full year into his career as an adult detective. It feels good.
“WOAH!” Goro yells involuntarily, yanking his foot up onto the bench. “What the fuck?” He mutters to himself, looking down to investigate whatever had just rubbed against his ankles.
A pair of wide burgundy eyes stares back at him, startled by Goro’s abrupt movements, but not phased enough to cease its nuzzling against his calves.
“Go away,” he snaps, trying to wave it away with his hand. The cat meows in response and rubs its face against him again. “Oh, this is ridiculous.”
Goro stands up and stares at the cat from 6 feet above it. The tawny cat looks up at him, confused, but still unphased.
“What do you want?” He asks, not even mildly embarrassed to be conversing with a cat in public. It’s certainly not the first time he’s done it.
The cat just gazes up at Goro with a foolish affection in its eyes, eliciting a hiss of annoyance from him.
“Alright, that’s enough.” He squats down and levels with the cat, who meows happily. “Shoo.”
The cat still doesn’t move.
“Fine,” Goro snaps, picking up the cat awkwardly, his gloved hands underneath the cat’s arms. If he wasn’t so annoyed, he’d find the sight of the dangling cat rather funny. “Have it your way.”
Much to Goro’s surprise, the cat doesn’t hiss or scratch at him.
That’s a first.
He walks away from his bike and sets the cat down on the farthest bench.
“Stay,” he says sternly, pointing at the cat.
He turns and walks back to his bike, baffled by the cat’s inexplicable attachment to him, but desperate to get on with his day.
Just when he’s about to reunite with his bike, he hears a quiet “meow” from behind him.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Goro grumbles, turning on his heel and freezing in place.
The cat bumps into his legs and lets out a startled “MROW!”
“Stop following me!” Goro orders the cat. “Stay!”
He turns back around and continues walking.
The cat follows him.
Oh my fucking god, this is ridiculous.
He mounts his bike and puts his helmet on. The cat sits next to the bike and stares up at him longingly. Despite his best efforts, Goro feels his heartstrings tighten in his chest.
“Mrow,” the cat says, a despondent look in its eyes. It leaps gracefully from the ground into Goro’s lap, bracing itself awkwardly against his legs.
“Oh, come on,” Goro groans. “I need to go home.”
The cat purrs at the word “home.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he mutters to himself. Goro looks down at the small cat, his hands already resting on the handlebars. “Are you gonna try to follow me home if I leave?”
“Mrow,” the cat replies. Goro can almost swear it’s smiling at him.
“Fine,” he grumbles, standing up. The cat falls off of his lap and lands on the ground on all fours. “Wow. Impressive.”
Goro initiates a staring match with the cat, glaring at it disapprovingly, but the cat remains unperturbed.
“Oh, fuck it.” Goro takes off his backpack and kneels down. He unzips it, moves some stuff around, and gestures to his open bag. “Is this what you want?”
The cat chirps and jumps cheerfully into his bag.
“Oh my god,” he chuckles, shaking his head in disbelief. “Akira’s gonna lose his shit.”
Goro zips up his bag just enough to secure the cat inside, but leaves enough room for it to peek its head out.
“Don’t fall out, okay? I’m not coming back to get you if you do.”
He can feel the vibrations of its purrs against his back. He can’t believe he has a fucking cat in his backpack right now.
Damn, this is heavy. How the hell does Akira carry Morgana in a shoulder bag all day?
Lifting his kickstand and fastening his helmet, Goro hops on his bike and begins his trek home, reluctantly careful not to jostle his passenger too much.
_____________
“Akira?” Akira perks up at the sound of Goro’s voice outside their door. “Will you come out here?”
Akira abandons his granola and scrambles to his feet, rushing to the front door.
“Goro, you dummy, did you forget your keys aga —” Akira freezes when he opens the door.
Goro stands in the doorway, sweating, awkwardly holding a sandy-colored cat with merlot colored eyes in front of him. The cat dangles mid-air, but it doesn’t seem too upset about it.
“Mrow!” the cat chirps happily.
“Um, Goro, where did you get that cat?”
“UGH!” Goro groans, walking through the doorway and dropping the cat on the ground unceremoniously. “It won’t leave me the fuck alone! It followed me all around the park and just kept meowing at me, and I didn’t know what to do! It looked so sad! And it kept rubbing its face on my ankles! It threw itself a little pity party and I, like the fool I apparently am, fell for it.”
“You brought a stray cat home from the park?” Akira says, holding back charmed laughter.
Akira kneels down and extends a hand towards the cat experimentally. The cat doesn’t hesitate to nuzzle its head against Akira’s hand, purring when Akira scratches behind its ears.
Akira looks up at Goro with a look of absolute joy and desperation in his eyes.
“Goro, I’m obsessed with this cat.”
“This cat is obsessed with me,” Goro says, lowering himself to sit cross-legged on the floor. “What the fuck are we supposed to do with it?”
The cat climbs fearlessly into Goro’s lap. Akira presses his lips together to contain his smile. Goro raises his hands awkwardly above the cat, clearly nervous to touch it.
“Goro, just pet the fucking cat,” Akira commands.
Goro cautiously lowers a hand and places it gently on the cat’s head. The cat purrs and curls up comfortably, nestling peacefully in between Goro’s legs.
“Where’s Morgana?”
“Asleep,” Akira says, gesturing to the windowsill. “Should we wake him up?”
“I guess,” Goro shrugs, absentmindedly petting the purring cat in his lap.
Akira stands and walks to the windowsill to shake Morgana from his slumber.
“Hey!!” Morgana yells, waking up with a start. “What the heck??”
“I have some bad news for you.”
“Unless somebody died, I do not care.”
“Look,” Akira says, gesturing to Goro and his feline companion.
“NOOOOOOOOO!” Morgana yells, leaping from his spot onto the floor. “Who let a cat into my home???”
“Goro did.”
“Traitor.” Morgana glares at him. “I thought we were in this together!”
“It followed me home, Morgana, what was I supposed to do??”
“Leave it there! Lock it out! Who cares!?!”
Morgana’s complaints stir the cat from its nap. The cat looks up and tilts its head at the pissed-off creature in front of it.
The cat stands up and leaves Goro’s lap. Akira holds back a smile at the subtle look of disappointment on his boyfriend’s face.
The cat approaches Morgana carefully and sits in front of him.
Morgana hisses at it. The cat doesn’t hiss back.
“What’s its problem?” Morgana asks. “Why isn’t it scared of me?”
“You’re not very scary, Mona,” Akira says.
“Mrow,” the cat says, cautiously extending a paw towards Morgana.
Morgana stares at Akira and Goro furiously.
“You owe me sushi. Forever.”
“Fine,” Akira agrees.
Morgana circles the cat intimidatingly, but the cat doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, it gets up and follows Morgana, meowing cheerfully.
“What’s it doing?” Morgana asks.
“Maybe it thinks you're the alpha or something?” Goro suggests.
“I am the alpha,” Morgana says, lifting his chin with pride. “At least it knows who’s boss around here.”
“Goroooooooooooo!” Akira kneels down in front of him and grabs his face. “Please. Please can we keep this cat.”
Goro sighs. A reluctant smile spreads across his face.
“I think this is the only cat I’ve ever met that doesn’t fucking hate me,” Goro says. “Morgana included. So…I guess if there’s any cat we should keep, it’s this one, right?”
“HELL YEAH!” Akira shouts, tackling Goro to the ground. Goro laughs and allows Akira to pepper kisses all over his face. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou I LOVE YOU.”
“I love you too, you idiot,” Goro snorts and nestles his face in the crook of Akira’s shoulder. “Are you happy now?”
“Yes,” Akira smiles, pulling back to look at Goro. “So so so so happy.”
“Good,” Goro grins and presses a kiss against Akira’s lips. “I’m glad.”
The two of them sit up and watch Morgana walk around, followed by their new pet.
“This is my spot, but you can sleep in that one,” Morgana gestures with his paw to the bottom tier of the cat tree. “Do not eat my food. Do not interrupt me when I’m sleeping. And do not take my spot next to Akira at nighttime. He’s my best friend, not yours.”
“Mrow,” the cat replies, dutifully following Morgana around their apartment.
Akira looks at Goro adoringly, light shining in his eyes, love filling his entire chest.
“Ugh,” Goro groans, laying back on the carpet. “We need to go get more cat food, don’t we?”
“And a bowl. And a collar.”
“Good lord.”
“Can we bring the cat with us?”
“I suppose.”
“You have to carry it. I can’t carry both cats.”
“Goddammit.”
“Can we keep her?” Morgana calls out, returning to the living room with his new friend. “She actually listens to me. I like her.”
“Her?”
“Yeah, she’s a girl, I can smell it,” Morgana nods. “Cat thing.”
“Awwwww,” Akira croons, beckoning for the cat to come to him. The cat trots up to him excitedly, leaping into his lap and nuzzling her face against Akira’s. “Hey, lil lady!”
“What do we name her?” Morgana asks.
Akira turns to Goro, still scratching the cat behind its ears. “What do you think? You brought her home, I feel like you should be the one to name her.”
Goro brings a hand to his chin, considering his options for a moment.
“Morgana 2.0?”
“Don’t make me kill you,” Morgana hisses.
“I’ve got one,” Akira smiles mischievously. “What about Loki?”
“Let’s not set the poor thing up for disaster.”
“TUNA!” Morgana shouts out to no one in particular.
“No,” Akira says.
Goro’s eyes suddenly light up. “What about Robin?”
“Like Robin Hood?” A huge grin spreads across Akira’s face. “I love it.”
“Robin, come!” Morgana orders. Robin happily pounces to Morgana’s side.
“Yep,” Goro nods confidently. “Robin it is.”
“She is my best friend now,” Morgana says. “You have been replaced, Akira.”
“Fair enough,” Akira laughs. “Just be nice to her. She’s not your employee.”
“I know,” Morgana rolls his eyes, stiffening awkwardly as Robin snuggles against him. “I’ll be good, I promise. It’ll be nice to have someone around who isn’t constantly mid-makeout.”
“It’ll be nice to have someone to distract you while we make out,” Goro agrees.
“I am. So. Happy.” Akira throws his arms around Goro again and practically climbs into his lap. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me, thank that clingy cat.” Goro wraps his arms around Akira’s waist and kisses him.
“Gross!” Morgana groans. “Robin, we’re leaving.”
Morgana leaves the room, accompanied by Robin, and Akira drags Goro to the couch with him.
They snuggle up together, holding each other close, laughing in between kisses.
Akira wishes he could go back in time and show his 17-year-old self just a glimpse of this life.
Man. He smiles. It doesn’t get better than this.