Chapter Text
Mikoto could totally do this. Play mediator between two people leveling death glares at each other, with him taking collateral damage. He breathed in, breathed out, and looked Kotoko in the eye. That did not particularly work, so he kept his eyes on the wolf poster behind her instead.
"It's nice to meet you, Koto-chan. I'm a friend of Fuuta's." He gave a small wave.
She stared.
"I, uh, heard about some issues you both have been having since you moved in."
She stared.
"So basically," he said, clapping his hands and trying for a smile, "I'm here to help you guys talk it out!"
She stared.
"Fuuta asked me to."
Fuuta hit him.
"H-hey! It's true, isn't it?" Mikoto complained, hands raised in defense.
"Not if you're gonna stand here acting like an idiot the whole time!" Fuuta hissed back, gripping his arm and squeezing hard.
After Fuuta's shift, Mikoto tried offering suggestions to resolve things with Kotoko. Kick her out at the loss of the bean bag chair, avoid any and all mentions of Warriors until the end of the semester, or talk it all out like adults. Fuuta considered the first two, which was unfortunate since Mikoto was mostly joking when he said them. Eventually, he agreed to the third on the condition that Mikoto came to help, "since you're such a fuckin' genius with roommate troubles, apparently." Mikoto had no clue how he agreed to this condition, but the thought of getting to see Fuuta's room was likely a contributing factor.
"I'm literally just introducing myself," Mikoto told him, brushing his hand away. "It's important to establish a friendly relationship before—"
"Is this really necessary?" Kotoko cut in.
They both jumped, looking at her.
"I think we can settle things reasonably, without whatever you're trying to do. I already have a few ideas."
"And, um, what would those ideas be, Koto-chan?"
"Well." She let her head tilt back, hair following past her ears and revealing several piercings. "We can divide it in half with tape and never cross the line. Or fight as cats—whoever wins gets the room."
"Those are two pretty different ideas," said Mikoto. "I'm not sure either would work, is the thing."
"Some parts of the room can be communal, like the entrance; we'll mark them with different colored tape. And for the cat fight, I know a good spot."
Mikoto put his hand to his chin, then shook his head. "Hmm. I'm still not seeing the vision. Why don't we try this first, since I'm already here?"
Kotoko blinked, then nodded. "I suppose."
"Hmph," mumbled Fuuta from behind him. "Cat fight doesn't sound too bad. I'd totally win."
"You wouldn't," Mikoto quietly said to him. Then, louder: "Should we sit down for this?"
Kotoko gave another nod. Pulling the chair out from the shared desk, she sat facing its back, leaning forward so it fell to the second position of its odd, rocking-chair like design. Mikoto did not miss dorm chairs; he'd hit his head several times falling backwards in them. He gratefully shuffled over to the bean bag chair, tugging it out from its alcove to better face Kotoko. Fuuta sat down on it first, then left Mikoto to awkwardly balance himself on its edge because he sat too close to the center. Once settled, Mikoto cleared his throat.
"Let's begin, then." He opened his notes app to the list of topics he had prepared and read off the first one. "'The main problem we are discussing today is the conflict between Flameheart and Jaggedclaw—'"
"When Jaggedclaw murdered him, you mean."
"It was the most logical thing for her to do in that situation!" Kotoko shot back.
"What was logical about leaving Shadowclan in the first place, huh?" Fuuta leaned forward abruptly, making Mikoto lose his balance.
"Jaggedclaw discovered corruption in the leadership system, and—"
"You got a problem with Darkstar?" Fuuta snarled. "He was Flameheart's mentor, y'know!"
"This is exactly why Flameheart couldn't understand," said Kotoko, voice level. "He was too close to the problem."
"Doesn't change the fact that Jaggedclaw killed her closest friend in combat!"
"She did what she could, then acted as any proper warrior would when facing an enemy clan—"
"Okay!" Mikoto made a chopping motion with his hand, cutting between Fuuta and Kotoko's glaring. "I see the wounds are still fresh, so let's go over some options."
"Options?" asked Fuuta.
"For your cats, I mean," said Mikoto. He scrolled down to the Warriors research he did for this, feeling far more confident now. The notes app was helping him quite a bit. "Since it's Jaggedclaw and Flameheart's fight, I figured we should focus on them for now. A.K.A., giving Fuuta his cat back."
"But he's dead."
"Dead cats can totally come back! They talk to the living cats all the time from, uh—" He double-checked the name—"Starclan. Why not have Flameheart visit a bunch as a ghost?"
"Too OP," said Kotoko immediately.
Surprisingly, Fuuta nodded in agreement. "I don't wanna have to oversee ceremonies and stuff, either."
Mikoto backspaced until Starclan? was gone from his list. "Alright, then. How about retconning it? Jaggedclaw only wounded Flameheart, and he was good to go after a few months."
"We can't just change it after the fact!" said Fuuta. "What about the integrity of the story?"
"There shouldn't be any inconsistency," Kotoko added.
"Really?" Mikoto asked. "Don't dead cats come back to life in the actual books all the time? Like, Heavystep died twice." According to the Warrior Cats forum he skimmed over, at least.
"Who?" asked Fuuta and Kotoko in unison. They looked at each other.
"I mean, I read the books a while ago, so..."
"I stopped after the first series."
...Was Mikoto more caught up on the Warrior Cats lore than both of them?
Reading from his phone, he explained the case of Heavystep to them both, then some other inconsistencies he had learned about from the Internet. They looked shocked. Kotoko cast a thoughtful glance towards her bookshelf.
"I never knew..." she said wonderingly. "I guess I didn't keep track of names and physical descriptions as much as I could have."
"Who would notice that shit?" said Fuuta.
"See? There are tons of inconsistencies in the books, and neither of you ever minded them," said Mikoto in his most convincing voice, "So why not bring Flameheart back? He and Jaggedclaw can have another chance to make things right."
He could see on their faces that they really were considering this. Fuuta looked down at his hands, Kotoko let her chair fall back as she thought, then they made eye contact. It was not hostility in their gazes, but something else. Hope, perhaps?
"I'm cool with that," Fuuta said eventually. "Flameheart's pride is wounded, but he'll confront Jaggedclaw again one day."
Relief flooded Mikoto's body.
"Can we still do the cat fight though?"
Kotoko grinned, her teeth unnaturally sharp. "Saturday."
Fuuta was going to die.
But at least they no longer hated each other. Mikoto desperately wished for some cat god to grant Fuuta protection, then closed out of the notes app; it was officially not his problem. "Do you have any snacks?" he asked.
Kotoko reached into the desk drawer and tossed a small bag towards him, which he discovered to be Doritos. From Fuuta's scoff, it must have belonged to him. Mikoto offered him a chip.
"I like your dorm, by the way," he said to them both, but mostly to Fuuta. He inched further onto the bean bag chair experimentally.
"Thanks," Fuuta mumbled around his chip. He either did not notice or did not mind Mikoto drawing closer, so he let himself fall all the way to the center, shoulder bumping against Fuuta's.
Fuuta paused mid-crunch, shooting him a look; Mikoto grinned back. Very slowly, he swallowed and grabbed another chip directly from the bag. Mikoto propped it up between them to make it easier. They made light conversation (Fuuta explaining Warriors plot points to Mikoto) as they finished the bag, then Fuuta passed him a paper towel roll to wipe his hands off with. Withdrawing a crumpled trash bag from behind, he shoved the dirty paper towels in and dropped it back down on the floor. Ah, dorm life.
"There's this game where you play as a cat, by the way," Fuuta said at one point, showing Mikoto a screenshot of the game. "Doesn't sound like it's the same as Warriors, but I'm thinking of getting it."
"Ooh!" Mikoto peered at the small orange cat, clapping his hands together. "That looks super fun!"
"Like you'd play it."
"Hey, I totally would...." he faltered. "...like, watch you play it, maybe."
Fuuta buried his head in his arm as he snickered.
"Shut up! Watching people play video games can be entertaining!" Mikoto smacked at his arm.
"But playing them yourself is way better."
"Whatever!" Mikoto whipped his gaze towards Kotoko, who still reclined in the desk chair. "Koto-chan, it's not lame to like let's plays more than actually playing, right?"
Kotoko started at her name. She lowered the book in her hands and glanced over, expression one part confused, one part disinterested. "You'll have to repeat that," she said. "I wasn't listening to the conversation."
"I mean..." Mikoto's face went a bit pink. "It doesn't matter, really. Sorry to bother you."
She blinked, eyes briefly landing on the point of contact between him and Fuuta, then turned away. Mikoto coughed.
"Show me more of the cat game, " he told Fuuta.
Mikoto left about an hour later, with the promise that Fuuta would invite him back if he ever bought that game—you know, to watch. Kotoko didn't acknowledge him again until he waved goodbye to her at the door—by then, she was almost completely done her book. Jeez, she read fast.