Chapter Text
Unfortunately, Yuuto is not able to kick Shuuya out to go do his cat-related chores before someone knocks at the door the next morning just after breakfast. The two of them look at each other, but in a moment of surprise, Mamoru is the one who springs and says, "That must be him!" before running off to the front door. They both follow, only to see Mamoru having already opened it, with Shindou standing on the other side, holding a large cardboard box.
"Hey, Coach," he greets, before looking around a little nervously. He's seen their house before, but he's never actually come in. "I'm not too early, am I?"
"No, not at all!" Mamoru opens the door fully to let him in, easily taking the box and placing it down effortlessly with one hand. Shindou hesitantly steps in, waving to Yuuto and Shuuya while the two of them look to Mamoru for an explanation.
"I asked for some advice about cats since he talks about his a lot, and he offered to bring some of his older stuff over!"
"It's no trouble, really," the captain rushes to say. "We've been meaning to give this stuff away, anyway."
"Thank you for bringing them," before gesturing to Shuuya. "He brought four strays-"
"Three strays technically, at least for right now-"
"-as a 'surprise' yesterday and we've been scrambling to get them set up ever since."
Shindou laughs a little. "That's how my mom first brought home a cat, too." He looks around, before turning back to his coach with sparkling eyes. "Can I see them?"
Yuuto suddenly realizes that Shindou's reasons for coming here may not have been wholly altruistic.
Oblivious to Shindou's kitten-related motives, Mamoru tells him "Sure!" before leading him to the guest bedroom, where Shuuya had stashed them away for the night. To their credit, other than the girl that escaped last night, the kittens seem quite content to just lounge around in the small basket the striker covered with blankets. The three of them are cuddled up against each other tightly, none of them even stirring at Shindou's gasp.
He squats down onto his knees, still keeping his distance while admiring them. "Sometimes I forget how cute kittens are," he whispers in amazement. Shuuya smirks and sends him a look, as if Shindou's opinion will at all change his.
(He does look incredibly happy, though...)
Yuuto coughs. "Anyways," he says, raising his voice enough to make Raijirou stir and hiss, making Shindou back away. "The things you brought?"
"Right!" He pops up like a spring, clapping his hands together.
Moving back to the living room, the three adults sit down on the ground like kindergartners while Shindou stands in the middle, slowly pulling out things from the box to show them. The first thing he pulls out is some small baby bottles, making Yuuto blink. "How young did you think they were?" he asks.
Shindou blushes a little. "I wasn't sure how old they were, so I brought them just in case. But they look older than six weeks, so they should be weaned."
Mamoru tilts his head. " 'Weaned?' "
"They should learn to eat regular food and stop nursing from their mother," the pianist clarifies. Then, he pulls out three small food bowls and a litter box- and Yuuto is horrifically reminded that they're going to have to deal with cat pee and poo all over the house until they get trained.
Before he can focus too much on that particular line of thought, there is a loud squeak down the hallway. Yuuto winces and looks out, and sure enough it's the same cat that woke him last night, having somehow made it out of the room once more, though this time Yuuto could still see the door was closed.
Yuuto glares at her, but she stares right back, waiting patiently for him to- he doesn’t know. Pet her, maybe? She gives him a few impatient squeaks, but no hint as to what she wants or how she even got out in the first place.
“How did she leave the room?” he hears Mamoru whisper in amazement behind him.
“Probably the little space under the door,” Shindou answers casually.
Yuuto turns to look at him in horror. “They can go under doors?”
“Well, yes,” Shindou looks at him surprised, like Yuuto’s supposed to have any knowledge on an animal he could care less about. “Cats have free floating collarbones unlike us humans, so if they can stick their head into something, the rest of their body can usually go through as well.”
What the fuck?
The kitten, tired of his inaction, marches right up towards his feets and starts meowing- no, howling even louder. It's at that point that Yuuto's brain decides to suddenly remember the fact that these are (supposedly) nocturnal creatures. Meaning that as these things grow older, they'll probably start yelling in the middle of the night. A lot.
"Why did I agree to this," he mumbles, reaching down and picking her up again. This is apparently not what she was asking for, judging by the squirming limbs and even louder cries. "What do you want ?"
The kitten glares at him, and then smacks him in the nose. The urge to test whether the myth of cats always landing on their feet is true grows.
"I think she just likes you," Shuuya repeats from the night before, slipping past him to check on the room with the other two. "They're not out of food or water or anything."
Yuuto casts a glance behind him. Mamoru has corralled Shindou back to the box and is asking him about each and every item in it, to which Shindou happily (and almost excitedly) explains. Again, he feels another smack on his face, though this time it's a lot closer to his eye than he'd like the fuzzy paws to be. He pulls back the kitten, glaring at her despite knowing it'll probably have no effect. "You're such an-"
He pauses. A funny (and maybe a little mean-spirited) idea pops into his head. "Shuuya, you said we could name the other two, correct?"
Judging by the look on Shuuya's face, he's already at least partly figured out Yuuto's plan. "Don't be mean."
Yuuto hums, finally placing her back on the ground. She seems to realize whatever she wants from him, she's not getting, so she instead wanders under Shuuya's legs back into their room. "I was thinking Mei."
Shuuya relaxes a little at that. "Oh, that's cute. Why?"
Yuuto gives him the smallest smile. "Mei, short for meiwaku ."
Meaning an annoyance, in layman's terms.
Shuuya's frown returns just as quickly. "That's mean." And then, he raises his voice. "Mamoru, Yuuto wants to-"
"Name the gray one Mei," he interrupts before he can finish tattle tailing. "Is that alright?" He already figured Shuuya would try this route, and was well prepared just in case.
"Sure, Mei's fine," Mamoru says dismissively, far too caught up in Shindou's plastic mat that has a light zoom across it every now and again.
Yuuto turns and grins. "You heard him. Mei's her name now."
While Shuuya's busy glaring at him, he takes the opportunity to peek into the room again. Mei, already living up to her name, has moved on from trying to bother him to instead smacking her brother around. Raijirou takes it about as well as he can, swinging his tiny little limbs in her general direction before tripping over their basket-turned-bed and falling flat on his face. Mei then proceeds to use him as a step-stool to get back into the bed, turning her focus onto her 2nd, still unnamed sibling with another smack.
Yuuto would be lying if he said it wasn't the funniest thing he'd seen all week. Shuuya is a little less entertained, huffing and walking over to pick her up before pulling her away from her less awake sibling. "You're a rude little thing," he comments idly, placing her on the other side of the room. "You shouldn't take after your father, attacking people in whatever way you see fit."
Father.
Yuuto has to turn away to keep Shuuya to hide the sudden blush on his face. That word... holds a lot of meaning to all three of them, even if it can't be applied to any of them yet. Especially not because of these three. They're just pets. Temporary pets. There would be no familial bond even if they weren't temporary. Shuuya's just using that word to be affectionate, that's it.
With that shaky resolution in mind, he turns away and heads back to the living room, where Shindou has taken some blank pieces of paper and drawn some diagrams of... cat anatomy? Yuuto's not entirely sure, but Mamoru's completely engrossed in it, and Yuuto figures he should at least pay his fellow cat owner some respect and listen.
If he's going to house these nuisances, he should at least know how to best deal with them, after all.
-
In the end, Shindou ends up leaving around noon (after lunch, of course, they can't have him bring over all that stuff and not pay him back somehow) with a mostly empty box and some old cat baby bottles. Meanwhile, the Endou-Gouenji-Kidou household finds itself with cat food, a few litter boxes, and a whole lot of different cat toys, some of which Yuuto hasn't even heard of.
Mamoru eagerly tests them all out, of course. Mei seems to really like the strings and hanging feathers, jumping a lot higher than a cat her age (which would be at least 7 weeks, by Shindou's estimate) should probably be able to. Raijirou really likes the laser pointer, which quickly turns into Shuuya's favorite toy as well when he realizes he can point the red dot anywhere, including at Yuuto's ankles, and Raijirou will leap at it like a striker trying to make a goal.
Needless to say, the laser pointer is Yuuto's least favorite toy.
The third kitten is a little less energetic, sleeping almost the entire day away before he wakes up. Even when he does finally move, it's only to find a new spot on the couch (which is still slightly damp, by the way) to curl up and sleep the rest of the evening away.
Thus far, the nameless kitten has proven to be Yuuto's favorite, simply because of how unproblematic he is. Mei continues to be the menace she was when she first woke up, and Raijirou, while not as overtly mischievous, makes up for it by being a lot more adventurous. And by adventurous, he means eager to climb onto literally everything, including the bookshelves with books big enough to squash him at the slightest nudge.
Obviously, this makes their first full day of housing ( not owning) these cats very busy and very chaotic, and it makes Yuuto question what anyone, let alone Shuuya, one the most logical men he knows (most of the time) attracted to these creatures. They're like tinier, worse, more self-destructive infants.
He tells Shuuya and Mamoru this observation over dinner, when all the kittens have finally been moved back into the guest room. Mamoru very obviously fights down the urge to laugh, while Shuuya doesn't even try. Which just means some light chuckles from him, but still.
"I'm not wrong," he insists, and Mamoru has to duck his head. "They won't even grow up. They're going to grow to be 1/4 of a meter at the most ."
"Some house cats can grow up to 1 meter," Shuuya comments idly. When Yuuto looks at him in horror, he decides to take pity and clarifies: "That's a very specific breed though, not tuxedos."
Yuuto glares at the two of them. "My point still stands. They're more trouble than their worth."
"Penguins don't do that much either-"
He hears a soft THUD! under the table, and judging by the way Shuuya ever so slightly winces, Mamoru must have realized they were heading into dangerous territory and stopped it before it could get too out of hand. Wise move from him. They both should know better than to insinuate anything less than perfection from his favorite animal. "Yuuto is right, though. Today was really chaotic. We should probably keep them in the guest room for now, especially while we're away."
"I'm staying home for the next few days anyway," Shuuya adds. "I can take care of them while they get used to the house."
"Good," Yuuto snaps. "And you can also potty train them, because there is no way I am doing that."
"Why? Too undignified for you? Afraid of staining your suit?"
" Boys ," Mamoru says, using his coach voice to full effect, before sighing and softening a little. "I can help out with that too, if you want. I don't mind it."
"It's fine, I can handle it." He frowns a little at his food. "I'm more concerned with Penchirou, at this point."
Yuuto tilts his head. "Did you get a call back from the shelter?"
"Yes, they..." He stabs his fork right up against the ceramic of the plate, making an unpleasant noise. "They're still not sure if her leg is saveable, yet. It's really badly infected with something. And they keep having to put her under heavy anesthesia because of how aggressive she's being."
Yuuto winces a little. It can't be fun, being dragged to some unfamiliar place where you're constantly drugged by someone you trusted. He leaves the comforting up to Mamoru though, who sure enough reaches a hand across the table and runs his fingers over his knuckles. "She'll be alright," he says gently. "You have to be tough to be a street cat, after all."
Although Shuuya's face doesn't change, he returns the small physical comfort by interlocking their hands. If Yuuto were a bit less irritated by the previous day spent dealing with feline infants, he may have been inclined to offer support of his own. Considering that was how he spent his day however, he instead decides to simply finish what's left on his plate and get up from the table. "I'm heading off to bed then," he says, interrupting the other two's moment of staring longingly into each other's eyes like they aren't already married. As he makes his way out, he pauses just before he leaves the room. "Mamoru and I have work tomorrow. Make sure they don't destroy anything."
Shuuya sighs playfully. "Yes, mom ."
Well, at least he agreed. With that, he heads off to get changed and heads for bed, quietly hoping the next few days won't be nearly as chaotic.
-
The day after was spent at Teikoku, where things made a lot more sense and there were no kittens to get crushed by normal sized books. He spent the first half the day in his usual work, prepping Teikoku for the next practice game against Yukato, which had grown plenty formidable and was looking to be the dark horse of next year's FF. So gathering some intel on their play style this early on was definitely a must.
It was simple, calm and predictable. Which, by the law of equivalent exchange, meant that the moment he went back home things would be even worse.
His theory was quickly proven the moment he stepped through the door, mainly by a loud cry of " YUUTO! " almost deafening him.
That wasn't the most worrying part though. No, the most worrying part was he knows exactly who that voice belongs to, and their opinions on his current predicament.
Sure enough, after some quick footsteps through the hall, Haruna is standing in front of him, her pout as large (and powerful) as it could be. "How could you not tell me you also had cats? How cruel are you?! I had to overhear from Shindou , who you apparently invited-"
"Mamoru invited-" He quickly corrects, not that it does anything to slow her down.
"-And you have kittens too?! " She sighs as dramatically as she can. "You're awful, Yuuto. Awful!"
"Hey, this was a complete surprise for me too!" He defends as best he can (not that he's ever been much of a match for Haruna.) "Shuuya just suddenly brought this box of cats home and then-" He gestures to the guest room. "This whole thing happened!"
She seems to calm down a little at that, and Mamoru pokes his head out of the guest room, giving him a shy little wave. They're also a new baby fence that Shuuya put in front of said door (where he got it from, Yuuto knows better than to ask) presumably keeping the kittens from getting out and running amok again.
At the very least, he's thankful for that.
Thinking of the striker makes him frown and look around. Despite saying he'd be home today, the home office where he usually works sure seems quite empty. "Where's Shuuya?" He asks.
"Oh, I sent him out to get some more litter. They uh..." Mamoru looks back before smiling sheepishly. "They kinda made a mess in here."
Yuuto tries not to say 'I told him so' (especially since it would be a lot more satisfying to say that to his face) and instead turn his focus back to his sister, who has since moved back to the gate and was playing some strange variant of patty-cake through the bars with Mei, though there seems to be a lot more violent intent from the cat's side. "And you brought her back here because...?"
Mamoru shrinks a little. "She kept on asking! Otonashi can be really stubborn when she wants to be."
"You're damn right I am."
Yuuto sighs, before spying the clock on the wall. "Don't have an 'appointment' with certain someone at 5...?"
Haruna blinks, looking down at her own watch before jumping up. "Shit!" She almost runs out the door faster than he can blink, but stops just before she leaves, she manages to stop herself and call back to him. "I'll be texting later! You better give me all the information then!"
And just like that, she's gone.
Yuuto turns back and sighs, walking closer to the fence. Mei had attempted to try and climb it the moment Haruna left, before Mamoru quickly picked her up and placed her a little further back. Raijirou is also pawing at the fence, but seems more confused about its existence than attempting to conquer it like his sister. And the third kitten is still sleeping on their makeshift bed, a guttural engine sound echoing around the room from him.
"I swear, if she had the chance, she would've brought Mikan over for a playdate or something."
Mamoru giggles. "If Mikan wasn't the most territorial cat in the world, I could see her doing that." He looks back at Yuuto, before squatting down and petting Raijirou on the head. Almost instantly, Raijirou forgets about the fence and also starts purring and rubbing up against his arm. For supposedly cold animals, they sure are affectionate. While he's doing that, Mamoru also answers his unasked questions. "They've been a lot more chill than yesterday, from what I've seen. I think they were just anxious because they were in a totally new place."
"Or maybe because they were given free reign to run a muck."
Mamoru shoots him a look, but doesn't say anything. He pushes Raijirou (and Mei, who is again trying to climb the fence) back, and then steps over the fence before closing the door behind him to make sure none of them can escape like yesterday. "We still need to come up with a name for the last one. I called him Cat #3 in front of the kids and they called me a bad father."
There's that word again. Father. Like they're any sort of parental figure to these overgrown rats.
He ignores that nagging question. "I think it'd only be fair if you named him," he suggests. "Since we named the other two."
Mamoru rubs the back of his head. "Ack, I'm no good at naming things... maybe I'll just ask Megane."
"I think you would be considered a worse 'father' if you asked someone else to name your-" He sends a hesitant look back to the door. "...'Child.' "
Mamoru gives a light sigh. "Yeah, I guess. Hey, would you consider God Cat would be a good nam-"
"No."
Mamoru doesn't look all that surprised that he rejected the name. "Well, there goes my one idea. I'll have to think of something else then."
"Good. You do that." He turns, making his way towards the kitchen. "Now, I need to get some work done."
It's meant to be in a huff, but when he hears Mamoru laugh and blow him a kiss, he can't help but smile.
-
An hour later, he has his usual dining table work setup going, typing away at his computer as he hears various noises throughout the house, some feline-related and some not. Honestly, he'd probably get work done faster back in his old office, but Mamoru's sad puppy dog eyes (particularly after the whole Fifth Sector business, where they were at their most powerful because Yuuto was a lot more desperate to keep him happy) keep him home as much as possible.
Shuuya, meanwhile, still hasn't come home yet.
(He tries not to think about that.)
Instead, he listens with a slight grin as he can make out the sounds of Mamoru playing with the cats once more, despite the fact that Yuuto knows he also has work to do. Still, he can't deny his faint baby talk isn't nice to listen to. He would also be lying if he said hearing Mamoru struggle to come up with non-soccer related names isn't funny.
"Maiji- no, that's too intense for someone like you... Maybe Great...? Nah, that doesn't really fit you either...."
Personally, Yuuto thinks 'Taida' would work best, but Mamoru's in charge of naming that one, so he doesn't think about it for too long. Not to mention it would be a lot harder to slip that insult past him. Maybe Tai…?
The hours tick by, and Mamoru eventually does stop playing with them to go do some actual work. More noticeably though, Shuuya still doesn't return, even when the sun has set and he's browsing through the fridge to see what they workshop for dinner.
"Has Shuuya talked to you yet?" Mamoru asks quietly as he heads into the kitchen. "I've texted him, but he still hasn't picked up..."
Yuuto tries to not let his own worry show. "You know how he is with his phone. He'll be back soon."
Mamoru doesn't say anything in response, but one cursory glance towards him tells Yuuto he's biting his lip to keep himself from speaking. The two of them heat up some old leftovers and eat silently, both of them too busy keeping their ears out for the sound of the front door opening to really talk about anything.
Night falls. The hours tick past. Shuuya is still nowhere in sight.
After wrapping up his work for the day, he heads off to check the bedroom and sure enough, he sees Mamoru sitting on the bed, glaring at his computer screen in a desperate attempt to stay up.
He bites back a sigh and instead tells him, "You should go to bed."
He knows that if this were Shuuya he were talking too, he'd probably get called out for being a hypocrite. But in his defense, he knows that Mamoru needs his sleep in order to completely function (which he could easily argue is not the case for him, especially if you put coffee in the mix) , and any interruptions of that (self-inflicted or not) can have... not pleasant consequences.
Mamoru looks at him, and he can practically feel the tiredness in his gaze. "I need- I want to wait for Shuuya to get back."
There's anxiety in his voice, one that sounds so wrong outside of Yuuto's own head, and he uses his years of training to keep his face neutral. He has to admit, this may partially be his (and Shuuya's) fault for indulging his clingy behaviors so often, but when it quells his own panicking thoughts as well, it's very hard to fight it no matter how overall unhealthy it may be. And it's not like he doesn't have a good reason to be worried, not with all the disappearing acts Shuuya's pulled on them over the years.
Still, it's strange, the fact that he has to be the one to have blind faith rather than Mamoru.
"Shuuya will come back whether you're awake or not," he argues, stepping over to one side of the bed and gently pressing the back of the screen. "And I'll handle him for not answering your phone calls, don't worry."
Mamoru's face scrunches up, clearly wanting to argue, but his own physical urges for once win out against his practically unbeatable willpower. He closes the laptop fully, setting it on the side table as Yuuto watches intently. "Wake me up when he comes back," he tells him. "And also keep an eye on the kittens, okay?"
Yuuto shoots him a look, but there is no real fire. He'd much rather put up with a couple of fur demons for a few hours than Mamoru wait and stew in his worry. "Fine. I stand by what I said earlier about their potty training."
A smile returns to Mamoru's face, and it remains there by the time Yuuto turns off the lights and shuts the door behind him, quite literally putting one issue to bed. Now to deal with the next one.
With more dread than he should feel, he walks towards their guest room and opens the door before carefully stepping over the fence. He's barely in the room before he hears three different meows, all at different volumes.
Right. In his short reading on cats, he learned that they're mainly nocturnal creatures. Wonderful.
To be honest, even though this is supposed to be a guest room, the only thing they had in here before all the cat stuff was an old bed, and a wardrobe. Now though, there's boxes of cat supplies all scattered around, not to mention the cat toys already on the floor, along with the litter boxes.
The cats themselves are just as spread out. For once, the third kitten isn't napping, instead he somehow made it on top of that old bed and scratching at the headrest. Mei and Raijirou are too busy fighting each other in their own little bed to notice, smacking and scratching and climbing over each other with all the grace two fighting toddlers would have.
He looks past their pathetic attempts at becoming an only child for now, marching over (while carefully avoiding the spilled litter), making his way over and yanking the last kitten up before he can ruin any more furniture. "What do you think you're doing?"
The kitten gives him an unimpressed glare, though doesn't fight as Yuuto moves him back to his own bed. "I thought you were the smartest one for not destroying your-" He struggles to find the words for a second. "Your house keeper's property, but apparently not. The youngest ignores his words (and the fight between his siblings just a few inches away from him),instead walking right off to sniff at the wardrobe. Which, while suspicious, is fine as long as he decides to not scratch at that as well.
With a sigh, Yuuto sits down in front of their little basket. From his research, cat siblings fighting amongst each other is nothing new, and unless approaching something dangerous, he isn't going to waste his energy on intervening.
He has to admit though, it is... interesting , watching them fight.
The way their limbs swing through the air. The way they stumble after each hit, even if it doesn't look like it hurts. The way Raijirou honestly looks like he wants to leave, but Mei's far too invested to let him flee.
They both look like they have non idea what they're doing, obviously. And yet, Yuuto can't help but smile at the sight. It's... cute-
He snaps right out of that thought. Dammit, even when he's not here, Shuuya's still managing to win. He's not going to start thinking of these nuisances as cute, dammit. They are anything but cute, from the destruction and messes they make to how entitled they act-
RING!!!
-They also distract him from answering his phone, apparently.
Ignoring the slight pity he feels as all three jump in surprise at the sound, he fishes his phone out of his pocket and glares at the name on the screen.
Shuuya.
He swallows down his own irritation, and answers.
"Shuuya, you better have a good explanation for-"
" Yuuto, where are you right now? "
Shuuya's tone stops him in his tracks. He sounds... winded, like he just ran a mile after working at a desk job for 3 years.
"I'm... at home? Like you should be at this hour?"
There's silence on the other end for a few seconds. "I... you're right. Sorry."
"Don't 'sorry' me. Where are you ?"
"A-at the vet."
Yuuto pinches the bridge of his nose. He better not have picked up more stray cats. "And why are you there?"
"I...."
Shuuya's sudden hesitance when he's basically barreled through everything else in this whole situation with no second thoughts is a little concerning. Still, he's not Mamoru, so he won't get anywhere by being gentle. "Shuuya," he says with a little more authority, and that's all it takes for him to fold.
"Penchirou got her leg amputated."
Oh.
"I- Today? That fast?"
Shuuya takes in another shuddering breath in and explains a bit more. "I- I wanted to check up on her on the way back and then when I got here they told me her infection had gotten really bad and she'd been getting worse so they would cut it off and it was better if I was there and then she wasn't responding well to the anesthesia and then when they finally got done she started freaking out-"
"Shuuya, slow down!" His loud voice makes all the other cats jump a little in unison again. "So her leg is gone, and she's not handling it well?"
He can almost hear the nod. "She's been really hostile. They've been talking about moving her out faster just to get her somewhere where she's less stressed, and I just-" He takes a pause. "I- I kind of just ignored all of Mamoru's texts because I missed the first few because of the whole mess and I didn't know how to respond."
"You would've just had to mention that and he would've understood," he argues before sighing. "Listen, are you going to head home soon? I think this is a conversation better had in person."
"A-alright, " he stutters out, and he hears the car start. Shuuya must've been calling from there, since the vet is most definitely closed at this hour. "I'll be back in about- 15 minutes."
"That's fine, and Shuuya?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
To be honest, he isn't sure what compels him to say that. Maybe it's the shakiness in his voice, maybe it's how much he knows he hates the hospital and all hospital-like places. Maybe it's just Mamoru rubbing off on him after all these years. But either way, the sigh of relief he hears on the other end tells him it was the right thing to do.
"Yeah. Love you too," he manages after a few seconds, and Yuuto doesn't get the chance to respond before he quickly hangs up.
Whatever. He can scold him better in person, anyways.
-
It's hard to describe Shuuya's expressions when he's sad, or even stressed.
Mainly because he doesn't bother changing his expression at all no matter what he's feeling, though all these years around him have made Yuuto more attuned to his moods.
There are smaller things you wouldn't think to look for, like how he always stares straight ahead when he's upset, or how he'll set the temperature to just below boiling once he gets home, but for just facial things, he can come off as pretty inexpressive.
Thankfully, Yuuto can also use things like context clues to figure out how he's feeling. So when he comes home from a hospital-like place after hating every medical focused building his whole life, he knows not to be too harsh with him.
Only too harsh. A little harsh is always required when dealing with someone like Shuuya.
"Don't avoid Mamoru when he's trying to talk to you. You know how much that worries him," he tells him in lieu of a greeting when Shuuya finally, finally comes home. The striker huffs like he has any right to be annoyed after vanishing on them for a good 8 hours.
"Hello to you too," he mumbles, setting the large box of litter down. "Can you help me carry this to the cat room?"
Yuuto distinctly remembers repeatedly saying that he will not help with anything that has to do with the litter as recently as 30 minutes ago.
So of course, he goes ahead and does it anyway, moving the baby fence and opening the door while he lugs the huge thing inside and helps him hold it steady as he pours it into each of the trays. Mei and Raijirou watch eagerly as they do this, while NP (short for Name Pending) once again sleeps in their bed and ignores the sound of litter being turned into a waterfall.
Eventually, they finish with that task and shove the box into the closet, and Yuuto watches as Shuuya yet again gets too distracted by the kittens climbing all over him to talk. This time though, Yuuto lets him play, noting how much he seems to... light up as they smack at his hair and explore his clothes. Like most of his expressions, the smile he wears is hard to describe, not subtle like his usual ones but instead wide and open without a care in the world for who sees it. It reminds Yuuto of the one he wore on his wedding day, albeit a bit more controlled.
It takes a bit more of Shuuya just playing around before he finally remembers he came back to talk and eventually sets both Mei and Raijirou down. "Right," he mutters like a man who's just been reminded of a grim reality as he turns to look at Yuuto, who's been watching him (not adoringly, of course, who do you think he is? Mamoru?) from the doorway. "We should talk."
Yuuto holds up his hand to stop him. "Do you want to talk now or in the morning? So that we won't have to repeat the same thing to Mamoru."
'And so you can rest before telling us about this animal you're emotionally attached to lost its leg,' he doesn't say.
Nonetheless, Shuuya's eyelids sag and he looks incredibly grateful for the option. Yuuto takes his hand and leads him to the bedroom, mentally preparing himself for whatever cat-related disaster the day may bring.