Archive of Our Own ^beta

rui is quite the peculiar student, other students would say if one asked. he has a history of ( mostly ) harmless troublemaking, and has his name widely known among the student body, usually alongside a begrudging tsukasa trailing behind him.

although, others would argue rui had more, less well-known qualities to him.

“—you act just like a cat, rui!”

he’s heard it all the time. it all starts when he was younger and still a small child, when his mother first made that comparison. even while growing up, nene has pointed out that observation once or twice as well. at first, he would just brush it off, thinking that it was just an exaggeration of his perhaps stranger mannerisms.

except, when tsukasa says it too, the assumed coincidence begins to fade away. he’s told him the sentence plenty of times, and it’s only increased since they’ve started dating. it happens during hugs, just before they fall asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms, and even mid-conversation. rui doesn’t know what it is about him that makes him so cat-like, but there was clearly a correlation.

his train of thought is abruptly interrupted as he catches sight of tsukasa walking down the school hallway. he immediately rests his head on his shoulder as soon as he reaches, incredibly sleep deprived from an impromptu idea keeping him up at night.

“you’re here early,” tsukasa laughs softly, running a hand through his hair.

“mhm,” rui simply hums, moving so that his head is resting on tsukasa’s shoulder comfortably. then, without another word, he takes his hand in his and intertwines their fingers. tsukasa raises an eyebrow. “i’m recharging, tsukasa-kun,” he’d claim if he weren’t so sleepy.

emu observes the sight, giggling loudly with excitement. nene only looks around cautiously, silently wondering if the laughter will accidentally reveal to everyone in the hallway that the weirdo wombo combo of the school, snuggles together more than they cause trouble.

finally, rui speaks up and nene narrows her eyes at him. the whole time she’s been here with emu, he hadn’t said a single word. yet, when tsukasa’s finally arrived to school, he says something?

“tsukasa-kun,” are the first words that come out of his mouth, slow and sweet.

“hm?” his boyfriend tilts his head, his expression being what nene can only describe as disgustingly fond. “yes, rui?”

he gently presses his forehead into tsukasa’s neck. “i’ve missed you.”

nene grimaces. nevermind, perhaps she didn’t mind the silence from rui, and perhaps she should have stayed quiet. she turns to tsukasa with a pointed stare, only to be met with his face wearing a relaxed smile like he’s just heard the sweetest thing.

“he’s just like a spoiled cat,” she mumbles to emu, watching how tsukasa runs his hand through his hair in response. “seriously, he’s even receiving pets right now.”

“rui-kun does seem like a cat!” emu jumps in, grinning widely. tsukasa smiles back at her, nodding in agreement at their comments, as he very subtly, inches his hand further back and scratches at the back of rui’s ear.

when they turn back their gaze to rui, he looks a little too happy at his affections. nene’s eyes scan his face warily, only further confirming her conclusion of his spoiled cat mannerisms.

“he does,” tsukasa acknowledges quietly. then, he turns back toward emu and nene casually, still with his hand in rui’s hair. “anyway, what were you all discussing before i arrived?”

rui tilts his head up incredulously. he didn’t think he resembled a cat that closely, and he definitely was not being pet like a cat! he goes to take tsukasa’s hand out of his hair in silent protest but he’s quick to grab hold of his hand instead, lowering it so they’re now holding hands comfortably.

“not that i could remember after that display,” nene looks at them skeptically.

“i’m not like a cat,” rui announces abruptly after his failed protest attempt.

“then let go of him,” she challenges, “people will wonder why tsukasa’s walking around smelling like vanilla all day.”

rui stiffens. emu giggles.

he still doesn’t let go, let alone move a lazy inch. tsukasa’s eyes widen as he stares at their connected hands, then back up and rui’s unmoving head on his shoulder. his eyes flick upward to meet rui’s and he gives him a questioning look as if to say “you’re not letting go?”

rui closes his eyes innocently, going back to sleeping. instead of standing up to nene’s challenge, he just tightens his grip and brings their intertwined hands closer to him, humming softly.

“..that’s what i thought.” nene deadpans at their unfortunate public display of affection. “let’s go emu, we can stay in my classroom before you have to go.”

ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ┈┈ㆍ

rui awakens to blinding rays of white, and a painful lack of warmth by his side. painful because he clearly remembered going to bed with tsukasa by his side, a more rational part of his brain tells him. more here pls! with a sad mumble, he reaches over to the other side of the bed, trying his luck, only to find it empty. somehow, it makes him feel even more despaired.

usually, when he wakes up, he pulls tsukasa in, burying his face in the area between his shoulder blades, relishing in the warm as he falls back into pleasant sleep. unfortunately, said warmth wasn’t present at the moment and it only makes his mood sour.

he sits up, ruffling through his hair as he blearily looks around. the sun is already up and he can hear the faint sound of tsukasa’s bustling about in the kitchen, humming to himself. sleepily, he barely manages to roll off the bed and forces himself to the bathroom. indeed, rui could go right to finding tsukasa, but he chooses to brush his teeth first, just so he wouldn’t be chided at by his boyfriend.

finally, once that long, long process is completed, he shuffles towards the stairs to look for tsukasa.

“you’re just like a huge cat,” tsukasa often teases, the corners of his eyes crinkling at the way rui tends to pout more and blink slower in the morning.

rui shakes his head groggily, feeling his way down the stairs. no longer will he hear that remark anymore. like a normal individual, he will just ask what is for breakfast and possibly a kiss. he wouldn’t succumb to these out of the blue, unexpected cat accusations from tsukasa, or nene, or emu.

yet as soon as he clambers into the kitchen and he sees tsukasa, his previous thoughts becomes foggy.

the apron-adorning chef has his back turned, busy preparing what smells lile pancakes for the both of them. under the apron, he’s wearing a sweater, one of rui’s, with its sleeves pushed remarkably far back. the longer sleeves threaten to spill under the sunlight from how bunched up they are, and rui has forgotten how to form a coherent thought.

fine, maybe he is like a cat, as much as tsukasa pleases. his throat goes dry and he steps forward. at some point, he grabs ahold of the kitchen counter, as if trying to hold himself back from stumbling into tsukasa’s hold like a longing cat. a huge, longing cat, as described by the expert.

he lets go of the counter before quickly wrapping his arms around tsukasa’s torso, pulling him against his chest. tsukasa lets out a surprised yelp but rui pays it no mind, more focused on burying his nose into his nape. he smiles against the smooth skin, feeling warmth spread all throughout his body at the familiar smell of citrus. like water dissipating into mist, rui’s sour mood has disappeared without a trace.

it’s baffling how easily tsukasa gets rid of his troubles: fussing over and taking care of him whenever the opportunity arose, listening to his every thought and idea closely, even when he can’t find the words to express himself, and placing his trust into rui, even through all of rui’s wilder ideas.

“..i was worried you wouldn’t get down the stairs safely,” tsukasa remarks, looking rather unsurprised. “seems like this huge cat can.”

rui’s ears twitch in the slightest at that comment, but he doesn’t speak. he shifts his position just to make resting on his shoulder more comfortable, then opens one sleepy eye to stare at the stack of pancakes sitting in one corner.

tsukasa hums and leans back into his hold, shaking his head affectionately while allowing rui to indulge himself.

“you could’ve said good morning, you know,” tsukasa laughs, shaking his head as he continues to add more batter to the pan. “you’re just like a clingy cat.”

“that’s new from tsukasa-kun,” rui mumbles sleepily in protest, but he’s too comfortable to pull himself away from the warmth.

he hums smugly. “you’re not disagreeing.”

finally, when tsukasa is done with the pancakes, rui loosens his grip. he shifts to face him, now met with the sight of rui with his eyes are still droopy, along with his sleep-tousled hair. tsukasa swipes his hand across the top of his head, gently pushing the hair that falls messily over his face.

“go sit down,” he says after he’s brushed out the tangles in his hair. “i’ve made us tea.”

rui hums, but he doesn’t move, his hands still residing on the comfortable place of his waist. no matter how good the pancakes smell, his eyes are still transfixed on the boy in front of him.

tsukasa laughs in confusion. “is something wrong?”

with a sluggish blink, rui silently shakes his head. he keeps his attention on him as his eyes wander up to his hair, admiring the careful precision tsukasa dedicates daily into making sure his hair is perfect.

hot pancakes do cool down though, so tsukasa becomes impatient as he tries to wiggle out of the hug. he ends up failing miserably and tilting his head in defeat. “rui, move it! the pancakes will get cold if we keep standing around like this.” rui only smiles foolishly at him though, paired with the pleasant curl of his lips as he simply put, stares. he lets out satisfied hum as a form of acknowledgement, though tsukasa isn’t even sure he’s processed anything he’s said.

he raises an eyebrow questioningly. rui just keeps his eyes open, unable to come up with a logical response. in tandem, tsukasa’s hands reach up to the back of rui’s head, bunching all the strands of purple up and pulling thrm away from his face. his hands linger there, holding his hair into a mock ponytail as he narrows his eyes at rui’s sleepy face, now fully visible and as wide-eyed as ever.

he doesn’t move an inch. “hm?” he hums comfortably.

tsukasa shakes his head with that fond smile rui’s heart squeezes at. “nothing, he leans in, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead before letting go and allowing the hair to fall back over his eyes. “you just really, really look like a wide-eyed cat right now,” tsukasa playfully points out, watching the way rui frowns in the slightest at the jab.

“tsukasa-kun’s hair is styled nicely today,” is what he decides to blurt out instead of defending his honour.

rui catches a glimpse of tsukasa smiling for a split second, but it’s dropped when he’s still not impressed. “..rui, are you going to move or what?”

to the best of his ability, rui tries to think of an excuse. he really does. but when tsukasa is staring at him expectantly, his eyes questioning, all he can do he reluctantly let go.

“thank you,” tsukasa smiles and huffs tenderly after. “so you were listening after all.”

rui blinks at the sight, hopelessly in love, all while he follows tsukasa like a lost cat to his seat at the dining table. they sit down, across from each other, then dig into their plate of pancakes.

“the pancakes are cold,” rui thinks, his first fully coherent thought of the day. tsukasa sneezes.