Just Cat Things (Miyano's B-Day Drabble)

Summer break was Miyano's favorite time of the year. Staring at the dates circled in the hanging calendar in his room, he vibrated with anticipation, eyes sparkling. New works from authors he liked were dropping this week. Miyano would be a broke and happy BL fanboy, holed up in his house while enjoying the air conditioning and a cold drink, reading his favorite genre.

"Good morning, Shuumei-san." Miyano greeted the cat and his mom before promptly sitting in front of the latter, digging into the breakfast. As the conversation with his mom dwindled, Miyano's mother stared at the cat before pulling her eyes towards the grey skies outside the window.

"It was around this time of the year, wasn't it?" She asked her son.

"Hm? What happened around this time?" Miyano answered, taking the plates to the sink.

"When Shuumei-san joined the family," she said with a fond smile.

"Really?"

"Yup! You told us the school found him during a downpour and wanted someone to take care of it. The other kids wanted to adopt him, but you insisted you would take good care of him. It was cute," she giggled.

Miyano felt his cheeks burn. "I wasn't that stubborn about it," he trailed off, gaze settling on the cat.

He named the cat after a character from a story he was into at the time. At first, the cat avoided everyone, but it never hissed or scratched. The more effort Miyano put in bridging the gap between them, the kitten answered, slowly opening up. Miyano realized the cat was scared of its new life, but it wanted to connect with others; it just needed time.

Miyano retreated into his room, Shuumei-san trailing right behind. Miyano gathered the materials and diligently worked on his summer homework for a few hours. When he was stuck on a particular question, he stared at the cat, lazily snoring away on the corner of the desk. The memory of his mom teasing they were inseparable was embarrassing, but thinking about a future without Shuumei-san was not only inconceivable but. . . dreadful.

If Shuumei-san had been around when Miyano's classmates commented about his features, then Shuumei-san must be older than four. He had the urge to look up how old in human years was when he looked back at the paper under his nose and went back to work.

Miyano's focus broke when the cat plopped itself on the notebook and scattered sheets. "Shuumei-san, what's up with you?" Miyano looked at the time and made a sound of acknowledgment. "It's that time already?"

Going to the living room, Miyano filled the food bowl, watching as the ginger cat ate before heating up the lunch his mother made for him. By the time he clapped his hands in thanks, Shuumei-san was peeking over the table on his hindlegs.

"This is my lunch, Shuumei-san." Miyano laughed, petting the cat's head affectionately. He couldn't help but share a bite of grilled fish which the cat happily nibbed on.

After finishing the daily work quota, Miyano opened the volume he started the night before, immersing himself in the story until the end.

Lifting his head, Miyano searched for his furry companion. Shuumei-san was sitting in a loaf position in his favorite place, right beside Miyano's head pillow. Miyano scratched the cat's head and shared his thoughts about the story he read.

After letting it all out, he changed clothes and headed out, closing the door on Shuumei-san quietly meowing from the entranceway.

Miyano left the bookstore with the goodies in hand, relaxing his tense muscles with a sigh. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the manga section. About twenty minutes after walking under the summer heat, he opened the door to the apartment.

"I'm back, Shuumei-san," Miyano said, crouching to change his shoes for slippers. The cat had trotted towards him and bumped its furry head on Miyano's arm.

"I didn't buy anything for you. More like, I didn't have enough to, haha," he said as the cat pawed the bag hanging from Miyano's wrist. He was about to pick the cat when it jumped out of his grasp, extending its body upwards.

Before Miyano could react, his mom's voice reached his ears. He looked in her direction as he stood up.

"Did you meet a female cat on the way back?" she asked in her soothing voice.

"Huh?"

It seemed his mom found the reaction amusing, for a smile bloomed on her lips. "Remember when you played with the neighbor's female cat? Shuumei-san avoided her. Even tried to get your attention away from her!"

Miyano stared at the cat quizzically. Shuumei-san was innocently licking his paw. Their eyes met, and Miyano thought his BL brain rot had surpassed another limit, for he thought his cat had done something out of a BL.

'Maybe I should ramble less about BL. . . No, what the hell am I thinking?! Cats can't understand the human language!'

However, Miyano, throwing his initial plan to indulge in the continuation of the series he had waited for months, spent the rest of the day searching for BL with animal hybrids. A day he still regrets. . . but one where he found so many new juicy series.