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Upper Moon Three is a lot of things, but cute should not be one of the descriptors Kyojuro uses.
Kyojuro watches him from the other side of the street. Akaza is squatting down next to a stray cat. He holds out his hand for the animal to bat, his brows furrowed in surprising concentration, mouth twisted to the side in a way that makes his cheeks puff. He’s wearing one of the yukatas Kyojuro had gotten him, demon features hidden neatly behind his typical human disguise. Without the markings inking his face, it always strikes Kyojuro just how young Akaza looks. His age, at most. Perhaps even a year or two younger.
He crosses the road. Akaza must have sensed him then, because he glances over his shoulder, gaze catching Kyojuro’s almost immediately. Recognition spreads across his face as he hops to his feet, a little too fast to be casual.
“Kyojuro,” he says, and he looks halfway to chagrined. His eyes dart down to the cat that he had been playing with. “I’ve been waiting for you. What took you so long?”
Kyojuro stifles his laugh as he also bends down next to the cat. It’s a tabby, with bright yellow eyes and quite a docile temperament—it rises to its feet and circles Akaza’s legs, purring. Akaza looks like he’s debating nudging it away but can’t bear to, because his entire body goes stiff.
“It likes you!” Kyojuro exclaims.
“I—” Akaza looks down at the cat. “What are you even talking about, Kyojuro.”
“Most animals get spooked by demons,” Kyojuro says. The cat nudges Akaza’s leg with its nose. “I guess it’s because you’re disguised as a human?”
“Let’s go,” Akaza says, and when Kyojuro looks up at his expression, he’s definitely embarrassed. “Don’t you have a mission, Kyojuro?”
“Since when have you been so diligent about me getting my missions done on time!”
Akaza glares at him. Kyojuro’s traitorous mind notes that he looks more adorable than threatening. Deciding not to tease Akaza more because he’ll just be digging the hole deeper for himself, he straightens. “Let’s go, then!”
The mission proceeds smoothly. Akaza seems to forget about the incident with the cat rather quickly, because he’s incessantly talkative as usual throughout most of the night. He prattles nonstop on as Kyojuro fights, and he seems to be in a good enough mood that he doesn’t even spare the broken soul thread a second glance when Kyojuro cuts the demon’s head off.
It’s only when they make their way back to the town that they spot the tabby again, this time sprawled on one of the boxes across from their inn as it cleans its face daintily.
“Look!” Kyojuro says, even though he’s pretty certain Akaza has spotted it already. Demon vision is much better than a human’s in the dark. Akaza is probably avoiding it on purpose. “We found it again!”
Before Akaza can start protesting like Kyojuro knows he will, Kyojuro snatches Akaza’s wrist and drags him towards the cat.
It seems to recognize Akaza, because the animal rises to its feet with a languid stretch, hops down from the crates, and stalks towards them. Kyojuro watches, amused. The movements remind him of Akaza, all feline and elegant, which he decides to voice aloud to Akaza.
“It reminds me of you!”
The cat has reached them at this point. It purrs, circles Akaza’s legs once, and then sprawls on the ground, belly-up.
“What?” The words are sputtered out. “The cat?”
“Well, yes!”
“I don’t—” His eyebrows knit together. “I’m a demon, Kyojuro.”
“I know!”
“So why are you comparing me to a cat?”
“It wants you to rub its belly,” Kyojuro points out. As if agreeing, the cat lets out a plaintive meow.
Akaza narrows his eyes at Kyojuro. His human disguise is slipping; a sheen of bright gold shines out behind the brown of his eyes, and Kyojuro can also see the faintest lines of his markings begin to appear. Funny. Akaza used to lose control over his disguise when he was angry, but it seems like getting flustered will also do the trick.
“You do it then, Kyojuro,” he says, sounding rather petulant.
Kyojuro laughs. He bends down, running his fingers through the cat’s soft fur. It’s remarkably well-fed for a stray. “I always wanted to have an animal growing up,” he says.
“So why didn’t you get one?”
“My father doesn’t really like them!”
There’s a pause. He can already predict what Akaza’s going to say next.
“What the fuck is wrong with your father?”
“Well, some people just don’t like animals much!” Kyojuro replies. “Kocho also doesn’t like furry animals. Kanroji told me that it’s because Kocho is afraid of cats!”
“Well, I already know there’s something wrong with her.”
Another pause. At last, Akaza bends down next to Kyojuro and scratches the cat’s head, almost like he’s trying to prove a point that he’s better than Shinjuro and Kocho. Amused, Kyojuro sits back and lets him take over.
Funnily enough, Akaza gets utterly engrossed in petting the cat. It’s only when the cat begins purring that Akaza takes his hand back like snapping out of a trance.
“Let’s go back,” he says. “You’re tired, Kyojuro.”
With all of his self-control, Kyojuro bites down his laugh and decides he’ll save the teasing for later. He smooths his hand over the cat’s head one more time before rising to his feet.
They cross the street in relative silence. It’s only when he catches Akaza peeking over his shoulder that Kyojuro loses the battle against his fraying self-control. It seems more conducive to tease Akaza right now. “You really like cats, Akaza!”
“Kyojuro—”
“It’s endearing!” Kyojuro cuts in before Akaza can start denying, because petting cats was not befitting of Upper Moon Three. “But don’t let Kaname see! He might get jealous!”
He gets fixed with a glare. “You’re asking for it, Kyojuro.”
“Asking for what!”
Akaza tries to look annoyed, but the corners of his lips are twitching as he fights down his smile. Instead, he wraps his hand around Kyojuro’s wrist and gives him a willful tug towards the inn doors. “Don’t play stupid, Kyojuro.”
Just for an additional exercise in patience, Kyojuro stops in front of the innkeeper for a couple of purposeful seconds longer and wishes her a goodnight. She’s friendly enough and tries to strike up a conversation about what they’d been doing out so late.
“We were on a long walk!” Kyojuro says, which is partially true. He just happened to negate the fact that he also slayed a demon on the long walk. “The moon is rather—”
“We’re tired,” Akaza breaks in curtly. “So if you’ll excuse us.”
“I feel quite alright!” Kyojuro replies. Akaza’s hand tightens around his wrist. “As I was saying—”
“I’m tired,” Akaza says through gritted teeth, giving a harder tug. “So why don’t we go upstairs, Kyojuro?”
Stifling his laugh, Kyojuro bids the innkeeper farewell and allows Akaza to pull him down the hall and into the staircase. “You’re tired?” he asks when they’re out of earshot. “I thought demons didn’t feel exhaustion.”
“You would’ve talked to her for another twenty minutes if I didn’t stop you.”
“For someone who brags about having unlimited time, you’re incredibly impatient!”
Akaza fixes him with a pointed look, and succeeds in nothing but making Kyojuro’s heart stumble with a burst of affection. They reach the inn door and Kyojuro digs the keys out of his pocket to unlock it.
He’s being tugged close to Akaza and kissed the moment the door shuts behind them. His back collides with the wall as Akaza undoes his belt so he can cast Kyojuro’s sword and scabbard to the side. It clatters against the wood floor, the sudden noise jarring in the otherwise quiet. Akaza grabs a fistful of his half-unbuttoned uniform and drags him towards the bed.
Kyojuro pulls away briefly. “Be careful! You’re going to wake up the people downstairs!”
“Don’t care,” Akaza replies. His human disguise has slipped away in the heat of the moment, his eyes gold instead of chesnut. They gleam in the dark. He closes the gap again, but he must’ve taken the comment about impatience as a challenge, because he’s slower and more deliberate this time around. For all of his talk, Akaza seems content with just kissing him languid and deep, one hand tangling in Kyojuro’s hair, the other stemmed against the inn bed.
Really, Kyojuro has long given up denying that he finds these things about Akaza endearing. He suddenly recalls Akaza’s utmost focus as he played with the cat, and the memory pulls a laugh from his throat.
Akaza moves back just far enough to look at his face, a furrow between his brows. “What, Kyojuro?”
And oh, Kyojuro thinks—he must be so far gone to look at Upper Moon Three, limbs tangled with his on his flimsy mattress, and feel a tenderness so profound that he can scarcely breathe, perforating every pulse of his treacherous heart.
When Kyojuro doesn’t reply immediately, Akaza twists his lips into a frown. “What are you so distracted about, Kyojuro?”
“Has anyone told you that you’re cute?” Kyojuro asks.
A couple of things cross Akaza’s expression: confusion, bewilderment, and then offence. “No. And I’m not.”
The petulance only makes Kyojuro laugh more. “You are!”
“Maybe you’re sleep deprived, Kyojuro.”
“No, seriously!” Kyojuro reaches up, catching both sides of Akaza’s face between his palms. “Even with your demon features!”
He is levelled with a glare that seems to hold more chagrin than anger. “I’m Upper Moon Three, Kyojuro, I’m not cute.”
Kyojuro squeezes Akaza’s cheeks underneath his palms. “Yes, and Upper Moon Three is letting me do this!”
Akaza’s eyes flash. With one nimble movement, he’s grabbed both of Kyojuro’s hands, pulled them from his face, and pinned them at Kyojuro’s side. “Enough, Kyojuro,” he says, entirely failing to appear threatening, and Kyojuro only laughs again.
“Don’t be embarrassed!”
“I’m not fucking embarrassed, you’re just—” Akaza breaks off. Still, he releases his iron grip on Kyojuro’s hands so Kyojuro is able to pull them free. He hooks his arm around Akaza’s neck and pulls him down for another kiss. It’s much more chaste, just a brief brush of contact, but one that sends warmth tingling through Kyojuro regardless.
“I’m just what?” he prompts when they part.
Akaza’s golden eyes narrow at him. In spite of his his protests, the connection of the soul thread between them hums with an abundance of affection. Truthfully, Kyojuro doesn’t even need the soul thread to affirm anything. It’s clear as glass in the way Akaza holds him, with a gentleness unbefitting of a demon. It’s overwhelmingly evident in the softness of his expression, the way his lip twitches into a smile he’s fighting a losing battle against.
Instead of replying immediately, Akaza all but collapses over Kyojuro’s chest, wrapping his arms around Kyojuro, secure but not uncomfortable. “You know what I mean, Kyojuro.”
“Mm, do I?” He slides his fingers into Akaza’s soft hair, cupping the back of his head. “You’re a little vague! But I stand by what I said that you’re cute!”
“‘m not,” Akaza grumbles, voice muffled from where he’s tucked his face into the crook of Kyojuro’s neck. “Go to sleep, Kyojuro, the sun’s going to be up in a few hours. You’re already talking nonsense so you should clearly rest.”
“Fine,” Kyojuro accedes, deciding that he will have plenty of time to tease Akaza tomorrow. Perhaps he’ll even find the cat and bring him along, although that might inspire jealousy from both Akaza and Kaname.
Either way… he peers down at Akaza, curled atop of him with only a mop of dark pink hair visible, arms locked snugly around Kyojuro. And really, there’s no need for Kyojuro to go around adopting stray cats, because apparently Upper Moon Three acts enough like one already. Kyojuro finds himself smiling again at the thought, slipping an arm around Akaza’s back to hold him properly. “Goodnight, Akaza,” he says.
“Goodnight, Kyojuro,” comes the response. A pause, too long to be intentional. Akaza raises his head just a bit so their eyes meet. “Sleep well.”
Kyojuro shuts his eyes. There is a weight of another’s body against his, their limbs so tangled until he doesn’t know where he ends and Akaza starts. Yet Kyojuro would not have it any other way.
He drifts off not long after, and his dreams are full of stray cats and bright-eyed demons with a smile more familiar than Kyojuro’s own.