Comfortember 2022

Silver Vine - Nikei Yomiuri/IRL Mikado Sannoji

22. Pets

Warning: spoilers for the whole game

***

"This one."

Nikei pointed to a black cat with grey patches in its pen, directing his boyfriend's attention to it. The cat turned to look at the journalist, letting out a curious meow.

Mikado stopped fiddling with his glasses and looked at the shelter cat, then nodded. "This one doesn't seem to have any health issues or anything, I don't see why not," he agreed with a smile. Nikei turned around to get someone's attention to let them know that they wanted to adopt.

Mikado watched the journalist with a tired smile. A lot had happened over the past few years, and it was only because they had been living functionally for a while. His scars hadn't been hurting for a long time, and Nikei had managed to master living with his prosthetic hand for half a year now.

They both lived together in a small house that was formerly owned by the Kisaragi Foundation after they served time for their respective crimes, though Mikado had finished his sentence quicker due to being incarcerated earlier. He was lucky that Setsuka found him in time while she was chasing Syobai.

Nikei had been put in the house shortly after Mikado had situated himself, though there was a lot of hostility from the journalist from the first time they introduced themselves. The hacker had no idea what made the other man change his mind about him over time, but Nikei eventually began talking to him of his own will.

It took a year or so of living together, but Nikei asked if he wanted to date, and Mikado accepted. Even if they didn't see eye-to-eye all the time, it wasn't uncommon for Mikado to have Nikei sitting on his lap and typing another article or fidgeting his his prosthetic hand.

After a long time of learning to live with their leftover scars and each other, they decided that they should adopt a cat. They certainly had enough money for it, though Mikado was forced to work at the foundation to hack for them - likely an excuse to keep an eye on him - to make honest money instead of stealing it. They had wanted to get one for a while.

And here they now were, carrying a pet carrier to their car after filling out all of the legal paperwork. While Mikado started to drive them home, Nikei sat next to the cat in the back seat and let it sniff at his left hand. It didn't slip the hacker's notice how Nikei seemed to be a little relaxed around the cat, and even named it 'Tsumi.'

When they arrived home and brought the carrier inside, Nikei put it on the couch and opened it there. Tsumi slowly started to come out, and Nikei guided it onto his lap. While he guided it with his right hand, he gently pet the cat with his left hand.

"Tsumi seems to be attached to you," Mikado remarked, noticing how the cat curled up mostly by itself on Nikei's lap. Internally, he wondered if the cat had been friendly with humans before it had arrived at the shelter.

"He doesn't even mind my hand," the journalist agreed, looking at his prosthetic but not using it to pet the cat. There was no point in doing so anyway, Nikei chose to have his right hand amputated and replaced with a prosthetic after the killing game destroyed the nerves in his real hand up to his wrist. He couldn't feel the cat's fur, and he didn't want to risk it hurting it.

The cat finished adjusting itself and curled up fully on Nikei's lap, and the journalist smiled as he continued to pet it. Mikado laughed at how cute the sight was, telling Nikei, "I guess this means I live with two cats now!"

"You are so lucky this cat is holding me down," Nikei grumbled, but only half-heartedly. Mikado sighed happily and sat down next to the journalist, reaching his own hand out and gently rubbing the cat's head. "I hope he's not allergic or something to the food we got him."

"No, I didn't read that he had allergies. But then again, it might not be a complete medical profile since the shelter has many animals in there," Mikado shrugged. "If he's allergic, I'll change the cat food. Simple as that."

After a few minutes of quietly petting Tsumi on his lap, Nikei slowly leaned to the side and rested his head against Mikado's shoulder without a word. The hacker never protested this, he knew by now that Nikei didn't often show his affection verbally. In response, he put an arm around Nikei's shoulders.

Mikado looked up at the window and finally noticed that it was raining. He had someone fix a leak in the window pane recently, so he was glad that there wasn't any water getting into the house. Nikei had given him a pleased smile when Mikado told him that the leak had been fixed while he was at work.

Nikei wore that smile now as he continued to pet the cat, and Mikado was glad that the journalist could find time to relax after everything they'd been through.

***

Art credit: setsuna_setu on twitter