Monkey: I just love this ship so much lol

Akashi sighed as he slowly made his way home after closing his candy store.

His shop was always pretty busy but with it being summer, his shop had even more customers than usual and it was hard to keep up when it was just him, like it had been today. The shop was small—a candy store his mom had opened and run before she had him—a place called Little Reds.

He was tired today. The sun had finally started to set, and with it, his hopes of relaxing for the rest of the night. No one ever told him working in a candy store could be so tiring.

It was in the midst of wallowing in his woes—he loved his job, but sometimes it was intense—that he heard a kitten mewling nearby.

He stopped walking, looking around for the source of the mewls. Maybe he was more tired than he thought and he just imagined it.

"Meow."

Red eyes blinked curiously as he saw an orange and white-striped kitten pop up, floating in a big bubble just a foot away from his face.

"Oh, hello there. Where did you come from?"

The kitten mewled softly as Akashi reached out for it.

"Please don't let him get away!" a voice called out the second Akashi's fingers made contact with the rainbow bubble.

The bubble popped and the kitten landed in Akashi's arms, purring softly. Akashi turned around only to see a silver-haired man running towards him. The man stopped a little away from him and let out a loud sigh. He looked slightly familiar, but Akashi couldn't place it.

"Thank you for catching him. I've been chasing him around for hours." He straightened up, cleared his throat and smiled. "I'm Mayuzumi, could you give me Spaghetti back?"

Akashi continued to stare at the man in front of him, while the kitten reached a paw out towards him. "Spaghetti?"

"I was hungry when I named him," he shrugged and reached out for the kitten, which wiggled around. Akashi brought Spaghetti closer to his owner when he saw he wanted to jump.

"He's cute." The kitten immediately pounced on Mayuzumi and scrambled until he settled happily on top of his silver hair.

"He's a terror, but yeah." Mayuzumi winced when Spaghetti started biting his hair but slate-gray eyes didn't leave Akashi. There was curiosity in them. "I think I've seen you before. Do you live around here?"

"I don't, but I work around here. I'm Akashi, Seijurou." He held a hand out which Mayuzumi didn't hesitate to shake.

The grip was firm but gentle. Akashi found himself not wanting to let go, for some reason.

"Mayuzumi, Chihiro. Sorry if Spaghetti bothered you."

Akashi shook his head, his tiredness from earlier forgotten as he offered a soft smile. "I was actually feeling a little down but seeing Spaghetti cheered me up."

"Need a boost of happiness? Believe it or not, it's my specialty."

"The bubble?"

Spaghetti mewled happily, playing with the silver strands in front of him.

"Bubbles bring happiness. And Spaghetti is always getting into trouble when I'm doing magic."

"Thanks, but I think I'll stick to having something sweet instead."

"Oh, there's this great candy store nearby called—"

"Little Reds?"

"Yeah."

"I'm the owner."

Mayuzumi tilted his head to the side. The kitten on top of his head wiggled, tail coming down to swat at Mayuzumi's ear playfully. "I thought the owner was a woman? I mean, I haven't been there in a few years, but I walked by it the other day and it still looks the same."

Akashi nodded. "The previous owner was my mother. She's off travelling right now, so I took over the shop."

"I see." The kitten carefully jumped down from his perch atop Mayuzumi's head and landed on his shoulder instead, cuddling up to him. Akashi didn't miss the way interested, gray eyes gave him a once over. "Then maybe I should swing by more often."

Akashi blinked, wondering if Mayuzumi had been flirting with him.

Mayuzumi opened his mouth to speak again when Spaghetti decided to tickle Mayuzumi's nose with his tail. Gray eyes closed and he sneezed, turning the tip of Spaghetti's tail blue while the kitten mewled happily. Mayuzumi frowned. "See? Terror. Guy's got nine lives and he's already wasted four of them. Shaved a few years off my life too."

Akashi laughed. "He's very adventurous."

Mayuzumi shook his head with a smirk. "That's a word for it." He reached a hand up to pet Spaghetti and he gently flicked the blue tail, wondering how he'd reverse that one. "Well, I should get going before I lose this guy again."

Akashi nodded. "Oh, wait," he reached into his pocket, pulling out a couple pieces of candy. They looked about the size of those gumballs found in gumball vending machines and were swirled pink and purple with red dots. They were wrapped in translucent plastic that shimmered with gold sparkles when it caught the light. "Here, they're for good luck."

"Magic-infused?" Mayuzumi took them with a curious look.

Akashi nodded. "My mom can make them, she ships some out every once in a while."

"Ah, well thank you, I appreciate it," Mayuzumi pocketed them. "Have you tried to make them?"

Akashi winced. "Yes, a couple batches before. They were less for good luck and more for accidental invisibility."

"That sounds cool."

"But only of certain body parts."

Mayuzumi laughed. "Then, practice makes perfect." Spaghetti, having spent too long being ignored, mewled again as he tried to stick his tail into Mayuzumi's mouth. Mayuzumi picked him up off his shoulder and carried him instead. "I'm not too shabby with good luck magic, actually. If you want, I could swing by sometime, maybe before you open, and help you make some?"

Akashi's gaze softened. "You always help out a stranger?"

Spaghetti mewled happily at him, a tiny paw reaching out to Akashi. Mayuzumi pretended to think it over while Spaghetti had a one-sided conversation with the redhead. "Not a stranger if I know your name. And my cat likes you."

"Well, if Spaghetti thinks I'm alright, then I'll accept your offer." Akashi suddenly looked a little shy. "Is tomorrow ok?"

"Sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow in the morning then, Akashi."

Akashi nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Chihiro." Spaghetti whined for attention. Akashi reached out to softly pet him. "You too, Spaghetti."

Mayuzumi and Spaghetti waved, then they parted ways from Akashi.

He slowly walked back home, feeling even more tired but feeling happy at the same time. It would be nice if he could work with Mayuzumi (and Spaghetti, probably) to work on some magic-infused candy, considering how popular they are at his shop. He didn't tell Mayuzumi those two were the last ones he had left from the batch his mom sent him.

Tonight turned interesting, he thought as he walked back home, the moon high and the stars starting to peek through the dark sky.

Akashi laughed at the thought of the kitten in the bubble, allowing him to make a couple new friends after a long, terrible day.

Maybe bubbles do bring happiness.

Monkey: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! Come talk to me on twitter (gummyrubi) or tumblr (chocomonki) about this ship! It needs more love!