"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"…Do I really have to?"

"Rin!" Makoto cried in exasperation, "Haru is our friend, and he worked really hard on this portfolio! We're going to his art show! Please just put on the nice clothes!"

"Uuuuuugh," Rin groaned in disgust, putting on the button-down shirt with jerky movements. "I hate getting dressed up."

"I know," Makoto sighed, rolling his sleeves up, "But it's a nice event. So we have to look our best."

"Yeah, yeah," Rin mumbled, buttoning up his shirt then tucking it into his pants. He turned to look at Makoto and paused, feeling heat shoot down his spine at the sight of Makoto in his glasses in a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up.

Fuuuuuck, he looked reeeeeally hot.

"Ah, you look nice," Makoto said with a gentle smile, and Rin opened and closed his mouth in a desperate attempt to form words.

"You look really hot," he finally blurted, then covered his mouth when Makoto gave him a look of surprise.

"Oh…Uh, thank you," Makoto laughed nervously, his cheeks turning pink, "Um, we should probably get going now…"

"Yeah, let's go," Rin mumbled, grabbing Makoto's hand as they left Rin's bedroom.

-xxx-

The arrived at the art exhibit, looking around in awe at all the art. They ran into Rei, Nagisa, and Nitori staring up at a particularly large painting done by an oil painting major.

"This is huge," Nagisa said quietly.

"It is beautiful," Rei added, admiring the portrait of cherry blossom trees.

"Did you guys find Haru yet?" Makoto asked, tearing his eyes away from the painting to look at his friends.

"Not yet," Nitori replied.

"Let's go then," Makoto urged, pushing his friends along.

Haru's portfolio was on display towards the back of the hall, and he raised his hand and waved his friends over.

"Haru!" Makoto said brightly, admiring Haru's photos, "Your photos look great!"

"Thank you," he said quietly, "Feel free to look as long as you like."

The title of Haru's body of work was "Friendship", and the theme of it was "people who I am close to".

There were black and white photos as well as color, arranged in a perfect circle. Rin took his time to admire each photo individually.

The first photo he saw was of Makoto laying on the couch at his house, with Kabocha standing on his chest and sniffing at his mouth, which was pursed into a kiss. He chuckled softly as his eyes drifted to the next photo.

The next photo was of Nagisa. He was at Makoto and Haru's coffee table, his mouth opened slightly as if he was talking, his chin resting in his palm while his other hand was holding a pencil He must have been doing homework. A half-eaten piece of strawberry shortcake sat next to him.

Rin's eyes trailed downwards to another photo. It was a picture of Nitori, Rei, and Nagisa. Rei was standing in the middle with Nitori to the left and Nagisa to the right. Nitori was flashing a peace sign and smiling, his arm wrapped around Rei's, and Nagisa was doing the same, winking, while Rei stood with a sheepish grin on his face. Rin remembered it, it was taken at his house during a study session.

The next picture was also at a study session at his house. It was a picture of Makoto, Nitori, and himself sitting at the coffee table. Nitori was leaning over towards Rin, holding a piece of paper. Rin remembered he had been helping Nitori with his English homework. He could see half of Makoto on the right side of the photo, his chin resting in his palm.

The next picture was of Nagisa and Rei doing their homework, Nagisa's eyes crinkled closed and his mouth stretched open in a joyous laugh, Rei looking at Nagisa adoringly (seriously, how did those two not notice how in love they were earlier?) while Nagisa's hands were stroking Kabocha, who had plopped himself on top of Nagisa's school work.

At the bottom of the circle, there was a picture of Ichigo. She was sitting with her tail curled around her front paws, observing the camera with a cool gaze. Rin made a mental note to ask for a copy of the picture after the exhibit was over.

The next picture was of Rin. It was the picture Haru took of him, when he had lifted his hand in an attempt to shield his face. He did a fairly good job, his hand covering up half his face so you could only see his eyes squinting shut, and part of his frown. Makoto was next to him, tongue sticking out in concentration while he was changing his answer on his English homework. Rin chuckled, remembering that he snapped at Haru after he took the picture.

He heard Makoto let out an 'aww' to his right, and he looked to where Makoto was pointing. It was the picture Haru had taken of Kabocha and Ichigo when they were curled up together on the couch. Kabocha was licking Ichigo's ear, and Ichigo was snoozing away next to him. Rin made another mental note to ask for a copy. Or twelve.

The next picture was when they had their hot pot after midterms. Nagisa was leaning over and trying to steal from Rei's dish. Rei looked like he was shouting, and Makoto was leaning in from the right of the frame and his chopsticks where hovered over the hot pot. He looked like he was sternly telling Nagisa to return to his own dish.

There was a picture of Nagisa and Nitori playing video games, Nitori looking excited and Nagisa looking exasperated. There was a picture of a brunette girl in a bed, the comforter wrapped around her naked torso as she aimed a camera at Haru's, grinning widely. There was a picture of Haru with Kabocha on his shoulders, sniffing at his eye, which was closed. There was a picture of Haru and Makoto, Makoto's head resting on his shoulder, his eyes closed as he laughed, and a hint of a smile on Haruka's lips. There was a picture of Haru and Nagisa; Haru as stoic as ever, flashing two peace signs, while Nagisa flexed his arms next to him, his teeth gritted. There was a picture of Rin and Makoto sharing a kiss on the balcony, and Rin made yet another mental note to kill Haru after asking for a copy. There was a couple pictures of the kittens, and one of Umi-chan, Haru's new kitten, yawning widely.

In the center of the circle, however, was a picture of the whole gang. Haru, Rin, Makoto, Nagisa, Rei, and Nitori, were crowded on Haru and Makoto's couch, grinning at the camera that sat on the coffee table.

Rin smiled, feeling all warm and fuzzy and a little gross inside. He reached over to his right and grabbed Makoto's hand, giving it a squeeze. He heard Nagisa sniffle to his left.

"This is beautiful, Haru-chan," he choked out, grabbing Rin's hand.

"Oi, don't hold my hand!" Rin hissed, ripping his hand from Nagisa's grip. Nagisa ignored him and grabbed it again, observing the pictures with a watery smile, his other hand holding Rei's. Nitori chuckled and took Rei's free hand in his own, Haru taking Makoto's hand with a blank look.

"You did a very nice job, Haru-chan," Makoto said, giving him a smile, "We're all very proud of you."

"Thank you," Haru replied, "Thank you to everyone for agreeing to be my subjects."

"No problem, Haruka-senpai," Rei replied, "Anything to further the education of a friend."

"Will everyone stop holding hands now? It's embarrassing and I'm going to leave."

"Don't be like that Rin-chan! You loooove it!" Nagisa hugged him, and then Makoto hugged them, and then everyone was hugging in a big group hug.

"I'm leaving," Rin said loudly, trying to break free, "I'm leaving now, you're all so goddamn embarrassing."

HELLO ALL AND WELCOME TO MY DRABBLE SERIES, KITTEN KABOODLES! :D

and with the beginning of this series, comes a drabble that I totally thought of originally for the ending of Cat Connections, BUT I FORGOT TO WRITE IT. So, here it is to start off our drabble series!

So I have a couple ideas already jotted down in my mind and on my phone, AND DO NOT WORRY, makorin sexy times is definitely on that list! (I know you guys want it...you dirty little makorin sluts.)

BUUUUT is there anything else that you wanted to see in Cat Connections but didn't get? I mean, hey, feel free to let me know! So far all I got lined up is around 6 ideas, I think, last time I checked. So yeah!

See you next drabble! Leave a review! (/^_^)/