This was getting long, so it was divided into two parts. I go into these chapters with a framework and bulleted "must do's" for chapter completion, and just let it develop along organically from there, so as long as the chapter hits all the marks it might get a lot longer than initially predicted.

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Part 1 of 2: Friends with Coffee

Every morning, Monday through Friday, twenty-seven-year-old Hayate Aika's life followed a slightly varied but consistent routine. At 4:40 am, her phone's morning alarm would go off; "Dawn Chorus", a gentle tune defined by delicate piano keys and the morning trills of birdsong. This quaint little tune would act in much the same way as a dinner bell to the cat that would invariably be sleeping somewhere on or directly next to her body, prompting it to stir and meow a good morning. The tune would end as she pet Tenten, a short-haired calico with predominately black and orange marbled fur and vivid green eyes, who pranced back and forth across her stomach purring.

Over the course of the next few minutes, Hayate would force her eyelids open more and more with the help of the self-indulgent and demanding feline in a gradual and most pleasant rise to full wakefulness as she smiled and rubbed Tenten's chin with the two of them nose-to-nose, purrs vibrating into her chest. After five minutes of dedicated morning cuddles, the alarm would sound again, this time "Serene Morning"; back again with birdsong and piano but in lower tones and accompanied by a babbling brook, marking the end of their morning session and time for Hayate to rise reluctantly pushing the cuddly feline away.

Tenten did not mourn this significantly though, as the cat trotted quickly ahead of her human servant to the kitchen with urgent meows. Without any sense of patience, she would hover at Hayate's feet while she got the canned cat food out and spooned it into a bowl, then set it down beside the dry food on the floor which was nibbled on throughout the day. The wet food was the main course and happily devoured on the spot.

Furry tripping hazard now distracted, Hayate would move on to making her own breakfast. This would usually consist of eggs in some form which was picked according to her whim each morning. Perhaps it was on rice with some arrangement of toppings like green onions, fish, seasonings, or nattō; an omelet with greens and a bit of meat; or just eggs for eggs' sake either over-easy or scrambled. Just because it was the same humble egg every morning didn't mean that it had to be boring. As for what accompanied this modest main dish, that varied a bit too but was consistent; toast with some sort of spread, rice, a piece of fruit, or yogurt typically prevailed. Whatever appealed to her that morning and always quick and simple to make. Alongside the making of her breakfast, Hayate would efficiently pack up a bento box for lunch which was, like the breakfast, varied but consistent.

She took her time eating, enjoying a video or two on her laptop. By this point, Tenten would finish eating and join her at the short chabudai table, sitting at Hayate's left side on the cushion there. The cat got pets with the left hand, food lifted to Hayate's mouth with the right. Once her meal was finished, she would get up and do the dishes quickly then move on to getting dressed.

Compared to her breakfast, getting dressed was unvarying, brisk, and routine. Charcoal grey scrubs and scrubs jacket, scarf securely covering the skin of her neck with the ends tucked away, and hair swept back in a neat bun tucked under a knit hat. She paid nothing more than a few quick checks in the mirror to her appearance as she brushed her teeth then finished and turned away. A pair of convenient clips on the bento attached it to the straps of her purse, and she slipped on the gloves resting on top of the purse and the shoes by the entry before heading out the door at 5:25 am at the latest to walk to the train. A brisk walk later, she arrived at the station to wait.

Had this been in months prior, Hayate would have stood alone at the train platform passing away the minutes in silence. But alas, something had changed rather recently. For as we all know, twenty-three days ago at the ripe age of maybe three days, three little balls of fluff had come into her care. And not long after, Hayate had acquired a new train companion.

"Good morning." She sat down on one end of the bench with a smile aimed at the man sitting at the other.

His body, hunched over a little and bundled up inside his yellow sleeping bag, raised up slightly along with his eyes cracking open to pay her a glance.

"Morning."

There was a slight inflection in his voice, like a bit of an effort to return her genuine tone; she noticed it, for it differed from the dreary monotone of previous weeks. Aizawa Shouta. He was a subtle sort of individual, reserved and unexpressive by default, so Hayate took it as a sign that he was in a good mood. She kept her eyes and smile on him.

"Did you do anything interesting this weekend?"

Hog-tied two young-dumb villains robbing a convenience store. "Nah. You?"

"Took advantage of the good weather and went on a hike. Just a day trip, but it was nice."

"That at Sengen?"

"Yep, Sengen Park."

"Logical. It's the closest."

"Yeah, it's an easy trip. Great view of the mountain, quiet, wildflowers right now, lots of shady trees… I bet it would it would be pretty peaceful to take a nap out there. Just you, your sleeping bag, and the sounds of nature. Might be a good way to unwind at the end of the week, yeah?"

"Stairs."

"What?"

"Lots of stairs there. And hills."

She raised an eyebrow. "You have a bad knee or something? Er, not that your health's my business."

"My knees are fine. Just plain illogical to climb a hill when you can sleep just as well at the bottom of it."

She gave a little laugh of disbelief. "Really? You're too young to be talking like an old man. Those kids must have you beat."

A faint, barely audible snort was all that met her in reply, and his eyes flicked forward away from her. It was subtle, the change in his eyes, a little dropping of his eyelids. But she'd taken notice of his faint mannerisms enough to pick up on it. There was a bit of truth to what she had said no matter how lightheartedly. Her voice softened up and she glanced forward as well.

"… Well, I think the climb is worth it."

"For the view? That's pretty irrelevant when you're sleeping with your eyes closed."

"They're open on the way up, though."

He said nothing in reply nor made any sign of acknowledgment with his eyes still looking straight ahead. Journey rather than destination. Mindset duly noted.

At his silence she cast a sidelong glance at him, her mind's gears still turning. He had this habit, she had noticed, of going silent around any topic that even hinted at the notion of optimism. She suspected that rather than having no thoughts on the matter, he simply chose to keep his thoughts to himself to avoid what would be an exasperating discussion in his view. Realist or pessimist, she hadn't quite settled on what to call him yet. Or maybe just jaded. He certainly looked the part of the overworked teacher.

But teachers were important, this she firmly believed. And seeing one in such a weary state tugged at her. Sure, she couldn't realistically do anything to affect his time in the classroom, but sometimes just a small act could be the spark to a good mood that carried on all day. If she could just draw out that spark…

"Why did you become a teacher, Aizawa-san?" Where did that passion go?

"Wasn't my idea. I got suckered into it." Oh. So that passion… was that a no?

"Suckered?" Her brow knitted, face turning to him. "How?"

He closed his eyes, chin dipping. "Meh… it's nothing interesting... another teacher threw my name in for recommendations at the school they got hired at. They called me up after that."

Her knitted brow didn't budge. "… So you didn't want your job?"

"Not particularly." She waited for an elaboration, but he just kept feigning sleep without acknowledging her.

"... But you didn't have to accept."

"Mm-hm."

"… But you did."

"Mm-hm."

"… Why?" Curiosity got the best of her.

"…" He stayed quiet longer than usual; long enough that she thought he might not answer at all. But then he gave a grumble, eyelids creeping up slightly.

"Hm… Becoming a teacher is the epitome of irrationality... or so I used to think. After I was approached, though, I thought about it. There are plenty of things I find ridiculous about people I meet. Instead of complaining about those things, it was more rational to accept a position to change those things by tearing them out by their roots right from the start. So in that sense, becoming a teacher had its own logic."

Her bottom lip tucked under her front teeth in thought, and her face sported a puzzled frown. 'Irrational', 'rational', 'illogical', 'logical'; he used those words a lot. But something… didn't line up there. Viewing his own profession as irrational? That didn't seem a typical mindset for a teacher to her. It sounded like he wasn't a teacher at all before this job, but in order to qualify as a teacher in Japan, specific certification and training was necessary. Logically, you had to have the mindset to want to become a teacher to undergo such education before being offered to take up a position, and if you viewed such a job as irrational, well… why would you undertake that training? Something he said earlier suddenly sparked in her memory. Unless—!

"You teach a specialty subject."

"Huh?" The sudden change in subject threw him a little, his tone blank.

"Ah, I remember you saying sometime before—you work at a specialty school. You don't talk like you have a standard teaching degree, so you must have certification in some other specialty skill to teach. Or so it seems to me?" She left the question hanging.

His eyes were open now, fixed on no spot in-particular on the concrete in front of him. Okay, clearly the cat lady was sharper than he gave her credit for to deduce that on such limited information. Dang. "… Mm-hm." Such a pain.

It was subtle, the tense shift in his eyes, but she saw it. Her inquisitive features relaxed at once and she shifted her eyes away from him to look over the tracks. "Ah, I see you don't really want to talk about it. My bad."

His mind, gears turning to find a solution to get out of this topic, paused, and he glanced over at her unobtrusive profile.

"Before you mentioned you just taught 'homeroom', I should have taken the hint then," she continued. "I suppose the last thing you want to talk about on your way to work is more about your work, yeah?" She looked over at him with an easy smile.

He looked at her for a few moments in silence, then his eyes relaxed shifting forward again and closing. "… Yeah."

Her smile lingered on him a moment more then she looked straight. A bit of a misstep, it would seem. Challenging, figuring this man out. The sort of things she thought might open him up a bit just made him clam up. Difficult to read. But there was one topic she had found that he liked predictably.

"What's your favorite sort of cat, Aizawa-san?"

"Black. With short fur."

"Because you can't notice the fur on your clothes?"

"Yep."

"A practical choice. I've got a calico myself."

"Oh yeah?" His left eye cracked open, paying her a glance. Got him. "Mostly black? Or white, orange?"

"Black and orange mostly, the white's down her belly…"

Cats. A simple subject for a simple man. Or something like that, she supposed. And so on it went each morning with a brief chat between the two of them. There wasn't a single day she didn't start up the conversation herself, but that was alright. It was sort of interesting, getting to know him. He was an odd man—This guy? A teacher? Still surprised her—and seemed to be in need of serious mood-lifting, but… well, he was very easy company. "Don't want to talk? No problem, I'll just sleep," he might as well have said. And if she did have something to say, he listened with polite detachment and gave his three cents without batting an eye before going back to nodding off. It was all very laid-back.

And as for him, it was a subtle, gradual shift she observed in the man next to her each morning. At first, he was rather unresponsive and wary, opening his eyes for kittens alone. He seemed to treat her cautiously as if he dreaded her being an annoying disturbance to his dreary morning naps. She took notice and was casual about it, not forcing him to keep talking after brief pleasantries. If he didn't want to talk about something, like work, she changed the subject no questions asked, no pressure. And she could tell that this respect was well-received.

He used to give one-word responses, but more and more now it seemed he'd give her a few sentences in reply. Instead of feigning sleep, he kept his eyes open more and more, engaging with her. And he even asked her a question or two. Never did he give any overt signs of enjoyment like a smile or excitement of any sort, but by the way he sat up and his eyes relaxed at the sight of her even without the kittens, she could tell he liked having a morning acquaintance at least a little. It was kind of nice having someone to talk to in the morning both of them seemed to agree.

And then it was 5:34 am and the train was arriving. She stood up and moved to the boarding platform while he unzipped and stepped out of his sleeping bag cocoon and tucked it under his left arm then walked over and stood behind her with a respectable distance between them. When they boarded, she sat down first consistently near the door and facing it while he predictably kept walking about halfway down to the next door before sitting on the opposite side. Just as quickly as he had stepped out of it, he slipped back into his sleeping bag and zipped it up to his chin, settling in for a good nap as the train started on its way. And a rather long way at that; his stop didn't come until 6:15 am.

But they didn't speak on the train. Hayate felt it would be too intrusive for that length of time, for whether or not they spoke the whole time, just the thought that at any point his nap might be interrupted would surely cause him some irritation. Their chat on the bench was succinct, pleasant, and had a consistent beginning and end. They were both content with that. He napped the ride away while she took out her phone and read education training, the morning news, or a good digital book. And when the train did come to a stop at 6:15 and he started walking to the door, she paused her reading and gave a brief look up with a smile.

"Have a nice day, Aizawa-san."

Always from him, a lazy hand-raise in farewell. "Same to you. Hayate-san."

And just like that, their mornings were concluded. In total, it amounted to no more than ten minutes of dedicated interaction, and about an hour total in each other's indirect company. But that was alright, of course. On the one hand, Aizawa couldn't stand a conversation that dragged on forever, and on the other, Hayate neither wanted to impose nor feel the pressure of it becoming a chore. Nice and rational. Short and sweet.

And then it was onto the other twenty-three hours of the day. At 6:30 am, Hayate tucked away her phone and got off the train. Long though the commute was, once she stepped off she didn't have very far to go, for just two blocks down on the corner in a rather ideal location sat Akasaka Veterinary Hospital.

Akasaka was a four-vet private practice with each of its veterinarians contributing to a well-rounded spread of professional interests, and this, coupled with Akasaka's prime location—right at the intersection of 'big city' and 'residential' and next to public transit—gave it a favorable business advantage in conveniently addressing the needs of any pet in the area from dogs and cats to hedgehogs and parrots.

Along the sidewalks to the front and right side of the property facing the street were nice strips of bark and hardy plants for the visiting dogs. The hospital itself along with the parking lot was fenced with tall chain link, though the sliding gate was unlocked and cracked open as Hayate approached and slipped in. Across the parking lot by the front door, a tall young man with dark hair wearing gray scrubs with a dachshund on a leash took notice of her. When she looked over and caught his eye, he smiled while the dog sniffed along the bed of smooth rocks and lavender that lined the fence opposite the gate alongside the neighboring business. She smiled back.

"Good morning, Takano-san."

"Morning!" There was only one person who got there earlier than she did in the mornings, and that was the kennel/veterinary assistant with the shift starting thirty minutes before the hospital opened; enough time to give any dog boarders a morning potty run and start feeding.

The dog glanced up at her voice and Hayate gave it a smile too before looking at the building as she approached. Akasaka was a moderate-sized structure with a streamlined Japanese-style exterior and clean, muted-red paint. Neat flowerbeds to either side of the main entrance made for an inviting exterior. The building was boot-shaped with the main entrance serving as the 'foot' with the door at the 'toe', and with the flower bed to the right of the door wrapping around the top of the 'foot' alongside a sidewalk to a bench and then continuing to a side door at the 'ankle'. The sidewalk alone extended down the length of the building to another door at the top of the 'boot' with a potty area in-between, and it was to this door that she went.

The alarm, deactivated by Takano, greeted her with a beep of acknowledgment as she came in as it did every time an exterior door opened. Straight ahead of her down a brief hallway was a windowed door that led to the boarding area, but she took a right instead. Ahead of her now was essentially the 'highway' of the hospital, which extended from one end all the way to the other with many doors along the way, but it was to the first door on her right that she went next, arriving at her destination; the breakroom.

Every morning at the hospital, Hayate began her mornings here. There was a small, round table with three stools on her right, a cat tree against the wall behind that next to a shelving unit for personal items, and a door next to that in the corner which led to a tiny, closet-sized room with room enough for just a bed. On the wall to her left was a door to a compact bathroom, and then straight ahead of her a fridge with counters, sink, microwave, and coffee appliances to its right. 'Cozy' would describe in a word. After setting aside her purse, it was, of course, the coffee she went to first.

One thing Hayate always sort of begrudged about work days was that she didn't have her first cup of coffee first thing out of bed as she did on the weekend, but for her, this was a conscientious and strategic decision. Caffeine would be wasted sitting on the train, and, more importantly, having it here at work meant that the making of the morning brew which would sustain her and her colleagues over the next couple hours was in her hands. If there was anything that could kick her morning off to a bad start it was bad coffee, and no such thing would ever come to pass on her watch.

Filtered water was pulled from the fridge and poured into the coffee maker's reservoir. It hadn't taken nearly as much debate as she thought it would be necessary to convince her boss and coworkers to pitch in a few extra yen on a quality office drip machine with her infectious coffee enthusiasm and consistent track record of great brews winning out. Out came a natural bamboo coffee filter and then next, naturally, was the star of the show—the beans.

The cupboard above her was opened, and a row of three air-tight canisters and their labels deliberated on for a minute before she picked the brew of the day; high-quality whole beans, medium roast, rich and nutty. The 'magic' ratio was rationed out on the little kitchen scale she pulled out of a drawer, fifty-five grams of coffee to one liter of water, and then the beans met their fate in a manual burr grinder—medium grind, just a tad on the course side—before being poured into the filter. On with the machine and on with the morning with great coffee just a few minutes away as she tidied up and stepped back, sitting on one of the stools to wait with her phone.

Was it necessary? Of course not. She could just settle for the typical crappy office coffee that prevailed in many businesses, that months-pre-grinded subpar mixture of bitter, acidity, and glorified dishwater. But when there were so many things that couldn't be controlled in the day, why let coffee, one of the few things that could be controlled, go badly? No—there would be one consistently good thing in the mornings of her and her colleagues, and that would be a proper cup of coffee. And maybe the fact that she was a self-admitted coffee snob had a thing or two to do with it, too, but really, who would deny that crappy coffee sucked? She simply had high standards for her brew and stuck to them. As for everyone else in the office, best to just let the coffee snob do her thing, which was great coffee, and reap the rewards.

The coziness of the room would serve to Hayate's advantage over the next few minutes as the room filled with the scent of fresh coffee; a bit of a comforting, Zen-like atmosphere to focus-up to face the day. By the time the coffee was ready to pour, Hayate could usually expect that the opening receptionist would have arrived for the morning, presence announced by the beep of the door and lighter footsteps not matching the coming-and-going of Takano's shoes as he tended to the dogs. There were three receptionists total but always two daily with shifts rotating throughout the week. On a Monday morning like this, it would be Esumi Maho. The woman rounded the corner and her eyes met Hayate's. Hayate smiled, raising a coffee travel mug slightly in greeting.

"Good morning!"

"Morning." Her voice lacked enthusiasm, but she did force a smile. Good? Eh. It was a morning. And a Monday. And she had left a fussy toddler with his poor grandma. But if nothing else, her nose was telling her that Hayate had picked her favorite brew, that something-fancy-named bean from the country don't-care that reminded her of hazelnuts. Good pick. Her morning was just a little better for it. Esumi poured a cup of it and left the room wordlessly to go open the reception area.

Hayate lingered in the room for just a bit longer, sipping and savoring and waiting for that sweet caffeine to hit her veins just in time for her shift to start at 6:45 am, fifteen minutes before opening, as she kept an eye on the time on her phone. When the minute turned, Hayate went to the coffee machine and topped off her mug before pouring a second mug, then she exited the break room with a coffee in each hand and took a right.

Heading down the hall, she'd come to the crucial intersection of the hospital. Behind her—boarding, breakroom, and doctors' office; ahead of her, pharmacy and lab machines down the left side of the hall and three exam room doors on the right; directly to her right, a hallway ending in a windowed-door which barred the way to the main entrance and reception side of the building; and to her left, a both-ways-swinging windowed door to the medical side of the building. She headed straight to the computer at the beginning of pharmacy to clock-in and startup the programs for the morning.

Next, she'd head all the way down to the end of lab where a microscope and a small incubator machine resided. The clear door to the incubator would be opened, thermometer given a quick check, and then the tray within pulled forward and the test tubes withdrawn, one at a time, and their contents examined for signs of growth. Results were logged on the clipboard there, and then any positive uricults taken out with lids tightened to accompany her back down the hall. If there were any other overnight tests by chance she'd take care of them, too. Back at the intersection, she would take a right into medical.

Just inside the door on the right, the medical hub of the hospital had a fridge, and into this went any positive uricults. Cabinets and counters lined the wall to the left of the fridge and ended with a computer station which she likewise went to and started up. That concluded, she turned to face the room and went around the island counter with a treatment table/tub wing on each end that sat in the middle of the room. She walked along the counters and cabinets on the far wall to where the final computer sat opposite of the first station. All along the way she would have brought her coffee and the second cup with her, taking a sip from hers at each station, but here at this final computer she left the coffees where they were for with workstations all set, overnight cultures checked, and perhaps any miscellaneous tests, there was only one thing left to do.

"MeeeehOW!"

"Good morning, Bunta."

His deep meow sounded displeased as she walked into the treatment ward.

"Mee—ow."

"And you too, of course, Tobi."

Old age had made his voice somewhat frail, but his enthusiasm to get out was not as she came to the last bottom kennel on each side in the ward and knelt to open the doors for the two resident cats. They dashed out and paid her not a second glance as they made a beeline for the main room.

"Gosh, Tobi, you made a mess." Washcloth and spray in hand, she got down to business gathering up their litter boxes, last night's food bowls, water bowls, and dirty bedding, cleaning every surface then pulling from the towel-storage cages above for clean bedding. Balancing a stack of dirty materials expertly, she headed after them. The two cats, pacing anxiously at the swinging door, stared back at her and called.

"I'm coming, get your tails out of the way." She stepped around them carefully and pushed the door open, cats hurrying after her into the hall and then following as she went down to boarding. She didn't let them slip in behind her though, leaving them to stare at the door mournfully in anticipation.

Litter boxes dumped and in the dirty sink, dishes in the clean sink, bedding in the dirty hamper. A can of cat food split between two, Tobi's meds slipped into his food, three empty water bowls collected, and three litter boxes prepared, one of them large, and then back out the door. The cats bolted for the breakroom at the sight of her, and after them she went.

"For you, Bunta." The cat, already sitting on the breakroom table, immediately dug into the dish she placed before him.

"And for you, Tobi." She set the dish on the floor by the cat tree for the senior cat on a rubber mat there. Into the bathroom and down the large litterbox went tucked under the sink space. One of the three bowls was filled with water and put down beneath the other side of the sink. Two litter boxes and bowls remaining and no cats to trip on under her feet, Hayate went back through medical filling the water bowls and then into the treatment ward to set them down in their kennels. House cats taken care of, Hayate returned to her coffee by the computer and took a long savoring sip, thus concluding her opening work routine.

And this right here was as predictable as her mornings got. From this point forward, maybe all of the potential blood draws, urine/fecal collections, anal glands, nail trims, groomings, X-rays, surgeries, dentals, bandaging, follow-up calls, and beyond would go exactly as planned according to the schedule and she'd be out of here in as good of a mood and as (relatively) clean as she started. Or maybe the day would be fraught with an overly-excited puppy giving her a golden shower, a mad cat trying to claw her arm off, a parrot screeching her ears out, an emergency coming in just as a doctor was headed out for a house call, or the saddening loss of a sickly pet. Some days were just a crapshoot. Literally. But she'd always make sure that her coffee never made a day worse.

Of course, the fact that she was able to stand here drinking her coffee thoughtfully perusing the schedule after doing her standard morning rundown was only because today was Monday. Because Monday meant that the furry three amigos that she had invited into her life were concluding their weekend sleepover with 'auntie' Kasuya Yuko, a vet tech colleague and good friend. Many thanks to auntie Kasuya.

Bee-eep.

Ah. And speaking of Kasuya, that was probably her coming in the door. Hayate quickly set up for the coming appointment at 7 am sharp, listening to her coming down the hall, then she grabbed the untouched coffee cup and turned around to walk back towards the main medical door. Along the wall to her right were two windowed-doors with the one closest to her going to a treatment room for exotics and the next an exotics/incubator ward for particularly delicate patients; such as young kittens. She opened the door to the exotics/incubator ward and entered just as Kasuya came in from the other door off the main hallway, and when they saw each other they both smiled.

"Hey lady!"

"Hey you!"

"Meow!" Not to be left out, the kittens joined in.

Hayate looked down at the carrier with a smile as Kasuya walked in and set it down. "How are the tiny terrors?"

"Hah," Kasuya gave a weak laugh as she opened up their incubator then looked above to the kennel used for bedding storage. "Terrors is right! They've been giving Ruki a hard time this weekend, and they're getting into everything now, especially Runt. But I suppose they're good practice."

"Heh, yeah, it's the same for Tenten." Hayate crouched down to unzip the carrier, glancing briefly at Kasuya's somewhat pronounced belly as she pulled down a few blankets. "At least kittens grow out of that stage a lot faster."

"Well at least I'll only have one of them to deal with," The other woman retorted, putting the blankets down in the kennel.

Hayate reached her free hand into the carrier and scooped out the mewing runt, then stood with a raised an eyebrow aimed at Kasuya. "Are you sure about that?"

She paused and gave Hayate a look. "Oh gosh, don't even joke. We're definitely sure, just the one."

"Well, you know, when twins ran in the family…"

"Nope! One's what we planned for, and one's what we're getting." Kasuya bent to scoop out the other two kittens. "And if I'm wrong, you get to babysit the crankier of the two."

"Well that's just picking favorites."

Kasuya looked pointedly at the squirmy runt in Hayate's arms while she picked up the other two. "Like that's anything new to you."

Hayate smiled sheepishly, eyes looking away coyly. "Well… maybe just a little bit. He's just so expressive."

"Yeah, he is quite the character… Should have seen him last night. He tried to steal Riku's food! Just pranced on up to the bowl like he owned the place, right under that big ol' dog's nose, and hissed at him!"

Hayate's eyes widened. "Seriously?!"

"I know, right?! An Akita could eat him in one gulp! Caught me by surprise before I could stop him, but Riku loves them to death and was fine. He gave it up, didn't even try to argue with that Runt. They're his 'puppies' already."

"Oh goodness, Riku's such a good dog…" Hayate sighed and shook her head, poking a finger at the littlest kitten's belly. "You're a real troublemaker."

"Mew!"

"Yeah, I know. Auntie's telling on you."

Kasuya chuckled as she brought the other two kittens to her chest and scratched their chins, making them melt and cuddle up against her right away. The runt meanwhile squirmed out of Hayate's grip and mountain-climbed up her shoulder to curl into her neck before he settled down and let her cup her free hand around him. Kasuya and Hayate shared a smile and an eye-roll on the runt's behalf.

"I was thinking about giving them solid food for the first time tonight actually, so it's good to hear they're interested in it."

"Well Runt seems ready to give it a go at least. Oh, and speaking of Runt, you've really got to come up with names for this lot already. I'm sure they're getting tired of being called 'hey you'."

"Well, I just want to get to know them beforehand. Can't figure out their personalities when they're so little."

"At this rate they'll be adopted by the time you come up with anything."

"Oh come on, they'll have names by then!"

"Ought to come up with a list and we'll all take a vote or something." Kasuya pulled each kitten away from herself one at a time and put them in the kennel with a final, quick head scratch and boop on the nose. "Alright, let's get this day going."

"Mm. Right." Hayate stepped forward and peeled the runt away from her neck, following her lead.

"Mew!"

He made a protest which was denied as she put him in with the other two kittens and held him in with a hand as she closed the door, then set the incubator. Newborn kittens were unable to regulate their body temperature, a biological function which would take around seven weeks to develop to a level comparable in adults. The chilled, regulated temperature of the hospital didn't help.

Kasuya tucked the carrier away and glanced over at Hayate, eying the cup she'd been holding onto. "And I see that coffee you've got there, I smelled it coming in the door."

"Oh this coffee?" Hayate held it up with a smirk. "Oh no, you don't want this coffee. This coffee was an absolute flop, like burnt acid. Total disaster."

"Well that's a laugh, there's never a bad cup with you around." Kasuya snatched up the cup from Hayate who offered no resistance and took a deep sip as she started walking towards the medical room. "Mm, yes. Simply dreadful." She took another sip. "So, who have we got first this morning?"

"Nail trims for Aki and Taiki." Hayate followed after her.

"Taiki's the dramatic one, right?"

Hayate nodded with a chuckle. "Yep. Gotta have the cheese-whiz with the nails or he'll scream like you're clipping his whole leg off."

"Pfft! They'll do that if you just clip the air! Gosh, Shiba Inus."

"Aki's an angel, though."

"Just has to show up her big baby brother, I bet…"

Starting the morning with great coffee always started the day off right, but as for keeping the day going in an environment where shit could maybe literally hit the fan, a good friend just couldn't be beat.

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"ERASER! Where you at? I gotta tell you about this guy! He was totally OBNOXIOUS!"

Eraser Head suppressed a shudder as the door to the staff room suddenly burst open. That voice could only belong to one person, and it was way too early for him to be sounding so worked up. Well, his morning nap had been good while it lasted. He slowly rose up into a seated position on the floor behind his desk.

"… Right where I'm always at, Mic." Every. Morning.

"GOOD! Don't move." As if Eraser would get up and run away. That was far too much effort. Maybe just hide his head under the desk. Inch-worm under there, away from the noise.

Mic strode over to the row of desks, theirs side-by-side. He hooked his office chair with a foot spinning it around, swiftly took a seat leaning forward dramatically, and looked down at Eraser in earnest as he made daring gesticulations while balancing a coffee cup in each hand. "I am FIRED UP! Ya know!? Just one of those mornings, man! Like, there're bad mornings, and then there are TERRIBLE mornings! Guess which one this is?!"

"… A terribly loud morning," Eraser deadpanned, looking up at him with glazed eyes.

Mic looked disgruntled. "Come on, throw me a bone! Drink this." He thrust the coffee in his left hand out to Eraser.

Eraser's eyelids perked up at once. "Oh. Thanks." Well, that certainly redeemed Mic a bit. He unzipped his sleeping bag far enough to reach his arm out and take it. He glanced at it as he brought it back. "Don't recognize this cup."

"Some new café on the edge of Naruhata Ward."

"The hell you doing over there? That's almost my turf."

"I KNOW! That's what I gotta tell ya about! See, I was almost out the door when I got the buzz that there was a villain over there—"

Huh. New café. Eraser studied the logo on the cup and thought, tuning Mic out as his mind's gears started turning. Why did that strike a chord with him for some reason? He took a sip. Suzu Café. Did someone tell him about it or something?

"—Was almost to the train when I got the buzz that they needed backup. Can't just turn that down, RIGHT?!"

"… Mm. Right." Sip.

"So I changed plans and headed on the Naruhata line—"

Oh, Naruhata. Maybe that was it? Was he talking about Naruhata with someone recently? Hm. Sip.

"—BUT THAT'S where things go wrong! You see, it was one of those instant distress messages, so they didn't give the full details—"

Jeez, this was going to eat him until he figured it out. What was it? Café, Naruhata, … Sip. Not bad coffee. His eyes sharpened. "How about a good coffee?" "Meh, there aren't any cafés around here."

"—BUGS!"

"Oh." That's right. Hayate asked about it. Last week. Sip.

"NOW you get it! A BUG Quirk! BUGS! EVERYWHERE! And they had WINGS—!"

Naruhata might not be too far out of her way. Well, guess it depended on where she lived, exactly. Couldn't have been too far from where he lived since they took the same train, but which direction would make a difference on her distance to the café… Sip.

"—Of course, I screamed! But those horrible little things, you wouldn't believe it! They liked the high frequency! They came RIGHT AT ME—!"

Eh, might as well tell her. Sip. Their black coffee was fine at least. No clue about their fancy coffee drinks, but eh, she could figure that out herself.

"—And that was probably the first AND LAST time I will ever happily be pepper sprayed!" Mic's voice dropped with an air of finality and he let out a long exhale, shoulders relaxing a bit as he slumped back in his chair and took a large gulp of coffee, the first Eraser had seen him take since he started talking.

"…" Eraser waited a few moments to confirm that Mic had let off the last of his steam, and upon the cup coming back down from his lips and no more words coming out of them, he was satisfied.

"…Well Mic, that was quite the story. Might want to consider adding bug spray to your arsenal. Could fit it in a jacket pocket, maybe." He tossed back the last of his drink and stood up, shrugging off his sleeping bag. "Thanks for the coffee." He tossed the empty cup in the trash then swiveled into his chair, pulling up to the computer. Almost like he could feel the caffeine already.

Mic swiveled forward too, setting the cup on the desk and settling down. "Thanks for listening! Had to get that off my chest. Whew!" His typical grin came back in full force as if nothing distressing had ever happened.

"Anytime, Mic." Anytime. Just bring the coffee.

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I like trivia stuff at the bottom of character bio pages, so here's some for you all:

Tenten (点々: adv. "here and there"; adj. "scattered in drops"; n. "dot"): Hayate's female calico cat with predominately black and orange marbled fur and vivid green eyes. Her belly and toes are white, although Hayate hasn't mentioned the toes yet.

Akasaka (赤坂: "red", "hill/slope"): I imagined that the majority of people are unfamiliar with how vet hospitals are set up or just everything that a vet tech does in general, thus gave a bit of a background tour here. I am not a vet tech myself, but have been a vet assistant so have at least experienced how my vet hospital functions, and drew inspiration from that. A good workplace atmosphere tends to vary from hospital to hospital from my understanding, but I had only positive experiences at my vet hospital.

Naruhata Ward is the location where the Vigilantes spin-off manga is centered. In Vigilantes, Aizawa mentions he lives "nearby", that there are no cafés in the area, and he takes his coffee black with no sugar. This is also the line where teaching being the "epitome of irrationality" and his teaching origin story comes from. There's more information on Aizawa's private life in 40 chapters of Vigilantes than what I've gathered from 200 chapters of MHA proper lol

Fun Fact: I actually don't like coffee at all, and hence, have no clue how to properly make it. Or at least I didn't until I took a deep dive down a rabbit hole in excellent coffee-making research in order to make Hayate's coffee-loving experience as believable as I thought I could muster as a non-coffee drinker myself. I think it's pretty clear where Part 2 is going lol