You had Me at Meow

by Webster'sWeb

If it hadn't been for his affinity for cats, he might have walked by her a thousand times and never spared her a second glance. But one morning at the train station, something she carried with her caught his attention. Sometimes, it was the tiniest of things that drew two people together. The tiniest of sounds — "Meow." Feel good, slow burn Aizawa/OC. Slice of life vibe w/plot

16. Discovery Beyond Logic

Special thanks to matchamida for being my editor for this chapter and fellow pet lover :)

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Beginning of Part 2

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Discovery Beyond Logic

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The following Monday morning began with a return of their routine forgone since summer began.

"Good morning."

Aizawa opened his eyes at Hayate's greeting and looked over as she took a seat beside him. She aimed a shy smile at his face, the only part of him not tucked away in a familiar yellow garment.

"I'm quite glad to finally have you back here."

"Ah… yeah," he spoke slowly, sitting up in his sleeping bag a little. "Good morning."

He sat expectantly watching her, though she seemed content with quietly smiling and being hyper-aware of his existence. After a bit, he cleared his throat, looking away slightly.

"So… overnight, I was thinking… guess we're 'dating' now." He said it like it was a foreign word.

"Yeah…?" She looked at him again, her eyebrow raised. "That's what people call it."

"… Hmm." He looked forward and his chin tucked with a frown. "… Not too familiar with how this works, to be honest."

She thought for a moment, looking forward, too. "Well… it's not so different from what we were doing before. Talking, getting to know each other, doing activities together… it just has a different goal, now." She was silent for a moment, then her eyes flicked over to the gap between them on the bench.

"And… we can be closer." She scooted over on the seat bridging half the distance to him. She shot a quick smile up at him. "If you want, anyway!"

"Huh…"

He evaluated the remaining gap on the bench. His gaze flicked up over her, pausing briefly on her hand and then her lips, curiously recalling the closeness of the day before. After a moment of silence, he shifted closer, eliminating the tiny gap between them. Her cheeks were dusted with a happy pink at the puffiness of the sleeping bag at her side. She looked over at him.

"… So, I take it you haven't dated anyone before."

"No. I've never been interested. Well… before this." He looked back at her. "… And you have?"

"Yes, I've made several attempts. It only really got anywhere twice, though neither time quite made it to a year."

She paused, eyes flicking up with a thought then over to him. "If you'd like… I recall you still had a lot of questions. We could start every morning with one, or, some other topic. And I'd have some, too."

He considered that idea with an appreciative look. "Yeah… that would be reasonable."

She watched him, waiting with an expectant smile. He realized this, and his eyes shifted to the side in thought.

"Hm… what's your financial situation?"

She blinked and gave him an odd look. "Uh, okay. That's kind of a heavy topic for day one."

He didn't look phased. "Money is a leading factor contributing to inter-marital disputes and divorce."

"Mm, not wrong…"

He frowned at her tone. "Why? What were you expecting?"

"Well, usually the dating questions start out a little more light-hearted."

"No wonder money's such a problem. I'd rather be upfront about what we're getting ourselves into potentially."

"Fair enough…" Not exactly romantic, but she conceded. She looked up, thinking for a few seconds. "No debts. I worked as much as I could and had scholarships in vet school. I have a budget and I stick to it. Savings accounts. Residency pay is low; it's enough to get by, and post-residency pay will be plenty more than that, anyway. So… that's me."

He found it satisfactory. "No debts. Been working as a Pro since high school. Savings accounts. I buy minimal non-essentials."

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I'm not a frivolous spender, either." Her mouth shifted to the side. "If I had to name a weak spot, it's probably eating out on late nights at work rather than cooking at home."

"Eh, cooking would be a waste of time."

"I… take it you don't cook?"

"Why bother? Prepared meals and meal replacements are plentiful."

"Hm… duly noted. I will definitely supervise you while in my kitchen."

He shrugged indifferently.

A lull settled in the conversation, and Hayate thought, her mouth scrunched as she ran through ideas. She settled on one and looked at him with a sly grin.

"But let's say, hypothetically, you had loads of money. Way more than you needed. Would you be any different?"

"I don't need the money." She waited, but he didn't say anything more.

"...You could live somewhere that lets you have cats," she suggested.

"It's not like I'd have time to take care of them."

"You could retire early."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'd rather be productive."

"Well, you could hire someone to tend to the cats. Then you just get to come home and enjoy them. As many cats you want. Adopt all of them and it will be to their benefit."

"…" He looked impassive, matching his silence. Finally, he glanced over at her somewhat reluctantly. "… Is this your idea of a light-hearted question?"

"Sure."

"..." He looked away from her. "...I don't need that kind of money."

She frowned at him. "It's not about the money. It's about what you'd do if money wasn't an issue."

"Then you already know the answer," he replied indifferently. "That's no different than I am now."

Her frown deepened as she studied him. He was rather adamant about not participating. That didn't satisfy her, though, and her face showed it.

"It's a creative exercise. Critical thinking. Finding common ground. Come on, surely you can see the value in thinking."

She twisted in her seat towards him, folding one leg over the other and pressing into his space just slightly. She rested her bent arm over the top of the bench, wrist curled with the back of her hand propped against her cheek.

"So, you aren't going to get a mansion full of cats and you aren't retiring early. You don't need the money, maybe, but something's got to happen with it. Give it to someone? Invest it? Retire on time in luxury? What are you going to do with the money?" She was prepared to wait him out with her eyes on him intently.

He stared back at her blank-faced. He searched her irises, remembering their features. His eyes flicked down to her lips for a moment then darted away.

He considered the question again, cranking the reluctant gears of his brain into action. She didn't shift her position as he thought for a while, looking down at the ground in front of them. He looked back at her.

"There's no use in sitting on excess resources like that. I'd get it invested and pay it out to reputable organizations and individuals who do need it. I wouldn't be any different. I already live within my means."

His eyes dropped to the side. "Though, maybe, in retirement… I would get many cats."

She laughed, and he felt it against his side. He looked again at her face. Her laughter settled with a grin, clearly enthused by his response.

"I could certainly help you out with that plan. There are plenty of smaller rescue groups that would benefit from it that I'm aware of. Of course, just giving out money isn't the end of it. You could throw a lot of money at a problem and still waste all of it without being set up right."

"Hm… I suppose I didn't consider every detail."

"There are quite a few details to remember as a veterinarian. Being conscientious of expenses and the organization's structure is part of the shelter medicine specialization."

He had to admit, his interest was gradually getting piqued. "… Elaborate, then. If I'm throwing my money at this, then I need all the facts."

She chuckled. "Oh, you sir, have stepped in a very deep rabbit hole."

The look on her face said she was rather pleased about it, though, and he didn't look deterred by her warning, either. She occupied the rest of their time on the bench with fulfilling his request. He listened, for the most part, watching her face in concentration with critical thoughts and calculations ticking behind his eyes before replying after evaluation. Though her intellect was unsurprising to him given her profession, she impressed upon him financial competency and detailed-orientation, which was, in a very logical manner… attractive.

So, this is what we're doing now… huh.

He lowered his eyes to her lips, reflecting on it again. Curious.

One detail that had certainly caught his notice was their proximity. They were already side-by-side, and she was still turned slightly towards him. She'd uncurled the arm she had on the back of the bench and he could feel it stretched out behind his shoulder. It was impossible not to notice her Quirk, either, catching it faintly with every inhale.

He pulled his eyes away from her lips when he became aware of the approaching train in his periphery, and she turned her head when she heard it.

"Ah, here already."

She pulled away from his sleeping bag and he watched her go for a moment before slowly getting up himself. They both stepped up to the platform with his eyes pinned on her back. His eyelids lifted with a sudden thought.

"Hey, wait a minute. You never answered the question yourself."

"Hm, you're right." She looked back over her shoulder coyly. "I guess you'll find out tomorrow."

"Heh." He looked away with a wry smile. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment before looking forward again, and then he looked back at her.

They boarded the train and he followed her to her usual spot, taking a seat beside her. As he tucked back into his sleeping bag, he hesitated, glancing at her.

"… I'd like to just sleep."

"That's fine," she said, looking unbothered as she took out her tablet. "I'd like to just read."

She didn't say anything more, and the silence put him at ease with his eyelids falling. They flicked back open for a brief moment to scrutinize the slight gap between them. He shuffled over in his seat then closed them again. Hayate was aware of his weight against her shoulder gradually increasing as he relaxed and fell asleep, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. When his stop eventually came, she was slightly impressed with how spontaneously he awoke without even the need of a nudge from her. He stood up and gathered his sleeping bag under his arm, lingering on the train with his eyes on her as she looked up at him and smiled.

"Have a good day, Aizawa."

"You too… see you tomorrow, Hayate."

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"So… how'd 'nothing' go?"

Aizawa flicked his eyes over to Yamada, who was leaning out of his seat towards him with the words whispered out of the corner of his mouth. He studied him without expression briefly, then looked back at his computer with a ghost of a smile coming to his face.

"… It went well."

Yamada flashed a toothy grin, straightening in his seat with a muted chortle.

The faint smile lingered on Aizawa's own face, seeming not to mind the distraction this time.

It persisted to the following morning when she greeted him again, and tugged at the corners of his lips as he listened to her answer to the question, as promised. Constantly aware of her closeness beside him, he took note of the light, fluttery feeling proximity caused in himself. Hormones, he reasoned. A biochemical concoction percolating through his nervous system aimed at spurring a natural though ultimately irrational response. And yet, it had an undeniable appeal; unknown, slightly exciting, and pleasant.

This was a curious and unfamiliar thing. Skeptical of it by nature, its emergence in him was still unexpected. Acceptance of it, with her, made him wonder about himself. And her. Why, specifically, with her, after being so disinclined and uninterested for all his life before? Intrigued, he was willing to test it and explore what it had to offer. Cautious, he maintained his critical, logical attention.

Even as his eyes drifted again of their own accord down to her lips, recalling and wondering further about this urge to try it again. Her Quirk was like an unreachable itch, starting in his nostrils and burrowing deeper in his head. if anything, it seemed more present today. That, too, made him question this as he became aware of the drift of his eyes and pulled them back to hers.

It only seemed to become more tempting the following morning. He was acutely aware that his attention was divided between her words and her appearance. Her work clothes weren't revealing by any means, but that didn't stop his eyes from roaming if he let them. It was best just to focus on her face, even though her lips held his attention again.

"You can smell it, right?"

He flicked his eyes up to hers, finding them looking at him calmly. Try as he might, she'd been watching him keenly. His eyes widened in surprise, then darted away from her. "Uh… yeah."

She looked unbothered.

"This week I'm ovulating. Probably today, specifically."

The information clicked, and he immediately recalled the conversation they'd had at the adoption event over the summer. "Ah. That's why it's so noticeable, then."

She nodded.

"There's about a five-day window where you'll definitely notice my Quirk, and especially on that day."

She held up her hand to illustrate for him. Fingers splayed, she counted down three of them starting from her pinky. When she reached her index finger, she paused, flicking it up a few times to emphasize it, then continued counting it down to her thumb and making a fist. She returned her arm over the back of the bench.

"You'll always be affected by my Quirk. That's simply its nature. But you'll become accustomed to it in time."

She gestured vaguely at them sitting so closely. "Normally, I'd be suppressing my Quirk on days like this around others. Right now, I'm neither suppressing nor releasing it. Exposure like this helps your body normalize it as just a part of being around me. Eventually, it'll sort of be in the background. Well, unless I really turn it on."

He absorbed that with a look of revelation. So, all this week…

"I didn't realize you were… well. Working on that?"

"You're not the first person I've had to figure this out with. You get to benefit from past attempts and adjustments." She looked at him with the same calm, her voice carrying a soft understanding. "If it feels like it's overwhelming you, say it and we'll slow down. Like I said before. I'm not in any rush."

He considered that for a long moment. Caution and logic overruled the newly-budding attraction. Her comfort took precedence. And with that, as he evaluated the new information, a furrow formed in his brow.

"… It seems like rushing's been a problem before."

She didn't answer right away, looking at him for a moment then away to mull it over. "Well… not everyone responds to my Quirk equally well."

It was a vague explanation at best, and that didn't satisfy his analysis. His brow remained furrowed. "How, exactly?"

Her head turned away from him slightly. "That's not very relevant right now. Just focus on the 'not rushing' part. Anyway." She looked back at him. "It's my turn to ask a question."

There was an air of finality in her tone that he didn't exactly agree with, but he held his tongue. That's kind of a heavy topic for day one, he recalled, and decided to store it for future reference.

"Do you want to go on a date?"

He blinked, a little blindsided by the change in subject. She looked at him expectantly with a smile.

"I know we've done things together, but they weren't really dates, yet. So, wanna go on a real one?"

"Uh… sure. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, when are you available?"

He thought about it. "My school runs on a six-day week, so Sunday's my only day off."

"So, this Sunday?"

He hesitated. Was it really a good idea so close to this point in her cycle? He reflected again how strong it had been over dinner at the adoption event and in light of her new information today. Could he even accurately judge his own affection with her Quirk heightened? Maybe just waiting a bit longer, gathering a few more answers to his questions first, was a better idea. Logical caution ruled again.

"… Not this Sunday. How about next?"

She hesitated this time. "Ah, well, I was planning on visiting the cemetery that Sunday, since I have to work on the equinox."

The Autumn Equinox was a national holiday and traditionally a time for visiting graves to remember departed loved ones in Japan, falling mid-week this year.

"Ah, another time then," he said immediately.

Hayate didn't say anything for a moment, thinking it over. If we don't go out this weekend or next, then that's three weekends out… Her mouth suddenly split into a Cheshire grin with the dawning of an idea. "Actually… I think it'll be perfect. The cemetery won't take very long. There'll be plenty to do in the area with the rest of the day."

He looked at her gleeful expression questioningly. She seemed to have something interesting in mind. "… I suppose then, if you're alright with it, sure."

"Great. I'll let you know the specifics closer to the day."

Aizawa nodded along, silently pondering what exactly that mystery Sunday would entail. A date, huh? The first image he could conjure up was lazily observing while on patrol young folks drunk on hormones giddily hanging off of each other's words and hands. Not exactly an appealing picture. Kinda gross, even. Highly irrational. It certainly wouldn't be him. His eyes flicked to her. And hopefully not her.

"So… what are the rules for this, exactly?"

"Rules?" She looked at him blankly.

"The date."

"Oh. Uh…" She searched the air. "Uh… be your normal self? Don't be an ass? Casual-wear? I guess."

Hm. A rather 'light-hearted' occasion, then.

After a moment of thought, she suddenly spoke again. "Oh, and come hungry."

Hmm… "Budget?"

"Hmm, modest. Though you could spend more, if you want. It's not any place fancy." She grinned slyly at him. "Just fun."

"Hm." He studied her. "... You're not going to just tell me what is?"

"Nope!" She looked away from him decisively, and he decided it wasn't worth the effort of pursuing.

"Very well. Surprise it is." It mildly increased his interest, at least.

He looked over as the train came into view, bringing with it yet another end to their bench conversation. They boarded together, and the train carried them one morning closer to the following Sunday.

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Two Sundays later, early morning...

"Goin' on a date~!"

Hayate hummed a made-up tune as she flitted about. The calico cat loafing on her bed passively observed this curious behavior. She pulled out a few scarfs, swaying between head or neck coverings. "Hmm-mm-hmmm~… I could put my hair down today. Yeah." She set the head garments down.

"Pop of color…" One caught her eye. "Cats! Of course." She picked out it and another, holding them up for comparison. "Hmmm…"

She glanced over at the bed.

"What do you think, Ten?"

The cat's ears perked up at her name and she started purring. Hayate gave a small chuckle and walked over. She crouched down and held both the scarves out towards the cat. Tenten sniffed the one in her right hand.

"Yellow it is."

She brought it over to her shirts hanging in the closet.

"No boring scrubs today, Ten! I want something form-fitting and sleek."

The cat just continued purring as she flicked between options, matching them to the scarf. She paused on one.

"Hmm… I'd bet a million yen he'll be wearing black, too. We'll match!"

She pulled the sweater off the hanger and hung it over her shoulder, looking at her jeans. "Definitely darker, not too dark… Yeah. Those."

She got everything on and went across the hall to the bathroom. Grabbing a brush, she combed it through her hair while thinking and looking in the mirror.

"I don't think it needs anything fancy. I mean, he's never even seen it down before."

Some frizz-control hairspray for her wavy strands was sufficient. The same principle applied to makeup. Just a touch to emphasize her eyes and shiny clear lip gloss; something to make the day feel special since she usually avoided anything that could draw attention.

"Alright."

With content eyes drooped shut, the cat listened to her head out of the bathroom and into the main room of the apartment, over to the door where her shoe options were. Hayate skimmed over them and quickly settled on tan leather boots, approving of the color complimenting the scarf. She got them on and checked herself out in the full-length mirror on the entryway wall. Her mouth swished to the side.

"Hmm…" It just looked like it needed a little something. She held up her forearms, bare wrists exposed below the three-quarter-length sleeves. Her lips straightened as she slid out of the boots.

Tenten heard her coming back and cracked open her eyes, watching her head back into the bathroom. Pulling open a drawer, she shuffled through a modest selection of options before choosing. She slid the simple bands onto her left wrist and held them up in the mirror, comparing the silver to the gray in the pattern on the scarf with satisfaction.

"There we go."

She walked back out of the bathroom and looked across the hall into the open bedroom to the smiling cat on the bed. Tenten opened her eyes as her human stepped up and crouched down in front of her. The purring intensified as Hayate scratched her cheeks with both hands, cooing back to her.

"Will he care, Ten? I doubt it, but it's not every day we get to dress up and go on a date~."

Tenten scent-marked the silver bracelets in approval.

Hayate petted her for a minute, then straightened up with her hands on her hips. "Okay. Time to go."

She headed out of the room. "Thanks for helping me get ready. I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

Tenten watched her go, both of them smiling all the way.

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Be your normal self. Casual-wear.

Aizawa put on black clothes, pulled his hair back, and left.

Arriving at the train station a minute early, he settled onto their usual bench. If anything, he was a little underdressed minus his sleeping bag and Capturing Weapon. He settled for slumping with his hands in his pockets as he waited for her. With both of them being unerringly punctual, it wasn't a long wait.

"Hey!"

He looked up at her chipper greeting. When he saw her, he paused a moment before responding.

"G'morning…"

She sat down and he kept looking at her. She looked a little different today. Something about her silhouette caught his eye. Was it the lack of scrubs? More apparently, while he had put his hair up when he usually had it down, she had put hers down when she usually had it up. He didn't recall ever seeing it all the way down before. His own hair was somewhat longer, though hers was wavier.

He almost didn't care about her scarf thinking it simply had some sort of abstract pattern, but his eyes did a double take upon realizing that the pattern was actually stylized cats; five variations, all plump, and sharing some combination of gray, black, and white with stripes or spots. He took his time appreciating the details.

She did her own fair bit of studying him, looked pleased that he noticed her scarf right away. "Like it? You've never seen this one before."

"Right… They're kind of cute."

He straightened his head with a hand going to scratch the stubble on his chin.

Should I have…? Well, she hadn't said to. It hadn't occurred to him to do any preening, either. "You… have a lot of scarves, huh?"

"Eh-heh," she imagined her stash, "Oh yeah, I've got a lot. It helps to contain my Quirk by covering up my skin and hair."

His brow furrowed a little, glancing at her head. "But… you didn't cover up your hair."

She tilted her head a little with a smirk. "Well…" She scooted closer on the bench, her shoulder brushing up against his. "I'm with you today."

"... Oh."

Okay, definitely should have shaved. If she cared, she didn't show it, and he glanced over at the smile plastered on her face as she looked straight ahead at nothing specific.

"... You seem eager."

She turned her bubbling enthusiasm on him. "Yeah! This'll be fun." She studied his neutral expression for a few moments. "Aren't you excited?"

He thought about it. "I don't know... Curious, I suppose. I don't have any expectations."

Her grin cooled a little. "... Well then." She looked forward with a resolved set to her lip and raised her arm, stretching it out on the bench behind his shoulders. "We'll just have to set the bar."

He looked at her arm with a curious glance then at her expression, and mild amusement tugged his lips back. "Heh… alright, I'll look forward to that."

She didn't speak a word after that, seemingly saving them up for the day.

The train came and Hayate led them on, being the one knowing where they were going. Cognizant of her Quirk, Aizawa took note of how she navigated it for his own awareness. He followed her all the way down to the train car at the end of the platform where the fewest people would be. They had met at a time between the sardine-packed rush hours, though it was certainly not the skeleton screw of their typical 6 a.m. ride. She scanned the interior, and though there was enough room to sit freely, she picked a spot on the end that the previous car connected to where several women sat in close proximity, inserting herself between them with Aizawa joining her.

It was etiquette not to speak on the train, so they remained quiet the whole way. Aizawa did nod off, though, arms crossed and head dipping to the side where her shoulder was in lieu of curling down into his absent sleeping bag. His eyes opened when she gave him a nudge as the unfamiliar stop approached. They left the station with him noting their locale, looking around at the area.

Yanaka, huh. He recognized the place by name, and immediately had a very strong hunch of two reasons for them being here. The first no doubt had to do with the leather bag she had over her shoulder that was big enough for the miniature bouquet of yellow, pink, orange, and white chrysanthemums poking out of the top. And the second was… well. She certainly had him figured out.

It wasn't a surprise to him when she led them to Yanaka Cemetery. It was a famously large cemetery and blanketed with lush trees. The sakura trees lining its neat roads were especially attractive to visitors in the spring. As far as graveyards went, he supposed it was relatively lacking in gloom, though he'd yet to ever see one that didn't demand some sense of reverence with the tall gravestones standing side-to-side and the temples.

The excitement she'd greeted him with had levelled out by the time they entered, persisting as she walked to their destination, and he followed behind her with his hands in his pockets. The grave she eventually stopped at wasn't particularly distinctive in shape, though it did have an engraving of a French bulldog to distinguish it. Some quick math told him the person had died at scarcely thirty, and the final date was February of the same year. Aizawa didn't look at it much more closely than that, stopping with a respectful space between him and it and angling himself to the side while Hayate crouched in front of it.

She didn't move for a long pause, thinking at the stone with a pensive expression, but the silence seemed to bother her.

"This isn't actually my family's grave, but… I've had it on my mind, lately."

She bent forward to brush a few early autumn leaves away. "I'm sure her family will be coming soon to clean it properly…"

Carefully, she took the flowers out of the bag. They were sitting in a small, square-cornered pot, and she centered it on the base of the stone. She paused, noting that the top-most flowers partially covered the dog on the tower of the stone, and delicately spread them around it.

"French bulldogs were her favorite. She had one as the family dog growing up." A faint smile hung on her lips, recalling fondly.

When she was satisfied with the arrangement of the flowers, she folded her hands in her crouched knees. Her eyes again lingered on the stone and now flowers, thoughts drifting in the returning silence. She glanced over at Aizawa, finding him motionless with his eyes pinned to some distant spot, and bit her lip, looking back at the stone.

"... I don't think I ever mentioned her to you. She died before we really met. She was a veterinarian, too—my upperclassmen back in school. She had a way of picking out the people who were hardest on themselves… I suppose that's how we started out. I admired her for that, for always being so…" Her voice trailed off, and she tucked in her lips for a moment before finishing quietly. "...compassionate to a fault."

Her eyes stayed on the flowers a lot longer this time. Eventually, when she did shift her gaze, it was to look over at Aizawa. He looked carved from stone himself, as unreadable and unmoving as before. She bit her lip again as she looked at him, feeling that this wasn't entirely fair to him despite it being part of their schedule for the day. She spoke to him softly.

"Since we're here… is there someone you'd like to visit?"

"No one."

His reply came quick, tone clipped, sounding harsher than intended. He didn't correct it despite mentally acknowledging that wasn't the right thing to do.

She hesitated, getting the sense from his tone that suggested otherwise that it wasn't the whole truth, but declined not to press him further out of respect. Looking back at the stone, she silently gave a farewell then stood with a sense of relief that they were getting this out of the way first thing in their day.

"I'm ready to go."

He offered no comment, simply settling into pace with her. She took a different route leaving the cemetery clearly with a new destination in mind. While leaving, she looked around at the graves a lot, closely scanning for a chance sighting of something. When she did find one, her face brightened.

"Well, isn't that a pretty kitty!"

"Hm?" His eyes lifted up from the ground immediately following her gaze.

A white calico with big blotchy spots lounged on top of a gravestone in the clear morning's sun, chin resting on its paws and eyes closed contentedly. Hayate made a path for it and Aizawa followed with his attention perking up.

"Good morning, Cat-san," She talked to the cat and it lifted its eyes. "Would you care for some company?"

'Cat-san' affirmed, sniffing the offered hand and rubbing her cheek against it. Aizawa regarded Hayate's greeting with slight amusement and approval, for being polite to a cat was surely one way into his good graces. He greeted the cat silently himself and started petting it with her.

Hayate looked over at him with a knowing look. "Stray cats like to hang out in Yanaka Cemetery. Surely you know what name Yanaka also goes by."

His eyes didn't leave the purring cat. "Mm…" Oh, he knew, alright. And onto reason two…

Her expression dropped into disbelief at his deadpan reaction.

"Wait. You mean to tell me, that you, of all people, haven't heard of a place that goes by the nickname of 'Cat Town'?"

"Well, sure, I've heard of it," he defended. "I try to stay away from 'touristy' places, though."

She studied him for a second then snickered. "Or maybe, you're just afraid you'll become a tourist in a place dedicated to your glaring weakness."

"As if," he scoffed, denying the truth that she had nailed with stubborn diligence. "That would be irrational."

"Hm." She was unconvinced. "I guess we'll just have to see."

He set his jaw in silence.

They pet the cat for a while before moving on. Chance encounters along the way with several other felines sunbathing on stones had them veering off their course out of the cemetery to say hello. It wasn't just Hayate scanning for them either, with Aizawa spotting and making a beeline for a long-haired black cat with shiny fur and yellow eyes. A white cat with a black saddle patch invited itself onto Hayate's lap, and Aizawa watched her sitting in the grass with it from across the way with his own feline at hand. This was a decidedly better-than-average cemetery.

But these cats, like all cats, were fickle creatures. A new person approached down one of the lanes between graves. The cats promptly shot up, and Aizawa's hand hung in the air of abandonment. The cats gathered around the older gentleman who greeted them softly by name and bent down. Hayate came up to Aizawa's side.

"Guess even you can't compete with the locals."

"Hm… sadly, true."

"That's alright, though. There are plenty of cats ahead of us."

She knew the way, and soon enough they were passing by buildings with yellow flags that had waving cats on them, inviting visitors to Yanaka with increasing frequency. One more turn, and they were facing the Yanaka Ginza shopping street.

This one long, single lane of foot travel, packed with more than eighty shops, had a bit of it all. Bento boxes, butchers, sake bars, bamboo-wares, cooking, art galleries, souvenir shops, and sweet treats abounded. And the running theme through it all: a prevalent feline presence.

Aizawa eyed several stone cat statues and then a shop advertising a wall of custom stamps, many of them cat-themed, as they started down the lane at a leisurely pace.

"Hey, let's start here." She picked and he followed, bracing himself.

There was one thing and one thing only that this shop was dedicated to: maneki-nekos. Waving cats of all shapes and sizes and styles lined the shelves and displays. Clearly, they were for souvenirs and decor; essentially, knickknacks, neither of which he needed. Of course, there was still no harm in just looking at each and every cat. Though he didn't say a word about it, Hayate could tell a row of artistically painted cats on an upper row were his favorite from the way he lingered there.

It started a trend for the rest of the shops she pulled him into, one after the next. The variety shops with small objects were harder to resist. They wouldn't take up that much space, after all. His gaze fixed on a selection of cat pens; there must have been at least a dozen options—

No. I already have pens at work.

But the socks? What about the socks? Socks are practical—

No. I. Have. Socks.

The next shop seemed dull and an absolute relief by comparison with its displays of cookware and utensils lacking in cats. Some shops were nearly or completely cat-free, like a place selling bamboo-ware or the meat stalls, and they served as a nice breather. He was about to write the place off while Hayate browsed but then—

Wait! They had cat chopsticks. I could use those—

No. I already have chopsticks.

Even the wooden cooking spoons with cat handles beside them were tempting.

What the hell would I need that for? I never cook!

She led him along through several more shops, pointing out 'cat' this and 'cat' that, and obviously getting a kick out of his reactions by the giggling and grinning she was doing. He might have taken more joy in obviously entertaining her if he wasn't so focused on maintaining his own resolve with his hands locked safely in his pockets. He steeled himself again as they walked into a shop doorway that was already lined with cat shirts on display. More clothing followed, mostly cat-themed.

"Aizawaaa~"

He was almost gritting his teeth as he followed Hayate's high, sing-song call.

She was holding up a light grey scarf scattered with black cats to her chest, watching him with an expectant grin. It looked a little feminine, but a dead-ringer as a casual equivalent to his Capturing Weapon. Absolutely yes—

Absolutely not.

"You like it?" she asked coyly, barely biting back a laugh at the look of struggling stoicism on his face.

"Whatever. Add it to your collection," he quipped tightly.

Her eyes lit up. "Ohhh, that's a great idea! I'm getting it."

Oh jeez, she was really getting it. He watched it disappear inside her leather bag with his jaw clenched.

She watched him from the corner of her eye and teased him with a wink. "I promise you'll get to see it around."

Well, okay. That was kind of a nice thought, at least. His jaw relaxed a little.

The next shop was even worse, though.

"What do you think?" She grinned like the cat that ate the canary. "This one—" she held cat kimono number one to her left side, decorated with kittens chasing yarn "—or this one?" The second kimono on her right was covered in black cats leaping and rolling all about. There was a whole hanger of more cat patterns beside her.

Any of them. All of them. I'd pay to see her in that—

Wait, no. That doesn't sound right.

He banished the thought with a rough scratching on the back of his head, flicking his eyes to the side. "... What about those ones? They have flowers on them."

"This one has flowers and cats," she noted sagely.

He did not look at it.

The next shop had less gimmicky cat-themed items like blankets, backpacks, bags, and outdoor clothing that inarguably possessed practicality. It was… so very tempting.

He didn't know why he even bothered looking anywhere but the floor anymore, except that maybe he couldn't help but look. He was casting a wandering glance around at blankets displayed on the walls when his eyes did a dead-stop, locking onto a particular item. His jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt.

Okay.

They had a cat-themed sleeping bag on the wall. Striped like a grey tabby with the cute face making a built-in pillow. That was just… unfair.

No. No, no, no. It's completely the wrong fabric type for outdoor use.

But perfectly reasonable for indoor use-only. Light enough to be comfortable in the summertime, too. And it looked very soft.

Absolutely not. Besides, this tourist trap is overpriced without a doubt.

"Hey, look at this stuff! It's on sale."

Hayate pointed out a handwritten sign directed at several items clustered together on the wall and on shelves, including the sleeping bag. She surveyed them and noted the pattern. "These look like camping bags and such. Probably clearing them out since summer's over. This water bottle is adorable."

… Dammit.

And then she spotted the sleeping bag, too. Her eyes widened and she grinned, whipping her head around to see him. She saw he'd spotted it too, and could just see the struggle playing out in his eyes.

"You want it, don't you?!"

His lips remained firm. "I don't need it."

She giggled, sidling up to him with a singsong voice. "But you want it~!"

"I don't—need—it."

"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself more than me."

He peeled his eyes away from the sleeping bag with an exasperated sigh. "Come on. Let's go before I do something irrational."

This was why, in all his life, he had never come to Cat Town.

She laughed freely, following him as he quickly escaped the shop, though cast one last look over her shoulder at the sleeping bag with a memorizing eye.

Back on the street, Aizawa set a fast pace away from the thing-that-should-not-be-named as if to forget about it. Hayate caught up to him easily, her laughter having settled down into a relaxed smile.

"Though, for real, there is something I want both of us to buy because it's for an activity."

"Hmm… I suppose that's fine," he mumbled. If they were both doing it, he could justify it no matter how cat-related.

"Great… come on. It's this way." She took the lead slightly, and he followed after her. "You came hungry like I told you, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good! I know you'll like this place."

She led the way weaving around the gradually increasing number of folks out and about on the weekend. When she caught sight of their destination, he followed her gaze to a traditional, wooden-slate store front. A standing sign outside advertised pictures of some items next to a tall bamboo plant in an orange pot. He considered the sign above the doorway with the name of the place contained in the silhouette of a plump cat: Café Nekoemon.

He followed her in looking around the place while Hayate greeted the shop tender. It looked rustic in a cozy, old-fashioned sort of way, very clean and with sufficient cat décor that didn't escape his notice. A cat clock with the tail keeping time flicking this way and that and potted plants in boxes hanging on the walls with little cats peeking out from around the leaves stood out to him. Of particular interest, a shelf lined with several rows of colorfully painted beckoning cat figurines caught his eye. He looked them all over, keeping one ear of attention on the conversation.

"—We'll get two maneki-nekos."

He looked over behind where the shopkeeper was to rows of unpainted waving cats, and it clicked.

Ah. Painting cats was her activity. That thought relaxed him a little. Just one cat to focus one for a while sounded like a good breather.

The pair was seated side-by-side along a narrow table facing the outside windows. He studied the row of painted maneki-nekos lined along the wall that greeted them. There was also a life-sized and realistic ceramic painted cat to his right that was looking out the window. The server got them started with tea in cat-decorated cups, a small courtesy cat cookie for the painting session—both on a cat-shaped dish—and plenty of markers to choose from with various tip shapes.

Hayate adjusted the paper placemat provided for the markers and glanced over to him on her right. He was tentatively fidgeting with the unpainted cat in front of him. She reached for the menu that had been placed between them and nudged it his way.

"We can order then paint while we wait."

He set the cat down and looked over at the menu. Stylized cats decorated the front. He opened up the menu and found a description of every food accompanied by a chibi, feline graphic of the item in question giving the whole booklet a very quaint, handmade sort of feel. They had strived to make everything on the menu cat-shaped in some shape or form.

"I'll admit it, this is pretty cute." He eyed the different options. The sweets all had cat faces and ears; even tails or full bodies for some of them, depending on the shape. Kitten dumplings and mochi. Round curry bowls had plump kitty faces. The noodle dishes didn't have elaborate faces, but they did have wispy ingredient whiskers. Even the drinks all had circular cat faces which he couldn't quite figure out how; maybe some kind of sugar disk? It would be a pain to draw it out in the foam each time.

Hayate saw the tiny smile tugging at his lips and smiled in satisfaction. She pointed out her pick on the menu. "I'm going to get this. And that."

He thought for a little longer then pointed out his picks. The hostess came and got their orders as Hayate started taking out markers and examining them.

"So, how are you going to paint it?"

"I'll make a white cat." His brain needed something easy right now.

She elbowed him lightly. "No! That's way too boring and easy. Be creative."

"Fine. A black cat." He said it out of preferential default for the color and picked up a large black marker.

Black? But then he'll have to outline the whole face. She was about to open her mouth, but at the last second held her tongue. You know what, I'll let him figure that out. "I'm going to make mine look like Tenten."

He started scribbling away at the bottom of the cat. Hayate started at the face. She did her kitty's green eyes with careful precision with a very fine pen for the slit pupils. Satisfied, she moved on to the pink nose and curved smile. Then she switched to an orange marker.

"Tenten's face is very particular. Her left muzzle is orange, the right is black, and her chin is white." She finished, then tilted it his way. He paused in his broad black strokes to examine it. He stared for a long time.

"Crap. I didn't think about the face."

Hayate burst out in a laugh. "You're just realizing that now?!"

"I have to outline everything now. This just got so much more complicated than it needed it be," he sighed, holding the black marker to the side.

"You could just have a white-faced cat," she suggested.

"No… that doesn't feel right. I was aiming for a black cat. That's like giving up, or something." He grumbled and capped the black marker. "Should have started with the face."

"I did think it was weird you started at the bottom."

"It seemed easier."

It was currently painted up to its belly in black. She looked at its lifted paw. "Are you going to give it pink toe beans?"

He paused with his hand over the marker options. "I hadn't thought that far. Sure." He grabbed pink.

"And a pink nose."

"Sure."

He somewhat carelessly painted in the toes knowing he'd have to go around it with black anyway, though his concentration increased for the nose. She stole little glances at him while painting mini-Tenten's face.

He finished the nose, then thought about the mouth. Well, not black, then what? He looked at the options and his eyes were drawn to yellow. Don't know. But the eyes can be yellow. He started on them, his brow furrowing and fingers moving in small, controlled strokes. Hayate paused in her cat painting to secretly watch him, eyes darting across his focused profile.

He finished the eyes and examined them with passable satisfaction in their symmetry. The pupils were next though. He took a fine black marker and nearly held his breath, intensely following the lines with his eyes. Only one shot to not screw this up. The first pupil went well, and he paused to map out mentally where the second pupil would go to match the angle of the first, pen ghosting above the cat in practice strokes. He held his breath and committed. The result was actually what he intended, and he relaxed his fingers in relief and lowered his hands. He looked over at Hayate's to see how she was doing, but was startled to find her watching him intently instead.

"What?"

"Oh nothing," she looked back at her cat with a smile, tucking her lips in. Her head stayed straight, but her eyes flicked coyly his way. "Your expression was just attractive."

He looked at her in blank-faced surprise. "Uh… thanks." He looked down at his cat, suddenly feeling self-conscious with his neck prickling. He was still puzzling over it as he slowly resumed, picking up the black marker to absentmindedly continue painting upwards to the head. He snuck glances her way as he did, watching her paint Tenten's mottled coat pattern from a picture on her phone. She had her mouth swished to one side, and her eyes squinted a little with focus. She drew with precise, slowly-calculated movements like it was a scalpel and not ink. Intent. Enthusiasm. He could… understand it, perhaps. He looked back down at his cat, lowering the pen and rolling it in his hand.

"… What, exactly, do you find physically attractive?"

She blinked, breaking the focused look as she glanced his way. "…About you or in general?"

"Me." He moved the pen about slowly. "I certainly haven't tried to attract any attention. I don't exhibit any conventional standards. So, what exactly appeals to you?"

Her cheeks pinkened at the request. She looked him over a few times, then turned her gaze straight ahead, lowering the cat and her pen. "… To be honest, I didn't notice anything at first. You're right, you do an excellent job of hiding it with your—disheveled hobo in a sleeping bag first impression." She shot him a quick, humored look to acknowledge she was just teasing him.

Her eyes lingered on him and transitioned to a more serious consideration. "… I didn't really notice anything physical about you until after I started appreciating your other qualities. And that started back at the TNR I invited you to."

His eyes and brows shifted in surprise. "That long?"

She nodded. "I took my time thinking about you before I… well, asked." She pushed her glasses up, having slid down her nose a little while painting, and examined his physical features with an appreciative eye. He could nearly feel her gaze physically. First, her eyes ran along his chin. "… You have a sharp jawline." They followed down the vein in his neck to his jugular notch. "Necks are a point of interest to me. When you aren't covering both of those up with your hair and binding cloth, I think that's attractive." They flicked over to his fingers slowly rolling the pen. "I notice hands a lot." His fingers froze, suddenly self-aware. "Hands are expressive... and men's hands are more defined; just my thing, I suppose." Her head turned slightly to give the rest of him a look. "And you have a slim build, though you're fit, not skinny. I'm not into guys that are a lot bigger than me and bulky."

She looked down at the cat in her hands and slowly lifted it again.

"...Specifically, that's what I find attractive about you."

Her face was redder, though not as red as his. He started to raise a hand to scratch his too-warm neck, then, being now aware that would draw attention to his neck, hesitated and was going to scratch his chin instead, but knowing it would draw attention to his jaw he stopped short, and being conscious that he was now drawing attention to his hand, he dropped it back down to the table awkwardly without having accomplished anything. The logical circuits of his brain were overclocking yet unsuccessful in processing that information into a reasonable conclusion. The notion that she would find such traits that were normal to him as appealing was incomprehensible. And yet, perhaps because they were such mundane traits, it was a flattering sort of feeling he found himself with.

Hayate sent a few furtive glances his way.

"… And you?"

He was pulled out of his thoughts. "Me?"

"What do you find attractive?"

He wasn't prepared for such a question, having not even processed the answer to the first. He looked her over then away uncertainly. "Uh—you… are attractive." It sounded dumb and incomplete to his ears and her quick laughter confirmed it.

"I sure hope you think so, having gotten this far." She settled down, smirking at the embarrassed look on his face. "What, exactly?" She turned his question on him.

He struggled, looking away to the cat sculpture on his right. "Your… overall appearance."

She waited for more but he didn't provide anything, and her smirk levelled out. "…Huh."

It wasn't a disappointed sound, exactly; more underwhelmed. He didn't like it, feeling as though he'd let her down, and quickly turned his head to her. "You're pretty. I'm… not very particular."

She raised a curious eyebrow. "There's nothing specific that gets your attention?"

He tilted his head slightly, his expression strained. "Well, sure, sometimes, I guess. I can see that someone's physically appealing. I can appreciate that well enough, but what do you do with it? It's just aesthetics."

A blank look met his question. "Uh… go after it?"

He shrugged. "Not very inclined."

Huh… he's not physically motivated. She pondered that for a while as they quietly resumed painting. It was an insight that was… refreshing. And realizing it was her other characteristics that must have caught his attention, it created another reason to find him attractive.

Meanwhile, he painted with his brow furrowed in dissatisfaction of his answers. They had failed to provide her with anything objective. He glanced back at her several times as they painted, scrutinizing her physical features. He paid attention to where his eyes were usually drawn to, and they kept coming back to her face. Her hair was down; that was a new sight, he acknowledged. It was shiny. Was that attractive? His gaze traced down her wavy strands. Kind of. In a naturally aesthetic sort of way. He thought about her irises etched into his memory, and focused on them in her profile view. Yes. They sort of drew him in. His eyes dropped down her lips, and he looked away.

"…Your eyes."

She looked up at him. He kept his eyes pinned on the cat in his hands. "… They're pretty. Your hair looks nice. And your... face, um, the shape. Your body type—I like the proportions." He cleared his throat, glancing away with his cheeks warm. "Thinking about… more specifically."

For a moment, she just stared at him with her cheeks heating up, then she chuckled with her eyes dropping to the table.

He frowned, looking over at her. "… What? Why is that funny?"

"It's just… I'm used to seeing you so composed. It's… cute, seeing a different side to you."

He wasn't sure what to make of that, looking nearly pained as he tried to figure it out. "How, exactly?"

She didn't answer him immediately, reflecting for a few moments on their mornings at the train station. He had been his usual logical self then, too; perhaps even hyper-logical, analyzing every question she answered of his with a critical attention to detail. It was safe, she reasoned, and comfortable. Familiar territory to test this unknown thing out. She looked back at him kindly, voice calming.

"You're trying very hard to figure this all out. Probably even thinking about it too hard. I'm an over-thinker, too. Part of this is just about… relaxing. Being in the moment. You'll… feel it, when you do."

He listened to her explanation then sat in silence, his lip pushed out a bit as he thought it over. Just getting lost in the moment, huh? It was… irrational sounding. But it wasn't unfamiliar, recalling the feeling he'd had when she'd kissed him. It was starting to get distant from two-weeks ago, yet the memory still lingered. But if that was what it entailed, then… perhaps, he could try.

The two of them quietly focused on painting for a while, pausing to take bites from their food which had been brought along the way (it was as cute as the menu promised and had a taste to match). Aizawa's cat had fewer details to paint, but he took a lot more time on the face and fidgeted with his thoughts. She was almost down to the tail by the time he had colored black all the way up the body and started very carefully outlining the facial features in black. He had picked red for the mouth and focused intensely on not screwing it up with black. His brow sharpened halfway through, already knowing he'd messed up. He pulled it back with a frown.

"It's crooked. Dammit."

She glanced over at the cat's lopsided expression and grinned. "I like it! He's smirking."

"Hm…" That did make him feel a little bit better about it. He glanced over at hers and found an immaculate miniature of the cat he'd only seen in photos so far. The face was neatly symmetrical.

"How did you do it so straight?"

She shrugged. "Doctor hands, I guess. I mean, would you trust me to do surgery if I couldn't cut in a straight line?"

"Hm, fair enough."

She pointed at his cat. "You gotta do the whiskers now." It was the only thing left.

"Oh, jeez." He focused very hard on painting around white whiskers.

Hayate finished her cat's tail and set it down to admire the finished product for a moment. She glanced over to see how he was doing, and decided to settle her chin on her hands to watch him do the rest. He noticed and his cheeks gave him away, but he did not look at her for fear of messing up. When he did the last whisker, he set the cat down with a heavy exhale.

She looked at the curved white lines approvingly. "You did a good job."

"Hm." He studied her cat. "You did better."

She smiled at that, and pushed hers across the table so that it was sitting next to his. "They both look great."

They sat in a moment of silent appreciation for the miniature felines. Then, with a playful little smirk, Hayate turned her cat so that its waving paw tapped his cat's paw.

"High-five!"

He snorted. "Now you want to play with them?" He leaned back in his chair, stretching his spine then letting it sag with one arm draped over the back. A faint smile clung to his lips, though, and his other arm stretched out on the table to tap his cat tentatively.

Hayate watched him for a few moments with a persistent smile, her arms folding up under her chin.

"... How'ya feeling?"

"Hm… been a busy morning." He tapped his cat's paw back against hers. "This was... fun, though."

She nodded. "I feel like taking a walk. Maybe go find some more real cats."

His brows lifted slightly. "I like that idea."

Hayate called the server for their bills. They brought their little cats with them to the front counter and the lady wrapped them up in tissue paper and slid them into pretty little red packages to take home. Hayate put them both her bag, creasing the corner of hers to tell them apart.

It was just slightly afternoon when they came back out onto the street. Hayate looked down the street back towards where most of the specialty shops were and noted the crowd. She glanced over to Aizawa and noticed the slightly uncomfortable look he was aiming down the street, clearly thinking along the same lines as her. Crowds weren't a good mix for loners or her Quirk. She turned her head.

"Let's go this way."

He gladly followed.

Away from the busy market, the general business streets were wider and quieter. They wandered them for a bit, browsing through windows and looking at the scenery. The buildings were from an older era, and there were temples and art galleries scattered about the region. It was unclear to him if she had a particular goal in mind, but it was fine with him just to be walking in peace. The sky was clear, and the sun balanced the early coolness of September perfectly.

They rounded a random corner, and looking ahead down the street, something caught Hayate's eye that made her face light up.

"Oh, hey!"

He looked at her. "What?"

"Let's cross the street," she said instead, giving his sleeve a tug.

"Okay?" He picked up his pace to keep up with her enthusiasm.

His gaze searched the opposite sidewalk for what had possessed her attention as he followed her closely.

They spotted an upright piano parked along a storefront with the sign on the overhang above it indicating it was a music store. He suspected the instrument must have been it, though there was a furry shape on top of it that held far greater attention for him. It was obvious the piano had some sort of coloring done on it, and as they approached, they realized that it was colorfully painted with cats.

"Oh my gosh!" Hayate shook her head with a grin. "My piano teacher would have had a stroke if she'd seen a piano painted like that. She was very traditional."

"You play?" He had eyes only for the real and very fluffy looking tortoiseshell cat basking on top of the piano in the high sun.

"Hm… not actively." She came to a stop beside the piano, reading the small sign provided. Welcome to play for the cats' enjoyment. She lifted her eyes to the cat watching them now with golden eyes and offered a smile and her hand. It gladly accepted with a sniff and chin rub, and she started petting it.

"I did play throughout school; less so after I graduated, though. Not much spare time in vet school."

Aizawa joined her at the left side of the piano, greeting the cat as well. It had marvelous fur; thick, soft, and well-brushed.

Hayate looked down at the keys and tapped her fingers along the piano's music shelf. "It's been a good while since I've played anything."

Her fingers kept tapping a bit longer then came to a quick stop. She turned her to head to him with a playful smile.

"Shall I play you a song, handsome?"

Sadly, he didn't notice, his eyes fixed to the lazy swooshing of the glorious, feathery tail of the feline. He did take notice of the expectant pause that followed, however, blinking and looking back at her still looking at him as he finally processed what she'd said.

"Me?"

She immediately laughed.

"Who'd you think I was talking to?"

"Uh… the cat?"

"Ahhh…" She chuckled again at that, shaking her head a little. "He's good-looking too, I'll give you that."

He looked back at the cat silently, his cheeks a little tinted.

She pulled her hand away from the soft fur and took a seat on the bench.

"I'll play something for both of you."

He stayed as he was stroking the cat, eyes shifting between it and her as she got settled.

Her brow was knitted a bit as she flexed her hands out. "Hm…" Fingers wriggled a little above the keys, loosening up, then she ran down a few scales with the cat's ears flicking up at the sound.

"There are some songs I still remember well. Most others—not entirely." Up and down the keys she went with a few more warm-up melodies. Satisfied, she paused, a focused squint aimed at the keys with her finger tapping lightly on a key without pressing it down. The tapping stopped and her brow suddenly relaxed.

He watched her make up her mind in silence, observing how her posture lifted and her arms spread with ease as she went into that headspace. She placed her fingers on the keys then closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, she began.

It started softly, languid in tempo, and the tone was light, maybe sentimental. It was something classical and immediately somewhat familiar to him, though he certainly didn't have the musical repertoire to name it.

And soothing it continued to be as he listened to her and petted the cat. The feline seemed to enjoy it as well, rolling out onto its back, which he gave a few cautious and courteous pets after testing down its sides and around its chest. The cat closed its eyes, purrs accompanying her playing.

The silver bracelets on her wrist kept glinting sharply in the sunlight, catching the corner of his eye and pulling his attention to her hand. He watched her fingers moving fluidly across the keys, long and skilled. The tendons danced softly in the backs of her hands that she carried with a purposeful, relaxed manner.

"Hands are… expressive."

His eyes didn't return to the cat; the hand he petted its chest with slowed. He didn't blink as his eyes pulled up to her face, finding the same relaxed intent.

Her eyelids were low with her eyes aimed downward, flicking side to side at the keys of each hand. Sometimes her eyelashes fluttered up briefly to glance at nothing, and sometimes closed entirely along certain verses simply knowing the keys by touch. The music picked up, entering a later phrase; she tucked her lips in with it and his eyes were there, watching her hold them for a few verses then roll them back. "Your expression was just attractive."

The sun made her purple waves appear more vibrant. Her head swayed subtly making the highlights shift, and they fell back slightly as she tilted her chin up. He started from there tracing along her jawline; softer, of course, than his, but still square coming from the finer point of her chin. Back to her ear, he started down her neck but there wasn't enough of it to see. He liked her hair down more than he did up. The scarf, too, he liked, but he wondered if he'd like her neck more without it. "Necks are a point of interest to me."

The delicate trill of higher notes indicated the song's impending finality, arriving already without him being aware of the time. His hand lay still on the cat's side without his realizing.

"Part of this is just about… relaxing. Being in the moment. You'll… feel it, when you do."

It was the kind of song that normally made him close his eyes and relax; probably, that's why she had chosen it for him, he thought, but his eyes had stayed transfixed on her instead. It wasn't a logical thought he could explain; for all of his observations, his analytics were oddly mute. Nothing physical about her changed, but suddenly, something did change. A switch flicked spontaneously in his brain, and he could see her. It made his heart fast and his core hot at once.

Her eyes opened fully as she finished the song. She lifted them to look at him, about to ask how he liked it, but froze when she saw his expression that told her everything. He seemed completely unaware of the look himself, not even his hand moving to pet the cat anymore. Her heart stumbled over a beat and started galloping while she felt her face flush.

For all the effects her teasing had caused him that day, that one look affected her just as much. She licked her lips and smiled shyly.

"Chopin's Nocturne op.9 No.2."

She spoke softly, and it broke the illusion he'd lost himself in. He blinked rapidly several times, having not done so since the song had ended and noticing for the first time just how dry his eyes were.

She settled back in her seat with her eyes still on him. "I learned that one pretty early on. It was the right balance of slow but challenging."

"Hm…" He dwelled on that as he roused himself, shifting his weight and slouching the other way on the piano as he started petting the cat again. "It's a nice song. Relaxing."

"Yeah…" She studied his distant expression, his stare boring holes in the piano wood. "Do you play an instrument?"

"Ehh," his eyes stayed as they were. "A friend plays guitar… Managed to goad me into learning some chords on bass before even he gave up. I don't have an ear for it."

"Hm…" Her hands spread out along the bench, tracing the wood grain. It was big enough for two people. Fingers rolled in waves as she thought. Now what would he like to play?

Something simple, for sure, as a novice. But he could do with a challenge. The harder part was something that would hold his attention without causing his annoyance. Several simple songs dropped from her list. What did she remember? Her fingers stopped drumming.

"Hey… did you ever watch that one cat cartoon when you were a kid? Ganriki Neko?"

His head perked up, eyes snapping back to her. "Yeah, I did." His thoughts drifted back in time for a moment. "It was about the only show I watched."

A grin spread on her lips. Oh, I've got just the thing. "You were that obsessed with it?"

"I didn't watch a lot of TV… why?"

"I was just thinking; for all the cats we saw today, I didn't see any merch for it."

"Well, of course not. They only sell that in mainstream outlets or online. Places like these are too small."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You've done your research."

He hesitated. "I mean… that's where I remember it always being."

Right… he remembers where he got it twenty years ago. She hummed, resting her elbows on the piano and her chin on her hands, and he frowned a little at how skeptical she sounded. "I had some of the toys. The four main cats."

The frown disappeared. "Oh, I had those, too."

"I always had to badger my brother into playing with them. He thought they looked too cute and girly."

"What?" He almost sounded personally offended, and she bit back as a snicker. "They're cats. Of course, they'd be cute. How is that girly—what does that even matter?"

"He was twelve, cut him some slack. And his mom was making him play with his six-year-old sister." Hayate delighted in how riled up he had gotten.

"Hm…" He accepted that explanation, though didn't seem pleased with her brother, either. But he was increasingly curious. "...What about the clothing?"

"My grandma got me the pajamas." She chuckled as she pictured them. "God, they were colorful."

He pictured them too. "Yeah… those were pretty great. I had sweaters, too."

She chortled. "You liked all of those colors?"

He looked startled. "What do you mean?"

"They were all over the place! And I've only ever seen you in black." She gave a pointed nudge of her chin at his current all-black attire.

"I… yes. I liked all the colors." He sounded like he needed to defend it.

She giggled. "It's probably for the best that you stick with black, then."

He frowned at her assessment of his fashion sense, and that only made her giggle more. She shifted her eyes down to the keys and pulled her right hand away from her chin.

"You know that show's still going. My niece and nephew watch it, sometimes." She trailed her hand along the keys, settling on a particular note. Her eyes flicked back up to his. "Do you remember the theme song?"

"Yeah, I do," he nodded. "Not that I could hum it, or… sing it."

"It's gone through a few iterations, but the melody's still the same." She pressed one key down and let it ring out.

Ping.

He looked to her hand at the sudden piano noise. She watched him, still with her left hand under her chin.

Ping, ping. She played the first note again then the second, and paused.

His brows twitched together a little, not sure what she was getting at. She repeated the notes, and added another.

Ping, ping, ping… ping, ping, ping, ping.

She saw the first spark of recognition in his eyes on the fourth round. His lips twitched ever so slightly. "Wait…"

Her smile slowly widened as she started over and added another note. He was certain of it now, and his lips parted a little in an intrigued smile "... You know it, don't you?"

Her grin was at its widest now, and she bobbed her eyebrows up and down. This time, she dropped her left hand from her chin to join her other hand on the keys before she started over again. The two-handed version was more elaborate and livelier, just like the real song, playing all the way through the Ganriki Theme. He adjusted against the piano again, focusing his attention and posture towards her with his smile steady. She finished, and leaned forward resting her eyes on him and her hands in her chin again. It was a satisfied look on her face that he rather liked.

"Well, if that isn't nostalgic," he commented fondly.

"This is what happens when you can play piano and watch cartoons with a four and a five-year-old," Hayate stated humorously. Then her eyes flicked down, and she dropped her hands from her chin. She slid to the right side of the bench and gave the left spot a pat with an expectant look aimed at him.

"Take a seat."

He looked at the offered spot. "Ah... no thanks. I really don't have a talent for this kind of thing."

"You don't need a good ear so long as you can hit the keys," she assured him, and then, in a teasing tone, "You want to know how to play it, don't you?"

He hesitated. Compared to the many cats of the morning shops, there was a touching nostalgia about the tune and childhood memories that eroded his resolve. His weight shifted from the piano a little with a hand slowly scratching his cheek.

"I… suppose I may have a… soft spot, for it."

"I promise it's a lot easier than Chopin."

He debated it in silence for a few moments more and then relented, pulling away from both the cat and the piano. Her smile didn't stop as he settled beside her, still slouching though not quite so severely as he had been against the instrument.

"I'll do the right hand; you'll do the left." She held up her index finger on each hand. "We'll start with the simplest possible version. You won't even need a whole hand to do this. Just one finger." She demonstrated a simple playing of the melody with the hands harmonizing. He listened and watched her hands closely.

When she finished, he gave a small hum. "Hm… even I oughta be able to manage that." He lifted his left hand, index finger bent. "Where do I start?"

"You'll start on F…" She guided him through the simple notes one verse at a time, tapping the keys with her finger and having him copy her. He observed, listened, then imitated her, finding one finger poke at a time a simple enough task.

"Good. Now we'll add the verses together and just do it faster." He repeated it a few times gradually gaining in momentum. After a few runs through it, she joined him with her right finger playing the other half of the song and keeping in-time with his unsteady tempo.

"There! Just like that."

"Huh…" He studied the keys with a fluttering of satisfaction in his belly. That tune brought back some memories. "You played a different version, though."

"You wanna go for that one?" She asked, eagerness not escaping his notice.

"Heh… it sounded like a good challenge."

She gladly lifted up her hands and set them on the keys. "Then, this time, we'll use the whole hand. All the same notes, but you're going to have to learn some chords."

She played for him at normal speed, then again, slowed down so he could track her fingers with his eyes. She motioned for him to bring his hand to the keys and started teaching him the full version. She did just a few positions at a time.

"Try that."

He went for it, moving his hand between two positions. Something didn't sound right. "Wait…" His hand hovered over the keys as he searched for the correct key that he'd missed.

Her hand shifted forward to show him, and he realized he'd been off by one key. It was a close enough gap that her bracelets brushed his wrist when showing him the correction. The chilled metal sent a tingle through his skin. He stared at her hand instead of the keys. She pulled her hand away having shown him and waited for him to try again. For a moment, he did nothing, suddenly struck by what could only be described as an illogical desire: he wanted to mess up on purpose so that she'd touch his hand again.

At first, he resisted the sudden urge, playing as she'd shown him without fail. But it lingered, gnawed at him, ate through his resolve. What was the harm in a little bit of fun? Perhaps it was the childish nature of the song getting to him as he purposefully, carelessly, tapped a wrong key.

"No, that's an A. you want G. Hear it?" She played the notes side by side. He shifted his hand into place quickly so that his fingers brushed hers as she withdrew.

"Right…"

He waited, timed himself right for the next planned error; not too soon after the first.

"Oop." She stopped him at his blunder and her hand lifted again.

He looked strained as he listened. "This one?" He pointed. "Not this one?"

"Right."

"How the heck do you keep these keys straight? They all look the same."

She gestured at the black keys for him to use as a reference point, and he shadowed her movement so that their skin ghosted past each other's.

"That still seems ridiculous. The black ones all look the same, too."

"Sometimes small children are given stickers on the keys to tell them apart, though it's generally best to just learn them." He glanced up at the teasing tone.

"You're comparing me to a child?"

"I've taught this song to a child," she quipped back.

"... Hmph." Well, that was a challenge that was hard to refuse. Yet, in a very odd way, it made him want to mess up worse just to see what she'd do.

His next erroneous fingering came while stringing along verses together with an uneven tempo.

"That's a bit of a jump. Just take it slower."

With faux clumsiness, he shifted slowly from spot to spot along the keys. She studied the heavy-handed plinking he did and chuckled faintly to herself.

His ears perked up at the delicate sound. "What?"

"You look like you have pianist fingers, but you really don't."

He frowned, looking at his hand. "What does that even mean? Don't all pianists have fingers?"

"Like, long and thin. A sizable reach is useful, especially for some music." She splayed her left hand on the keys, demonstrating her maximum reach between her pinky and her thumb. "My hand span is longer than average for a woman."

He studied the details of her displayed hand. His voice of logic was strangely quiet; a different, silent yet insistent one speaking in its place. Slowly, he lifted his hand, hovered it a moment beside hers, then changed his mind and spread it out on top of hers in imitation, covering it completely in comparison.

Her lips twitched back. "... You've got a long hand span for a man."

His eyes lifted to her face, flicking between her eyes as she did the same with his. The feeling he'd had during her playing of the Nocturne crept back into his belly.

She looked back down at their hands with her smile spreading. She slid her hand out from under his and turned it to caress along the back of his.

"Professional pianists take great care of their hands; especially avoiding injuries, since their whole careers depend on it." She traced over some obvious scars and then down his fingers, curling her fingertips along their undersides to feel his callouses. "Yours are a bit more rugged."

He seemed frozen in place, paralyzed by the near-tickling touch dancing up his nerves as he watched. His eyes flicked back up to hers, lips parted slightly, and she met him with a sly look. More heat trickled into his belly. He looked down at their hands again.

"... Yours have scars, too."

He moved his hand, and she allowed hers to go still. Turning his hand over, he ran it along hers; softer, the callouses fewer, but definitely marked with experiences. He traced a few noticeable discolorations in the curve between her index and thumb. She watched him intently, speaking softly.

"A dog bit me there. Fortunately, it wasn't a big one."

He explored her skin further, turning her arm part way over to trace curved, parallel lines with his thumb.

"Most of mine are from cats. They've got a lot of claws to worry about when they start bunny-kicking. And teeth."

"... I don't quite remember where I've gotten most of mine. Been in too many fights to tell."

She moved her arm and he paused, watching her fingers slide down amongst his and intertwine. It was her left hand and his left, too, of course, to teach him; her arm was crossed over in front of his chest with her shoulder slightly in front of his. He felt her lean into him, and he turned his attention back to her eyes; closer now. He looked into them with his belly full of warmth. Her eyes studied his then dropped down to his lips, both of them suddenly silent and still.

Someone with loud clasps on their bag jangled past them, and Hayate's eyes shot to the side, back to the public street they'd forgotten themselves on. She tucked her lips in, then rolled them out and looked at him again.

"...Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Huh?" He was jarred to his senses, too. He processed the question. "Uh…" He looked down at the piano. 'It' didn't quite seem to be about the theme song anymore.

"...What about this?"

"That was a good start. We can play it more another time."

"Then, if you want… sure."

She stood up, and it was a reluctant feeling for both of them when her fingers slid out from his. He rose as well, though slower, mind still lingering a little there at the bench. The cat also required a farewell pet, and it purred and watched them go with gold eyes scrunched in a smile.

Though the pace she set when he stepped beside her wasn't faster than before the piano, he noticed she seemed to have a purpose instead of meandering. The business streets were put behind them, taking them into residential neighborhood lanes. The whole area looked rather outdated as he glanced around, but it didn't look run down like the shared neighborhood he and Hayate currently lived in. It was a bit like stepping back into an older movie.

Her purposeful path was especially apparent as they came to an intersection where she stopped, looked at the small, worn street sign, and looked down both sides of the alley in hesitation.

"Hmm… I think it's this way."

She turned to the right and he followed her, slightly curious now. They walked for a bit until she spotted a particular building with a distinctive sign and her eyes lit up.

"Ah-ha! It is."

She quickened her pace and rounded the side of the building, and he paused as she started up the staircase shaded by slim trees, taking them ever deeper into the backstreets with an increasingly puzzled look on his face.

"Where are we going?"

"Well, I hope—nah, we'll see."

He raised an eyebrow at her back, saying nothing as he followed her with perplexed interest up the stairs. His feet were trudging a bit by the time they got to the top of the flight, but his head perked up at little when he saw what was ahead of them.

Up ahead there was a wider, open green space with plenty of trees. She headed straight into it, and he followed, looking about. There was some aesthetic landscaping, but it was more obviously a community garden from the assortment of planters and bins. It was mid-September; early in the fall growing season. Vegetable-looking plants were growing in some planters, others looked like freshly transplanted additions from the disturbed soil, and many containers seemed empty, but based on the appearance of the dirt, they were probably freshly sowed with seeds. There was a greenhouse possessing a prominent proportion of the space as well. However, it was what was on the roof of the greenhouse that quickly caught his attention.

"Yes! They are here."

Hayate made her way happily over to the greenhouse with her eyes on the cats basking in the midday sun on the roof. He followed her examining the plump orange and the faded cream tabbies that examined their approach astutely.

"Hey kitties!"

Hayate offered her hand and a greeting. The orange one preferred the sunbeams, but the cream cat immediately shot up and lightly jumped down from the roof using some stacks of storage bins and miscellaneous items. She knelt to pet down its back and its tail flicked up. Aizawa crouched down beside her and also extended his hand for the cat to sniff and rub against. He enjoyed its presence while looking over at her curiously.

"You knew these cats would be here… how well do you know this place?"

"I've been around here for some veterinary work with my residency program," she explained. "Well, my particular part has been relatively small; things were set up long before I got here. This garden is a popular hangout for stray cats because it's fairly secluded, there's shelter, and the people sometimes feed them. So, it was a spot we used for collecting cats for TNR. Of course, we went sight-seeing a little when our work was done, too."

She lifted her eyes, sweeping them around as if addressing the whole place.

"You could call Yanaka a unique case study on shelter-community cooperation. It had a TNR program even back in the pre-Quirk era, but post-Quirk is when animal welfare and shelter medicine really developed in this country. From a shelter perspective, a large stray cat population is something we try to control. But culturally, cats mean a lot to this area and have for a long time. It was called 'Cat Town' even way back then. A lot of small neighborhoods like this just up and disappeared during the post-Quirk transition; modernized and looked just like anywhere else.

But this place dug in its heels and went the other way to preserve its old town community and identity. It went all-in on advertising itself as Cat Town. Businesses made even more cat-based products, and the cats themselves are pretty darn cute. People define themselves by it. They even have cats on their official flag."

The cream tabby was flopped down at her feet now purring madly as she spoke, petting down its side while Aizawa scratched its cheeks. The orange tabby, reluctant at first to leave its sunbathing, was apparently convinced by this display and jumped down to join them. It seemed to carry itself with more dignity than the first and thoroughly sniffed Aizawa's hand before accepting the attention. Hayate kept her eyes on the cats.

"Taking that away by removing the cats was met with reluctance to resistance in the community. The middle ground that's been settled on is maintaining the cat presence but continuing routinely with the TNR program for sterilization, removing ill members of the population, deworming and vaccines for disease control, that sort of thing. Cooperation with local businesses led to the development of several cat cafés in the area that are stocked with shelter cats available for adoption. Unfortunately, due to its feline reputation, Yanaka is a popular site with people to just abandon their cats as they figure they'll be okay here. So, there's also a 'cats only' shelter here aimed at directing people to take that option instead."

He scoffed, looking annoyed for the cats' sake. "Irrational humans being irresponsible as usual."

"Yeah." She couldn't agree more. "If I got paid based on the amount of irresponsible crap I have to clean up on a daily basis, I would be a lot richer."

"No shortage of that in my profession, either."

"I'll bet. But, someone's gotta do it. Might as well be people like us."

They petted the cats in comfortable silence for a while. One of them was definitely getting increasingly impatient, however. Hayate's eyes left the cat, shifting around the space. This area was definitely quieter than the streets, but it was still relatively exposed. She set her sights on the glassy building. Just as she remembered, the windows were frosted so birds wouldn't be confused by reflections of greenery, and hanging plants provided further coverage.

Her eyes shifted back to his content face petting both cats at the same time.

"Hey... let's check out the greenhouse."

He glanced at her. "Why?" There weren't any cats in there.

"Mmmm…" She brushed the side of her hand along his while petting the cream cat. "Maybe they're growing catnip." Suggestively, she stretched the last word out, leaning in a little with her eyebrows raised and a coy smile.

"Oh." His face looked enthused. "Good idea." Cats were hilarious on catnip. The cream one looked like it would really go for it.

Hayate led the way over to the building, smiling under a different impression.

She stepped inside and looked around carefully for any movement as he followed her in. "Hmm… looks like we're the only ones in here." She started to turn to him, opening her mouth to speak, but he walked forward.

"A shame, we can't ask someone where it is. Quickest if we split up."

Uh. What?

She stared at him for a second with her lips parted, then followed him quickly catching up to his side. "... Or, we can look together. Alone, together," she winked. Wink, hard wink.

His eyes were too preoccupied with scanning the plastic containers and potters to notice. "Why? That would only take longer. I'll search the left side."

She stopped walking with him and stared at his back as he went on ahead. Then she crossed her arms with a hand covering her face, unable to contain her, albeitly amused, disbelief. Oh my gosh. I gave him a job.

She took the other side of the greenhouse, still shaking her head. Secretly hoping they wouldn't find any, she started flicking her eyes about with a new frantic energy. If he finds that stupid plant first, he's going to lead us right back out of here!

It was a decently-sized greenhouse, so a little bit of looking would be required. Eight organized rows made it simpler. Most of the plants were so obviously 'not it' that she brisked right past them, scanning far and wide across multiple rows including his. Being a vet certainly came in handy for identification of such a common plant. She spotted the serrated, arrowhead leaves growing up their stems at askew angles and her heart jolted. Rats! It was on his side!

She shot a glance at him, but he was looking the other way down another row. Quickly, she made her way to it, racing through ideas. There were too many containers of it to just obscure it behind something else; even if she put them under the table, they'd still be visible. Her eyes locked onto the potting sticks indicating the plants' type. Flicking a glance over her shoulder to make sure he wasn't looking, she plucked out all the sticks as fast as she could. Taking as much time as she dared to brush dirt off the sticks, she shoved them into her bag.

Aizawa was about as far from a horticulturist as someone could get, but if there was one garden plant he could identify with some confidence, it was catnip. Still, the many variations of leaves around him left plenty of room for doubt, so he made sure to check the labels on the containers. He finished checking two rows side-by-side all the way to the back and was about to make his way back up the next two when he glanced to check for her. He frowned, finding her standing on the fourth row on his side of the greenhouse instead of checking along hers. Her attention seemed to be focused on a particular plant, though, making his frown die. He started heading over.

"Did you find any?"

Hayate jumped.

"A-ah, no."

She swiveled around hiding the plants behind her and tucked her dirtied hands to the backsides of her legs to wipe them on her jeans. Whew, that was close!

He approached her, still focused on the leaves poking out from behind her that caught his eye. "Those aren't it?"

Hayate quickly looked back at them. "Oh no, this is… a different kind of plant."

He stopped beside her, looking closer at the leaves. "Are you sure?" It really looked familiar. He checked the containers and frowned. "They aren't even labelled." He started to reach into his pocket for his phone. "That's annoying."

Hayate hastily held up a hand. Don't you dare look up a picture!

"Aizawa, I'm a vet! Of course, I know what catnip looks like!" It was an easy cover story, being the truth.

His hand stopped. "Ah, right." He bought her degree in B.S. without batting an eye.

She sighed in relief while he grumbled in disappointment, crossing his arms. "Guess you didn't find any on your side."

"No, none at all." She feigned an apologetic look.

He looked up the two remaining rows they were standing between. "Didn't find any over here yet. Haven't checked up these two rows, though."

"Oh, I already did," she said quickly.

He blinked. "You did?"

"Yep." No.

"That was fast."

She shrugged a little, eyes wandering on leaves. "Guess I know plants better than you." Probably true.

"Definitely, I'm sure," he agreed. "They really aren't my thing."

"Whelp… guess there isn't any in here," Hayate said lightly. Pushing thoughts of catnip aside, she looked at him shyly and smiled, leaning in to murmur. "It's just us in here."

He was looking back at the greenhouse door. "I hope the cats are still there."

Hayate's nails dug into her palms. She could almost scream. She stepped pointedly in front of him instead, blocking his view of the door.

"Aizawa. We're alone, together."

He looked down at her with a questioning look. "Yeah, what? We've been together all day."

"In private, together." She stressed it, but he just looked at her with the same puzzled expression.

She tucked her bottom lip in and bit it, sucking in a long breath. How dense is this man?! Slowly, stressing the details, she spelled it out for him.

"Can you think of anything at all that two people do together when alone, in private, other than look for catnip?"

He stared at her incomprehensibly for a second then finally it clicked. "Wait, is that why you wanted to come in here?"

She threw her hands up then laughed as he finally got it. "Yeeees!"

Her reaction, speaking as if it was such an obvious thing, only made him feel like a fool. He frowned. "Why didn't you just say so?"

"Because I thought we were on the same page!"

"The same page of finding catnip—it was your suggestion."

She shook her head, still laughing as she spread her hands up in defeat. "You're an observant person! We've been flirting! I apologize if I gave you the credit of being able to read between the lines."

He frowned a little more, crossing his arms tighter and starting to get red in the face. "I—well, you're going to have to be more direct than that!"

"Would you like to kiss me?"

He froze immediately, shutting right up.

She watched him expectantly, her laughter gone quiet. "...Too direct?"

He glanced between her lips and her eyes. "Uh… no." His eyes widened. "Wait, yes…" He uncrossed his arms with a sigh of exasperation at himself and scratched the back of his head, looking suddenly at a loss. "...Yes, the first question, no, the second."

She looked intently at his lips. "... You can kiss me now, if you want."

Well, she couldn't be any more obvious than that. He looked at her lips again and adjusted his own, swallowing. That was a very easy answer, though one that made his heart beat faster. Stepping up to her, he stopped with a small gap between them, looking uncertain with his hand still on the back of his head as he flicked his eyes between her nose and lips, trying to gauge his approach.

"Is there... a particular way to do this, or something you like?"

"Come figure it out." She sounded playful, watching the calculations running in his eyes.

Her reply only made them look slightly frustrated. "Can't you just tell me? Why does it have to involve guesswork?"

For a moment, she paused, studying his face. Then she took in a deep breath. She closed the distance between them and he went stiff as a board as she trailed her hands up his chest. Fingertips stroked the sides of his neck; nails ghosted up the back into his hair and then fingertips again bringing shivers down his spine.

"You're just all up in your head..." she purred, letting out her breath airily, and he was immobilized. It shouldn't have felt so hot all of a sudden, not even in a greenhouse; especially not in September. She held still with her nose close to his, looking him in the eyes.

"I don't even care if you're good at it. I just want to kiss you back."

She glanced down at his lips then back up to his eyes, waiting for him to make his move.

It took him a moment to recover enough wherewithal to respond. Heart pounding in his chest and in his ears, he shifted his mouth and eyed hers. Tentatively, he set his hands on her back. He stopped there for a moment to think, trying to plan his moves. A last-second thought remembering the last time compelled him to take in a breath through parted lips and hold it, hoping to postpone her Quirk, before he leaned in.

The first thing he did was close his eyes too early; he tilted his head to the left and didn't see her tilt to the right, bumping their noses together. For all the thought he'd put into it, he'd already gotten it wrong. He quickly adjusted, his lips fumbling against hers blindly searching for something obviously 'right'. This wasn't how it had gone in his head.

He didn't notice the stiffness of his own lips, but she did. She put her hands on his face to make him hold still, and he tensed. That probably wasn't a good sign, he thought, about to back away.

And then she was pulling him in, pressing her body flush against his, kissing him for real.

Her lips were wanting, controlling his, no unpurposed fumblings. His lungs hitched despite already being full of held breath. Her lips were so much better than his: skilled and unchapped, a little wet. Something about them dug into his senses like her Quirk did, despite him not breathing. She seized his attention and didn't wait for him to catch up and think.

Her body was softer, smaller than his—it shouldn't have surprised him like it did, she was a woman—his melted into hers unthinkingly, arms hugged her curves, fingers kneaded her back through the fleecy fabric of her sweater.

Her hands kept his head where she wanted him. Firmly at first, then her fingers relaxed, caressing his cheeks and running through the scruff he knew he should have shaved.

He smiled against her lips letting out the cautious, silly breath he'd been holding. What a fool. He stopped thinking about it. It didn't matter. She didn't care, and neither did he. Not anymore. He breathed her all the way back in without hesitation, her Quirk piercing his sinuses like wasabi. His mind was reeling in the sensations he was learning as he kissed her again without thinking.

Her fingers were curled in his hair. He was clumsy, but he listened to her lips. It wasn't a perfect kiss, but it felt perfect with him. They fell into sync, becoming lost in each other, and she wanted more of him.

She opened her lips and trailed her tongue on his lip, inviting something deeper. He listened and didn't hesitate to follow her example with his tongue on her lips, and then he tested further beyond them.

Aizawa learned something new, then. Something in the air could smell wonderful; vanilla. But put a drop of extract on your finger to lick it, and the potency would shock you.

This was tasting her Quirk.

He breathed in sharply when his tongue touched hers. The smell and taste of her met in the back of his throat, going up, fractal forking and spilling out through every channel of his brain. She was back against the table, his left arm a vice around her, his right hand buried in her hair to hold her head there as he tasted her deeply, and none of it was something that he thought to do. This was a drug, and he was high for the first time.

She was prepared for it, her hands already on his face. Choosing a moment, she pulled her lips away just far enough to whisper.

"You okay?"

He went still, his eyes opened to stare at her, unable to reply. Sound was jarring. Words; he couldn't. Feeling; only her. He breathed heavily in the silence, gradually becoming aware. She held him there, waiting for him to come down from the high.

When his breath was steadier, he blinked, closed his lips and stepped back, letting her move forward from the table as his hands shifted to her middle back with a softer hold. His face stayed close to hers as he finally found some breathy words.

"Shit… I wasn't expecting… tasting it. It's… didn't know it would do that."

"I got the impression that if I told you ahead of time, it would have been one more thing you'd psych yourself out with," she explained kindly, letting her hands fall from his face to drape loosely around his neck.

"Yeah..." He thought for a while, looking at her. His head was still spinning, every nerve in his body buzzing. Her eyes were lovely, and her skin and lips flushed. The corners of his lips twitched. "So, was that… good…?"

She chuckled softly, leaning forward and impishly rubbing her nose against his in imitation of his first clumsy move.

"Naturally awkward, but more importantly, you're good at listening."

"Heh," he laughed lightly, a little embarrassed, but his lips pulled back, anyway. "Well… that could be worse, I suppose… I appreciate the honesty."

They smiled and looked into each other's eyes saying nothing again. Then, remembering, her eyes darted down to the bag on her left side. Her lips puckered. "And while we're on the subject of honesty…"

She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes. "I have a confession to make."

"Yeees…?" he asked slowly, looking a little concerned at her sudden seriousness.

She turned her head with a glance for the plant containers behind her then back to his eyes with a light-heartedly guilty look. "This actually is catnip."

He stared at her blankly for a second, then over her shoulder to the plant behind them that he'd all but forgotten.

"... Huh?"

She reached into her bag and presented the name sticks, holding them up by her face with her lips swished to the side.

He noted the fresh dirt on them and his expression registered with surprise.

"You took the sticks out?"

"Yes." She nodded seriously, and then the look split with a grin. "Because instead of doing this, you'd have had us back outside!"

He stared at her for a full second, and then his face tilted back with his teeth flashing in a grin, that fantastic toothy grin, the rarity of it making her grin even harder with him. And he laughed for real, his sides shaking hers, and she pressed closer to laugh with him. When he calmed down, he pulled his fingers and thumb along the bottom edges of his well-lubricated eyes, meeting them in the middle to pinch his brow, and drew the hand away opening his eyes again to look at her, impressed.

"Now that's a logical ruse."

She giggled and pressed her nose up to his again. "I got you good!"

He reciprocated, leaning his forehead against hers. "Yeah, you did. I didn't have a clue."

He stayed where he was, breathing her in slowly, enjoying the proximity and the teasing. This was simply… delightful. His eyelids started to close. "... Well, since we're apparently in the mood for confessions… I was messing up on purpose, back at the piano."

"What?!" His eyelids whipped back open as she pulled back, looking at him in surprise. "I didn't notice!"

"Sorry." He looked sheepish.

"You were sneaky! Was that a logical ruse, too?"

"Nah… that wasn't very logical." He lowered his hands from her back and found her hands, feeling them again. "... I just felt like doing it."

She laced her fingers through his, cocking her head a little. "So… it was an illogical ruse?"

He chuckled, enjoying it. "Sure, we can call it that."

"You mean… I was more logical than you?"

"This time, anyway." He leaned his face forward to touch hers again, nose to nose.

She leaned forward, too. "...You oughta be illogical more often."

He didn't reply, though he considered it. Maybe he would. They stayed as they were, closing their eyes and stretching out the moment. Eventually, Hayate's eyelids lifted slightly.

"... I guess those cats have been waiting a long time."

"Ah. I guess they have."

"Think we should get them some catnip—actual catnip?"

"Heheh… I think they'd like that. It's pretty good catnip."

Hayate pulled back with a laugh as they finally separated.

"It really is."

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They spent the better part of the next hour thoroughly satisfying the cats with snippets of the plant and touching hands while petting them at every possible chance.

When the cats had their fill and sauntered off on their own terms as cats do, not even Aizawa looked disappointed. Their absence left no distractions between his hand and hers. She reached her fingers out to run them tentatively on his hand as they started walking, and he didn't hesitate to take them in his, despite realizing, of course, that it made a hypocrite out of him to empathize now with the couples that he used to disregard with logical disdain. Whatever voice of reason he might have used to scold himself with was thoroughly absent, driven out by the feeling of this connection being far more important.

"I want to get some street food before we go," she said, picking a route back to the shop street of Yanaka Ginza. "We didn't try any of it." He would have agreed to nearly anything she said.

The street was busy, but he didn't mind it so much with her there. She picked Maneki-ya for its taiyaki shaped like a cat.

"You're getting an extra?" he asked when she ordered a third.

"I'm going to stop by Fujino's on my way home," she explained as they waited for the taiyaki. "You remember her—from the adoption event?"

"Oh, yeah." He recalled the grandmotherly charm of the elderly woman he'd worked with. "I didn't realize she lived close by."

"She lives on my way to the station. I noticed her because she likes to feed cats, so they hang out in her yard." Hayate watched an old couple making their way down the street together. "She's kind of a lonely soul. I helped set her up with fostering kittens and coming to events." Her eyes shifted back to the sign for the shop decorated with smiling kitty taiyaki. "I figure she'd appreciate something a little special from here."

Aizawa looked at her, absorbing that information. He had no idea. The woman hadn't been more than a footnote in his day. "... That's kind of you to do. Give her my regards."

They received their taiyaki and kept walking, Hayate taking it with them in her bag to eat somewhere quieter. Hayate's eyes wandered across the street while Aizawa kept his on the ground out in front of them. In doing so, he noticed a standing sign to the edge of his vision. He stopped walking.

She looked over at him and stopped, too. "What's up?" Her eyes followed his pointed look to the sign decorated in pictures of cats reaching their paws out for a flavor selection of donuts shaped straight like cat tails and decorated with stripes and pawprints to match. Yanaka Shippoya.

"Do you think she'd like a donut, too?"

Hayate melted with a smile. "I'm sure she'd love a donut."

He bought them all donuts without a second thought.

They headed away from the street and back to the quiet of the cemetery. After searching for a bit, they stopped at a bench under some trees to eat. The crinkling of the wrappers attracted a guest.

"Sorry, this isn't cat food," Aizawa apologized to the black and white cat that gave an investigatory sniff of the taiyaki he showed as proof. Disappointed, surely, but not dissuaded from staying with them on the bench to be petted for the rest of their meal.

Finished, they returned finally to the train station. They waited standing close together, and she led them to a spot. Sitting down, Aizawa was struck by a thought. He looked over at her, recalling how she'd put her arm behind his shoulders that morning. The impulse lifted his arm without question. She looked at him quickly at the contact, and his faint smile made her ease against his side, content. He still managed to fall asleep on the ride back, of course, his head drooping to her shoulder. She rested her head against his.

When their stop arrived, she woke him up. They stepped off together and immediately found the other's hand. She pulled them aside outside the train station, finding a semi-private spot around a corner beneath a tree. They stepped close together, bodies touching and eyes on eyes.

"You might not have had any expectations," Hayate began, "but as far as dates go, that was a very high bar."

"Really?" Pleased for a moment, and then he frowned slightly. "Wait, so it's not usually not that great?"

She chuckled. "Oh, they can be pretty terrible. But, hopefully, most of them are at least enjoyable." She paused. "But for me, at least… that was special."

He leaned his face closer to hers, looking deeply into her eyes. "I understand what you were saying now… about feeling it."

"Yeah…?"

"Yeah… I'll try to think less, next time."

"Next time?" She raised her eyebrow. "Already got something in mind?"

"Oh uh, no." His eyes shifted to the side. "… Not yet." They shifted back to hers, and he settled his forehead against hers lightly. "... I'm sure about this, now. I want more of this."

She said nothing, smiling and pressing back against his forehead. Her eyes dropped down to his lips, and she tilted her head to kiss him; the soft and sweet kind, like the first time. He kissed her back, feeling it this time and matching it. She pulled back slowly, keeping it light, and smiled into his eyes.

"... Before we go, there's one more thing."

She pulled back slightly to reach into her bag. Her hand reappeared with the two red packages.

"Oh. The cats. I forgot about them." He reached for his, remembering it was the one without a crease.

"Well, if you don't mind…" He paused with his hand on it, looking up at her. She seemed suddenly bashful, not meeting his eyes. "It's... cheesy as heck, but… I was thinking we'd trade cats. That way, whenever we look at them, we'll think of each other, heheh."

Well if that was cheesy, then he liked cheese. "Gotcha." He switched his hand to the bag with the crease. She smiled, happily returning the cat he'd painted to her bag. He held his package close to his chest, fidgeting with the crease for a moment, looking at her with a lingering, reluctant feeling.

"I suppose... good night, Hayate."

"Yeah… good night, Aizawa. I'll see you tomorrow."

They parted hesitantly, not really wanting to, but it was time to.

Hayate headed home with a tale to tell to her awaiting feline.

Aizawa returned to an empty apartment as usual. He prepared to sleep for the night and tucked partway into his sleeping bag with the package in his hand. Opening it, he handled the cat she'd made with great care, turning it about and studying the details. When he finished, he stood it up in a spot above his head then zipped the bag all the way up, and for its company, the room felt a little less empty that night.

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Author notes:

-If cuteness was a weapon, this chapter would be attempted murder. I hope the 'feel-goods' had you dying (metaphorically) of happiness.

-In Part 2, Meow will take on a more mature tone to match their relationship and certain themes.

-Yanaka is a real location in Japan, and the business names I gave are all real places you can look up. Reimagining how actual places might have changed in the Quirked world is quite fun. I picture their world being at least a century ahead of ours time-wise, though I think the worldwide social unrest Quirks caused distorted the progress of technology. There are some quotes in canon mentioning how, if it weren't for Quirks, people probably would be doing space travel "by now", which suggests a relatively large span of time.

-Just to avoid confusion, regarding Ganriki Neko: The brand name does appear canonically, but I made up all that stuff about it. I figured it seemed reasonable, given that children shows especially are used as a medium to generate interest in purchasing related merchandise.

-The women Aizawa has seen the most of in the context of physical/romantic cues are very direct. Midnight is bold and sexual all in your face. Miss Joke is literally shouting "Hi Aizawa! Marry me!" Every time she sees him. I think that someone who's more subtle in their language would go over his head.