The way back to the college dorms from Border winds down a busy market street, lined on both sides with vendors selling goods.
One might step into a pastry shop, and buy dorayaki- the kind with chunky filling, never smooth. Or sit within a café, and watch the people walk by, sipping a cup of warm coffee.
In the cold of a late fall rain, not many were on the streets save the few unlucky office workers with heads down and umbrellas up, not looking in front of them, and definitely not noticing the boy crouched in a narrow alley off to the side.
Kazama watched the kitten meow, its fur beginning to grow damp. It looked cold.
You will be cold too, if you do something that stupid, his subconscious reminded him.
Despite the reminder, he swiftly removed his only jacket, draping it over the box and watching as the curious cat batted at the waterproof material. Feeling much more relieved now that he was assured that the cat would be fine, he rose and stepped back out into the street.
His spiky hair, now hoodless, was flattened almost instantly from the downpour. Looking rather like a sad cat himself, he continued the long trek down the road, hovering as close to the awnings as he could.
As if nature was laughing at him, despite his best efforts, he was soon soaked to the skin. Hastily pulling out his phone, he made a quick call.
"Moshi moshi- What do you need, Kazama?"
"Can you drive over and give me a lift back to the dorm?"
"Huh?" The garbled sounds of a movie playing in the background grated loudly on Kazama's ears.
"A ride, Tachikawa. I need a ride."
"On who? I can fix you right up~"
"…You're not helpful. I'm hanging up."
"Wait no I can-" beepbeepbeep. Tachikawa stared at the phone, then at the others he was with. Reiji, Izumi, and Kako blinked at him, the movie now paused.
"What was that about, Tachikawa? Were you just dumped?" Izumi smirked, a wide and very smug grin spreading across his face.
"Er… Kazama may or may not be outside right now, and I may or may not have pissed him off enough that he'll do something stupid like run home in the rain?"
Before Tachikawa had even finished his sentence, Reiji was standing up, umbrella in hand and a mix of concern and amusement on his face. Kako and Izumi exchanged matching Cheshire grins from across the couch.
"What?" muttered Reiji. "Blame Tachikawa."
"It's so obvious it's hilarious. Have you two finally hooked up yet?" Izumi questioned.
Kako patted his arm. "Don't worry, I'll save that story for when there are many more people around to embarrass them."
"Wait, they actually- holy shit, Kizaki, you've got balls. Kazama can be downright terrifying."
Slam.
"Welp. He's gone. There goes my entertainment."
Kizaki hurried down the street, umbrella clenched tightly in his fist as he searched the pedestrians for a green jacket.
Catching a glance of the signature color on the side of the road, he found the jacket seemingly thrown over the box. Immediately jumping to the worst possible scenario, he searched for signs of a struggle. Seeing none, he lifted the jacket off of the box, only to reveal a kitten underneath.
He likes cats? It seems rather out of character.
Picking up both the kitten and the jacket, he tucked both securely in one arm as he continued his search, now just for a head of spiky black hair.
Belatedly, he realized that his hair would probably not be that spiky due to the rain. Upon drawing this conclusion, he spotted a small figure darting through the rain, avoiding pedestrians on the sidewalk.
As he walked closer, he heard the figure muttering something along the lines of damn the stupid trigger use codes I want to get home without pneumonia screw you Tachikawa.
Yep, that would be him.
Kazama glanced up as the rain above him ceased, first spotting the black umbrella and next seeing the red headed person holding it.
"Kizaki?"
"We're out of HQ, you can call me Reiji." Scanning the smaller attacker's body, he first noticed that the white shirt he was wearing was thoroughly soaked. Every aspect of his body behind it was visible, and the shirt clung to-
Reiji stopped himself right there, shaking his head vigorously to clear it of the thoughts.
"Reiji, are you alright?" Kazama leaned forward, unknowingly pressing more of his body into the shirt and Reiji is just dying inside. "Do you have a fever?" Kazama reaches up with a chilled hand and touches Reiji's forehead.
"FINE! I'm fine, uh…" Reiji stumbles for words. "Let's head back to Tamakoma."
"It's a bit far, I can just go back to my place." Kazama smiles, a tiny quirk of the corner of his mouth, and begins to step out from under the umbrella.
"No, it's fine, I can come with you." He realizes just how strange that statement must have sounded a moment after it leaves his lips.
Kazama hesitates before nodding and pointing down the street. "This way."
The two paint an interesting picture, Reiji attempting to hunch to fit under the umbrella while Kazama strides forward, dripping shirt hanging long off of his slender figure.
OMAKE:
"Is that my shirt?"
"…Maybe."
