WHEW been a while, huh? The good news is Eternal Summer is wrapping up (and keeping remarkably close to my original plans for this fic) which means that hopefully soon I can get back to writing for Of Boys and Cats! Until it's officially over though, you get this little tide-over chapter, once again a suggestion by Valeforwings!

Chapter 33- Of Snow and Firsts
According to Rin's alarm clock (across the room so he'd have to stumble out of bed to shut the infernal thing up) it had just become two-fourteen in the morning. He'd been watching it since it had read two-thirteen, listening to his phone ring shrilly, debating if he really, really wanted to see what the call was about.

Because he hadn't the slightest doubt it was Haru. No one else was enough of a socially-inept, ass-backwards, complete asshole who would call at unacceptable hours except Haru.

"Senpai?" Nitori moaned from the top bunk.

Scowling and snarling fierce and filthy epithet after fierce and filthy epithet Rin staggered across the room and grabbed his phone. He didn't even bother to check the caller ID, simply sliding the thing open, putting it to his ear, and hissing, "What."

"It's snowing." Haru said simply. Then hung up.

On his knees in front of his desk, arms crossed atop it to hold himself up, at two-sixteen in the morning, Rin looked out the window and sighed at the sight of white flakes falling from the black night sky.

"Nitori?" Rin called. But without waiting for any confirmation from his underclassman he added, "I think I am one stupid thing away from breaking up with that fucking idiot."

Nitori's response was a snore.

"You said it," Rin replied a minute later once he was face-first in his pillow again.

The next morning Rin and Nitori bundled up against the snow and braved the cold to trek to Haru's house as part of the demand that had arrived via insistent messages received far too early in the morning. Nitori, unused to the train ride, fell asleep. The silver head had ducked down alarmingly and it was only thanks to quick reflexes that the poor kid hadn't face-planted onto the train floor. Instead Rin carefully adjusted Nitori to rest his cheek on Rin's own shoulder while the redhead pulled up a game on his phone. He had done this trip nearly every weekend for months; he knew exactly how many levels he could get through in the interim. He wasn't as used to a warm body at his side, however, and found himself nodding off after the second quest. Glancing at Nitori from the corner of his eye he sighed and set the alarm on his phone for five minutes before the train would arrive at the Iwatobi station.

The alarm woke them both up but Rin wasn't truly awake until they stepped off the train and he saw Makoto's gentle smile. Nitori hung back, letting his upperclassman reunite with his lover, beaming at the way Rin lit up when Makoto placed casual hand on his arm. They weren't any more physically demonstrative than that and Nitori knew exactly why but he bit his lip rather than mention it because Rin looked blissful even without any additional closeness.

"Ai!" Rin said sharply, an act he didn't mean, and Nitori blinked wide sky-colored eyes at the redhead. "Let's go." He said, jerking his head toward the road.

Once they were on the way to Haru's house, on the usually quite deserted stretch of road between his home and the station, Rin turned expectantly to Makoto and got a nuzzle to his cheek and a peck on the lips that made him look like he was on cloud nine. A few minutes later Nitori noticed Rin's hand had somehow migrated into Makoto's pocket along with Makoto's own. Nitori smiled to himself.

He kept a decent pace, staying at a permanent distance behind the entangled couple, not even wholly upset he was being ignored because he knew how much his upperclassman had missed his lovers over the last few weeks.

"Hey, Ai!"

Nitori jolted and almost tripped, catching himself at the last moment in a flurry of windmilling arms and awkward hop-skips, only halting when Makoto gently reached out to steady his arm.

"Wh-what is it, Rin-senpai?"

Rin laughed. "I was gonna ask why you were staying so far back, but you've rectified that problem."

It was awesome, Nitori thought, the power Rin exuded within a single smile, and he remained starstruck for a moment, staring wide-eyed at the older boy. Makoto just smiled at him and only released his arm once Nitori had nodded an affirmative.

"So how are your studies, Nitori-kun?" Tachibana asked cordially.

Nitori fell into a surprisingly easy discussion with the pair as they trekked to Haruka's house.

Haru's front door shot open- revealing the homeowner himself- and he yanked both his lovers into the house without preamble or complaint. Blue eyes could barely see over Makoto's broad shoulder but once Haru realized Nitori was accompanying Rin after all he called a soft welcome and commenced dragging his boyfriends into the depths of the home.

Nitori toed off his shoes and courteously straightened out Makoto and Rin's- both hastily kicked off before Haru ripped their arms from their sockets in his urgency- before tiptoeing into the home himself with a meek hello called out.

Nagisa came dashing around the corner. Nitori yelped and dodged away from reaching arms, clutching his chest at the terror of the sudden assault, shrinking back from nigh-manic magenta eyes.

"Ai-chan!" Nagisa chirped with every last ounce of his usual enthusiasm. "You came too!"

Nitori sighed and his shoulders slumped, relaxing a little now that Nagisa had apparently decided not to tackle-glomp him. "Please don't call me 'Ai-chan' Hazuki-kun..."

Nagisa merely giggled.

"And why wouldn't I have come?" Nitori continued with the slightest hint of a pout. "I was invited!"

"Rin-chan said that he thought you had plans with Ken-chan!"

Nitori instinctively fought down the sadness that came with any mention of his boyfriend. "Oh... no. Um, Kenji... Kenji doesn't have much time to spend with me, lately, and today... today fell through too."

Nagisa's expression crumpled in sympathy for all of a second before he gripped Nitori's arm and beamed as warmly as he could.

"Then let's have twice as good a time! You can have his share too!"

"Nagisa-kun that's fundamentally impossible." Rei mentioned as he passed by holding the portable stove for the hotpot meal they'd no doubt be eating shortly.

"Nuh-uhhhhh!" Nagisa whined, pulling Nitori after him. "Rei-chan you're boring!"

Rei faltered momentarily, shooting a startled look over his shoulder, before both shoulders squared and he reaffirmed his grip on the portable stove, walking off with his nose in the air.

"Um, shouldn't you go apologize to Ryugazaki-kun..?" Nitori asked uncertainly.

But Nagisa was already pulling him down a different hall, toward the storage room Haruka had repurposed as the living room once he had constant company, if Nitori's foggy memory of the last time he'd been to this house served him well enough. Not that the last time was... anything he wanted to think about again.

"Let's go see Aki-chan! It's been a while since you've seen her, hasn't it?"

"A-a month! Or... or maybe two?"

"That's waaaaay too long, Ai-chan!" Nagisa moaned unhappily as he tossed open a screen without a care, like he owned the place, like the house was his to damage.

But the screen was fine, and inside, a cat was snuffling around the bottom edge of the screen to the outdoor porch, pawing occasionally at the minute gap. For a second- it took the lack of a tail for it to sink in- Nitori didn't even recognize the cat as Akiha.

"Wow..!" He breathed as he extricated his hand from Nagisa's without a thought, padding carefully over to the very invested kitten. "Akiha's gotten so big!"

Nagisa was following after him, his steps lighter than the cat's, pink eyes curious. "Has she? I don't see any difference..."

"That's because you've seen her a lot, Hazuki-kun," Nitori explained as he dragged his nails over the tatami, evoking the kitten's startled attention. "Since I haven't, I can more easily tell she's grown. It was like that with my aunt and uncle's dog, too!" He added as Akiha dropped into a crouch, pupils dilating, rear lifting and wiggling, fixated on the back and forth of his hand and the scratching sound it made. "I saw it as a puppy and went back a few months later and it almost looked like a full-grown dog already!"

Akiha pounced but missed, Nitori pulling away at the last second, and as he traced an arc over the tatami with his hand the kitten followed underneath, straining to catch up but never quite managing to grab his hand when he would pull it back at the last instant.

"She's still really cute though," Nitori laughed.

He finally let her have his hand and the kitten clapped two small paws atop his closed fingers only to leap upright and gallop away.

"Ai-chan, do you like dogs or cats more?"

Nitori cast a blank look up at Nagisa.

"Can't you just call me Nitori..?"

Nagisa was all boyish mischief wrapped up in an almost seamless innocent façade in that moment and if Nitori hadn't known better he would have thought that, despite his repeated attempts to alter his name with the blonde, that Nagisa had simply never gotten the message.

But thankfully Nitori did know Nagisa better than that.
"But Ai-chan is Ai-chan."

"Just call me Nitori-kun, Hazuki-kun, please!"

"But Rin-chan calls you Ai."

Embarrassment turned Nitori's ears a lurid pink. "Uh- well, th-that's different."

"But I like calling you Ai-chan!"

"I said-"

"Give it up, Ai," Rin sighed from the doorway, arms crossed and leaning against the post there. "There's no way to bargain with the devil and win. He adds '-chan' to everyone's name."

Nagisa gave Rin his sunniest of sunny smiles.
"Is everything ready then, Rin-chan?"

Rin cocked an eyebrow. "What's ready? The hotpot? Nah, Rei's still working on that. He's trying to arrange it by color theory or some shit? And Haru keeps putting mackerel in, and Rei and Mako keep taking it back out. The kitchen's practically a war zone. I got out of there just in time and I figured I'd come see my baby. Yes, you, sweetie."

Akiha had finally realized who Rin was and had scampered over, immediately attempted to scale his leg only to be unhooked and cradled in his arms. She fit a little better than she used to, no longer the size of one hand, and she began to purr immediately, oceanic eyes closing and chin lifting as Rin scratched it.

Red eyes glanced over Nitori's head and Rin's expression softened. "Tamago's here too, huh?"

Nitori blinked and followed Rin's gaze, jumping when he realized his hand had been an inch away from a larger white cat curled up by the small space heater for the last few minutes. The cat didn't bother to regard them with anything other than the occasional ear flick if they moved and so they courteously ignored it, too, Rin crossing to his old couch to lay on it with the threesome's cat still warm and comfortable kneading his hoodie.

"Tamago's a neighborhood cat," Nagisa explained as Rin closed his eyes and began to pet Akiha. "She's lived around here for almost a year, actually. She's probably not that much older than Aki-chan!"

He reached out and put a hand on Tamago, his fingers almost immediately disappearing into soft thick fur, and when he began to rub in a gentle circular motion the cat rolled slightly to give him better access.

"She's pretty plump for a stray..."

"Haru feeds her extras," Rin murmured from the couch, sounding half asleep already.

Nagisa giggled as he pressed down on Tamago's large belly and his hand was entirely engulfed in fur as white as the snow outside.
"Haru-chan has apparently been letting her and a few others stay inside when it's cold and too snowy! This is Tamago's favorite spot though. I think Jackfish and Bonito are in the dining room?"

Rin groaned, very softly, from the couch at the sound of the names.

"What a fucking idiot."

Nitori and Nagisa could only laugh.

Drowsing, Rin heard Rei come in and ask Nitori some questions about food allergies, and eventually the room went utterly quiet but for the space heater whirring in the corner and the purring of the kitten curled on his chest.

He didn't fully wake until there was a voice calling his name that made his chest warm and his heartbeat thunder.
"Rin..."

And now someone was trying to pry Akiha off his chest and out of his arms. He curled his hands over the kitten's body protectively, almost about to roll over and hold her safely sandwiched between him and the couch, but larger, stronger hands than the ones taking his cat were on his shoulders holding him still, and Rin gave a low whine that echoed Akiha's when the kitten came free of his grasp at last.

Rin screwed his eyes tightly shut and scowled. "Haru give me back our kitten."

"No," Haru replied coolly. "She's the whole reason I called you over here. Get up."

Rin's fingers found the hands on his shoulders and traced up- over muscled forearms, powerful triceps, up to broad shoulders- and then in toward the corded neck he looped his arms around.

"Mako make him give me back our cat."

Makoto laughed warmly. "I can't. We've already waited for you to wake up for a half an hour. Nagisa's getting impatient and so is Haru. And I personally would like to know why we've all been gathered here on this fine snowy winter morning."

Haru sounded petulant. "If Rin gets up I can show you."

Rin sighed and tugged on the back of Makoto's neck, pulling his boyfriend closer, and with an awkward upper body lift his lips found Makoto's nose.

Whoops.

The brunette chuckled low in his throat and corrected for him, kissing him soft but deep, and Rin sighed when the hands on his shoulders drifted down-

"Not fair."

Heat dancing along Rin's nerves he finally opened his eyes and peered past Makoto's fringe at the pouting Haruka.

"Put the kitten down and join."

Haru huffed and looked away. Makoto pulled back despite Rin's grumble of protest and smiled that angelic smile down at the redhead.
"Come on, Rin! The sooner we see what this is about the sooner we can go back to k-kissing..."

Rin rolled his eyes and got a sharp pinch to his nipple in reply. He squawked and rolled off the couch, landing on all fours like a cat, and glared up at the still-smiling-like-a-saint Tachibana.

"All right, all right, I'm up." Rin muttered, rubbing the back of his neck then stretching.

He paused with his arms extended all the way in the air, a big hand warm against his abs, and he offered Makoto a cocky grin.
"Something you need, Makoto?"

"Something I want," the brunette replied lowly, his green eyes flashing, fingers teasing at the stubble headed down beneath the waist of the sweatpants Rin had changed into the second he'd had the chance.

Rin smirked and curled his hand under Makoto's chin, pressing the pad of his thumb against the older boy's lips. "There was something I wanted, too, but I gave up on it like a good little boy."

He used the moment of mutual distraction (not his fault he was an alluring sex god on top of being a damn good swimmer) to make a swipe for Akiha but Haru's reflexes had ever been faster and he dodged back just in time. Tamago lifted her head to blink at Haru's heel- spare inches from crushing her nose- before disdainfully going back to her catnap.

"The sooner you hurry the sooner you get her back." Haru said as he stuck his nose in the air and walked out of the room.

"Gave up, huh?" Makoto laughed, squeezing Rin's ass before following their boyfriend and kitten.

"You horny or what, Mako?" The redhead asked, rubbing at the spots he could still feel the impressions of Makoto's fingers. "You're coming on really strong."

"I haven't seen you in two weeks, Rin."

Rin pecked the brunette's cheek in passing. "Yes would have sufficed, babe."

"Yes doesn't cover the thoughts I'm having."

Rin laughed off the shudder of desire that raced up his spine. "Later, Makoto."

Haru insisted they all redress in their winter gear because they were going outside. Before Nagisa could yank on his second boot and Rin could finish complaining, the black-haired boy had yanked open the porch screen. Jackfish and Bonito leapt up from their spots at the rush of cold and pelted away huffing angry meows at each other. Akiha, still cradled and sleepy in Haru's arms, barely twitched an ear, swathed in Haru's scarf. Makoto sighed and huddled behind Haru, already shivering, and as Rin tugged on his coat then boots with a flurry of swears Nagisa gleefully pushed Rei off the porch and into the foot of powder outside. Rei yelped, pinwheeled, and fell, barely landing on his feet and not his face. Nagisa was in stitches, uproarious laughter that was as contagious as it was sweet, and Rei couldn't be mad at that. Instead he swiped a bit of snow off his shoulder and crossed his arms.

Rin grumbled and yanked his beanie on and tossed his hood up over that. He went to stand next to Nagisa and laugh at Rei but in a twist he hadn't (but should have) expected the blonde brat pushed him off the porch too. He careened into Rei, who immediately counterbalanced them both, and turned on Nagisa with teeth bared and nose wrinkled.

"Nagisa the fuck?"

Nagisa's giggles were already quiet. "You and Rei-chan are way too big. Ai-chan and I can fit on this porch with Mako-chan and Haru-chan but you two had to go!"

Rei sputtered but Rin scoffed and rolled his eyes. He knew there was no arguing with Nagisa. He jammed his hands in his pockets and peered up at Haru.

"So what's the big deal, anyway? Why are we all out here in the cold?"

"I saw a video online," Haru said calmly, shifting his grip on the kitten he held. "I'm curious."

Perhaps the only one who realized what was about to happen before it did was Nitori. But he was on the other side of the porch and his dismayed cry came too late.

Haruka gave Akiha a light toss right into the snow.

For a moment- besides everyone giving the oldest boy stunned looks- nothing happened.

Then, slow and barely audible, a wail began to drift out of the snow. It got louder and louder and more unearthly as the whole collection of teenagers watched the suspicious small hole in the otherwise pristine snow patch.

Suddenly Akiha exploded from the powder with a yowl. She leapt and bound around, clearly trying to find a way to escape this new hell, clearly panicked and upset, and while Nagisa- and Haru- broke into laughter, Makoto was panicking about as much as their kitten while Rei and Rin had all but frozen.

Nitori called out, "Senpai!" too late: Akiha saw Rin and made a mad, snow-spewing dash straight for him. Before he could react beyond hissing out swears the Bobtail was clawing up his pant leg and then his hoodie, scrambling inside the hood and twining underneath the hair that escaped his beanie and laying there, draped about his neck, shivering head to toe.

Haru and Nagisa were still laughing, and much as Rin loved Haru's rare laughs, he had about a dozen no-doubt bleeding holes in his leg and a terrified kitten on his shoulders. "Haru, what the hell?!"

Haru was literally wiping tears of laughter from his eyes and Rin had to fight to continue frowning. Akiha's cold wet paws against his skin helped a little.

"It was funny," Haru said breathlessly.

"For those of you she didn't climb maybe! We're going in the house, she's scared out of her mind."

"Rin, I'm sorry-"

"Whatever." Rin tromped up to the porch, one hand on the kitten's back, and with the other took off his boots. He headed back to the living room with Makoto on his heels. Haru could be heard shutting the screen and talking with Nitori while Rei sounded like he was fending off a Nagisa-attack.

"Is she really okay, Rin?" Makoto asked, his voice soft and worried.

"Yeah, just cold and confused." The redhead said gruffly, flopping onto the couch. "Now see if you can help me get her out of there."

Rin edged his hood down and Makoto's gentle hands worked around red hair and shaking kitten to grab Akiha. She mewled piteously, clinging twice as strongly to his beanie, and Rin winced as sharp claws sunk into his scalp.
"Okay- okay- Makoto, let her go, she's- OW FUCK- let her go!"

Makoto released Akiha with a distressed noise and the kitten flattened against Rin's skin again. The redhead chuckled low in his throat and brought a hand up to scratch behind her ears. A few minutes of cautious pets and constant ear scratches and the kitten crawled down Rin's chest to curl up in his lap.

"Haru," Rin called, knowing his lover was in the room, "She doesn't like water in that form."

"I guess not." Haru agreed as he came to join them on the couch and pet their Bobtail.

Nagisa and Rei came in next, followed by Nitori, and Rei pushed up his glasses archly.
"The hotpot is ready."

Whatever misgivings or grudges Akiha still may have held disappeared the instant a piece of beef got tossed to her.

She circled the table, headbutting human after human in the elbow or knee for attention, begging them for scraps once she had it.

By the time the cooker was cool and the bowl in the sink and the leftovers packaged and sent off with Rei Akiha's belly was rotund and firm and she all but waddled through the house after her owners. She had slimmed by bedtime (thanks to a stinky surprise in the catbox unanimously left to Haru) and crawled eagerly into Rin's arms as the threesome found their positions for the night. Makoto pressed along Rin's spine and Haru knocked his forehead to the redhead's as their legs tangled.

Makoto planted a warm kiss on the back of Rin's neck. "Good night."

Haru brushed noses and kissed the drowsy younger boy then the lethargic kitten. "Sorry. About earlier. Good night."

"Night to the three of you. And keep Akiha away from snow. Or just don't have her in the snow when I'm in climbing distance."

Haru's smooth palm scaled Rin's ribs and cradled his shoulder blade and Rin knew that was apology but agreement mixed into one gesture so he allowed himself to nod off.