14 Lights of a cat cafe

"Let's go on a date." Aki looks up from where he is typing up an essay to see Hiroto smiling down at him. "Let's go on a date."

"I heard you the first time," Aki mumbles, pushing away Hiroto's face from himself. The library became the place they often met up; located in the middle of the campus, they found it easy to get there during their breaks. Luckily their timetables were similar despite being in different years. Hiroto had urged Aki to call him with respect, but he couldn't bring himself to doing that after seeing the way Hiroto acted.

Hiroto was a lot different to what Aki had thought he was like when they first got to know each other. He was 24 years old, a computer science major, his blond hair was a lie since it was naturally a very light brown (Aki was surprised to see light brown roots appearing and felt betrayed when he found out Hiroto had bleached his hair to match his brother). Hiroto's eyes were hazel, but in some lighting they looked grey, which Aki still refused to believe was real.

Although he got funded by his parents, Hiroto had secretly been helping people set up their businesses and was getting paid for it. Aki was surprised to know that he had so many things going on, but then again for an alpha it wasn't much of a surprise.

"Where are we going then?" Aki asks, closing his document and shutting his laptop down. He's only just agreed to go on the date and Hiroto's eyes are already sparkling. He pulls out his phone and shuffles closer to Aki.

"There's this cat cafe that's opened up nearby," Hiroto explains, showing pictures of cats. "Let's go there?"

Aki glances between the phone and Hiroto (finding it difficult to see which one was the pet) and sighs. "Alright let's go," he says. Hiroto looks excited and Aki likes to see him smile.

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The cat cafe turns out to be a lot closer to their university than Aki had thought it would be. It's a small building with a large cat face hanging from the top. Aki stares at it for a good moment as Hiroto gets himself prepared.

"Is this how we're going to spend our entire date?" Aki asks, curious to see if Hiroto had planned anything else. He wasn't against spending a whole day with cats, and Hiroto, but surely there was more to it.

Hiroto looks up from where he was fixing his shirt and smiles. "Don't worry, you'll see what I have planned."

They walk into the cafe and register at the reception. The receptionist asks them if they want a membership, meaning they would be allowed to spend a longer time with the cats if they were to buy one, and Hiroto doesn't waste a second to sign himself up. Aki wonders how Hiroto was a year older.

"Isn't she adorable," Hiroto says, holding up one of the cats in front of Aki, who tilts his cake away with a frown.

"Cats are cute and all, but I'd rather look at them from a distance." Hiroto huffs at Aki's answer and pulls the cat back to himself.

Hiroto places the cat to the side and shifts in his seat so that he was facing Aki. "I had to ask, where's that friend of yours, the one who was always following you around? I haven't seen him since we started hanging out."

"He's been busy," Aki replies stiffly, the simple mention of Kanae making him lose his appetite. The two hadn't spoken since Kanae told him to leave his house. Aki didn't know if he should reach first or not, too scared to face rejection and be left behind by him. He knew that it would probably be for the best if that was the case, Kanae needed his time and Aki needed space. But the idea of losing such a precious friend brought a frown to Aki's face.

Hiroto watches as Aki's face drops and the atmosphere around him gets dull. This was becoming a common thing. Aki would be smiling one second and then he would remember something that would bring his mood down. Hiroto guessed it was related to his pregnancy.

"Alright," Hiroto surprises him by placing a cat on his lap, taking the plate with food and putting it away. "Put your hand here," Hiroto leads Aki's hand to the cat's head and guides him gently. "Pet him here, softly." The brown cat in Aki's lap closes his eyes and leans into his touch, purring as Hiroto continues leading him. "See, isn't he adorable."

Aki glances up at Hiroto from the corner of his eye and smiles. He had noticed something was wrong. Hiroto had come to identify the smallest changes in Aki's moods so easily now. "Yeah," Aki says, turning back to the cat. "He's adorable."

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"A movie, that's so typical," Aki rolls his eyes but still allows Hiroto to hold his hand and lead him down the seats. He didn't even get a chance to check what movie Hiroto had bought tickets for since they quickly rushed in.

Hiroto turns to him and laughs. "It's typical but I'm telling you, you will love this movie."

Aki takes a seat beside him and sighs. The screens are still playing ads and he looks over to Hiroto, who was already munching on popcorn. "Have you already watched this?"

"Yeah," Hiroto answers, pausing to steal a glance as Aki. "I watched this a few years back with Kiyoshi. The two of us had snuck out of home and watched this in the evening. Maybe because it was such a memorable day I enjoyed the movie more than I would've. Of course, the two of us got in a lot of trouble once we got home."

Aki looks away from Hiroto and focuses on the large screen ahead of him. He still didn't understand what Kiyoshi and Hiroto's relationship was. The things Kiyoshi had said when they first met were highly suggestive and it sounded almost as though he was in some forbidden relationship with his brother. But then the next day, Kiyoshi wasn't acting all that strange.

Aki shakes his head and looks around the theatre. There was barely anyone there, except for the group of people gathered near the room. They were all speaking loudly and Aki Already knew he wasn't going to enjoy this experience.

"People were speaking when Kiyoshi and I watched this too," Hiroto says, slipping his free hand into Aki's. He's facing the screen with a big smile, Aki doesn't even know why he seems so happy. "But honestly, watch at the end. They'll all be crying their eyes out."

Aki scoffs and leans closer to Hiroto, resting his head on his shoulder. "I doubt that would happen. You see how they look and smell? Do you think any of them would cry?"

"Never thought you would be one to judge people based on whether they're alphas or betas," Hiroto's words cause Aki's eyes to snap wide open. He had said that without even thinking, it felt so normal for him to assume they wouldn't be brought to tears— was this what Kanae was talking about? Did Aki really discriminate against Kanae?

"Hey," Hiroto shakes Aki out of his thoughts and looks at him with eyes of concern. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Aki pushes aside the hand Hiroto had brought up to his face and sits up properly. How had Aki never realised he had been acting this way towards Kanae this whole time? Hiroto opens his mouth to say something when the movie starts. Aki needed to talk to Kanae.

(The movie finishes and Aki ends up in sniffles and tears, but he later realises he wasn't the only one when he gets up and finds the group of people by the back looking down at the screen with tear stained faces.)