“Ok, so let me get this straight.”
“We aren’t straight.” Mizuki jokingly deadpanned, causing Ena to groan, sacking her hand on their shoulder.
“So would it be, get it gay?” Kanade tilted her head, genuinely thinking about the possibility of language.
“Kanade, respectfully, what.”
“Well, she isn’t wrong.” Mafuyu answered, putting a hand on her chin.
“You know what, never mind. All of you are knuckleheads, except for Kanade.” Ena smacked her forehead, having the expression of a single mother dealing with their kids running around and with said kids becoming a society hazard.
“Anyway, let me get this gay—straight—LET ME GET THIS.” Ena huffed, a scowl directed in none other than Akiyama Mizuki’s direction.
“You adopted a cat, out of nowhere, for what reason?” Ena raised an eyebrow, eyeing the cat, who was currently curled up in Mizuki’s arms.
It was a calico cat, black and orange spots were splattered against its pelt, only it’s muzzle and chest had white fur—a complete contrast to the vibrant bright colours amongst its fur, complete with sharp green eyes.
For some reason, Ena felt like it was looking smugly at her, with that muzzle and everything.
Mizuki shrugged, “It was so cute! I couldn’t resist!” They nuzzled their cheek against the cat’s ear.
“Besides, this completes the dream of every married homosexual, having a bunch of cats~!”
“We can’t keep it!”
“Aww, come on!” Mizuki pouted, Ena almost, almost caved in immediately but resisted.
Oh Miku above, she was too down bad for her girlfriends.
“What did you name it?” Kanade asked, curious as the cat batted its paws against Mizuki’s sweater, kneading it.
“Ghost!” Mizuki chimed cheerful as ever.
“Why?” Mafuyu inquired, a hint of curiousity peeking through her indigo eyes.
“I don’t know, it’s just felt right.” Mizuki shrugged again, holding one of the cat’s paws in their own hand and using it to nudge Mafuyu’s cheek.
Ena snapped her hands infront of her three girlfriends, who were currently enamoured over the cat, snapping them from their cat trance.
“Does our apartment even allow cats?!” Ena exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air.
“Uh-“ Mizuki stammered, scratching their cheek.
“Did you get the proper materials? Cat food, bedding, a litter box, cat toys?” Ena crossed her arms, eyeing her youngest partner.
“Of course, Enanan~! What do you take me for, a fool?” Mizuki smirks, and expression devoid of nothing but mirth.
Ena bit back the resounding and absolute ‘yes’ that came to her mind because, to give them credit, they did get the necessities.
She looked at the other two, who looked largely unaffected by the usual back-and-forth from their other two partners.
“What do you guys think?” Ena raised her eyebrow at the other two, already suspecting their answers.
“I don’t really mind, as long as the rest of you guys are fine with it.” Kanade smiled.
“I don’t mind either.” Mafuyu shrugged.
Ena groaned, smacking her forehead again. (Ouch, that was starting to hurt.)
“Fine! You can keep it!” Ena reluctantly exclaimed, waving her hands in a manner that did not convince anyone of her sanity.
“Yay! You hear that Ghost? You’re staying with us!” Mizuki spun the cat around cheerfully, gleefully celebrating the stay of the cat.
Ena sighed, a small upward twitch of her lip betraying her amusement at her partner swaying with a cat.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, Ena reasoned with herself, at least the cat would give her more social media likes if she posted pictures with it.
Definitely a plus if she could see Mizuki smile like that too.
This was a good idea.
Right?
—————————
Two weeks in and Ena was already regretting every single one of her life decisions that led her to this point.
Except for getting with Mafuyu, Kanade and Mizuki. Best decision ever.
But keeping that cat was definitely the worst decision she had ever made.
Not only has that presumptuous cat stolen practically all her partners attention, it has also stolen her cuddle time, something Ena enjoys in her free time.
She can vividly remember eyeing the cat, practically burning holes in it as it sat in Mizuki’s lap, tail slowly swishing around as it purred, leaning into Mizuki’s pets.
They were watching a movie together, while Mafuyu and Kanade were busy. It was supposed to be a very nice cuddle session with the movie serving as background noise, like practically every single movie viewing night they have.
But nooo, Ghost just had to jump on Mizuki’s lap and give Ena that smug cat smirk or whatever while taking Ena’s rightful place on Mizuki’s lap.
And Mizuki is giving it more attention than Ena!
And that’s not the only thing about this dumb cat!
It doesn’t even allow Ena to take a single photo of it! Ohh, but when it comes to Mizuki or Kanade, (though if it’s Kanade, even Ena can’t blame Ghost.) that darn cat is fine with an entire photoshoot!
Hell, it even gets along better with Mafuyu than Ena. Ghost would curl on Mafuyu’s lap while she was reading a book or studying and Mafuyu would silently pet it.
It wouldn’t even go near Ena!
The only things Ena likes about this cat is the smiles Mizuki adorns whenever Ghost pops up when they come back from a day of classes and he’s the first thing they see.
The hints of endearment in Kanade’s eyes when she gives it treats from her hand for being good.
Even the small quirk of Mafuyu’s lip when she pets it softly, watching it keens and purrs.
Those are the only things she will accept about this cat.
At least it makes her girlfriends happy, she would adopt twenty more animals if they would smile even a bit more, hell a barn isn’t even out of the question for her.
But once again, Ena has to be pulled back to reality by one of the stupidest situations
she’s ever been in.
Cue her currently having a staring contest with the cat across her that was comfortably perched on the table, one of its orange-dusted paws mere centimetres away from a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
She narrowed her eyes at the increasingly smug expression on Ghost’s face, as its paw inched closer to the cup of coffee, threatening to push it off the table.
“No.” Ena said, firm and solid, not backing away.
If this cat thought it was stubborn, it certainly hadn’t met the being known as Shinonome Ena.
“Mrow.” Ghost meowed out, trilling out the syllable with its tongue as he put his paw closer to the cup.
“I just made that fucking cup, Ghost. And-! I’m not cleaning the floor and the table either so back the hell away from that cup.”
“Meow, meow.” Ghost mimicked her tone of voice with a mocking meow, olive green eyes narrowing to match Ena’s chocolate gaze.
“You little—“ Ena took a step closer but froze when Ghost just nudged the cup closer to the edge of the table.
She’s going to throttle this cat. Then she’s going to throttle whoever made the decision to allow this cat in this household, and then—wait wasn’t that her?
Eh, whatever. Her point still stands.
She’s going to throttle this cat.
As if sensing her thoughts, Ghost sends another, another! nudge to the coffee cup.
Sending it even closer to the edge.
She’s going to search on how to bury a body after this.
But before she can, her lord and saviour Kanade walked into the room, bless her.
“Ena? What are you doing with Ghost?” Kanade tilted her head as she picked up the aftermentioned cat, further away from Ena’s cup of coffee.
“Kanade, thank you so much, bless you.” Ena groaned with relief, she wouldn’t have to clean the floors today.
“I didn’t do anything?” Kanade smiled even wider, though it was laced with even more confusion than before.
“It’s fine, but I swear that cat loves everyone in this house but me.” Ena glared pointedly at the cat in Kanade’s arms accusingly.
Kanade laughed, an angelic melody that sounded like wind chimes to Ena’s ears.
“Maybe you need to give it time.” Kanade hummed, kissing Ena on the cheek as she placed Ghost on the floor to wander away.
“Mmm.” Ena sighed before she gave her a small begruding smile before returning the kiss, “I’ll try.”
—————————
Ena is regretting her promise to Kanade now.
Cue the current scene before her. Ghost is hiding underneath the couch, eyeing her suspiciously as she swings a small stick with a loose string and a feather attached to it, making a small ‘pspsps’ sound to try and lure the godamn feline out of its hiding spot.
But once again, Ghost only hisses in retaliation, burrowing deeper into its hiding spot.
“Are you kidding me?” Ena raised an eyebrow at the cat, questioning if it really is worth it to be bending down, trying to make peace with a godamn cat of all things.
Sometimes she really wonders how the others get along with Ghost so well.
Oh wait, this fucking cat just hates her, never mind.
This has been going on for an hour, with Ena attempting, the keyword being attempting, to play with Ghost.
Sort of an olive branch of sorts, Ena assumes.
But no, this cat just hates her with every fiber of its being.
She lets out the long-suffering sigh, the everlasting scowl as she finally gives up after another ten minutes of trying to lure Ghost out.
Ena is sprawled across the floor, toy still on hand as she gazed up at the ceiling, pondering life and why it sent this god forsaken cat into her life.
She huffed out another sigh, the floor is really uncomfortable.
Just then, a mop of purple hair comes into her view, dull purple-blue eyes fall into her line of sight, it’s Mafuyu.
“Ah!” Ena shrieked, jumping up at the sight of her girlfriend suddenly appearing above her.
“Loud. What are you doing on the floor, you’ll catch a cold.” Mafuyu sat down beside Ena as the brunette got up from her laying position, the toy laying abandoned beside her.
“First, fuck you miss medical professional. Second, I’m trying to get this stupid cat out from under the couch! But he hates me!” Ena groaned, throwing her hands up in defeat.
Mafuyu just looked at her frustrated brunette girlfriend before leaning over to the toy beside Ena’s lap and taking it in her own hands.
Ena looked over at her in confusion before Mafuyu started gently swaying it from side to side in the direction of Ghost’s hiding spot from under the couch.
Olive green eyes flicked from side to side, flowing the sway of the feather from the toy in Mafuyu’s hand.
Like a moth to a flame, Ghost slowly got out from his hiding spot, creeping on his haunches as he moved closer to the toy.
In a quick movement, he darted out, leaping from his crouches haunches as he stuck out his paw, claws unsheathed, to strike his target.
But before he could, alas his opponent was Asahina Mafuyu, also known as the person with stupidly fast reflexes.
Ena could support that. The amount of times she had tried to playfully smack Mafuyu were often rebutted with said purple haired lyricist dodging her every move.
Mafuyu flicked the toy upward, out of Ghost’s reach, just in time before he managed to touch the feather hanging off the stick.
It continued like that for a while, with Mafuyu watching Ghost with what was a hint of amusement in her eyes as the cat failed to grasp the feather with his claws.
Ena looked on in what could only be known as bewilderment.
This was definitely bias. This could only be described as bias. WHY DOES THAT CAT ONLY RESPOND TO EVERYONE BUT HER?
“H-how are you doing that?” Her voice comes out in a shocked whisper, she’s definitely over dramatizing this entire thing. Who is this upset over a cat?
“I’m just playing with him.” It’s a simple explaination, one with that also provides no comfort to Ena’s sanity.
“But how?! I’ve been doing this for god knows how long and yet he comes out the moment you come in?!” Ena’s sanity is definitely ending. There’s no other explanation on why she’s so worked up over a dumb calico cat.
“I think he just doesn’t like you.”
“AURGHHH!”
“Loud.”
—————————
Has Ena mentioned how much she hates this cat? Well she does, no doubt.
Remember when she talked about the cat taking her cuddle time? Yeah, it’s happening again.
And the utter audacity to do it on her bed. Well, it’s actually Mizuki’s bed but it’s a detail that doesn’t matter.
She’s getting Deja Vu, this has happened before.
“Who’s the cutest in the house? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!” Mizuki giggled as they held Ghost close to their face, pressing their cheeks together in an act of pure affection.
Ena can practically feel miniature hearts bouncing off her head right now, she can also feel a vein that’s about to burst.
She should also go to the doctor about her high blood pressure from the recent weeks, that cat is not doing her any favours.
But that’s not the point, the point is that she should be in Mizuki’s lap, comfortably nestled with her back to their chest with their arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close and—
Ena shakes her head before the gay thoughts can fully consume her mind, if she thinks about Mizuki cuddling her any more than she already is, there will be no doubt that Ena will end up with a nosebleed.
At least she can distract herself with glaring at Ghost, who is once again, in her rightful place of being in Mizuki’s arms.
It’s ok, she can handle it. She can handle it, she can—
The moment Mizuki lays a big smooch on the top of Ghost’s head, Ena completely loses it.
“Mizuki.” Mizuki turned their head in Ena’s direction in confusion, smile still in place on their face.
“Hm?” They hum, Ghost still in their arms.
“Mizuki.” Ena repeats, inching closer to the pink-haired editor.
“Y-yes, Enanan?” They stammered, eyes darting from left to right as Ena was practically inches from their face.
In one swift movement, she unceremoniously grabs Ghost from Mizuki’s arms, eliciting a yelp from both Mizuki and the after mentioned cat, and gently lays him on the other side of the bed as she crawls into Mizuki’s lap, right where she belongs.
“Enanan?!” Mizuki’s face had already turned as pink as their hair as Ena nestled in their lap comfortably.
“Stupid cat..” Ena grumbled before her head snapped back up, almost hitting Mizuki in the chin.
“Ah, sorry! I didn’t mean to climb into your lap, I can get off if you want—“ Her rambling was immediately cut off by Mizuki giggling into her hair and their arms wrapping around her waist.
“Is my Ena jealous of a cat?” Their voice is slightly muffled by her hair, but it definitely Ena’s ears.
“Hah?! N-no way!” Ena huffed as she crossed her arms infront of her chest.
“C’mon Ena~you don’t need to be jealous of Ghost! I’m all yours!” They gleefully nuzzle into her hair while bringing her closer to them.
“Shut up!” Ena ‘tried’ to wrestle out of Mizuki’s grasp but to no avail, the pink-haired enby was surprisingly strong now that Ena realized.
Eventually, she relaxed in Mizuki’s arms, embracing the warmth that radiated off her partner’s body.
She looked up at Mizuki, (curse them and their ridiculously tall height) only to find rose-quartz eyes already staring at her.
She didn’t know if she leaned up or if Mizuki leaned down but that didn’t matter as their lips met, a small peaceful moment shared by the two as they kissed.
Ena leaned into it, seeking the softness of Mizuki’s lips over and over again in a never ending dance.
Ah, how she wished this moment could last forever.
But unfortunately for Ena, there was a third party in the room. Namely a godamn obnoxious cat that hated her guts.
Ghost suddenly jumped onto Mizuki’s shoulder, startling them out of the kiss as they pulled away from Ena.
Speaking of Ena, she had never had to urge to commit violence against an animal this strongly before, this was definitely a new record.
She eyed Ghost with what could only be known as the scariest glare known to mankind, with enough anger to scorch the earth and everything in her path.
Her annoyance at the cat only increased tenfold at the sight of Mizuki’s attention being fully focused on the darn cat now, scratching and petting its fur while cooing.
“Damn it, Ghost…” Ena muttered, her eyebrow twitching.
“Huh? Enanan, did you say something?” Mizuki’s head turned, bright and innocent eyes faced her while holding Ghost in their arms.
The sight was endearing actually, though Ena would never admit it, she hated that cat.
She sighed, “Nothing.”
Mizuki’s eyes sparkled with realisation, taking a teasing turn in their tone of voice.
“Come on Ena, why don’t you give Ghost some attention too~?” They pushed the cat into her arms, leading to the awkward scene of Ena and Ghost staring at each other.
If this was an anime scene, Ena swore there would be a stupid lightning effect or whatever between her and Ghost.
“Amia, get this beast off me I think it’s plotting to murder me.”
“Aww, it loves you, Enanan! See?” No, Ena did not see, all she saw was the murderous glint in Ghost’s eyes.
“This cat hates me.”
“Don’t say that! You guys just need time to connect, ya know?” They laugh, ruffling Ena’s hair, making small hairs stick out in random directions.
Time, huh? Ena seriously doubts that cat is ever going to get along with her.
—————————
Ena was sitting on the couch, idly drawing small doodles on her sketchbooks as the show playing on the TV served as background noise.
It was just her in the house today, Kanade was visiting her dad, Mafuyu was at the hospital for her nurse shifts and Mizuki was at work, none of them would be back until at least 4 pm.
So it was just her, and of course Ghost.
Said cat was currently lazily wandering around the living room, tail swishing behind him as his paws brought him wherever he pleased.
And wherever he pleased, was currently the armrest of the couch.
He was quiet, silently licking his paws and grooming himself while Ena drew on the other side of the couch.
It was actually times like this when Ena never minded having Ghost around, it was peaceful and no one was pushing coffee cups around.
She glanced at the cat, watching him lick the white patch of fur he was named after as he basked in the sunlight that reflected from the sun to the windows, illuminating his orange and black patterned fur.
It was a really photogenic scene, Ena couldn’t resist taking out her phone and snapping a quick picture while she could.
The sound of the photo shutter alerted the calico cat, his head snapping up from its original slanted position.
Green eyes met brown eyes, both just looking at each other in that one moment.
Ena sighed, shoving her phone back into the pockets of her shorts, “It’s just one photo, don’t worry.”
Was she seriously talking to a cat? Wow, this was weird.
Ghost just kept on looking at her, but instead of his usual haughty expression, he seemed almost…curious?
Was that the right word? Ena didn’t know, she couldn’t exactly speak cat.
“Stop looking at me, go back to doing cat shit or whatever.” She snarked, looking at the cat.
Ghost just continued quietly looking at her.
“Never mind, you’re not going to stop looking at me are you?”
Ok, this was officially getting weird.
“I wish I had such a carefree life like yours, I’m actually pretty sure your breakfast is more expensive than mine at this point from whatever ‘premium’ shit Mizuki is buying you.”
Still staring.
“You can sleep however much you want, you can wander around wherever you want, I’m pretty sure cats don’t do university too.” She sighed, sketching a small carnation in her sketchbook.
Years of gifting Kanade with that exact flower had her memorising the very flower that Kanade loved so much.
She looked back up from her sketchbook, expecting to see Ghost on the other side of the couch, still on the armrest.
Instead, he had walked over to her. Only a few inches from her leg.
He was still looking at her.
“You’re one weird cat, you know? But you make Mizuki, Mafuyu and Kanade happy so it’s fine. I guess you’re tolerable when you’re not pushing my eye liner from my desk.”
She continued sketching the carnations, shading each petal as meticulously as she can.
It’s only then she feels a tickling sensation on her thigh, Ghost snuggled up to her leg, he’s curled up into a small ball next to her.
Ena’s eyes become as wide as saucers, blown with shock.
Is this real? This isn’t a dream right? The ball of fur right next to her is real right??
Ena doesn’t know what’s with the sudden change in personality for Ghost today but she’s not complaining.
It’s peaceful. Is this what the others feel when Ghost is nice to them?
This is nice, Ena decides.
And so the two sit there, just enjoying the late afternoon sun in each other’s company.