Rabies

Burgers and Milkshakes

  "Shori! Where the fuck are my game shorts?!"

  "Check the dryer!" I shouted and quickly regretted it as toothpaste dribbled down my chin and onto my shirt. "Fuckin' Hell." I growled.

  "Got 'em!" Kyōtani came stumbling into the bathroom while pulling his shorts on.

  "Why are you in such a rush?" The blond reached around me to grab his deodorant on the counter. He lifted his shirt, and I spit out the toothpaste into the sink before rinsing out my mouth.

  "I wanna get more time to warm up before the game."

  "You still up for burgers after?"

  "Yeah." Kyōtani pecked my cheek before leaving the bathroom to finish packing his duffel bag with bottles and extra clothes. "All right, you ready to go?"

  "Wait, where are the keys?"

  "Over here." He picked the keys up from the coffee table and tossed them my way. Catching them in one hand, I opened the front door before following the blond outside. Locking the door behind me, I stuffed the keys into my pocket, and we started walking down the sidewalk to the nearby gym.

  Shortly after graduating high school, Kyōtani and I both managed to get into college with volleyball scholarships. To no one's shock, we both became the aces of our teams. During our first year in college, we even found a place near campus and moved in together.

  It definitely took some time to adjust to it all, but the both of us also weren't so ready to butt heads at the slightest provocation anymore and managed to figure things out. Hell, within the past few years, I even managed to connect with my adoptive family after going to therapy.

  Who would have thought most of my aggression toward them came from the fact I had yet to actually process the loss of my blood family?

  Of course, that didn't mean I stopped getting a kick out of pissing people off, I just didn't do it as much as I used to. I was just happier and not so angry at the world now.

~

  "Dude, how do you manage to spill a milkshake with a straw?" I laughed while handing Kyōtani a napkin as he sat across from me at the booth. He looked pissed, but I could tell he was actually just embarrassed with how his ears were turning pink. He took the napkin and started wiping off his shirt while I sipped on my own drink.

  "There was a cute dog outside." He mumbled, making me laugh more.

  "You got distracted by a dog?"

  "Yes."

  "That's adorable." Kyōtani shot me a glare while dropping the napkin onto the table. "Aw, now you're pouting."

  "I am not."

  "That's not what your face says."

  "Shut up." He growled before taking a large bite out of his burger.

  "So, Iwaizumi texted during your game. He was wondering if we'd be up for a pick-up game this weekend." I set my cheek into my palm while resting my elbow on the corner of the table. The flash of excitement in the blond's eyes made me softly smile.

  "Fuck yeah. Barbeque too?"

  "If you get the wood." Pulling out my phone from my pocket with my free hand, I unlocked the device to message Iwaizumi back. Even though the team had broken up since high school, there were still times we made to get together and play a few games. It acted both as a time to catch up and to see how we'd all improved. "All right, he says he'll bring the meat, and Crappykawa will get the vegetables."

  "Saturday or Sunday?"

  "Saturday. Crappykawa and Cream-puff have tests Sunday."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Iwaizumi said so."

  "Oh."

  "Aw, did you think we were in a group chat without you?"

  "No." Kyōtani made a face, and I chuckled.

  "I'd offer a group chat but, honestly, Crappykawa would abuse that power." I mumbled before drinking some of my milkshake.

  "No shit."

~

  "Go shower, I'll put your uniform in the wash." I said while unzipping Kyōtani's duffel bag to pull out the sweaty clothes.

  "Thanks." He lumbered down the hall to the bathroom, and I heard the showerhead cut on when I was dumping the clothes into the washer. Letting the machine run, I dug out the bottles from the bag and lined them up in the dishwasher.

  Plopping down onto the couch, I turned the TV on and found something to watch until Kyōtani was done showering. I became so absorbed by the show about blacksmithing knives that I completely zoned out of everything else.

~

  "Oh, my fuck. Shhhh!" I groaned while covering Kyōtani's mouth with my hand, trying to muffle the loud snoring. It was too early in the morning to be dealing with this, and it was like a damn chainsaw engine. He didn't usually snore this loudly, but after fighting to win last night's game, he knocked out as soon as he hit the pillow and slept like the dead.

  Huffing, I threw back the blanket and swung my feet over the edge to get up. Going to the kitchen, I could still hear the snoring and knew the only surefire way to get him to stop was to wake him up.

  And the best way to wake that dog up was with the smell of breakfast.

  Starting the coffee pot first, I let it brew while dropping some sausages into a pan on the back burner. Hearing the clicks from the ignitor, I set the temperature when the flame lit under the pan. Grabbing the hashbrown patties from the freezer, I set a couple onto a cookie sheet and slid them into the oven with a timer so I didn't have to worry about burning them. Finally, I focused on mixing up the eggs for omelettes. I may be tired, but I was also hungry as all Hell.

  Also, since I was cooking, that meant Kyōtani would have to do the dishes.

  I was almost finished with the first omelette when the blond came shuffling into the kitchen like a zombie and sniffing the air like a bloodhound.

  "Smells good." He mumbled while wrapping his arms around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

  "Damn right, it does."