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"Your cat is getting fat," Totty said. He was staring down at ESP Nyanko with his hands on his hips and a disappointed frown on his lips.
"Yeah," Ichimatsu said. What? Maybe he fed Nyanko too much, but what was he supposed to do -- not feed him? Ichimatsu left the food around, and Nyanko seemed to eat it. That was what you were supposed to do, right?
"What are you even feeding him?" Totty said. Ichimatsu shuffled around a bit and got up from the table, heading to the kitchen cupboard. Dry cat food, wet cat food, and little gravy-kibble pouch... things. Totty held them at arms length, nearly gagging at the slight smell of meat coming from them.
"A cup of the dry food," Ichimatsu said.
"What, you just keep the cans and pouches around for decoration?" Totty sniped. It was edging into mean spirited.
Ichimatsu looked pained, eyes going between Totty, the cans, Nyanko by the water dish, and back to Totty. "Uh," he started. "And a pouch in the morning and a can in the evening."
"Holy shit," Totty said. "That's. Wow. He's going to die at ten years old."
At Ichimatsu's stunned lack of response, Totty sniffed and walked out of the room, taking all the cans of cat food with him. Ichimatsu trailed along, dragging his feet and trying to form the words 'hey, asshole, give that back.' It wasn't an easy day for words, though, so he was quiet.
Totty primly marched into the living room where his cell phone was charging at the wall. Lining all the bags and boxes and cans up in a neat pile on the floor, he sat cross legged where he could access his phone easily. After a quick wipe of his hands with a wet wipe he had in his pocket, he started tapping on his phone.
It was a few awkward minutes of silence with Totty looking back and forth from his phone to one type of cat food and back to his phone and to another type of cat food, and on and on. He seemed annoyed, like someone was playing a high pitched noise in the other room, but he didn't say anything. Since Todomatsu didn't say anything, Ichimatsu didn't say anything, and it continued on like that.
After about ten minutes, Totty put his phone down. It made a delicate click on the end table.
"One pouch and a half can of this," he pointed to a mid-range cat food Ichimatsu had bought on sale. "In the morning, and the other half can and another pouch at night. No more leaving out food. No more dry food at all. Pay attention to where he hangs out and write it down, we'll put water bowls in those places. Mom won't mind if we steal a couple bowls... probably. Let's not tell her."
Ichimatsu tried to process this as fast as Totty had said it. "Uh."
Totty blinked, then seemed to notice his uncute misstep. Ordering people around was not befitting of a cordial, gracious, totally adorable person such as himself. Even if the person he was ordering around so clearly needed the help.
"Dry foods are like, literally death pellets or something," Totty said, bleeding so seamlessly from commanding into picturesque valley girl ditziness that Ichimatsu could almost think the militaristic cat food commands had been a hallucination.
Almost, because at Ichimatsu's lack of immediate agreement, Totty huffed and switched back in a flash.
"Do you agree to it, nii-san?" he said, and he held out a pinky. It was less of a question and more of an order.
"I..." Ichimatsu started. He hated how Totty had dug up his concern for Nyanko, cleaned it up, and shoved it in his face, all within fifteen minutes.
"Oh my god, I just don't want your stupid cat to die," Totty said, shaking his pinky demandingly at Ichimatsu. "You'll spend more on the cans but you'll save by not buying dry food, so money isn't an issue. And I know for a fact that the important part for you is that Nyanko is okay, so. Okay? Jesus. Now promise this is all you'll feed him, even if he begs or meows, for at least four weeks."
Ichimatsu grit his teeth angrily, but he hooked his pinky with his little brother's.
"Good," said Totty. "And we're taking him to the vet on Wednesday when I get off work." Totty pointed at where ESP Nyanko was still logily laying beside the water dish, lapping up water and looking like he was half asleep. "Because he might have diabetes, so there's that to look forward to. Yay, needles." He rolled his eyes.
"Why are you doing this?" Ichimatsu snapped, annoyed at Totty's flippant remarks about the health of Nyanko. Couldn't he at least take it seriously, if he was going to act like he cared?
Totty stood and glared unflinchingly back at Ichimatsu. "Because you aren't."
Ichimatsu didn't have anything to say to that.
Totty tossed his hair, even though it was short enough that all it did was send his bangs sideways. "Cool, utter silence works. Totally not weird or creepy. Anyway! Now that that's settled, uh." He waited another beat, but Ichimatsu just stared. "Okay. Bye," he sing songed. He added a little wiggly wave of his fingers as he got up and left Ichimatsu sitting in the living room, surrounded by cat food.
***
A week later, Ichimatsu cornered him just before bed. Really, actually cornered, since Totty kept trying to dodge around him to go to the bathroom.
"Move! I want to get in there before Karamatsu," Totty said. Totty took his own sweet time, but Karamatsu took a year.
Ichimatsu shoved a notepad at him.
"What's this?" Totty said. He read the notes quickly and positively beamed. How long had it been since Ichimatsu had seen Totty that pleased at something his older brothers did? Maybe it had something to do with following his orders to the letter. "So Nyanko is usually... in the upper floor linen closet, in the dining room, or in the back yard?"
Ichimatsu nodded. "He isn't in the kitchen that often except to drink water."
"I don't know why we keep it there, then," Totty said, exasperated. For once, Ichimatsu got the sense that Totty's exasperation wasn't directed at him. It was a relief.
"When's the vet appointment?" Ichimatsu asked.
"Three p.m. on Friday," Totty answered. "It was the soonest I could get, so I just took an hour off the end of my shift. We'll totally make it on time, so as long as you have him in the carrier by two. Then we'll be able to walk to the station and--"
"You took time off work?" Ichimatsu interrupted. Ah, there was that annoyed look Totty usually had, presumably at being cut off. It softened almost immediately though, into a weird mix of uncomfortable and unnaturally self-effacing.
"Yeah," he said. When Ichimatsu didn't press, Totty shrugged. "My manager didn't mind, most of the employees there need time off for school or whatever sometimes. It's not a big deal... You don't like talking to people," he finished bluntly.
Ichimatsu shrugged. "No shit," he said.
"Yeah. And like, Juushimatsu maybe isn't the best at explaining medical issues to people," Totty said. Everyone remembered Juushimatsu's trials and errors with Dekapan. "So. I'm coming. I mentioned that I was coming before, you know. Were you even listening, or--?"
"Thank you," said Ichimatsu. Totty froze mid sentence. Ichimatsu looked like he had just tasted something bitter, and was mostly making eye contact with the floor.
"No... problem," Totty murmered. Oh, god, did they have to hug now? Totty pulled out his phone to preemptively cut that nightmarish prospect off. It was unbearably awkward for about twenty seconds. "So. You know you're paying however much his bill is, right?"
Ichimatsu barely smothered the little smile that threatened to flare up. "Yeah, Totty. I know."