a/n: my first kumirei fic of 2017 and it features kumiko owning two cats named jenny and cactus. this year's off to a good start.

"Hey, Reina?"

"Kumiko, it's two in the morning." Kumiko could hear the shuffling of papers on the other end of the line. "What is it?"

"When're you coming home?" A pause.

"I haven't found a time yet."

"Come home soon, alright? It's getting kinda insufferable with Jenny and Cactus being my only companions, here." The cats in question meowed when their names were mentioned, rubbing up against Kumiko's legs.

"At least you don't have to deal with an incredibly nosy upperclassman from high school poking into your room every other day, asking for sugar and party honkers and whatever else she can dream up."

"I still can't believe you ended up going to the same school as Asuka."

"It's her fault for not telling any of us where she planned to go. She wanted to be mysterious, I suppose."

"Mysterious, my ass. She probably just didn't want to give us more trouble."

"There are easier ways to do that than to cut off communications with everyone you know for two years."

"I guess." Cactus tugged at Kumiko's pant leg, and she had to swat him away. "I'll feed you in a minute, okay?"

"I'm glad you're still enough of a romantic to fly halfway across the world to make me breakfast, Kumiko."

"You know who I'm- crap, Jenny, stop that! Sorry, Reina, I don't think these two can wait." Reina let out a yawn on the other end of the line.

"That's probably for the best, anyway. I need to get more sleep for my final tomorrow, not that I was asleep before you called me anyway." Reina hung up the phone, and Kumiko set it down to avoid the ear-splitting cleeeeeeek that it always seemed to emit.

"You always know how to block me in the middle of important conversations, don't you?" she cooed to the cats circling below her, scratching Jenny behind the ears. "Yes, yes, I know it's feeding time. I'm getting the food, alright? I'm getting it, I'm getting it." Kumiko took the oversized tin of cat food from its position on top of the counter. "I can't believe she's only been gone for two months. It feels like forever." Cactus tilted his head inquisitively, seemingly uninterested in the food that Kumiko had just set down. "Oh, now you don't care." She was just about to gently scold the cat for his fickleness when her phone started vibrating off the table, and she caught it just seconds before it would've hit the scratched wooden floor. "Reina?"

"Ah, Kumiko! I wasn't expecting you to pick up!"

"Isn't it two in the morning where you are?" Kumiko deadpanned, knowing the voice all too well.

"It is. What's it to you?"

"I mean, you probably need . . . y'know . . . sleep. Reina said there's a test tomorrow."

"In case you've forgotten, dearest little euph-"

"Please stop calling me that."

"-I'm two years older than you and Kousaka-san. She might have a test tomorrow, but I sure don't." Kumiko could hear Asuka's bed creak beneath her. "She's stressed, in any case. That's why I called you."

"What?"

"I've never depended on people, Oumae-chan. Simple as that. I don't need them. Kousaka's not like that. She's . . . lonely, here."

"What're you saying?"

"Come home, Kumiko. It's something you both need, I think." Kumiko scratched Jenny between the ears, looking up at the ceiling.

"I wish I could, Asuka, b-but . . ."

"But what? You're afraid she'll be different, you're afraid you'll be the one pulling the weight just because she can't fly all the way to Japan with her workload slowly killing her? I'm good at reading people, Kumiko, even over the phone, even when they live just across the hall from me." Kumiko could hear Asuka's voice shaking. "You're missed, Kumiko. People miss you."

"You need to get some sleep."

"Right again, dear Oumae." Asuka hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye, and Kumiko set it down again.

"I can't believe I'm actually going to do this."

"You have to feed them twice a day, alright?" Kumiko fretfully handed the spare key to her next-door neighbor, a young man who she rarely talked to but trusted enough to take care of the cats for at least a few days. "Make sure to close the door behind you, Cactus is pretty sneaky. Jenny really likes listening to my euphonium, so maybe you could find a recording of one online and play it while you're feeding her? They're both total sweethearts, just give them a few pets and you'll be good." The neighbor looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "I'll be gone for a week, I'll pay you when I get back. Thank you again, I owe you one."

"I'll do my best," the neighbor said, dutifully taking the keys before walking back to his own apartment, muttering something about the 'crazy cat lady.' Kumiko elected to ignore him as she walked down the carpeted hallway, suitcase bumping behind her.

The flight was as exhausting as sitting in one place for fourteen hours could be, and Kumiko was just about ready to collapse when she stepped off the plane. She managed to drag herself to a nearby hotel, flopping down on the bed as soon as she reached her room.

Tomorrow, she quietly vowed, shutting off the lamp by her bed and falling into a deep sleep. I'll do it tomorrow.

Kumiko was still feeling extraordinarily jet-lagged the next morning, but she dragged herself out of bed nonetheless.

"New York taxis are the devil incarnate," she muttered, watching yet another dusty yellow car rush by in the muddy road. "Couldn't one of you insensitive creeps just stop?!" That seemed to do the trick, and a car screeched to a halt directly in front of her. "Fair enough."

The campus was larger than she'd expected. Students breezed by, purpose in their step, and Kumiko was left staring blankly at a map.

"Crap, crap, I don't even know where her dorm is," she growled, berating herself for forgetting such an important detail.

"Are you lost?" someone asked, in English. Kumiko turned around and saw someone she'd never thought she'd be relieved to see.

"Asuka," she breathed.

"You followed my advice, then?" The older girl leaned against a tree with a smirk. "I can lead you to Kousaka, since that's clearly why you're here." Kumiko eagerly nodded.

"Y-yeah, that'd be great. Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Asuka airily sighed, beginning to walk down a stone path towards one of the dorm buildings. "Consider it a favor, from one euph to another."

"This is where she lives," Asuka whispered, pointing to a door marked 208. Kumiko could feel her heart start to swell in her chest, becoming a stone and a balloon all at once. "I'm right in 213 down the hall if you need me."

"Got it," she mumbled, raising a shaky fist to knock on the door. Asuka ducked back into her own room, giving Kumiko a thumbs-up before disappearing from sight. "Reina?" she whispered tentatively, as if Reina would cease to exist if she spoke too loudly. The door creaked open, and Kumiko caught sight of shocked violet eyes before she was pulled into a tight hug.

"Why are you here?" Reina asked, burying her face in the fabric of Kumiko's sweater.

"I wanted to visit you."

"How did you find out where my room is?" Kumiko jabbed a finger in the direction of the hallway, where Asuka was almost certainly standing outside, listening in. "Of course."

"I missed you." Reina clung to her tighter.

"I missed you too."

"What's it like, anyway? College, I mean." Reina shrugged.

"It's difficult. I'm making my way through it, though. I'm doing fine." She paused, pulling away from the hug. "I'm glad that you're here, though, in any case. It's a bit lonelier than I'd expected." Kumiko noticed an oversized Tuba-kun plushie laying on its side on Reina's bed - a gift from Midori, no doubt.

"Y-yeah, we should, uh, do this more often." Reina pulled her in close again and kissed her, and for once Kumiko's mind was as far from her home as it could be - home was right here, as far as she was concerned, it was wherever Reina happened to be.

"How are your cats, by the way?"

"They're, uh, doing great. Hopefully they're not causing too much trouble for the neighbor who's taking care of them, heh."

"I'm sure that they're fine." Kumiko was the one to kiss Reina, this time, the two girls holding each other in the middle of a cramped dorm room as if nothing else mattered. She made a mental note to thank Asuka later.