The Midorima family was respectable, a polite way of saying they had some money and connections that might even be impressive in a social circle that didn’t include the word Akashi, but also respectable as in “no respectable person would keep a personal menagerie like this.”

But this co-worker of Kise’s was not. What respectable person owned a ferret? They were also possibly a criminal. The lizard in tank #3 probably wasn’t even legal. He couldn’t be sure without looking at its underbelly markings. He couldn’t do that because unnecessary human handling could stress the reptile out to the point of causing scale molt.

The reason Midorima knew anything about lizard dermatology was because he faced the task of pet sitter as he did so many things in life – with preparation. His duffel bag didn’t hold practice clothes today, but binders full of care instructions, filed in alphabetical order by species.

Of course, he could walk away from the distasteful job, but there was no way he was doing that. While Kise’s friends from Kaijou were generally unknown, Midorima knew the chances these animals had of surviving under the care of most of the Generation of Miracles. He may have found exotic animals unnecessary and too flashy; he didn’t wish death upon the creatures.

Most of the creatures.

“You didn’t tell me there would be a cat.” He stated his problem directly and immediately before Kise could attempt to socialize.

“Midorimacchi, you called! It’s my lucky day!” Midorima would have had something to say about luck if Kise had taken even a single breath. “Isn’t she just the cutest thing! When I was over there a few weeks ago-“

He hung up on him. He should have known that would be a useless plan of action. The cat looked up at him and mrred in pure mockery. It had to be mockery when his lucky item for the day, a peacock feather, was trapped between its evil paws.

Now he faced the same problem in reaching out for help as when he considered alternative pet sitters. Distance disqualified Murasakibara and Akashi, a double disqualification for Murasakibara. Aomine, no. Momoi might bring Aomine. That left Takao or Kuroko.

Maybe the upperclassmen…

No, he had to pick between Takao or Kuroko.

He chose the one with a pet. (He chose the one who wouldn’t laugh at him.) Having learned his lesson about phone calls, he typed out his request for Kuroko, and a few exchanges later, had already sent him directions. Much better. Midorima was already feeling good about his choice.

There was a simple greeting at the door. Still good. Kuroko promised to look into the cat situation while Midorima attended to the 14:00 amphibian spritzing. Excellent all around. He didn’t know why he’d ever hesitated to ask for his help.

He did know as soon as he returned to find Kuroko crouched next to the cat. That in itself was suspicious. Was it really necessary to be so close to it unless he was restraining it? What was unbelievable was the feather in his hand. He swayed it back and forth to the delight of the cat.

Right. Bat. Left. Twist. Right.

“Midorima-kun is lucky I was available to take care of such a vicious animal.” Looking down into Kuroko’s big blue eyes, he now felt regret.

Kuroko was barely across the threshold - not pushed out physically, but rather by an angry looming - before Midorima was informing Takao that his services would be needed tomorrow. At least when Takao laughed at him, he had the decency to do it to his face.