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“Get back in your cage, you deviant moggy!”
“Maybe if you stop calling me a moggy, I will!”
“You’re not a pedigree, Yaku! You’re a moggy.” The shape shifter, with large, fluffy cat ears and a matching plume of a tail, scowls and puts his hands on his hips, tail lashing back and forth angrily.
“I’m fed up with staying in that pen all day! I want to go for a walk, so I shall!” He starts to stride towards the door of the pet shop, and Kuroo grabs his wrist before he can, tugging him back and throwing a blanket at him.
“Put that on whilst I find you some clothes then, geez. You can’t go out butt naked.” Yaku raises an eyebrow.
“I’m a cat, Kuroo. I’m naked all the time.” Kuroo rolls his eyes, looking through the cupboard behind the counter, searching for clothes whilst Yaku wraps himself in the blanket.
Being a magical pet shop, it helps to have clothes prepared for the shape shifters that want to get out and stretch their human legs for a while. Cats, though, will often just shift, break out of their pen, and waltz off anyways. Kuroo’s had to deal with Yaku and Taketora doing this many times.
At the least the dog shape shifters – Iwaizumi and Kindaichi – wait for permission and clothes first.
“You’re not naked all the time; you’re usually covered in fur. Lots of fur. You’re a Maine coon munchkin.”
“Don’t call me a munchkin!!!” Kuroo grins and snickers, grabbing some clothes that thankfully look about Yaku’s size. He’s constantly having to buy more, since the cat shifter seems intent on stripping every time he goes out and coming back with just underwear and the blanket.
“Here. Put these on.” Yaku snatches the clothes from him and dresses quickly, angrily shoving his tail through the hole in the back of the trousers and holding his arms out as if to make a point about something. Kuroo rolls his eyes again and passes over the standard pet shop collar.
Not only does it let others know that this cat shifter is not a stray, but it has a special magical function that alerts Kuroo if the pet is in trouble or needs picking up from somewhere. Taketora has a nuance for getting into fights and needing assistance to get back to the shop.
“Stay safe, Munchkin.” Yaku stops in the doorway of the shop to grab the nearest item off the shelves – a squeaky toy – and throw it at the pet shop owner. Kuroo stops it with a wave of his hand, the squeaky toy floating in the air. He makes it levitate back to its place on the shelf with no effort.
“Guess I’d better check the rest of the guys.” His first stop is the three huge bird cages, and he whistles as he approaches, knowing how much it annoys the shrewd little wren named Daichi. It’s always funny to watch the mystic wren try to throw things at him using psychic power, when Kuroo’s magic is much stronger because he’s a wizard.
Just as he’s thinking it, a barrage of seeds comes at him and he snickers, brushing it aside and directing it to the food bowl of the youngest birds – the fledglings.
Hinata, a robin who can teleport short distances, flickers around his cage as lively as ever, appearing on the side of the food bowl with a happy little chirrup. Kageyama, a ghostly blue tit, tries to push him aside and fails due to the fact that he’s... Well... A ghost.
Another little ghost bird, Yachi the Goldfinch, peeps shyly and waves a wing in hello. Kuroo smiles and sticks a finger through the cage bars, using magic to make himself physical for Yachi to scratch up against. Hard to believe she was scared of him at first.
“Morning Kuroo-san!”
“Good morning, Yamaguchi~ How are you today?” On a high bar in the cage, a mossy brown songbird hops to the very edge, talking to Kuroo with his translation magic. With Yamaguchi in the shop, he never had to worry about foreign customers. He’d be at a loss of what to do if someone purchased the loveable, friendly bird.
“I’m good! It’s not too cold today, so Hinata and Kageyama might give Tsukki some space for once!” Kuroo muffles a chuckle, eyes flickering to the golden bird at the back, a budgie of brilliance, with magic stars swirling over his developing feathers.
He was capable of shape shifting too, but he only did that when he really needed some peace and quiet. It was becoming much more often now that Kuroo allowed him to take Yamaguchi out with him though.
“Alright, well, let me know if you need anything else, okay?”
“Of course~. Oh! Kageyama and Yacchan did ask if we could have pumpkin seeds instead of sunflower seeds today, please. It’s very important.” Ah, yes! Kuroo nods. Since it’s the 16th of October, all his little ghost creatures will want something autumn related to eat. It strengthened their connection to this world, and for an hour after each meal, they were back to their original forms.
“I’ll make sure Suga gets some too. Thank you, Yamaguchi.” The songbird chirps happily, his fluffy plumage puffing up with pride before he hops back over to Tsukishima.
Kuroo moves along, checking the middle cage of birds. These ones aren’t quite adults, but they have their feathers and can fly. They make the most of their human sized cage, the five of them quite happy to share space. He’d asked if they wanted extra levels added, but Yamaguchi had translated for them and revealed they quite like the close quarters.
Tanaka and Noya were budgies, rambunctious and constantly active. The only difference was that Noya could use fire magic, whilst Tanaka was undead. Literally, undead.
Most people would call him and Asahi zombie birds, but Kuroo didn’t like that term. They weren’t infected, and they didn’t bite – Tanaka had pecked someone once but that was it – they were just... Not dead. When they probably should have been.
Necromancers in training often revived animals that were freshly dead, and turned the undead creatures into nearby pet shops. They shouldn’t be alive, but they were rescued heartbeats after death or tragedy.
Considering Tanaka’s wings were just skeleton bones, resurrected from a traumatic incident that sometimes got him depressed, he probably shouldn’t be able to fly either.
“Morning, birds. You okay?” His answer comes from Kinoshita, a canary that can write words with light, although they vanish after a few seconds. It’s enough to hold a conversation with the avian. He reads the sentence quickly, glad that they’re doing just fine, though Ennoshita and Narita were still dozing in the corner.
Noya accidentally crashes into Kinoshita, ending the very short conversation with Kuroo as the canary fluffs out his feathers and chirps at them angrily, making Tanaka and Noya twitter in apology. Kuroo snickers and moves to the final cage, whistling sharply and getting another barrage of seeds come towards him.
“Try harder, Daichi~.” Annoyed, the dark brown wren glares at him before flying into one of the bird houses fixed at the back of each cage, disappearing from sight.
“Aww, c’mon, don’t be like that~.” The nervous peep of the undead Tristan Thrush stops him teasing Daichi, instead sticking a finger through the bars and poking Asahi’s chest fluff.
“I’m not winding him up that much. Don’t be such a worrywart.” The little ghost bird in the corner, which Kuroo doesn’t know the species of, trills and flies over to hop back and forth next to Asahi.
Kuroo’s pretty sure that once he’s had some pumpkin seeds, Suga will pluck a few of the other two’s feathers, like he always does. He’s such a bully, though he never does it to hurt them or make them uncomfortable. He knows his limits.
“I’ll get you some pumpkin seeds soon, Suga. Let me check everyone else first. Be nice!” Birds tended to, Kuroo stroll over to the opposite side of the shop. As he approaches the pen, surrounded by white picket fence, a head lifts from the pile of multi-coloured fluff and fur in the centre.
The all-black Keeshond puppy spots Kuroo and wriggles out of the pile, tail wagging a mile a minute as he clumsily runs over, front paws up against the fence. Kuroo tries not to laugh at the enthusiasm, knowing the puppy could well shift into a human child and burst into tears if he thinks he’s being laughed at. It happened once before. He regretted it.
“I’m sorry, Kindaichi~. I didn’t bring any treats this time. I’m just checking up on everyone.” Although the Keeshond drops his paws from the fence, he sits patiently, tail still wagging as Kuroo opens the little gate and walks in.
Although the dogs aren’t his favourite, he does love to play with them and get tons of affection in return. The cats are kind of assholes, but loveable ones. First, though, he cleans up. Iwaizumi tries to keep things neat and tidy, but whilst the black German Shepherd sleeps, the other adult dogs and Kindaichi tend to make a huge mess.
Surprisingly, the adolescents don’t. The other puppy, Kunimi, a Kooikerhondje, is almost worryingly lethargic, if not for the fact that he saved up all his energy for one great burst of magic on occasion. Last time, the smug puppy had changed Kuroo’s hair and Hanamaki’s fur to neon pink.
The whole time Kuroo cleans up, there’s a puppy following him around patiently, tail never stopping as he waits for Kuroo to either play with him or pass him a blanket so he can shift. It’s adorably hilarious how his little tongue pokes out his mouth as he waits.
Kuroo wonders why no one adopts the pup, sometimes, until someone tries and suddenly the whole pack is there, herding their youngest two into the dog houses. They’re very protective of each other. He hopes that protectiveness will fade as the puppies grow.
“Alright... Toy, or blanket?” Kindaichi bounds over to the gate, pawing at it with a happy bark. His noise wakes two of the others, the German Shepherd, Iwaizumi, and the Australian Shepherd, Yahaba.
When Iwaizumi realises it’s Kuroo, he rests his head back down somewhere in the dogpile and tries to drift off again, heaving a sigh. Yahaba nudges Watari, an undead Canaan adolescent, off his rump, and pulls away from the pack to stretch.
Yahaba, like the robin in the cages across the room, has the ability to teleport, although he uses it sparingly. Kuroo watches him flicker out of the corner of his eye, and then the dog is gone from view. No doubt he’ll be sitting by the leads.
Someone has to go with Kindaichi, after all. Kuroo can’t just let a child shape shifter roam the streets on his own. Not when his tail wags hard enough to knock things over or block people’s paths.
“There you go.” He opens the gate of the dog pen, letting the Keeshond puppy trot over to the counter whilst Kuroo disappears into the cupboard to get a blanket and more clothes again. At least Kindaichi always brings his clothes back, unlike Yaku.
“Yaku’s already out and about. If you see him, let him know I’ll serve dinner half an hour earlier today.” The puppy yips gleefully, front paws hopping on the spot as Kuroo throws the blanket over to cover him.
There’s a bright blue glow, and then a human head pops out from under the blanket, the boy standing up and holding it around him. He’s about 8, and comes up to Kuroo’s shoulder already.
“Is it really okay to go outside~?!”
“Of course~. Listen to Yahaba, though. And don’t forget your curfew.”
“Yes sir!” He salutes in all seriousness, taking the clothes to change into under his blanket, tucking the top of it into his pet shop collar so it flutters like a cape. He picked that up from a little witch that came in with her mother to pick a familiar.
“Be good, okay?” Kuroo clips the harness and lead onto Yahaba, still addressing Kindaichi. He passes the lead over, and then reaches into the small tips jar on the counter. 600¥ isn’t much, but the child holds it like it’s ancient treasure, before tucking it into his pocket and bowing in thanks.
“I’ll be good!” Yahaba tugs on the lead, waiting for Kindaichi to open the pet shop door so they can leave. He shakes out one more time, knowing that as soon as the door is open, they’ll be racing off down the street towards either the town or the park.
“Remember; Back before dark!” Kuroo doesn’t get a reply from the child racing off down the street, laughing as he hops over a fallen dustbin, tail wagging all the while and puppy ears flopping. Kuroo huffs as he watches them go, resting against the doorframe.
A loud bark from behind startles him, and he jumps around to see Oikawa, a brown ghost collie sitting in the middle of the shop floor.
“... Did I forget to close the gate?! Shit!” He follows Oikawa back to the dog pen, sighing in relief when Kyoutani, the staffie, is still there curled up against the others and snoring heavily. Whilst the Staffie is a secret softie, especially with the pups, he has a few... Issues that Kuroo is still trying to work out.
One of those issues being that if he has the opportunity, like an open gate, he’ll start a fight with Tanaka or Taketora with absolutely no prompting at all. The scars across his muzzle from cat claws are proof of that.
Luckily, they stop fighting before anyone is seriously hurt, but Kuroo still doesn’t want to have to treat any cuts today.
“That’s a relief.” He closes the gate, making sure the lock is in place, and Oikawa walks straight through it. He sits next to the food bowls, holding one paw out and pointing at it as if demanding his October 16th meal.
“Alright, alright, I’ll get you something later. Let me check everyone else first.” Oikawa huffs, turning his back on Kuroo and dramatically flopping where he lies, making sure Kuroo can hear his scoff.
“Yeah, alright, have a little tantrum. I told you, later.” He brushes his gaze over the others, making sure they’re all there and alive.
Matsukawa gave him a scare about two weeks back. He’d suddenly collapsed in the middle of the pen, and Kuroo had quickly realised that the necromancer who’d revived him had passed away. It had been a difficult and tense hour, trying to keep him warm enough that he could be medically treated to stay alive.
He’s still on edge, constantly checking every time he walks past the dog pen. When he spots the chest of the Irish Wolfhound rising and falling without problem, he releases a breath he didn’t realise he’d held. Next to him, Hanamaki the Springer Spaniel, kicks in his dream, annoying Iwaizumi to the point that he has to turn around rather than just move his head a bit.
The dogs are amusing to watch, even when they’re sleeping, but Kuroo’s favourites are next. He heads towards the cat pen. Technically, it’s more of a room than a pen, but that’s because there used to be so many cats that he had to have the whole room.
Now, since word of his pet shop has spread, he’s down to 8. Three kittens, three adolescents, and two adults. He waltzes into the room, and immediately, a young cat leaps off the highest perch and onto his shoulders. It’s an odd place to be, but this is an odd cat.
“Yes, hello, Fukunaga.” The maneki neko purrs, rubbing his head against Kuroo’s cheek to demand affection.
Usually, Fukunaga sits on the highest shelf of the room, above the door, unmoving until someone exits and enters. He blesses them with luck if they’re leaving, and showers them with affection if they’re entering. And he loves shoulders.
Kuroo reaches up and scratches behind his ears as a Nebelung kitten weaves between his legs, almost determined to trip him up, yowling and meowing constantly.
“I’m not feeding you! You’re going to get fat! I’ve already fed you twice today!” The fluffy grey kitten yowls back, green eyes wide as he reaches up and digs his claws into Kuroo’s leg unintentionally.
“Lev. Get off.” He tries purring, and as Kuroo sits down in a bean-bag, leaps into his lap. Kuroo taps his nose, not taking his other hand away from Fukunaga.
“No. Dinner will be early, but not yet.” He looks around the room. Shibayama, a kitten made entirely of gel-like water, swims around a small and shallow pond Kuroo had built into the room when he heard about the new arrival he was going to get.
Inuoka, a telepathic kitten who acted more like a puppy and was best friends forever with Kindaichi, was chasing after a ball and kicking it away from him again to sprint after.
He only switched his attention to something else when Kai, an Egyptian Mau, swiped something with tons of fake feathers off the radiator bed where he lay. A perfect place for a sand cat. The sandpit in the corner had a huge castle in it, no doubt constructed by Kai for the kittens to play in.
Kenma was in hiding, but Kuroo had no doubt he was in the egg-shaped cat bed, playing with the digital device Kuroo had brought him. Kenma’s magic allowed him to interact with technology as if he was a human using the touch screen. His favourite apps were Love Live, Mon Hunt, and one where fish swam across the screen.
Taketora and Yaku were already out and about, so Kuroo was content to sit back and just spend some time with his favourites. Fukunaga was still on his shoulders, after all, and Lev had finally quietened down, taking residence in his lap.
Inuoka seemed to have decided that Lev’s tail was better than any feathery toy, sitting by Kuroo’s foot and batting at the grey fur. Good thing Lev was apparently too hungry to accidentally use wind magic and blow him away.
Being moist enough, Shibayama paddles out of his pond and mewls as he brushes up against Kuroo’s free hand. Despite the fact that it’ll leave his hand soaked, Kuroo takes to stroking him, the water cat purring and circling around. He’ll return to the pond if he needs to.
“You guys are my favourite.” He pauses, pointing down at Inuoka.
"Don’t tell anyone else that.”