Work Text:
“I’m home.”
This was your everyday happenings in actuality as a working college student, and to say that you were on the brink of exhaustion was an understatement—perhaps you were on the verge of wishing that you could at least have a week off, to close your eyes and breathe for a while. Though that wouldn't really happen, right?
At least you had your two cats to accompany you on your misfortunes.
Stepping inside the house, you quietly casted your gaze towards the living room where your cats usually resided (more like where your cat, Keiji loved to hang around) only to be left with a bewildered expression, wondering why neither of your favorite felines seemed to be present. Brushing the growing concern off, you closed the door behind you and trudged towards your bedroom, only to stop on your tracks as imperceptible hushed murmurs resounded in your ears.
“... what do you mean you can't shift back?”
Being jumbled with confusion and circumspection, there was a shift in your expression as your once wearied mien immediately turned heedful with much reluctance.
“I really can't shift back, there's nothing more to it. You are aware of how much energy it takes to shift back into our form right?”
There was a brief silence between the two faint voices before a sigh broke out.
“I have an idea—let’s just leave for a day, find somewhere else to stay for the time being then we can return back here once we can both shift.”
“I don't think that's a good idea, though, Tooru. She’d be worried sick for us, I can only imagine how our sudden disappearance would devastate her. That's basically a free ticket for a broken hearted owner.” It's as if the ambience turned unsympathetic on you, or rather deafening to withstand as your heartbeat began to pound sporadically.
Tooru..? As in your cat Tooru? Who are these people?
“But would you rather have her be worried for ourselves because of our disappearance or have her go through a heart attack because guess what, her cats can actually transform into humans.” There was a quiet chuckle. “And knowing you, you’d hate to witness that happen.”
“.. What do you suggest we do?”
Heaving out a deep breath, you closed your eyes momentarily, mentally preparing yourself for what's about to happen next. It took you approximately three seconds to establish that this was, in fact, real and not just one of your insignificant reveries. It was awfully nerve wracking to say the least, you had to admit, and this could go two ways: in which the probability of seeing two delusional stalkers inside your room could verily be the truth, either that or that sufficing the assumption that these two strangers were actually your cats that could magically transform into cats and humans however they pleased.
Though, you weren't certain which was worst.
Averse with the idea of abruptly ripping your door open, you bit the inside of your cheek and decided to deliberately open it quietly.
Two pairs of eyes simultaneously landed on you with a mix of shock and fear, almost like two kids caught in midst trouble. If this wasn't a serious situation, the chances of you bursting into fits of laughter were probable. Your eyes drank in the sight of two tall guys standing near your bed, faces unrecognizable—however, you weren't one to deny that both of them sported faces that could be considered attractive. And it took you a second to realize that there was something off about the two guys; a second to realize that the most distinguishable trait they had was the fluffy ears that sat on top of their heads.
Kemonomimi? Furries..?
The brown haired was the first to break the silence, and though it irked you to bits, maybe a part of you was thankful that you didn't have to be the first to speak. God, if only awkwardness wasn't present in your vocab.
“... How was work..?”
Quickly reaching down, you took the first thing that your hand landed on, which was coincidentally one of the cat’s beds. Mustering up enough valor to throw the bed to one of them, you opened your mouth to speak hesitantly.
“I'm not.. certain what possessed the two of you to do this, but this is clearly trespassing so please, get the fuck out before I call the police.” Attempting to obscure the apparent reluctance in your tone, their attention reverted to the cat bed that landed on the brown haired, which elicited a yelp from him as the black haired shot you a disquieted frown.
“You got it all wrong—” “Very wrong.” Both spoke at the same time.
Narrowing your eyes at the two. “How am I wrong, do elaborate because the last time I know is that I only lived alone.”
The black haired shook his head. “Actually, you lived with two cats.”
Lifting a finger to point accusingly. “So I was right, you two are stalkers! I’m calling the author—”
“—No! You got it all wrong, we’re not stalkers, we never were. We’re your cats: Keiji and Tooru, remember? Keiji as in the Keiji cat who always greets you whenever you come home from your shift and Tooru as in Tooru cat–the one who effectively makes your day shittier because you wouldn't give him your attention so he resorts to knocking things out of the table to get your attention. That's us, look, we even have the ears and tail to justify this.” Now that he mentioned it, your focus brought you to take notice of the ears once again. The calmer one of the two detected your incredulity and took a step forward towards you.
“You can touch my ears if you're still doubtful.”
If your assumptions were correct, this could be Keiji and the one you threw a cat bed at was Tooru, though you didn't want to let your guard down. They could be outrightly doing any form of attempts to deceive you into believing that they were your pet cats, but who would believe them? For all you knew, they could be wearing some expensive cat ears and tails (or were they furries..? You didn't even wanna know).
Shaking your head, you pointed to the door with a scowl. “Please get out of my apartment.”
‘Tooru’ emitted a hopeless sigh, casting you a look. “Are you really gonna throw us out? After all we've been through these past few months..? Is that your final decision? No more changing? No? Okay.”
He languidly drags his body out of the room with ‘Keiji’ right behind him, although the latter stops on his tracks to stand before you, quietly bowing his head before mumbling a, “I’m sorry it had to end like this, we appreciate you taking care of us.”
Begrudgingly following after the two, there was a moment of reluctance within the two as they quickly casted a hopeful glance on your way, only to wince back when you threw a harsh glare. The black haired gently pushed his friend out of the door before shooting you a small smile, and though his expression seemed friendly, you could pinpoint that he wasn't exactly fond of the situation—as if a part of him felt hesitant to leave something he found comfort in.
“Thank you for everything.”
He closed the door behind him.
Their dejection bled guilt within you, and that only led you to be unsure of whether your decision was unquestionably correct or the wrong thing to make.
Okay, maybe you did made the wrong decision.
You’re pretty certain the exhaustion you brandished earlier still remained adamant within you, albeit with how many attempts of calling your cats’ names were left futile, you found yourself padding back and forth to every room and corner. You even made sure to dish out their favorite cat treats in hopes of their presence suddenly blessing you—but alas, you were starting to go desperate; maybe the two men who left earlier were your cats..?
“Tooru? Keiji? Are they really what I think they are? No, are those even real?” You muttered to yourself. “Since when can cats transform into humans? What kind of nonsensical joke even is this?”
There was a muffled sound that resounded from behind the door that led out to your apartment. Standing up, you found yourself trudging towards the door and opening it. Quickly glancing sideways, your gaze landed on the two presence sitting on the floor beside your door.
Both looked up at you.
“Is it true?” You trailed off. “Are you two really my cats?”
Tooru’s eyes flickered to catch a glimpse of Keiji, who only stared at him rather emotionlessly. Anxiously looking back at you, he breathes out. “Yeah, we are.”
Frowning, you studied the two momentarily with a cautious expression.
“I find it really hard to accept this because 1. it’s not physically possible for cats to transform into humans, or in your case, as kemonomimis. 2. you could still be lying for all I know. However..” You brought a hand up, catching their whole attention. “I’m willing to let the two of you in as long as—”
There was a small meow.
A small head peeked out curiously from behind Tooru as you blinked back in shock, letting your eyes squint at the feline as it meekly lets out another sound, this time, as if it was speaking to you.
“Keiji..?” You mumbled, an inquisitive tone obscuring your voice as you kneeled on the floor, watching as the black cat reluctantly walks towards you.
Almost immediately, your eyes snapped back to look at Tooru who was already staring at you. You stood up quickly, letting your eyes perceive the sight before you as you looked sideways, inclining yourself to search for the black haired guy who was with him.
“See?” Looking back at the brunette, his lips curled up into a smile. “We are your cats.”
“Holy shit.”
The black cat, Keiji, meowed, as if he was expressing his amusement towards your reaction.
Holy shit indeed , he thinks to himself.
Living with two kemonomimis wasn't that difficult, you deduced so. Despite having to live with the thought that these two undeniably attractive men was actually your cats, everything else was handled pretty well—except for the fact that on the first few days, you had to play parent on the two: teaching them basic household chores.
(You concluded that Keiji was the responsible one, even though he was a year younger than Tooru; he was quick to abide by your simple tasks like washing the dishes and helping you clean around the apartment. Tooru on the other hand.. Well, he was Tooru.
Even on his human form, you found it figuratively exasperating that he kept trailing behind you everywhere you went. Even when making a dish for the three of you—sometimes one, you’d found him leaning on the doorway with a small pout.
It was an endearing sight, not that you were going to tell him anyway).
“Okay, now that we're done with the basics, we need to establish some setting ground rules. 1. You can't hug me out of nowhere—”
“Huh, why?”
Whirling your head to take a glimpse of them, Tooru slightly tilted his head to the side with a frown, his ear twitching. Even Keiji, who sat behind him, held an idle crestfallen frown on his lips. No word escaped the latter’s mouth, but figuring with his facial expression, you think he was silently urging you for the answer like Tooru.
Blinking back, you cleared your throat in embarrassment. “Because you're humans and.. it's kind of.. embarrassing.”
“Embarrassing in what way?” This time, Keiji spoke, eyes quietly studying your face with a keen look on his face. For some reason, you felt the need to shy away from under his gaze.
You smiled, hoping it wouldn't turn out as a grimace, though with Tooru’s response to your reaction, you figured that what you adorned was something particularly you didn't want to convey.
“Uh, well..” You were pretty certain that you already held an accountable grim smile, basing the reactions you're receiving from the two, who only held innocent faces. Sly motherf—”How do I say this appropriately.. Well, you two are my cats, who can seemingly transform into humans however they please. And when you transform into humans, you have human bodies.. Human male bodies..”
Tooru turned to look at Keiji’s face, who only stared at you rather unfazed.
“Okay.”
What? His lack of reaction towards your brief explanation resulted in you rendering a perplexed expression, nonetheless, you were glad with the outcome. You won't need to explain bit by bit on how embarrassing it would feel for them to abruptly run towards you and to wrap their arms around you as if they were still cats; even a firm cling to your side can suffice a heat of embarrassment within you—or rather would elicit a weird feeling from you because it is weird that they're your pet cats and now they're in human forms and them clinging to you would be highly unusual.
“2. I’m not sure with society’s depiction towards kemonomimi’s, but one thing I know for sure is that as of now, there hasn't been news going around that your kind exists. In short, you two are pretty rare. Though I can't just have you two lounging around here like children because I’m only a student, a broke one at that and I work after classes. My pay isn't enough to sustain three people so..”
Keiji shifts on his spot before clearing his throat. “Do you still remember Tetsurou?” Signifying his question was directed to Tooru, who nodded gradually in response.
“Yeah, I remember him from the adoption center. Why, what's up with him?”
“He did say that if we needed something, we could always come to him.”
“Wait.” You interrupted. “How are you two going to do that exactly?”
Tooru shrugged. “Find his owner.”
“Kozume Kenma.” Keiji stated.
Turns out, you soon figured that maybe life didn't have any sort of vendetta against you, now that your profound information brought you to realize that the Kozume Kenma they were talking about was the Kozume Kenma who sat behind you during your 11 am period. Conversations with him was surprisingly easy and he taught you what you needed to know about kemonomimis, how they weren't that different from humans (it's only then that you deduced that kemonomimi’s are humans with cat senses), and about his cat Tetsurou—who had a job to help Kenma pay the apartment rent.
Trouble didn't present itself and soon enough (with the help of your new friend, Kenma) Keiji and Tooru found jobs suited for them.
“This is really sudden but I have a favor for the two of you, can you please turn into cats just for tonight? I have someone coming over?” You hoped your voice didn't come off as too desperate or demanding, as you shot a meek smile at the two kemonomimi, who only shared a knowing look at each other.
“Who's coming over?” Tooru shoots you a modest inquisition, resting his chin idly on the palm of his hand as he looks at you innocently. He held a vibrant glint in his eyes as he expectantly looked at you—unwavering mischief lingering, something that made you feel discerned, because whatever he just thought of just now, was something to be concerned of. On the other hand, Keiji sported a calm composure, though as seconds passed by, you could make out a rather disappointed frown starting to curl up on his lips as he, too, looks at you.
You forced a smile. “A friend of mine; his name is Shirabu.”
Disaster. You should've seen the starting signs of his involuntary mischief—Tooru. No scratch that, you did witness it, but went against your hunch and decided to brush it off. Because your Tooru cat was friendly with strangers, along with Keiji cat who seemed to love receiving pats on his head before, but right now, you were almost certain that these two felines changed rather absurdly.
You couldn't even do anything except to recoil in surprise as Shirabu enters your apartment with a smile, one that could assuage you. You then vaguely remembered the first time you met him: it's almost like one of your all time favorite high school cliches happening because you weren't exactly fond of each other’s existence due to having a bad start—with you outrightly questioning his own report, which ended up in him grimacing rather evidently (you could still picture the death stare he sent you after shooting your question). Though after that, it went pleasant. You learned that he used to play volleyball back in his high school days, and that he was pretty smart and hardworking.
Maybe your ideal guy but eh.
A sound of disapproval brought you back to your senses as you were immediately sighted with a hissing black cat before you, light colored eyes staring right back at the newcomer behind you.
“Keiji, stop that.” You scolded. “Don't mind my cats, they're usually friendly with strangers, I don't know what came over to them.” You shook your head, shooting the black cat a hasty glance before returning back to look at Shirabu.
“Right..” He mutters.
“We can work by the dining area, come on.” Shirabu follows you closely, but he couldn't help but shoot the black cat with another icy glance. Whatever occurred just now, he was certain that he and this cat would never become friends. However, the short trip to the dining table had you stopping on your tracks as Tooru cat sat on the table, lazily staring right at you two.
“Tooru, that's the dining table.” Deadpanning at the sight, the cat only proceeded to lie on his back as he let out a sound of distaste before sitting right back up.
Oh so that's what they're playing now . You think.
Tooru cat was hastily removed by you and placed on the floor instead, which resulted in Shirabu shouting as the cat attempted to scratch his leg, hissing promptly before strutting out of the room with another loud meow.
“Your cats are jerks.” He simply states as you two sat down.
Not being able to deny his conclusion, you nodded idly, shooting the two peeking heads a scowl. “I swear they're usually nice with people.”
“Must've had a change of heart then.”
Not even an hour had passed, the two cats wandered near the vicinity and began to meow loudly, as if purposely to exasperate you and Shirabu, who only pursed his lips in visible frustration. Keiji, jumped on your lap and began to hiss as Tooru tried his best to knock things off of the table: everything his little paws could land on; pens, binders, papers.
You sheepishly smiled at Shirabu before standing up. “I think we should do this tomorrow, maybe by the cafe?”
The latter seemed to understand your pain and nodded, quickly packing his things, but not without much struggle as Tooru continuously attempted to swat Shirabu’s things off of the table.
Once Shirabu was out of your apartment, everything was suddenly silent.
Walking towards the living room, you saw the two kemonomimi sitting on the couch with knowing faces.
“What the fuck? I thought we had a deal.”
A smile curled up on Tooru’s lips. “What deal? I thought we only agreed on the fact that for tonight, me and Keiji would only shift into our cat forms. You didn't say anything about us bothering your mini date.”
“Playing smart ass on me now, huh? What if I kick you out.” Your threat didn't even pass by them as Tooru continued to smile, even going as far as to laugh. Keiji, only turned his head to avoid eye contact with you, but you knew better that he was only refraining to convey the amusement he held on his lips. Little shits, that's what they were.
“You wouldn't.”
You rolled your eyes. “I did it one time, I can do it again.”
In amidst bickering, Tooru brought himself up from the couch, brandishing off a smile as he sauntered towards you; maintaining the semi-narrowed gaze. Within a minute, he was already standing in front of you with his cheshire smile. In hopes of recovering your sudden lost of composure, you merely took a step back in perplexity, watching as Tooru towers in front of you—was this his way of attempting to intimidate you?
Leaning down to match his eye level with you, you unconsciously found yourself hitching a breath as Tooru leans towards your ear, “You wouldn't kick your innocent cats out, would you, Y/N?”
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shi—
“But in case you were wondering, maybe we did feel slightly envious of that friend of yours. He was hogging you the whole time. Cats are territorial creatures, you do know that, right?”
Of course, you were aware of a cat’s primary nature to be feel protective and territorial of his own vicinity. Though, it was a hopeless wonder to think about how the two weren't like that before. You recalled the events whenever you had a visitor at your apartment before, the felines weren't feral with them, in fact, they were genuinely sweet. Keiji, as a cat, had a knack of plopping on people’s laps and taking his nap. Where as Tooru, as a cat, remained full of mischief and loved to play with people and be showered with ear scratches.
But.. of course, they were like that because you've only had female visitors before… Of fucking course.
They felt protective of you because you had a male visitor.
“Are you okay? I think you broke her.” Keiji’s voice snapped you out of your trance.
Tooru blinks back in response, turning his head to breathe in your scent, only to find himself staggering back with a tinge of disgust written all over his visage. You reeked of someone’s scent now and you didn't even hug Shirabu nor touch his hand while they were there. He glances at Keiji with a frown before patting your head, muttering. “Come on, today’s been pretty weird. Let's just watch a movie, you’d like that, would you, sweetheart?”
You found yourself being squished with them clinging to your sides, and though the skin ship didn't really bother you, you couldn't help but feel some sort of weird feeling within you.
“What are you two doing?” You inwardly grimaced to the lack of valor in your voice, knowing that your voice came out rather small. You could only flinch back as Keiji hums, unknowingly shooting his friend a furtive glance.
“Scenting you.”
And with Tooru’s hand placed innocently on your thigh and Keiji’s hand caressing your hair, you feel like this was going to be a long night.
A very long night ahead of you.