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Kouda had to do some hero work out of town. Unfortunately, that meant that he had to leave Yuwai behind. This was for the animal’s own safety. Even though he mainly specializes in rescue type missions, it can still be quite dangerous for others. Especially a small, defenseless animal like his pet. Which was why he had to leave him behind.
Luckily, he also lived with his boyfriends who had seen him take care of Yuwai before & assisted in the care of the animal. Kouda even helped the two by teaching them how to properly care for her while he was gone.
Even as he was saying his goodbyes, he kept checking to make sure that they really could handle it & if they couldn’t, they should call him.
“You sure you got it?” the rock shaped hero asked.
Tokoyami nodded. “Do not worry Kouji, she is in safe hands,” he promised.
Kouda nodded. “O-okay. B-but lemme know i-if she’s too stressful for you…” He began walking out of the door but stopped now within the doorway. He just wanted to confirm if they were really sure if they could handle it.
“We will,” said Shouji.
“O-oh, & be s-sure to-”
“Feed her?” Tokoyami asked.
“Y-yes, & also-”
“Take her out to roam around every morning?” Shouji said.
“As w-well as-”
“Make sure she has plenty of love & attention?” the two said in unison.
Ah, so they did know what they were doing. But then again, maybe not. They could forget it as soon as he leaves. Maybe he should’ve written it down somewhere.
“H-hold on, lemme write a list,” he said before being stopped by the two.
“No need to, dear. Your instructions have been engraved within our minds,” Tokoyami said, reassuring him.
“Will you t-two also be okay without me?”
“Well, we can handle it, but we’ll still miss you,” Shouji replied.
Kouda nodded once more & gave the two each a kiss before heading out the door. He should be heading out now anyway. Besides, he shouldn’t worry too much. He’s been away from Yuwai before. Plus, two pro heroes were taking care of her. She was sure to be in good hands. He just hoped he didn’t forget anything.
Day one & everything was already a disaster.
The two had woken up in the middle of the night to the usually calm & quiet animal lightly scratching at their faces, trying to do something. Neither of them were really sure of what she was trying to do, but it certainly did get their attention.
Shouji went to the bathroom, wanting to check to see how badly his face had been scratched. It wasn’t too bad, but it was clearly a scratch. Thin red lines on his face made by a tiny creature. Luckily, it wasn’t deep enough to cause bleeding, so that was some good to it.
As for Tokoyami, the bird was trying to bury his face in his pillow, not wanting to face the wrath of the rabbit, but also not wanting to wake up fully. The bed was just so comfy & he needed sleep.
Yuwai didn’t seem to like this & tried kicking him awake with her little paws. The attempt still wasn’t enough though. Then, she hopped right in front of his face, trying to push at the bird’s beak with her head.
Tokoyami grumbled something to himself, slurring his words as he spoke. “Hmn…. yes, I’m up…” he yawned, still dazed & on the verge of sleeping again.
Yuwai eventually left the bird alone, jumping off of the bed & heading over to Shouji, who got back from checking his face in the bathroom. He put a bandage on his face where the scratch was. Even though it wasn’t bleeding, he still put one on just in case it suddenly decided to get worse.
Yuwai began trying to climb on him, trying to get his attention for something. Shouji bent down to pick the white cotton ball of a bunny up to his eye level. What could be so important as to wake the two of them up?
What did Kouda say about Yuwai? There was something that he briefly remembered him mention when talking before, but he just doesn’t know what it was at the moment.
He looked over at the bed where Tokoyami was attempting to sleep. He gently woke up his boyfriend to ask if he remembered anything.
Tokoyami responded in a random string of words, turning around & dozing off again. Usually, he could speak in better, more coherent sentences, but when he was tired, he sounded like a toddler who was just starting to learn how to speak.
Well, that wasn’t much help. Shouji sighed, sitting on the bed again, placing Yuwai in his lap. He decided to pet her to see if that would do anything to calm her down. It seemed to have done so as she curled up on his lap, trying to fall asleep.
Shouji kept petting her for a few minutes longer, until he felt like Yuwai would’ve fallen asleep. After feeling her soft breathing for a moment & determining that she was indeed asleep, he carefully began to lift her up so he could place her on her little bed.
But of course, she woke up as soon as Shouji removed his hands from her fur, causing him to be a little annoyed. Surely, she couldn’t make him stay up all night, right?
The next morning, Tokoyami was awake & much more refreshed. He yawned, lifting himself up & fixing a few of his feathers before turning around to see how Shouji was doing. His eyes widened looking at his boyfriend who was leaning against the headrest of the bed facing forward, & mindlessly petting Yuwai while staring off into space. Said rabbit was fast asleep in his lap snuggled up to him. He also took note of the bandage that was across his cheek.
Yeesh, he looked awful. Had he been up like this all night?
“I assume you did not sleep much, hm?” Tokoyami asked.
“Mhm…” Shouji answered, not being able to open his mouth for an answer. He was too tired to do anything that required effort. Besides petting Yuwai, which had become as natural to him as breathing.
“Perhaps I could take her for you while you sleep for a few more hours?” Tokoyami suggested.
Shouji nodded, removing his hand from Yuwai. She miraculously did not wake up at the sudden lack of petting which was a relief but also upset the multi-armed man. He probably could’ve stopped petting her a while ago without her waking up & he could’ve finally gotten some sleep. He was too tired to even pick her up, so he gave Tokoyami a look, asking for him to help him out. The bird headed man understood what he meant & gently picked Yuwai up.
Shouji immediately slumped further down on the headrest until his head landed on his pillow. He almost immediately fell asleep, allowing himself to be transported into a dream world.
Tokoyami sighed gently petting Shouji’s head, running his fingers through his hair a little, then turning his attention to the sleeping rabbit. “You are one trouble maker, huh?” he whispered, making sure that Shouji couldn’t hear him. The poor man needed sleep after whatever stunt Yuwai had just pulled.
He got up from the bed, bringing Yuwai with him. She was such a heavy sleeper. Tokoyami wondered what she was dreaming about. He was a little bummed out at having to be alone in the morning, but this would happen sometimes anyways so it wasn’t like he didn’t know how to handle himself alone or anything, but he did get a little bit lonely.
He wasn’t sure when Yuwai would wake up. But, if he kept her in their room, she may wake up suddenly & take it out on Shouji again. Judging by the bandages he saw on his face, he probably should just keep the little guy in his arms or just out of the room under his watchful eye.
A couple hours had passed & Yuwai had woken up a while ago. She was now sitting beside Tokoyami who was on the couch listening to music with headphones on. The bird man was also petting her with one hand & he listened to the beat.
The music suddenly stopped, being interrupted by a phone call from Kouda. He smiled, answering it. Of course, he came to check on Yuwai & see if everything was alright with everyone. Tokoyami lied, saying that everything was perfect.
“D-did y-you remember to give her head pats before bed?” Kouda asked.
Tokoyami thought for a moment. Did he? Maybe Shouji did. “I think so?” he said, unsure himself on whether or not Yuwai received nightly head pats. Was it that important for Kouda to bring up?
“O-oh, okay good. B-because she ends up having nightmares if she doesn’t g-get pet before bed,” Kouda explained. Ah, so that’s why she woke them up. She had a nightmare then. Poor thing. He’d have to make a note of that & tell Shouji so they’d remember to do so later in the night.
Shouji finally got up after some much needed sleep & made his way over to the couch where Tokoyami was. This peaked Yuwai’s attention & she promptly scooted over to be near Shouji again. The taller one sighed, enjoying how soft & relaxing the couch was.
“How’s your face feeling?” Tokoyami asked.
Shouji actually forgot about his face until his boyfriend pointed it out to him. “Hm, it’s okay I guess. The cut isn’t that deep so it’ll probably go away by tomorrow,” he explained. His voice was a little groggy & it was clear he was still tired. He yawned, shifting himself so that he was laying his head on Tokoyami. The latter smiled, placing an arm around him.
“Now on the subject of the rabbit, anything I missed?” Shouji asked.
“Well, Kouji called & asked about Yuwai. Apparently she has nightmares if she isn’t given head pats before bed,” he explained.
“Huh, that explains why she didn’t wanna sleep without ‘em,” Shouji said, moving his hand to scratch the top of Yuwai’s head.
Yuwai relaxed a little, snuggling into the couch before feeling her stomach grumble. Neither of them seemed to hear it, probably meaning that they didn’t know she was hungry. She followed the same routine as she did in the middle of the night by climbing on top of them & patting their faces to get their attention.
The two both looked at the small animal. Good. She has their attention. With that, she hopped off of the couch, scurrying over to the kitchen & scratching at the pantry.
The raven head raised an eyebrow, trying to understand what Yuwai was saying. “Food?” Then it dawned on the both of them. Shit, Tokoyami completely forgot to feed her!
They got up & went over to Yuwai. Shouji got down to the lowest level of the cabinet, pulling out the shelf drawer with all of Yuwai’s food in it. Wow, Kouda bought a lot of food for her. Not too much of a surprise, but looking at how much it was, it was still a good amount of food. There were three large bags of hay. Yuwai was one lucky bunny.
Yuwai ran over to the food, poking her nose at one of them. “Okay then,” Shouji said, grabbing the bag & getting up. How much food was he supposed to put in again? “Uh Fumi, do you remember how much we’re supposed to give her?” he asked, showing him the bag of rabbit food.
Tokoyami thought for a moment. He pulled out his phone, remembering he wrote it down on there. “Ah, here we are,” he stated, opening the notes & reading it. “Hm, okay so we need ⅛ cup of grass-hay, & pellets. We can also give her some vegetables if she is extra hungry.”
Shouji nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Wait, how many pellets?”
Tokoyami looked at the notes. It doesn’t say. “I’m unsure,” he admitted. “If she is having a lot of hay, then perhaps we could ease up on the food pellets & not give her too much.”
Shouji nodded. “Yeah, alright.” He prepared the food for Yuwai who hurried to eat, her nose twitching as she ate. It was actually kinda cute to see.
The first day had actually gone by pretty smoothly. Aside from what happened at night of course. But, they made sure not to make the same mistake twice & gave her a head pat, allowing for her to sleep soundly that night. However, the rest of the week seemed to be a different story. Every night, she woke up the two from their slumber. They were both positive that they always pet her like Kouda said to, but she was still having these nightmares.
Yuwai woke the two up again in the middle of the night. She did make sure not to scratch either one of their faces this time, but it was still quite annoying.
Tokoyami woke up first, turning to face Yuwai. His beak slightly touched her nose as it twitched, looking at the bird with her cute & round eyes. His expression softened seeing the cute rabbit in front of him. Though, he was still very irritated. He was sure he pet her to sleep earlier.
Yuwai hopped over Tokoyami, making her way to Shouji, trying to wake him up. Shouji eventually woke up, taking notice that it was still dark out. He turned around to look at the time. “Really Yuwai?” he grumbled. Of course, he wasn’t expecting any type of answer from the rabbit. “It’s two in morning…” he yawned, lifting the covers up to his shoulders.
Yuwai walked over him & Tokoyami before resting herself on Kouda’s pillow, where the empty space was. She looked up at both of them, as if asking for head pats. Usually, Yuwai would wait until daylight to wake them up, but with no Kouda, she was starting to get a little lonely.
“Think she misses Kouji too?” Shouji asked, starting to realize what Yuwai was doing.
Tokoyami nodded. “I’d say it’s likely that. Can’t blame her though.”
Yuwai still looked at them, asking to be petted by them. The two of them complied, petting their boyfriend’s rabbit until she fell asleep. Tokoyami stopped petting eventually & drifted off. Shouji did the same after a few minutes, submerging himself in the blankets on his bed.
The next day, Kouda returned at around evening time. Shouji & Tokoyami were watching a movie on the T.V. when Kouda came in. This perked everyone’s attention as they turned around to see the rock headed hero looking near exhausted. Yuwai jumped off of the couch & scurried over, jumping high into her owner’s arms. Kouda crouched down a bit so she could reach him. As soon as she was in his arms, he began to softly pet her fur.
“Aw, I-I missed you too Yuwai…” he smiled before walking over to sit down between the two. “You weren’t too much trouble to them, right?” he asked. Yuwai simply twitched her nose, snuggling up to him. “I-I hope Yuwai wasn’t too difficult to handle,” he said, turning to his boyfriends. “She can be kinda clingy & stuff…” Did he mention that before? He thought he did.
“She was no trouble at all,” Tokoyami said before rubbing his beak against him.
“I-I’m glad...You guys didn’t m-miss me too much though, did you?”
Shouji smiled a little, moving closer to Kouda. Luckily, his face healed within the week so Kouda didn’t have to know about his rabbit scratching him at night. “We missed you a lot...so maybe just a bit too much.”
Kouda blushed a little at the comment. “I missed you guys too…” he said. He put Yuwai on his lap momentarily, pulling his partners closer to him. Then, he picked his pet back up, holding her in her arms.
Even though her expressions were not noticeable, Kouda could tell that she was happy in that moment. Kouda was happy too. He was back at home, everyone was safe, & no one got hurt. Or well, to his knowledge, no one did.