Work Text:
It had started with a nervous tick.
Shin didn't even notice it really, as he knew he always had these types of quirks. From fiddling with his scarf or clothes, to tapping his fingers to biting his nails (though that last one he proudly admits he stopped ever since he hit high school). This new one wasn't very surprising, in fact it was probably one of the more common ones. Simply tapping his foot on the ground in a steady rhythm. Shin didn’t really even know when this new tick appeared and he didn't think of it as anything important. Not even when the tapping started to get faster, or when it slowly crawled up the rest of his leg and he was practically bouncing in his seat. No, it wasn't until the day he was at Hiyori's place that he had noticed.
"Shin, don't you think you can relax a little?"
Shin suddenly snapped his attention from the monitor before him to Hiyori, who sat right across the desk.
"What do you mean?" He asked, and Hiyori motioned to the desk.
"You're bouncing your leg quite fast, you're practically shaking the whole desk."
Shin suddenly became aware of the rapid bouncing of his leg, and the slight creaking sound of the desk as it shook from the intensity of his stomps. Shin's face flushed red as he willfully stopped the movement, a strange feeling going through his nerves as he realized the bouncing was completely subconscious.
"Sorry about that, Hiyori…" Shin said, hunching over the computer and pulling up his shoulders.
Hiyori simply let out a chuckle. "Ah, don't worry about it. Let's just get back to work, shall we?"
—---------
The next time was a bit more obvious. In fact he could pinpoint the exact time it first happened. He was sitting at home, on his laptop working through a program Hiyori had assigned to him. He had wanted it completed by the end of the night, but Shin couldn't make heads or tails of what was wrong with it. It was entirely composed of code Hiyori had yet to teach him, and as the hours ticked by closer and closer Shin only got more nervous. His leg bouncing had picked up again, despite the numerous attempts he made to stop himself. He was going to fix a command when suddenly he felt it
The stringy and soft feeling of wool on his tongue was a major surprise. Shin opened his mouth and looked, only to see that he had subconsciously put his scarf in his mouth. He could see the damp part of it still wet with his saliva. As he brought a hand to his tongue to try and take out the leftover fibers he began to question himself.
How did I not notice this? Why did I put my scarf in my mouth? What the hell?
Though just as he was getting back to his computer, he felt a strange emptiness in his mouth. The feeling slowly began to overwhelm him, and he felt himself start to grow nervous. His leg continued to bounce, and he realized this was the same feeling he got back when he stopped biting his nails. It didn't make sense for him to start relapsing now, but he couldn't explain the feeling any other way. It was the need to nibble on something, the need to have something in his mouth.
Shin shook his head, shaking off the feeling as much as he could. It was just a singular relapse, he figured. He would just get back to work and ignore the feeling, and it would be the last time he ever felt it.
Except it wasn't.
Two days pass and he found himself stuffing his scarf into his mouth, lips nervously nibbling away at the fabric. This time he was at his job, trying to pass the time as it was only a few more hours till close. He managed to pull the scarf out of his mouth before his coworker noticed, and chastised himself, convinced that there wouldn’t be a next time. He wouldn’t allow it.
The following days, whenever Shin was nervous, anxious, or even bored, he got the feeling again. He ignored it as much as he could but sometimes he slipped and would stuff part of his scarf into his mouth. It was starting to become a problem, as more often he had to take time to clean his mouth from the fibers. Not to mention how immature it looked when he did it in public, which embarrassed him to no end. It was rather unsanitary as well, and Shin was at his wits end of having to wash his scarf every few days. So he went to the person he trust most to ask what he should do.
"What did you say the problem was, Shin?" Hiyori asked, resting his head on his hands.
Shin kept his hands clasped between his legs, already feeling the need to stuff his scarf into his mouth again.
“I-I can’t seem to um, shake this feeling I have…” he began, trying to find the best way to tell Hiyori his problem. As much as he trusted his friend, he knew that Hiyori wouldn’t miss the chance to tease him because of such a childish problem. “I need something in my mouth, like to chew on…It’s like I need to bite something.”
Hiyori tilted his head, a bemused smile on his face. “Sounds almost like you’re teething, Shin. You should probably get a pacifier.”
Shin felt his face burn with embarrassment, his head turning down as Hiyori smiled and laughed. He should’ve known this was going to happen.
“Ah, no, no, anything but that, Hiyori…” Shin said, and his friend just gave him a strange look.
“I wasn’t actually suggesting that, Shin. Though seeing you so embarrassed about it makes me hope you’re considering. Hm…” He leaned back in his chair, then seemed to tense as an idea struck him. From the drawer in his desk he pulled out a pack of gum, offering one to Shin.
“How about this? I’m sure it’ll do the trick. Sadly not as entertaining as a pacifier, but it’ll do!” He laughed again.
Shin reached over, grabbing a stick of gum and awkwardly laughing along. “Haha, yeah…Thanks Hiyori…”
Shin unwrapped the stick of gum and popped it into his mouth, Hiyori changing the subject of the convseration and the two continuing to chat idly. The gum did its trick, and Shin felt happy to finally be freed from such a ridiculous problem.
At least its over now.
—----
It’s been about a week since Shin had been able to get out of his futon. Only a week after his visit to Hiyori he began to feel a dull pain in his head, but chalked it up to nothing. Though as the days went by the pain only came more often. And then as days became a week, the pain steadily increased. Soon after the start of week two, he began to feel a dull ache in his back as well, specifically his lower back. He was able to manage just fine, simply resting when he could. Though for some reason it wouldn’t go away, and soon it became a constant problem. After a visit to the doctor they found nothing, but on his insistence they were able to prescribe him some pain medication. Yet it had no effect on him at all. Shin’s anxiety spiked soon after, and he found himself running out of gum much quicker. Though if he were being honest, the gum hadn’t helped since the beginning. It didn’t bring him the same comfort and content as nibbling on his scarf, so while he would use gum in public, at home he chewed away at his scarf.
A few days after his visit to the doctor, Shin’s pain became unbearable. He convinced himself that perhaps he had somehow burnt himself out, that maybe he’d come down with some cold and just needed to rest a good long while before he could get back to it. Hiyori had visited him a few times, bringing Shin soup and even acting very nice. He couldn’t help but feel grateful for his friend, glad that there was at least one person he could count on to care for him.
Shin whined as he turned over in his futon, laying on his side. His lower back hurt way too much to lay in it anymore. Tears began to pool in his eyes as the pain in his head began to flare up again. He grabbed the ice pack he asked Hiyori to bring him, placing it on his head. As much as Shin hated the cold, the ice pack did wonders to the flaming hot pain on his head, even if it only dulled the pain a little.
He brought up his scarf to his mouth, nibbling away at the frayed wool. Even if it didn’t take the pain away, the comfort the action brought him helped ease his anxiety. It was a simple, mindless task. Something he could do to calm himself down and relax. In fact, he soon found himself closing his eyes, and eventually fell asleep, nibbling away.
Shin slowly came to the next morning, yawning as he rubbed his eyes. As he gained consciousness once more he realized with a start that his pain had gone completely over night. He shot upward out of bed, feeling renewed and invigorated. Though with the motion he felt something strange shift on both sides of his head.
That’s weird…Maybe I got tangled in my scarf again.
Shin reached his hands toward his head, placing them on either side expecting to feel the soft fabric of his scarf. For some reason however, his hands never met his scarf. In his fingers was something soft and velvety, almost like fur…And not only could he feel it with his hands, he could actually feel his hands touching himself.
“Wh-what is this?!” He brought his hands away from his head and looked at them, only to bring them back to his head and grasp whatever was there again. He brought ran them down the length of each, then brought them to the front of his face. In his hands were the end tips of rabbit ears.
Shin screamed. He reached for his phone and looked at his reflection. Two, long floppy bunny ears extended from the top of his head down, stopping just at his shoulders. They sprouted from the top of his head, where his pain had been the greatest. Tears began to flood his eyes and his heart beat faster than it ever had before. Thoughts raced and swirled in his head, overwhelming him as he was just in utter disbelief.He tried lightly tugging on them, like they’d just rip right off like a bandaid. Immediately he could feel the pain of it, confirming that they were his own, attached to his head.
He had sat up, so once he was over the initial shock of the ears, he felt something bothering him towards the lower end of his back, a dull tingling feeling like if he laid on his arm for too long. Reaching around his back and grabbing at whatever was their, his jaw dropped at the slightest brush of more fur. Grabbing it in his palm, it was exactly what he had feared. A rabbit’s tail.
At this point Shin was completely losing it, hoping beyond hope this was just some bizarre lucid dream that just bled a little too close to reality. He knew that wasn’t it however, as all his own poking and prodding had confirmed he was awake, and this was real. Thoughts swarmed his head as his breath came in gasps and chokes, a full on meltdown starting to begin.
What's happening, why is this happening to me!? Did I get injected with something the last time I went to the doctor? Am I going to turn into a rabbit?! Wh-what will people say if they find out? What would my parents think!? They'd think I'm a malformed monster… I don't want them to hate me, I can't, I don't know, I don't know what to do…
As tears began to flow down his face, his phone lit up with a notification. Despite all his panic, Shin was blessed with a brief moment of clarity thanks to the sudden notification. Surely, he would be able to help.
I need his help, I need to tell Hiyori.
Shin got out of bed and rushed to get himself together, as normally as he could. He delicately tucked his ears under his beanie. Since he was going out in public for a few minutes until he got to Hiyori's place, he'd need a few ways to hide his new…features. For his tail, he wore a sweater that was too big for him, which covered him down to the thighs. It looked almost like a dress shirt, or some avant-garde fashion statement, but he didn't have a choice. After checking himself over and over in the mirror, and cleaning himself up as best as he could, Shin raced out the door to Hiyori’s place.
Once he arrived at his friend's house, he knocked on his door repeteadly, dying to get in. Something felt slightly off as he stood outside, but with the anxiety of the morning and his predicament eating away at his mentality, he overlooked the strange feeling. Just as Shin was about to start nibbling on his scarf, he heard a rustling from just beyond the door.
It swung open to reveal Hiyori with an uncharacterisic exhausted look on his face, that soon changed to excitement as he saw Shin standing nervously at his doorstep.
"Ah, nice to see you visit. Although… it's a tad bit early, don't you think?” He said. "You're always welcome, of course, but… what brings you here at this hour?"
Shin stepped into Hiyori's home. Strangely enough, the atmosphere of his friend's place was enough to calm him down a bit. He looked at Hiyori, before shyly bringing his eyes towards the wall. "It's… complicated. I'm really scared, I don't know… Can you close the door before I tell you?"
Hiyori shrugged, then closed the door behind him. “Why don’t we go sit down? Maybe that would help you calm down more.” He placed an arm on Shin’s lower back, the young man flinching immediately at the contact. Hiyori looked at him curiously, amusement in his eyes as he walked forward unphased. Shin cringed as he followed behind Hiyori, the two eventually sitting down on the couch.
"Okay,” Shin spoke quietly. "I can say it now. Sorry."
"It's alright Shin, you can tell me anything…" Hiyori replied, giving him a soft smile. The smile did reassure Shin a bit, but he couldn’t help but still be disturbed by Hiyori’s eyes. Shin turned away.
"This morning- I don't know, I… I woke up…" The teal haired boy started crying. Hiyori took this as a sign to place a hand on Shin’s back, gently rubbing smooth circles. He was delighted to see Shin flinch, then feel him immediately relax at his touch.
“I’m sorry I can’t explain it…So I’ll um, show you…J-just please don’t make fun of me…” Shin took off his beanie, revealing the pair of teal bunny ears he'd been hiding. "I think I'm turning into a rabbit and I don't know what to do…" He said, holding back more sobbing. "P-please help…"
Hiyori laughed. It wasn't that strange of him to do that when he saw Shin feeling distressed, but this was different. It was light an airy, like he was laughing at some silly joke. "Ah… Shin. You’re so silly, worrying over nothing. This is a rare condition, but it's not unheard of. You'll be just fine. You won't transform further."
Shin let out a sigh of relief. Somehow now, he almost felt like laughing along with Hiyori. It was just like himself to make a huge deal and panic over nothing, coming to Hiyori when he needed help. Though while a part of him wondered why Hiyori knew about this, said friend continued talking.
"...In fact, do you wanna know a secret?"
Shin looked towards Hiyori, those green eyes and expectant face taking up all his vision. Shin tilted his head, eyebrows knitting together and his ears hanging down the sides of his head. "Uh, sure. What is it?"
Hiyori kept the eye contact as he ruffled his own hair a bit. From the mop of green hair sprouted two large, pointed ears. They were as wide as they were tall, and just like Shin’s own, their fur matched the color of Hiyori’s hair. And then something strange happened. Despite the comforting presence of his friend, there was something off about what Hiyori had revealed. Maybe it was a mix of his eyes and the ear, and the subdued dangerous vibe Hiyori always had and Shin tended to ignore. Whatever it was, it cause Shin’s heart to drop. A cold shiver went down his spine. His body practically froze as Hiyori stared at him expectantly, always expectantly, waiting for Shin’s reaction. Waiting to see Shin’s next move.
Shin wasn't quite sure what it was. The closest he could call it was instinct. It felt so strong and overbearing, like a switch that had been turned on. Like all his life he’d had this sleeping inside him, only to be awakened at the right moment. A deep rooted feeling in his heart that electrified his brain and got his adrenaline pumping, all signals of his nerves accumulating to tell him one thing:
Run.