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Benimaru isn’t a stranger to late starts - mornings after the nights of drinking with the Hikeshi of the 7th tend to start way later than usual mornings - but to wake up to the hot, heavy afternoon sun glaring into his eyes is a new record. He’s not sure why he’s woken up so late; or why Konro has let him slumber for so long for that fact, but as he yawns and stretches in the lazy summer warmth, something strikes him as… odd.
That stretch had felt inordinately good, and sure he’s your average twenty-two year old with sixty-two year old back pain sometimes, but a release of tension that intense hasn’t happened ever since he fell asleep at the top of the guard-tower that one time and woke up, front half flopped over the barrier, still fucking standing as he leant against the rail.
It’s then he looks down at himself and catalogues what’s so different about him. It’s with a goddamn yowl that he scrambles up and rushes to a puddle outside of the guardhouse from the rain last night to see that he’s… been turned into a cat?
What the fuck.
What the fuck.
He’s small and fuzzy and a goddamn cat. He feels his tail puff up behind him in agitation and chokes on the hiss that comes out of his throat unbidden, still unable to control the passion and emotions that drag him down in the day-to-day. He doesn’t know what the fuck happened here, but maybe it would give Konro a chance to be the leader that Asakusa always needed, the leader that Benimaru cannot be, no matter what he says.
Though… that’s a lot of work for a man so ill. Who’s gonna take care of Konro? Who’s gonna tell him he needs his medication or that he hasn’t changed his bandages yet today, or that if he’s tired he should sleep, wider societal opinions about productivity and work ethic.
Fuck.
He can’t just abandon Konro.
He’s not sure what face this cat body of his is making, but he knows it isn’t pleasant, how could he just think of leaving Konro like that? Fuck, he’s so selfish sometimes - Hibachi had drilled it into his head that the Hikeshi move and function and look after each other as one and here he is, debating running the fuck off the moment he’s given an out because he doesn’t want to disappoint people. He’s not a leader, truly, because how could he when he’s such a coward?
Shaking his head - whilst resolutely ignoring the way it makes the pointed ears on top of his head move disorientingly - Beni trots back into the Guardhouse for a modicum of privacy. It strikes him, then, how absurd the thought is given that he’s a fucking cat and no one is gonna recognise him, (isn’t it terrible, how much relief that idea gives him?), but he’s always been a creature of home comforts.
He’s not even sure where to start; there’s no information to his knowledge about spontaneous human… transformation. If it did happen, there sure as hell would be documents on something as bizarre as this, though based on the shit he’d seen at the Holy Sol Temple with Joker, if stuff like this did happen, he wouldn’t put it beyond that gathering of sycophantic bastards to snuff out any public information about it.
Still, that leaves him where he started; i.e. fucking nowhere. He’s suddenly a cat, with no recourse or way to get back to normal.
The air of the Guardhouse is still, and Benimaru wonders where Konro is now. Even if there’s not much he can do right now, he can still make sure that the man isn’t busy overworking himself or trying to power through pain that no one in their right mind would abide whilst being active and alert.
It’s with Konro in mind that Benimaru braves the outside again, which is so much larger, louder, and smellier than he’d ever thought it to be. He loves Asakusa and that will never change, but it’s a blast to his newly heightened senses to step out into the street to children running past, couples arguing, and merchants selling their wares.
Absent-mindedly, he wonders if Granny will bother dropping her usual fare of daifuku along, if there’s no one at the Guardhouse to receive her. He doesn’t care much regarding the actual food itself, but he’d rather she not make the journey if there wasn’t going to even be a play at accepting the daifuku, even if they would just pawn it off on some other unsuspecting Asakusan after she left. Benimaru is sure she just craves the social interaction and likes having something to do with her hands, and even if the daifuku is too sweet and there’s far too much of it, he can’t begrudge her that.
Tail swishing - though he isn’t exactly sure why he feels the need to move it, only that he does, and that restraining it feels almost like restraining himself from breathing; it’s too natural and too… necessary to stop - Benimaru makes his way down the noisy Asakusan street, doing his damn best to not get lost in the place he’s spent his entire life.
It’s just… from this angle, everything looks different, alien in comparison to the Asakusa he knows as a human. The buildings seem distorted from this much lower angle, looming and impossible, the people even more so and though he isn’t recognisable as Shinmon Benimaru, people are still stopping and trying to pet him or pick him up, leading to him hissing and running away in a way that just feels humiliating. Word quickly spreads though, about the black cat that is on a war path through the main streets and that it does not want affection, and he’s soon left to trot through the streets aiming for the river.
Konro’s always come here to think, or relax, or sort out supplies when he needs time away from the hustle and bustle of the Guardhouse deep in the centre of Asakusa, and Benimaru’s hunch is proven right when he finds the man bent over a pile of boxes - bandages, it looks like - checking they have enough. Even as sick as he can get some days, Konro never fails to make sure that Asakusa stays afloat , something that Benimaru hasn’t really mastered, (pessimistically, he thinks, he probably never will, he knows he’s not a smart person, unlike Hibachi and Konro before him).
From the set of Konro’s back, Benimaru can tell he’s in pain. Well, it would be more accurate to say more pain, as the days where Konro isn’t hurting are few and far between, and he can feel his heart beat double in his tiny chest. Before he can even think about what he’s doing - a Benimaru special - he’s making his way over to Konro. Opening his mouth, Benimaru gets ready to launch into another of his specialties, a rant on how Konro absolutely should not be pushing himself this hard when he’s clearly having a bad day, but all that comes out is the loudest meow he thinks he’s ever heard in his life.
Ah, yes. Cat. That’s an issue.
It gets Konro’s attention at least, though the way he groans and places his hand on his back as he stands up straight is… concerning. Benimaru doesn’t have much time for concern, though, as soon Konro is looking straight at him and smiling and oh, he’s so in deep with Konro’s everything yet his smile can still so easily disarm him. Seeing the corners of his eyes crease as the corners of his lips lift into an easy grin at the sight of him is something new, and if he’s being frank, Benimaru is addicted from the first taste.
‘Oh? What’s a cute little thing like you doing all the way out here?’
If cats could blush, Benimaru is sure he’d be bright red right now. It shouldn’t mean anything, he’s a cat for fuck’s sake, everyone gets a bit sappy and cutesy around them, and Konro’s no exception, and he certainly doesn’t know that Benimaru is the one he’s calling a cute little thing, and yet…
Benimaru blames the instincts of a cat seeking affection from someone they know they trust for the way he purrs happily and butts his head into Konro’s outstretched hand. He totally wouldn’t do this as a human, absolutely not.
The way Konro’s fingers - calloused from his work around Asakusa and firm - scratch behind his ears has him positively melting. If this is how getting a pet feels for cats all the time, he kind of gets it, understands why they can be shamelessly needy because everything in his body feels just right under Konro’s hand. Though Benimaru supposes that’s not much of a change from his experience as a human. The times that Konro touches him, entirely platonically like a hand on the shoulder or holding him back from doing something reckless yet again, or the way he’ll put a hand on his waist as he sidles around his back in the cramped space of the Guardhouse kitchen, feel as if everything in the world has lined up perfectly in that very moment.
Distantly, he’s aware his thoughts regarding Konro are a smidge obsessive, but if they stay in his head, how much harm can they do? Although, if Konro knew how Benimaru feels about his back and chest and hands and face and everything fucking else, he’s sure the other would be… not disgusted, but certainly not eager to reciprocate. Objectively, he knows he’s attractive (if that accursed calendar proved anything, it was that), but he also knows that Konro likes a smart woman with thick thighs, and maybe he’s got the latter, but he’s neither smart nor a woman, so the point is moot.
So caught up in his thoughts, Benimaru doesn’t notice when the hand patting him suddenly becomes two hands - large, comforting, warm - picking him up under his front legs and holding him by Konro’s face. A loud meow comes out of his mouth before he can even think to stop the noise, and he turns his head away, embarrassment curling in his stomach. It doesn’t help that when he’d transformed, his clothes had seemingly disappeared, so really, Konro is basically holding him up naked and yes cats don't have a sense of nudity but Benimaru does and it’s wholly humiliating to be held up, fully visible for the world to see, (then again, a little cat in a tiny happi, t-shirt, and turnout pants would’ve garnered so much attention that he wouldn’t have been able to find Konro and stop him working, so there’s that).
Benimaru’s heart nearly fucking explodes when Konro brings his face in close to nuzzle at his chest and stomach, making a contented noise at the soft feel of fur against his skin.
As much as he wants Konro to stay there forever, he pulls back eventually and tilts his head at Benimaru, ‘Cats usually don't like me much, so I wonder what makes you the exception?’
Maybe because I'm not an ordinary cat and have been in love with you for years.
In place of that confession, Benimaru meows lightly.
‘Hm, you're right, I shouldn't get into the habit of looking gift horses in their mouths,’ Konro shifts and Benimaru can't help the way he melts when he realises that Konro is holding him close, cradling him almost as if he were a babe in his arms, ‘there's something familiar about you, but I can't pin down exactly what…’
Benimaru swallows, suddenly afraid of the possibility of Konro recognising him and pushing him aside, again. He'd let Konro do it once before and it had ended with Konro literally burning himself alive because Benimaru hadn’t picked himself up off his ass fast enough to lend extra firepower to the fight. He's sure there wouldn't be lasting physical harm this time, but the sweet scent of rot of the (somewhat) easy relationship they maintain now would kill him from the inside out.
‘You remind me of Beni,’ Benimaru unintentionally holds his breath, little feline heart beating a mile a minute, staring up at Konro from where he's held, ‘compact and cute, maybe just a tad spicy. A lot of bulk for your size, too.’
Benimaru blinks, brain lagging as he tries to process what Konro just said. His body relaxes regardless, and he’s blind to the way Konro smiles down at him indulgently. His brain just about manages to boot back up and then it hits him that Konro had just likened his human self to a cat and called him… cute?
As if sensing the difficulty Benimaru was going through trying to compute what Konro said, Konro shrugs his shoulder - though not without a wince - and slips the bulk of Benimaru’s body into the front of his happi, shifting to pull the fabric tighter around Benimaru’s body to secure him.
Finally jostled out of his thoughts, Benimaru’s eyes widen as he realises how close to Konro he is, body heat radiating off his chest through his black t-shirt. Call it instinct, a moment of weakness, or perhaps a blend of the two, but Benimaru can’t help himself as he reaches his paws out and begins to press and knead at Konro’s chest, the slight give of the fat and muscle under the pads of his paws downright mesmerising. The slide of his claws in and out of their sheaths in his paws is an odd sensation, but it's one he quick becomes used to alongside the movement of his paws, speeding up as a rumble starts up in his chest.
Konro’s own chest vibrates, this time with a warm laugh that makes Benimaru feel whole - being able to make Konro feel good in any capacity made his heart beat faster and his palms sweat at just how much he adored the man, but hearing him laugh has to be at the top of the list. It’s so carefree and genial and it reminds Benimaru of the older days, before the great fire and before that demon caused Konro to burn up to protect Asakusa, when all the things little Beni had to worry about was Hibachi not approving of him getting into a fight again or running training forms with Konro in the back courtyard. Halcyon days.
‘I should start getting back to the Guardhouse, I don’t know where Beni went, but it's about time I should corral him from wherever he’s ended up…’
I’m right here and I never want to leave.
‘Mrrow?’
‘Oh? You don’t know him? That’s a shocker, everyone in Asakusa knows Benimaru, human or not.’
‘Mmmrph,’ Benimaru buries his head against Konro’s chest. Yeah, everyone knows him, and it feels good to be like this, with Konro alone, not being reminded of it.
‘Well, he’s not a fan of that fact, but you can’t change the truth just to make yourself feel better,’ Konro starts walking now, and turning his head slightly, Benimaru notes that they’re heading back to the Guardhouse the scenic way, ‘though… I can’t blame him. I wish, sometimes, that I hadn’t done what I did, but where would Asakusa be if I didn’t? What’s an old man like me,’ you’re not old, Benimaru desperately wants to yell, ‘compared to the Destroyer King of Asakusa?’
You’re everything to me.
‘Not sure why I feel so comfy talking to you, you’re just a damn cat, but… I don’t know, it feels right,’ the sounds of Konro’s footsteps change from the soft shifting of recently rained-on dirt and grass to the crunch of the gravel roads of the more rural areas of Asakusa, Konro’s voice dipping lower as he talks to Benimaru more warily as they draw closer to more people, ‘but… I wonder sometimes, if Beni understands how much I love him.’
Freezing in place, Benimaru’s ears pin back in surprise before perking up to listen as much as he can, Konro still speaking, ‘Does he know that I’d die for him? That he has my life in his hands? What little it’s worth, after burning myself up like that, that is…,’ Benimaru wants to rage, scream and cry and throw things about because Konro still doesn’t get that he holds more worth in his little toe than Benimaru has in his entire body, but transformed as he is, all he can do is thrash his tail where it’s held in Konro’s happy and growl unhappily.
‘Oh? Don’t you worry little fella, just… some old thoughts that don’t seem to go away, no matter what I do,’ Konro shudders before bringing a fist up to his mouth, a series of wet, horrible sounding coughs leaving him and rattling his frame, causing him to gasp for breath by the time they pass, ‘Ah, hah… what would a guy in his prime want with me, huh? I’m insane just to think about Beni being attracted to me, even if I know he doesn’t like women much… but fuck, I’m in love with him.’
Benimaru rather thinks Konro is insane for believing that he wouldn’t want him in his entirety, every little last bit down to his blood and marrow and even further than that. That he wouldn’t want to wake up at Konro’s side, that he wouldn’t kiss those sleep-slack lips when he finds Konro slumped at the kotatsu, that he wouldn’t happily trail the medicinal massages further down his back, switching from required care to self-indulgence on a whim.
Uncurling himself from where he’s bundled in Konro’s happi, Benimaru butts his head under Konro’s chin and then licks at it, the sensation of the spines of his tongue against the day-old stubble on Konro’s chin not particularly pleasant, but he has to do something lest he fucking explode from the feelings in his heart.
Konro’s laugh sounds so much richer up close, and Benimaru can feel a growing warmth in his chest suffuse his entire body, feeling… loved. It’s revolutionary and though part of him can’t reconcile why Konro couldn’t tell him instead of a cat he found on the streets, (or rather, a cat that found him), but… it flails before the power of knowing Konro’s love.
Konro yells under him and Benimaru joins in, falling to the ground and flinging his arms out in front of him by instinct to stop himself from eating dirt, a long practised defence mechanism from getting thrown around on the streets. As he stares down at Konro, who is wide eyed and a little ashen-faced under him, he realises that all of a sudden he’s much… bigger than he was. His eyes track to his hands, which are hands and not paws, and oh fuck he’s sat right on top of Konro right after Konro told him, the cat, that he loved him, the human.
‘Beni… I…’
Benimaru can see the way Konro’s face shutters, the embarrassment and dread both being hidden underneath the poker face he uses to hide his pain from Benimaru’s keen eyes, all too eager to pretend that things hadn’t changed, that he had different needs now, and Benimaru hates it.
‘You love me?’
It comes out more brusque than he intended, and seeing Konro flinch under him, smaller than he’s ever been, is sickening.
‘I-’
‘Don’t lie to me, please.’
Konro swallows, and then sighs, ‘I do. Damn it all, Beni, I do, even if you don’t want anything to do with it, I love you.’
Breathing in shakily, Benimaru closes his eyes, and he can feel fucking tears welling up and he brings a hand up to scrub at his eyes, because he’s not going to embarrass himself like this because his damn stupid emotions can’t keep themselves in damn stupid check when he needs to be as clear as possible.
‘Me too.’
Benimaru wants to cringe into the ground, cursing his lack of eloquence in his head, but as Konro’s eyes widen and water too, he can’t bring himself to hate it that much when it gets Konro to look like that.
‘You do?’ Konro’s voice is croaky, and Benimaru quickly remembers the coughing fit as they were walking earlier, and shit, with the way Benimaru landed on his chest, he’s probably in a lot of pain. Scrambling off Konro’s chest, Beni grabs onto his hand and elbow, avoiding the large bandage over the tephrosis on his forearm, and hauls the other man out of the dirt.
‘Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t-’
Konro laughs lightly, the slight croak of his voice less pronounced now that he’s upright, ‘Whatever you’re about to apologise for, Waka, I don’t wanna hear it.’ Benimaru blinks, and then suddenly Konro is kissing him and everything feels right in the world.
‘Let me have this before you start doubting it, yeah?’