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it’s a sweltering friday afternoon when the four of them gather for training. summers in tokyo have only gotten hotter over the years, and today was one of the more unbearable days of the season.
“fuck this heat, honestly fuck this,” maki spits. her bangs were plastered to her forehead, sweat dripping down her face. “is our goal for today’s training to get a heatstroke? because i think i’m close.”
yuta laughs painfully at her words. “it really is way too hot to do anything,” he looks up at the sky, wishing the sun would stop trying to kill them. “where’s toge?”
“i think he overslept,” panda adds, not really affected by the heat. “his mission ran late last night, so he’s probably exhausted.”
that’s normal, yuta thinks. among the four of them, toge loves sleep the most. he also has a hard time waking up early, even more so when he goes on missions the night before. yuta’s useless when tasked with waking him up. but how can he when toge always looks so peaceful when he sleeps?
“oh, speak of the devil. here he comes...?”
yuta’s heartbeat picks up when he hears that, turning with a smile to greet toge. though upon seeing him, his smile drops immediately.
toge looks miserable .
“...why are you wearing a beanie in this heat?” maki asks, baffled. her face twists into one of concern. this was definitely out of the ordinary for the cursed speech sorcerer. “and a hoodie?”
“tuna mayo,” toge croaks, waving his hand as to shrug off her very valid question.
“do not fucking tuna mayo this away, idiot,” maki scoffs, putting her hands on her hips. “take them off before you collapse in this heat. you look like shit.”
while yuta would never say that, he couldn’t help but agree. toge’s face is red and shiny with sweat. they probably have about five minutes before he starts swaying from being boiled by the heat. “toge, are you feeling alright? you don’t look so good. i mean you always do, but as in you look like the heat’s getting to you already and i don’t think the extra layers are helping.”
toge sighs, putting his hands to his face. they give him a moment before he sighs again, then he’s pulling up the sleeves of his hoodie to sign.
“whoa, toge,” panda says, leaning forward as to get a closer look. “were your nails always so sharp?”
panda seems to get too close, and toge suddenly jumps in surprise and swats at him.
“toge!” yuta shouts, shocked at the reaction. panda dodges it easily, taking a step back.
“sorry, sorry, ” toge signs, looking guilty and even more miserable. “just, give me a second. and some space.”
it’s silent for a bit, and even maki is confused to the point of speechlessness. then, toge lifts his hands again.
“please don’t panic after you see this,” toge signs, his face increasingly reddening. his friends nod, concerned and confused expressions on their faces.
toge closes his eyes and reaches up to his beanie, sharp-nailed hands curling around the hem. it feels like every moment from then on goes by in slow motion, and they watch in suspense as toge pulls down his beanie.
yuta’s already running every possible outcome of the next moment through his mind and swearing that he’ll be able to help no matter what it is, maki’s internally cursing at toge to hurry up and panda’s still recovering from toge nearly scratching his eyes out.
the wait is over, and the beanie is off of toge’s head. it takes awhile to notice, but then something moves, and it hits them all at the same time.
there are cat ears on inumaki toge’s head.
“oh my fucking god.”
they’re small, smaller than the average cat’s. the ears are folded downwards, and the fur is the exact same color as toge’s hair, which was what made them hard to notice in the first second until they moved. the three of them can only watch in awe and confusion as toge’s new set of ears twitch.
“holy shit, toge, what-” panda says, clearly surprised. “cat ears? ”
toge nods pathetically, head down. yuta’s heart is torn for several reasons, but mostly because toge hasn’t looked this upset in a long time.
“okay, well,” maki says, taking the reveal in stride. “i think we’ve seen crazier things in our line of work. chin up, toge. more importantly, this calls for an emergency meeting. so according to me, training’s canceled. let’s get out of this fucking heat.”
she approaches toge carefully, patting him on the back when he nods. “c’mon toge, let’s go in before you pass out for real.”
panda and maki leave first, the latter pretty much running back in to escape the sun, leaving yuta and toge who both remain rooted to the ground.
yuta moves first, slowly reaching for toge’s hands. he holds them gently, as he always does whenever he touches toge.
“it’s going to be alright, toge.” yuta says softly. “we’ll figure this out. let’s get you inside first, okay?”
his fluffy ears twitch again, as though it was a reaction to the sound of yuta’s voice. toge looks up at him with a grateful look on his face, and yuta’s heart can’t help but soar to the skies, blistering sun be damned. he lets toge pull him along in the direction of the school in a daze, wondering if he’s getting affected by the heat too.
“so, let me repeat that just so we’re clear-” maki says, sitting cross-legged on the sofa. “you were cursed by a cat spirit from yesterday’s mission.”
“shake,” toge says from the floor. he’s spread out on the tatami, eyes closed and properly relaxed after the tense reveal from earlier. maki and panda had taken care of him the moment he returned with yuta, helping to wipe off the sweat for his face with a towel and immediately handing him a cold glass of water to gulp down.
it was still hot indoors, so after a declaration from maki and some instructions, they had all the portable fans in the doors gathered in the common area. toge had found a spot where a few fans were blowing in the direction of, and quickly shed off his hoodie to lie down.
distracted with cooling off, toge was completely unaware of his three friends staring down at his now uncovered tail, thumping up and down the tatami. yuta signs to maki and panda to pretend they didn’t see it. they wouldn’t want to stress toge out even more.
with everyone now settled down in their seats, yuta starts with a simple question.
“did you go see ieri-sensei?” he asks, eyes transfixed on the set of ears on toge’s head. he’s really trying his best not to look.
toge suddenly looks distressed again, tail curling in between his legs and ears dropping further, if that were possible. he reluctantly sits ups to face his friends.
“she said she couldn’t detect any foreign cursed energy within me, ” toge signs defeatedly, face absolutely crestfallen. “she thinks that this curse could be... ”
panda gasps, “permanent ?! you’ll be a hybrid forever?”. yuta yells out a horrified “panda!” while maki smacks him hard in the arm hard without looking away from toge, prompting panda to apologize immediately.
“i mean, truthfully speaking, it could have been worse, right? ” toge signs with a weak smile. “cat ears and a tail...it’s not really scary. if it were something people couldn’t bear to look at, or if it affected my life as a sorcerer, then... ”
the room goes quiet for a bit as toge’s words sink in. he’s right, it could have been much worse. when they think about life-threatening curses they know of, one that gives you the features and characteristics of a cat doesn’t seem too terrible at all.
maki shakes her head. “that may be true, but the fact remains that this is a huge change in your body and your life. while we’re ultimately glad that you’re still healthy and safe, it still sucks, doesn’t it? i know for sure that i’d be fucking shit up if i woke up with dog ears.”
toge laughs at that, probably visualizing it in his head. “shake, tuna tuna.”
“you’re welcome,” maki says. “anyways, the next time something weird happens to any of you, just knock on our doors right away. i’m still not over you almost killing yourself in that heat just to hide this, toge.”
“shake, konbu,” toge says sheepishly, leaning back to lie down on the floor again. yuta smiles at that, relieved to see toge back to his relaxed self.
“well, let’s take it day by day,” maki suggests, standing up. “keep us updated on any changes, alright? i don’t know much about cats, but if you start scratching any of the furniture i’ll put the nine lives theory to the test.”
toge snickers at that, lifting up his now sharp-nailed index finger and tapping on the tatami, earning a glare from maki. at least he’s in a good enough mood to tease now, yuta thinks.
maki announces that she’ll be heading to her room for a nap, taking a fan with her. panda, still unbothered by the heat, says he’ll head back outside for a walk. why would you want to do that, yuta thinks.
as it turns out, it’s just yuta and toge again, accompanied by the sound of crickets and the slight rattling of the fans around them.
“yuuta,” toge says suddenly, causing him to jump a little. he gets up from the sofa and walks to where toge’s lazing on the floor, and sits down beside him. he’s not usually nervous around toge, not anymore at least. but with this change...yuta feels like he should be extra careful.
“yes, toge? is there anything i can get you?” yuta asks, worried that toge might still be affected by the heat. “are you feeling better?”
toge simply smiles endearingly at him, and yuta feels his face heat up. he didn’t think it was possible for toge to look cuter, but the ears...yuta couldn’t deny that they were adorable.
“you can touch them, you know, ” toge signs, smiling a little shyly now. “i don’t mind. not if it’s you.”
yuta gasps, and shakes his head profusely. “o-oh, um, i don’t-, well, wouldn’t that be...” had toge noticed his staring? he’d barely said anything earlier and let maki do all the talking. of course he’d notice. yuta was never good at being subtle.
as he’s about to list a couple of reasons on why he shouldn’t, he feels a weight on his lap.
toge’s moved to lay his head there, eyes already closed, waiting. waiting for yuta to touch them. god, what had he gotten himself into? how is yuta supposed to sit still and pretend he’s not about to blow up on the inside?
he lowers his hands slowly, movements unsure but still moving closer to toge’s head. impatient, toge pushes his head into his hands, and it is beyond yuta’s control when his fingers naturally move to scratch behind his ears. he feels toge relax further, watching in awe as his expression blooms into pure contentment. if someone told yuta he would be in this position yesterday, he would have called them insane.
“a-are you comfortable, toge?” yuta asks. he’s sure there’s sweat running down his face again even with all the fans around them.
“shake, shake,” toge chirps happily, rubbing his head into yuta’s hands.
he gains more confidence upon hearing toge’s affirmation, and puts more pressure into the scratching. toge begins to purr at that, and yuta’s eyes widen. he feels like his heart is being tugged in several directions, knowing toge can feel this happy and vulnerable around him.
yuta hears the sound of his tail swishing on the tatami again and smiles.
he could definitely get used to this.
later that night
everyone has retired to their rooms for the night. after one of the best afternoons of his life, yuta is left to his own devices, and he wastes no time. tapping on the browser icon in his phone, he types swiftly into the search bar.
what do cats like and dislike?