Archive of Our Own

Ever since that headmaster – damn Garrith Luterain, damn him to hell! – had caught wind of “Casein Nitrate” Kayden hadn’t had a moment's rest. The headmaster was a persistent bastard, power hungry and prideful, determined to possess Kayden’s progeny. Either that, or the creep actually got off on selectively breeding awakened animals like some kind of sick Gregor Mendel type. Regardless of Garrith’s motivation, Kayden’s otherwise peaceful life as Casein Nitrate had become unbearably bothersome. The folders of fancy cat headshots were one thing. Weird, yes, but not criminal in a vacuum. Kayden could almost see Garrith’s logic, if he looked at it from an outside perspective. Awakened animal companions were simply another step on the great ladder that was an awakener’s climb to unreachable heights of power and glory. It would almost be acceptable, if the cat Garrith was after wasn’t Kayden himself. He had no desire to breed with an actual cat, thank you very much. No matter how many doe-eyed, silky-furred, perfectly manicured cats were shown to him in photos, Kayden felt only rage.

And yet, in the face of a madman ceaselessly pursuing his mentor’s secret identity, Jiwoo only laughed, the little brat. Oh, he played serious in front of the headmaster, all apologetic excuses and serious head nods, but the second the shrivelled old bastard closed the door, the kid would keel over in a fit of giggles. He seemed to think Kayden’s situation was some kind of joke, some silly goof to laugh at, instead of the monumental insult it truly was. Though Jiwoo knew Kayden would absolutely not contribute to any kind of feline gene pool, the little brat still accepted the headmaster’s folders of cat dating profiles.

If it had been just Jiwoo laughing at his predicament, Kayden wouldn’t have been nearly such a bad sport about it. No, his real gripe was with Kartein. Kartein in his stupid little malnourished, boney, skeletal, cat body. Glad as Kayden was that his cat form wasn’t neutered, he could appreciate the benefits it offered in situations like the one he had found himself in. Kartein, on account of his nutlessness, had gotten a free pass to do as he pleased without being stared down by Luterain. Kartein got no folders of primped up cats, because Luterain gave up on him immediately. Like the vindictive ass he was, the scrawny cat had taken it upon himself to make Kayden’s life a living hell. If Jiwoo giggled at Kayden’s predicament, then Kartein absolutely cackled. Nothing, it seemed, made him happier than Kayden’s abject loathing for Luterain.

While Jiwoo wandered about the academy and made a name for himself, Kartein drove Kayden insane. In the dorm, he’d rifle through the many cat profiles and sarcastically announce his thoughts on the prospects. Kartein would stand tall – as tall as he could in his measly little white cat body – and read the profiles out loud like some kind of dating show host from hell.

“Oh, look at this one, Kayden!” Kartein grabbed one of the glossy photos and shook it around to make sure Kayden heard the flwubba-wub noise made by all laminated sheets, “Port Ellen. Huh, who in their right mind would name a cat after a defunct whiskey distillery? They didn’t even make good whiskey…”

Kayden kept his eyes closed and gritted his teeth. He practised his force control as he did one-handed handstand-pushups – one-pawed pawstand-pushups? Pawshups? – he’d need to switch over to his right paw soon; he had almost the three thousand mark. He would not look at Kartein, he refused. Reacting to the smug healer only made things worse, and while Kayden was not altogether too experienced with taking the high road, he would damn well try if that was what it would take to shut Kartein up.

Kartein did not shut up, “Look at this mess, these aren’t even words!”

Evidently, he wanted Kayden to actually read the brief, which the fat cat refused to do on principle. He would keep his eyes closed and maintain focus, even if it killed him. Breathe, Kayden, he thought to himself, Kartein isn’t the most annoying person I’ve faced, he’s just looking for a rise. Kayden had reached two thousand, nine-hundred and forty-eight reps as he tried to remain focused on counting. He just needed to get lost in his exercise. If he could focus solely on the physical strain of force control, maybe he could drown out Kartein’s ramblings.

“Ugh, you obstinate bastard, do you really want me to read this out loud?” Kartein still received no response from Kayden, and huffed in annoyance, “Fine, since you insist on acting like a spoiled housecat, I’ll read it out loud, but just this once.”

Despite the edge of annoyance in Kartein’s voice, Kayden could tell that the white cat was amused with the situation. Though Kayden kept his eyes staunchly closed, he could practically feel the maniacal grin on Kartein’s cat face. Jiwoo will be sad if I kill him, Kayden told himself as he tried to ignore the boiling bloodlust.

“She’s a, and I’m quoting this directly, Kayden; I want you to know how utterly ridiculous these people sound, she is a ‘black tortie silver shaded pseudo-merle’. Utter buffoonery, I tell you.”

Kayden scoffed, “Don’t act like you haven’t said equally stupid things about wine. Blank de blank, cigarette box? Those aren’t real either. I’ve been to wine tastings before with nutcases like you, all rich-people's hobbies are full of fake words.” Kayden then hissed at his own stupidity; he had given in and broken his vow of silence. Now Kartein had the upper hand.

“It’s Blanc de Blanc, you cultureless heathen. Don’t act like you don’t know French, I’ve heard you speak it!” If Kayden’s eyes were open, he would have seen Kartein puffed up in consternation, and the image would have cheered him. His eyes were still closed, though, so he only heard Kartein’s angry whine. “And don’t try to change the subject!”

Kayden switched paws and absolutely didn’t pout. Kartein was usually such an easy guy to distract; question his skills once and he’d jump on the opportunity to prove his superiority. Why couldn’t he be so easy to manipulate now, was it really that hard to get him to shut up? That Swiss bastard was impossible to reason with. Oh, what Kayden wouldn’t give to knock Kartein’s ego down a few pegs…

“Further evidence that cat breeders are entirely out of their minds; this cat’s parents are named BigMerlin and Aslynx. Christ, they really do name them like racehorses.” Kartein looked up from the paper dossier to see a still mostly unresponsive Kayden. The fat cat still had his eyes closed as he diligently worked out his overweight body. Kartein stifled his disappointment, he needed to find something that would really bother Kayden.

If one were to ask Kartein why he so desperately wanted to get under Kayden’s skin, he’d say it was because the other man’s ego was too large and that he needed a healthy dose of needling to keep him humble. More likely, Kartein would deny that he wanted any kind of reaction at all from Kayden and would go sulk in some corner or blanket pile, but no one actually asked Kartein these kinds of things, so the point was moot. Perhaps, some part of him, deep down, simply wanted to be noticed by Kayden. Perhaps, repressed even deeper down, he simply liked to play with danger. Neither thought was something Kartein bothered to look into, perfectly convinced that his sole motivation was because it amused him to see Kayden embarrassed. He soldiered on, determined to find something to make Kayden crack.

“Truly, they’re horrible names, but I suppose you don’t have to worry about that. You could just call them mom and dad; they might be your new in-laws soon!” Kartein had pushed his voice into a range of false chipper sweetness that he scarcely used. The cheery tone sounded entirely foreign even to himself, and he knew it would grate on Kayden’s nerves like nothing else. “It says here that she’s a Maine Coon, they’re big cats, aren’t they?”

Though the question was rhetoric, Kayden grunted in response. And then promptly cursed at himself for letting Kartein know that he was listening. He didn’t know why he did that; Kayden was usually never one for the polite niceties of one-sided conversations. Somehow, over the length of their forced cohabitation, Kayden had begun to unconsciously and reflexively shift his attention to Kartein whenever the man entered the room. That blasted white cat must have conditioned him somehow, there was no other conceivable explanation!

“Hah! This has to be the third Maine Coon that Luterain has thrown at you, he must think your lardass will break all the normal sized cats!” Kartein doubled over in another fit of wheezy laughter. Tears gathered in his eyes as his bony body shook with mirth. “I wonder what poor sod was desperate enough to shill out their fancy pedigree to an oversized specimen like you.”

Kayden seethed as Kartein looked over the paper in search of the cat’s owner. It had been almost a full week of this torment. Kartein had never been happier, and Kayden had never been more miserable. Jiwoo be damned, Kayden wanted to fight. He flipped himself so that he stood on all four paws on the floor and opened his eyes. And therein was his fatal mistake, the nail in the coffin that sent everything from bad to worse. Kartein’s scrawny body was crouched low and relaxed as he flipped through pages, and Kayden was struck with a sudden bout of catlike instinct. He had planned on simply using his Nyang Nyang punch to bat Kartein around, but something in the hind part of his brain – the instinctual part that had not existed before he transformed into a cat – told him to ambush his prey instead.

“Huh, S. Bergensjö. I think I’ve actually healed her before, was she who I got that Zorn painting from?” Kartien had lost his focus and, if only momentarily, turned his attention away from Kayden.

That short moment was all Kayden needed, though. A shock of calm clarity flowed through him as the world seemed to still. Kayden’s vision centred on Kartein, and the edges of the room blurred. Only one thing was important: his target. Maybe it was the force control training, or maybe it was Kayden’s unyielding rage, but he felt top of the line. Kayden dropped his centre low to the ground and shifted his haunches, gauging his sense of balance and direction. Behind him, his tail swished with impatience, or perhaps excitement. It was the perfect hunting crouch, and while Kayden had never bothered to seriously hunt prey, his cat muscle memory prepared him perfectly. His pupils slitted and his breathing slowed, he could feel every twitch of his muscles, blood coursing through every vein.

“Hey, why are- Aaghk!” Kartein startled as Kayden pounced on him, unprepared for such an attack.

Caught off guard, the healer didn’t have much in the means of defence. On reflex, he unsheathed his claws and swiped at Kayden’s hide, but failed to make contact, his movement hindered by Kayden’s oppressive weight.

The two batted and scrapped with each other, ears flat and fur raised. As it would be in a real fight between the two, Kartein didn’t stand a chance against Kayden. Not only did the fat cat have a weight advantage, but Kayden simply had more experience fighting in his cat body. Kartein made a valiant effort, at the very least. He writhed and scratched and kicked at Kayden’s soft belly with his hind legs. He put up enough of a struggle that the two fell off the plush academy bed and rolled onto the hardwood floor with a loud thump.

Kayden had Kartein pinned to the ground as he practically laid on top of the smaller cat. Ears low to his head and riding the adrenaline high of a catfight without awakened powers, Kayden lowered his muzzle to Kartein’s clipped ear, “Say one more word about Luterain’s hairbrained scheme. Give me a reason to fight you for real, go on.”

Kartein suppressed a shiver at the sound of Kayden’s raspy voice and tried to wiggle out of the larger cat’s grip. He failed to do anything but wiggle pathetically under Kayden’s body. It had been a long time since Kartein had gotten into a fight – even if this one wasn’t that serious – and even longer since he had so swiftly been cowed. He was unused to the subtle creep of shame and panic at having been so swiftly pinned. He was also unused to the other, marginally less violent, feelings that Kayden caused. Kartein shuddered again.

“Oh, come off it, you stupid oaf! It’s just a bit of fun and you know it, no one seriously thinks you should breed with a cat!” Kartein wriggled some more and failed to keep the petulant whine out of his voice, “Are you such a poor sport that you can’t even take a joke?”

Kayden pressed down harder against Kartein as the white cat struggled in vain. He had him pinned fully to the ground, from shoulder to haunch; there was no way Kartein could break out of Kayden’s hold, not without cheating and turning human. Kayden’s blood sang with his victory, gleeful in his newfound ability to humble Kartein. He made a mental note to incorporate a pounce into his cat fighting practice rotation, it was far more efficient than trying to hop around like a human.

Kartein still attempted to shake off Kayden’s hold, and the fat orange cat grew quickly tired of his compatriot’s struggling. Kayden had won fair and square, and he did not appreciate Kartein’s pathetic attempts at gaining the upper hand. The healer had had his fun at Kayden’s expense, and he intended to return the favour. The instinct part of Kayden’s brain, which he had long since given up on ignoring, told him that Kartein needed to stop moving, that Kayden needed to pin him further. It was a reaction, really, to Kartein’s ceaseless struggling, as base and primal as the desire to eat or fight.

Kayden pressed even further down against Kartein to fully prevent his movement, and without a second thought, seized the white cat’s scrawny neck in his teeth. “Watch your mouth, Kartein.” He hissed out, his voice low and grumbly in agitation.

It was, of course, at that moment that the headmaster decided to drop by.

The tall figure swung open the door to Jiwoo’s room with said teenager in tow. Luterain had yet another manilla folder tucked under his arm, and Kayden caught the tail end of a conversation about ‘further options’ before the headmaster abruptly stopped mid thought. The man, apparently shocked by Kayden and Kartein’s catfight, broke into a coughing fit and dropped the folder.

Jiwoo trotted confusedly into the room and looked at the two cats with furrowed brows, before his expression morphed into one of shock and anguish. “Ah, no! Don’t fight, guys! Ka-” The boy stumbled over his words to avoid saying Kayden’s real name, “Casein Nitrate, you can’t attack Curtain, that’s unfair!”

Kartein rankled at the implication that he was no match for Kayden, even if it was true. Unable to properly scold Jiwoo without revealing his true identity, Kartein settled on hissing at the boy. As a reflex, he tried to tense up into his typical affronted cat arch. With his movements still hindered by the heavy body of Kayden’s cat form, he only succeeded in pressing himself closer to his captor. Karyden, assuming that his quarry had made yet another attempt to escape him, clamped down harder on Kartein’s scruff and let out a low yowl-growl.

Jiwoo made no move to break the cats apart, though he flitted nervously around the pair. He wrung his hands and stuttered out placations to both Kayden and Kartein. Though the two awakeners argued frequently, their spats were usually good natured and unserious. The boy had never seen his mentors in such a state before and had certainly never seen Kayden act so hostile to someone he considered an ally.

Garrith Luterain, having recovered from his coughing fit, shook his head and clasped Jiwoo’s shoulder, “My boy, you should have told me these two were like this from the start. You would have saved both of us a great deal of trouble.”

“A-ah! No! They’re not usually like this, I swear!” Jiwoo shook his head fervently, as though that would somehow make the two cats seem more reasonable, “Casein Nitrate is usually very nice to Curtain, I don’t know why they're fighting.”

“They’re not fighting, boy.” Luterain sighed, of course this unaffiliated boy from a nowhere country like Korea wouldn’t understand what his awakened animals were doing. If his grip on his animal communication abilities were as weak as he said, how could he be expected to know such intricacies of animal behaviour? “I say you would have saved us time, because if I had known your fighting cat preferred toms to queens, I would have never bothered searching for so many pedigree queens for him.”

Jiwoo cocked his head and stared blankly at Luterain. “I don’t understand. Toms? Queens?” He looked back and forth between the cats and the headmaster.

Garrith Luterain massaged the bridge of his nose, this was not the sort of talk he wished to give to a high schooler, “Your cats are mating. That fighting cat must only be interested in other male cats. I will have no success in trying to breed him with a pedigree feline.”

Jiwoo’s face lit up in a flush of firetruck red as he whipped around to look at Kayden and Kartein again. He had no idea what to do in a situation such as this. To Luterain, the cats were just that, cats. But Jiwoo knew who they were, and he stared in frozen horror at his mentors. Kartein was known to be beautiful, and Kayden had outright said that he’d had people falling over themselves to be with him, but Jiwoo had never connected the dots. He truly, deeply, wished he could have gone back to his life five minutes ago when he and the World Awakened Academy headmaster hadn’t walked in on his mentors having sex. As cats.

Said cats immediately flew apart as they processed Luterain’s words. Kayden wasn’t stupid, he knew what it looked like when Jiwoo and the headmaster walked in, he could understand how they’d come to that conclusion. That did not mean he had to like that conclusion.

Kartein, too, was unhappy with the assumption. Were he in his human form, his lovely porcelain skin would have been flush with a rosy blush cherubic enough to make even the most stone-hearted faint. As it were, he was a cat, and so he let out an ear-splitting yowl before skittering off to the far corner of Jiwoo’s room. Fur ruffled and smelling too much of Kayden’s cat stink, Kartein instantly began to clean himself. That way he at least didn’t have to make eye contact with Jiwoo.

Kayden chose a more aggressive approach, as he wheeled around and began to approach the headmaster. Ears flat, mouth open in a hiss, and hackles raised, he was the perfect picture of an aggressive cat. How dare that wrinkled old fart insinuate that Kayden had been trying to mate with Kartein! Kayden was going to kill him, and he’d make it bloody and brutal.

Garrith Luterain sensed the orange cat’s murderous intent and hedged his bets. It wasn’t a retreat, he had simply gauged the situation and decided that Jiwoo didn’t have enough control over his cats to prevent it from attacking him. Just as quickly as he entered, Luterain left the room. And then there was only Jiwoo.

Jiwoo had no idea what to do in such a situation. It was horrible, it was awkward, it was all that and worse. He had heard students in school whisper horror stories of how they’d accidentally walked in on their parents going at it, and Jiwoo felt as if he understood them a bit better. Except, other people’s parents weren’t all powerful fighting semi-gods. He knew neither Kayden nor Kartein would attack him, but he still almost wished to be electric blasted out of existence, if only so he didn’t have to have this conversation with his emotionally stunted mentors.

“I- I’m so sorry!” Jiwoo bowed swiftly and looked at the floor, away from both cats. This was not the type of situation he knew how to smooth over.

Kayden, no longer making a hostile advance, huffed and turned his head away, “It’s fine, kid, you weren’t interrupting anything. It wasn’t like that.”

“I’ll say.” Kartein snorted without any inkling of mirth, “That bastard jumped me! What the hell is wrong with you, huh?” Kartein’s tiny cat body shook as he raged.

“Yeah? And whose fault was that? You fucking asked for it, you ass, teasing me relentlessly like that!” Kayden spat out in reply.

Jiwoo felt no clearer on the situation than when the headmaster first left. He rethought every interaction he’d seen between the two awakeners, all their spats and brief bouts of camaraderie. He thought about how Kayden and Kartein rarely separated when they were cats, and about how Kartein always expected Kayden to protect him when he healed Jiwoo. Kayden hated playing bodyguard for people, right? The more he thought it over, the more sense it all made, of course his mentors were romantically involved! Jiwoo wondered how he hadn’t seen it sooner, and very suddenly began to worry that maybe his mentors had tried to hide it because they weren’t sure how he’d react.

Jiwoo’s eyes began to water as he thought about how hard it must’ve been for the two to pretend like mere acquaintances, “It’s ok, you two, I don’t mind! I’m happy if my mentors are happy, so, please, get along!”

Kayden and Kartein shared a confused look, completely unaware of Jiwoo’s inner turmoil, and independently came to the conclusion that Jiwoo wanted them to fight less. Such began their troubles.

Luterain came back the next day, this time without any pedigree manilla folders. He warily looked around the room for the cats and was both disappointed and relieved to find that they were not present. Kayden and Kartein had brushed off their fight just as quickly as they did any of their other disagreements and had gone out to find a good place to nap. The headmaster barely waited for Jiwoo to open the door before he strode in and sat down.

“I have a new proposition that I think we can both agree on.” There was a determined glint in the man’s eyes.

Jiwoo scratched nervously at the name of his neck, “Um, what?”

Luterain folded his hands and rested his chin on them in almost villainous glee, “I do not need your fat cat to breed, I can just take a sample from him! I will, of course, compensate you handsomely.”

“You need a… sample?” Jiwoo did not love the implications of that. As someone who had grown up terrified of the mere prospect of lab testing, he was not pleased with the notion that the headmaster wanted something so clinical sounding from Kayden.

The headmaster nodded and grinned, he looked very much like a villain from one of the cartoon shows Jiwoo had watched as a child, “Yes, since your cat has no interest in female cats on his own, I can have one of my best medics take a sample from him. Surely you know of in vitro fertilisation, you can do it with animals as well.”

Jiwoo tried to keep the horror from showing on his face. He could not let such a thing happen to Kayden! More than that, he could not let Kayden know that the headmaster wanted to go so far as to do cat IVF. Secret identity or not, Kayden might actually commit murder over that one, and Jiwoo wasn’t sure he could convince his mentor otherwise. “That won’t work!”

“Oh, why ever not? Don’t be stingy, a litter of awakened cats like those could be such a boon for mankind!”

“It won’t work because, uhh…” Think, Jiwoo, think! “Curtain, the white cat, would be jealous!”

Perfect idea, ten out of ten, good job Jiwoo! The boy felt confident he could spin that excuse into something that kept the headmaster away from Kayden and Kartein’s cat forms for a good long while.

“The white cat would be jealous?” Luterain sounded incredulous.

“Yeah! Like you said, he’s a boy cat, and neutered too. That’s two layers of not being able to have kittens.” Jiwoo sent out a silent prayer that Kartein wouldn’t hear about the nonsense he was about to say. “Curtain would be so sad, if Casein Nitrate had kittens without him! It’s not all boy cats that Casein nitrate loves, it’s only Curtain. That’s why it's not possible, they’d be too sad to know they have kitties that aren’t really theirs!”

Luterain sat in stunned silence and mulled over Jiwoo’s words. Not only were his cats awakened and of the perfect disposition, but they were also that loyal? It only made him want to possess them more, but at the same time, he admired their resolve. Though he didn’t seem it, Luterain was also an animal lover, and the pure devotion to each other displayed by those two awakened cats touched his heart. He would let them be, would let them live their short cat lives in domestic bliss. If two street cats could be awakened, then those two surely weren’t an isolated incident. It would be hard, but he could find alternatives.

The headmaster nodded, defeated, “I understand. Those cats you have, they’re special, don’t let them go to waste in your care, young Jiwoo.”

Garrith Luterain left Jiwoo’s room for the last time, head hung in defeat.

Truly that should have been the end of it. Kayden was no longer the centre of the headmaster’s focus; there was no longer any reason for anyone to bring up ‘breeding’ or other matters related to Casein Nitrate’s lack of cat love life, butKayden had not accounted for Jiwoo’s kind-hearted belief that he and Kartein were truly together.

As was usual, the other Korean children had piled into Jiwoo’s room for some post-dinner conversation. They were loud and rambunctious and smelled of the greasy home-style food served by the academy’s cafeteria.

The room, as was the apparent norm, was air-conditioned to the point of frigidity, and while no one else seemed to mind it, Kartein hated it. His perpetually malnourished cat body shivered and shook despite his best efforts to look entirely unaffected by the climate. His sour mood was somewhat assuaged by Jisuk, who, after a moment of thoughtful consideration, offered one of the treats he’d brought for Casein Nitrate to the white cat. Kartein sighed as he slurped on the treat pouch, resigned to be subjected to the children’s inane chatter.

“Yo, Jiwoo! I just remembered; I heard something crazy from that Cain prick!” Subin shook with repressed laughter as she spoke.

“Oh?” Jiwoo smiled serenely and motioned for Subin to continue her thought.

“Yeah, get this, he asked me to try and change your mind on studding out Casein Nitrate.” The girl’s eyes were wide, and she bore an incredulous smile. She gestured grandly to Kayden’s cat body, “Why the hell would that guy want kittens from your fatty cat?”

Kayden froze from where he sat on the bed, so tense that his claws pierced a hole in his treat pouch. Once again, he was overwhelmed with the urge to kill, but with nowhere to direct it this time. He could hardly attack Jiwoo’s friends, and there was no one else in the immediate vicinity who he could use as a punching bag. Maybe Kartein, he thought. Their scrap from the days prior had been… interesting to say the least. Though it had been an easy fight – quick due to Kayden’s surprise pounce and Kartein’s general lack of physical prowess in his cat body – Kayden had found it rather cathartic. Easy pin that it was, the instinct part of his brain that had told him to pounce in the first place had been rather pleased by Kartein’s inability to escape. It was a good thing to know, Kayden figured he could, at the very least, always shut up Kartein by pouncing on him again. Unconsciously, he moved closer to the white cat.

“Oh, I took care of that, don’t worry.” Jiwoo smiled in that blindingly cheerful way of his and gave a thumbs up.

Jisuk looked at Casein Nitrate in horror from his place beside the bed and swiftly offered up more treats. “Please show them mercy, great fat cat, they don’t understand your powers.”

Kayden snorted, half in amusement and half in annoyance as he swiped the treat from Jisuk’s outstretched hands. He didn’t need some brat to tell him to show mercy. Besides, it was like Jiwoo said, the headmaster had lost interest.

Jiwoo beamed at everyone in the room, entirely unaware of the havoc he was about to wreak, “Yeah, Headmaster Luterain wanted Casein Nitrate to have kittens, but he’s given up now because my cats only love each other!”

The room was dead silent as Kayden and Kartein winced in unison. It had been a strange assumption on Luterain’s part, but one that had kept them from further pestering from the man. That didn’t mean they needed the lie to be spread further.

Subin was the first to break the silence. She flopped onto the bed and scooped up Kartein in her arms and snuggled his cat body. “Awww, cats in love! That’s so cute! What a pair of sweeties!”

Wooin stared blankly at the two cats, only the slightest twinge of emotion on his face to indicate confusion, “Cats can be in love?”

Subin huffed and pulled Kauden’s cat body into her arms alongside Kartein. Though neither cared much to be held, the cats didn’t bother to fight her off. It wouldn’t dissuade the girl from mauling her ‘favourite kitties’ and moreover, neither man wanted to disappoint Jiwoo by harming his friends. She squeezed the cats a little tighter and gave an affronted look to Wooin, “Of course cats can love, you jajangmyeon addict! What do you know of romance anyway?”

Jisuk snorted and kicked Subin’s side, “What do you know of romance, huh? All you do is moon over Jiwoo’s mentors, dumbass!”

Instead of rising to the bait, Subin simply sighed, “Ugh, even these cats have found their lifelong loves. When is it my turn?” She pressed her hands to her rapidly pinkening cheeks, “What if Mr. Kartein and Mr. Kayden both fall in love with me? I just wouldn’t be able to choose between them!”

The two cats shared a commiserating look of discomfort. Neither were new to being objects of affection, and both had been chased before by hopeful lovers, but there was something distinctly uncomfortable about being the crush of a high schooler. Kayden was thankful, at least, that Subin had the good sense to not act on her foolish crushes when he and Kartein were around as humans. Such was the pain of being well-known awakeners, though; everyone wanted a piece. When Kayden was younger, he found it flattering and revelled in the ego boost that came with being considered an attractive and powerful awakener. Now, as he got older, he simply found his long line of admirers tiring. For Kartein, he was sure it was worse. The title of most beautiful awakener had its drawbacks, after all; many powerful awakeners would view someone with that title as a prize to be won. Kartein kept his home location secret for good reason.

Jiwoo chewed on his lip and looked even more awkward than he usually did when Subin started to talk about his mentors. His brow was furrowed and he fiddled with his hands, lost in thought.

“Hey, Jiwoo,” Subin continued with her subtle thirsting over the men whose cat forms she held in her arms, “are Kayden and Kartein single? What’s their type, actually?”

Jiwoo glanced contemplatively at Subin. It wasn’t really his business to reveal, he figured. Kayden and Kartein were, according to all outside sources, on bad terms with each other. But everything Jiwoo had seen contradicted that. They must be keeping their relationship secret from the entire awakened world, Jiwoo thought. But he trusted his friends to the ends of the earth, and Kayden and Kartein at the very least trusted his friends to not betray Jiwoo. So that meant, if by proxy, that Kayden and Kartein trusted Jiwoo’s friends. Telling them would keep Subin from further crushing on his mentors, and furthermore, Jiwoo wasn’t sure how well he could keep the secret from his inner circle anyway. Not when his friends already knew how involved Kayden and Kartein had been with his well being. Telling just his friends couldn’t hurt.

“Well, uhm, neither of them is single, actually. Sorry, Subin.” Said Jiwoo.

Subin’s expression fell and her shoulders slumped, “Dammit! I knew they were too good to be true! C’mon Jiwoo, you have to tell me who they’re dating so I at least know if I could’ve had a chance!”

“Kayden and Kartein are together. Like, with each other.” Jiwoo smiled apologetically at Subin, well aware that he’d just crushed her current romantic dreams. “But if you could not spread that around, I think they’d appreciate it.”

Jisuk doubled over in a fit of laughter, and through tears, slapped Subin on the back, “Hah! I told you; they’d never be interested in you! Oh, this is the best, you never stood a chance!”

“Fuck, it makes perfect sense!” Subin held her head in her hands, and then whipped around to glare at Jisuk’s laughter, “Shut up, will you?” she launched herself to attack Jisuk, and the two grappled about on the floor.

While Jiwoo and Wooin broke up the fight, Kayden and Kartein stared at each other in horror. How could Jiwoo ever think the two of them were together?

Kayden’s hindbrain thrilled a little bit at the implication. Sure, Kartein was gorgeous, Kayden wasn’t stupid enough to deny that. The guy might as well have been an angel, with his shiny blond hair and red lips and stupid fluttery eyelashes. Kayden could recognize a man’s attractiveness without being in love with him! He thought about the implicit trust Kartein gave him, how the healer would fully immerse himself in his healing, confident in Kayden’s ability to protect. He thought about how easily he slipped into the role of watchdog when Kartein healed Jiwoo, a reflex that had evolved from cordial understanding of how to interact with healers to an actual desire to maintain Kartein’s safety.

Dammit! Kayden shook his head and stalked off to the chair in the far corner of the room. He needed to clear his mind without a bunch of noisy children and Kartein’s demanding presence. Kayden only cared about Kartein’s safety because he, in turn, kept Jiwoo safe. Yeah, that was it. It was purely transactional, and any affection he had for Kartein was simply misdirected mentorly care for Jiwoo.

Him and Kartein, bah! What a ridiculous thought. Kayden would have to correct Jiwoo on the matter at some point.

That some point, of course, got pushed significantly back once the Frame showed up.

The fight had been messy. Overwhelming rage at the spineless bastards who had the audacity to harm his student and then beg forgiveness flowed through Kayden’s veins. He wanted to destroy, to kill, to live up to his title and break everything in his line of sight. Kayden had been ready to raze the arena and those who dared to oppose him when Andrei showed up.

Never one to turn down the chance to fight a top tenner, it hadn’t even been a question to pass Jiwoo off to Kartein. He knew the man’s defensive capabilities, Kartein could protect his protégé well enough. His spatial isolation had been as sturdy as it was beautiful, and a small part of Kayden preened at the chance to show off for real. Before Jiwoo, Kayden never worried about collateral damage, and with Kartein around, he could go back to his methods of using all-out devastating power to win his fights.

It wasn’t until the fighting was over – Andrei had run off like a coward – that Kayden realised he wasn’t helping with the rumours. He, Kayden, a man who worked alone and never fought for anyone, let alone alongside someone, had publicly placed unwavering faith in Kartein. Kartein, who he previously had been known to vocally despise. As awakeners, trust was hard to come by, a rarity shared only by the closest of relationships. To trust someone with an injured disciple, an injured child who could barely stand let alone defend himself, was one hell of a statement. Kayden may as well have frenched Kartein after the fight just to really hammer the point home.

The kids all looked up at him and Kartein with wide, starstruck, eyes, but the adults were a different story. They looked between Kayden and Kartein at first with confusion, and then with shock. Kayden wasn’t exactly known to be chaste; he’d done his fair share of bed-hopping when he couldn’t find a satisfying fight, but he wasn’t the commitment type of guy, and the awakened world knew it. Kartein was downright frigid on his usual days. Though Kayden had never had the luck to see it in person, he’d heard tales of the vitriolic verbal humiliation Kartein would use to ruthlessly reject suitors. And yet there they were, emotionally unavailable, unattached, and perfectly in sync, so long as it came to protecting Jiwoo. At least thrice in his talk with the headmaster, Luterain had not-so-subtly tried to gauge if Kayden and Kartein were involved. Kayden had been vague and evasive, of course, but evasion rarely quelled rumours as great as this one.

Kayden was in a foul mood as he stood guard over Jiwoo’s hospital room. From behind the doors emanated a gentle golden glow and an immense, radiant, power signal as Kartein worked himself to the bone to yet again heal Jiwoo. Passersby stopped and gawked; even from behind closed doors, Kartein’s healing was a beautiful sight to behold. The peanut gallery didn’t stick around long, though. Not when they were subjected to Kayden’s murderous glare.

As Kartein sent a fully healed Jiwoo out the door to his friends, he shot a tired but no less poisonous glare in Kayden’s direction. He, too, had realised the kind of implications that surrounded their actions in the fight. With much less force than he might usually muster, Kartein grabbed Kayden by the collar of his black button-down and yanked him inside the nearest unoccupied room. Kayden put up no resistance and allowed himself to be dragged around. Any passersby that saw the action would not find themself terribly inclined to give up their assumption that the two awakeners were an item. If anything, it reinforced the notion.

“What the hell were you thinking, you bloodthirsty bastard?” Kartein’s eyes were tired, his usually perfect complexion marred by the subtle beginning of eye bags. Between the spatial isolation, his force shield, and then his healing of Jiwoo, the man had expended a great deal of energy in a short time.

“The hell you mean ‘what was I thinking?’ I destroyed those pathetic worms who tried to hurt Jiwoo!” Kayden kept his voice low, wary of eavesdroppers.

Kartein scoffed, “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Why’d you have to drag me into it? We’re not allies, you damn Pikachu, how dare you pull me into your mess and command me to use my spatial isolation?”

Kayden stared down Kartein as he seethed and ranted. The healer had let go of Kayden’s shirt and began to pace as he manically rambled about Kayden not understanding consequences. His face reddened the more he ranted, and Kayden couldn’t help but to chuckle at the visibly flustered Kartein. It was a rare sight, indeed, and not an unpretty one.

“You think this is funny? Does my suffering amuse you? Because of your complete lack of awareness, I’ve been made a target!” Kartein ran his fingers through his hair in an apparent attempt to calm himself down. Kayden half wished it was his hands in Kartein’s hair, and then baulked at the thought. Where had that come from?

“You’re always someone’s target, dipshit. It comes with the territory of being a healer.” Kayden switched from just staring down Kartein to advancing into his personal space.

“I had it worked out fine!” Unconsciously, Kartein backed away from Kayden to maintain distance, “Then you had to go and drag me around, and now I’m stuck being associated with you!”

Technically, if one looked at it objectively, Kartein was right; he had just taken on a great deal of danger. Kartein was a pretty prize to begin with; everyone wanted to be the one with sole access to the best healer on Earth. But everyone else’s desire to also have access to the best healer more or less kept him safe. Everyone wanted a piece of Kartein, but no one wanted to fight several hundred other supremely powerful awakeners just for the chance to keep Kartein in a cage. It wasn’t like he could be forced to heal anyone, after all, and everyone knew that Kartein would sooner die than heal someone he didn’t want to. Save for the odd enemy, jilted by Kartein’s refusal to heal them, he was more or less safely neutral.

Now, though, as far as the public knew, he was inextricably tied to Kayden. Kartein had publicly protected Kayden’s disciple, had activated his spatial isolation upon request, had catered to Kayden’s whims by ensuring the other didn’t need to worry about collateral damage. These were not the kinds of things one did for an enemy, or even a tentative associate. Though he hadn’t intended to, Kartein had taken a side, and the side he’d taken was Kayden’s. It was quite possibly the stupidest thing he had ever done.

Kayden had many enemies. The number of people he was on good terms with were slim to none, and even those who he had a hesitant truce with would be happy to see him fall. For as powerful as he was, Kayden wasn’t the most likeable guy, nor did he try especially hard to fix that about himself. It worked fine when he was alone, but less so when he had allies. First it was Jiwoo they targeted, but after the fight with Andrei, Kayden was sure that the scummy lowlifes who wanted him dead would think twice about targeting his apprentice. He’d made it very clear that he wasn’t as weakened as people thought, and that he could damn well hold his own. The awakened world pitied the fool who angered Kayden Break, and that respect would extend to Jiwoo as well. Whether or not it would apply to Kartein was another question.

Kayden had associated himself with Kartein, but he hadn’t defended him like he did Jiwoo. Sure, they travelled together, and Kayden always stood watch when Kartein healed Jiwoo, but Jiwoo was always there. It wouldn’t be hard to assume that Kayden didn’t value Kartein as highly as he did his apprentice. It wouldn’t be a stretch for powerful awakeners to assume that Kayden wouldn’t defend Kartein as fiercely as he defended Jiwoo. Yet, it was still obvious that Kayden and Kartein worked well with each other, at the very least. That made Kartein a prime target for all those who wanted to do damage to Kayden. If they took out Kartein, they would eliminate Jiwoo and Kayden’s free pass to fight as they pleased. If Jiwoo no longer had the guarantee of a great healer after his fights, it would make him all that much easier of a target. It was a stepladder of weak points to crack Kayden’s armour, and Kartein would be considered the first step for anyone with a vendetta. Kartein was no slouch in a fight, he was in the top fifty after all, but he didn’t reach top ten. Partially from lack of ambition and partially from the limits to his own fighting ability, Kartein sat pretty at the thirty-eighth spot on the world rankings. It was respectable, just high enough to dissuade most challenges, but low enough to bore rank chasers like Kayden. But even a rank of thirty-eight wouldn’t keep him safe from Kayden’s enemies, not when so many would be happy to use underhanded tactics like ambushes.

Kayden curled his lip in annoyance, “And how is that my problem? You didn’t need to jump in, I only told you to use your spatial isolation because it was convenient, I didn’t actually need you to do it for me.”

Kartein absolutely fumed, Kayden had him backed against a wall now and if there was one thing Kartein couldn’t stand, it was a person who refused to accept that their actions had consequences, “You callous fucking bastard, what do you mean how is that your problem? I’m the one who heals Jiwoo, he’d be dead ten times over if I wasn’t so philanthropic! How dare you endanger me and then refuse to take responsibility for yourself? I could be back in Switzerland right now with a glass of wine and a patient who actually pays, but no! You had to go and ruin everything by letting everyone think we’re together!”

Kayden stared down at Kartein, smugly thankful for the measly two inches of height he had on the healer. He knew Kartein was right, but he was exhausted and still angry over the fight with Andrei, and was in no mood to apologise. The blond awakener’s chest heaved, and his entire body shook, with rage or exhaustion Kayden wasn’t sure. Kartein’s porcelain-smooth skin had a pretty red flush that spread down his neck and up to his ears. His hair was out of place, and his eyes had a manic sort of glint to them. His cherry-red lips were parted in a snarl, just shiny enough to be enticing. It was the most dishevelled Kayden, or anyone for that matter, had ever seen Kartein.

Kayden was tired of talking and arguing, he just wanted Kartein to shut up. Distantly, he remembered how satisfying it had been to get one up on the healer as cats. Though their fight had given Jiwoo the entirely wrong idea, it had been a great thrill for Kayden to know that he could pin Kartein. It scratched some sick itch in his brain, the ever-present need to win, to prove his superiority. There was no small amount of glee that came with knowing he could render Kartein, prideful, beautiful, Kartein, absolutely speechless. Even more interesting was the fact that Kartein had not held it against him. After Kayden had regained his sanity, he had thought the other would resent him for pulling that kind of stunt. It could easily be seen as crossing over the flimsy line that kept them from each other’s throats. Yet once he was no longer pinned, Kartein hadn’t seemed bothered in the slightest.

Though he had no cat instincts to affect him in his human state, Kayden very suddenly wanted to try it again. As Kartein unleashed his verbal fury and scolded Kayden over how callous and reckless he was, Kayden mulled over the idea. It was a bad idea, and he knew it; it would change whatever hesitant truce he had with Kartein. Quite possibly, it would startle Kartein enough that he’d turn tail and leave. It could entirely ruin whatever it was that they had going on. And yet, Kayden still wanted. Now that the thought had left his subconscious and entered his aware mind, it ate at him, just as insistent as his drive to fight. Kartein’s voice grated on, and Kayden stared down at him. He took in the pretty flush and plump red lips and attitude that practically screamed to be taken down a few pegs. Kartein, still set on making his point, poked at Kayden’s chest, probably to emphasise some point or another. Kayden didn’t really know; he’d stopped paying attention. His resolve broke.

In an instant, Kayden pushed Kartein fully against the wall, one hand propped up on the flimsy drywall. His other hand had grabbed Kartein’s chin roughly and forcibly tilted his head up, just a little. “Shut up, will you?”

Kartein spluttered indignantly but remained otherwise frozen in Kayden’s grip. His body was stock still, trapped between Kayden and the wall. This wasn’t a fight driven by cat instinct, if he tried to break free Kayden would probably let him. Probably. There was the very real, however unlikely, possibility that Kayden intended to keep Kartein in one place. A smarter, more pragmatic man would have tried to diffuse the situation. A smarter man would have given up the fight ages ago. A smarter man would have never agreed to do a favour for Kayden, no matter what he offered in exchange. Kartein was not an especially smart man when it came to Kayden, so he glared defiantly up at the electricity user and scoffed, challenging him.

“You want me to take responsibility for my actions, huh? Fine then.” Consequences be damned, Kayden wanted to shut Kartein up, and he would do it one way or another.

 Kayden didn’t think twice as he pinned Kartein and kissed him senseless. One-track mind man that he was, Kayden’s entire focus was consumed by the feel of Kartein’s lips against his, soft and slightly sticky with chapstick. Kartein’s breath shuddered as his hands scrambled for purchase on anything solid enough to ground him. One found Kayden’s shoulder, while the other made its way to his ponytail, which Kartein tugged. In retaliation, Kayden bit down on the healer’s lip, hard. The gasp he drew from Kartein was nothing short of sinful, breathy and light. If he heard nothing but that noise for the rest of his life, Kayden thought, he could die happy. Kayden was not a man known for his restraint, however, and when there was something he wanted, he took it. Kayden wanted more, always more, and he bullied his way into Kartein’s mouth to satisfy his newfound determination.

Kartein shivered again and clung tighter to the man who he claimed to despise, the same man who had his tongue shoved halfway down his throat. Kayden was aggressive, as he borderline bullied the reactions he wanted from Kartein. No one had had the audacity to so suddenly kiss the healer like Kayden did, and though he would deny it to the ends of the earth, Kayden’s brutish methods made Kartein weak in the knees. He suppressed another gasp as Kayden abandoned Kartein’s lips and moved instead to chew the spot just below where his jawline met his ear. Kayden’s other hand flew to Kartein’s hip, where he gripped tight enough to bruise, and then some. Kartein, in turn clung tighter to Kayden’s shoulders, and pulled more at his hair. Kartein silently cursed the layers of clothes between them and his manicured, entirely too dull, nails. He was stricken by the urge to claw and scratch at Kayden’s back, wanted to feel welts raise up under his fingers just as surely as Kayden could feel the bruises, he dutifully sucked onto Kartein’s neck. He wanted to damage and be damaged, to fight back Kayden tooth and nail, even if he ultimately would lose to the bastard’s ministrations. There was too much space between them, and not enough air left in the room. In that moment Kayden’s presence was all encompassing, domineering and electric and still not enough.

Somewhere outside, a door slammed, and Jiwoo’s voice called out to one of his friends. The distant and unimportant buzz that had been all things distinctly not-Kayden suddenly hurdled back into focus. What was Kartein doing? He shook himself out of his lust-fuelled stupor, even as Kayden bit at his collarbone and slipped his warm, static-charged, hands under Kartein’s shirt. Someone had to have a little restraint, and evidently Kayden did not intend to be that someone. Kartein hit the man’s chest with the flat of his palm once, twice, before he reluctantly removed his lips from Kartein’s neck.

They both looked a mess. Kayden’s hair was half out of its ponytail and his shirt was wrinkled beyond imagination, but Kartein was worse. Hair completely a mess, kiss-swollen lips, and bruises already blooming over his pale neck, it would be obvious to anyone what the two had gotten up to.

Kartein’s hands shook as he tried to fix his hair and activated his powers to erase the blossoming bruises on his neck. If Kayden looked sad to see the traces of his efforts disappear from, then neither of them acknowledged it. “You’re a bastard, Kayden.”

Said awakener grinned slyly, no longer bursting with restless energy. Their dalliance had burned it out of his system well enough to return him to his usual state of level-headed smugness. “Yeah, they say that about me.”

Kartein huffed, he’d clearly been mistaken, Kayden was a selfish fool who would never listen to reason. He turned to leave the room and return to reality, a reality in which he was vulnerable and alone in the face of the new target he’d allowed to be painted on his back, “Whatever, I need to recover my energy and so do you. I’m going back to the room”

Kayden, reflexes still sharp, snatched at Kartein’s wrist and tugged him close once more. He rested his other hand on the healer’s hip, gently this time. “You worry a lot for such a self-confident priss, you know.”

Kartein pursed his lips, “You-”

Kayden silenced him with another kiss, this once chaste and sweet, a gentle caress compared to the aggressive clash from before. “Stop fussing so much, I’ll kick anyone’s ass, anywhere, anytime. I don’t publicly associate myself with just anyone, you know.”

Kartein relaxed as he heard the underlying message, the words that Kayden wouldn’t dare speak out loud, not yet. I’ll fight for you, leave your safety concerns to me and I’ll deal with the problems as they come.

“Fine. Good for you then, you do that.” Alright, I’m trusting you to keep us safe, then.

Kartein pried Kayden’s hand off his wrist, and when he left the room, this time Kayden let him. He smirked to himself as he saw, just below Kartein’s ear, that one faint hickey remained. He had no intentions of letting harm befall a creature so lovely as Kartein.

Sure would have been nice to have figured that out before his cat-brain, though. God, Jiwoo was still convinced he’d walked in on them going at it as cats, what a mess. The kid couldn’t make eye contact with either of his mentors for the next week once he noticed the bruise, the poor thing. Kayden still maintained that it was all Kartein’s fault for provoking him, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain.