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Ten really should’ve known better than to eat one of Netaro’s meat buns.
He heard about what happened with Tao and Chihiro on New Year’s, and yet, he was still tempted by the delicious-looking treat left out on the table for anyone to eat. He overslept this morning and grabbing the bun to eat on his way out was faster than stopping to make an actual breakfast. Everything seemed fine at first, but when he returned home hours later he felt a little dizzy.
And now here he is, sitting outside HAMA House with four fuzzy paws and a tail. Yes, that’s right. He is a cat.
He swishes his tail in indignance, gazing up at the building that is now more than fives times larger than it should be. It’s the middle of the day, so the kids are at school and everyone else at their jobs, which makes Ten’s job of sneaking in a whole lot easier. That is, everyone except a certain overly familiar someone, if the approaching barking is anything to go by.
“Shumai, stop pulling! What’s wrong?”
Renga.
When Ten turns around, he’s greeted by a white fluffy face glaring at him with an animosity Ten has never seen on the dog. He leaps back instinctively, his hackles rising as a hiss slips from his lips.
“Stop it, Shumai! You’re scaring it!” Renga exclaims, wrapping the lead around his wrist to gently tug the dog away from Ten. He then crouches down in front of him, mismatched eyes crinkling as he smiles at Ten. He holds out a hand expectantly, and despite Ten making it a point to turn his head away, Renga strokes the fur between his ears anyway. “Hey there, little kitty! Are you lost? Alone? You know, you kinda look like someone I know.”
“That’s because you do know me,” Ten says. Clearly his vocal chords have abandoned him, though, because what comes out of his mouth is actually three drawn out meows that are much too high-pitched for his liking. In the corner of his eye, he swears he sees Shumai bark-laugh at him.
Renga snorts, a rather ungraceful sound, and reaches out with his other hand to scratch Ten beneath his neck. It feels sinfully good. “How cute! So? What are you doing here?”
“It’s me, Renga-san,” Ten tries again.
“Meow meow, indeed,” Renga says, moving his hands underneath Ten’s belly and gently lifting him into his arms. Ten flails his pathetic little legs in protest, but Renga just laughs and ducks his head out of the way. “Woah, there! It’s okay, I don’t want to hurt you. Your owners won’t mind if I take you inside for a while, will they? Ah, that is, if you even have owners…”
He is showing far too much empathy towards such a scraggly cat, Ten thinks. He has mercy on Renga and settles in his arms as he carries him inside; even if someone else had to get involved, he still got what he wanted.
“I’m home,” Renga calls to no one in particular. He gets no response, which is probably for the better whilst Ten is in this state. He lets Shumai off the leash then prepares a bowl of water for Ten, setting him down on the pouffe in the center of the room. It’s better for him that there’s no one else around, as well. Putting a cat from God knows where on their furniture like this would surely get him scolded by several people. Luckily for him, though, Ten isn’t particularly dirty.
Like most things have been so far in regards to his feline form, drinking with his tongue is easy and intuitive. He would, however, prefer not to have an audience; Renga is crouched at the end of the pouffe, watching intently with a soft little smile. It’s sickening to be looked at that way, if he’s being honest.
“Would you like some food too?” Renga cooes, pressing the back of his hand against Ten’s cheek. His instincts urge him to lean into the touch, but he fights the feeling off, simply allowing Renga to pet him.
Ten answers his question with a deadpan meow, assuming Renga will just get him some chicken or something from the kitchen. Instead, he stands up, declares that he’s going to the supermarket, and just like that he’s gone. He seriously needs to learn to think things through. Leaving a stray cat all alone in the house. Is he stupid?
Just because he likes to watch Renga squirm, Ten makes his way over to the kitchen and jumps up onto the nearest table, where a few glasses leftover from this morning are just begging to be knocked over. But as he raises a paw to bat at one, a sharp bark from below draws his attention. He locks eyes with Shumai, who is watching him with the same intensity from earlier. Ten isn’t quite sure why he has it out for him, but whatever.
Maintaining eye contact with the dog, he knocks the glass onto the floor with a flick of his paw. Then all hell breaks loose.
When Renga walks through the door twenty-odd minutes later, Ten makes a running leap into his arms, very nearly toppling the man straight over. Renga drops his shopping bag, peeling Ten off of his face and holding him out in front of him. “Kitty? What’s wrong?!”
“That stupid mutt is trying to kill me.”
Renga glances down at where Shumai is at his feet, growling at the cat in his grasp. He had chased Ten around the house, arguably causing more of a mess than Ten had been planning on making. The little freak even broke out into a run on his two hind legs, something that Ten does not wish to witness again for quite some time. This feline body of his is lithe and ideal for running away, but that doesn’t mean he necessarily enjoys it.
“Shumai, calm down. Honestly, I leave for twenty minutes…” Renga cradles Ten carefully in his arms, carrying him over to the countertop of the kitchen. God, Ushio would kill him if he knew about this. “Don’t worry, he can’t get you here. I bought you some food! Let me just tidy up a bit then you can have some, okay?”
Once the house is in order again and Shumai has calmed down, Renga presents Ten with a bowl of wet cat food, as expected. His nose wrinkles at the smell and he pushes the bowl away with his paw in a display of rejection. There is no way in hell he’s eating cat food.
“Come on, you gotta eat something!” Renga nudges it back towards him. “You must be hungry.”
Ten turns his head towards the fridge with a meow in hopes that Renga will understand and get him some fish or something similar, but the man misses his gesture, too busy rummaging around in the bag from the pet store.
“If you don’t want that, what about these treats? The lady at the store told me that no cat can resist these!” Renga shakes a packet in his direction temptingly, but Ten remains unfazed. The lady obviously did not realise that some cats are humans stuck in a cat’s body. “Ah, seriously…? Fine, have it your way. In the meantime, I bought you something else!”
He reaches into his pocket and produces a golden collar, and it’s then that Ten knows he is done for. “C’mere, I think this would be really cute on you.” The fur on Ten’s back spikes up as he backs away with a hiss, a warning for Renga to stay away.
“Don’t you like it?” Renga asks. His puppy-dog eyes really shouldn’t work on a cat, but unfortunately Ten is not immune to his charm. He hisses one more time, taking pleasure in the way Renga flinches away for a moment, then stands quietly and allows him to clip the collar into place around his neck. This is ridiculous. If anyone between the two of them should be wearing a collar, it’s certainly not Ten. It’s the same shade of gold as Renga’s assigned colour, as if he owns Ten, or something. What a pain.
“We’re home!” Akuta’s voice rings out from the entranceway. Ten glances up at Renga to find him already staring at him, worry brewing in his expression.
“I gotta clean the sides before Ushio sees,” he mutters, gathering the food and Ten in his arms. “I’ll take you upstairs first, okay?”
He brings Ten to their room, setting him down on Renga’s bed. He places the food on the floor; not that Ten’s planning on eating it. “Stay here, okay? I’ll be back soon.” He shuts the door behind him, finally giving Ten some peace and quiet. He gracefully leaps onto Kafka’s bed then his own, deciding that if there’s no easy way out of this situation yet he might as well take a nap.
Thankfully, it’s incredibly easy for him to fall asleep in this form, and when he opens his eyes again the sun has begun to set. His slumber was disturbed by Renga’s return; he can hear him down below softly beckoning him, most likely wondering where he’s gone. Ten stands and stretches before poking his head over the railing with a meow.
“Ah! There you are!” Renga grins, extending his arms up for Ten to jump into. “You scared me for a minute. What were you doing up there?”
“It’s my own bed.”
“Ten wouldn’t be happy if he knew about this, but I don’t know where he is. He said he would be home early today, but he hasn’t replied to any of my messages…” Renga mumbles, absently stroking along Ten’s back. “He’s probably just out drinking again. I really worry about his body, y’know.”
Usually, Ten would want to argue that he has no reason to worry about such a thing—Ten is more than capable of holding his liquor, after all—but considering the current state of his body, Renga may be in the right. Even if that isn’t exactly what he meant.
“While you were asleep, I asked around if anyone nearby has lost a cat, but it doesn’t look like they have.” Renga takes a seat on his bed, letting Ten curl up comfortably in his lap. “So you are alone, huh. I know how you feel. You don’t need to worry anymore, kitty. I’ll take care of you.”
Something twists in Ten’s stomach that makes him butt his head against Renga’s hand. Renga breathes out a quiet laugh and scratches behind his ears. “If you’re going to stay here, I should probably name you. Hm… What about Tenten? Since you really do remind me of him.”
Ten is going to kill him. He attempts to make a statement about the awful name by digging his claws into Renga’s thighs, but Renga doesn’t seem to mind, continuing to pamper him with affection. After a short while, Renga pulls his phone out and sends a few more texts to Ten.
“It feels a little lonely in here without Ten and Kafka,” Renga says quietly. Ah, that’s right. Kafka’s away on a study trip right now, and with Ten in this form where he’s unable to properly communicate with him, he’s all by himself. Most people would be happy to have some time to themselves, but Renga isn’t most people. “I have you, now, though, so it’s okay. I wonder if they’ll be alright with letting you stay… If not, I’m sure Daniel-san would be willing to look after you.”
Eventually, they relocate downstairs, making themselves comfortable on the sofa in front of the TV. A few people stop to coo and say hello, but Ten remains indifferent to all of them, no matter how good their chin scratches feel.
“He seems to really like you, Nishizono-san,” Nanaki comments after Ten bats his hand away for trying to rub his belly. What? Ten scowls up at him the best he can as a cat. It’s true that he’s kind of all over Renga right now, but that’s just because it’s Renga.
Renga remains downstairs after everyone has gone to bed, kicking up his feet so that he’s lying down on the sofa. Ten curls up on his chest; he can hear his heartbeat from this position, can feel every gentle rise and fall of his chest. He would be lying if he said it isn’t comfortable.
“...Hey, Tenten.” So he’s keeping the name? Whatever. “Where do you think he is right now?”
“I’m right here, Renga-san.”
“I wonder if he’s partying with those girls again… It’s not that I don’t want him to, it’s just—ugh, I don’t know. I know it would be bad for my image, but I wish he’d take me out drinking all night too.”
Ten keeps his eyes closed. He doesn’t need to see his expression.
“He’s my precious friend, after all. I want to spend as much time with him as possible before I…” Renga trails off, his breathing gradually becoming slower. “But you know, I don’t want to leave him, not really…”
It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep after that. Ten tries to follow in his lead. He doesn’t want to dwell on whatever the hell that was supposed to mean for any longer than he already has.
—
He wakes up to the alluring scent of roses and the comfortable heat of Renga’s body seeping into his own. Ten draws in a deep breath, arms wrapping tighter around Renga’s frame and his leg pushing higher between those warm thighs. Renga hugs his head in return, pushing his face further into his chest, a mumble vibrating off his throat. His pectorals quickly suffocate Ten, though, so he feebly pushes at his shoulder to request some breathing space.
“You’re killing me,” he mumbles into Renga’s chest.
He is not meowing.
“T-T-Ten?!” Renga exclaims, letting go of him and attempting to shuffle backwards. “W-What are you doing here?! Why are you n-naked?! And where’s my cat?!”
“He’s right here,” Ten says, propping his head up on a hand. “My, how bold of you to call me yours when I don’t belong to anyone, Renga-san. See, that collar even snapped.”
Renga blinks a few times, a blush creeping up his neck to settle on his cheeks. “The cat—was you? How is that even possible?!”
“Netaro,” Ten supplies helpfully.
Before Renga can get another word out, the front door opens and two figures make their way inside and switch on the light. It’s Kafka and Kuguri, suitcases in hand, home from their study trip. There are a few moments of silence where they all stare at each other, until a look of horror falls over Kafka’s face, and he exclaims, “What is going on here?!”
“Such a daring act so early in the morning… Are you perhaps looking for a third?” Kuguri asks, a knowing smirk on his face.
Ten flashes him a smile. “No thanks.”
“Ten!” Renga hisses. “Kafka, it isn’t what it looks like! I-It’s hard to explain…”
“You know what? I don’t even want to hear it yet. I’m too tired for this,” Kafka says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Get dressed and go upstairs before anyone sees you. There are children living in this house, Ten.”
Of course all the blame has been pushed onto Ten. It wasn’t his idea to fall asleep down here, nor did he ask to be turned into a cat for a day. “I know, I know. Sorry, Prez. It won’t happen again.”
Renga gives him his hoodie to wrap around his waist as they head upstairs, thankfully not running into any of their housemates on the way. Kafka drops his bags at the dorm room before saying something about going to see the chief, leaving Ten and Renga alone. Renga keeps his eyes shut tight as Ten clothes himself as if they don’t bathe together on a somewhat regular basis.
“S-So, Ten,” Renga starts once Ten is fully dressed. “Would you mind forgetting everything I said yesterday? It’s embarrassing to think that I said all that to your face…”
“Sure,” Ten says. It makes it a whole lot easier for him as well. “But I can’t promise I won’t remember it one day.”
Renga tilts his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.” It’s still early in the morning, so Ten climbs into bed. There’s fur on his sheets from where he fell asleep earlier. When he looks down at Renga, he’s looking back at him with an expression he can’t quite place. “...Goodnight, Renga-san.”