Chapter Text
Akashi sat in his seat on the bullet train with a sigh. He felt exceptionally exhausted today. It seemed that the pressure of the Winter Cup finally caught up to him. Which was understandable, he supposed. It was his last one, and Rakuzan was the defending champion. And as the captain, there was simply no room for mistakes.
He kept thinking about it. About what would happen if he lost. He wasn’t that hell-bent about never losing like he was years ago, but he was still an Akashi who, at his core, would always strive for perfection. The mindset never really changed, and he came to accept that was just how he was as a person.
He mellowed out. That was for sure. And he found that he actually performed better if he actually spared some time to relax, instead of continuously working and stressing? Who would’ve thought?
Anyway, the Winter Cup was one week away, so this weekend was the last weekend he could actually relax; therefore, he decided to treat himself to some tofu soup from his favorite restaurant in Tokyo.
Yes, he was being extra for traveling almost 500 km just for a bowl of tofu soup, and no, he didn’t care that he was being extra.
He did wish he could share the meal with someone though.
The thing was, he felt a bit lonely these days. It never really occurred to him that he could feel lonely. He had friends, of course. He had his teammates. But most of the time, he was alone. It was never a problem before, as far as he remembered. This loneliness was a recent thing.
Akashi started feeling like this ever since his Miracle friends paired up with each other. He always thought of all seven of them as one singular unit. But then, Kuroko got together with Momoi (about time, to be fair), Midorima got together with Kise (a little unexpected but not too surprising, somehow), and Aomine got together with Murasakibara (how did this even happen?). So now Akashi felt like it was three couples and one singular person, which was himself.
It was silly, in retrospect. Akashi was supposed to be happy for them. And he swore he was, but he also felt excluded. After that, he started to be more aware of the romantic side of his surroundings. The couples in his class. The couples in the places he visited. Even the fictional couples in books he read. And suddenly, he had this inexplicable want to experience that sort of thing.
He realized then that he was lonely.
To be honest, he could easily experience it, if he wanted. He could just accept one of the countless confessions and love letters he received almost weekly. But of course he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want it to be random. He wanted a real, genuine connection. And so far, he hadn’t found his person, so to speak.
So Akashi Seijuurou was secretly a romantic. He almost couldn’t believe it himself.
Akashi sighed again, inwardly berating himself for thinking about such unimportant things. He was supposed to relax, so that was what he was going to do. Maybe he should get some sleep. With that goal in mind, he leaned back in his seat, and closed his eyes.
Akashi looked at his surroundings. He was currently alone in the middle of.. nowhere? It was just white all around.
Was he dead?
“We will help you find your person, Akashi Seijuurou.”
Akashi jolted, hearing that oddly-sounding voice. He checked his surroundings again. There was no one. Where did the voice come from?
“Who are you? Where am I? Am I dead?” Akashi asked, bewildered.
“Do not be too alarmed by our method. Once you find them, you will return to normal.”
Akashi gaped. Seriously, what is happening?
“You didn’t answer any of my questions. Are you God?” Akashi asked again, actually feeling very alarmed.
“Prepare yourself. You will wake up in 3, 2-”
Now Akashi was panicking, “Hey-”
“1.”
Suddenly, all that white turned to black.
Akashi shifted uncomfortably, trying to open his eyes. It wasn’t fully registered to him about what was happening, but he knew something was off the moment his vision cleared.
It seemed that he was on the.. street? Wasn’t he supposed to be on the bullet train? The surroundings also looked weird, from his point of view. Almost as if his eyes were on his lower legs, or as if he was very, very short.
He lowered his head to look at his lower body, only to see a very different anatomy. He saw two familiar-looking limbs, with the shade of his hair. Which definitely didn’t belong to him, or any human for that matter. He let out a scream.
“Meow!”
.. And it turned into a meow.
What the actual fuck?
Did he just turn into a.. cat? Again, what the fuck?
Akashi was actually scared now. He closed his eyes again, hoping that this was all just a dream. A very bad dream.
He opened his eyes and everything was still the same. He was still a cat. Fuck.
Three curse words in under a minute. He was losing it, alright.
Akashi took a deep breath and sighed, trying to calm down. Or something like that (could cats take a deep breath and sigh? He didn’t know). Then, he remembered his actual dream.
“Do not be too alarmed by our method. Once you find them, you will return to normal.”
Okay so, the universe was definitely playing with him. There were a million other ways for them to help him find his person, but somehow they chose to do this? How in the world could he ever find a romantic partner if he were a fucking cat?
Fuck the universe.
At least this is temporary, Akashi's rational mind helpfully supplied. He just needed to find the right person, then everything would go back to normal. Or so he hoped. He nodded to himself. Or something like that (could cats nod to himself? Fuck it, he didn’t care). He would treat this as a challenge and find the solution eventually. He could do it. He was an Akashi after all. And he was the best.
Akashi had been walking in this unfamiliar neighborhood for what seemed like hours. He didn’t even know what city this was. It looked like Tokyo, but he couldn’t be sure. He met some cats along the way, and as silly as it sounded, he actually attempted to communicate with them. It didn’t work. All he heard was this indecipherable string of meows. They left him alone after that.
It was starting to get dark, and Akashi was so hungry and tired. This was going to sound presumptuous, but he did see himself in the mirror he found randomly on the street, and he looked so.. striking? He thought someone would pick him up and take care of him at this point, because surely, a bright red cat was a rarity?
Apparently not. No one looked at him twice. No one paid him any attention. No one cared.
And now it seemed that it was going to rain soon. Amazing stuff really.
Akashi scrambled to find a shelter. He arrived at the front of a random convenience store, just in time before it poured.
It was so cold. He curled up into a ball, trying to keep himself warm to no avail. He tried to sleep because he didn’t know what to do anymore, but he couldn’t. In the end, he just stared at the rain, wondering if this nightmare would ever end.
“Hello there,” Akashi blinked. That was one familiar voice. He turned his head to look at the source and found Seirin’s Furihata Kouki crouching down and staring back at him. Akashi almost couldn’t believe his luck, “Are you okay? You don’t look very good.” Furihata said, a genuine worry in his eyes.
How did Furihata come to that conclusion? Were cats that expressive? Was Furihata secretly a cat whisperer? Either way, Akashi was not going to let the first-ever person who came to him get away from him. So he immediately stood, and approached Furihata, “Meow meow!” Please help me Furihata-kun!
“Whoa, whoa, easy there. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” Furihata stood up and took a step back.
Okay, that was probably a little too aggressive of him, but that meant Furihata was not a cat whisperer, so Akashi executed another strategy. He curled up into a ball again, looking as pathetic as he could, and started whimpering.
It worked. Furihata got even closer this time and just.. stayed there, observing him. Akashi kept whimpering, each whimper more pitiful than the last, until Furihata moved his hand and started stroking Akashi’s back. It felt.. surprisingly nice, “You’re one strange cat, aren’t you? So red and dramatic. Reminds me of someone.” He finished with a little chuckle.
Akashi narrowed his eyes at Furihata. Was he talking about him? Surely not? Because he was not dramatic. And they weren’t that close. They were just acquaintances, at best. And yet, Furihata said the words with such fondness. Yeah, definitely not him.
“You have no tag, so you’re not someone’s pet, supposedly,” Furihata mumbled, more to himself, before he smiled, kind and warm, “Let’s go to my house and rest for now. You look like you need it.”
Akashi was in awe. Furihata would take care of him, just like that? He really was lucky.
Furihata proceeded to move his backpack to the front and unzipped it. Next, he transferred some of his things into the convenience store’s plastic bag, then gently put Akashi inside. He zipped it halfway, leaving Akashi’s head sticking out so he could breathe. Once Furihata finished making sure Akashi was comfortable in his backpack, he opened his umbrella and began walking.
Akashi breathed a sigh of relief; the stress slowly melted away. He truly couldn’t be more grateful.
When they arrived at Furihata’s house, Akashi automatically stuck out his head more to look around. Furihata’s house was not big, but not small either, just a standard Japanese two-story house. It was proper and clean, but nothing special. It was exceptionally warm though, for some reason. It was really comfortable.
Furihata let Akashi out to explore while he handled his shoes and coat and umbrella. Akashi walked slowly to observe, then he realized how empty it felt.
“My parents are away until tomorrow, and my brother lives in Hokkaido for uni. So it’s just the two of us tonight.” Furihata commented absently, somehow answering Akashi’s question. He walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Akashi followed him, naturally.
Furihata crouched down to fiddle with a medium-sized container at the corner of the room, “We used to have a cat, but he died two years ago. My mom still keeps some of his stuff, so let’s use it for you.”
“Meow meow,” Akashi offered his condolences, trying his best to make them sound more solemn than his usual meows. He suspected that he wasn’t quite successful though.
Furihata ignored him, busy pulling out random stuff from the container, “Oh! We still have his favorite premium canned food,” he cheerfully showed Akashi a colorful can, with the image of the most flawless cat as a cover, “This one is Pure Tuna Whitemeat, and it expires tomorrow! How lucky!”
Akashi’s eye twitched. Was Furihata really going to give him almost-expired food? Sure it was technically edible, but still.
“I hope you like it!” Furihata transferred the food into the cat bowl and moved it closer to Akashi. Akashi stayed unmoving, eyeing the food with extreme prejudice. He wanted to gag.
He, Akashi Seijuurou, was about to eat cat food. He used to have dignity and grace. Well, there was none left now, that was for sure.
Akashi was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that he really needed to eat this stuff to survive, when he saw Furihata pull out another important cat-related item from the container.. which made him want to throw himself into oncoming traffic.
It was a litter box.
Akashi swallowed thickly. He needed to use that to relieve himself. The very thought of it already made him sick to his stomach.
He could, of course, use the toilet if he wanted, but he didn’t think he could navigate everything without incident.
He also didn’t want to freak Furihata out by showing him that this already weird cat he picked up was actually even weirder by preferring a toilet over a litter box.
He just.. couldn’t risk it.
Once Furihata was done preparing the litter box, he excused himself to go to the bathroom, mumbling about having a stomachache.
Akashi realized then, if he wanted to relieve himself with some semblance of privacy, he needed to do it now.
So Akashi did what needed to be done, all the while trying not to cry. Because it was so very humiliating. If he thought losing to Seirin was humiliating, it was absolutely nothing compared to whatever fuckery he experienced right now.
Fuckkk.
Akashi took a deep breath, calming himself down. There was no use stressing over every little thing. He didn’t know how long he was going to be a cat, so he better get used to it, or else, he might not survive.
With that resolve in mind, Akashi left the litter box and went toward the cat bowl again. He took a bite of his food, only to go back to the litter box to puke.
That tasted awful.
Despite everything, his taste buds were still human. And wasn’t that just the most convenient thing?
He wanted to eat human food desperately. He wanted to eat tofu, his carnivorous digestive system be damned. Once Furihata was asleep, he would try to sneak out and search for some tofu, for the sake of his sanity.
He was in the middle of strategizing when Furihata finally came out from the bathroom, a heavy sigh on his lips. He looked at both Akashi and the cat bowl, and frowned, “Why are you not eating?”
“Meow!” I don’t like it!
“Are you not hungry?”
Akashi was a little frustrated because Furihata couldn’t understand him (which was actually very normal of him), “Meow meow!” It’s not that!
Furihata scratched his head, looking confused, before he left Akashi again to go to the kitchen counter, “I’ll figure it out after eating my dinner.” He muttered.
Akashi decided to just sit still and observe him. From what he’d seen so far, Furihata looked like he was actually good at cooking? He wore an apron that was definitely his, for a start. He also moved around the kitchen like it was second nature. Akashi only knew Furihata in a basketball context, so it was fascinating to see this other side of him. He looked pretty cool like this, Akashi supposed.
Furihata finally finished whatever he was doing and went to the dinner table, bringing a small bowl and a small plate. It smelled really good. Without thinking further, he jumped onto the table to see the food.
Furihata looked a little taken aback by the sudden intrusion but otherwise didn’t make a move to wave him away.
Furihata’s food consisted of grilled fish and.. a tofu soup. Akashi could feel saliva start to gather in his mouth. He wanted it. He wanted that tofu soup so badly it hurt.
Akashi got closer like he was being hypnotized, before a hand blocked him on his path, “No, you can’t.” Furihata said firmly, “This is plant-based. You’re a carnivore. It might hurt your stomach.” He explained, a hint of worry in his voice.
Akashi knew. He knew. But he was also starving and stressed and exhausted. So he pleaded, “Meow meow,” Please Furihata-kun. “Meow meow meow.” Just one bite, I’m so hungry.
Furihata looked like he actually considered it. In the end, he conceded, “Just a little, okay? And you must eat it with the fish,” he pointed at the fish, “I’ll make you another portion, because this one is already heavily seasoned.” He stood up and covered his food with bigger plates, and returned to the kitchen counter to prepare Akashi’s food.
Akashi was once again amazed by Furihata’s kindness. He didn’t seem annoyed by him at all, just genuinely caring.
Furihata came back with another plate and placed it in front of Akashi. Just like he said, he only put tiny chunks of tofu and a medium-sized grilled fish, already deboned and cut into small pieces. Akashi nodded his head in gratitude, hoping that Furihata got what his gesture meant just this once. Because he was incredibly thankful for this. Furihata chuckled and patted his head, before they both dug in.
It was delicious. Even if it was mostly plain, it tasted right. Probably the best thing that happened to him today. He cleared the plate in record time. He was that hungry.
“Good job,” Furihata patted his head again and smiled proudly, before he began cleaning up everything. Once he was done, he gestured at Akashi to follow him to his room.
Furihata’s room was exactly like Akashi’s expected: a simple, typical teenage boy’s room. Except for the decoration. Instead of basketball-related things, it was more train-themed. He was a train enthusiast then.
Furihata sat at his desk while Akashi sat on it. “I’ve been thinking about it, but you look exactly like this one guy I know.” He took the monthly basketball magazine, this year’s summer edition, where Rakuzan the Interhigh champion was on the cover. Furihata pointed at.. him, “Akashi Seijuurou.” he smiled, looking oddly fond, “It’s your color, I think. It’s the exact same shade as Akashi-kun’s hair and eyes.”
Furihata opened the magazine and stopped at Akashi’s exclusive interview page, with his picture at the center, “Maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to you, because well..” Furihata paused, rubbing his nose and blushing slightly, “I really like Akashi-kun.”
Akashi’s heart skipped a beat. What?
“He is really amazing. I used to be scared of him but he is always so kind to me whenever we interact, I can’t help crushing on him,” he finished with a shy little chuckle, “I’m not on the same level as him in basketball, like, at all, but he always, always came up to me to greet me and told me how much he enjoyed playing against me.”
Akashi gulped; he sure did that, but there was a reason why he started doing that in the first place.
“I know I’m probably not special in any way. I’m sure Akashi-kun treated all his opponents with respect. And I have a suspicion that he started speaking to me because he felt guilty? For how he treated me at the Winter Cup two years ago.”
Akashi lowered his head, feeling an odd sort of shame, because Furihata was right.
“But it doesn’t matter. I know all of our interactions are genuine. He is kind and he is wonderful and I’m a big fan.” Furihata said, with a sort of dreamy look on his face, “It’s a hopeless crush, but I actually planned on confessing on the last day of Winter Cup. This way, I don’t need to see him again after he rejects me, which he will. Still, I want to show him that I’m a better and braver Furihata Kouki now, so on the last day of Winter Cup, a confession is definitely happening.” He finally finished, looking very determined, with fists clenched and everything.
Akashi went still, processing every single word, before he jumped from the desk and walked slowly, until he arrived near the window and settled there.
Okay wow. What an admission. That was really unexpected. And Akashi kind of felt bad that he knew about it this way? This was definitely not the sort of thing that he should hear, and yet here he was.
First of all, Akashi never thought of Furihata in that way. Just like Furihata said, Akashi did feel guilty about what he had done at their first Winter Cup, and had been trying to sort of.. make up for it. Even so, Furihata was also right about the genuineness of their interactions, because after Akashi started speaking to him, he actually found Furihata rather charming in his own way. He never thought much about it though.
Second of all, he was really flattered that Furihata thought so highly of him. He was touched, and he was grateful. His heart was engulfed by warmth, and he felt this sort of fuzziness that he couldn’t quite explain. It was.. surprisingly nice.
For some reason, he then began to recall all the memories he had with Furihata, to the point of spacing out.
Akashi didn’t know how long he’d been spacing out when suddenly, “I’m going to sleep now,” Furihata announced. Akashi turned, only to see Furihata, already in his pajamas, lying on his bed.
When did he change? Akashi couldn’t help but wonder (though Akashi was grateful he didn’t see it, for obvious reasons). What time is it anyway? Akashi tried to locate a clock. He found a wall clock far above the desk, and was surprised to see it was almost 11 PM. How could that even happen? It seemed that the concept of time was completely lost on the cat version of him. It was absurd.
Akashi looked at Furihata again, only to find him already asleep. He should sleep too, probably. God knows what the universe might do to him tomorrow. He wondered where he should sleep, when his eyes caught sight of a small makeshift bed made of blankets near the foot of Furihata’s bed. Akashi was touched again. That was really considerate of Furihata.
Akashi didn’t waste time and settled there immediately. He sighed at the comfort the makeshift bed provided, happy and content. Also, since Furihata was technically still near, he could hear his soft snores, or rather.. purrs? They legit sounded like purrs. And Akashi was the cat here. They were.. oddly adorable, and they were soothing. So Akashi closed his eyes, feeling even more comfortable, and was asleep in no time.