Chapter Text
Recently, things had been going too well. Few late nights and little over time. Good sales so he was able to pick up fresh fish for dinner at a fraction of what he normally paid. And he was even able to find some time to read before bed. When he saw the text message from Shoko asking him to do a personal favor, he wasn’t surprised. It was about time his luck changed. When he found out what she needed of him, he wasn’t sure which way his luck actually went.
“Could you take care of Ijichi tonight?” She asked once he walked through the door.
Coat over one arm, he stood confused. Was his friend ill? Or did he get hurt in a way that she couldn’t heal? Even though it sounded like a request, it was more of a demand. He was already there. It wasn’t as if he could head home empty-handed after going out of his way to get to the school after hours.
“Yes, I don’t mind. But I’m confused as to why you would ask.”
Looking around the room, he didn’t see any sign of the tall, dark-haired manager. He thought he heard a small whimper from behind one of the doors. Was Ijichi really in that much trouble?
“Have you heard about the Midnight Cat Burglar?” She asked a bit distracted, staring at a report in her hand.
A long pause came between them. He had, in fact, not heard of such a thing. He was aware of an increase in robberies, but they were done at such random locations that no one could pin it on one person. And what was stolen wasn’t overly valuable, which confused the police more.
“Pardon?” he asked for more information.
“Ijichi! Come out. It’ll be easier to explain if he sees you.” She called, and her voice echoed through the damp basement.
A door near them cracked open. It took a full minute for Ijichi to slip out, eyes red from embarrassed tears. It was warm, yet he wore a large yellow knitted hat with a pompom on top. His hands were folded in front of him, and his shoulders drawn in. He looked as if he’d just gotten a lecture of a lifetime. The poor man was downright miserable.
“Take off the hat.” She ordered.
“I refuse.” He replied before she even finished speaking.
Nanami didn’t have a clue about what was happening. Ijichi would never stand up for himself, let alone talk back to Shoko. Looking between the two of them, this seemed more serious than he first thought.
“I already took photos. He's going to see them either way. Either take off the hat, or I'll send these to Gojo, and he can take care of you tonight.”
See them? What were they talking about?
Admitting a silent defeat, Ijichi’s trembling hands reached up, and slowly slipped off the hat. Static made his short hair messy, but that wasn’t the most noticeable thing. His mouth shook, holding back whimpers and tears. He would never be able to live this down.
On top of his head was something Nanami assumed to be fake. Were they playing a trick on him by making Ijichi wear a headband? A dark shape twitched, sensing narrow brown eyes in his direction. He knew Nanami wouldn’t laugh at him as others would. But being in front of him in this kind of state was agony.
“Do... are you in pain at all?” Nanami asked, unsure of what else to say.
“Nya-N-No...”
Hiding a short behind the back of her hand, Shoko looked away, trying to make Ijichi feel a little better. Unable to tear his eyes away. Nanami stared at a pair of black twitching cat ears on top of smooth dark hair. Breaking a little, Ijichi buried his face in his hands, withdrawing from the conversation for a moment.
“How did this happen?” Nanami asked Shoko, forcing himself not to stare at Ijichi.
“There is a sorcerer out there with an interesting cursed technique. They seem to be younger, so the ability may have manifested recently. From what we’ve seen, they are able to wrap a collar of cursed energy around a target’s neck. As long as the collar is there, the victim has cat ears. The effects of the ears depend on the person. Two security guards were hit by this. One acted like a cat right away, and the other had those symptoms appear over the course of the night.”
Shamefully, Ijichi opened his shirt collar enough to show a black band around his neck. His demeanor looked as if he was forced to strip instead. Aside from some minor changes in speech, Ijichi hadn’t been hit by the full range of the collar. Nanami was starting to understand why he was the one picked to keep an eye on him that night. No one else would act enough like an adult to be able to do it.
“Is there a way to reverse this?” Nanami asked, wondering how long the ears would last.
“We’re not certain. The sorcerer can remove it, but he ran off after Ijichi was hit. The students are currently running around the city trying to find them again. We’re worried about him. Aside from the ears causing a personality to change over time, the collar starts to weaken the victim as well. If we don’t find the sorcerer tonight, there is a chance Ijichi could be seriously harmed. Or worse, keep saying cat-themed puns.”
“I'm not going to your fune-Nyah-ral..” Ijichi sounded bitter and tried to make a threat over not mourning Shoko, but the word came out completely wrong.
His deadpan delivery hit Nanami hard. Even he needed to look away to calm himself in fear he might embarrass Ijichi more that night.
“My what? Funeral?” Shoko asked, trying to get Ijichi to repeat himself.
“I'm nyahot talking anymore.”
Face buried in his hands again, he wanted to roll over and die. One mistake was all it took to be killed while in the field. Now he understood there were worse things than death. He only thanked God that Ino had been the one to find him knocked out by the company car and hauled him over to Shoko. If Gojo had been the one to see him like this, he would have cut out his own stomach by now.
“Alright, put the hat back on. I’ll watch you tonight. We all know the students are skilled. I’m sure this will be all over soon.”
Peeking through his fingers that poorly hid his deep red face, he was thankful for at least one person was not making a huge deal over this. Shoko’s smug smile was killing him. She turned and reached into her desk drawer and took out something as she stood up from her chair. Ijichi froze, eyes wide and hands hovering in the air.
“Please use this to see how far the issue progresses and give me updates.”
She wiggled a long, thin, flexible stick with a fluffy fake cat tail at the end in front of Ijichi’s annoyed face. He batted it away at first, trying to remove it from sight. Then his hand kept pawing at it, mind completely focused. When he realized what he was doing, he let out a horrified sound, hands at the side of his extremely red face. Nanami rushed over and snatched the cat toy from her hands, trying to save his friend from more teasing.
“Why should I give you updates? Is there something you can do if he gets worse?” Nanami asked after tossing the toy clear across the room in such a calm way that it almost made Shoko laugh.
“Nope. I just think it will be funny.”
He knew she was bored down here but she really needed a better hobby than teasing her poor previous classmate. Sensing she’d gone too far, she sighed to walk over to Ijichi. Reaching over she gave him a very out of character hug trying to comfort him a little.
“You’ll be fine.” She assured him.
Nodding, he was too flustered to respond. The hat was shoved back on his head. He didn’t dare tell anyone that the pressure of it hurt his ears. He hated wearing it. The feeling made his nails itchy, and his hands twitched. He wanted to scratch something. Nanami put his coat back on and was ready to leave when Shoko stopped him. Standing in front with her arms out, she expected payment for not releasing the photos of Ijichi. The toll was a tight hug from Nanami. He didn’t give them out often outside of a few drinks. She was the only person with whom he was comfortable holding sober simply because they had known each other for so long.
“How much would it cost me to get you to put him in a maid's dress?” She whispered while he held her.
A hissing noise came from behind them. Ijichi heard the joke, and his body reacted to stress. Face twisted in a scowl, he darted back a step, hands raised, ready to strike. When he snapped out of it, he gave them a deep bow, apologizing for the outburst.
“Don’t be so cruel to him. He's sensitive.” Nanami told her.
Finally agreeing she let them leave. Ijichi stayed a few steps behind down the long hallway, his hands in front of him, twisting into themselves. They stopped at the elevator, feeling like the wait was longer than normal.
“Ijichi, may I... ask something of you?” Nanami said his back to the other man.
“Y-yes?” he responded, wondering what he could possibly want.
Looking over his shoulder, Nanami’s narrow eyes bore into his very soul. Ijichi was stressed over the idea that his friend was upset that he was burdened with being stuck with him. It was his fault for not being careful on his job, and now he made it someone else's problem. The air was heavy with an unspoken request. A ding came from the elevator, breaking the tension.
“Never mind. Sorry.”
Turning away, he let Ijichi step inside first. They had a minor disagreement about how they would get to Nanami’s apartment. He'd taken a taxi there, but Ijichi didn’t want to risk the driver sensing something was up. He offered to drive them in a company car, but Nanami didn’t know how the cursed technique would affect him on the road. Nanami knew how to drive, but he just didn’t do it often. With the roads being so empty late at night, they arrived at a compromise.
It wasn’t a long trip; however, Ijichi was unable to hold back visible signs of discomfort. The seatbelt felt too tight. The city lights going by made his head swim, and any movement of the car made him nauseous. He'd never been car sick before. It was a good thing that he wasn’t driving. If he stayed in the car for much longer, he might break down and end up crying.
Nanami let him breathe for a bit after they arrived. Ijichi was clearly agitated. He hadn’t said anything simply because he hated hearing people complain. He would only speak his feelings out loud if he was alone. The hat itched, his nerves were fried, and he just wanted to take a long nap until this was all over.
The elevator ride to the apartment did nothing to settle his stomach. At least his co-worker had said nothing about being stuck with such a downer. He really would need to repay him for all of this. The silence was far easier to handle than the barely hidden teasing.
Letting out a long sigh as he watched Nanami started to unlock the door, Ijichi tugged at his hat, antsy to get it off.
“Thank you for all this, Nyahnami,” Ijichi said, and it took him a solid minute for him to realize what he’d done.
Nanami froze, key still in his hand and door slightly pushed open. He remained like a statue, trying to process what he’d just heard. If it came from anyone else, they would have gotten a slap. When he slowly looked over his shoulder, an almost horrified look was on his face. A hint of a blush appeared under his eyes as he stared down at a now traumatized manager. He wasn’t angry for Ijichi slipping up. With what he was going through, how could anyone blame him? No, he was more concerned about just how much he liked hearing his name distorted in that way.
“Let’s... keep what just happened between us,” Nanami said, getting his feelings back under control.
Ijichi’s arms shot straight to his side, the ears under his hat standing up, lifting the hat slightly.
“Y-Yes S-sir!!”
He’d gone too formal, which didn’t ease the stiffness between them. When the door was opened, he walked inside, legs swinging completely straight, his face fixed in an attempted neutral expression. Nanami turned his back again, unable to let himself look at his co-worker, fearing what reaction he might have seen those ears so soon after the brief exchange.
He slipped his coat off as well with his shoes. He then went over to the light switch to brighten the apartment, leaving Ijichi behind to take off his jacket. His arms struggled with the task, and he also had issues removing his shoes. His eyes kept catching the laces moving, and it took everything he had not to reach down to grab them. Hanging up the jacket, he patted the pockets looking for some candy. His throat was dry, and he wanted something to soothe it.
He found the small package, but also pulled something out. It looked like a small handmade pillow. He's never seen it before. How did it end up in his jacket? A smell caught his attention. Now free dark ears stood up in interest. Without realizing what he was doing, he brought the small object to his nose, cupping it with his hands to smell it better. Nanami looked over too late to see what was going on and stop it.
Something clicked in Ijichi’s mind. He swiftly clued into what he was holding and then, with one sharp movement, tossed the offending object across the room. It fell behind a small table, but the damage had already been done. Ears twitching and breathing heavy, he stayed in the position his body landed on after he threw away the terrible thing, fearing that if he moved, he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
“Did... Shoko put catnip in your jacket...?” Nanami asked thinking back to when she hugged him.
Ijichi didn’t even dare to nod. His damp forehead gave away everything. Crossing his arms, then rubbing his face with one hand, Nanami was starting to realize this would be a very, very long night.