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The first thing Akito hears upon waking up is Ena’s light snoring.
That’s not right. He only ever hears her through the wall when she’s loud on call, never when she’s sleeping. He opens his eyes to check on his door.
It’s closed.
Something’s wrong.
He bolts up in bed, gathering his earphones and phone to toss them on his table. He probably fell asleep listening to music, and he hopes he didn’t damage the cord when asleep. He gets out of his bed, almost falling flat on his face when the sheets tangle in his legs, then starts looking around to figure out what happened.
He nearly shrieks when he spots himself in the mirror.
What the fuck.
He takes a step closer, blinking to make sure his sleep-clouded brain isn’t hallucinating. His hand hesitantly raises up, until— what the fuck.
There’s ears on his head, and they flinch away when his hand brushes against one of them, and he can feel the brief touch. He pokes the ear, again, and it flicks, again. Horrified, he grabs the ear and pulls — all it does is make him bite his lip in pain.
What the everloving fuck has happened?
He walks up to his mirror, leaning in so much he almost touches the surface. He inspects the ears closely, turning his head to both sides, and realizes with horror that they’re dog ears. Why the fuck does he suddenly have those? And why dog ears, of all animals?
He leans away, and starts to slowly turn around, praying that the ears are the only thing suddenly attached to him.
Fucking hell. He has a tail.
He pokes h— the tail, the tail attached to his person that he absolutely won’t claim as his, and it flicks back and forth. He spends a moment just staring at the leisurely movements of the tail, before belatedly realizing that it pushed his underwear halfway down his ass.
He stares hopelessly at the stretched band of his boxers, wondering what he did to deserve this.
It doesn’t take him long to realize that if someone spots him, he’s fucked, so he turns back to his closet to find the baggiest hoodie he owns. He digs around for a moment, then pulls out a simple grey hoodie that thankfully reaches halfway down his thighs. He quickly pulls it on and puts the hood over his head to somewhat cover the ears. With his lips in a thin line, he looks through his assortment of pants, because he's not showing up anywhere in just a hoodie and boxers, even if pants dont’t exactly fit him right now.
Should he cut a hole in a pair of pants to make space for the tail?
Does he want to ruin a pair of pants for something that is hopefully a one time incident?
The answer to that is no, so he pulls on the first pair of sweatpants his hands land on and marches back over to his table. He takes his phone, unlocks it, then finds Untitled and slams his thumb into the screen to play it, because he's a mature person who's not angry about his situation. Not at all.
He lands on the square in front of crase cafe and realizes that everyone is probably asleep.
He sighs and hides his face in his hands.
Right, he's the only person who gets up so early. Freakishly early, as An loves to point out whenever she can. It's not his fault he needs the extra time in the morning to do all he wants.
He walks over to the front door, carefully peering inside. He's not sure what he expected, really. The lights are off, and no movement can be seen inside. The world doesn't shift to his wishes, in fact it seems hellbent to spite him, and he should be thankful the door isn't boarded up.
“Hmmm~? Who's out here so early?” A melodic voice speaks, and Akito nearly collapses in relief.
Someone's awake.
Afetr a second, his brain realizes who exactly just spoke, and he freezes in fear.
That someone is Luka.
That someone is a carefree nuisance, who will first tease him to hell and back, then maybe actually help him, if she doesn't decide that his new features are “too cute” to get rid of. Ew.
“Akito-kun~, is that you?” Luka calls, and he slowly turns around to face her.
“What're ya doin’ out here?” He asks, just slightly cautious.
“I could ask you the same question,” She smiles. For some reason, her grin kinda reminds him of Kamishiro. Horrifying. “Let's trade questions. You ask, I answer, then it's my turn.”
“Fine,” He agrees and sits down on the pavement, the tail moving to curl beside him. The hoodie covers it well, and he hopes Luka doesn't notice anything, at least not yet.
“I like to walk around the SEKAI.” Luka joins him on the pavement. “Doing it all the time can get boring, though. To spice things up, I started to take my walks at different times, to see all the different views the SEKAI has to offer,” She finishes off, her smile more excited and soft rather than devilish. “Your turn, Akito-kun.”
He sighs, mentally preparing himself for whatever comes next.
“Promise you're gonna take this seriously.” He casts a pleading glance at Luka, who only shrugs.
“I'll do my best,” She nods, trying to sound reassuring. Unfortunately, she's not the best at that.
“For some fuckin’ reason, I woke up like this. No, don't—” As soon as he takes off the hood, her hand shoots up. He's not fast enough to dodge or grab her, so her hand lands on his head and— oh.
This is quite nice.
She's cooing and awwing at him, which is exactly what he didn't want, but she's also scratching behind his ear and it feels amazing. There's a faint thumping sound behind him, but the horror of his tail wagging in excitement barely registers when the scratching feels so good.
Damn it, he's losing the plot.
He forces himself to pull away, standing up for good measure. “Enough of that. The fuck do I do ‘bout this? How'd this even happen?”
“Looks like the SEKAI played a prank on you! You'll probably go back to normal tomorrow. Now, can you sit back down?” She pouts.
“A prank? And what do you mean probably?” He manages to keep his voice down, and takes a step back.
“Oh, do you not know what today is?” She tilts her head, conveniently not addressing his other question.
He pulls out his phone and checks the date.
April first.
It's April Fools.
He sure looks like a fool, because someone was apparently feeling very funny and caused all this. He glares at Luka, who shrugs, without even a bit of sympathy for his situation.
“Luka-san,” He pleads, “I fuckin’ woke up like this. How can it be the SEKAI if this happened in the real world first?” He tries again, hoping to hear anything actually useful.
“Hmm~, that's a good question!” She's still not concerned, but her tone tells him that she's not done talking. “What'd you do before falling asleep?”
“Uh, I think I fell asleep listenin’ to music,” He admits. Maybe, just maybe, this'll be enough information for Luka to finally say something sensible.
“Maybe you accidentally played Untitled while asleep?” Luka suggests, and he's relieved to hear that there might be a reason for this. He's also relieved to hear Luka say something serious. “If your queue played it on it’s own, then I could see something like this happening. Not fully sure, though! I don't think any of you ever tried playing Untitled when asleep. Hm~, maybe we can test it someday?”
“No thanks, ‘m not doin’ this shit again.” The last thing he wants to do is risk something like this happening again. He's had enough SEKAI bullshit to last him a lifetime.
“Aww, that's a shame,” Luka pouts. “Are you going to go back to yours now?”
“'M not sure,” He murmurs, “Don't wanna risk bein’ spotted, and I'd like to change outta this, but all of my clothes’re uncomfortable.” He picks at his hoodie, because while it does the job of covering him well, it's not very stylish.
“I have a spare key to the back of the cafe if you'd like,” Luka offers, “And what's the problem with your clothes?”
“None of ‘em have space for the tail,” He winces as he speaks, “And I don't wanna cut anythin’ up.”
Luka stays silent for a moment, then springs up. “I have an idea! C'mon, to the back we go.”
She grabs his hand and pulls him around the cafe to the back door. She pats her pockets for a moment, then pulls out the key and unlocks the door. She struts in, gestures for him to be quiet and disappears.
That's not concerning at all.
There's nothing he can do but wait, afraid of whatever bad idea popped into Luka's head. He's not sure how much he can believe in whatever Luka's going to bring back, unless she returns with MEIKO or Miku.
Luka comes back, a proud smile on her face as she holds out some fabric towards him. She unfolds it, holding onto the band to proudly show it off.
“It has a zipper and button at the back.” There's a devilish smugness hidden in her voice, right under all the pride at coming up with the solution to his problem. “You can button it up, but leave the zipper open for your tail!”
She turns the simple, roughly knee-lenght skirt around. It does have a zipper and a button at the back. It would leave space for the tail without making him indecent.
For a moment, he looks between the skirt and Luka’s proud face, wondering which option will hurt his dignity more.
He takes the skirt.
“Lemme change outta the hoodie first. Be right back,” He sighs. Maybe if he goes back, the dog features will disappear.
He places the skirt down behind him, then takes his phone to pause Untitled. Against his better judgement, something like hope sparks among the white light.
He's back in his room. The first thing he does is look in a mirror.
Fuck.
He bites down a groan, because of course the dog features are still there. He looks into his closet, again, to find something that won't look awful with the skirt. Resigned, he picks up a few hoodies, then places them back down. His hands land on a dark bomber jacket, which should look decent enough. He also switches out his sleep tank top for a simple white tee, then changes into dark pants made from a lighter material than his sweatpants, because he hasn't gone insane enough to wear only a skirt.
He takes his phone and unlocks it, pausing on the main screen. As much as he doesn't want to tell more people about this, he needs to tell his team. He's confined to the SEKAI, and trying to weasel out of practice last-minute is so unlike him that they'd probably storm his house out of concern.
He opens their group chat, and doesn't feel the slightest bit of dread about what's going to happen later.
Akito
were doin practice in sekai<
i have to stay in sekai<
not a bad thing jus weird<
ill explain once ya get there<
He closes the group chat and decides to not worry about that for now. He plays Untitled, face set in a grimace, and waits until he reappears in the cafe. He wordlessly puts on the skirt, and even though the teeth of the zipper catch on the fur it's much more comfortable than anything he owns.
He turns back to Luka, ready to announce that he's taking a nap, because he still has a little bit of time before his run, but he doesn't even get to open his mouth.
“Akito-kun~, you look amazing!” She claps her hands together, eyes sparkling with excitement. “You should wear outfits like these more often. Wouldn't it be fun to style more skirts? I bet you'd be great at it.”
She's baiting him, trying to lure him into doing more things he doesn't want, and he's not going to accept.
“‘M gonna take a quick nap. Don't bother me.” He turns around to find a suitable couch.
“I bet I can style a skirt better than you~!”
His eyelid twitches.
He bites his lip, hard.
Fuck, he didn't realize that his teeth are sharper until now. The taste of copper fills his mouth, and he turns around to get to the sink and wash out his mouth.
At least Luka is no longer bothering him.
After rinsing his mouth, he drops onto one of the couches in the far back of the cafe with a sigh. The day barely started, and he's already so fucking done with it. He closes his eyes, hoping that maybe, this all was just a really elaborate nightmare.
He wakes up in crase cafe, and when he raises his hands to his head the ears are still there.
Damn it.
He gets off the couch and quietly walks out of the cafe, because he wants to keep a shred of normality in this otherwise cursed day. He rarely runs in SEKAI, and he can't really go all out, because he's not sure this place has a shower, and he can't go back home for it. Regardless, he breaks into a light jog, cautious of his steps.
As it turns out, running in a skirt isn't so bad.
He turns into familiar alleys, sticking to the streets close to the cafe. It's a far shorter route than he'd like, but there's nothing he can do.
Once he returns to the cafe, he's relieved to see that MEIKO's already up and making something that smells delicious.
“Good morning, Akito-kun,” She greets with an amused smile, “Luka isn't as quiet as she'd like to think, so she woke me up when she was looking through my wardrobe. I see my skirt was stolen for a good reason, at least.”
His face turns red, and he turns away from MEIKO. “Sorry, MEIKO-san. I had no clue the skirt's yours, or that Luka-san woke you up.” He's wearing MEIKO's skirt. Sure.
“It's no problem, Akito-kun. I see that there's no reason to play jokes on you today, though,” She chuckles, looking him up and down, “That's an impressive prank.”
“I fuckin’ woke up like this,” He sighs, “I hafta hide in SEKAI.”
“That's unfortunate.” What's unfortunate is that she doesn't sound all that sad on his behalf. “You look quite adorable like this.”
“I don't wanna hear it,” He groans.
“You know there's more to come when the others wake up, right?”
“Exactly. I thought you'd spare me, MEIKO-san.” He doesn't wanna think about how much An will laugh at him, and about how everyone will try to pet him, and that some of them will probably succeed, namely Toya.
“Tough luck, Akito-kun,” She shrugs, “I'll have your pancakes ready soon.”
It's not much of a consolation, but he thanks her regardless and heads to the toilet to freshen up. He washes his face, glares at the ears in the mirror, as if he could make them disappear with a look alone, and lastly, he looks at his teeth.
His canines were already pretty sharp, but now they're even bigger and sharper; his other teeth have sharpened out, too. He carefully runs his tongue over his teeth, trying to familiarize himself with these changes.
A sudden, terrifying thought strikes his mind.
What if he can't have certain foods?
If he remembers correctly, dogs can't have chocolate and grapes, among other things. Grapes he can live without, but chocolate? Especially when MEIKO is making him deliciously sweet pancakes?
If he eats breakfast and ends up feeling ill after, he will not be very happy.
Surely the SEKAI can't mess with his body that much, right? Surely he only has a tail and functional dog ears and sharp teeth. Surely his stomach has been left alone. Surely.
He walks out of the toilet, to see a steaming hot stack of fluffy pancakes waiting for him on the counter.
For some reason, he only feels dread.
“MEIKO-san,” He starts after taking a seat at the counter, “What if I can't eat human food?” He picks up his fork, cautiously poking the pancakes.
“You won’t know until you try. I hope you can, though, because I had some fun recipes in mind for today.” She’s taunting him. She’s taunting him with food he might not be able to eat.
Well, he won’t know until he tries. He carefully portions off a bite, marveling at how soft the pancake feels under his fork, then he puts it in his mouth.
They’re soft, incredibly so, and there’s a subtle chocolate flavour in the batter. The sauce is some of MEIKO’s homemade orange sauce, and it’s absolutely delicious. MEIKO uses it sparingly, and he appreciates that she’s trying to make him feel better by using it.
“These’re amazin’,” He mumbles out, already shoving another bite into his mouth.
“I’m glad you think so.” She turns away to take care of the dishes.
Despite the worry still churning in his gut, he inhales the pancakes, because fuck they’re divine. Even if he gets sick after, it’s going to be all worth it.
He barely finishes scraping his plate clean, when a notification rings out.
The stupid one
>not even a good morning? rude
>we’ll be there once the other 2 are ready
>what happened lmao
Akito
nunya<
be patient for once<
The stupid one
>someone’s grumpy
>ohhhh i’m so curious now
>fine i’ll wait
He closes the chat with a frown. Thinking about An’s reaction fills him with dread — she’s a menace, and he’s never gonna hear the end of it once she sees him. Compared to her, Luka and MEIKO are really not that bad.
He spends the rest of the morning thinking over their most recent choreography, to distract from worrying about the chaos that’s gonna unfold. A few things still need ironing out, and he really hopes his appearance won’t distract the others from practice. It’s not gonna be easy, because An’s An, Toya marvels at just about anything, and he doubts Kohane will help much.
Eventually, there's another notification.
Partner
>I apologize, I wanted to finish my novel, so I stayed up late and slept in a little.
>I’m ready now.
>Are you okay, Akito?
It's nice to see that Toya is concerned for him. It's not gonna last long, so he needs to treasure this message.
Akito
yeah<
as i said its weird<
thanks for the concern<
The stupid one
>akito being thankful? what the hell happened to you
>is this a prank?
Akito
shut the fuck up and get into sekai<
The stupid one
>fineeeeeee
He puts his phone in his pocket and sighs, dragging his hands down his face. He's not looking forward to what's gonna happen in the next five minutes, but at least he can get it over with.
Just a few moments later, the cafe bell dings. He looks up from his spot in the far corner of the cafe and gives them a resigned wave.
Their eyes widen once they land on him, and he winces. For a moment, they're just standing there, staring at him like he's some fucking zoo animal, before An bursts out laughing. She grabs onto the nearest chair as her legs give out, and fuck she's loud, so he tries to cover his ears.
“Holy shit!” An pants out between laughs.
“Shut the fuck up,” He growls.
An takes a few steadying breaths, then starts walking towards him.
“Awww, who's a good boy?” She reaches for his head, and he ducks under her arm.
“I'll bite your fuckin’ hand off,” He threatens, showing off his teeth. He wouldn't actually bite An, but she doesn't have to know that.
“Your duo name really suits you now,” An comments and takes her hand away.
“Shinonome-kun, can I pet you?” Kohane asks, and Akito’s glad someone here cares enough to ask.
“We're here for practice, not messin’ around.” He gets up, hoping to get them back on track. He makes eye contact with Toya, who looks somewhat worried, and shakes his head. He's fine, as annoying as this is, even with his fear of dogs.
“Wait, you're wearing a skirt!?” An shrieks into his ear, making him flinch.
“I have a fuckin’ tail. None of my clothes fit it.”
“You do have a tail!” An shamelessly peers at his ass, because she's awful like that.
“Tone it down, ‘m gonna go fuckin’ deaf because of you,” He snaps, because if he hears one more loud noise out of her he's gonna lose it.
“Is your hearing more sensitive?” Toya cuts in before An can get out a word.
“Yeah. Woke up ‘cause I could hear Ena snorin’ through the wall. Luka claims that ‘cause I fell asleep listenin’ to music, Untitled played while I was sleepin’ and the SEKAI played a prank on me,” He explains, “I woke up with those,” He points to the ears and tail, “'N I have sharper teeth and better hearin’. Hopefully nothin’ else changed.”
“Oh yeah, dogs can't have a buncha stuff! If I'd known, I would've brought you some kibble.” An, while still loud, has turned down her volume to a tolerable degree. It's a shame that doesn't apply to her being annoying.
“Stop talkin’, you piece of shit,” He growls, “Can we get to practice already?”
“Are you going to be alright with the music?” Kohane asks, the genuine worry in her eyes almost covering the pleading that hides there.
“We can jus’ turn it down a bit.” He starts walking over to the stage, because they do need to practice, when he's stopped by Toya's pleading eyes. Shit.
“Akito,” Toya starts, “May I touch them?” Toya's hands stay where they are, because unlike someone, Toya has manners. Akito looks at Toya's pleading expression for a moment, even though he knows he's gonna say yes. It's impressive how puppy-like Toya looks, especially when he's not the one with dog features.
“Fine,” He caves, bending down so Toya can reach easier.
“Thank you, Akito!” Toya's voice is filled with excitement as his hand gently lands in his hair. At first, Toya's carefully moving his hand around, feeling the texture under his fingers.
And then Toya starts petting him.
Toya's gently carding through his hair, fingers scratching behind his ear in just the right way, and he can't stop the pleased sigh that escapes him.
“Does it feel nice? Your tail is wagging,” Toya asks, hand moving so expertly Akito'd think he's a master dog petter.
Before Akito can reply, there's a second, gentler hand in his hair, and he'd never admit it, but his knees buckle just a little.
“It's so soft…” Kohane marvels, scratching behind his other ear. He bites his lip lightly to prevent another embarrassing noise from escaping him. Damn it, this feels so good.
He opens his mouth to stop this petting zoo, when a third hand starts petting through his back hair. Another pleased sigh makes his way out of his mouth, much to his horror. The rougher scratching can only be An, but it feels quite nice, and he has to put his hands on his knees to make sure he doesn't melt into the floor.
“Your hair is thicker than usual,” Toya comments idly, fingers playing with one of the strands, “It's longer, too.”
“Is it? I didn't notice,” He manages to respond, keeping all the pathetic noises firmly inside him.
“It’s so nice to the touch, I’m jealous,” An adds on, “Is it always like this?”
“Dunno. Never really paid much attention to that.”
“In that case, we’re testing it once you’re back to normal,” An declares.
“Absolutely fuckin’ not,” He protests. It’s bad enough that they’re petting him now, he doesn’t need this when he’s back to normal.
“Do you not like it, Akito?” Toya asks, and Akito can’t wholly tell if he’s being genuine or not.
“‘S nice, but that’s not what we’re supposed to do.” He stands up, much to the disappointment of the three around him. “Am I the only one who remembers what we’re meant to be doin’?”
“This is much more interesting, Shinonome-kun,” Kohane admits, “This might never happen again.”
“It better fuckin’ not,” He murmurs. He gets to the stage before any of them can stop him again and starts messing with the setup to turn down the volume.
“But you look so cute, Shinonome-kun,” Kohane protests, and he winces at that word being used when describing him. He is not cute.
“You do look quite adorable,” Toya adds on, “You already have some cute characteristics, and the dog features add to that charm.”
Akito hides his steadily warming cheeks in his hands. “'M not cute.”
“But you are,” An butts in, “All of your hoodies have long sleeves. What do you need sweater paws for, if not being cute?”
“Shut up.” He hits play to end the discussion and grabs the nearest mic.
Toya joins his side, and Akito thinks that finally, someone regained some sense, but Toya turns the music off.
“We need to warm up first.” Toya sounds like he's not going to end there, which only mildly scares him. “Besides, Shiraishi is right. I was going to mention your reactions to dessert, because I find that ‘cute’ is the most accurate way to describe them.” Here it is. Akito looks away from all of them, face burning, because for some fucking reason, they decided to gang up on him.
“Can we actually start warmin’ up.” He can't take this for much longer, because they really don't need to be flustering him like that. He's already suffering enough.
“You’re so boring,” An complains, “Fine. We can always get back to this later.”
“Like hell we can. Absolutely fuckin’ not.”
Practice goes smoother than he expected, really. Once they actually start, it's easier to get into the flow of things, even if he can't wholly escape the whole dog thing. “Wow, Shinonome-kun, your hearing is sharper than Toya's!”, “ I didn't catch that, Akito. Thank you.” If there's one thing this shit is good for, it's catching the tiniest mistakes in their singing.
The twins, once they spot him, can thankfully hold off for long enough that they don't disrupt their practice. However, the moment An declares a break, he has two annoying teens basically hanging off him.
“Akito-kun, please let me pet you,” Whines Rin, glued to his right side.
“Akito, let me pet you, please,” Whines Len, glued to his left side.
“Don't let him! He doesn't know how to handle things like that,” Claims Rin, right into his right ear. It's the third time he hears this specific argument.
“That's not true! And it's not like she knows anything about that either,” Claims Len, right into his left ear. It's the third time he hears this specific rebuttal.
“Will you two finally quiet down!?” He snaps, “I'll let both of ya pet me, jus’ don't be so loud,” He finishes with a wince. Why's everyone so hellbent on being loud as fuck right into his sensitive ears?
“Sorry,” They say at the same time, “Do you have better hearing because of the ears?” Rin continues, detaching herself from him.
“Yes.” He drops into the nearest chair. “‘S fine, An did the same thing.”
“Wow, rude,” An protests as she places a glass of water in front of him.
“‘S the truth, the hell else d'ya want?” He grabs the glass and takes a few greedy gulps, then wipes his lips with the back of his hand. He places the glass back and leans forward a little, so the twins have an easier time.
“Thanks, Akito. I'm gonna start now,” Len warns, then carefully puts his hand in his hair.
Rin follows right after, and despite their claims, they're both quite good at this. They're gentle, and they don't pull, and he wishes he could control the tail because he can feel it wagging behind him.
“Your hair's really nice,” Rin comments, scratching behind his ear.
“I keep hearin’ that,” He murmurs out. What's this sudden fixation with his hair? He takes normal care of it, so it's nothing special.
“Enjoying yourself, Akito?”Miku asks as she passes them. Sadly, she didn't know anything more than what Luka already told him, meaning she can't un-dog him with whatever bullshit power is hidden in the SEKAI, even though she's the Hatsune Miku. He's stuck like this until the end of the day.
“Maybe,” He grumbles out in reply, because while his situation is annoying as fuck, the petting, sadly, feels nice. And his body is a traitor now that it grew a tail, because the tail keeps wagging and giving him away.
There's a cooing noise that sounds suspiciously like An, so he puts his middle finger up and aims it at her.
“Sorry, you two. We should get back to practice.” He waits until the twins take their hands away, then finishes off his water and stands up.
Something in his stomach lurches uncomfortably.
Fuck.
He drops back down into the chair, arms wrapping around his abdomen. Curse this SEKAI, and curse April Fools.
“MEIKO-san,” He calls out, pressing his arms into his aching stomach, “D'ya got painkillers in here?”
“What's wrong, Akito?” Toya appears at his side, hand drifting into his hair. He relaxes, ever so slightly.
“Can you actually not eat certain foods?” An cuts in before he can answer, taking his glass and bringing it over to the counter.
“Apparently so,” He grumbles out, pushing his head into Toya's hand before realizing what he's doing and stopping.
“Here you go!” An returns with a pill from MEIKO, as well as a refill of his water. He takes the glass and takes a sip.
“Do you think emptying your stomach would help?” Kohane suggests, putting her hand on his back and rubbing it in circles.
“Dunno. I don't really wanna deal with that either.” Hunching over a toilet and trying to force himself to vomit sounds equally as awful, if not worse. He decidedly takes the pill and swallows it with a swig of water before anyone can say anything.
“I guess there's nothing we can do now.” Toya scratches behind his ear. “Let us know once you feel better.”
“Will do.” A concerned MEIKO appears in his vision, with a guilty look in her eyes. He waves her off before she can say anything. “‘S fine, MEIKO-san. We couldn't have known.”
“I'm still sorry, Akito-kun.” She briefly pets him. “I'll bring you a warm compress, and I'll make sure to make you something you can eat later. Everyone else has a surprise waiting for them, though.” She winks, which isn't concerning in the slightest, and leaves to get the compress.
“MEIKO-san, what are you planning?” An asks, curiously peering at MEIKO.
“You'll find out in time. Be patient, An-chan,” MEIKO chides, then walks over with the compress. Akito takes it with a grateful nod, hugging it to his abdomen like his life depends on it.
He spends the next few minutes waiting for the painkiller to kick in. Toya doesn't leave his side, dutifully petting his hair, while Kohane keeps rubbing his back. Toya's hand keeps moving, first scratching, then gentler, then in a different area of his head. He's not wholly sure what's going on, and once An snickers, he decides that that's enough.
“The hell're you doin’, Toya?” He asks, brows furrowing.
“I'm trying to find out what you react to the most. How rough, which spot, with scratching or without,” Toya explains, as casually as if he were talking about the weather, even though he's currently experimenting on him.
“Your tail's been going like crazy whenever his hand passes near your ears,” An adds on, “And you seem to really like a little bit of scratching.”
“Can ya not treat me like a research subject?” He snaps half-heartedly. He doesn't really mind, because it does feel nice.
“You're not much of a lab rat, that's true,” An hums in contemplation, “Toya, do you think they use lab dogs often?”
“Oi, I can hear you.”
“It depends on the experiment. To my knowledge, researchers that need animals are supposed to pick the simplest organism that fulfills their requirements. But some studies do use dogs specifically.”
“‘M not a fuckin’ experiment,” He protests.
“Well, right now you are. Prime researcher Aoyagi, what are your findings?”
“I have to agree with your previous observations, researcher Shiraishi,” Toya answers before Akito can even open his mouth to stop this bullshit. “Our subject has the strongest reaction to being pet around the ears, with the addition of light scratching of his skin. Researcher Azusawa, do you have any additional observations?”
“Our subject seems displeased with being exactly that,” Kohane giggles, the traitor. Toya is an even bigger traitor, though. At least An was never on his side, so her behavior isn't a betrayal. “Are there any further tests we want to run, or can we conclude our research?”
“I think we've gathered enough data to conclude that researcher Shiraishi's observations are correct. Thank you for your assistance, researcher Shiraishi, researcher Azusawa. And thank you,” Toya leans in to look into his eyes, with a painfully eager and excited expression, “For your cooperation.”
Akito only winces, because he can't exactly bare his teeth at Toya, even after that whole charade. Though, he has to give them a point for distracting him for long enough that the painkiller kicked in.
“I feel better now. We're goin’ back to practice.” He gets up from his seat, putting down the compress on it, then rushes over to the stage before they can stop him.
“Are you sure you feel up to it, Akito?” Toya's concerned voice stops him before he can pick up a mic.
His stomach is no longer doing flips inside his abdomen, nor does it hurt. And really, he powered through worse than some food poisoning.
“Yeah, ‘m fine. Promise,” He assures, and finally, they can resume practice.
The rest of their session goes well, and his stomach doesn't start aching again despite all the moving and singing. At some point, MEIKO starts preparing something for them to eat, and the delicious smell manages to make him hungry, despite earlier problems.
Once they finish, MEIKO bans them from approaching the kitchen, which isn't suspicious at all. An finds a pack of cards they can play in the meantime, and they start with Old Maid.
“Akito-kun,” MEIKO calls from the kitchen right as he's about to destroy everyone by placing his final pair.
“One sec,” He responds, then slams his tens on the table. “I win. Be right back, you guys.”
He walks over to the kitchen, where MEIKO is waiting for him with a grin. She leans in close to whisper in his ear.
“Pick an ingredient, Akito-kun. Anything you feel like.” She gestures to the shelving and fridge.
“What's this for?” He asks, frowning.
She hums, “Well, since you're not taking part, I can tell you. I decided to make dark hot pot for April Fools. I'll prepare you a separate serving of curry, just so you don't risk upsetting your stomach by eating the hot pot.”
“I see. Thanks, MEIKO-san.” He looks around the kitchen, trying to figure out what to add. He picks a vegetable at random and passes it to MEIKO.
“Thank you. Tell Kohane-chan to come by in a minute, okay?”
“‘Course,” He heads out of the kitchen. So the surprise is dark hot pot. For that reason alone, he's glad he doesn't have to eat it. Someone could put carrots in it and he wouldn’t know until it’s too late.
“Oi, Kohane, stop by the kitchen in a minute,” He says once he drops back into his seat.
“I will,” Kohane answers, absentminded. She's focusing very intently on the two cards An is holding. Kohane's hands are clasped together, her one card between them, as if she was trying to find its pair by sheer power of prayer and divination. Eventually, she reaches for the card on the right.
“Nooooooooo!” An shrieks as Kohane takes the card. Kohane places her pair of threes in the center.
“Hehe, you lose this one, An-chan!”
“Noooo, I can't believe it!” An picks up the cards, shuffling them furiously. “Why do I always lose?”
“‘Cause you're bad at the game?” He suggests, dodging the responding punch that was aiming for his arm.
“Bad dog,” An chides, and he flips her off. “If you keep barking, we're gonna have to muzzle you,” She says with a smug grin.
“Shut the fuck up, you little piece of shit.” Sometimes, he wonders if An was born this annoying, or if it's something she got during her life and it simply never left. Maybe there's a little parasite inside of her, that if removed, would make her less annoying.
“An-chan, your turn,” At some point during their squabbling, Kohane left for the kitchen and then returned. She couldn't have picked a better moment, because An slams the shuffled cards on the table and leaves without another comment.
“Akito with a muzzle,” Toya muses, for some godforsaken reason picking up the topic. Did his entire team hit their heads on the way to SEKAI or something? Why're all of them acting like lunatics? “You have quite the rough appearance at times. I think it would add to your dangerous and unapproachable demeanor, in those moments,” Toya finishes, completely serious. He blinks at his partner, trying to figure out just what exactly made him like this on this specific day, but he doesn't get to think for long.
“Shinonome-kun can look quite scary if he wants to,” Kohane adds on, just as serious as Toya. “A muzzle would make him look even scarier.”
“Toya! Your turn,” An calls, disrupting the conversation. For the first time in probably ever, he's glad to see her face. “And you're so right, Kohane.” Nevermind, she can go back to the kitchen for all he cares. “Well, at least it's nice that we have someone who looks so scary. He's very effective at discouraging any potential creeps.” He frowns at An. Is she praising him, in some way? Did MEIKO brainwash her? “Have you seen how he glares at people whenever we’re in a big crowd?”
“Enough, deal the damn cards,” He interrupts before they get too far into it.
“Aww, is someone feeling bashful?” An teases, and he's somewhat relieved to see her acting normal again.
“I'm back,” Toya announces. He pets through Akito's hair before taking a seat, and damn, even that brief touch felt nice. There's something about the way Toya pets him, or his hands in particular, that makes him melt at the touch. He keeps that observation to himself, though, because it's embarrassing as hell.
They get through a few more rounds of Old Maid, most of which he wins, before MEIKO reemerges from the kitchen. First, she brings him the curry, as well as the tableware for everyone else, before she starts closing the curtains.
“MEIKO-san, what are you doing?” An asks, instantly forgetting about moping over her losses.
“You'll see.” MEIKO keeps darkening the cafe, and he can see An's confusion grow on her face.
The cafe swiftly falls into darkness. MEIKO disappears into the kitchen with a quick “don't turn on the lights”, then moments later walks back out.
“MEIKO-san, are we having dark hot pot?” Toya questions. Akito's impressed by how quick he figured it out.
“You're sharp, Toya-kun,” MEIKO praises as the places down the pot.
“Oh, is that what we were picking ingredients for?” An exclaims, “You better not have picked tomatoes!”
Akito thinks back to his minute in the kitchen. He picked the first vegetable his hand landed on, and now that he thinks about it, that vegetable was quite round and quite red. Oops.
“‘S a shame I can't try it with you guys,” He comments instead. He's not admitting to anything.
“Yeah, that's not fair. But it can't be helped.” An sounds genuinely sad, much to his surprise. “Can we have another one some other day?”
“Of course.” MEIKO carefully serves everyone, and once they say their thanks, they're ready to eat.
All things considered, his curry is good. It's a bit bland, and he assumes MEIKO avoided using too many strong spices, but it tastes decent and is also carrot-less.
“Ewww, that's a tomato bit!” An makes a disgusted face, spitting out the piece into some tissue paper. “Which one of you did this?”
“Wouldn't that ruin the dark hot pot, An-chan?” MEIKO swoops in before a war can start.
“It would, I guess. But I will find out and have my revenge, so be prepared.”
“Why don't you pass me any tomato bits, An-chan?” Kohane offers.
“Kohane, you're a lifesaver!” An leans over her bowl to fish out all of the tomatoes. Akito would tell her she's acting like a bratty kid, but he's no better when it comes to carrots. He usually offers them to Toya.
“This tastes surprisingly nice, MEIKO-san,” Toya praises, “The flavour is rich, and a little odd at times, but the broth has a quite coherent flavour palette.”
“Thank you, Toya-kun,” MEIKO beams at Toya between bites. “I'm glad you like it so much. I've had to put limits on certain foods, though,” She says, voice sharp and pointed.
“You're so mean, MEIKO. I didn't know it was for dark hot pot!” KAITO protests, raising his hands up.
“Ice cream is not an ingredient,” MEIKO fires back.
“It is an ingredient! It can be used as an ingredient for other desserts!” KAITO accepts the challenge set out by MEIKO. Akito winces between bits of his curry, because standing your ground against MEIKO can be terrifying, and KAITO can be compared to a wet rag when it comes to scariness.
“It has to be made first, though! It's a mix of other ingredients, so it doesn't count!” Akito can see MEIKO's eyelid twitch. Wait, since when can he see in the dark? Is this another thing he gets out of the whole dog deal?
“In that case, nothing is an ingredient!” KAITO's bold claim pulls his attention back to the marital argument. “Everything is made of other things! Even things like vegetables are made from things like fiber and sugars and carbohydrates!”
MEIKO places her utensils down.
“KAITO,” MEIKO starts, sharp like knives as she gets out of her seat, “Tell me this one thing, please,” She starts to take slow, deliberate steps towards KAITO, who has shrunk into himself, “Do you cook with bare fiber? Or carbohydrates?” MEIKO reaches her destination, her hand fisting in KAITO's shirt. “Tell me, KAITO, do you cook with molecules?” She leans in close to KAITO's face. She looks terrifying, but he swears he can see KAITO's cheeks darken.
“N-no,” KAITO answers meekly. “I'm so sorry, MEIKO, I won't ever disagree with you again.” KAITO folds instantly, exactly like a wet rag would.
“Thank you.” MEIKO lets go of KAITO and returns to eating her portion. For a moment, KAITO is left staring at the spot MEIKO was just in, before he shakes his head and resumes eating.
The rest of the meal passes in relative peace, with everyone too scared of accidentally picking up another controversial topic and sparking another argument. Once they're done, they help MEIKO clean up, then An picks up the cards.
“We're not playing cards anymore,” She declares, because she's a sore loser. She marches off with the deck to pick a different game instead. Moments later, she returns, proudly holding up a Catan box. They quickly set up the board, and then they can start playing.
Catan is hell.
Toya is the luckiest bastard on the planet, because he keeps rolling exactly what he needs, and he quickly takes the lead. An is a menace, as she tends to be, because she keeps blocking his tiles and also trying to scam him whenever he tries to make a deal. Kohane is fine for the most part, but she had the brilliant idea to demand to pet him as part of a deal early on, and from that moment everyone asks to pet him whenever he wants to trade.
Akito glares at his cards.
Two sheep, one wood, one wheat, one ore. He can almost build a settlement, and he could do it in a pretty sweet spot: an eight, five and four for brick, sheep and wheat.
The only issue comes from having to get a brick.
“Does anyone have a brick for ore or sheep?” He asks, casting a resigned look around the table.
“I'd take this for the ore,” Toya offers, “And some petting, of course.”
An snickers, “Kohane, you really are a genius!” She tackles Kohane in a hug, who lets out a hamsterly squeak in response.
“Fine,” He sighs, passing his ore to Toya and taking his brick. “‘M building a settlement.” He places the cards in their respective piles and places down his settlement, then leans towards Toya.
“That's a good spot, Shinonome-kun,” Kohane comments, clearly holding back a giggle.
“You're a menace, y'know?” He can't help but push into Toya's hand as soon as it touches his head. Fuck, why does being pet has to feel this good?
“But your tail is wagging, Shinonome-kun. I don't see the issue here.” The issue here is that they're all not playing the game as it's meant to be played, but he's outvoted and can't do anything about it.
“Whatever. I end my turn,” He grumbles out, passing the dice to An.
“Aww, don't be like that. We can all see that you like this a lot.” An takes the dice with a grin and rolls. “Seven! Wait, crap, I have too many cards,” She groans and picks out three cards to get rid of from her hand. Then, she takes the robber and—
“You little shit!” He tries to stop her hand as she moves to block his freshly built settlement from getting any brick.
“Hm? Do you not want that there?” She asks with fake innocence.
“No, I don't want that there! I jus’ built that!” Curse An, curse this whole game, and curse the SEKAI too, for good measure.
“Hmm,” An pretends to be deep in thought, “I could be convinced to block a different tile. Maybe even one that’s not yours.” She reaches her free hand out towards him. “You know what I want.”
“Fine, for fuck's sake.” He leans away from Toya, whose face morphs into something between amusement and a pout, to instead lean towards An.
“See? We can negotiate like civilized people.” Shockingly, she places the robber on Toya's and Kohane's sheep tile. “I'm so nice to you.”
“Sure,” He mumbles out.
“Noo, my sheep!” Kohane doesn't have another sheep tile, and she claimed the sheep port, too. Honestly, she deserves this.
“That's unfortunate,” Toya comments as he fiddles with one of the cards in his hand. “I should've taken the sheep from Akito.”
“Tough luck,” He shrugs, happy that for once, bad things are happening to someone else.
The game goes on, with Toya continuing to roll so well Akito swears the dice are weighted. Soon enough, Toya takes first place, with himself and An tying for second, and Kohane in a very deserved last place.
“Right. Let's get back to practicin’,” He announces once the board is cleaned up.
“What should we do after practice?” An asks, jumping up from her seat. “Maybe we can watch a movie? There's this movie I really wanted to see, and—”
“We haven't even started?” He interrupts.
“Aw, c'mon! It's not every day we get to hang out like this.” An lightly punches his arm. “Last one to the stage is a loser!”
“Oi, you have an advantage!” He calls after her as she dashes off. He does get up and chase after her, and he gets to the stage a millisecond before An does, at least, in his unbiased opinion. Before they can argue about it, though, Toya gives them a glare so stern Akito instinctively straightens up.
“Even your ears stood up just now, Akito,” Toya comments with a light hum.
“I hate this,” He mumbles out, then starts messing with the setup. “C'mon, we're startin’ with dance practice.”
“Are you going to be comfortable in the skirt, Akito?” Toya asks, curiously picking up the hem and swishing it around. When did he even walk up to him?
“Yeah. I went on a jog in it, ‘n it was fine. ‘Sides, better this than pants that don't fit ‘round the tail.”
“I see,” Toya hums. Akito can tell something's coming. “It suits you quite well.”
Here it is. Akito takes a calming exhale in an attempt to stop his cheeks from warming up. It doesn't help.
“I don't think so. Anyway, let's start,” He diverts the topic back to practice before his team decides that discussing his current appearance to tease and fluster him is the most important thing in the world.
Thankfully, he's able to get through practice without any extra comments, even if Toya looked like he wanted to say something at times. They finally iron out Yoidore Shirazu to perfection, as well as taking the time to rehearse some older choreographies. They drop onto one of the couches at the back once they're done, An already picking up the remote.
“Oi, Toya,” He calls, “What'd ya wanna say?”
“Ah, of course you could tell, as expected of Akito,” Toya smiles brightly. “I just thought that you looked quite good when moving around. The material moving with you looks quite dramatic, doesn't it? Wouldn't it be nice to consider adding such elements to our performances?”
Is Toya baiting him, too? He’d like to think so, though knowing Toya, he’s serious. And while this is fine, he's not sure how Vivid Street would react to seeing all of them in skirts, and he doesn't wanna risk testing that.
“If ya wanna, we can go out and thrift some skirts another day,” He offers with a sigh. Toya's eyes start sparkling as his face shifts into excitement. “Though, ‘m not sure ‘bout actually performin’ in ‘em.”
“Thank you, Akito!” Toya sounds like an excited puppy. “I know you're going to pick out something fashionable.”
“Yeah, yeah, don't mention it,” He waves Toya off. What'd he get himself into? At least Toya is happy.
“I have something for you all.” MEIKO sounds slightly guilty as she approaches them. “They're mystery pastries, with a lot of different fillings. I can show you which ones are safe, Akito-kun.”
“Thanks, MEIKO-san. Some of ‘em are chocolate, then?” He does his best to not sound disappointed. This whole day has been hellish for his sweet tooth.
“Maybe.” She shrugs. “I'll leave the tray with you, since I made two. The twins really felt like singing, so we'll be outside if you need anything. I'll get you a plate, Akito-kun.” MEIKO walks away and returns with a plate a moment later. She loads it with a few pastries, then leaves with a wink.
“Another mystery dish,” An hums, hand hovering between a few different pastries. “I'll try this one!” Her hand dips down to grab one of them. She then takes a bite, eating half the pastry in one go.
Her eyes widen as she starts to chew.
“Faaaa, ‘s hot!” She exclaims with her mouth full, fanning herself with her free hand.
“Does it have a spicy filling, An-chan?” Kohane asks as she carefully examines the tray.
“Yeah!” She finally swallows her bite, then looks inside her pastry. “There's a buncha vegetables in here.”
“So these pastries don't only have sweet filling like I assumed,” Toya hums, picking one of the pastries nearest to him.
“Seems so.” Akito picks a pastry off his plate and takes a bite. It's sweet, and it tastes like blueberries. Sure enough, his has a berry filling. “This one's nice.”
“Lucky,” An whines, then shoves the rest of her pastry into her mouth.
“Mine is savoury, too, though not spicy like Shiraishi's.” Toya's pastry is filled with meat and vegetables, and it looks quite delicious.
“You're pretty lucky today, Aoyagi-kun,” Kohane comments as she finally picks a pastry.
“So it seems. Perhaps all of Akito's luck has gone to me?” Toya takes another bite.
“Shure sheems like it,” He mumbles out, mouth full with the rest of his pastry.
An finally remembers what she wanted to do, and turns on the movie she wanted to see. After that, she rushes to the bar, and returns with four glasses of milk.
“Just in case we need it. How many spicy pastries do you think MEIKO-san made?” She places the smaller tray next to the bigger one.
“That's a good question,” Toya hums, “On one hand, making just a tiny bit of spicy filling would be quite tedious. However, now we're all wary, and it would be very devious if no other pastry was spicy.”
“Stop overthinkin’ it.” He takes another pastry and bites into it. This one is even sweeter, and it tastes like peaches. “Oi, Kohane, some of ‘em have peach filling.”
“Really?” She asks right as she's about to nibble on her pastry.
“Yeah. I can leave ya this half if you don't luck into a single one,” He offers, placing it back on his plate.
“Thank you, Shinonome-kun.” Kohane finally takes a bite of her carefully chosen pastry. “Eek, it's so sour!” Her face twists as she chews.
Akito picks a different pastry off his plate and bites in. It's another sweet filling, this time made from oranges.
“Guys! You haven't looked at the movie once,” An chides as she picks another pastry.
“The pastries're more interestin’.” He shrugs. An punches his arm in offense.
“C'mon, I promise it's good!” She bites into her pastry. “Mmm, chocolate!”
“You ain't payin’ attention to the movie either,” He points out.
“Fine, fine! I'm rewinding to the start, by the way.”
They watch the movie from the start, and he does his best to pay attention. The pastries are really good, though, so he mostly focuses on enjoying the divinely delicate crust and the delicious fillings, both savoury and sweet.
Problems start when he runs out of safe pastries.
His plate is miserably empty, as he already passed Kohane that peach-filled half, since none of them bumped into another peach pastry yet. That could’ve very well been the only peach pastry they got, with the rest of them on the other tray that MEIKO mentioned. He picks up a pastry, warily inspecting it. He brings it to his nose, as if that could really help him.
It smells like chocolate.
He sniffs once, twice. Yeah, that's chocolate alright. Is that normal?
“Toya,” He whispers, “Can ya smell what's the filling in this one?” He offers the pastry to Toya.
“Of course.” Toya accepts the pastry and brings it to his nose, amusement dancing in his eyes. “I can't smell what's inside. I promise I'm answering honestly.”
“I trust ya,” Akito takes the pastry and places it back.
“Wait, can you tell what's in it?” An sharply turns to him, forgetting about the movie she wanted to see so badly.
“Yeah. ‘S chocolate, so I can't have it, and neither should Toya.” He picks up another pastry and brings it to his nose.
“Really?” An picks up the pastry he just placed down and sniffs it. She frowns, then takes a bite. “I couldn't tell from the smell, but it is chocolate!”
The pastry he picked up is a savoury one, with meat and vegetables, and he takes his time with it before he replies.
“I didn't really pay attention to smell before,” He admits, “Didn't expect it to be more sensitive.”
“That's really amazing, Shinonome-kun,” Kohane marvels as she finishes nibbling on the peach pastry. “Wait, do you think you could find another peach one?”
“I'll try.”
He goes through the remaining pastries, sniffing them one by one and placing them back. Kohane gets progressively more pouty as he goes, looking at him with sad, hamster eyes.
“Here.” He hands Kohane a pastry. “Found one.” The tray almost ran out, with just three pastries remaining unchecked.
“Thank you, Shinonome-kun!” Kohane takes the pastry and starts happily nibbling on it.
“Akito, can you tell me which ones are safe?” An gestures to the pastries.
“Nah. Ruins the fun.”
“Asshole.” An picks another pastry at random and bites into it. “Faaaaa, ‘s another shpicy one!” She mumbles out with her mouth full.
“Shame,” He shrugs and looks back at the screen.
It's some very convoluted drama, and he kinda lost track of the plot halfway through. It's even worse now that he's been too busy with pastries to pay attention. With a sigh, he relaxes into the couch. Now feels like a good time for a nap. He's not gonna understand much from the rest of the movie, anyway. He brings his legs up on the couch and closes his eyes.
Much to his mortification, he wakes up with his head in Toya's lap, as well as Toya's hand in his hair.
“Oi,” He grumbles out, “How'd this happen?”
“Good evening, Akito. Was your nap nice?” Toya asks casually, unbothered by their current position.
“Yeah. How'd I end up like this?” He tries again. Normally, he'd already be up and away from Toya, but it feels so nice he can't bring himself to pull away. He doesn't even try to cover his darkening cheeks. This is his fate, apparently.
“You started leaning on me in your sleep, so I thought I'd shift you into a more comfortable position.” Toya doesn't stop petting him, his fingers gently scratching near his ears. It feels so nice Akito could stay like this forever, embarrassment be damned.
“Good evening, Sleeping Beauty,” An teases. He lazily flips her off.
“Ya jus’ called me a beauty,” He points out.
“Ew, I did. I take it back.” She makes a disgusted face, much to the amusement of Kohane.
“Don't be rude, An-chan,” Kohane chides with a giggle.
“But you're the only person here that should be called a beauty!” An tackles Kohane in a hug, making the other girl squeak.
“Geez,” He huffs, unconsciously leaning into Toya. His lap is surprisingly comfortable for the amount of meat he has on him. Akito would think this'd feel more boney.
“Honestly, I might take a nap as well,” Toya muses, fingers relaxing in Akito's hair.
“Are ya gonna be comfortable like this?” He tries to get up, but is stopped by Toya's hand pushing him back down.
“It's fine. Besides, I wouldn't want to push off the lap dog that's laying on me.” Toya chuckles warmly.
“Oi.” Akito reaches up to flick Toya's forehead.
“It's been a long day. Don't worry about me, you should go back to sleep if you want to.” Toya, the bastard, starts petting him again, because he knows it works to relax him.
“Get some rest too.” He relents and closes his eyes.
He sighs, letting himself relax fully and melt into Toya’s lap. It’s been an annoying, awful, hellish trainwreck of a day, and he’s going to be more than happy sleeping the rest of it off.
Well, it’s not been all so disastrous. Being pet is nice enough, and having a more laid-back day that he spends with his team every once in a while isn’t bad, either.