Work Text:
The Gojo clan is one of few in Japan to be able to shift into an animal form, and the only one in the current generation to do so. There are rumors of how Ryoumen Sukuna of the Heian era could shape-shift into a tiger, and his descendants if any should be able to harbor the same power—though, at this point of time in the year 2006, no documented descendants have been discovered yet. However, Ryoumen Sukuna is only one person, and in the Gojo family, many people across the clan's history share this trait of 'shifting'. It is the Gojo's defining characteristic, even if it's a fact hidden to the general populace. Yet, the trait hasn't been seen in the clan for a while. Because of the power that shape-shifting holds, certain individuals have targeted Gojos with the trait: for instance, a Kamo from the influential Kamo clan (Noritoshi Kamo, though they've gone by many names such as Kenjaku) killed the last shape-shifter in the Gojo clan all those years ago. It was a long time before another shape-shifter was born in the family. But once he was born, he immediately became the heir to the clan...
Satoru Gojo is the Gojo clan's only shapeshifter, and he takes form of a pure white cat with strikingly blue irises. This is a secret to just about everyone in all of Japan except the Gojos in order to prevent another assassination from happening.
Despite this, Satoru shifts rather often. He's wary to turn into his form in a secluded area just because it would cause a lot of trouble if he didn't (truthfully, he couldn't care less about the secret of his powers) but everything else he's much more lax about. After school, Satoru hangs around the general area of Tokyo where he attends high school as a cat. It hasn't lead to any problems thus far—even if his cat form and his human self bear an uncanny resemblance, no one's ever gotten close enough to him to put two and two together. He'd like to keep it that way. Even if it doesn't concern the secret of shape-shifting, having a lot of close friends is only a bother because not a lot of people he knows are worth being friends with.
That is, until one fateful day.
It was forecasted to be a rainy day, but Satoru doesn't notice the darkening sky until torrents of water worsened by the wind begin pouring down on him. There's nowhere for him to escape the rain, either—he's stuck in the middle of the market, and everyone had already closed up shop ages ago. Then, a voice rings out, clear against the noise of the storm. It's such a familiar, soft voice, and it washes over Satoru at once. However, the sight that befalls him is not one he was expecting.
Suguru Geto, Satoru's one and only rival, sits underneath the shade of some shop, lacking an umbrella in hand. Ah, so they're in the same predicament. Waiting out the rain. "You might get cold out there. It's raining out, if you haven't noticed." Suguru smiles, a gentle one that Satoru's never seen directed at him before.
The two of them have a complicated relationship. They get into fights about every few weeks, and get detention together about every few days. It's honestly such a petty rivalry: in which they try to one-up each other in every sense of the phrase. For example, Satoru gets better grades but Suguru's better with people, and Satoru's more creative with how he fights while Suguru's better at hand-to-hand combat in general. Somehow, in between all of this, they've abandoned honorifics and surnames even if they consider each other basically enemies—it's not Gojo and Geto to them, it's Satoru and Suguru. And, they understand each other better than they understand themselves. So. It's complicated.
Their relations border more on 'hatred'. But, as Satoru—the cat with silky smooth white fur and mesmerizing blue eyes—snuggles up to Suguru—the boy, completely oblivious—he starts to wonder what it would be like if their relationship was one of 'friendship' or even something stronger than that. They sit on the shop bench for what feels like hours, just soaking in each other's company. Satoru meows every once and then, and Suguru will chuckle in response ("a talkative one, hm?"), but save for those moments, their time together is majorly spent in silence. There's something so intimate, so domestic about Suguru propping Satoru's head onto his lap even while it's sopping wet, then carding his fingers through the fur in a comforting gesture.
It's such a natural position that Satoru slips back into his human form, much to Suguru's short lived surprise.
"Satoru," Suguru breathes out, eyes slightly widened. "It's you."
"Have you ever seen a cat with eyes exactly the same shade as mine?" Satoru laughs, not caring at all about the dangers of trusting Suguru with this heavy secret. Even if they fight often about the littlest things, at the end of the day, Satoru knows in his soul that Suguru is able to handle sharing this weight.
"Touché. I guess it isn't so much of a surprise, now that I know." Suguru resumes playing with Satoru's hair, as if this is something they do. Though, why can't it be? It feels right, Satoru thinks.
"Let's stay here. Until the rain lets out."
"Mm, okay. Sure."