Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V
Title: Too Much Me
Character: Kurosaki Shun
Word Count: 1,035||Status: One-shot
Genre: General||Rated: G
Challenge: Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, section C, #37, fic that starts & ends with the same letter; Written for the Valentine's to White Day Advent, day 29, write a gift-fic for someone you've received a gift-fic from in the past & review a fic of theirs.
Summary: Shun can barely take care of himself in this Standard dimension. He doesn't need to try to take care of someone else. Especially when that someone else is a cat that reminds him far too much of himself.

Shun really wanted to tell the cat to leave him alone. That he barely could take care of himself – Yuuto would've said he couldn't take care of himself at all, but that was beside the point – and he most certainly didn't need another creature to take care of. And he had a horrible track record of looking out for others besides himself – he would not think of Ruri, he would not -

Just because he always knew that his companions could or would be captured by Academia and they always fought to get them back didn't mean it didn't happen. He couldn't protect people. All he could do was strain to get them back.

And yet no matter how much he tried to explain this to the cat, the cat simply sat there and cleaned one paw, used it to clean behind its ears, and waited for him to finish whatever he'd started eating and share with him.

He shouldn't. He needed every scrap of food that he could get for himself. He couldn't afford more. He couldn't afford this. The only way he could get food here was to scavenge it, and people here protected even their trash more so than they had back in Heartland.

I don't think I'm hungry anymore anyway. And it would be wrong to waste it. And I don't have anywhere I could keep it. Shun set the last few bites down on the cold concrete alleyway and looked off into the distance, not wanting to see the too-thin cat pounce on the remains and make short work of it.

The cat reminded him too much of himself. That was why he didn't want to keep it, even if he could have. Why would he want another him around?

Yet when the small fuzzy form curled itself up on his lap and purred, he couldn't bring himself to shove it away. He lifted one hand, fully intent on doing so, only to find his fingers resting on those perked up ears and brushing through them carefully. The cat purred even louder and Shun wondered what this strange sensation tugging at his lips was.

Was he smiling? Was he really smiling? The thought startled him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually smiled. And now because of a cat? A half-starved thin stray that probably could use a good visit to a vet as much as he could use a dozen hot meals and a warm place to sleep where he didn't have to keep one ear cocked up for danger at all times.

He'd get that soon enough, he reminded himself. He just needed to finish his work drawing out Akaba Reiji first. That would get him Akaba Reo's attention, and then…Ruri. And then...

Well, he'd work things out after then. He needed to do this carefully or he'd fail, and he'd had more than enough of that.

He still didn't stop petting the cat, his hand moving from the ears to the body. The cat was indeed thin but not quite as much as he'd thought. Just as well; he really couldn't spare that much more food. And he would need to eat again soon himself. His duels took more out of him than he wanted to admit.

He nudged at the cat a little to get it to move off of his lap. He'd never been fond of cats, anyway. He was much more of a bird person, though he'd never had one of those as a pet either. He'd just never wanted a pet at all.

This cat, however, didn't seem to have been informed of that, or if it had, it didn't care. As he headed out of the alleyway, the cat followed him. Shun gave it a look, one that it ignored. He shrugged for a moment and moved onward. The cat would learn that he wasn't a reliable source of food and then go on about its own business. This was a large city, full of people who would no doubt love to take care of it. Shun wasn't one of those people. He had a mission and he would let nothing at all get in the way. Not even a relatively cute cat with sharp claws he'd felt pricking into his skin.

"I wasn't aware that you had a pet." Reiji gave Shun a very stern look. Shun paid no more attention to that look than a certain cat did to his looks. It was something he and Haya had in common. He would admit to that much, at least, between them.

Shun did give a faint shrug. "It won't leave me be." He didn't like making excuses to Akaba Reiji, of all people, but he wasn't going to let Haya be thrown out either. He'd long since made up his mind that their association would terminate when he chose for it to – and when he could convince Haya to stop following him everywhere – not because of anyone else. Especially not because of Akaba Reiji. Or any Akaba at all.

The CEO made a slight noise that Shun couldn't quite interpret. So long as it wasn't breaking their bargain, he also didn't care. "I suppose you'll want food for it."

"I can manage Haya's needs on my own," Shun bit off the words. He'd been doing so since the cat made its way into his life. He saw no reason to stop now.

The other's lips turned into a thin smile. "Our bargain includes food and shelter for you. I think our resources can stretch enough to cover a cat."

Shun barely acknowledged that with a fraction of a nod. "If you insist." Truth to be told, he had worried about Haya needing a vet's care and he might as well use this bargain for everything that he could. Haya would leave because and when Shun wanted him to, not for any other reason.

He'd told him that many times since they'd crossed paths. He suspected once this war ended and wherever he ended up after that, he would have to make accommodations for a cat. But he thought that he could handle that.

He wondered if Ruri liked cats.

The End

Note: Haya means falcon.