Chapter 1
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An Act of Kindness
It was a chilly October evening. The fallen leaves were of yellowish orange color, dancing to the wind as the trees slowly went into their yearly dormancy. The sun was beginning to set down, basking the whole town in a beautiful sunset glow. It was one of those rare evenings you'd call magical, one of those that were so unrealistically calm and breathtaking.
Amidst all that the tranquility however, a blonde with bright sapphire eyes, all ragged and worn out, was currently running through the shady city streets, choosing unused pathways or deserted alleys to avoid being spotted by other humans. He couldn't afford to be seen by them! Else horrible, horrible fate awaits him. Since he was - a werecat.
His breaths were rough and irregular and his legs were just about to give in. He heard shouting from a distance causing his poor heart just about to leap out of his chest. He was scared, extremely terrified, to say the least.
"Run, Mikaela! Don't ever turn back!"
A middle-aged female werecat came into mind; his protector, his savior, his one and only family - his now deceased mother.
The young blonde was currently running for his life, running from auctioneers that were trying to sell him off to one of those rich bastards who'd use him as a sex slave or a toy. He had managed to slip away from captivity out of sheer luck, his sharp mind and lightning quick footing allowed him to take drastic actions. His escape didn't go unnoticed for long however as he soon realized there were people running after him.
It must've been a few hours since he started running and he could feel his energy depleting rapidly as seconds went by. Ears perked up in full alert, he could sense the loud, roaring shouts getting closer and closer, cornering him to a cul-de-sac, forcing him to believe that this would probably be the end of him - or so he thought when he unexpectedly flung into a mysterious figure and felt himself being enveloped by an unfamiliar warmth.
Then, everything went pitch black.
"Brr.. It's sooo cold…" A young man with jet black hair and eyes as green as the luscious forest commented to no one in particular as he buried his pinkish cheeks deeper under his woolly checkered scarf and hugged his body from the cold weather. Every time the cool wind blew past his face, he would shiver involuntarily and cursed internally. Why tonight of all nights did he just had to run out of toilet roll?
Amane Yuuichirou, aged twenty years old, was your typical college student, now in his second year in Architecture, struggling between assignments and exams, or to be truthful, with life itself. Yuu, as what most of his friends and family would call him, sighed deeply as he walked back home from the 24/7 convenient store with the stupid paper rolls safely purchased.
Feeling somewhat impatient, Yuu decided to take a shorter route back to his apartment, the classic back alley, because screw walking for thirty minutes in the cold when he can cut half the time using the shortcut. Was it dangerous? Yes. Could he possibly get attacked by an escaped serial killer, a drug dealer or even a rabid dog? Yes, yes and definitely yes to all of that. Knowing such scary possibilities did nothing to wane his spirit however, since his stubbornness got the better of him, as always.
Now, the problem with the alley, other than being stinky as heck, was the absence of any light source. So, there Yuu was, walking in complete darkness when he picked up some noises, angry voices, to be precise, from afar. That surprisingly drew nearer and nearer, alarming the raven.
At that exact moment, something rammed into him and Yuu was almost knocked over by the new weight in his arms. Hesitantly, he peered down only to find a boy with golden wavy curls that gleamed under the moonlight, looking quite weak and out of breath. "Hey, sorry 'bout that. Are you alright?" Looking closely, Yuu finally noticed something different. The blonde had…fluffy cat-like ears? "The hell..! Don't tell me - he's one of those werecats…?" Without a warning, the blond suddenly went limp against Yuu's chest, who swiftly caught him by the shoulders, accidentally grazing his neck in the process.
Clink!
The black collar around the werecat's neck fell, much to Yuu's horror. "Shit! Wait-" Before he managed to replace it back, the blond had already transformed completely into a cat, trembling vigorously in Yuu's arms.
"Did you find him yet?!"
"Not yet! I think he went this way!"
"Don't let him get away! Or else the boss will kill us!"
Yuu stood still, completely frozen on the spot. Those were the guys yammering earlier! He quickly joined the dots together judging from the werecat's frantic behavior and his pursuers' relentless chase. They sounded like one of those bad guys from the infamous illegal werecat-trafficking organization called Black Hound, chasing after the poor werecat!
At that moment, Yuu didn't know what possessed him when he decidedly hid the unconscious cat under his trench coat and quickly covered the bulge with his scarf. Exhaling shakily, Yuu fished out his phone and pretended as if he's talking to someone while walking casually out of the alley.
'Please, don't notice me… please – '
Minutes later, three men in black zoomed past through him without as much as glancing at him, what's more suspecting him.
'Shit, what the hell have I gotten myself into?' Yuu pondered as he made his way back home, walking twice as faster than usual.
Deep blue eyes stirred open languidly to the steady ticking of a clock before popping up widely and Mikaela immediately went into a state of panic as soon as his keen nose was bombarded with new, foreign smells.
As a result of being held captive for so long, the feline would get thrown out of the loop whenever he woke up in an alien place filled with scents he was unaccustomed to. Back at the prison-like place, the people who held him captive would only bring him outside of his cell whenever they plan to use the blonde for something. Terrible episodes that left him fighting for survival in most cases. His brain would automatically switch into survival mode whenever he woke up in outlandish areas. Due to that very reason, the blonde's stress meter would also skyrocket real high, putting unnecessary strain to his fragile self.
Now was no different. And it certainly wasn't any better.
The blonde made a sprint for the door, leaving the cocoon of blankets he was previously wrapped in and left the dark silent room, only to be introduced to one which was bigger and dimly lit. He collided with something soon after and stumbled backwards, feeling a bit dizzy. The small feline soon noticed that the flat rectangular 'thing' was actually moving and shit— strange, loud noises were coming out of it!
The powder yellow ball of fur quickly recoiled and began running about the room, desperately searching for a place to hide or escape whilst meowing loudly. He knew what awaited him next. Whoever the auctioneers had brought him to was going to punish him, especially after his misbehavior. That, however, didn't stop the cat from panicking and so he kept dashing around, knocking things over. He eventually ran into a lot of cables and got tangled up in them, rolling around in attempt to free himself which only left him entangled even further. It didn't take too long for the cat to become completely immovable, his escape rendered impossible and so instead he let out heart wrenching cries whilst trembling in fear and pain.
By the time the cat woke up, Yuu, who was in the kitchen preparing some warm milk for his new little company, happily whistled to his favorite song and was sadly ignorant to the current 'remodelling' his living room was getting. Well, not until he caught wind of a glass-shattering shriek.
"MREOOOOW-!"
The flabbergasted Yuu almost dropped the carton of milk to the ground after the shrilly shrieking of a cat exploded into his eardrums that was close in giving him a heart attack on the spot.
"The fuck!?"
It took the ravenette less than two seconds to sprint from the kitchen to the living room, now in a chaotic mess from the werecat's mad rampaging.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?!" Yuu stared around the room in pure horror until his eyes fell onto the culprit itself, entangled by the cords from his television and stereos. WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.
"Stay still, I'll get you out of there pronto!" Yuu said as he neared the little golden furred cat and tried to pull away some of the wires but the cat kept on thrashing about until it knocked the man over, and Yuu unknowingly pulled the cat's tail by accident as he fell on top of it.
"Nyow!" At that moment, the little cat mystically glowed in a soft blue light as it screeched in pain before transforming into a male human once more – without a single thread on him – right beneath Yuu.
"Holy shit-!" Yuu almost screamed as well as he witnessed the transfiguration happening in front of him yet again. Well, werecats were rare nowadays so this was officially the first time he ever encountered and interacted with a real live one. The very reason being: people of high social statuses had used their wealth and power to buy these 'exotic pets', further impelling the werecats to the brink of extinction.
"Crap, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" The raven tried his best to explain but the blonde just wouldn't have it, he seemed terrified and traumatized, as if Yuu were about to attack him in his vulnerable state.
"Shh, shh.. it's alright… I'm not gonna hurt you…" The college student gently coaxed when his smartphone suddenly rang, startling the poor werecat so much it tried to force it way out of the wires and almost choked itself in the process. By then, the panicked Yuu accidentally picked the call up when he initially wanted to reject it instead.
"Yuu-san?"
Shit. It's Shinoa.
"He-hello..!" Yuu sandwiched his phone between his cheek and shoulder, hands meticulously working on the cables twisting around the blonde.
"Hey, cherry boy, did you hear some kind of weird cat screaming just now? It sounded as if it's coming from your apartment." A sleepy, if not, annoyed female voice could be heard from the other end. She was one of his closest friends from uni and coincidentally his neighbor as well.
"Uhh- no? Why…why would I?" Yuu retorted, all the while struggling on the floor with the semi-human, all butt naked underneath him as he tried to cover its mouth from screaming bloody murder again and possibly wake the whole building up. 'Stay still, you mangy beast!'
"….!" The glowering blonde seemed to have read his mind somehow and thus landed a big scratch on Yuu's very face vehemently.
"Ow!" Yuu yowled in pain afterwards, releasing his hold on the other male as he covered his face with both hands.
"….Is there a cat in your apartment, Yuu-san?" The quick-witted female asked, she could instantly sniff up something fishy, judging from Yuu's nervous voice as well as the miscellaneous noises from the background.
"WHAT, NO WAY! I just- I cut myself!" Yuu replied rather too quickly, further fueling Shinoa's suspicions.
"The hell are you doing, cooking in the middle of the night?"
"I-I was hungry, okay!"
"Gimme the phone for a sec, Shinoa." Another female voice, a higher pitched one than the last, grouchily spoke before the phone switched hands. "Hey, Yuu."
Yuu gulped, goddammit, not her. "Oh h-hey, Mitsuba…" Shit, he's gonna get his ears chewed out within five seconds now, wasn't he? On the other hand, the blonde stopped moving for a while, almost as if he could detect Yuu's anxiousness.
"Listen here buddy, I appreciate if you wanna make out with a cat or something at FUCKING 3 AM but can you please do me just this ONE THING and keep THE FUCK DOWN 'cuz me and Shinoa - WE TOO, NEED SOME FUCKING SLEEP?!"
Click!
The line went dead, leaving both Yuu and the werecat in a complete stupor, speechless and absolutely dumbfounded by the girl's gobsmacking words.
"Damn you, Mitsuba… where the hell did you come up with such accusations…" The embarrassed Yuu gritted his teeth in annoyance, the tips of his ears easily picked up a crimson color from his hot-blooded friend's remark. Fucking a cat? What retard would do that?
"Hey, if you could just stay still, I might get you out of these freaking cables asap." Yuu gently suggested as lustrous emerald eyes awkwardly wandered around the wrecked room, anywhere but the clothe-less catboy, before landing on a pair of wavering sapphire orbs. "Can you understand what I'm saying?"
When the blonde reluctantly nodded, Yuu swore he couldn't have felt any more relieved than he was, thus began his disentanglement mission. The feline trembled lightly and would flinch every time the stranger's hands brushed against his bare skin whilst he pulled at the cables, trying to help the blonde out of the mess he'd gotten himself into. The cat's ears lowered and his silk-like tail slowly crept it's way in-between his legs, showing signs of discomfort.
Helping the blonde out of the mess took a while with the awkward atmosphere lingering between the both of them but once the werecat was set free the tension eased a bit.
"So, uh. You wanna put on some clothes first?" Yuu asked as he shied his gaze away from the naked blonde, secretly noting how gorgeous he was from up close, his golden ears and tail seemed soft to the touch. And no, he wasn't some kind of a pervert with weird, kinky cat fetishes, dammit!
It took a while for the blonde to realize he was being spoken to. "…..?"
...Did the human just asked him if he wanted... clothes?
The feline wasn't used to having the luxury of being allowed to state his own opinion regarding any matter so he decided to keep shut, confused by the human's behavior, which was new, if not odd. It was as if... he actually meant him no harm. But that's – that's impossible…right? All humans are wretched creatures who would do him nothing but harm. And he was simply stating from his own experience.
Feeling extremely uncomfortable in the presence of the human, the blonde darted his eyes around in search for a way out as the human averted his gaze. After calculating a perfect opportunity to creep away from the human, he steadily crawled backwards but was pushed into a corner, much to his chagrin. The werecat unwillingly settled his back against the wall, hugging his knees close to his chest whilst covering his private parts with his bushy tail. He had no idea where he was or who the mysterious young man was. He couldn't simply trust the other even if his aura emanated kindness, the feline had been deceived by such people before and thus, he refused to make the same mistake twice.
As the werecat's exhausted mind had calmed a bit, he immediately felt hot and weak. Bile rose threateningly from the back of his throat and his head felt like exploding. Maybe he shouldn't have run outside naked in this time of the year. Well, It's not like he had anything to put on either way and besides, he hated clothes. Now, back to the question at hand; how was he going to escape this place? Who was the human that brought him here? What were his true motives, provided he had any?
Yuu was stumped for once – well, he's been stumped numerous times in tests and exams before – but throughout his whole life, Yuu had never owned a pet nor met an actual werecat in the flash, ergo his fidgetiness in handling this hard-to-believe situation at hand. Heck, he never even been in a relationship with anyone before so the young man didn't exactly know how to treat another person, especially a physically and physiologically traumatized feline, in a gentle manner.
'Well, now's the time to change all that, I guess.' The raven left the room to get a small blanket and a pair of newly bought apple green pajamas (given as a 'good riddance' gift by his impetuous uncle, Guren, when Yuu finally entered college and left the nest, sort of). And then he made small, careful steps towards the hostile blonde to show that he meant him no harm whatsoever.
Mikaela was interrupted from his train of thoughts as he heard footsteps approaching but was too weak to move this time so he tightened his arms around his legs to shield himself and growled warningly for the human to stay back, baring his pointy fangs. However, he found it hard to maintain his threatening glare as it became harder to breathe, and he started panting heavily, feeling a bit faint and all.
The way the human form feline curled up in the corner somehow stirred a new feeling inside of Yuu. He felt unreasonably…angry. And disappointed in human race itself for giving the werecats such an inhumane treatment. "You poor thing. Don't be afraid, okay? I'm not going to hurt you, remember?" Crouching down, the raven gently pulled the blanket over its shoulders – only to be scratched again right on his left cheek, blood soon started trickling out from the cut. The pale blonde growled fiercely, all of its tail fur stood up on end as would a normal cat during a fight.
"….!" Yuu hissed in pain as he slowly retreated from the ferocious feline, seemingly ready to bite his head off. "Ow. You scratched me again… Listen here, I saved you from those horrible people, didn't I? I'm just trying to help you, otherwise I would've let them recapture you." He knew he was being unreasonably harsh with his words but Yuu decided to not beat around the bushes in order to make the feline understand.
"…" The blonde kept his angry glare at Yuu but not for long as he suddenly collapsed to the ground, startling Yuu who rushed to his aid and managed to cushion the fall with his body. "H-hey! Are you alright?!" The werecat had fainted once more, blood seemed to have drained from his face and he was shivering uncontrollably, from the cold presumably.
"I have to warm him up!" Yuu, already carrying the frail blonde - who was as light as a feather – shot off hurriedly to his bedroom.
After swiftly patching the blonde up, the ravenette had less problem in putting the werecat into the pajamas now that it was out of commission to even try and attack him or run away again. However, it proved to be nearly impossible to put some pants on the blonde as his legs kept on flagellating madly whenever Yuu tried to.
"Well, don't you hate pants, huh…" Yuu commented dryly. In the end, he gave up completely, leaving the feline in the long-sleeved pajama top only. "That'll suffice for now…"
Afterwards, Yuu tucked the now sleeping blonde under the warm duvet and heaved an exhausted sigh. "What a night… Finally, I could catch some sleep…." Yuu trailed off and laid beside the blonde with an arm loosely wrapped around him, just as though to keep him safe.
And both of them, cuddling close, slept soundly until the break of dawn the next morning.
More to come…
Yeahhhh. Shiro here~ ^^ Um, yeah so I know I have so many freaking unfinished fics so why the hell add a new one, you shitty writer you? Well.. this was a collaboration with one of my Tumblr/AO3 friends so I decided to cross post here as well.. Do give it a shot and feel free to leave any comment or feedback you have in mind! Thanks and I'll see ya later, sweeties! 3
Credits to MischievousCupcake for her contribution, you're the bae! 3
|| Inure - getting accustom to/warm up to ||