Title: Catnip
Rating: M
Pairing: Shizuo x Izaya
Prompt from the Drrr Kink Meme: Shizuo accidentally turns into a cat. Without knowing the tabby is his arch-nemesis, Izaya takes him home and keeps him as a pet. As a cat, Shizuo discovers a side of Izaya that nobody knows, his secrets, life, fears, loves and feelings.

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters!

THIS STORY CONTAINS MALExMALE RELATIONSHIPS. You have been warned.


When Shizuo woke up, it was to the feeling of the couch suddenly sinking. Caught unaware, the cat jolted up and glared at the secretary who proceeded to not notice that the cat was taking up the spot. She had tossed the files she brought for Izaya it seemed. Shizuo yawned and stretched and checked the desk. Sure enough, Izaya was still there, furiously typing away.

"Well then, thank you for the extended vacation," and with that, Namie turned to the door. Izaya barely gave her a nod of approval as he was too preoccupied. That suited the young secretary perfectly fine as she closed the door behind her and hurried back home to her beloved brother.

Shizuo blinked at the sunlight. What time was it if… Namie had come…

It was 9am in the morning. Shizuo blinked a few more times as things started to click in his head. He quickly looked up at Izaya.

He looked… ragged and worn out… the dark circles had turned almost black with exhaustion. Shizuo was pretty sure the man didn't sleep at all… nor eat. How long has he been at this?

Shizuo tried to calculate. That blond teenager came… yesterday morning? Close to 11a.m…. So it's been… 22 hours?

He's going to kill himself at this rate!

Shizuo jumped down from the couch and quickly hurried over to Izaya. He yanked on Izaya's pants but the informant didn't budge. He thought of swiping his leg to get his attention… but thought better of it. Shizuo wasn't sure how much he can control his strength as a cat at the moment and making Izaya have another wound to tend to is the least he wanted to happen right now.

The tabby jumped on Izaya's lap and purred, kneading his pants and chest. But Izaya paid no attention to him save for an absentminded pat on his head once. Then he went back to typing. Frustrated, Shizuo yowled. He hissed too. But instead Izaya typed away with renewed fervor, muttering something under his breath as he tried to find the missing link.

'I'm here you stupid flea!' Shizuo shouted but it only came out in hissing fits of a cat. Then he looked at the keyboard. He can read. Maybe if he can type out…

Shizuo jumped onto the keyboard, his whole body landing on it. The monitor fizzled and the computer beeped out the random keys as the cat tried to paw at it. He was too big. His whole paw would land on five or more keys at the same tim-

"Flea! Stop that!" Izaya scooped up the cat angrily. Shizuo hissed back, but at least he got Izaya's attention… snapping him out of his mad trance.

"You're hungry huh… sorry." The informant finally looked at the clock. "I didn't realize so much time had passed…"

'No shit,' Shizuo rolled his eyes. Well, cats couldn't but… he did inwardly.

"I'll… get you something to eat." The man got up tiredly, as if all the weight in the world was on his shoulders. If only he knew that the tabby he was carrying, laying half flopped on his shoulder and across his chest was the exact same man he was searching for all day and night…

Izaya carried his pet to the kitchen, lightly stroking the fur of the tabby's head and back. It was soothing but it didn't sooth Shizuo at all. He was worried for this man's health though he couldn't quite justify why he should be worried to begin with. The cat told himself, 'I'm just worried dammit!' as he wasn't someone who could use logic to back up his emotions. He was worried and that was all there was to it.

As Izaya let him down and looked for a bowl to fill with kitty food, Shizuo admitted he must have some feelings for this man. It was more than just guilt. He couldn't quite say he liked Izaya but anyone would worry if someone starved himself and didn't bother to sleep as he searched for him, right? Ruining his own health just to find him…

Shizuo was touched. Just a smidge. Even if he still thought Izaya was looking for him for his own twisted reason. Twisted or not, the care Izaya showed to Shizuo, hidden away from all the other people's eyes, made the once debt-collector re-evaluate his opinion on the man.

The informant scooped the kitty food to his bowl and the scent of delicious fish caught his attention. Then a saucer of milk was placed next to him. Shizuo realized he was indeed hungry. But he looked up at Izaya and meowed when the informant started to walk back to the computer. He hissed and bit the fabric of the pants, pulling. Shizuo was glad he was strong enough to stop the bigger man.

"What is it? Did you want something else?" Izaya frowned when he couldn't move. Shizuo hissed again, headbutting the fridge. Izaya looked at the fridge and then back at his pet, not quite understanding him. Shizuo sighed. He wedged his head between the folds of the door and pushed, trying to open the fridge.

"You want something else?"

'No you idiot, I want you to eatsomething!' Shizuo wanted to scream at the man.

Izaya sighed and opened the fridge, pointing at the content. "See, there's nothing here for you to eat."

'I know that! I want youto eat!' Shizuo wanted to flail his arms about but all he could do was jump at the cabinets and watch as food tumbled to the floor, making a mess.

"Flea! Stop that!" Izaya yelled as he grabbed his cat away. "Now look what you did!" Izaya sighed, clearly frustrated as he got a rag to mop the floor as the milk carton exploded.

Shizuo meowed. Izaya… had never yelled at him like this before. He watched the banana milk that Izaya said he hated in high school spread across the floor slowly. 'What does all this mean, Izaya?' Shizuo wanted to ask. Why was he so desperately looking for him? Why does he keep milk that he said he hated and teased Shizuo with for his sweet tooth? Why does he keep him, a cat with brute strength that obviously must remind him of…

Izaya cleaned up quietly. Shizuo didn't do anything as the informant didn't eat and went back to his computers. He didn't have the heart to try to tell him to eat, after the mess he created. He stared at his own food and then back at Izaya who situated himself in front of his computer again, his fingers slower now as he typed away.

Shizuo was hungry, he could feel his stomach moaning. But he left his food untouched. It didn't feel right somehow that Shizuo ate and slept while Izaya was not eating as he looked for him.

So the tabby sat on his hind legs and kept a silent vigil next to Izaya, watching him. He watched as Izaya chatted with 5 different people on one monitor while he skimmed through 15 different surveillance cameras in Ikebukuro and other districts of Tokyo. He watched Izaya pay for any leads, any information and any news. Shizuo scowled when someone obviously told Izaya the fake information or the wrong leads and watched in despair as Izaya leapt on it and searched any possible nook and cranny to see if it lead to the blond debt collector.

After a total of approximately 36 hours, Izaya was exhausted and Shizuo was equally feeling fatigued. The tabby watched as Izaya followed lead after lead which Shizuo knew were all dead-ends but didn't know how to tell the informant. Finally, Izaya got fed up. He stood up and grabbed his monitor and hurled it across the wall. The blond tabby flinched as the monitor's window shattered and cracked. Then he yelped and moved out of the way as Izaya ripped the keyboard and threw that too against the wall. Then the 2nd monitor joined the other two when the mad informant exerted his anger over it.

Huffing, Izaya glared at his motherboard. Shizuo thought for a second that Izaya was angry enough to destroy that as well, but the raven turned away. He wasn't sure if it was because Izaya knew in the back of his mind, he shouldn't destroy his precious data that was stored… or he was too weak to pick it up… or both, but Shizuo watched as the informant sank in his chair with his hand to his face.

At first Shizuo thought that he was just massaging his face but he realized he was wrong when he heard a quiet sobbing.

'No way… he couldn't be…'

But he was. Shizuo's jaws dropped (mentally) as he saw the man cry for the first time. Sure he had sort of seen Izaya cry before earlier that week (which was another shock to him) but... but this...

He had…

Never.

Seen.

Izaya.

Cry.

This.

Hard.

Shizuo jumped from the desk to the crying informant's lap and meowed softly, a paw on the man's chest, hoping to comfort him. The tabby leaned his head forward and looked up. He stared in disbelief at first as he saw tears fall down those sad crimson eyes and wet the cheeks he always thought were dry. He watched the tears gather to the man's chin and fall like steady rain drops. Shizuo's chest squeezed painfully as he wanted to whisper,

Why?

Why Izaya?

But only words that came out of his lips were more meows and mewling. He placed two paws on Izaya's chest now, kneading him a bit as he cooed a bit more, trying to comfort him.

It's okay.

I'm here.

I'm here Izaya…

I'm here…

But no matter how many times Shizuo said them; they fell deaf to the man's ears.

Finally, after few minutes Izaya wrapped his arms around his pet and buried his face into that soft fur as he cried louder. Shizuo whined when he could feel those tears soak into his fur, but he quickly retracted his reflexive claws before he could hurt Izaya. He mewled softly as he turned his head and licked at Izaya's face.

His tears were very salty.

Shizuo started to lick Izaya's face clean as informant cried, softer now. And not as loud as before.

Holding onto his cat, Izaya cried his heart out until he was too exhausted to stay awake. Soon Shizuo could hear Izaya's even breathing as he slumped in his chair. 'It must be uncomfortable…' Shizuo thought, feeling the arms around him slacken. Izaya was in an awkward position, his body leaning against one side, his head backed against one of the arms of the chair and left leg stretched out while the other curled in…

But Shizuo knew he was probably too weak to carry the man up to his bed… and he didn't have the heart to wake him up. The man was exhausted because he was searching for him. He deserved the rest… even if he was only resting after he cried his heart out.

So Shizuo curled his tail around his body as he nestled on top of Izaya's chest and went to sleep with him.

Izaya was knocked out for a long time. When Shizuo woke up again, Izaya had moved to the bed room and the tabby cat was curled around the informant. Shizuo blinked, yawned and stretched before nestling next to Izaya again. He noticed that Izaya had cried so he licked the tears away again. Then he went back to sleep, lulled by the soft breathing and the gentle waves of Izaya's chest heaving up and down.

They slept for a long time, needing the moment of peace together; the informant needing the rest, and Shizuo needing to connect with the man he once hated.

After drifting off, Shizuo thought he heard Izaya say something to him, but his mind was too dulled by sleep decipher his words.

When the tabby cat stirred awake, he blinked at the sunlight and turned to his side. He froze and jumped up from the bed when he noticed the bed was empty and cold.

He scrambled down from the bed and rushed out the door. He felt relieved to see Izaya in his usual swivel chair typing away and sipping his morning coffee. He didn't have dark circles under his eyes anymore nor did he type away frantically. It looked as if everything had gone back to normal, business as usual.

"Morning, sleepy head." Izaya called out to his cat without even looking up at Shizuo. The cat frowned inwardly and wondered where the surveillance camera was… because that would be the only way Izaya would know his cat was awake and was staring at him from above the stairs.

The cat hopped down the stairs two steps at a time until he reached the floor. Then he jumped on top of Izaya's lap and…

Purred.

Shizuo could feel his pride and dignity shrivel to the size of a pea but hey, if it made Izaya feel better…

Wait. Since when did Shizuo care about the Flea's health and feelings?

Despite the turmoil in his heart, Shizuo purred anyway, rubbing his head on Izaya's chest, pawing at his pants. The informant gave a light chuckle and pat his head. Then he scratched him behind his ears.

Ahh…. T-that felt good…

Shizuo rolled over to his stomach so the informant could scratch him on the belly too.

Living as a cat wasn't so bad, he decided. He still needed to figure out a way to tell Kasuka and Tom not to worry…

But Shizuo decided that he no longer wanted to tell Izaya that he was a cat. Who knew what Izaya might do once he figured out his enemy was helpless? Besides, the man wasn't destroying his health trying to search for him now… the desperate need to tell Izaya faded from the tabby's heart.

For now, Shizuo concentrated on trying to make Izaya feel better, as strange as that sounded.

Shizuo rolled around, seeking his attention like a normal pet cat. Izaya sometimes laughed at his antics in trying to drive his attention from the computer, such as laying on his keyboard or pawing at his chest. Sometimes Shizuo stretched and dangled on Izaya's shoulder, batting at a loose string or two. When he finally started to slip backwards and claw at the fabric, Izaya's shirt ripped, which earned him a small scolding.

After the cat was fed and Izaya changed his shirt to another non-descriptive black, Namie came in and the work resumed. Namie was shooing the cat with her broom when Shizuo was trying to open the cabinet for more food as the secretary listed off Izaya's revised schedule since he took almost two days off searching for the debt collector.

"And Shiki-no-danna will be here in few minutes." Namie said as she finished ratting off the list.

"Thank you. Please make some coffee for the kanbu, if you will. And I'll get the documents ready." Izaya nodded as he typed away.

Shiki?

Shizuo's ears perked, scrambling away when Namie pat his butt with the straw broom to kick him out of the kitchen.

Shiki was coming… here?

Somehow Shizuo didn't like the sound of that….


AA's note: Thank you for all the comments so far guys. I apologize for such slow updates. I really am trying though...

MrsOmnomnomers : I LOVE that video! in fact that one is one of the videos that inspired this fic. (among many haha) *hearts*

Akai Mu Tsuki : Shizuo is 24 in the anime, which covers books 1-3. However by book 9, 2 years has passed and Mikado/Anri are in 3rd years I believe. Which would make Shizuo 26 years old? :3 And as for my fetish, I'm glad you do know what I do like... haha... I have a few things in mind but that was kind of before this fic exploded. With this many readers, I'm a bit wary of ... traumatizing a few people... so I might take out some of my... er... extreme ideas... ... maybe. (not the plot related ones though. I am keeping those. Just... might tone down my fetish ones. who knows XD ) thanks for picking up on it *hearts you*