Notes: AU where I completely disregard everything in 2.5 and the strategy to revive the comatose students is instead putting them into Island Mode as a sort of group therapy but the five survivors are aware it's a simulation, and also it's pre-established kuzuhina.

Day 10: With animal ears

"This is the weirdest glitch you've encountered yet."

"Shh." Hinata nudged Kuzuryu's knee under the breakfast table. "They all seem to think it's normal, so keep quiet. I'll log out tonight and see if I can fix it when everyone's asleep."

"We have to live with this all day?!"

"It's not that bad, is it?" Hinata felt his ears twitch inquisitively—which was a strange sensation, to be sure, but it wasn't painful or anything. "There are way worse things that could have happened."

"I have cat ears, Hinata!"

Indeed he did—big buff tabby ears turned back in an obvious show of annoyance. They were adorable and fit Kuzuryu perfectly (though maybe Scottish Fold ears would have made it even better), but Hinata wouldn't dare to say so out loud.

"Are you sure that they haven't noticed?"

Hinata surveyed the scene at the restaurant, making use of the enhanced hearing abilities afforded him by his new ears (they were either the ears of a wolf or some sort of dog—the jury was still out on that one). He was sure that his fellow survivors noticed the irregularity—aside from him and Kuzuryu, Sonia was occasionally reaching up to touch her new rabbit ears with a worried sigh, and Souda had been a total wreck that morning, sobbing loudly and absolutely refusing to emerge from his cottage or even show his face. He wasn't so sure about Owari—if she had noticed her monkey ears, she was certainly taking it in stride. Everyone else, though, was milling about and chatting as if nothing had happened, uncaring of their new body parts. "I mean... I feel like Tanaka would at least have something to say about it if they did."

"Guess you've got a point."

Hinata hummed again, glancing at his boyfriend before before reaching over and placing a hand against the shell of his ear.

"Hey, what are you doing?!"

"Just petting them. They're really soft."

Kuzuryu's mouth flapped noiselessly, his brows knitted in an angry scowl, before he turned away in an attempt to hide his growing blush. "Dumbass. Whatever."

Hinata chuckled, continuing to pet Kuzuryu's ears and head—he hadn't been told not to, which with Kuzuryu was as much permission as anything. He reveled in the way the fine fur on his ears seamlessly transitioned into his coarser hair.

"I can't decide if it's a good thing this happened on a break day or not," Hinata mused aloud.

"What are you talking about?" Kuzuryu muttered, still facing away. "Of course it's better that it's the only shit we have to worry about today."

"Well, yeah," Hinata agreed. "But having animal ears might actually be better for finding materials, you know? We might be able to locate things by sound and stuff like that."

Kuzuryu grunted in acknowledgement and nuzzled against Hinata's hand almost imperceptibly. Hinata wasn't sure if he was meant to notice that, or if Kuzuryu even noticed himself.

"Maybe I'll keep the ears around for tomorrow and see how it helps, then."

"You better fucking not."

Hinata chuckled lightly. "All right, all right. If it bothers you so much, I'll log out after breakfast and see what I can do. But you'll need to cover for me if anyone asks where I am, all right?"

He scratched lightly at the base of Kuzuryu's ear, and was startled when Kuzuryu answered with a moan.

His hand stilled and his ears pricked forward, alert. "Uh... Kuzuryu?"

Kuzuryu finally slowly turned towards him, his face burning red. "You... better fucking not log out after this," he said lowly, his breath erratic.

"Oh..." Hinata blinked owlishly, pulling his hand away back slightly before placing it back, unsure of what would be the right course of action at this point. "Um, Kuzuryu, did I... are you...?"

Kuzuryu brought himself closer, trembling. "You wanna know what you did, huh?" He shot a hand up to place upon Hinata's own furry canine ears, which was really just startling and a bit uncomfortable, so Hinata had no idea what he was getting at until he started stroking and—

Oh. Oh wow, that felt good. His ears twitched, causing Kuzuryu's fingers to land on a different spot that felt even better, and Hinata felt his stomach do a flip from the stimulation.

"I— okay," Hinata gasped, pulling away so he could gather his thoughts again. Kuzuryu was incredibly sensitive even under normal circumstances—if just a few seconds of getting his ears pet had that sort of effect on Hinata, what sort of state was Kuzuryu in after several minutes? "So, um, do you... what do you want me to...?"

Kuzuryu pulled himself flush against Hinata's side—and yes, Hinata could clearly feel confirmation of what was happening now—and whispered into his ear. "You're using those stupid trip tickets on me today," he hissed. "And you're going to take care of this before you even think of leaving me in this program."

Hinata gulped, heat rising into his face and pooling in his abdomen. "Uh, right. Okay, no problem." He glanced briefly at their half-eaten breakfasts before deciding there were more pressing matters. "Let's get going now, then."

Notes: Souda had donkey ears.