Disclaimer: once again, I own only my OCs!~
"Um…nice cat?" Arlua tried, eying the golden-brown feline uncertainly as it clung to her boyfriend's arm, it's teeth piercing his skin.
"Figures that the monster's cat would have disgusting strength just like him," Izaya spat, wincing at the pain and trying to pry the cat's jaws out of his arm. He glared at it, noticing that the creature had bitten right through his jacket.
"Dad's strength isn't disgusting!" Rimiko protested from behind Tania. "Say that again and I'll kick you, flea!" Izaya barely glanced at the girl. Meanwhile, Tania and Arlua seemed to be having a quiet discussion, ignoring the growling of the cat and the frustration of the informant it was biting.
"Lu-chan, quit chatting with her and help me!" Izaya demanded. The feline bit down harder, drawing a hiss from the man whose arm his fangs were gripping. The technician hid a smile.
"Actually, you'll have to ask Tania to help if you want that particular cat off of you," she said mysteriously. Izaya frowned at her, but turned to Tania anyway. The teacher was smirking.
"Zuo, enough. If you hurt him too badly, Arlua will keep him here to doctor him, and you don't want that," Tania pointed out. The cat lashed its tail and growled, while the informant blinked in surprise, momentarily forgetting the cat.
"Zuo?" he repeated. "You named your cat after your husband? That's just weird, Ani-chan," he announced.
"Actually, my husband turned into a cat," she replied lightly. Izaya gaped at her.
"You seriously expect me to…believe…" he trailed off as an odd feeling began to creep through his body. "What the…"
Arlua glanced nervously at Tania as Izaya collapsed.
"He'll be fine. He's probably just turning into a cat, too," the teacher told her. Arlua sighed.
"Wonderful." A moment later, when they looked at the information broker, the black-haired man had been replaced by a lithe, wide-eyed, black-pelted cat with one foreleg still clamped in the jaws of the golden brown cat. "Oh dear…"
There was a long moment as the two cats stared at each other. The black one let out a questioning mew, and the golden one hissed and released the slender black foreleg. Crimson drops hit the floor as blood dripped from the wound on the black cat's foreleg. The smaller animal laid its injured paw on the floor as though testing to see if it would hold its weight. Apparently satisfied with its ability to stand, the cat then deftly swiped its claws across the larger animal's muzzle.
Cat-Shizuo practically shrieked in rage and lunged for the darker feline, who simply darted away. The golden cat gave chase, but the black one was quick enough to reach Arlua and leap upwards, landing in her arms. The golden cat launched himself after the black, only to be snatched out of the air by Tania.
"Enough cat fighting, you two," Arlua quipped, drawing disgusted glares from both felines. She laughed.
"Relax, Shinra says this is temporary," Tania assured them. The golden cat froze, staring at Tania in horror. She seemed to read his thoughts, nodding and confirming, "Celty says the cat that bit you was Shinra. That's why you turned into a cat, and it's why the flea is a cat now too." The black cat in Arlua's arms hissed, and she scratched the soft fur behind his ears. To her surprise, the feline quieted under her touch, then began purring after a moment.
"How long was Shinra stuck as a cat?" the technician asked.
"No idea. He turned during the night some time and Celty found him when she woke up. It could be two hours, or it could be twelve," Tania replied, shrugging and handing the large golden-brown cat to Rimiko, who stared at it.
"Daddy…?" The cat sighed and rested its chin on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Dad. It'll wear off." A soft noise came from the cat Arlua was holding, sounding like a mix between a purr and a snort.
"Oh, hush," the technician snapped. Then she glanced at Tania. "I can go ahead and work on your computer, if Izzy here promises to behave," she said. The lithe feline widened its eyes innocently at her, and she kissed the top of his head. "If you behave, I'll buy you ootoro on the way home." The cat's ears pricked up. She laughed and carried him to Tania's desk and set him next to the comuter. "Tania, would you bring me some bandages? I don't want him to lose too much blood."
An hour and a half later, Arlua set a takeout bag of ootoro on the table in the small kitchen area of one of their many Ikebukuro apartments. Izaya -still in the form of a lithe black cat- leaped onto the table beside the bag and pawed at it impatiently.
"Oh, relax. It's not like I'm going to let it go bad," she sighed. "Here." The technician took the food out and set it on a tray. "I should totally put it in a bowl on the floor," she mused wickedly. The feline shot her a glare that promised dire consequences if she attempted such a thing. She smirked and set the tray in front of him. The informant shot her one last warning look before he gathered his haunches underneath himself and wrapped his tail around his paws neatly. Only once his feline form was properly situated did he lower his head to eat.
When Arlua got a text from Tania telling her that Shizuo had returned to his normal human form, the technician got her phone's camera ready. Izaya was only halfway done with the tray of ootoro when he suddenly changed back, and sat there for a long moment, crouching by the tray in his human form. A soft click made him look up, and he saw his girlfriend standing there laughing, phone in hand.
"You look ridiculous, Izzy," she cackled. He gave her a baleful glare, then hurriedly got off the table as he noticed her raising the phone to take another picture.
"I'll get you for that," he announced sourly.