My head hurt. Actually my whole body hurt. It was just that my head hurt worse. And my lower back felt like it was on fire. I tried to move, but everything hurt and it only made my headache worse. I was vaguely aware of a wet cloth on my forehead, it felt soothing and I wanted to fall back asleep. That was when the sound of someone breathing reached my ears, and I knew I wasn't alone.

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking against the light. A glimpse of a blue blur and I let out the groan I'd been holding in. It was Kanda, the love of my life and bane of my existence. I didn't want to see him, not like this, not after having passed out in the middle of the street. But he knew I was awake now, having moved closer to the bed I was in. I managed to croak out, "What happened?"

"That's what I should be asking you, Moyashi." His hands were on my shoulders, helping me sit up.

"The name's Allen, Bakanda." The retort had no bite to it, I had no energy to fight with him. Instead I took the glass of water he was offering and sipped it slowly.

My vision cleared and the pain faded, leaving only a stinging in my back and a dull headache. Kanda took the empty glass back and walked to the table across the room. His movement stirred the air in the room and I caught a familiar scent. "Why does it smell like Master's cigarettes in here?"

Kanda clicked his tongue, standing with his back to me. "Because he was here while you were unconscious, baka."

"You found him then?" I don't know if I was happy or scared.

He clicked his tongue again, still facing away from me. "More like he showed up right after you passed out."

"Oh. Where is he now?"

Another tongue click. "Gone. He went to find the witch that cursed you."

I frowned as the memory of what happened before I passed out came back to me. And suddenly I was scared of why Kanda wouldn't look at me. "What happened?"

The fear must have been evident in my voice: Kanda sighed, and it sounded sad. Without warning he tossed something at me and it landed in my lap. "It'll be easier if you see it for yourself."

I looked down at the mirror, and slowly picked it up, scared of what I would see. And at first glance my reflection remained unchanged. Like always, the first thing I noticed was the white hair and bright red scar, the marks of my other curse. But then I noticed the change and let out a very undignified squeak.

On top of my head, sticking out of my hair, was a pair of white cat ears. My breath grew ragged and my heart was pounding louder, I was scared. I reached a shaky hand up to my head, and brushed my fingertips against one of the ears. And I squeaked again.

The fur felt soft and smooth, but that wasn't what freaked me out. What freaked me out was that I could feel my fingers through the ear. They were real. I actually had cat ears. Another thought struck me then, and I moved my fingers down to the side of my head. My human ears were gone. I felt the tears coming and I whimpered, trying to hold them back.

"There's more." Kanda's hand was on mine, and before I could react to the touch, he guided my hand down to my lower back, letting go when my fingers made contact with more soft fur.

This time the tears did fall. I had a tail. And now that I was aware of it, I could feel it move. This was awful. I was already a freak, this just made it worse. Kanda would never want me now. He could barely even look at me like this.

Suddenly there was extra weight on the bed, and I found myself wrapped in a tight hug. My mind stopped as the scent of soba and soap filled my nose. Why was Kanda hugging me?

"Cross says that the curse was supposed to turn you into a cat completely. That it's because of your Innocence and the reversal spell he did that you only partially changed. He says that the only way to change you back is to find the witch. That's why he left. The only other option is to hope that Komui can find a potion that will do the same." My sobs died while he spoke. I couldn't understand why he was so close, but I wanted it, so I didn't try to fight.

When I was done crying he pulled away. But only a little. He remained close enough to wipe the trails of tears from my cheeks. My eyes locked with his deep colbalt ones. And he didn't look away. He spoke again, and it was hesitant and unsure, so very unlike Kanda. "He also said ... that I should ... tell you ... that I ... love you."

.x.x.

The Moyashi was just too adorable. Seeing him with cat ears was making it that much harder for me to resist jumping him. I had to look away. I knew it would hurt him, but me suddenly trying to take advantage of him would hurt him more.

Then the brat had to go and start crying. I was doing my best to resist the urge to get close, but then I heard him mumble something about being a freak. And I couldn't stop myself. I was next to him in a split second, sitting beside him and pulling him tightly to my chest. I related everything that Cross had told me about the curse as best I could, figuring that knowing what was going on would help him cope.

And it worked. He stopped crying. Then he looked up at me with those big silver eyes and I knew, I knew in an instant that what Cross had said about his feelings was true. Not that that made admitting mine any easier. But I managed to say it. I managed to tell my Moyashi that I loved him.

He said nothing. He just blinked at me. Then his hands fell from my shoulders and he laughed. "Of course! I'm dreaming!"

It was my turn to stare as he sat there giggling. I was a little ticked that he took my confession as a joke. I flicked his forehead and he fell back on the mattress. The giggles didn't stop. I leaned over him and growled. "Baka. What makes you think you're still asleep?"

"Because." It was hard to hear his words through the giggles. "I know that my dreams are the only place I'll ever hear you say the words I've been wanting to hear ever since I met you."

The laughter wasn't at my expense then. It was relief over everything else being a dream. I almost didn't want to spoil it, but I'd be damned if I let him squirm out of responding to my confession like that.

Placing my hands on the mattress on either side of his head, I leaned closer, until my face was mere inches from his. He was still laughing, though it was a little more sporadic. That white hair was splashed across the pillow and the cat ears twitched with every giggle. He looked absolutely delicious and I felt my pants grow tight. I glared at him with all the anger I could muster, which wasn't much as my blood was trying to rush south. "I've got news for you then, you're wide awake."

Then I closed the distance and kissed him.

.x.x.

Kanda was kissing me. The last of my laughter died in my throat. It was surreal. Like the hug. Or those words. I didn't know how to respond.

He pulled away when he noticed that I was frozen. "Shit. Don't start crying again."

I was crying? I blinked a few times, and sure enough there were tears running down my face. I looked up at him. The expression on his face was unreadable, but I could tell he was waiting for me to do something, so I voiced my confusion. "I don't understand."

He gave an exasperated sigh and flicked my forehead again. "Are you sure that you're seventeen? Because you're acting more like you're twelve."

I felt my ears and tail twitch as I hissed at the insult. Like a cat. Apparently the changes were more than just cosmetic. Kanda pushed himself back into a sitting position in response to the noise, and I whimpered and tried to curl up in a ball.

"Damn, Moyashi, I was wrong. You're not acting like a child, you're acting like a girl on her period." He sighed and reached out, touching my right ear gently. "Though I suppose that given the circumstances it should be expected."

He began stroking my ear. I don't think he was aware of the action, it seemed like a reflex to me. But it felt surprisingly good. It was comforting and relaxing. I felt myself falling asleep.

Then it suddenly stopped. I looked up at Kanda to see what happened. He was staring at me, his expression bordering on shock. "Were you just purring?"

My eyes widened in horror. I buried my face in my hands and curled up tighter. This was too much, I couldn't take it anymore. The sobs came again, and this time they didn't stop. Kanda's hand returned to my head, and he stroked my ears until I fell asleep.

.x.x.

Clearly the Moyashi's head was a little screwed up over what happened. Fuck. I didn't want to let him ignore my confession, but he obviously needed time to process the changes he was experiencing. So I let him fall asleep. Besides, a sleeping Moyashi was infinitely preferable to the crying, hormonal one I'd been trying to deal with.

I was at the end of my patience with him. Honestly I was surprised I lasted that long. Though I suppose that could be chalked up to the worry that came from loving the little brat. He would be facing my usual way of dealing with him when he awoke, whether or not he was back to normal emotionally. I couldn't coddle him anymore.

Grabbing Mugen, I stalked out of the room, intending to find somewhere to train and blow off steam. I was halfway down the hall when I realized that I couldn't leave the Moyashi alone like that. Especially when I didn't know where Cross was. I couldn't let that bastard be the first person Allen saw when he woke up. I returned to the room swiftly. Guess I'd have to settle for meditation.

.x.x.

It was an hour later when the Moyashi woke up. Though the rumbling of his stomach started a good ten minutes before that. Knowing he wouldn't want to leave the room, and having ulterior motives, I had the finder stationed in the next room go fetch some dinner.

Sure enough, the first thing the brat did upon waking was eye the tray of sandwiches on the table. He sat up excitedly, but then his expression darkened and he tried to curl back up.

"Oh no you don't." I grabbed his shoulder roughly and pulled him out of bed. "I've been listening to your stomach try to eat itself for the past ten minutes. You can cry like a girl all you want later, but right now you need food."

I pushed him down in the chair and shoved the tray towards him. His face was bright red as he looked up at me. "Um, Kanda? Why am I naked?"

"Fuck!" I had forgotten Cross had done that. I turned around immediately and began looking for the brat's clothes. "Because your master is a bastard. That's why."

Not seeing the clothing in question, I went to his suitcase and grabbed fresh ones, tossing the pieces at the brat's head. "Hey!"

I smirked at him, and his angry smile faltered. "Aren't you going to leave so I can change?" He asked expectantly.

"Nope." I crossed my arms across my chest. "If I leave you alone you'll just curl back up in bed. Besides, Moyashi, I don't get what all this false modesty is about. We've got community baths. I've seen you naked hundreds of times." And enjoyed every single one of them. But he wasn't ready to hear that last bit just yet.

He grumbled as he pulled on his boxers. I sat back to enjoy the show. However he suddenly froze when they were mostly up. The realization hit us both at the same time: his tail. That beautiful white appendage was going to prevent his clothes from fitting properly. Acting swiftly, I snatched the knife from the table and grabbed the Moyashi by his hips. "Don't move." The warning wasn't necessary, he had frozen under my touch. I knelt down behind him, and used the knife to make a hole in his boxers. It was rather crude, but it would do for now. Without asking for permission, I grabbed his tail and slid it through the hole, then yanked his boxers the rest of the way up.

He hadn't moved. Looking up, I could see that he was still frozen in shock over what just happened. I rolled my eyes, apparently the brat was still an emotional wreck. I draped his shirt over his head. "Put your shirt on. I'll fix your pants."

"Why are you being nice?" He asked as he buttoned his shirt. "Shouldn't you be laughing your head off at me?"

I handed him his pants. "First: I don't laugh out loud." I paused, that wasn't quite right. "Unless the Baka Usagi were to fall down the stairs or something, and even then it would probably only be a short chuckle."

I watched in fascination as the Moyashi slid his tail through the hole in his pants without touching it. The second his pants were on I pushed him onto the chair and shoved a sandwich in his mouth. "Second: do you remember what happened earlier?"

He stopped eating and looked at me curiously, obviously thinking hard. I growled at him. "Eat. Or are you too stupid to eat and think at the same time?"

"Bakanda." He grumbled but obeyed, and once again began shoving food in his mouth.

The last sandwich was halfway to his mouth when it suddenly clicked. "W-Wait. You- You actually meant that?"

"Baka." I leaned in and kissed him again. And this time he kissed me back.