Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A truth, universally acknowledged, that a tired university student confronted with the inevitable drudgery of mid-term assessments is in need of caffeine and sugar — preferably a lot of it. Which is why Nakajima Atsushi — a sleep-deprived, second-year veterinary student is waiting in a long line at the library café to place his order; the queue had basically snaked its way out the door and onto the pavement outside. 

Atsushi tapped his foot a little impatiently against the tiled floor. At this rate, he was going to be late for a study session with Junichiro and Naomi. Atsushi craned his neck to look at the counter. The girl at the cashier had a polished friendly smile and was taking and inputting orders with the practiced efficiency of a veteran, but there was a fierce glint in her eyes. In fact, the baristas by the coffee machine and the food bench all had the intense same look, like they were fighting for their lives on a battlefield. 

Atsushi was very glad he was not in the field of hospitality. 

Another ten minutes or so had elapsed before Atsushi emerged from the café with his iced latte — topped with whipped cream and drizzle in chocolate, in hand. He squeezed his way out the door against the crush of people and made his way towards the library entrance. Predictably his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. 

"Hey, where are you?" Junichiro asked when he answered the call. 

Atsushi sighed, "I'm sorry, the queue in the café was so long!" He transferred the phone to his cheek and raised his shoulder to keep it in place as he fished his wallet out from his pant pocket for his student ID. "I just need to pick up some books I order at the counter, and I'll be right—" 

In the midst of his preoccupation with extracting his student card with one hand, while holding his drink in the other and balancing his phone on his shoulder, Atsushi collided with a figure coming out of the library.  

Like all compounding disasters, just as Atsushi was about to right himself — a misstep on his semi unravelled shoelaces triggered a further imbalance, sending him crashing into the other person and the two of them tumbled to the ground in an awkward tangle of limbs. 

"Holy shit! I'm so sorry! Are you alri—" Atsushi exclaimed anxiously, but lost the rest of his sentence when he caught sight of the person he had embarrassingly landed on top of. 

He was like a dark brooding prince straight out of a fantasy novel, jet black hair though the tips of his side bangs were oddly white. He had porcelain pale skin with sharp angular features that were twisted into a formidable scowl; his elegant mouth was poised to unleash — no doubt a torrent of insults when he did a double take. His onyx eyes bore into Atsushi with such ferocity that Atsushi thought he was going to smite him into dust. 

"Nii-san are you alright?" Asked a delicate worried voice above them. 

That seemed to break him out of his strange trance, and he swore under his breath and with an abrupt jerky motion; twisted away from Atsushi in an attempt to rise from the ground. However, in the process he elbowed Atsushi vigorously in the chin, causing him to accidentally bite down on his tongue. 

Atsushi yelped, clutching his mouth and rearing away from the other; he fell backwards onto his bottom, eyes watering in pain. When the pain had subsided a little, Atsushi opened his eyes to see the dark haired man carefully wiping the cover of a sketchbook his drink had spilt on with a pack of tissues. Then in a flurry of movement, gathered all the other miscellaneous items that had fallen out, back into his large black canvas bag. Rising swiftly to his feet, the man rushed out the library — almost colliding into Atsushi as he did so; he muttered something under his breath and Atsushi caught the barest fragment of '—logies' in passing. 

"Oi!" He protested after the guy, but it was no use. 

The slender petite girl with long dark hair — his sister, gave Atsushi a quick apologetic bow and then hurried off after her brother. 

Atsushi was left on the ground, staring after the two figures; somewhat dazed and very indignant. He groaned, wincing a little since his tongue was still tender and sore then proceeded to gather up his own stuff. Student card, phone — which had thankfully sustained no damages, but unfortunately his drink was beyond saving. Atsushi sighed, the corner of his eyes twitching in irritation and moped up the spillage as best as he could with a pack of tissue, then disposed of the rubbish in a nearby bin with an annoyed huff. 

After washing his hands in the toilets by the library entrance, Atsushi stomped quickly (but quietly) towards the library counter. He inhaled, then exhaled deeply to calm down; setting aside his irritations, before giving the librarian a polite smile and asked for the textbooks he ordered; handing her his student card.

The librarian took the card, studied it for a moment frowning, then looked back up at Atsushi in puzzlement and again back down at the card — adjusting her spectacles. 

"This isn't your card," she said. 

Atsushi blinked in astonishment. 

"What?" 

She handed him back the card and Atsushi saw that it was indeed not his card, the face staring back at him was the guy he had bumped into just then, and he flushed red with embarrassment. 

"You must have gotten it mixed up with your friend's card." the librarian said kindly. 

"Y-yes." Atsushi stammered incoherently. 

"I'm afraid, I can't give those textbooks unless you have your own student card." She said apologetically. 

"Of course! I understand — sorry about that." Atsushi bowed awkwardly and hurried away to the first floor of the library, where the study rooms were located. 

He spotted Junichiro and Naomi through the glass windows and made a beeline for them in case he should get hit by another unexpected disaster. 

"There you are!" Junnichiro exclaimed as he walked through the door, "what took you so long?"

Atsushi slumped into his seat and rubbed his hands over his face in an effort to chase away the fatigue, he closed his eyes for a bit; too tried to answer Junichiro right away. 

"Accidentally bumped into some guy at the library entrance, split my drink over his stuff and he elbowed me in the chin." 

Junichiro blinked, "errr… are you ok?" 

Atsushi blew his one long choppy lock of silver hair out of his face, "no, I lost my student card in the mess." 

He took out the student card from his jacket pocket; the name printed on the card was Akutagawa Ryuunosuke and Atsushi noted that the guy was a student from the faculty of fine arts and music. He studied the grainy photography carefully, the man had a severe, aristocratic face that was intimidating as it was beautiful. 

Though, he's more handsome in real life than in this dingy little photograph. The unbidden thought crossed Atsushi's mind, and he shook his head vigorously, chasing away that thought and sternly reprimanded himself. The guy was rude and a jerk; it'll do Atsushi no good to be mixed up with someone like him, the sooner he returns the student card and gets his own back the better.  

“Hey, do the two of you know this guy?” Atsushi asked, showing Junichiro and Naomi the ID card. It was a long shot, but he had to start somewhere. 

They both leaned over to look and a flash of recognition lit up in both their eyes. 

“Oh yes, Akutagawa! He’s an art student — quite well known on campus.” Naomi piped. 

Atsushi’s eyes widened in surprise. “He is?” 

Naomi giggled a little, “he and his sister attract a lot of attention because of their looks. She’s studying ballet and works part-time as a model. The art faculty hold exhibitions of their student's artworks from time to time, and a lot of people who go say Akutagawa is very good but are too afraid to go near him since he's so aloof." 

Given the fierce glare the other had given him during their brief encounter, Atsushi can well believe why people would be hesitant to approach him. But, that doesn't really matter in his case. 

"Do you know how I'll be able to get in contact with him? I have his student card, and he probably has mine." 

Naomi and Junichiro frowned and looked at each other, mentally running through their list of friends who could prove to be a friend of Akutagawa. 

"He's friends with Tachihara Michizo… we don't know him that well, but I can definitely ask him for Akutagawa's contact details." Junichiro said. 

"Though, it might be quickest if you go to student services and tell them what happened," said Naomi, "they can issue you a new card and can probably get in contact with Akutagawa to return his." 

Atsushi brightened at the suggestion, "that's a good idea!" He looked at the time on his phone and his jaw dropped onto the floor. 

"Holy shit! I'm going to be late for work! I'll stop by student services tomorrow!" 

"Good luck with work." Junichiro said, waving goodbye. 

"Thanks." Atsushi replied, giving both him and Naomi a cheery wave before rushing out the study room. 

The next day bright and early, Atsushi made his way across campus; chin tucked into the collar of his jacket against the cold morning air. He spotted the library café out of the corner of his eye and debated on whether he should grab a coffee on his way to the student services building, and inevitably his thoughts took a sour turn when he remembered the lost of his drink yesterday. 

To hell with it! I want to get a drink to make up for yesterday! Atsushi thought petulantly and made his way over. 

The inside of the café smelt a comforting combination of freshly ground coffee beans, toasted sandwiches and polished old wood. Atsushi in relief, the warm cosy interior was a welcome change to chilly wind outside. Just as he was about to approach the counter, Atsushi caught sight of something that made him halt in his tracks. 

It was Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, sitting at one of the small round coffee tables by the windows, bathed in the soft morning sunlight and looking, annoyingly like something straight out of a high-end style magazine, as he daintily slipped a cup of coffee. He was scrutinising an item in his hand with great concentration. Atsushi realised that it was a card — no doubt his student card that Akutagawa was glaring at so intensely like it had personally said something highly offensive. 

A wave of indignation swept over him, and without thinking Atsushi marched over to the other; stopping only when he was right in front of Akutagawa and blurted out the first thing that came into his mind. 

"That's my card." 

Akutagawa's head snapped up so quickly that Atsushi was surprised he didn't get a crick in his neck. He stared at Atsushi in astonishment, gripping onto the card so tightly that Atsushi wondered if Akutagawa was trying to break his student card to pieces with his bare hands. 

There was a momentary pause where the two of them just stared at each other. 

Seeing as Akutagawa isn't going to hand over his ID card any time soon, Atsushi exhaled an irritated huff, pulled out the vacant seat and sat down opposite the other, whose dark eyes widen comically to the size of sauces and mouth slightly agape. His expression was a curious mix of confusion, offence… and dare Atsushi think it — cute. 

He looked at Akutagawa straight in the eyes and raised a questioning eyebrow; trying to put on a bravado he absolutely did not feel and praying that his cheeks were not red. 

"That's my student card." 

Akutagawa glared at him, then at the card, then back up at him like he was buffering Atsushi's words — and suddenly, as though he finally comprehended their meaning, a light flush of embarrassment spread across his cheeks. 

"My apologies." He said, placing the card on the table in front of Atsushi, coughing slightly into the back of his other hand. 

Atsushi glanced down, his own face growing warm, "thanks." He muttered, taking out his wallet and stuffing the card back into its usual slot, then sliding out another card and handing it to Akutagawa. 

"Here's yours." 

The other gave a curt nod of thanks, avoiding direct eye-contact. 

Awkward silence. 

Atsushi cleared his throat a little, racking his brains for something to say but found nothing. Technically, he has accomplished what he needed to do, so there's no reason for him to linger any longer. 

“How is the chin?” 

Atsushi looked up, blinking confusedly. 

“What?” 

Akutagawa scowled at him, annoyed at having to repeat himself. 

“How is your chin?” He gritted out. 

Atsushi, slightly taken aback by the force of his tone, spluttered, “oh, it’s fine.” 

Akutagawa scowl did not abate, if anything it seemed to grow more intimidating. 

“Are you certain that you haven’t sustained any permanent damage?” He demanded, leaning forward and scanning Atsushi’s face with alarmingly intense and critical eyes. 

“W-what?! No!” 

Akutagawa continued to glare at him as if trying to catch if Atsushi was lying or not. Atsushi, blushing fiercely thanks to their close proximity, managed to scoff and roll his eyes. 

“Considering it’s my chin, I would know if it was okay or not.” 

Akutagawa’s frown deepened. 

“Rude.” He said, before leaning back in his seat and his face smooth back into its cool indifferent expression. 

Another pause of awkward silence. 

“What is your drink preference?” 

“Huh?” 

Akutagawa let out a long-suffering sigh, “honestly, it’s like trying to converse with a brick wall.” 

“Hey! And you call me rude!” 

Akutagawa ignored Atsushi’s outburst and merely folded his arms across his chest, shooting him a dry half-smirk with one thin barely-there eyebrow arched expectantly. 

Atsushi pouted indignantly — glaring at the other, but his shoulders sagged in resignation. 

“I like lattes— oh! You don’t have to…” He demurred when he saw that Akutagawa was rising from his seat. 

“Shut up and let me buy you a coffee as recompense for yesterday.” Akutagawa said, looking at Atsushi over his shoulder. His expression, arrogant and slightly condescending. 

He left for the counter before Atsushi could issue any further protest, leaving the latter to stare after him like a fish that was surprised to find itself out of the water. Has anyone else ever offered to buy another person coffee in such a brusque and high-handed manner? 

Akutagawa returned a minute later, his elegant cheekbones were lightly pink; he sat back down and rested his chin in the palm of his hand, glaring out the window. His slender fingers drumming absentmindedly on the cover of his sketchbook on the table in front of him. 

Atsushi studied him, puzzled and a little trepidatious, then ventured to ask: 

"Is your sketchbook alright?" 

Akutagawa gave a small start at being broken out of his reverie and turned to fix his glare on Atsushi, but the other was already somewhat use to it, since it seemed to be Akutagawa's default expression. 

"Is your sketchbook alright?" He asked again, "I split my drink on it — I hope none of your drawings were damaged." And he earnestly meant that. 

Akutagawa stared at him, dark eyes wide and fathomless. Again, Atsushi had the distinct feeling of being swallowed up in that unrelenting gaze and did his best to stop the heat from crawling up his neck. Suddenly, to his astonishment, Akutagawa relaxed; his eyes became softer and a small genuine smile crept to his lips 
 
"It's fine, thank you for asking." Akutagawa murmured. 

Okay, now his ears definitely feel hot. Thankfully, before he could embarrass himself, the waitress came with Atsushi's latte and another cup of coffee for Akutagawa, retrieving his empty cup before leaving. 

Atsushi busied himself with his drink, his mind still occupied with the small smile he had seen on Akutagawa, musing to himself. 

He really is not so bad… blunt and a bit standoffish, but still — not nearly as much of a jerk than I initially thought. 

"Thanks for the drink." Atsushi said, smiling happily at the other. 

Akutagawa shifted his face a little away from Atsushi and coughed into his hands; once he had steadied his breath, Akutagawa turned back to him and mumbled awkwardly. 

"You're welcome." 

He raised the coffee cup to his lips and took a sip, avoiding direct eye-contact and his cheeks still faintly pink. Atsushi grinned and this time a comfortable quietness permeated the space between them. 

Chapter Text

Purple and gold and framed in silver — beautiful ametrine eyes, like brilliantly cut gemstones. 

Akutagawa glared at the blank page of his sketchbook, absentmindedly twirling a graphite pencil in his hand. Sitting in his studio at home; he itched with a strange longing to draw the face that he had collided into today at the library, and yet he could quite figure out how to begin. 

Certain details of the person's face eluded him. But what remained seared into his brain were those ametrine eyes, the kind of eyes that would forever haunt an artist in his dreams. 

Such strange and unique colouring. Akutagawa mused, then exhaled in frustration. Not for the first time did he wish he could have the ability to transfer the picture so clear and exact in his mind straight onto the page or the canvas. Alas, that was impossible. 

He picked up the student card he had accidentally taken when he was gathering his stuff and scrutinised the photograph. It was atrocious in terms of lighting and clarity, not to mention the size was too small to adequately study the colour of his eyes — not that a poor quality camera would be able to capture its beauty anyway. 

Still, it was better to have some sort of reference than nothing he supposed, and Akutagawa began to lightly sketch the picture on the card in his book. 

"Nii-san… nii-san… geez nii-san!" 

Abruptly, Akutagawa snapped his head up from his sketchbook to see Gin standing by his shoulder looking exasperated, he frowned at her. 

"Knock next time will you?" He grouched. 

Gin waved the dismissive hand of a younger sibling completely disregarding the privacy of their older sibling, "I did — several times. It's not my fault you're as deaf as a door knob when you're drawing." 

Akutagawa glowered at her but to no avail as Gin has had a lifetime to build up immunity against his glares. 

"Dinner is growing cold if you don't hurry up," she said, then tilting her head a little to study his sketching and a mischievous smile curved on her lips. 

"Ohh, that's the guy you accidentally collided with at the library and then got flustered because he had, and I quote'the beautiful neoclassical bone structure and facial proportions.'"

She levelled him the superior look of someone that just announced checkmate, and Akutagawa spluttered indignantly. 

"That's absolute nonsense! I did not utter those words!" He objected. 

"Sure, sure — whatever helps you sleep at night." Gin said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, when you see him again to return his student card, make sure to apologise! You were very rude elbowing him in the chin like that." 

Akutagawa fidgeted with the sleeves of his long black shirt looking somewhat guilty, though there was a stubborn little pout on his lips. 

"I did."

"It was very poor," Gin returned, "apologise properly and who knows? He might forgive you enough to sit for you, wouldn't that be nice?" 

She ignored his protestations that he was indifferent to whether or not the guy sat for him as they left the studio; only shot him an unimpressed look that Akutagawa found aggravatingly difficult to countered, and thus he remained slightly sulky for the rest of dinner. 

The next day Akutagawa left for the university far earlier than necessary, ignoring the smug expression on Gin's face as she did her morning yoga routine in the living room. Him going to campus early had no relevance to the incident yesterday; nor was he intentionally trying to seek the guy out — he merely needed to borrow a book from the library. 

"Don't frown so much, or you'll age before your time," was Gin's parting shot as he exited the front door. 

There were still ten minutes before the library would be open, but luckily the café was already up and running for the day with only a sparse scattering of customers, the morning rush hour had yet to begin. 

Akutagawa order a cup of coffee, then sat down at one of the round, mildly wonky wooden tables by the windows; a strange combination of anxiety and anticipation swirling within him as his fingers tapped restlessly on the student card he had in his hands. 

Taking out his sketchbook and flipping open to the drawing he did last night, Akutagawa grimaced in dissatisfaction; the proportions were off — subtle, but the imbalance was enough to drive him mad. He closed the sketchbook with a huff and scrutinised the ID card for the umpteenth time since he had it in his possession. 

Inadequate. He reflected with irritation, it's impossible to capture the distinctiveness of his features with such a substandard photograph, I really require the actual subject— 

"That's my student card." 

Akutagawa looked up into the androgynous face with an aesthetic beauty so prized to the classic artists, and felt his own mind go into shock. 

Impossible… he thought as he stared at the person standing in front of him, bathed in the soft glow of the morning sunlight. 

Chapter Text

Atsushi groaned and stretched his arms over his head, holding them up for a few seconds before letting them flop back down. Then rolling his shoulders back and kneading the tired muscles to ease the tension that had built up, he sighed in exhaustion. 

The mid-term assessments had just finished and Atsushi was quite ready to crawl into bed and sleep for a week, his shift at the veterinary is just about over, and he had a few moments of peace to himself. 

Inevitably his thoughts wandered back to Akutagawa, since that morning in the café they had bumped into each other a few more times during mid-terms; usually at the café or at the library. They would nod and say hello to each other in passing but nothing more than that. 

His thoughts were broken by a polite knock on the door and Reiko-san, the receptionist poked her head in through the door. 

"Nakajima-kun, an owner has just come in with their cat and they're very distressed. It seemed like the cat ate a bunch of lilies but…" she trailed off, looking very uncertain. 

Atsushi raised a quizzical eyebrow, "but?" He prompted. 

Reiko-san looked both embarrassed and apologetic, "the cat is notorious for being very difficult to handle. Kenji-san usually sees him, but he is fully booked up today and the other vet, well…" 

Atsushi smiled comprehending, "sure! No problem, I'll do my best." He said cheerily, not a bit put out. 

Reiko-san left looking very relieved at Atsushi's response, and a few minutes later the tall, dark figure of Akutagawa Ryuunosuke appeared. He was slightly out of breath, a light flush dusted across his cheekbones and tufts of his raven black hair with white tips were sticking up in odd directions. He was lugging a big pet carrier which he had to carry with both hands. 

"Akutagawa!" Atsushi exclaimed, mouth agape in shock. 

Akutagawa's head snapped up, and he jolted in surprise. 

"You." He said frowning, his tone was almost accusatory. 

For a few moments the two of them just stood there staring at each other in stunned silence until a loud sullen yowl from within the confines of the pet carrier broke through Akutagawa's thoughts. He set the crate onto the examination table with a sight 'oomph', then opened the wire door and bent his head down. Atsushi could hear him gently trying to coax the cat to come out, but there was a vehement hiss in protest and Akutagawa retracted his hand quickly. 

"Um, maybe I can help?" Atsushi offered, stepping forward. 

But the other shot him an irritated look. "I can handle this, he doesn't really like strangers." 

After a minute or so Akutagawa managed to persuade the cat to emerge from its carrier, and out came the largest cat known to mankind. It had taken all of three steps before belly flopping onto the table and glare balefully at its owner. Atsushi blinked a few times to make sure that what was in front of him was a cat and not some gigantic furry beach ball 

It was a Karpati (Carpathian) breed, beautiful sleek black fur covered its body with grey-white ears, paws and a fluffy white tail. Its face was also a mix of black and white and had the most perpetually grumpy expression; as if it was constantly plotting ways to murder you in your sleep. In fact, it was absolutely uncanny how much the grouchy cat resembled its cantankerous owner. 

Atsushi bit down hard on the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing out loud, even the way both owner and animal gave side-eye glares was exactly the same. He crouched down until he was eye-level with the cat on the table and slowly stretched his hand out. 

The cat turned his scornful-looking eyes onto Atsushi then craned his head forward and sniffed his hand curiously. To his immense surprise, the cat nuzzled his head deeper into his palm. It gave a short 'meow' as it pawed at Atsushi's hand insistently for head rubs. Atsushi chuckled softly as he rubbed his thumb soothing across the cat's forehead then lightly scritched behind its ears, the cat closed his eyes in contentment. 

"Aww you're so cute~" Atsushi cooed, "all grumpy looking on the outside but soft and squish like a marshmallow on the inside. What's his name?"

"Fuku."  

Atsushi turned to Akutagawa but was taken aback when he saw that the other was staring at him with furious disbelief, arms crossed tightly over his chest. 

"What kind of black magic are you practising?!" He demanded. 

"Whaat?" Atsushi uttered in bewilderment. 

Akutagawa's handsome face twisted into a scowl. "He is never this affectionate with someone he's just met!" He grouched, "It took months for him to warm up to me when I first got him." 

Atsushi shot Akutagawa a look of pure exasperation then turned his attention back to the cat, gently scratching its chin. "Anyway," he said briskly, back to business. "I'll do a quick examination of his belly first, can you please hold him?" 

Akutagawa nodded his head jerkily, still sulking about the fact that his cat had instantly cosied up to Atsushi. He cradled Fuku's upper body in a gentle but firm hold. 

Atsushi rolled his eyes at him. However, secretly he couldn't help but find Akutagawa's reaction strangely endearing. All those other times, the other had also seemed cool and aloof, but there was a childish side to him.  

Atsushi smiled a little to himself at this discovery about Akutagawa. 

To the surprise of both, Fuku exposed his belly on the examination table without any fuss, even looking towards Atsushi expectantly for belly rubs. 

Atsushi cooed and chuckled under his breath as he lightly pressed his index and middle over the cat's abdomen; all the while listening for sounds of distress. Thankfully, it seems as though Fuku was enjoying his ministrations, judging from the faint rumble he was emitting. 

"Okay, let's weigh him first, and then I'll be able to administer the emetic."  

Akutagawa grunted and the two of them gently manoeuvred the fat cat onto the scales and Atsushi carefully noted down the weight in Fuku's medical chart. Next he took out the blood pressure monitor and wrapped the sleeve around the cat's tail then pressed the start button and jotted down the numbers the monitor eventually rested on. 

Preliminary checks completed, Akutagawa carefully laid Fuku belly down on the table and caressed the back of his head. Atsushi went across the room and took out from the medical cardboard, a new syringe and a small vial of clear liquid. 

Moving back, he placed the things on a tray next to the examination table and donned a pair of latex gloves. Opening the syringe from its package, Atsushi inserted the needle into the vial and drew out the liquid into the barrel, expelling the air from the syringe. He also pulled out an antiseptic wipe from its packet beside the examination bench and swabbed a patch of Fuku's thigh. 

"Hold still ok?" He murmured to the cat and inserted the needle into the thigh.  

Fuku's ears flattened against his head and he let out a pitiful whine, but nonetheless remained admirably still. 

"You're such a good kitty cat~" Atsushi praised, withdrawing the syringe and patting his head softly as a reward. 

He could hear Akutagawa grumble in the background, and turned to the brooding artist to stick his tongue out at him. Probably not very professional of him to do that, but somehow, Akutagawa provoked in him a bratty side he never knew he had.

"Alright! Now we need to wait for the emetic to take effect." Atsushi said with a satisfied huff and placed a tub on the table in front of Fuku. 

"Could you set a timer for 5 minutes?" He asked Akutagawa. 

Akutagawa, interminably wearing that pinched expression on his face, gave a curt nod and did as the vet-in-training asked. Once again, Atsushi had to stifle his laughter at the pet and owner resemblance. Fuku whiskers droop as he stared pathetically at Atsushi. However, the cat's expression morphed into mid-smugness once Atsushi resumed stroking his head soothingly. 

Then all of a sudden, Akutagawa said abruptly. 

"Weretiger." 

Atsushi blinked and raised a questioning eyebrow, he had no idea what kind of madness Akutagawa was driving at. 

"You must be part tiger or something of that configuration." Akutagawa huffed, "there is no other explanation as to why my cat is bewitched by you." 

Atsushi just stared at him. 

"You…" He replied, once he was able to recover his speech, "you are such a drama queen."

Akutagawa glared at him, "I am no such thing!"  

Atsushi ignored the other and turned to the cat, "Fuku~ your owner is such a drama queen~," He said in a sweetly high voice.

The cat, while still looking somewhat sick and miserable made a soft sound and closed its eyes; lavishing in Atsushi's attention.  

"Yes, you and your owner are both temperamental divas, it's lucky you're so cute~!" He continued, giggling and caressing the back of the cat's head. 

"Oi!" Akutagawa objected, blushing a furious red. 

But before he could protest any further, the timer on his phone sounded and right on cue — the cat vomited. Thankfully, Atsushi had already anticipated it and with quick reflexes placed the bucket in front of Fuku before it could make a mess of the examination table. 

The vomiting only lasted for a short period of time, when the ordeal was over the cat flopped down on the table and glowered at the two humans. It was a look that said plainly: aren't you going to console me after the shit I went through? 

Akutagawa approached and tenderly stroked Fuku's head, the cat gave a flick of its ears and weakly pawed at his hands as if it was trying to throw a tantrum but couldn't muster up the energy and dropped off to sleep. 

"What is the matter with him? Is he going to be alright?" Akutagawa asked, frowning in concern. 

"He'll be okay," Atsushi reassured, "cats will become sedated when they've been given the emetic. In about 15 minutes or so I'll administer a shot of antisedan to help him recover faster from the sedation." 

Atsushi looked in the bucket, "You need to keep flowers in places he's unable to reach." He said, examining the contents. 

Akutagawa's scowl deepened, "We don't usually have flowers in the house, but this time Gin was given a bouquet of lilies by Tachihara." He rumbled menacingly. "I'm going to kill him." 

"Wouldn't your sister be angry at you if you did that?" Atsushi remarked as he disposed of the waste into a red plastic vomit bag and tied it shut before disposing it into the red bin label biohazard, along with the used syringe.

"He is absolutely inadequate for my sister, and he tried to poison my cat!" Akutagawa said hotly. 

"You are soo dramatic." Atsushi scoffed by the industrial sink in the corner of the room, washing the bucket with hospital grade disinfectant. 

Once that was done and the bucket was left to dry, Atsushi discarded the used gloves into the bin and sanitised his hand with a dispenser on the wall. 

He came back to the desk and picked up Fuku's medical chart, studying it carefully. A small frown marred his features like he was pondering a particularly difficult question. Then, Atsushi walked over to Akutagawa, placing his hands on his hips and fixed the other with a stern look. 

Akutagawa arched a thin, barely-there eyebrow, "what?" 

Atsushi exhaled heavily, best to rip off the proverbial band-aid quickly. 

"I'm going to be blunt, Akutagawa. Your cat is too fat, you need to cut down his food intake and make him exercise more." 

Akutagawa stared at him, all wide bug-eyed umbrage as if Atsushi had cursed his ancestors or something — he looked ridiculous and yet oddly adorable. Atsushi felt the corner of his lips quirk up, but he resolutely suppressed the impulse. Laughing now would not help his point — which is Fuku's obesity, his pride as a vet in training depended on it!

"Preposterous! My cat is NOT fat!" Akutagawa enunciated, his dainty nose up-turned at the absurd idea. 

"He is!" Atsushi marched back to his desk and rummaged through the folders, then returned with a laminated A4 paper and gestured emphatically to the pictures. "Look, this is the weight and size chart for your cat's breed and yours is dangerously overweight!

Akutagawa's lips pressed into a flat line, but his cheeks puffed out slightly in protest. "Fuku is special, he is just bigger boned than other cats." He countered, turning away from him and crossed his arms.

Atsushi gaped at him, "there are limits!" 

"I cannot just let him starve! That’s too cruel!" Akutagawa complained, whirling back on the other. 

"He won’t starve! Just stick to a healthy diet!" 

"Fuku is of delicate constitution! Exercise may not always agree with him." 

Atsushi bit on his bottom lip to stop himself from pointing out that not even a minute ago Akutagawa had given the excuse that Fuku was 'big-boned'. Finally, he rebuffed with. 

"He’s sturdier than you think, and anyway look at him! He needs to work off that chonk!" 

"Take that back!" 

Atsushi winced internally, maybe that was not the most tactful line to take. He could see Akutagawa gearing up to unleash a thousand more excuses and interjected speedily before the other could say anything. 

"Which one out of the two of us is studying veterinary?" 

Akutagawa clamped his mouth shut and Atsushi knew he had gotten the final word. He decided now it was time to switch to a different, softer tactic. 

"I know you cherish your cat," he said in a calmer, persuasive tone, "if we reduce his weight down to a healthier figure, it will be heaps more beneficial for him in the future. There will be fewer chances of developing heart problems, and he'll be able to be with you for longer. Wouldn't you want that?" 

Atsushi could see internally, Akutagawa's arguments giving way to what he just said and after a pause, the latter nodded — albeit in grudging consent. He smiled beamingly at Akutagawa; though the other quickly turned away and coughed into his hand.

After checking there was no respiratory issue with the cat, Atsushi administered the antisedan and while they waited for Fuku to wake up, he wrote down the diet and exercise plan for both owner and pet. Akutagawa, not one to accept loss graciously, peeked over Atsushi's shoulder as he wrote and expressed some doubtful remarks on parts of the suggested diet regime. 

In the end, Atsushi thoroughly annoyed; threw his pen at the other. Akutagawa, not expecting such an attack, let out an undignified squawk much like an irate hen. But nonetheless got the message even as Atsushi cackled at him. It took a few minutes for some semblance of peace to return to the room.   

"Make sure to follow exactly what is written here and do not give in." Atsushi insisted firmly as he handed the documents to Akutagawa. "Come back in a week or so, and we'll weigh him and chart the progress." 

There was a sound coming from the examination table and they both turned to see Fuku blinking groggily at them. Atsushi smiled and got up from his desk to greet the cat. 

"Hello cutie pie, you're awake now aren't you." He said softly while rubbing the cat's head and lightly scratching its chin. 

The cat let out a low purr of satisfaction at his ministrations and nuzzled Atsushi's hand. He ignored Akutagawa grumbling in the background something along the lines of 'stealing the affections of other people's cat'. 

A small complication arose when they were getting Fuku to go back into its carrier. The cat did not want to let go of Atsushi and therefore dug his nails into Atsushi's sleeve. Eventually, he was coaxed into his carrier by the two of them, and a blanket was covered over for the cat's comfort. 

Akutagawa cleared his throat awkwardly, "thank you." He muttered, not quite meeting his eyes. 

Atsushi grinned, unable to stop himself from teasing the other. "Hmm? What was that? Couldn't quite hear you." He said mockingly as he leaned forward slightly and cupped one ear. 

Akutagawa's face was a vivid shade of red as he glared at him, "you are a menace of a weretiger." 

Atsushi poked his tongue out. "And you are a grouch," he teased, "do you go around giving people weird nicknames?" 

Akutagawa studied him for a moment, then a glint appeared in his eyes and his lips curved into a dry smirk. Leaning forward towards Atsushi who froze — caught off guard at the sudden proximity. 

"Only to incorrigible weretigers." He murmured in a deep rich voice, his breath tickling the shell of Atsushi's ear. 

"Wha—?!" Atsushi spluttered, rearing back and clutched his ear. 

He could feel his face burst into flames. But before Atsushi could form a coherent reply, Akutagawa had left the room.