Title:Cat Eyes
Pairing:Jun/Aiba
Rating:PG
Summary:All it takes for Jun to find love is an injured pet and a crazy ex boyfriend. Not to mention having to go through that with fur and a tail.
Warnings:None
A/N:Hi guys, this is my first time writing a fic for someone else and my first time writing this pairing. Please go easy on me. I would like to thank my beta for going through my writing and giving me loads of advice. I apologise to my recipient if this is not what you wanted but I do hope you still enjoy it.


**********************


“Nino! I see you sneaking away, get your furry ass back here right now!” Jun directed his full glare towards the escaping black hachiko, which immediately stopped upon his owner’s command. With his ears and tail down, Nino slowly crawled to his mad owner, trying to show its best puppy dog eyes.

‘It's not my fault the squirrel looked so cute stuffing his cheeks with nuts while sitting on the window sill. So cute that I had to chase after it and..... subsequently knocking down Jun’s favorite vase.... Thinking back, maybe it wasn’t a great idea,’ Nino thought.

“Don't you dare give me those puppy dog eyes, Nino. You know they no longer work on me! You could have been badly hurt running around those sharp shards,” Jun said while inspecting Nino's paws and body. When he was convinced that there were no injuries, he ruffled Nino's fur affectionately. Nino tried showing his apologetic face and hoped his owner understood it. Jun smiled and poked Nino's nose playfully.

“Why were you running around anyways? You always just watch TV,” Jun wondered out loud as he swept up the broken pieces of the vase. It was a gift from his first relationship, which didn't go so well. His ex was a material man and very money minded.

But Jun believed that love couldn't be bought with money; and with that thought in mind, he ended the relationship and only kept the vase. It was a reminder of how cruel reality could be.

As he was throwing away the pieces into the bin outside, he realized that it could be a sign to throw away the hurtful past he had been clinging to and to look forward. It was a push he didn't realise he needed, until it happened. Nino whined another apology at the doorway “Its okay Nino, I am not mad at you but I think its time to let go of the past and give love one more chance.” Jun assured him. Nino just huffed.

**********

“Breakfast!” Jun called out after filling Nino's bowl with food. Instead of the usual pitter patter of paws on wooden flooring, he was met with silence. Thinking that Nino might not be awake yet, Jun went over to the dining table and started eating his breakfast and reading the morning newspaper.

As he was lifting the coffee mug to his lips, he felt something small and hard hit him right at his left cheek. Thinking it was a bug, he quickly looked down to smack it, only to find a small acorn. Puzzled, he picked it up. It was slightly damp to the touch. He looked around, trying to find where it had come from.

Across from him, sitting on his kitchen window, was a squirrel with chubby little cheeks and large round eyes. Weird, Jun thought, and waved at the little fellow. The squirrel scurried away, but it stopped right when Jun thought it was going to get away. The squirrel looked back at Jun and spat out an acorn, which went straight to Jun’s forehead. After that, the squirrel quickly jumped off the ledge.

“Hey! Excuse me!!” Jun exclaimed. Setting down his coffee cup a little too hard on the table. “Why, you devil rodent! Get back here!” He yelled and ran out the back door to try and catch it. As soon as he swung the door open, he saw Nino, lying on his side and whining softly. Surprised, Jun rushed to Nino's side and asked what happened. Nino just whined louder and Jun noted that Nino’s whole body was very still. Jun tried picking the dog up, but that made it yelp in pain. Immediately stopping what he was doing, Jun assured his pet that he would get a vet to come over and take a look at him. There was a small veterinary clinic fairly near his place, so Jun decided on the spot to have the veterinarian make a house call instead. As he took a last glance before leaving, Jun saw that the devil squirrel was sitting beside Nino. Without wondering too much, he quickly took his keys and went out the front door.

As soon as he started up his car, he immediately reversed out the driveway and drove as fast as he could. With the clinic in sight and hurting Nino in mind, he sped up a little more than he should have. He saw a white blur moving into the road almost at the last moment and quickly made a sharp swerve to the right, right into a pick-up truck. At the speed he was driving, Jun's seatbelt and front airbag did little to soften the impact of his head into his car's side window. The last thing he saw before passing out was that white blur, but now at the side of the road. For a split second, it looked like a white cat, and its blue eyes were looking straight at him.

*********

Sirens, loud blazing sirens was what Jun heard when he regained consciousness. Hard and hot was what greeted his body, and confusion crawled its way into his mind. Glaring bright light attacked his eyes when he opened them, and he took in slowly his surroundings. His initial confusion about his state ended as he came to a realization that he was lying on the road, which he confirmed after seeing his car not far from him.

Wait. How did he get out of his car? He wondered as he clenched his hands. No. His hands did not feel right. Come to think of it, his whole body did not feel right. Jun slowly brought his ‘hand’ up to his face and screamed when he saw a paw where his hand should be. That scream came out as a panicked mewl instead.

‘What happened to me??’ Jun thought to himself. He quickly tried to stand up but found it hard to do so. Standing up on all fours was definitely weird, Jun thought, but since it was all he could do at the moment, he decided to go with it. The siren he heard was gone and he crawled his way to his car, finding it empty. Panic rose up again, but his mind quickly shifted to his dog back home. There was no time to worry about his strange accident when Nino was still in severe pain.

Thus his remaining journey to the clinic continued, but this time he was running on all fours. Reaching the place was fast, and Jun saw that the clinic's parking lot was empty save for one car, parked at the side of the building. He let out a thought of thanks, knowing that the doctor was in. The door was automatic so as soon as he came close, it opened and an electrical bell rang out.

The neighborhood animal doctor, Aiba, came out from the back and greeted out automatically. Aiba was a tall lanky fellow whose lab coat only reached the middle of his thighs. His dark brown hair was combed but not styled and people would tell you that his resting face was a cheerful smile that would brighten up anyone.

Upon entering his clinic, one can see that the interior reflects Aiba’s cheerfulness even though the clinic was small. A few chairs lined up beside the entrance that led to a reception table facing the entrance. On the walls hung many cute photographs of the doctor cuddling his animal patients.

‘Are there more photographs on the wall the last time I came here with Nino?’ Jun thought.

Aiba’s expression changed from welcoming to confusion as he saw that no one entered. “Huh, was it my imagination?” The doctor thought out loud. But before he turned back into his office, he heard a loud but small “Excuse me!”. 'I definitely heard that’, Aiba thought as he looked around. He then saw a white Siamese cat rushing towards him and speaking fast. Aiba caught a few words like 'dog' and 'pain'. That was enough for him to be alarmed and after hurriedly taking his medical bag, he asked the cat to lead the way.

Sitting in Aiba's car, Jun realized that it was as if Aiba understood him, but how can he? He was a cat after all. Think about it later he told himself. It didn't take them long to reach Jun's home. They could hear some panicked screams coming from the back, so they hurried up. Thankfully, the door was open (Jun must have forgotten to close it properly when he left). They found Nino there, who was still lying on his side. The squirrel Jun had seen earlier rushed straight to them, and was now running circles around the doctor.

“Aiba! Something's wrong with Nino! He can't move and he is in so much pain! You have to do something!” The small voice cried out, sounding a little panicked. Jun then noticed the squirrel’s mouth move in time with the little voice and his eyes went wide as he realized that the squirrel actually talked.

“Oh no… that's not good, let me take a look at him.” Aiba replied while squatting down in front of Nino. ‘Hold on a minute. Did that squirrel just talk and did Aiba just respond to it?? Can he understand animals?’ Jun thought, stunned. As he was trying to analyze the situation, and the possible implications about his current state (if seeing paws instead of hands and being unable to stand up on two legs hadn't been obvious enough clues), he felt his world go dark.

“Who is- how did it- OUCH!! What the hell Aiba?! Do you really know what you are doing?” A slightly high pitched voice cried out and pulled Jun from the darkness. This was the second time he fainted and that couldn't be a good sign, Jun thought as he looked towards the source of the cry.

“Aww, come on, Nino! This is what happens when a lazy ass dog tries climbing up a tree.” Aiba said cheerfully. “Lucky you just sprained your leg. Oh, who knew you were such a drama queen!” They were all in Jun's living room, all three of them were on his carpet, and yes, so was the squirrel while himself was on the couch.

“Shut up, Aibaka, it really hurt! I thought I was going to die!” By this time, Jun realized that the high pitched voice came from his black hachiko, Nino.

“Nino?” Jun asked softly. The dog and squirrel immediately froze and turned to him. “What?” “What did you say?” The two asked respectively. Aiba just smiled.

Nino's eyes narrowed, “Who are you?” He asked. “Don't you recognize him, Nino?” Aiba replied. Jun just looked at the doctor questioningly. Nino started inching closer to Jun and sniffing. He recognized the scent. It belonged to his owner, Jun. The look on his face told Jun that Nino did know who he was. “Jun?” Nino whispered.

“Hello, Nino,” Jun replied.


********

“So that's all you remember?” Nino asked. It was a nice surprise that Nino was actually livelier now that Jun could understand him. (And that evil squirrel actually had a name, Sho, which Nino gave to him).

“Yeah… that's it.” Jun shrugged, looking down at his paws.

“Hmm… Okay… Hold on, how did you know he was my owner, Aibaka? I couldn't recognize him until I smelled him!” Nino asked. By this time, Aiba had made himself at home by making himself a cup of coffee, and giving Jun and Nino a bowl of water. Jun didn't mind too much; it wasn't every day a person visited him, and Aiba oddly didn't look out of place.

“I can see him- No, Nino, don't give me that look. Yes, that looked of disbelief.” Nino just kept staring at Aiba with his 'not convinced' look. “I mean… I can see his true form, his human form as reflections.” Aiba simply explained, sipping his coffee and smiling at Jun.

“How is that possible?” the previously silent squirrel spoke up. His voice was surprisingly low for a squirrel, Jun thought. He was going to ask the same thing, so he looked at Aiba expectantly.

“Unlike you two who are born animals, there are those who gets turned into animals. Just like Jun here,” Aiba replied as he waved his cup towards Jun and back. That raised more questions than answers for the cat. There has to be more into it than that.

“Then how can I turn back?” Jun asked. He knew people usually asked about the reasons and 'how did it happen', but Jun just wanted to become human again. He could ask all the other questions once he was back to normal.

“Oh, it's simple. You have to find the one who turned you into a cat in the first place.”


********

Simple things were never simple. That's what Jun thought as he sat on his couch contemplating. It had been four days since he became a cat and, since then, there was no progress. He was slowly getting used to being a cat, from licking his own fur to licking his private parts and even coughing up furballs. The latter took him the longest to get used to because every time he did it, he felt like he was throwing up his lunch/dinner.

But yes… no progress. So much for Aiba’s statement that it would be 'simple'. Jun and Aiba had talked to people who got turned into animals and managed to turn back into humans (Aiba did the talking while Jun just listened). They all said the same things Aiba did: they found the people responsible, confronted them, resolved whatever it was that caused it, and the next thing they knew, they were human again.

Jun had gone through his list of suspects, but none of them were. From his ex boyfriend, to his angry boss, to his next door neighbor, his colleagues… none of them knew what Aiba was talking about or had any glaring motives to do such a thing.

In the first week, Jun and Nino agreed to let Aiba stay in Jun's house. Since they would need a human to feed them and take care of them, it was only logical for Aiba to be the one doing it. Also, Aiba usually stayed at the vet clinic out of convenience, but he decided it would be a nice change to stay in a proper home for a change. Jun didn’t want to suggest to Aiba about moving in right from the beginning since he didn’t know if it was a good idea. But as he observed Aiba as the latter carried his things into the house, he wondered why he thought it was a bad idea.

They also learned more about Aiba. He had had his 'gift’ since young, but initially he could only talk to animals. As he grew up, he found out that certain animals had a human reflection that only he could see. When he talked to them, those animals told him that they were actually human but one day woke up as animals. After years of research, Aiba discovered that there was a spell that allowed a person to turn another person of their choosing into animals. Even though the price of doing so was deadly to the caster, many still did it because it wouldn't take effect until they were confronted by their victims. The price was that, when confronted, the caster must either turn the victim back into human by reciting the reversal words or sacrifice half of their remaining years in return for keeping the victim as an animal forever.

Aiba had seen all kinds of outcomes when casters were confronted, from the good to the bad. He had seen how cruel humans could be. In the end, he was slowly losing faith in humanity and interacted more with animals.

“But why help those who got turned? Surely some of them were bad.” Jun asked one day as they were lazing side by side on the couch.

“Who am I to judge? I cannot turn my back on those who seek help. But I can choose not to reach out to those who don't, even though it makes me a hypocrite,” Aiba replied with a bitter smile as he sipped his beer.

After Aiba started helping those he saw were turned into animals. Word of mouth got out and more people, good or the bad came to him. It started to negatively affect his morals and his overall good heart since he was helping deserving cursed victims become human again. He saw casters that were good people turn bad and desperate when confronted to reverse the curse.

That smile does not suit him, Jun thought. Then he rubbed his face on Aiba’s arm. This earned him a scratch under his chin and a warm smile. This smile suits him so much better, Jun thought as he purred.

*********

After the third week, Jun started doubting that he would ever be human again. He had to quit his job by making Aiba tell his former boss that Jun had moved away to another country to chase his dream of becoming a landscape photographer. His boss didnt believe Aiba at the beginning but started putting up hiring ads soon after.

Aiba was permanently living with them, and so was Sho the squirrel. By then, Nino became good friends with Sho and would play with Sho’s fluffy tail when he was bored of watching TV one day and chased Sho around the backyard when his leg was fully healed. Sho would crawl all over Nino whenever Nino was paying more attention to the tv than to him, and if that didn't work, he would spit acorns at Nino’s face. At night, without fail, Sho would cuddle with Nino in Nino's doggie bed.

Jun came to love doing cat things like sunbathing, chasing toy mice, and catnip. Who knew catnip would be so good? Now he knew why cats go crazy with that stuff.

In the evening, after dinner, Aiba would play with them. He would throw a ball for Nino to catch and swing around the toy mice for Jun to chase. Sometimes, Aiba would catch glimpses of Jun's human form in window reflections. He saw Jun's smiling face, his gorgeous body and would start wondering what it would feel like to hold him, to feel his skin against his own. His cheeks would grow warm when he told himself that he wouldn't mind. No, he wouldn't mind that at all.

On some nights, when Nino and Sho went to sleep, the cat and the doctor would be out at the backyard and just talk. They talked about anything and everything. They talked about their family, their jobs, their love lives or lack thereof. Those nights Jun would fall asleep on Aiba's lap.

Sometimes Aiba would bring Jun along to work so that he wouldn't feel too lonely or bored at home. Hanging out with Nino and Sho was great at first, but those two always ended up in their own little world, somewhere Jun didn't feel like he belonged. They always tried to made sure Jun felt involved, but Jun just couldn't shake the feeling that they still saw him as their owner and it might never change. Aiba sensed it, one day and he suggested that Jun should go to the clinic with him. The rest encouraged Jun to go when he seemed reluctant.

The first day at the clinic, Jun was curious about everything. All the equipment, the medicines and the sick animals living in the clinic. When no patients came in, Aiba told him all about how those equipment worked, what those medicines were for and how long were the animals staying. Jun really enjoyed those days because he loved seeing someone so passionate about their job. Also, the smiles Aiba showed were wide and his eyes will be filled with pride.

The longer Jun went to the clinic, the more he saw Aiba under another light. The cheerful and forever laughing Aiba looked so serious and focused when a sick Chihuahua came into the clinic; so patient when a Tabby cat came in crying and thrashing before getting it's injection; sweet and caring when a pregnant Golden retriever came in to deliver it's pups.

Jun was there to witness Aiba’s tears too as one of the oldest dogs in the clinic breathed its last breath in his arms. Jun himself ended up crying too.

But what really broke Jun's heart was the way Aiba talked to people outside the clinic. It was like he was a whole different person. He didn't smile once in the supermarket to greeting passersby and only gave short and concise responses when questioned. Overall, it was like Aiba had the great Wall of China surrounding him when he was outside. It pained Jun's heart to see Aiba close and isolate himself from people like that.

But slowly, Jun could sense that Aiba was opening himself up to him. Aiba would drink and talk to Jun every night, and recently instead of waking up alone in his bed, the cat would find himself curled with Aiba

On mornings like those, Jun would observe Aiba’s peaceful face and wished he had fingers to lightly trace on Aiba's sleeping face.

******

One day, during the second month, Aiba had taken the day off and they were all cuddled together in the couch watching a variety show. The doorbell rang and Aiba went to see who it was. Conversations were exchanged, but nobody paid any attention, not until two sets of footsteps came walking into the house. Nino, who was too concentrated on the show, gave a half-hearted bark and Jun, who was resting on the pillow, looked up to see the face of his ex boyfriend.

Saying that he was shocked was an understatement. He never told his ex where he was living, where he worked or what his new phone number was since they broke up. Jun completely cut him off from his life. Plus, Jun was technically out of the country, so why would his ex be here?

Taking a seat on the single seat couch, his ex began to speak. “Thank you for agreeing to see me, Aiba-san. I really had to talk to you and it was inappropriate to speak about this through the phone.” Jun's ex held out his gloved hands towards Aiba for a quick shake. Jun wondered why didnt the man take off his gloves but thought little... ‘Hold on… they talked on the phone?!’ Jun thought, his eyes shifting from Aiba's face to his ex’s, trying to make out their expressions.

“It's okay, but I thought we were going to meet up at a cafe? How did you know where I live?” Aiba asked, sitting down at his spot beside Jun.

The other two were pretending to be focused on the show, but Jun could see the slight twitch of Nino's ear when his ex spoke, and Sho had stopped stuffing his face with nuts.

“I have my sources, Aiba-san. I just want to double check with you on Jun.”

“What is it you want to double check?” Aiba asked.

“Jun is not really out of the country is he? I know because I checked with all the airports, and none registered his passport as leaving the country. He is not out of the country because he is here, isn't he? Though he isn't 100% here, he is here with us in this room, isn't he?” He talked like he knew for a fact that the answers were affirmative. His eyes were glued on Jun the entire time, as if he knew it wasn't just a cat he was seeing. None of them spoke for a few seconds.

Jun's mind was reeling and his heart was beating a million miles an hour.

“I don’t understand what you are implying. Because as you can see, Jun is not here. It’s only me babysitting his dog and cat while he is away,” Aiba replied straight forwardly.

“Is that so, then I guess no one will notice when you go missing will they?” Jun’s ex calmly said while pointing a gun towards Aiba, No one knew where the gun came from but that wasn’t the main concern in Jun’s mind right now. It was whether or not it will be used.

Unable to sit still any longer, Nino lunged forward, baring his teeth. But before he could bite Jun's ex, the guy swung his arm and shoved Nino aside. Nino crashed into the tv cupboard, got back up in an instant but stilled when he saw that the gun was back at pointing towards Aiba. The gun was cocked. Both Aiba and Jun didn’t get the chance to move as it happened too quickly.

“Anyone else want to try and be a hero tonight?” Jun's ex asked, his facial expression shows that he is slowly losing his patience, his mouth twitched as he spoke. "I would have loved for Jun to be here but since you are so sure he is not, I will just carry out my plan without him. Pity... I would have wanted him to see all this."

Seconds tick by and Jun's ex is still pointing his gun at Aiba.

“What do you want?” Aiba asked slowly, his whole body tensed. The tension in the room was almost suffocating aside from the sounds coming from the forgotten TV.

Jun's ex's eyes glinted and he lowered his gun ever so slightly. It was now pointing at Aiba's abdomen instead of his face. The man took out his phone and typed something, this was all done without looking at it. Few seconds later, the front door swung open and came in two big guys in black dragging in a lady. She was blinfolded, gagged and had bruises all over her face. 'What happened to her, why was she here and what does his ex plan on doing to her here?' Jun thought. Jun's ex then started to speak.

“What I want is simple really, I want you to do nothing. Yes, you heard me right, all you have to do is stand there and dont move.” Jun's ex explained as both men in black pointed their own guns towards Aiba.

“Who is she and what are you planning on doing to her?” Aiba asked trying to think of a way out if this situation.

Jun's ex swung his free arm dramatically and said “This pretty little thing here is my wife and as for what I am planning to do with her, I wont tell you."


“What is this?” Aiba asked, eyes shifting from the lady to Jun's ex. Jun looked just as shocked (well...as shocked as a cat could look).

How could he treat a lady like this, moreover his wife??

“This lady here wanted nothing more than to please her husband. Tried so hard to cook all my favorite food, listen to all my commands and let me have my way with her.” Jun's ex said with a grin. “But that wasn't enough. I wanted more: more loving, more sex, and most of all, more money. She helped with that too, in every way a woman can. Now, she is helping me gain more than just money in every way a human can.”

This guy is sick and crazy. Jun thought The lady was shivering and tears were flowing like waterfalls behind her blindfold.

Jun's ex crouched down beside his wife and caressed her wet cheek. His gun on his lap. “This is my first experiment after having heard of the existence of the ritual. I researched it and planned on how I can maximize its result. But I dont want to bore you with the details. In the end, I asked my dear wife to perform the ritual, which she did perfectly. You see, she is not stupid or dumb or useless, she is just helpless. Trying hard to pay back her dead father's debt in one way or another. But this dumb bitch here didnt know that her father died after paying back his debts."

The woman tensed up immediately and began to shake. She gave out a muffled scream that broke Jun's heart.

Jun's ex stood up slowly and before any of them blinked… BANG!

All of them witnessed in slow motion the lady's head getting blown, body going limp and falling face down to the floor. The hole in her head gushed out blood, staining the carpet.

Dead silence.

“HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!” Jun's ex laughed maniacally while swinging his gun around.

A bright light then flashed and temporarily blinded all the men. Then came a loud crash somewhere in the room. Once the light cleared out, Aiba saw a naked Jun standing tall above his unconscious ex, who was lying on top of a broken bookshelf.


The bodyguards caught up on what happened, but before they moved, Nino howled and lunged at one of them, biting his arm. That bodyguard yelled out in pain while the other got his face full of squirrel fur and claws.

Aiba stood speechless and motionless while Jun snatched the gun and called the police. But blinked back to reality and helped Jun tape all three men up. After that, Aiba looked slowly around at the mess around him and concluded that the danger had past. They were safe.

Exhausted, Aiba sat on the couch, leaned back to rest his head and closed his eyes. Mad thoughts of the recent event replayed in his head and exhaustion was creeping up to him. Until, a light brush on his arm snapped him back to awareness, and he came face to face with Jun, who was no longer naked.

Aiba took in the view of the other and tears of pure joy blurred his vision.

“Tadaima.” Aiba whispered.

“Okaeri.”


******

“How are you human again?” Aiba asked during their beer night routine, after clearing as much of the mess as they could before and after the police arrested Jun's ex, his men and took away his dead wife along with the bloody carpet.

“I don't know. Maybe the curse was broken when the caster died?” Jun sighed.

“Not necessarily,” said an unknown voice. Little balls of blue light began appearing and floated towards the middle of the garden until it formed a floating sleepy looking man with tanned skin wearing a light blue outfit. Jun and Aiba almost jumped when they saw the stranger. The stranger smiled at them reassuringly. “Don't be alarmed, I'm just here to clear up that last answer of yours.”

“What do you mean?” Jun asked, both he and Aiba settled back down in their seats.

“Remember the conditions to turn back? The caster and victim must resolve their qualms and the caster must recite the reversing words. Without that, the victim will never be able to change back.” The stranger said.

“So the thing between my ex's wife and me was somehow resolved? How? I didn't know the woman!” Jun asked skeptically, trying to recall from his memories once more on whether he did recognised the woman. No results found.

“From what I can assume, it was resolved, just not directly. When she did the ritual, your ex was there but i didnt know he was your ex until today. The reason why she did the ritual was to be free of her father's debt towards your ex. On why he chose Jun as the victim was because wanted you to suffer for the breakup you two had long time ago, I think. But I dont know why he came here to do what he did to you, Aiba. All i know was I heard her recite the words in her head and I immediately released the curse. I am Ohno, the one casters summon when they perform the ritual.”

“So you are like a demon or something?” Aiba asked quickly, noticing that Ohno was turning into little blue lights again

“Or something.” Ohno answered, smirking before dissipating into the air.

"That was a lot to take in." Aiba said as he rubbed his head.

"Yeah, plus I feel sorry for that woman. But also thankful." Jun said reaching out to Aiba's hand. "Because without her, I wont be sitting here and holding your hand."




The end.