Bungo stray cats

Chapter 2

Dazai stole Chuuya's shower the moment the redhead stepped out, a towel wrapped around him. He was still shivering, though looked slightly less miserable than ten minutes before. Dazai wished he could say the same for himself, mean Chuuya made him stand on the welcome mat while he took his sweet time in the shower so that he didn't drip all over his wooden floor.

(It wasn't carpet and rainwater wouldn't stain, but Chuuya was just being a prick.)

The thing that Dazai and the cat had in common was that they both sat at the entrance, shoulder hunched under the weight of their spite.

Dazai had then showered himself, sliding on his spare set of clothes he kept in the cabinet under the sink. And when he exited the room, steam pooling around his legs, he was met with an unexpected sight.

At first glance it looked as if Chuuya was attempting to drown the kitten (If he wouldn't then Dazai would do it for him.) But when Dazai snuck closer to the kitchen, he realized that he was actually trying to give the thing a bath in the sink.

The she-devil didn't seem to like it at all, desperately clawing at Chuuya's gloved hands, nicking his lower arms causing crimson to leak from the small injuries. At some point in the struggle the cat had gotten water on both Chuuya and the floor, it was still putting up a good fight.

"Stop standing there laughing dammit, come help me!" Chuuya demanded, eyes not leaving from the animal he was trying to calm. "Hand me the soap" he snapped his finger once Dazai had regretfully stepped closer, careful to stay out of splash range.

Dazai reached for the dawn soap, tossing it for Chuuya to catch between slippery fingers. It would have fallen if Chuuya didn't use his ability to float it and pour it over the feisty cat. Oh, how multi-purposeful his ability was, he could throw a building and help wash little kittens.

The cat seemed to finally stop struggling as much, giving up and going limp in Chuuya's careful hold as he lathered it up with soap then washed its coat off with lukewarm water, the soapy suds swirling around the bottom of the sink before disappearing down the drain.

Dazai snickered under his breath when Chuuya moved to turn off the running sink water. The cat took it as the opportunity for a sneak attack and planted one last blow on Chuuya's elbow. When Chuuya asks to borrow Dazai's bandages later he would be sure to say no.

Despite the injuries Chuuya didn't look mad at all, in fact, he seemed happy with the demon's presence, wrapping it up in a towel to dry it off.

Now that it was relatively clean, Dazai could see that its real coat color was closer to white with some cream spots dotted across its tiny body.

"Ugh, i have to change now" Chuuya complained to himself, turning to Dazai who had been standing unhelpfully to the side, recording the experience. "I'll be back, the cat foods in the pantry. The top right."

Dazai wearily eyed the cat that had been placed on the floor in front of him, "should i even feed you?"

The cat simply tilted its head.

Dazai would have let it starve if they were alone, but he grudgingly rifled through the top shelf of the pantry and pulled out the folded bag of food. He didn't fail to notice the step stool tucked away in the corner.

There was even a metal bowl to pour the food into. The cat was immediately interested, practically plummeting face-first into the food to consume it. Why did the Chibi even have cat food anyways? Dazai could have sworn he saw dog food next to it.

Of course the slug fed strays during his free time.

Dazai stayed far away from the thing as it ate, lounging on the couch and flipping through theTV channels until Chuuya emerged from his room, a new sweater on instead of the soaked T-shirt. Chuuya's eyes darted to the cat, looking slightly alarmed.

"Dazai you idiot, why didn't you stop her from eating so fast! She could choke!"

"Good."

Chuuya stomped to pick the food up and Dazai could actually see the familiar crimson color that sometimes emitted from the Chibi when he was in emotional turmoil. "You're no help!"

Dazai shrugged shamelessly, averting his gaze from the fuming redhead and back to the soap opera playing on the TV screen. "It's a hard life raising a family, Chibi."

Dazai was blessed to hear the angry squeal Chuuya let out, high and grating like the whistle of a tea kettle.

"One day Dazai, one day."

Dazai raised a brow "Is the Chibi threatening me?"

"That's it!" Suddenly the couch disappeared from underneath Dazai and he was sent straight to the unforgiving wooden floor. "Out" Chuuya snapped his finger in Dazai's face, the kitten held securely in his other arm. "If you aren't going to help this family then go."

Dazai could tell from the look in Chuuya's steeled eyes that he was just lashing out from exhaustion rather than annoyance. The chibi must have been acting irresponsible with his work again and not taking a break. How foolish of him.

Dazai stood up from the floor, rubbing his lower back as Chuuya set the couch down, panting because his tiny body could not contain such rage. "Are you calm now?"

"Fuck you."

Dazai nodded, plopping back down onto the couch as if nothing happened, patting the spot next to him. Chuuya haltingly sat back, muscles still corded and tense, though he never paused in rubbing the cat between the ears, the ministrations making it purr.

Dazai shot it a nasty look laced with as much venom as humanly possible.

He would not let this mere animal put a wedge in any plan he could possibly have.