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bluebunnysart · 7 months

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Domestic Stray (Hoshitele Cat AU)

TITLE: Domestic Stray

Ship: Cat!Haruno x Cat!Matataki

Word count: 3188 words

A/N: Finally putting words down in a document to try to bring the Hoshitele cat AU to life! Just to quickly set expectations, what I’ve written will focus mainly on Haruno and Matataki, as cats! However, do note that these cats are INSPIRED by Haruno and Matataki and thus will not be completely the same. I’ll try to make them as in-character as I can while trying to connect stuff with the source material, but this is a cat alternate universe, so keep that in mind before you engage with this (100% self-indulgent, made for fun) work.

Just in case, TW for blood in this first scene lol but we’re mainly a cute slice-of-life/lowkey love story (on the slow side), and I would never have them harm each other, so rest assured. xD

While writing this, I debated whether I should have honorifics (like -chan) or not, and I think I won’t. Since this is an AU, this is one of those things I won’t have because Haruno’s the only one who’s gonna be using them anyway. xD

If you’re ok with all that… Hope you enjoy!

I knew I shouldn’t’ve trusted them.

That was the thought a certain light brick red-colored cat had as she forced herself to put one paw in front of the other, despite her entire body screaming at her to stop. With each painful step, a decent amount of blood would pool on the ground beneath her, forcing her to keep going unless she wanted to leave behind an even more obvious trail to where she was.

If I actually die from this, I’ll be so pissed off, she thought bitterly, biting back a hiss as she accidentally stepped on a small, pointed rock. Normally she wouldn’t make such an amateur-ish mistake, but it was kind of hard to see with her vision going in and out, and the blood pouring into one eye from the gash on her forehead didn’t help.

Quickly. She had to find somewhere to hide quickly just in case those other cats (who she’d given a good beating to, thank you very much) decided to come back for more. With how much blood she’d lost, she knew she didn’t have much time left before she straight-up passed out, but if she could find a place to rest for just a little while, then there was still hope for her yet.

House cats didn’t like it when anyone intruded on their turf, but house cats were also soft and typically unused to combat; she was pretty sure she could take one. And if she chose the right spot, then she wouldn’t have to encounter a dog, a human, or a cat!

The scent of blood might be strong, but the smell of everything else in the neighborhood would be even stronger.

Taking a deep breath, the light reddish-brown cat forced herself to keep going, letting her nose guide her. She couldn’t be too picky, lest she risk collapsing while still out in the open, so she chose quickly.

Small gap under the fence she could squeeze through? Check.

No strong scent of humans or cats in this area? Check.

Long row of bushes that would effectively hide her and help mask her scent? Check.

By now, her wounds had stopped bleeding as much, so there wouldn’t be the equivalent of a giant bloody arrow pointing to where she was. This was perfect.

The light brick red-colored cat collapsed on the spot, shutting her eyes tight with a grimace as another wave of pain went through her from the impact.

That’s it, she thought firmly as she felt her consciousness rapidly slip away. If I survive this, I’m not trusting anyone ever again.

–

Birds were chirping. And although her eyes were closed, she could tell that the light of the sun was shining on her face. Which means…

I’m alive? Matataki thought, as her eyes snapped open. It took a second for her vision to adjust, but instead of seeing the green of grass or the dark green of the bushes she’d taken shelter behind, what she saw was… A wall?

Huh?

Her heart sped up as the almost-too-familiar feeling of dread started to creep in. Without moving her body, she scanned everything she could see in front of her first: a wall, and above it, a windowsill, and on top of that…. A cat!

Matataki felt her hackles rise, but she didn’t make any sudden movements just yet. The other cat was currently facing away from her, looking out the window, and it looked like they hadn’t noticed her yet. If Matataki was careful, maybe she’d be able to get away while the other cat was still distracted. After all, if there was a cat here, then maybe there was a cat door?

Very, very slowly, the reddish-brown cat tried standing up, but it was no use. Her legs immediately gave way, but instead of landing on the hard floor, she landed on a soft cat bed, which she just now realized she had been on top of. The sound had been muffled, but the other cat had been so close. There was no way they wouldn’t have noticed, Matataki thought.

Sure enough, the other cat, who was a lovely vanilla yellow color, turned around. Her eyes, which were a more saturated yellow, at first looked surprised, before they shifted into something else.

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed, and her voice sounded kind of… relieved?

“Who are you?” Matataki asked, eyes narrowed. And what do you want from me? she thought, but she decided to ask one question at a time.

“Don’t you remember me?” the yellow cat asked, and Matataki took a moment to study her in more detail.

Horizontal black stripe on the top of her head that followed the shape of her head but ended at her ears. Perpendicular to that stripe was a vertical stripe that went down the back of the cat’s back and flowed into a black tail, which Matataki had seen before she’d turned around. And finally… The thing that set a wild cat like herself apart from a house cat: the black strip of fabric tied around the cat’s neck, which ended at a neat bow behind the cat’s neck.

“Nope. Not ringing any bells,” Matataki said bluntly, with a deep frown. If this cat was trying to pretend they knew each other in order to get on her good side–

“I’m Haruno,” the blonde cat said warmly, seemingly unbothered by Matataki’s cold reply. “I guess it has been a really long time since we last spoke to each other,” she added in a lower tone, as if speaking to herself. To Matataki, she continued: “I say hi to you sometimes when you pass by. We’ve never had a proper conversation or anything before, but, well. It’s nice to meet you! I’ve always wanted to get along.”

Unfortunately for Haruno, the brick-colored cat had stopped listening to her after ‘I say hi to you sometimes when you pass by.’ Instead, those words had caused Matataki to dive deep into her memory to try to figure out if she remembered anything like that. In general, Matataki didn’t speak to house cats, so it was 100% likely she had never spared the golden-colored cat a reply. But when it came to friendly house cats and the cats that lived in this neighborhood… Maybe something like that happened?

“Matataki?”

Matataki snapped out of her thoughts and almost glared at Haruno. “How do you know my name?” she asked, not bothering to hide her wariness.

Haruno blinked, obviously surprised once again. “You don’t know?” she asked. This time Matataki did glare at her, so she hastily explained: “I thought you would already know this, but you’re kind of famous around here. Like, from all of the things you know and can do. I heard you’re really good at using tools! And apparently there’s no place that can keep you out if you’ve decided you want in.”

Haruno wasn’t even bothering to hide the admiration in her tone as she praised her, and Matataki couldn’t help but feel awkward from suddenly being showered with compliments. Being famous or whatever isn’t a good thing, she thought darkly as she remembered what had happened to her. They only keep you around to use you and then try to get rid of you so they don’t have to honor their end of the deal.

“Whatever they say about me, I don’t care,” Matataki said, her tone harsh. “What do you…” She paused as she glanced down at herself, finally noticing and registering the bandages on her body. “...did you do this?”

“Nope! Not me! My human did,” came the reply, which sounded happy and proud. “I’m glad I found you as quickly as I did, because it looked really bad–”

“Wait,” Matataki cut in. “What happened? What human?” she asked, her blood having run cold. Was that human still around now?

“My owner. My caretaker,” Haruno answered. “Who’s usually out of the house, by the way, so you don’t have to worry about meeting them if you don’t want to.” The vanilla-colored cat had read the panic and look of displeasure on Matataki’s face and directly addressed it. “As for your question about what happened, well… You were kinda out for three whole days. I was wondering when you’d wake up, but your breathing was normal, at least, so I knew you would eventually. Anyway, I’m really glad you’re alright! You really gave me a heart attack out there…”

Once again, Matataki was drowning the rest of her words out in favor of focusing on what the other cat had just revealed. Three whole days, and she’d been patched up by a human? It was good she wouldn’t have to interact with it, but… Ugh… If she had to live with a human, then maybe it would’ve been better if she hadn’t been saved.

Pushing that thought out of her head, the light red-brown-colored cat tried to stand up again. She managed to succeed for a couple of seconds, but her legs were shaking too much, so she eventually opted to sit.

Okay. She was way too weak to leave, and even if she did leave, she might not last for long, especially if those cats were still out to get her.

“Okay, house cat.”

“It’s Haruno.”

“Yeah, that.” Whatever, she almost added, but she decided being snarky to someone she was at the mercy of probably wasn’t the best idea. “I assume there’s probably a reason why you brought me in here, so just tell me your terms. You house cats– er… House cats like you are usually more pacifistic, and I can at least pay you back for helping me.” Even though I didn’t ask you to. “So just tell me what you want, and we can settle this peacefully, without any issues.” As long as it doesn’t involve any humans.

Matataki was met with a blank stare before Haruno’s eyes widened in surprise yet again. Looks like Haruno was as unused to dealing with her as Matataki was with house cats in general, who she tended to ignore altogether.

“Terms?” the blonde cat asked. She immediately shook her head. “Nonono, you don’t need to pay me back or anything! I didn’t try to save you with an ulterior motive or anything.”

During their whole conversation, Haruno had been sitting on the windowsill and Matataki had been either sitting or lying on the cat bed. Now, Haruno chose to jump down from the windowsill so that they were more or less on the same ground. With them sitting in front of each other, it was clear Haruno was more than a little bit bigger than the injured cat, which made Matataki frown.

“I didn’t help you because I wanted something from you,” Haruno repeated, flicking her black tail. “When I see someone in trouble, I just want to help them. I couldn’t just leave you like that,” she said, her eyes softening.

The yellow cat’s eyes were a bit too earnest, so Matataki found herself immediately looking away from them. It didn’t matter what others said. The only thing that mattered was how they actually acted in the end.

“Anyway–” the stray cat said, trying to continue to negotiate her exit, but she was interrupted by the sound of her stomach loudly growling. Before she could react, Haruno was already on her paws again, her golden eyes sparkling.

“How inconsiderate of me!” the house cat exclaimed, yet she looked excited for some reason. “I have no idea when your last meal was, but you haven’t eaten for at least three days! You must be famished!”

Matataki opened her mouth to deny it, but after a second, she seemed to reconsider and closed it. There was no point trying to avoid looking weak in front of this cat. She had been too weak to stand properly, for goodness’ sake.

Haruno seemed pleased with this silent agreement, if the smile on her face was anything to go by. “I’ll be right back!” she announced, darting off. As Matataki watched her black tail disappear out of view behind a wall, she couldn’t help but silently agree that Haruno seemed to really like taking care of others.

I’m not trusting anyone ever again. The very last thought that she’d had before passing out came back to her again, and she internally patted herself on the back for remembering what she’d decided on. No matter how nice someone acted, they showed their true colors eventually– especially when it was no longer useful to act nice.

Everyone is selfish, after all. In the end, the only one you can trust is yourself.

It took barely thirty seconds before Haruno was back. In her mouth was a bowl, which she proudly placed in front of Matataki and pushed towards her.

“Since you’re a patient here, we provide only the highest quality care,” Haruno said cheerfully in almost a faux-professional voice. “This is my favorite! Wet food! I know wild cats hunt and all, but I bet you’ve never tasted chicken before! Go on! Try it!”

Matataki looked at the contents of the bowl suspiciously. Brown mashed “stuff” mushed together with pale light chunks mixed in and strange yellow-ish liquid coating everything and oozing out the bottom. She didn’t know how cats would be able to get their paws on poison, but she couldn’t rule the idea out.

“You eat it,” she demanded. Even if she was hungry, maybe she could still find something else.

“But it’s for you,” Haruno said, looking disappointed that her offer had been rejected. She seemed to look up in thought before finally nodding. “Oh, I get it! You probably haven’t eaten anything like this before, so you want me to taste-test it for you to show you it’s safe. Sure! It’s really yummy, so I’ll take a couple of bites. But I really want you to try it too! Is that okay?”

“No promises.”

Haruno seemed to think this answer was good enough, so as promised, she took a couple of bites of the wet food. Matataki watched as she licked the rest of it off her muzzle and then sat back with a satisfied expression, looking at the slightly smaller cat expectantly.

Well. No cat would be crazy enough to consume poison in front of her, so after maintaining Haruno’s stare for a moment, Matataki finally gave in and decided to try it.

It… was better than anything she’d ever tasted. Cooked food was much better than raw food, and the stray cat didn’t often get the chance to eat it for obvious reasons. Either she was really hungry or she couldn’t get enough because the food was gone before she knew it…

When she looked up, Haruno was giving her a really kind smile, which really made her fur stand on end. It felt like she’d lost somehow… Matataki was a stray cat! A wild cat at heart! And she would not be won over by house cat luxuries, even if they tasted better than her usual.

“You– you don’t have to watch me while I eat! I’m not gonna waste it!” the light red brick-colored cat snapped, mostly to hide her growing embarrassment.

“Hehe, sorry,” Haruno said with a giggle, but she looked more amused rather than apologetic. Matataki didn’t know how to react to someone reacting to her like that. As if to throw the injured cat a lifeline, however, Haruno changed the subject. “It’s not good to eat too much, so that’ll be it for now. The automatic cat feeder gives you the exact amount you need at the exact time you should have it. Convenient, right?”

She paused, as if she remembered something. “Water!” she exclaimed, her tail standing straight up. “I’ll get you some water! And I’ll make sure not to spill it!”

As if this was going to turn into a thing now, Haruno dashed off. This time, she took a little longer to return, but as promised, she carefully offered the other cat a bowl of water. Matataki hadn’t even gotten a word in before the yellow cat had decided to act on her own, and once more, she eyed the bowl before doing anything else. She considered refusing since she’d already been offered a handout earlier, but one glance at the taller cat reminded her that she should probably stay in her good graces, so she gave the water a cursory lick or two before moving back again.

“Okay!” With that word, Haruno curled her tail into a hook shape and circled Matataki as if she was examining a shiny new toy. In reality, she was just making sure the bandaged cat was in good condition and not in need of anything else. The smaller cat narrowed her eyes and regarded her uneasily as she did this, and Haruno took the hint and stopped.

“Can I get you anything?” the house cat asked, and Matataki shook her head.

The only thing Matataki wanted was to get out of here, but in her current condition, that was a horrible idea, so she was slowly accepting that she would be stuck here for a little while. But she probably couldn’t have been stuck with someone even friendlier or more helpful than Haruno, so at least it wasn’t worse.

“What are you expecting from me?” she finally asked, unable to articulate sentences like Is it fine if I stay and I can’t leave right now so I’m stuck here. The latter statement would reveal too much information (and vulnerability) to a cat who had the advantage over her, even if it was only a house cat.

“Nothing,” Haruno answered easily, with a smile. “I just want you to recover and get better! So you need lots of rest, you shouldn’t overwork yourself, and if you ever need anything, you can just ask me!” She curled her tail over her paws, her eyes sparkling beautifully like yellow topaz gemstones. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. You’re my guest.”

Matataki almost let out a sigh of relief, but it just came out as a slow exhale. In her entire life, she’d never been treated with as much grace and hospitality as this. It made the skin under her fur crawl because she knew it would all fall apart eventually– it inevitably did, when it came to her relationships (or lack thereof) with other cats.

“...thank you,” she finally said. Even though she was incredibly out of her element and expecting the worst, it still felt like an important weight had been taken off her shoulders. She would do her best to avoid the human, but since she wasn’t being left outside to fend for herself in her weakened state, it was still much better than nothing. She just hoped Haruno wouldn’t force her to get along with her human, even if that human had possibly saved her life.

She didn’t say anything else though. She just looked at the other cat, and Haruno was wearing the brightest smile she’d had all day.

“You’re welcome! Let’s get along from now on!”

END

A/N: Ok that was much longer than I expected and I kinda started writing at like 10:36 PM and now it’s 2:46 AM. So that took me like… about 4 hours to write! But it was really fun to me! :D I really wanted to write something for them and now I’m glad and happy I finally did it! c:

Yes, if you’re wondering, I did look up cat facts whenever I needed them. I also looked up stuff about blood loss. I’m thinking Matataki stays with Haruno for like a month, at the very least? And any other stories will be about them doing various activities or bonding.

I didn’t think I’d make the intro as long as it is (actually, I was planning to make it like maybe a 3-sentence scene or preview and go straight into the waking up scene, but it has important details I might like to reference later so you know what? Yeah, I’ll keep it like that.)

I’m a Warrior cats kid so I’m totally used to all the cat descriptions and stuff (paws, tail, muzzle, lol) but it might be weird for a non-cat person, I think. xD Anyway, I’ll upload this to AO3 on request but since this is just a niche thing for now, I’ll keep it on this blog only. This won’t be the last time I write about them, I think, ‘cuz I like this AU a lot, but hopefully I did a good job capturing their characters! I don’t want Matataki to be too mean or Haruno to be too hyperactive/helpful or anything, but this is their first meeting and they’re drastically different, so their differences get exaggerated a bit. If anyone ever feels like giving me feedback, I’m totally open to it! Anyhow, I love cats. How did you know? xD

#hoshitele #hoshikuzu telepath #stardust telepath #cat au #haruno x matataki #mataharu #my writing #fanfiction

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