#throws kitties onto your feed and vanishes into the night

[flake-n-rudy]

-Hits the main cast with the Warrior Cats AU beam- haha I totally didn't put a lot of thought into this and totally do not have their own mini story thing going on hahaaaaaaaA /vanishes into the night

[angelofthequeers]

Miladybug

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

I signed up to be a backup gifter for @mlsecretsanta and my giftee turned out to be @chimpukampu so I hope you like this fic!  ❤️💚

AO3 link

“Where’s…Adrien?” Marinette pants when she’s tumbled into her seat, only barely on time for school which, to be fair, is a step up from being outright late. But there’s no familiar blond head in front of her!

“Home sick,” Nino says. “Poor dude’s got a nasty cold.”

“You reckon his dad’ll let him rest and recover?” Alya says, making a face. “Or is he just gonna learn at home?”

“Probably that one,” Nino says.

“Ugh. He’s got the worst dad, I swear. My mum would tie me to the bed with blankets and force-feed me homemade chicken soup.”

Ms Bustier clears her throat, cutting the conversation short. But Marinette can’t concentrate. All she can think about is poor, sick Adrien, and how she should maybe swing by later that night before patrol with a box of delicious baked goods…but no, she can’t. Between her love for Adrien and the feelings for Chat Noir that she’s trying to shove a lid on, it’s the last thing her tangled heart needs, not to mention that she’d probably end up a flustered mess like when she’d given Adrien the Snake Miraculous and then he’ll think she’s totally uncool and won’t want to talk to her and she’ll have blown her relationship with him on both sides of the mask and –

Marinette shakes her head with a soft groan and forces herself to pay attention to the lesson. Dwelling on it won’t do anything except send her brain spiralling, which is never a good time for her.

Once school’s over, she distracts herself until patrol time making a get well soon card for Adrien, even though she probably won’t have the guts to even sign it, let alone deliver it. Besides, the universe will probably kick her in the gut if she does; after all, she’d forgotten to sign her Valentine, and she’d signed Adrien’s birthday present, but her signature had somehow vanished. Tikki perches on her shoulder, munching on a cookie while Marinette sticks a scarlet heart to the front of the pink card and then sprinkles a touch of pink glitter on it.

“What do I even write?” she says when she opens it. “Dear Adrien, get well soon! Love, Marinette.” She groans and thumps her head on her desk. “No! That’s the most generic message ever! And “love”? Gah! That’s too – too – coupley!”

“I thought you wanted to be a couple,” Tikki teases.

“Yeah, but not through a get-well card when he’s sick!” Marinette says. “Ugh, this is a disaster!”

“Well, it’s almost time for patrol,” Tikki says. “Why not head out a little earlier to clear your head? Then you can work on your card when you get home!”

Marinette exhales and lets her shoulders slump. “You’re right, Tikki,” she says. “I’m freaking out over nothing!”

“Hey, I didn’t say that!”

“Yeah, yeah. Tikki, spots on!”

As Ladybug, all her worries seem to melt away once she’s swinging through the sea of lights that make up Paris. Although she could make it to the Eiffel Tower in less than a minute, she decides to take the scenic route and keeps a nice, relaxed pace through the city. At one point, she even closes her eyes and lets herself plummet, laughing at how the wind whips through her hair and howls in her ears, then opens her eyes and throws her yo-yo just in time to stop herself from crashing into the ground.

Even though she’s early, Chat Noir is already at the Tower when Ladybug lands on the platform at the tip, her pigtails a windblown mess and her cheeks flushed warm with blood. He gives her his signature smirk, although it’s lopsided.

“Milady!” He lets out a giggle. “Get it! Because you’re a ladybug! You’re milady…bug!” He squints at her and adds, “You don’t look like a bug, though. Your eyes are…” He laughs again. “Pretty!”

“Uh…” Ladybug lets her yo-yo swing. “Is there an akuma? Did you get hit?”

“What! Noooo! No akuma!” Chat Noir lets himself fall onto his back. “I’m happy, miladybug. Bugaboo. Angel. The light of my life!”

Her brow furrowed, Ladybug edges towards her oddly-behaving partner and nudges him with her toes. He giggles again and looks up at her with glazed green eyes.

“Okay, what happened?” she says, crossing her arms. “What did you do?”

“I’m sick!” Chat Noir beams as though Ladybug had just revealed her identity to him. “I have a coooold. But I’m so hot!” He flexes his biceps and says, “In more ways than one, miladybug!”

“God help me,” Ladybug mutters. “What kind of cold could you possibly have that would make you like this?”

“It’s not my cold!” Chat Noir winks. “It’s – it’s the meds! I took cold tablets!” He frowns and adds, “Why are they called cold tablets if they’re not cold? You don’t keep them in the fridge. Maybe you should, though!” He gasps and covers his mouth. “I’ve found the secret, miladybug! I’ll cure colds! Maybe I shouldn’t be a ps – a physicist. I’ll be a biologist!”

So, Chat Noir wants to be a physicist? Huh. Adrien likes physics too.

“A bi-ologist!” Chat Noir says with a rasping laugh. “Because I’m bi! Geddit, miladybug? And I’m bilingual! I’m learning Mandarin!” He gasps. “Are you bi too? Are we balanced? You on this side –” He holds his left hand out. “And me on this side!” He holds out his right hand. “For justice! Lady Justice! Milady Justice!”

“Okay, okay, no patrol for you tonight, kitty,” Ladybug sighs, sitting cross-legged next to him. He immediately shuffles over and rests his head in her lap, and a deep sound rumbles deep in his chest. “Did you just purr?”

“Mm-hmm!” Chat Noir sighs and nestles his head further in her lap. “Cats purr when they’re happy. And you make me happy, miladybug. You’re my – my catnip! I can’t get enough of you!” He twirls his finger near his temple and says, “You make me gaga when you’re around!”

Despite her best efforts, Ladybug can’t stop a giggle from escaping her. It seems that cold and flu medication sends Chat Noir high as a kite and removes any filter he might have. This could be problematic, although she can’t quite put her finger on why because even without a filter, he shouldn’t just up and spill his secret identity.

Right?

“Are you an angel, miladybug?” Chat Noir sighs. “You’re glowing.”

“That’s just the city lights, silly,” Ladybug says and boops his nose. He purrs louder in response.

“Your eyes are so pretty,” he says. “So – so – blue! Just like my friend.”

Alarm bells start to sound in Ladybug’s head. “Chat –”

“Marinette!” Chat Noir blurts out. Ladybug freezes. “You know Marinette, right? Of course you do! You told me to protect her from Nathanieeeel.” He sighs again and says, “Can I tell you a secret, miladybug?”

“Um, I don’t think –”

“I think I like Marinette. She’s so prettyyyy…and she’s always standing up – everyone stands up! No one can sit forever! But she stands up strongly. And she tells off Chloe. I wish I could be as cool as her.”

“Chat, I think you need to shut up now,” Ladybug says, trying to extract Chat Noir from her lap while also trying to deal with the warmth pooling in her gut at his words. Rather than listen to her, however, he utters the words that knock her entire worldview off its axis.

“She’s so beautiful when she’s positive,” Chat Noir says with a strong purr. “She’s the only person in my class who’s never touched a pretty black butterfly, apart from me.” He wrinkles his nose. “Wait, no, they’re ugly. Hawkmoth is ugly. But not Marinette! She’s beautiful. I’m used to disappointment. But she’s strong. Of course she is. She’s a baker’s daughter!” His eyes unfocus. “I wonder if she could carry me like a sack of flour.”

Ice explodes in Ladybug’s stomach, coating her insides. She’s the only other person apart from him that hasn’t been akumatised in their class? But – no, that can’t be – the only other person in Ms Bustier’s class who hasn’t been akumatised is…

Something behind Chat Noir’s mask seems to shift. The blond hair and green eyes are no longer unfamiliar. Now they’re – now it’s Adrien looking out at her with his drug-glazed eyes and lopsided grin –

No. Way. She’s been rejecting her crush all this time for herself! He’s starting to fall for her civilian identity, and he never would’ve let this slip if he’d known it was her behind the mask, drugged or not! And now he’s just gone and blurted it all out to her and outed his identity! What the heck is she supposed to do?

A soft snore snaps her out of her panicked thoughts. Chat Noir has dozed off in her lap, curled up like a cat and letting out little purring snores with each exhale. Before she realises what she’s doing, her fingers are carding through his hair, bright scarlet against soft gold like a rose on sea sand. Okay. She just has to be rational about this. She needs to talk to someone before she has her looming meltdown.

“Spots off,” she whispers. Pink sparkles wash over her, dissolving the ladybug suit and freeing Tikki. The kwami gasps, her eyes bulging as she takes in the scene before her.

“It’s okay,” Marinette says softly, still combing her fingers through his hair. “Adrien’s asleep.”

“Ad – oh.” Tikki’s large blue eyes are fixed on Chat Noir. “You know. How?”

“He’s high on cold meds,” Marinette says. “He let a few things slip. Things I couldn’t just brush off. Like how we’re the only two people in our class who haven’t been akumatised.”

“That would do it,” Tikki sighs. She darts into Marinette’s purse and emerges with a macaron, devouring half of it in one bite. “And you’re not…upset? Freaking out?’

“Oh, I’m about two seconds from losing my mind,” Marinette says rather evenly, still stroking her kitty’s hair. “I think it’s just a delayed reaction. And I don’t want to wake him up or freak out Paris and make them think there’s an akuma.”

“Poor Adrien.” Tikki darts down to press a tiny kiss to Chat Noir’s forehead.

“It makes sense now,” Marinette says. “Why Chat’s so…Chat. I mean, his timing could use some work, but of course he’s going to be that open when he’s Chat.”

“It’s not like he’s a different person as Chat than as Adrien,” Tikki says.

“Yeah, I know that,” Marinette says. She sighs and leans down to follow Tikki’s example and kiss Chat Noir on the forehead. The inevitable meltdown in the next few hours as she tries to process this is going to be huge. “Adrien has his dorky moments. How did I not see it before? He literally told me it was a ‘knightmare’ after Darkblade was defeated! And you knew!”

“Of course I knew,” Tikki says. “I saw him when you were facing Dark Owl. But are you really upset that I didn’t tell you?”

“No, no…it was my decision to keep our identities a secret. I guess I’m just trying to process.”

“Maybe you should process at home,” Tikki says. “You’re clearly not going to get any patrolling done, and it’s probably best for Adrien if he’s at home to rest.”

“But he’s…so peaceful.” Marinette starts to stroke a finger down Chat Noir’s nose over the shiny leather mask, just like her mother used to do to her as a small child. Chat Noir lets out a loud purr and nuzzles against her thigh.

“The longer you try to suppress this freak-out, the stronger it’s going to be when it sinks in,” Tikki says. “And super suit or not, the best thing for Adrien right now is to be resting at home. It’s not exactly warm out here.”

“That’s…true.” Marinette huffs and carefully shifts Chat Noir’s head so that she can stand up. Chat Noir lets out a tiny mewl when his head touches the cool metal of the Eiffel Tower, rather than the warmth of Marinette’s legs. She can’t help but let a laugh slip out when, absurdly, she realises what Chat Noir might have to say about Tikki’s wording. “That silly cat. He’d say suppurress and then give me that grin of his when I groan. I can’t believe I’m in love with this dork!”

“You’re in love with him?” Tikki says. Marinette braces herself for a freak-out that never emerges. Huh. Maybe it really is waiting until she’s home and her brain isn’t currently trying to process a million past interactions at once.

“He’s Adrien,” Marinette says. “Of course I’m in love with every side of him. And okay, so I might have been catching some feelings for Chat, but I’m just going to ignore that. And bury it deep down. Really deep down. And then let it blow up as I scream into my pillow and you float there and try to calm me down and offer me advice about how it’s all going to be alright and I’ll start shrieking about our three kids and hamster and island home and my parents will just assume I’m going on a lovesick ramble again –”

“Marinette!” Tikki says loudly, cutting off the rest of Marinette’s babbling in her throat. “Maybe you should get Adrien home while you’ve still got some semblance of higher brain power?”

“Right. Right. Of course.” Marinette runs a hand through her hair, accidentally pulling some strands out of her pigtails. “You’re right. Tikki, spots on!”

Once transformed, Ladybug scoops Chat Noir into her arms bridal-style and then leaps across the buildings of Paris in the direction of the Agreste mansion. To be honest, there’s a part of her that’s praying to see Adrien in his room, to maintain this charade of Adrien and Chat Noir being two separate people, even though she knows rationally that after Chat Noir’s rambling just before, there’s no way he could be anyone else. But sure enough, when she swings smoothly through the window into Adrien’s bedroom, there’s no one there.

Well, then. Guess there’s no more deluding herself. Chat Noir and Adrien Agreste are the same person. The boy she’s been turning down is the boy she’s been so in love with for so long.

“He can’t detransform like this, can he?” Ladybug mumbles to herself once she’s laid Chat Noir down on the bed as reverently as someone might set down their new bride. Chat Noir snuffles and curls in on himself, then lets out a tiny snore, and Ladybug’s insides melt into goo at just how…adorable he is.

If she’s honest with herself, Chat Noir’s always had a bit of her heart that Adrien never had. It would’ve been easy – so very easy – to let herself fall for him. But how could she do that when her heart belonged to Adrien? How could she let herself give up on the boy she loved?

Except that now, she doesn’t have to. The two boys who’ve staked claim to her heart are one and the same. It’s not as though her feelings for Adrien have transferred to Chat Noir now that she knows they’re the same person. It’s more like…acknowledging the duality of Adrien and Chat Noir has unlocked her heart, allowing herself to fully love both sides of the same boy, simultaneously so similar and yet so different.

Ladybug blinks and shakes her head. Of course she’d stand there and wax poetic over her sleeping kitty. But how is she supposed to detransform him without waking him up to have him say the words? She can’t really leave him there as Chat Noir in case someone comes to check on him and finds a leather cat superhero where the sunshine prince of Paris should be. She bites down on her lip to stifle her laughter at that thought, to avoid waking him.

“Forgive me, mon minou,” Ladybug whispers. She takes his hand in hers and starts to slide his ring off, ever so slowly, making sure that he doesn’t wake up and start freaking out that someone’s trying to remove his ring. She freezes when he grunts, but his head just lolls to the other side and he continues to snore softly, his exhales whistling just like hers do when she’s all clogged up from a cold. Poor kitten.

In a flash of green light, Chat Noir is replaced with Adrien once Ladybug finally gets the ring off. Plagg comes tumbling out and whips around, no doubt to investigate why he’d been forcibly freed from the transformation, so Ladybug just raises a finger to her lips, Plagg’s Miraculous in full view, and then carefully twists the now-silver ring back onto Adrien’s finger. Plagg watches her silently, his bright green cat eyes rather eerie in the rolling shadows of Adrien’s room cast by the lights outside his window.

“I can’t believe he’s my kitten.” Ladybug sits down next to Adrien, careful not to disturb him, wincing when he forces in a particularly loud gulp of air. She resumes stroking her finger down his nose just as she’d done on top of the Eiffel Tower and he seems to lean into the touch with a soft purr, although that could just be her imagination.

“Thanks for taking care of him.” Plagg’s voice is soft, both in volume to not wake Adrien up and in tone, unlike his usual crassness. “I tried to get him to skip out on patrol tonight.”

“He should have. Silly kitty.” Impulsively, Ladybug bends down and smooths back Adrien’s soft hair to press a kiss to his forehead, her lips lingering on the hot skin. She won’t kiss him on the mouth, not while he’s asleep; that’s a privilege that she has to earn when he’s awake and aware. “I wish I could help.”

“Kid, trust me, when I tell him Ladybug kissed him, that’ll help him plenty,” Plagg says. Then he smirks, his fangs glinting in the dim light. “He’s gonna freak when I tell him Ladybug knows who he is. Maybe he’ll finally shut up about his lady and her silky hair like night and her bluebell eyes –”

“Plagg!” Ladybug hisses as blood rushes to her cheeks. “Don’t be a turd!”

Plagg just cackles quietly. “You should go, Pigtails,” he says as he zips down to snuggle on the pillow next to Adrien’s head. “I’ll watch out for him. Wouldn’t want to be late for school tomorrow, would ya?”

“You and I both know I’ll always be late, Ladybug or not,” Ladybug say. But she still rises from the bed as gently as she can, then turns back to leave one last kiss on Adrien’s forehead. “Sleep well, mon chéri.”

“Gag me,” Plagg mutters. Ladybug rolls her eyes at him before heading for the window, tiptoeing so that her kitten can sleep peacefully. She her yo-yo to catch on a nearby chimney, blows a kiss back at Adrien, then leaps out into the cool Parisian night.

“Don’t worry, Adrien,” Ladybug murmurs as she reflects on the action-packed events of the past hour, praying that she makes it home before it really sinks in and she starts to scream, because the last thing she needs is to scare the living daylights out of Paris. “I’ll carry you like a bag of flour tomorrow. Just you wait and see.”

[gemstoneconstellations]

Escape Artist Cat

Summary: Your cat made a secret friend who likes to put ugly bows on her and you don't appreciate it.

Wordcount: 1595

“Kuiper! I’m home!” You shout for your beautiful fur baby as you hastily throw off your work shoes. Within seconds you are greeted by a string of meows. Your small, slim black cat is now weaving her body between your legs, purring and meowing for you to hold her.

 You bend down and pick up the needy kitty, holding her like a human infant. “Hello my princess! I missed you so much- seriously!? Again!?” You groan as you catch sight of the dark purple frilly ribbon on her neck. This morning she had been wearing a simple bright yellow ribbon with a bell. You don’t even have to look to know that the ribbon was now in your mailbox.

“How? How are you getting out and who is changing your ribbons without my permission?” You hold the sleek kitty out in front of your face, staring into her gold-green eyes. Kuiper just meowed at you, pawing at your skin. You sigh and place her on the floor. She rushed to the kitchen, looking at you expectantly. “Okay, okay princess. Dinner first, then I’m changing your ribbon back.”

 You lounged on your couch, watching the hero news as you pet your sleeping kitty, who was now wearing a light pink collar. She rolled onto her back, showing off her belly; you noticed that it seemed to be rounder. “Someone needs to go on a diet.” You giggle as you scratched her under the chin. Someone must be feeding her as well. Your eyes wander to the box that sat on your coffee table; it was slowly becoming full of purple ribbons and the sight of it irritated you.

 You have nothing against the color purple. Any color looks good on your lovely Kuiper, but that’s just it. It’s your Kuiper, you furry cat baby, and someone is taking off the ribbons you put on her to replace them with their own. It was annoying. Plus, you like putting bright colors on her; it made it easier for you to spot her in the dark so you don’t accidentally step on her. But this is getting ridiculous. You need it to stop.

 The next day before you leave, you pin a small note to Kuiper’s collar, warning the offender to stop changing the ribbons you selected for your princess for the day. There; hopefully they respect your wishes. “Bye Kuiper, be good.”

 ~

 Shinso dropped his tired body onto his plush bed. Working as an underground hero is extremely exhausting. On top of already having a hard time sleeping, Shinso felt completely drained. He looked at the clock to see that it was four a.m.; he let out a loud groan. Luckily he doesn’t have to go back in till later that night, but still. Shinso wrapped his blankets tightly around himself, willing sleep to take over.

 A few hours later, he felt something fluffy covering his mouth. He grabs at the fur wrapped around his face; Shinso opens his eyes as he hears the familiar meow of his neighbor’s cat. “You know you should really stop sneaking out to suffocate me every day.” The cat just meowed at him, kneading at his toned chest as she purred.

 Letting the cat go to curl up on his chest, he looks over at the clock to see that it was barely nine a.m. “I’m going to sleep some more. Mind keeping me company, pretty girl?” The cat didn’t even look at him, seeming to have already fallen asleep. Shinso hums, closing his eyes again and stroking the warm fur ball on his chest.

 His neighbor’s cat somehow sneaking out to hang with Shinso during the day has been a reoccurring thing for weeks now. She always leaves before her owner comes home. It kind of felt like the cat was using him as a heated bed and belly scratcher during the day when her owner is away. He didn’t mind though; he loves cats and is happy to have a napping buddy. Plus it’s fun changing the cat’s collar; he could hear his neighbor’s frustrated groan sometimes. He could hear them question the cat about the collar or how she was getting out like she could answer back. Though, Shinso did also wonder how she keeps getting into his apartment.

 His hands freeze when he feels something crinkle under his fingertips. Shinso opens his eyes to see a note attached the light pink collar. Careful not to awake the kitten, he takes the paper and opens it before snorting into his hand.

 Please leave her ribbons alone. I like the ones she is already wearing, thank you very much. Also, ease up on the snacks; my slim kitty is turning into a bowling ball. Oh yeah, he is so buying the biggest bow he can find… after a few more hours of sleep.

 ~

 “Oh my god… it looks like you won first prize at a state fair!” You hold up your cat to look at the gaudiest bow yet. There were multiple neon colors, frill, and it was the size of her head! Where do they even find something like this? “Whoever you are, Ribbon Fiend, you have god-awful taste!”

 You struggle to get the ugly thing off. Kuiper meowed persistently, done with being held and wanting her dinner. You finally got it off and she jumped away from you to sit in front of her bowl. “Okay, okay. You are so bratty.”

 Once the fur ball was purring happily at your feet with a full belly, you picked up the ugly bow and was about to throw it away when you saw a small scrap of line paper stapled to it. Nah. Really?

 “Who the fuck just writes ‘nah’ after I wrote a paragraph! No, no nah! Kuiper, show me where you are escaping! You are grounded! I don’t like the crowd you are hanging with!”

 Kuiper ignored you, choosing to groom herself before meowing at you. “Don’t talk back to me! I don’t remember raising you like this! Bad furry baby!” Sick of your antics, your cat walked away from you to her cat tree for a nap.

 You were still muttering to yourself about hating the word nah now, that you missed the laughing coming from next door.

 ~

 After that, you would often get teasing notes attached to some of the ugliest bows. You asked them once where they even find them and the response made you giggle. Trying to spoil the furry baby by yourself by stealing my source? I think nah’ Okay, so you were starting to find these notes charming. Not sure how you feel with your cat becoming a carrier pigeon though.

 “I still don’t get how she is getting out…” You were laying on your couch, Kuiper curled up on you your lap. Next door, you heard your neighbor’s door slam and Kuiper instantly got to her feet. “Kuiper?”

 You watch as your cat ran as fast as she could to your room. Did something spook her? You followed her just in time to see her tail go under your bed. “Aw, Kuiper, what’s wrong?” On the floor now, you tried to squeeze under the bed. But there was no Kuiper in sight. You pushed clothes and boxes aside till you reached the wall… and the open air vent. “That’s how she’s been getting out…”

 Peering into the vent, you try to see if you could grab your escape artist cat by whispering her name. A man’s voice spoke up in surprise, surprising you as well. It sounded like the man was in the room; the vents must be directly connected. “Gah! Why do you always jump on my face as soon as I get home? You are very pretty but your fur does not taste good.”

 You couldn’t help giggling at the man’s distress. “That’s what you get for putting ugly ass bows on my cat. I’m coming for you, my bratty kitty.” Shimmying out from under your bed, you rushed out of your apartment to your next door neighbor. You’d never met him before so this should be interesting. You pressed the doorbell and waited.

 The door slowly opened and you were face to face with a man’s bare toned muscular chest. Holy shit. Your face instantly went red and you forced yourself to meet the face that owned the toned chest. “H-hi.” Your eyes met dark purple eyes with just as dark eye bags underneath them. All that confidence you’d had earlier, vanished, poof, gone. “I… um, think you have… my cat?”

 The man leaned against the door frame, his indigo hair swaying as he did. He crossed his arms and gave you smug smirk. “Nah.”

 Your eye twitched at the sound of that word; as much as you hated that word it didn’t sound so bad coming from him directly. “Nah?”

 “Yeah, at this point she’s pretty much our cat. Want to come in and discuss a custody agreement?” His grin widened as he motioned you inside. You could see Kuiper making herself right at home on his couch.

 You looked back at him. Yup, still shirtless. You swallow down your nerves and take a step inside, repeating to yourself not to mention he was shirtless and that the ugly bow fiend was maybe kind of a little hot. “Shirt- I mean sure, sure.” Kuiper looked up at you, still wearing the cute pink ribbon you put on her this morning. “As long as we can agree on no more ugly bows.”

 “Nah.”

[needdl]

NejitenMonth Day Two: Cursed

shhhh i know it’s august.

also available on FFN and AO3

It really, really sucked to be cursed in the modern era.

Of course, any era was considered the modern era when one was living in it, but Tenten meant the technological, Information Age, when being stuck as an admittedly adorable housecat was probably how she'd spend the rest of her life. People just didn't think about magic any more, so it didn't matter what she tried to do to show people she was a human- they just figured she was the smartest cat they'd ever met.

To bad she'd zoned out in calculus so often. Maybe if she knew how to take a derivative people would pay more attention.

Also, she was getting concerned, because she'd noticed her thoughts becoming more catlike over time- suggesting a permanent effect if she couldn't find someone who could change her back in time.

Unfortunately the wayward spell had picked her up and planted her back down someplace very, very far from Ino- who no doubt was feeling panicky and awful over turning her senior into a cat and then vanishing her. 

(The situation wasn't Ino's fault, not really, so if Tenten turned human again she'd definitely reassure Ino that she didn't blame her in the least.)

At least Tenten was safe- she'd appeared outside an herb and tea shop owned by a very nice young lady who immediately started feeding her, then adopted her.

She didn't know the woman's name- because the cat brain part of her didn't know or particularly care about human names- but she knew that she was small and soft and had dark hair and kind hands, and always smelled like cinnamon.

She talked to Tenten all the time, stuttering over some words, and it made Tenten think that maybe the woman was a little lonely. The shop saw a lot of business, so the loneliness was a little confusing to Tenten- but there was a difference between having customers and having friends.

How much time had passed since she’d come here? Tenten realized one day that she didn’t know, and the thought made her panic. She spent the night pacing in the shop and yowling at the moon, fighting to remember the distinctive shape of Lee’s eyes, the way Ino tried not to snort when she laughed, the rose-petal shade of Sakura’s hair.

There was a bit of string on the floor. Tenten batted it idly as she passed, then leapt up onto the tallest shelf in the room to sleep. 

The woman was running late opening the shop the next morning.

Tenten watched as she walked slowly through the shelves, taking inventory but seemingly in no hurry. It was already two hours after she normally opened.

“Miss Kitty!” Woman called in her quiet voice. Tenten occasionally trailed Woman around the shop when she was preparing to open, but today the lateness of the hour had thrown her off and she’d remained up on her shelf. “Where are… are you?”

Tenten meowed and stood up, tail twitching. Woman looked up at her with a smile. “There you are! Good morning!” She patted her shoulder and Tenten leapt down onto it, sleek and sure. Woman laughed breathlessly, delight painted across her features.

Tenten butted her head against Woman’s chin then jumped down and went to sit next to her food bowl, watching as Woman filled it with choice pieces of meat, then went off to finish inventory. Tenten ate breakfast, then settled in to snooze on a sunny windowsill. She was an attraction to customers, she knew it.

But not today, because apparently Woman wasn’t opening at all. Tenten lazily opened her eyes to watch the woman shuffle through some sheets of paper at the cashier’s desk, chewing her lip and smiling at them. It was a letter, Tenten realized, though she had no idea of the contents.

But she was a cat now. Cats were rude.

With this in mind, Tenten silently jumped off the windowsill and walked over to where Woman was reading the papers. She timed it perfectly so she had restacked all the papers, the first one at the top again, then leapt into the air.

Her paws landed thump-thump-thump on the papers, and she looked up at Woman with a loud, chirping mrrrt!

Woman laughed and raised her hand to pet her, and Tenten twined herself against her fingers in such a way that she was staring down at the near-perfect calligraphy on the letter. 

Hinata-sama, 

I’m pleased that you’re doing well. Hanabi-sama and I were concerned after we didn’t hear from you for so long, and she was about to go charging after you with or without Hiashi-sama’s permission. You can my imagine my relief when your letters arrived.

As always, anything you should need from the Clan is yours to claim.

Tenten had to stop reading then, because it would have been too long for a cat to stare at a piece of paper, but she had a name for Woman now. Hinata. It was pretty. 

She moved suddenly, throwing herself against Hinata’s hands again, this time rustling the papers so the very last paragraphs of the final page was visible to her. 

The same script as before continued.

… and if it would suit you, I would like to come visit the shop. I am available the first weeks of March, so please let me know when would be ideal for you. And I’ve no desire to put you out, as I know how small your space is, so I will be staying at one of the town’s inns.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yrs, 

Neji Hyuga

So they were to have visitors, then, sometime in early March. Tenten tried to think of what time of the year it was- she’d been cursed in late October, and had been with Hinata through the New Year, and these past couple days there had been many customers coming to buy a tea blend for the upcoming Hana Matsuri festival…

No. No, that couldn’t be right, because then that would mean Tenten had been cursed for almost five months now. And she couldn’t- that was so long- surely someone would have found her by then-

The door chimed as someone stepped in, and Hinata looked up from her peaceful cat petting with a wide smile. “N- Neji-niisan!”

Well, that was damning. It was officially early March, and Tenten had spent nearly half a year as a cat.

The man who entered and smiled at Hinata’s greeting was undeniably her brother, as she so addressed him. He was slightly above average height for a man, which meant he towered over his sister, with a build that suggested he exercised regularly. His eyes were shaped exactly like Hinata’s, though the color was more gray than lavender, and his hair was long and dark and tied in a knot at the base of his neck.

He was very, very handsome. 

Tenten realized she wasn’t having a terribly cat-ish reaction to his entrance- she should jump off the desk, maybe, and then slink off- but the man hadn’t noticed her yet, instead taking long strides and meeting Hinata in the middle of the room to hug her. Tenten sat down on the letter to watch as they interrupted each other through half a conversation, asking each other about the shop and the Clan and Hanabi and how have you been? No, how have you been? No, how have you-

It was the politest non-argument Tenten had ever seen, and highly entertaining to watch, but the man caught sight of her on the desk and went stock-still. His previously happy expression went terrifyingly blank, and he said in a low voice, “Hinata. What is that.”

Hinata turned to look at her, bewildered. “The… cat?”

“That is not a cat,” he replied, stepping in front of her and throwing out a protective arm. “That is something wearing a cat. What the hell is it doing here-”

“She’s, she’s a cat! She’s my cat. I ca-call her Miss Kitty!”

“Hinata, I do not believe for one second that your withdrawal from the Hyuga Clan has left you this oblivious. Just Look at her and you’ll see it.”

“You didn’t Look, I- I don’t see why you’re, you’re so sure ab-about Miss Kitty!”

“I am not so casual in my use of our family’s talents that they can be seen so easily.”

Hinata scowled at him. “F-fine.” She turned her gaze to Tenten, who had been watching and doing her best to swallow her panic. She hadn’t done anything wrong, just tried to make the best of her situation, but the man’s conviction that she meant harm to his sister did not bode well for her. 

Hinata tilted her head, and suddenly it felt to Tenten like the universe was funneling its gaze into the shop, holding its breath. Hinata blinked, and when she opened her eyes they were ice white, veins at her temples bulging and magic swirling at her fingertips.

Tenten blinked at her as all the fur along her spine wrenched itself upright and her tail puffed out.

Hinata looked at Tenten for mere milliseconds before gasping and staggering back against her brother, who caught her with a grim look. He did not seem pleased to have been proven right.

Hinata’s magic faded, and the universe sighed and looked away once more. 

But things in the little herb shop remained just as chaotic. The man shoved Hinata behind him again and barked, “What are you?”

How the hell did he expect her to respond to that? She could only speak in cat. She glared at him, fur still poofed, and tried to telepathically communicate to him that he was an idiot. 

Apparently some of her message got through, because his tight expression darkened into a glower. Hinata peeked over his shoulder, chewing her lip, and muttered, “She’s-she’s been with me for… for months, Neji-niisan; I-I think if sh-she intended ha-harm… harm, she would have al-already done s… so.”

Tenten meowed hesitantly in affirmation. The man looked like he’d swallowed a lemon, but relaxed his stance slightly. Tenten didn’t doubt for a moment that he’d be ready to defend his sister again at any second.

Some time later, Hinata had dug out some old spell books (and Tenten was kicking herself for not realizing that the former heiress of the Hyuga Clan had taken her in, of all people) and she and her brother were poring over them as they discussed the situation. Tenten was watching from her assigned perch on Hinata’s windowsill- Neji had herded her over there and told her to stay, then Hinata had absently scratched her chin and said “Please” so Tenten had agreed to it. 

Neji had tied up his hair to the top of his head, and Tenten was trying not to think about what it was doing to his cheekbones and jawline, because he was still an asshole no matter how good-looking he was. “I think we should use the truth spell first. We can find out her intentions.”

“O-only if we ask if she knows anything that might reverse the spell and help her.” Hinata pushed the sentence out all in one breath, which seemed to improve her stutter but did nothing for her lungs. She panted as she stared at her brother, wide-eyed.

After a long moment, he muttered, “Fine,” and averted his gaze. Hinata gave him a wide-eyed, half disbelieving look of smugness. Tenten laughed in cat.

They performed the truth spell, and Tenten felt it sink slowly into her, settling along her veins and rushing along with her heart. Neji scowled at her and asked, “What are you, who are you, and why are you here?”

This idiot. Tenten scowled back and snapped. “How the fuck am I supposed to answer that, genius? In cat?”

All of which came out in perfect speech. 

He looked insufferably smug. “As if I would overlook such a detail in circumstances like this.”

“Yeah, and did you include the part about making it compulsory for me to respond to all you questions?” Even as she snarked him, Tenten appreciated the warm cadences of her voice after not hearing it for so long. 

His silence after her question was very telling. She twitched her whiskers in a cat-grin and told him, “Fortunately I would like to get out of this situation just as much as you would have me out of your sisters house. Ask me your questions and I shall answer to my best knowledge.”

Hinata cut in quietly, “What is your name?”

“Tenten. No surname."

"What are you?" Neji asked, sending Hinata a quelling look. Clearly he had told her that he'd do the questioning.

"Human." She considered them carefully, then added "A sorceress. I study at the Senju Academy for Magical Beings."

"Oh!" Delight painted Hinata's features. "Do you know Naruto Uzumaki?"

Tenten thought of the last time she physically threw Naruto out of a lab for being disruptive. "Yes."

Neji cut in again. "How did a sorceress come to be caught in this enchantment?"

"What, you think I did this on purpose?" She glared. "I was practicing with one of my tutor students and she misspoke and then redirected a spell. An accident."

Neji did not look satisfied, but the truth spell did not flare to indicate a lie. "How did you come here? The Academy is on the other side of the world."

“I’m not sure. I would conjecture that it was part of the spell mispronunciation. I was transported to this town and took shelter in the alley outside. Hinata found me and took me in.” She paused, and gave Hinata her best thankful look. “Thank you, by the way.”

Hinata ducked her chin and blushed, smiling at the ground. “You- you’re very welcome, Tenten-san.”

“And your intentions here?”

“Well- not none, exactly. To remain alive and healthy. I wish to be reverted back to my natural form and to be home again.” Tenten wrapped her tail around her paws and tilted her head up to meet his icy gaze. "I mean no harm to any here."

 He considered for many long moments, then nodded once.

"Very well. Hinata, what do you remember about transformation spells? I was never taught much about them."

"W-well, usually you say the… the spell backwards. T-Tenten-san, do you r… recall how it went?"

Tenten frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe I can figure out parts of it. How long will my speech ability last?"

"Another hour," Neji muttered. He was flipping through a spellbook, but looked up to meet her eyes. "I can redo it if needed." 

"All right." Tenten hopped down from the windowsill and stretched, back arching. Out of habit she leaned against Hinata's hands to be petted, and out of habit Hinata scratched her chin. They both recognized the silliness of the situation of the same time, and Tenten snickered over Hinata self-conscious giggle.

"Per-perhaps when you are… are back to normal, Tenten-san, I c-can stay with-with you and contin- continue to give chin scratches."

"Heavens know I'll need it, after being a cat for so long." Tenten let out a mrrrt of amusement.

Neji just scowled at them both with a skeptical eye.

The mood was considerably heavier seven hours later, when all attempts had failed to get Tenten back to her human form.

Hinata was leaning tiredly against the wall after casting all the spells, knees drawn up to her chin as she watched Neji mutter furiously to himself over a spell book. The last speech spell on Tenten had worn off half an hour ago but no one had seen the point in replacing it, so Tenten was seated next to Neji on the ground, staring into space.

The first counterspell hadn't done anything at all, not that they had really expected it to, and each attempt after that had seemed better and better. But four spells in and they'd hit a rut, and had made no further progress in an hour.

Hinata’s fourth spell had caused magic to go sinking into Tenten's bones and had seemed truly promising, but when nothing further happened they had no idea how to progress from there. All the possible iterations of the spell that Tented could recall were scrawled out on various pieces of paper around the room, rustling in the night breeze.

Neji suddenly sat back with a curse, startling both of them. He rubbed at his eyes and said, "It seems like it should be much easier." Tenten nodded.

"I think we-we should wrap up for th-the night," Hinata said. “Miss Kit- um, T-Tenten, are you- you still comfortable wi-with sleeping here? I don’t… I don’t have anoth-er bed-”

“She can stay with me in the inn,” Neji didn’t even look up from his book. “My room has the space, plus I can monitor the spellwork throughout the night. You need to rest.” She did look pale and drawn, after doing all the casting that day.

Hinata was about to protest- and Tenten herself wasn’t sure about how she felt about staying with this man, who was admittedly less of an asshole now that he trusted her more but was still a stranger- but Neji cut her off and said, “There’s an extra futon in my room.” Tenten bit back a laugh at the idea of one smallish cat having an entire futon to herself and gave Hinata a nod. She chewed her lip before nodding in agreement. 

Soon after, Tenten was loping along at Neji’s feet as he strode down the street towards his inn, face carefully blank. It was late enough that there were very few people on the street, and Tenten’s dark fur was easily just a part of the shadows. 

Just outside the inn, Neji paused and furrowed his brow. “They are unlikely to let pets in, and my room is several stories up.”

Tenten looked at him. He didn’t have a bag or anything to hide her in… He cleared his throat and undid the tie in his hair so it flowed over his shoulders.

Oh. Tenten understood what he was doing now. (To herself, she noted that this hairstyle change also looked really good on him, but whatever.) 

He cleared his throat, again, and awkwardly indicated to her that she should climb onto his shoulder. She jumped up easily and tried not to use her claws to keep her balance. His shoulders were very broad and muscular, so it was relatively easy.

He shifted his neck and she slinked underneath his curtain of hair, shifting so she was fully covered. Fortunately, she was not a big cat. Or even a medium-sized cat. She was barely larger than a kitten, actually.

Neji’s skin was warm and he smelled slightly of men’s shampoo and conditioner, and as he made his way upstairs Tenten found herself fighting back a purr.

She realized, as Neji scanned his key card, that this was undoubtedly the nicest inn in town, and one of the nicest rooms. Clearly the Hyuga was accustomed to a certain level of comfort.

Lousy rich bastards, all of them, Tenten thought, flexing her claws a little in Neji’s neck. Except Hinata, she amended. They entered the room, and she pushed off his shoulder to thump onto the floor.

“Very well,” he murmured. He reached out and turned on the lights, and Tenten stared at the elegant decor of the room. “I’m going to prepare for bed. I don’t suppose you need me to fold out the futon, do you?”

Tenten responded by leaping lightly onto it and settling in with her paws tucked underneath her, then blinking up at him. He nodded once and gave her the ghost of a smile, then went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Tenten was asleep when he came back out, so he turned off the lights and quietly went to bed.

The clock struck three, and Tenten rolled off the futon with a loud clatter.

Startled, she blurted, “What the hell?” and shoved herself onto her feet, staggering as she went up. Why was it so hard to balance all the sudden? It was like her tail wasn’t following directions-

Aha. She no longer had a tail, because she’d turned back into a human. Her own body, as a matter of fact.

There was the sound of movement by the bed and the light suddenly clicked on. Neji sat calmly in the bed, arms raised and gun pointing steadily at her head. Tenten was almost too busy being blinded by the sudden brightness to recognize the threat. 

Hastily she blurted, “Neji-san, it’s me. Tenten.” 

He responded by cocking the gun. “Talk fast.”

“About what, asshole? I don’t know what happened. Maybe one of the counterspells partially took hold earlier and just finished setting in.”

Not one bit of an expression crossed his face as he calmly recited the incantation for the truth spell. Tenten rolled her eyes, “Seriously-”

“Start again,” he snapped.

“Fine, fine. God. It’s me, Tenten, the person you were working on all day yesterday to help me out of the cat spell. I intend no harm to you or your sister.”

“Hinata is my cousin.”

“Really?” She blinked at him, curious, but his dark expression dissuaded her from asking any more questions. “Okay, whatever. I intend no harm to you or your cousin.” He relaxed minutely, and she couldn’t help but snark, “Paranoid much?”

“I am rightfully cautious.” He set the gun back under his pillow, suddenly avoiding looking at her. “Let me get you some clothes.”

His slight blush as he said it made her quirk a brow, but as she reconsidered her new (slash old) body, she realized what had him so hot and bothered. Cats didn’t wear clothes, after all, and it stood to reason that she wouldn’t have any when she transformed back. 

So she’d been steadily showcasing her fully nude figure to him for the past couple of minutes. Nice. 

Tenten beat back her embarrassment and accepted the loose shirt and pants he offered her. She pulled on the shirt first, tugging her hair out of the collar so it could fall over her shoulders (it was longer than when she’d first been transformed, which was interesting), then the pants, tying the drawstring tightly so they wouldn’t slip off her waist.

“Done.” At her indication, Neji turned back towards her, still blushing slightly. It reminded her of Hinata, which made her bite back a smile. But he straightened up, taller than her by a good few inches, and she was reminded that in some very crucial ways, he and Hinata were quite different.

“I expected you to be shorter, frankly,” he told her. She blinked at him, surprised by how menial the statement was, and he grimaced slightly. “You’re very small as a cat.”

“Oh. Yeah, and I’m pretty tall for a human woman.” She grinned at him, rejoicing in the feeling. 

He nodded once, giving her a twitch of his lips in return, then asked, “So what happened?”

They were deep into discussion some time later, sitting on the bed and talking with their heads bent close together about the various phrases they had used earlier, scribbling out ideas for what had happened with Ino’s spell in the first place, when the clock chimed four, and Tenten was a cat again. 

She was midspeech when her words suddenly turned into meows, and after a moment spent staring in befuddlement at the pile of clothes she was engulfed in, she hissed in disappointment.  Neji stared at her, one hand frozen mid-reach to assist her.

After a moment, he sat back and sighed, pinching his brow. “Well, as we thought, it’s not permanent. It seems you were human just for the witching hour.” 

Tenten, struggling out of the pile of his clothing, chirped in agreement. He looked at her  and gave her a tired smile. “I’ll clean this up. You should get some more rest; we’ll tell everything to Hinata in the morning and maybe send a message to the Academy.” 

Tenten nodded in understanding, then in a moment that truly showed how much she’d warmed to him, butted her head against his arm before jumping off the bed and padding over to the futon to sleep. 

She didn’t look back at him as she walked away, but if she had, she might have seen the fleetingly pleased smile he gave her.

The next morning, over tea, Neji explained to Hinata the events of the night before. Tenten mostly zoned out, watching the refined movements of both of them through their elaborate ceremony.

They probably didn’t even realize they were doing it, but somewhere between having good manners and Neji showing respect to the heiress they were getting nowhere with the conversation.

But rather than cutting in, Tenten just laid down in the patch of sunlight creeping across the floor and allowed her eyes to close.

She was drowsing happily, a purr rumbling in her chest, when Neji gently nudged her awake by setting his hand on her narrow shoulder blades. She snapped her eyes open with a brrrp? 

His mouth twitched again in what she’d come to realize was him hiding a smile. “Hinata went to open up shop. We agreed to go through the spellwork again later, and I sent a message to the Academy about your situation.”

Tenten nodded and arched her back under his hand as he absentmindedly stroked her fur for a few seconds, then seemed to remember himself and began packing away Hinata’s tea set. Tenten slinked out of the room and down into the shop, settling into the windowsill by the street and blinking out at the people passing by. 

After a few minutes, she realized that the group of young women across the street weren’t window shopping like she originally thought, but staring into the herb shop and giggling. Tenten half-turned to see what had captivated their attention and was greeted by the sight of Neji, a staff apron over his business casual clothes and his hair in a low bun, stocking one of the shelves.

If Tenten were seven years younger and surrounded by her groups of friends, she’d probably giggle admiringly at him too.

But she wasn’t, she was twenty-three and also stuck as a cat, so instead she rolled onto her back in the sun and purred. 

Customers flowed in and out of the shop as always, chatting with Hinata and trying to chat with a flat-expressioned Neji. Some of them offered her pets and some of them tried to get her to bat at pieces of string, but it was hard for her to pretend to be a cat again after being so close to reversing the spell.

After she couldn’t handle the cooing and baby talk any longer, she climbed up to the highest shelf to sulk and watch the crowd. 

Mid-afternoon, with the sun at its highest peak and the heat nearly unbearable, not many people were shopping. Tenten waited until she was certain the rumble had quieted until further notice, then leapt down on an unsuspecting Hinata’s shoulder. 

She startled minutely, but it wasn’t the first time it had happened and she quickly regained her bearings and smiled happily. “H-hello, Tenten-san. We’re about to… to have some lunch.” Tenten mao-ed and climbed down Hinata’s back to follow her to the cashier’s desk, where Neji had pulled out bento boxes.

Tenten sprawled out on the countertop as they ate quietly and discussed the sales that morning- Neji seemed very interested in Hinata’s business experience so far, and she was happy to oblige him. 

Tenten, with nothing to contribute- and no way to contribute- idly hooked her claws through a bit of fish Neji was mostly ignoring, then ate it. 

He gave her an offended look, and she presented him with a happy-cat face and purred.

Some of the giggling young women from earlier had worked up the courage to come in the shop after lunch. Three of them fumbled their way through a conversation with Neji- who was more gracious about it than Tenten would have given him credit for- while a fourth petted Tenten with laser-like intensity, occasionally looking up at Neji and going crimson.

It was very sweet, and they all left with some tea and essential oils that they had asked Hinata about, very earnestly and excitedly. Tenten was feeling quite fond of all of them when they left, and licked the fingertips of the shy petter before she departed- startling a giggle from her.

The three of them were all in a happy mood when they closed up the shop and went up to Hinata’s apartment, and it was with a hopeful air that they pulled out their spellbooks and settling into magic.

They hadn’t yet heard back from the Academy, but Neji said that when he’d sent the note via a transportation spell, he’d received an audio spell saying that the Academy was currently in the midst of overhauling its message system and that it might take a couple days to respond to any messages, thank you for your understanding. So for now they were on their own.

But Tenten was already feeling much more hopeful- even if she didn’t transform briefly again tonight, she had two very intelligent magic users working with her now. Her odds were looking better and better.

One speech spell later and she was rattling through all the transformation spells she’d been forced to memorize in her undergraduate work, as Hinata took rapid notes and chewed her lip. Neji was staring through Tenten, a slight furrow between his brows.

Once Tenten couldn’t remember any more spells, they picked through them all to see if they had any common words or phrases that Ino may have used. They consulted more spellbooks, though at this point they’d read most of them to the point of memorization, and Hinata once more cast numerous counterspells that left Tenten feeling pretty damn magicked but did not change her back to human.

When Hinata was almost asleep on her feet- Tenten wasn’t sure why Neji didn’t cast, but she’d wager almost anything it had to do with the Hyuga branch system- Neji herded his cousin into bed, shut off all the lights, and locked up the shop before he and Tenten once more retired to his rooms for the night.

Tenten woke up freezing cold and unsure as to why. It was only about eleven o’clock, and she was still a cat, but her fur wasn’t warming her and it felt like she was being turned to ice from the inside out.

Somehow, she managed to stumble across the room and leap onto Neji’s bed, batting at him to get his attention. He startled awake, one hand going to the gun once again carefully tucked under the pillow before he realized, “Tenten?”

He was a beacon of warmth and she threw herself against him, trembling. 

He raised a cautious hand to her back and said sharply, “You’re freezing.” He lifted her up- which was very disconcerting, he hadn’t done that before- and settled her against his chest, arms around her and slowly seeping warmth back into her.

“It might be part of a spell. Is this helping?” She nodded and tucked her head under his chin, trying to leech as much warmth off of him as she could. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Tenten’s internal temperature righted itself, and Neji murmured, “I’m sorry you have to experience this.”

Tenten let out an almost silent noise in response. He continued, “If I were better at casting, or at the practical applications of transformations spells-” Irritated by his doubts, Tenten reached up and smacked his chin with her paw.

He let out a startled grunt, then muttered “Point taken.” 

Another few minutes passed in silence, and Tenten found herself feeling warm and sluggish. She slowly began falling asleep against Neji’s chest. After a moment of softly calling her name and her ignoring him, he laid back down in bed with her on his chest.

He stroked his hand down her spine. “Maybe I should get a cat after all this. A non-cursed one.” She responded by nestling her face against his neck and starting to purr.

In their relief at settling her back down (and conquering the coldness curse- take that, curse!) they forgot that Tenten might possibly transform back again that night, completely naked.

So it was with much embarrassment from both of them when the clock struck three, and Neji found himself cradling Tenten against his chest, his hand splayed across her bare lower back and her face pressed against his neck, short, sweet breaths puffing against his skin. 

Most incriminatingly, her leg was draped over his waist and between his own, a warm weight against him.

It was definitely a position that screamed “post-coital intimacy!” despite the fact that Neji was fully clothed and under the covers.

They separated from each other with a lot of awkward stammering and averted gazes, and Neji hastily offered Tenten the blankets, which she yanked over her chest. They sat in silence for a few moments, staring determinedly in opposite directions as their flushes faded.

Neji cleared his throat a few times, but never said anything after, seemingly unable to think of the words. After a few minutes, Tenten muttered, “Uh, sorry. Didn’t think that one through.”

“It’s… fine.” They peered at each other out of the corner of their eyes, made eye contact, and immediately looked away again. Tenten coughed.

Finally, she said, “So which spell do you think affected my internal temperature?” and some of the tension broke. Neji was much better at spell theory than he gave himself credit for, and his fascination with the subject shone through when he discussed it.

He’d been talking for several minutes straight about the ways to conjugate some words that completely changed their meanings when he noticed the smile she was giving him. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” She bit her lip in an effort to tone down the smile. “You’re just really smart.”

“Thank you,” he said immediately, barely even registering her statement. It was obviously a compliment he was used to receiving. Tenten pouted a little, put off by his easy brush off as he continued his lecture. She wanted his focus on her.

He had grabbed the notepad and pen off his nightstand to illustrate the point he was talking about when she decided the best way to get his attention was to lean over and kiss him.

God, I hope I’ve been reading these signals correctly, she thought to herself, parting her mouth slightly so their lips fit together. She was gratified a few moments later when there was the soft touch of a hand cupping her jaw, and Neji’s mouth moved against hers. She smiled into the kiss, inordinately pleased. 

They pulled away gently, grinning at each other. Neji ducked his chin a little, looking almost shy, and Tenten breathlessly giggled. “That was nice.”

“Y-yes, it was.” He flicked his tongue over his bottom lip and her eyes tracked the motion. “Do you- that is-” She tilted her head and smiled at him, that same fond smile as before she’d kissed him. He seemed to struggle for words. 

“When- when your curse is broken.” He paused and stared at her.

She raised her brows, still smiling, and he rushed on.

“Once you’re back at the Academy- well, I travel a lot, on behalf of the Hyuga Clan, and if I’m in the area…” 

“Yes,” she said immediately. 

He grinned. Tenten noticed he had the beginning of a dimple forming on one cheek and wondered why she hadn’t seen it before, then realized he’d never smiled so much or so widely at her. 

“Yes?”

“Yes, I’d like for you to visit. Or- I’d like to keep seeing you. I guess I don’t know for sure what direction you were going with that.”

The grin crooked into a teasing smirk. “Perhaps I was going to ask if you would travel abroad each time I was there so I could avoid you.”

“HA!” She snorted. “Yeah right. I’m hot, smart, funny, and I’m into you.”

She thought on it a moment, then added, “Plus I’m under a really interesting curse. I’m basically your dream girl.” 

He leaned forward and kissed her again. “True enough.” The rough edge in his voice as he murmured it made goosebumps erupt over her skin- except no, not just that, because the clock had struck four and Tenten was a cat.

Neji scowled and sat back in bed. “I really was hoping we had it this time.” Tenten nodded, then realized he probably wouldn’t be kissing her like that for the next twenty-three hours and her mood instantly flipped to the “enraged” side of the spectrum.

“FUCK,” she said loudly. Astonishingly enough, it was in perfect human speech. They gaped at each other.

Neji’s brow furrowed. “Can you… speak?”

“I dunno.” Tenten replied, then paused. “”Hm, I guess I can.” She grinned brightly up at him- as much as a cat could, anyway. “Progress!” 

He smiled and stroked her head. “Progress.”

Hinata delighted in talking to Tenten the next morning, and Tenten found great joy in hearing the sound of her own voice again. She talked brightly with both Hyuga cousins about their own work in spells, their personal lives, their interests, anything she could think of. 

(There was a certain undercurrent of affection between her and Neji that hadn’t existed the day before, and it made Tenten feel very soft and melt-y.)

It sucked when they had to open the shop and Tenten had to go back to just being a cat. She amused herself by following Neji around and twining herself around his ankles while he tried to walk. After the third time he almost stumbled, he scooped her up and placed her on his shoulder, where she happily cuddled herself against his neck and purred loudly during his conversations with customers.

They closed for lunch again, and while Hinata was doing some quick restocking Neji plucked Tenten off his shoulder, looked her in the eye, and told her sagely, “You are very annoying.”

She laughed. “Thanks, I try very hard.”

He pursed his lips and set her down on the counter, fighting a smile. 

They ate lunch in the back room. Halfway through their meal and conversation about which laptop was best for a work device, there was a pounding on the shop door. Hinata frowned and went to answer, then suddenly shrieked. There was a loud thumping of footsteps and a figure burst through the door to the backroom. 

It leapt through the air and towards Tenten, and she was just about to see if she could summon a sword or two to stab it when the very air screamed and the figure yanked to a stop.

Hinata stood with one palm thrust forward, a snarl on her face and her eyes a terrifying white.

Tenten’s tiny cat chest heaved as she gasped for breath, staring at Hinata around Neji’s arm- because he’d leapt in front of her to protect her, she realized. Once her heart rate had calmed slightly, (and her fur had smoothed down, she hadn’t realized she’d puffed herself up defensively but indeed she had) she leaned around Neji to see the attacking figure.

The second she saw the green color, she groaned. “Lee, for fuck’s sake.”

Lee, bug-eyed and frozen mid-leap as he reached to hug her, let out a muffled grunt of Emotions™.

“I know him,” She told Neji and Hinata. “He’s a graduate student at the Academy too. We’ve known each other forever. He’s just excitable; sorry about that, Hinata.”

Hinata turned that skin-crawling gaze upon her for a few seconds, then lowered her palm. Lee hit the floor with a thump and immediately sprang to his feet, yelling, “Tenten! You’re okay! We’ve found you!” over and over until he’d wrapped his huggy octopus arms around her and was weeping into her fur.

Normally she’d roll her eyes and snap at him for being dramatic, but she’d been missing for almost six months and was just as glad to see him. A purr rumbled up from her chest and she did nothing to quiet it.

Lee wiped his eyes on his sleeve and said, “Is that- are you purring?”

“Yep.”

“That’s adorable.”

“Thanks.” She started grooming his eyebrow, which made him squawk and toss her back onto the countertop. She landed neatly, laughing at him.

She realized abruptly that Neji, standing behind the pair of them, was giving her a look that screamed “Introductions and explanations, now”. She twitched her whiskers at him in a cat-smile and said, “Lee, these are my friends Hinata and Neji. Hinata adopted me as a cat before she knew I was cursed, and Neji’s been instrumental in making progress on a counterspell.”

The three of them looked at each other, Lee with great joy and Hinata with caution. Neji was expressionless but still managed to exude skepticism. 

Tenten gave him as close as she could to a pleading look, and his shoulders softened slightly. “Lee-san, were you sent from the Academy?”

“Correct!” Lee gave him a thumbs up and a bright grin. “I am something of a forward scout, sent to find Tenten and check on her situation before I bring her home!” He turned that smile onto Tenten and she purred, feeling very fond of him.

Lee continued, “I will send notice to our friends and professors at the Academy, as we were all in a panic, and if it is all right with you, Hinata-san, I will direct them here to help with undoing the course.” He looked apologetic. “I am something of a failure when it comes to most spellcasting.”

Hinata instantly warmed to him at his self put-down. “O-oh, I’m sure… sure you’re no-t, Lee-san.”

“Yes he is,” Tenten chimed in, leaping onto Neji’s shoulder and settling into her favorite spot against his neck. She would miss it when she was human again and too big to wedge into it. “Lee’s awful at everything except self-directed combat magic, at which he excels in to a ridiculous amount.”

She thought on it a moment, whiskers twitching against Neji’s skin, then added, “Probably the best in the world.”

“NO!” Lee’s bellow made Hinata take half a step back. “GAI-SENSEI IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD, TENTEN HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY THAAAAAT!”

"Because you've surpassed him, dummy," Tenten said conversationally. "Whatever. Lee, is there another team on its way after you?"

He sniffed and wiped at his eyes. "Yes. They should be here by this evening." He scrunched up his nose. "Ah! I must secure some accommodations for us all. Hinata-san, can you recommend an inn that accept about five other people?"

"O-oh! Of co-course, Lee-san. L-let me pull… pull out my ma-p…" Her voice trailed off as she and Lee headed to the office, Lee's bright, amicable chatter pausing every so often for Hinata's slow murmur.

Neji tensed like he wanted to go after them, but Tenten gently pricked his shoulder with her claws. "Lee's the nicest person in the world. One time he stepped on a worm and cried for twenty minutes."

He turned his head slightly so she could see his smile in profile. "Maybe I'm concerned on his behalf. Hinata is very fierce." 

Tenten couldn't stop a laugh from bubbling up. "I can't think of one circumstance in which Hinata would be fierce."

"Protecting the people she cares about," he told her, and reached up to stroke her head.

Lee came back over to the shop after he had rented the rooms at the inn and “helped” them with the last few shopping hours of the day, meaning he stopped every few seconds to exclaim over a product he loved. It actually wound up being a huge help in selling said products, and he and Hinata got along splendidly.

(Neji was still a little skeptical of him.)

Right after closing, there was a loud, brisk knock on the door- the back door, which was ominous. Hinata went to answer it- somewhat cautiously, and given what had happened with Lee last time Tenten didn’t blame her.

Tsunade Senju’s impressive figure stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and her fingers drumming against her bicep. Her eyes darted down to meet Hinata’s, and she smirked. 

“Hyuga-sama. It’s been some time.”

Hinata numbly shook her hand. “Is th-that- have we m-met?”

“You may not remember,” Tsunade responded carelessly. “You were only a kid. You and your father were visiting the Academy so he could consult with us about the information we had on the Hyuga Clan’s history when we were expanding the library. You disappeared for three hours and we found you in the garden happily digging up our flowerbeds with the Inuzuka and Aburame heirs.”

Hinata was staring at her wide-eyed, but her eyes gleamed at the mention of the other clans. “Kiba and Shino!”

“That’s right.” Tsunade grinned. “Now, I heard you’ve picked up an errant grad student of mine.”

Hinata was quick to welcome Tsunade upstairs, and then fifteen minutes later welcome Shizune Katō, Shikaku Nara, Sakura Haruno, and Ino Yamanaka.

Ino immediately launched herself at Tenten, bawling her eyes out and dampening her fur. (Behind her, the others were quietly going around with introductions). Tenten just sat in Ino’s embrace awkwardly until she pulled back, wiped at her eyes, and wailed, “TENTEN I’M SO GLAD I DIDN’T KILL YOOOOOOUUUU-”

“I am too,” Tenten told her. “And all things considered, it hasn’t been awful. Most people like cats.”

Ino sniffled. “Well, then, I’m glad to have provided you with a new experience.” She sat down primly, already over it, and Tenten grinned. 

Tsunade slapped her palm down on the table. “All right, let’s get to work. Tenten, Ino said you were tutoring her through a transformation spell on some Daphnia. She stumbled with the wording, redirected the magic, and poof. Cat.”

Tenten nodded, flicking her eyes up to watch Neji as he entered the room with a tea set and began pouring for their guests. He half glanced at her and she blinked slowly at him, then turned back to Tsunade as she ruminated on the spellwork. 

Hinata had been sitting off to the side, a little squashed in the small room, chewing her lip in anxiety. She swallowed hard and said, “P-p-pardon me-me, Tsu-Tsunade-sama.” Tsunade turned her head to show she was listening. “Neji-niisan and… and I have been work-working with Tenten-san t-to develop… develop a c-counterspell. I-I have the… the folder here…” She drew it out and passed it down the line of Sakura, Shizune, Tsunade.

Tsunade snapped it open to peruse, handing the sheets to Shikaku once she’d finished reading them. He skimmed them with a much more analyzing eye than she did, then grunted, “Ino, you have your drafts of the exact words you used, right? These are almost all the way there, we just need the last push.”

“Yep.” Ino fished around in her boob pocket and pulled out a startlingly crisp sheet of paper. “I added more swearing to my most recent draft. For realism.”

“You’re a fuckin’ poet, kid,” he grunted, taking the paper. Ino grinned. “Thanks.”

Shikaku spread out all the pieces of paper and pulled a pen out of his pocket, then- after a beat- muttered, “Ah, shit,” and pulled out a pair of reading glasses. He put them on, grumbling.

Ino laughed loudly. “Shikaku-ojisan is old!” 

“I am forty-six,” he told her. “Your dad’s forty-seven, go bother him instead.”

“He’s not here, is he?” Ino shot back. 

Tsunade interjected, “For fuck’s sake, could you two focus for three minutes? Between the two of you shit-talking each other we haven’t gotten a second of peace this entire trip.”

“I’m contractually obligated to bother him as much as possible,” Ino chirped. “Part of the Ino-Shika-Cho agreement.”

Sakura squinted at her suspiciously. “You’ve never deliberately annoyed Chōza like that in your life.”

Ino seemed offended at the very idea. “Of course not! Chōza’s super nice.”

“Brat,” Shikaku muttered. He scrawled something out on a new piece of paper and slid it towards Ino. “Try this one.”

She looked stunned. “Me?”

“Yes.”

“What- I’m sure I’m not the best caster here-”

“You’re the original caster, so it’ll be most effective coming from you,” Shizune said, somewhat unexpectedly. Usually her presence alongside Tsunade’s was to keep her on track and mostly sober. Abruptly Tenten remembered that she was Ino’s undergraduate counselor- a rare role for Shizune, and one she volunteered for. “Go ahead, magelet. Sound it out first.”

Ino stared at her for a few more seconds, eyes wide, before a determined scowl made its way across her face and she ducked her chin to read the paper. After a beat, she said carefully, 

“!KCAB EMOC !KCUF -dnes t’now I ﹑ti nmad ﹑gnitsac llits m’I ﹑on -dnes ll’I ﹑siht xif nac I ﹑oN !NETNET !netneT -naem t’ndid I ﹑kcuf -netneT ﹑oN ؟netneT ﹑thgir -ainhpaD siht mrofsnart ﹑tish ﹑tiaw ﹑on -ym mrofsnarT

:htraE fo serutaerC dnA

tsiM fo stiripS”. 

There was a pause, and Ino took a breath. “Geez, that’s a mouthful.”

She looked up just in time to see Neji drape a blanket over Tenten to protect her modesty. She looked tired and a little worn, but she gave her junior a grin and said, “Hey.”

“Hey,” Ino replied, a little stunned. Suddenly she grinned and said, “Wow! First try!”

“Nice one,” Tenten agreed. She looked a little self-conscious under everyone’s scrutiny, pulling the edges of the blanket tighter over her chest. 

Hinata looked like she had just as much secondhand embarrassment. “Tenten-san, wou-would you… like to b-borrow something to-to wear?”

“Yes, please,” she muttered. Hinata stood up and she followed, wrapping the blanket around herself awkwardly so as not to trip. Neji watched them leave with sharp focus, eyes fixed to the back of Tenten’s head.

Meanwhile Tsunade sat back and rolled a shoulder. “Well, that was very neatly done and much less complicated than I thought it would be.” Shikaku and Sakura both made noises of agreement, and Shizune reached around Tsunade to squeeze Ino’s hand. 

Neji felt slightly awkward in a room full of people that he’d never met, and looked at Lee to give himself something to do- he had been surprisingly quiet the entire time, which didn’t match Neji’s previous assessment of him.

Lee was smiling pleasantly and communicating in sign language to Tsunade’s apprentice- Sakura, if Neji recalled correctly (and he knew he did.) It surprised him, but Tsunade interrupted his thoughts as she carried on with her own. “Neji-san, was it? You’re the person who wrote such a thorough framework for the counterspell before we got here.”

He blinked, surprised to be acknowledged in such a way. "It was the three of us."

"It certainly wasn't much of Tenten," Tsunade corrected. "She's not that good at spell theory to develop a counterspell. If it's not sealing or summoning then it bores her."

Neji blinked. Tenten had listened to his discussions and analysis of spell theory intently enough- although, on reflection, the keen look in her eye had been settled on him. A thrill went down his spine and he fought back a blush at the thought.

Tsunade continued, "So it was either you or Hinata-sama, and from what I recall she's much stronger as a hedgewitch than she is at dealing with the academics."

Neji nodded slightly, hiding his surprise at her knowledge. She took a sip of tea- and made a rueful face- and concluded, "So it was you. Not an easy thing to do, and you did it better than most employed counter mages."

(At the end of the table, Shikaku pulled a face like he wasn't sure if the jibe was directed at him or not.)

"Where and what did you study?" Tsunade asked Neji. He sipped his own tea to hide the set of his mouth and replied, "I learned the basics at the Hyuga, then took an apprenticeship studying magical items under a mage named Yugao. Under my Clan’s stewardship I now travel and evaluate enchanted or inherently magical items.”

Tsunade toyed with the handle of her teacup. “That doesn’t explain how you are so knowledgeable about broad spell theory.”

He gave a brief twitch of his shoulders to indicate that he might have shrugged in a different setting. “Some of it comes up in my work and I find it interesting, so I study it in my free time.”

Shikaku and Shizune both stared at him with furrowed brows, and Ino squinted at him. Sakura was giving him an evaluating look even as she and Lee continued to “chatter” at one another in sign language. (For his part, Lee looked like he was enjoying learning about Neji’s experiences.) Clearly something about what he said was puzzling to them.

Tsunade frowned and was about to speak when Hinata and Tenten re-entered the room. The first thing Neji noticed was that Tenten had her hair up into two buns with a braid swishing against the back of her neck. It made her face look heart-shaped and her eyes seem enormous and doe-like, and Neji for a wild moment contemplated counting each of her dark, thick eyelashes- 

The next thing he noticed was how Hinata’s yukata-style shirt was much looser around Tenten’s chest, parting to reveal her collarbone and the soft curves of-

He cut himself off. Tenten was interested in him, and they had some form of a relationship, but she deserved better than him staring at her in such a way.

Tenten didn’t make it too far into the room until Ino and Lee both launched themselves at her to hug her- and incredibly enough, Lee was chattering away once more with aplomb- and she laughed and threw her arms around them in return. 

In between the commotion of the three of them (and then Sakura too) hugging, Tsunade standing up and announcing their imminent departure for the night, and Shizune thanking Hinata profusely for her hospitality- Shikaku walked up to Neji and said in his rough voice, “A moment?” 

Neji followed him out into the hallway. Shikaku stared at him for a few moments, hands in his pockets, before saying abruptly, “You should study spell theory at the Academy.”

Neji blinked, startled. He’d been prepared to perhaps have a brief discussion of his experiences as an appraiser, or about Hinata’s situation as the emancipated heiress- certainly not this.

“I mean it,” Shikaku told him. “You’re wasted as an appraiser if this much knowledge and skill is just the result of a hobby. Here-” he shoved a card into Neji’s numb hands. “I realize that the Hyuga Clan may complicate the situation, but I can pull some weight to talk to Hiashi and go from there. If you decide you’re interested, let me know.” Just like that, the others had clamored out of the room, and Neji automatically took a few steps back for Tsunade and her entourage to pass. Shikaku gave him one last serious look as he allowed himself to be swept away with the crowd.

Neji stared after them all, feeling… odd.

There was suddenly a warm palm on his back, and- startled- he swiveled to look at Tenten as she slid her hand over his shoulder blade. “Everything okay?” she asked, eyes bright. He stared at her for a moment, collecting himself, then nodded shortly. “Fine. Aren’t you going with them?”

She laughed and rubbed her nose ruefully. “Lee forgot to account for me being a human again when he booked the rooms, so Hinata said I could stay here. Except she doesn’t really have the space, and to be honest I’m feeling very wicked, so I’m going back to your hotel room with you later.”

She gave him a look like she dared him to contradict her. He was too busy trying not to stagger on his feet- first Shikaku’s offer, now this. He nodded once, reeling, and she smirked. “Good.”

His brain was slowly getting back up to speed again. “Why did Lee only communicate in sign language while the others were here?”

She actually laughed. “Oh- that’s actually his little curse, but he’s had it for over five years now and it’s sort of settled in. It’s only ever when he communicates to Sakura- he had a huge crush on her when he was fourteen, and he was so annoyingly vocal about it that one time while he was gushing about her to an old witch- like the turn-you-into-a-frog cliche of a witch- she snapped at him that she’d rather he be struck dumb with love. Whenever he tried to talk to Sakura after that, even among a group, he was mute.”

Neji stared at her, shocked. “And the Academy did nothing?”

She flexed her shoulder blades in a feline-like shrug. “We weren’t in the Academy for another year after that, and Lee had already learned sign language in a bunch of different languages. Plus it actually helped Sakura and Lee become friends. You saw how they were at the meeting; they do that all the time.”

“I see.” Neji’s brow creased as he digested the information. Tenten tilted her head and watched him for a few moments before asking, “What did Shikaku talk to you about?”

He kept his head staring forward, flitting his eyes to the side to look at her out of the corners. “Nothing. Well, not yet. It may develop further.”

She stared at him with her brows raised for a few seconds, waiting for more. When it became clear that was all he had to say about the subject, she rolled her eyes. “Well, thanks for clarifying.”

“Yes. Where did Hinata go?” 

“She was putting away the tea set after she saw them out, I bet she’s downstairs…” Her voice faded as she walked down the hall away from him, and he started after her as she approached the steps.

Tenten stopped suddenly and he almost ran into her, placing his hand over the small of her back to steady himself. She propped her hands on her hips and declared, “This place looks hella different when you’re not a cat.”

He chuckled. “I don’t doubt it.” He slid his hand from her back to cover hers, knitting their fingers together over her hip. “I’m glad we were able to help you,” he told her quietly.

She leaned back against his shoulder, her free hand reaching out to grab his other one and bringing it up to rest next to their entwined hands. “I am too.”

There was a muffled thumping noise from down the steps, and they startled apart to stare down the steps at Hinata as she gawked back, beet red.

The silence stretched on, uncomfortable, before the three of them burst into speech at the same time, Hinata stammering out apologies for intruding while the pair of them stammered out apologies for the public display. Tenten eventually couldn’t take it anymore and started giggling wildly into her hands as the Hyuga cousins tried to out-apologize one another.

When they had tired themselves out, Tenten peeked out from her fingers and said, “Seriously, Hinata, sorry.”

“It’s- it’s fine,” the hedgewitch was quick to assure her. “I’m act-actually real-ly glad. I care for… for you both very mu-much. It’s… nice. Neji’s never really h-had a sig… significant other-”

Neji groaned loudly and pinched his brow, pivoting away from the stairs and taking short strides down the hall. He could hear Tenten laughing at him as Hinata continued to talk about how she thought he had a crush on a much older woman when he was fifteen (she was in her thirties), but he’d insisted he was just studying her magic techniques- 

Tenten was still snickering twenty minutes later as he marched towards the inn for the night, his grip on her hand firm even as he stubbornly ignored her occasional teasing. She cheerfully allowed him to drag her after him, her hand just as tight around his.

Fortunately for his dignity, he found that kissing Tenten was a highly effective way of shutting her up.

Applying Spell Theory and Linguistics, by Neji Hyuga.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Neji Hyuga is a professor at the Senju Academy for Magical Beings, where he has taught for the last ten years after getting his doctorate in spell theory at the very same institution. His research and experience in magical appraisal led to the development of the well-known Ten-cat countercurse methodology, a process of combining linguistics with base spell theory and applying it to countercurses. Since its culmination, the program has become widespread and has been instrumental in ending curses before their effects become harmful.

Dr. Hyuga began his career in spell theory in 2015, when he helped develop the counter curse of the infamous Cat Case of the Senju Academy. From there, he went on to study at the Senju Academy as an undergraduate before traveling abroad to Suna for three years to pursue his apprenticeship. He then returned to the Academy for his doctorate and was immediately offered the position of his retired mentor, Shikaku Nara, upon the completion of his coursework.

In his time as a professor, Dr. Hyuga has successfully expanded and integrated spell theory into many other branches of magic at the institution, including transfiguration, seals, and jinxes.

Dr. Hyuga is married to none other than the Cat Case subject herself, renowned seal master Tenten Huang-Hyuga. They live in Konoha with their two children.