Bungo stray cats

Chapter 3

It was a restless night for Dazai, he slept with one eye open to ensure that the nightmare creature Chuuya had taken in wasn't going to go anywhere near him.

Yes, he could have simply walked all the way to his own apartment, but the Chibi usually was the one to make breakfast in the mornings after missions and Dazai would never pass up the opportunity to make fun of him for wearing an apron. (He switched out the apron every time, last week was a frilly pink one that read 'Sexy chef coming through' in big bold letters.)

But when Dazai finally drifted off into an uneasy slumber and didn't wake up to the obnoxious sound of pots and pans clanging around, he grew suspicious. Morning sunlight filtered through the large window in the living space that overlooked Yokohama, illuminating the dust particles floating about.

"Chuuya~" Dazai called, scanning the kitchen just to make sure that he wasn't missing his partner due to his incredibly short height. Nope, he wasn't behind the cabinets. "Did you sleep in?"

There was no response, so Dazai did the reasonable thing and slid into the Chibi's room without a sound. He didn't even lock his door like he normally would (Dazai liked to draw on his face while he's sleeping.) Chuuya must have been even more exhausted than he let on.

And there he was, still sleeping like a lazy bum. Dazai frowned, he was supposed to be the lazy one.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary at first, Chuuya's limbs were sprawled out on the bed haphazardly like a starfish, his leg hanging off the side. His hair was atrociously messy, and his mouth hung open at an unattractive angle, drool coated his bottom lip. (Drooling like the dog he was.)

Then there was the demon slumbering next to him, or rather, on top of him. Its body occupied the empty space next to his face, its head resting on his neck as if just waiting to cut off his air supply.

"Scram," Dazai whisper-yelled, startling the thing and making it scramble far away from them. Good.

Chuuya didn't move an inch, and even though he was the mafia's heaviest sleeper, he would at least wake up from the cat's weight leaving his shoulder.

Then Dazai noticed just how flushed his cheeks looked, and just how pale the rest on his face was in comparison. Dazai's theory was proven correct when he lightly poked his cheek, pulling back at the heat that practically radiated from his body.

"Stupid Chuuya" he grumbled, crossing his arms and looking down at his sickly partner. "You brought this upon yourself. You wouldn't have caught a cold if you simply turned that cat away."

Chuuya was practically a dead body, unresponsive to Dazai's lecture. At least he couldn't talk back, it was just as peaceful as it was unnerving.

Well, he supposed that it couldn't be helped. Normally Dazai would leave the Chibi to his own devices, but once he caught sight of the cat sitting on the corner of the bed, blinking innocently up at Dazai as if it wasn't a witch that had conjured up Chuuya's fever, Dazai switched game plans.

He would stay to ensure that the Slug didn't die at the paws of the ungrateful beast he saved. Of course this was for his personal gain, this was all so that Dazai didn't have to do the dirty work on missions, as he had told Hirotsu earlier.

Chuuya still didn't react when Dazai grabbed his leg that was dangling over the bed, placing it back onto the mattress and picking up the blanket that had been kicked to the floor and draping it back over him. Maybe Dazai should wrap him up like a burrito so he wouldn't be able to move around as much.

That seemed like the logical next step.

After much rifling through the cabinets in the Chibi's restroom, he found a thermometer and some fever reducers. At least he was prepared, it wasted less of Dazai's time. He found it amusing how he had to close Chuuya's jaw in order to get a proper read on his temperature, sliding it back out from Chuuya's lips to see 102.2 degrees.

Idiot Chibi, saving pathetic cats at the cost of his own health.

If Dazai were a nicer person then he would run a bath for Chuuya, but he didn't want to expend that much energy this early in the morning, maybe later. Or he could simply call one of Kouyou's girls to do that for him.

The medicine was hard to make Chuuya swallow, but Dazai managed by forcing his mouth closed and pinching his nose, it worked like a charm. Dazai just had to ignore the slightly alarmed look the cat was giving him.

"I will throw you back out on the streets," Dazai said when the cat jumped up on the couch next to him later, though they both seemed to know it was an empty threat because the thing simply blinked up at him.

Of course, he wanted to throw the thing out, but Dazai also wasn't in the mood to be kicked into a wall anytime soon.

Around lunch time the sounds of frantic scrambling came from Chuuya's room. Dazai poked his head into the attached restroom to see the red head knelt over the toilet, clutching the lid as he emptied his stomachs contents into the bowl.

Dazai wordlessly slid in next to him, pulling the fiery hair from his face. (He didn't want him to get vomit on his hair, that would be one more hindrance for Dazai.) Once he was done, Chuuya sat back, resting his back against the wall. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes as he caught his breath.

Dazai silently offered him the damp cloth he had placed over Chuuya's forehead to get him cooler. Chuuya gratefully took it and wiped off his face. He still looked horrendous, face flushed and lips chapped.

Dazai didn't know if Chuuya had lost his voice or if he was too delirious to say much, but when he finally spoke once they were both situated on the couch (a bucket between Chuuya's legs and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.) He whispered a faint 'Fuck you,' before drifting back off to sleep.

Dazai made sure to keep the cat and its enemy forces at bay while Chuuya rested, though the one thing he couldn't avoid was calling the boss. Sure, Dazai made a habit of skipping out of work, only showing up when he felt like it, but Chuuya was the opposite and would kill Dazai if he didn't call in for him.

"Hello boss~" Dazai greeted through Chuuya's phone once the man answered.

"Dazai? How may I help you?" Mori didn't sound too surprised that Dazai had stolen Chuuya's phone to call him instead of using his own.

"It seems that our dear Chuuya has fallen sick from the unsatisfactory weather of yesterday's mission."

The boss hummed "I suppose he can have the week off to heal, though you are going to have to pick up his slack. I need the mission report by the end of the day."

Dazai sighed, letting his disapproval of the boss dumping the work on him known, but looking down at Chuuya who had gone limp against him, he nodded. "Understood."

The line went dead and the room was filled with silence once more, with the exception of Chuuya's sleepy mumbling.

"No, don't propose to me in the meat aisle" he grumbled, twisting slightly to sink deeper into the couch cushions.

Dazai snorted, missing the presence of the sharpie he normally had on hand to draw on Chuuya's face. "What are you dreaming about?"

"None of ur' business'"

Dazai shrugged "Fair."