Danganronpa One Shots

|> Neko!Kaede Akamatsu x Wolf!Shuichi Saihara <|

[Requested][Fluff/comfort][Animal AU][Short, but hopefully sweet again]

~

    Shuichi Saihara had never been one to hide his emotions from anyone. It wasn't the case that he actively told people how he felt, needing to vent constantly, but it was more that he wore his heart on his sleeve. His emotions were easy to read, the poor boy had never been very good at lying. He never had any urges to lie to anyone, why should he?

       But then suddenly, he met someone that made his whole philosophy change.

      Kaede Akamatsu shone brighter than any star or constellation in the sky and Shuichi could barely believe his luck when the girl poured her heart out to him on a sunny afternoon in her research lab, playing him a soft melody after her confession to give him time to think before he had to reply. Truly, Shuichi could pick out not a single fault about Kaede, and his acceptance once her melody ended was almost instantaneous.

     Shuichi Saihara loved the girl with the cat ears and fluffy tail more than anything, and if anyone were to ask, he would gladly tell them how lucky he was to have someone like Kaede in his life.

       But his love for Kaede changed more than a few things.

      His self-perception changed, and not for the better.

      It wasn't unusual to have the pointed wolf ears and shaggy tail like he did. It wasn't uncommon, and a whole host of people he knew shared the exact same features, but with colour variation. But what was unusual was for different animal strains to mix romantically. Wolves paired with wolves. Cats paired with cats.

      Not with each other.

      Kaede had never voiced any unhappiness about Shuichi's ears and tail which seemed to wag frantically whenever she was around - much to his embarrassment. But just because she didn't mention it, didn't mean she wasn't bothered by it.

      Kaede had always been very open with Shuichi, and confident about what they shared. She loved public affection, and while Shuichi did too, he was a little more reluctant. Was Kaede bothered being seen with him? Did she ever get embarrassed about having a different partner?

        Even if she didn't say it, or show it even, could she possibly be... Embarrassed of Shuichi?

       It wasn't until Kaede encountered Shuichi sat all alone in his room, plucking at his own shaggy tail that she realized something might be wrong.

      "Shuichi?" Kaede asked, tilting her head and blinking her wide pink eyes as she shut the door behind her and wandered over to the startled detective. "Why are you doing that? Doesn't that hurt you?"

      "I- Er, It's fine..!" Shuichi stammered quickly, releasing his tail, letting it drop against the floor where he was sat cross legged against the wall. Much to his annoyance, his tail began to wag, smacking against the wall and floor obnoxiously. "Nothing to worry about,"

      "Shuichi," Kaede pulled an unamused face, before sliding down the wall and sitting herself next to him. Her tone was soft but chastising, and Shuichi's wolf ear flattened in shame.

      "I-It's nothing you should be thinking about," Shuichi replied quickly and looked elsewhere in the room, his eyes scanning up and down his blue walls. No matter how much he didn't want Kaede to catch on, he was unwilling to look her in the eye and lie to her, point blank. However, she would not allow him the luxury of keeping his thoughts from her any longer.

     "Shuichi," She repeated, placing a hand on his cheek and steering his gaze back to her, and the small contact and closeness made his tail beat harder against the wall, with a repetitive thump to match his heart beat. Kaede offered a warm smile, and Shuichi admired her sweetness, and the way her small blonde cat ears flicked on top of her head. "You know, I can read your emotions like an open book, why won't you tell me?"

      "I don't want t-to burden you with anything," Shuichi sighed out softly and closed his eyes, feeling Kaede's thumb rubbing softly over his cheek bone, but the gentle pinch of his cheek made his eyes shoot open again.

     "You could never burden me, Shuichi!" Kaede insisted, and Shuichi gave a reluctant nod as she released his cheek. "Will you tell me? Please?"

     "Fine..." Shuichi gave a shaky sigh, letting his eyes wander away from her while he collected his thoughts. "Aren't you ever.... Don't you ever feel ashamed that I'm not like you?"

      "What?" Kaede blinked her wide pink eyes in shock, tilting her head. "That's what this is about?"

       Shuichi gave her a sheepish nod, and Kaede gave a short laugh of disbelief.

     "Shuichi! I don't care what kind of ears or tail you have!" Kaede smiled widely and reached up to pet and scratch behind one of the soft, dark ears. "And I don't care what other people think either. You make me happy, Shuichi, and that's all the matters."

      "R-Really?" Shuichi asked hopefully, a faint red tinting his cheeks and small, shy smile coming to his face.

     "Of course," Kaede giggled softly, resting her head against his shoulder and tucking herself in against him, and gently, he draped an arm around her shoulders as she began to let out a gentle, satisfied purr. "I love you no matter what, Shuichi,"

      "Y-Yeah," Shuich's smile grew wide, and he decided that he truly was the most lucky boy there ever was. "I love you too, Kaede."

~