Chapter Text
Suguru felt ridiculous.
He stood outside a store decorated with cheery colors and posters of happy customers with their specialized pets, each poster containing a quote about how much better hybrids were at being therapy animals.
Something about it had always filled Suguru with unease even if he’d only brush it off in the next second. He’d been told before he thought too deeply about things, and he was bad enough when it came to spoiling regular pets.
He’d probably been standing outside, shifting his weight from one foot to the next, for a good few minutes. The store name, Hybrid Helpers , hadn’t miraculously changed between the countless times Suguru had read it just to question everything. Still, his therapist had highly recommended it. Or in other words, if he didn’t at least try this option, then she wouldn’t move forward with things until he at least gave it a chance.
It would be fine. If he really hated it, he could just return the hybrid after a few weeks, say that he’d given it his best shot, and then it would all be behind them. Even Shoko had said to just go along with it, even if only to have an ‘I told you so’ moment.
Suguru took a deep breath and walked through the doors. A small bell jingled as he stepped into the lobby, and he almost cringed. The last thing he’d wanted was for his presence to be announced in such a place, but there was no one inside save for the receptionist who’d already turned to him with a blinding smile.
Suguru waved in greeting before he strolled over as if it was the most normal thing he’d done in his entire life. He’d half expected the place to smell just like every pet store he’d stepped inside, but if someone had led him in with his eyes covered, he’d have assumed he was in any regular building. He knew hybrids were highly intelligent animals, a step or two above dogs, but he’d still expected something a little different.
It didn’t take long for Suguru to introduce himself and for the receptionist to go through the letter of recommendation his therapist had sent. The place seemed awfully quiet for the hybrid industry apparently being highly lucrative. That being said, he’d heard plenty of hybrids would cost a small fortune if bought out of pocket.
“It looks like your insurance should completely cover a hybrid of the lowest tier. A handler will be over soon to show you around,” the lady said, breaking him out of his thoughts after she’d skimmed his information. “For your purposes, the lower tier will be completely fine. They all get the same basic training, so the major differences come down to them being purebred or of rarer species. We get plenty of rich folk in here wanting their pet to double as a pretty trophy.”
The receptionist laughed a little and Suguru tried to as well, even if only to be polite. He wiped his hands against his pants to get the clammy sweat off his palms. Everything about what he was doing was fine. Just because it made him uncomfortable or seemed strange to him didn’t mean it was wrong.
“Geto Suguru, right?” a man said as he walked over, a smile on his face as he extended his hand for Suguru to shake. “You came to the right branch if you’re looking for a therapy animal.”
Suguru took his hand. “So I’ve heard.”
Suguru followed the man as he was led to a door that opened into a long hallway. A shiver prickled its way up and down Suguru’s spine even as he forced himself to keep walking. Cages of glass lined the walls, a hybrid in each as if a zoo exhibit had crossed with a petstore. They all looked far too human, the only differences being the animal ears and tails, or the occasional claws, fangs, or slightly scaled skin when it came to the reptile hybrids.
At least they all wore grey gowns, though. Suguru took a deep breath as he tried to control his heartbeat. Despite their similarities, hybrids weren’t humans or even close to them. Just animals that bore an uncanny resemblance to them. That was all.
The handler chuckled as he looked back at Suguru, a knowing smile on his face. “I felt similarly at first too when I started working here. It’ll be awkward for a few days, but you’ll adjust since they’re nothing like us. They’re pretty similar to their animal counterparts, so I’d suggest that you choose one based on what sort of normal pet you’d consider.”
Suguru nodded, his mouth dry. It was fine. Everything was fine. At least he was prepared for this part with the way he’d done what research he could. Hybrids were rare enough that they’d turn a few heads while in public, but not so uncommon that it was some strange thing to have one.
“I’m more of a cat person,” Suguru got out. He’d considered getting himself a cat a few years ago, but had decided against it with the way he was barely even able to take care of himself. Any pet was a serious responsibility, which was why he still couldn’t believe he was actually doing this.
“That’s great news! Our feline section always has several options,” the handler said as he led Suguru down a connecting hallway. “That being said, they are usually harder to predict based on their breeds. You know how cats are.”
Suguru snorted as he finally relaxed by a fraction. “Tell me about it. My friend’s cat has given me more scratches than I can count no matter how sweet she looks.”
“Ah, you needn’t worry about that, Geto. Our hybrids are highly trained and —”
They turned the corner and the man’s voice faded away. In the back corner cage, a snow leopard slept, his long spotted tail curled up around him and his face hidden behind his folded arms. Suguru wasn’t sure he’d ever seen something so beautiful even if his skin still crawled.
The handler followed his gaze. “A beauty, isn’t he?”
Suguru nodded, and the handler led him closer. The hybrid’s tail had to be at least five feet long, and even though Suguru never would since cats hated their tails being touched, he could almost imagine sinking his hands into the luscious fur that covered the entire limb.
“He’s an interesting case,” the handler continued. “Usually, a hybrid like him would be at the highest and most expensive tier, but he was very stubborn and aggressive even into his teen years. There’s always a few felines like that, but after some personalized and focused training, he’s just as well behaved as any other hybrid here. He just has too much of a record to be anywhere else.”
Well shit. Suguru’s hand hovered over the glass. He really shouldn’t be getting so carried away just from how aesthetically appealing the hybrid was. “So he’s okay now?”
Literally any other choice would be smarter, but he just couldn’t look away. Shoko had been the same way with her own terror of a cat and had left the adoption center with several scratch marks, but the biggest smile on her face even as Suguru rolled his eyes at her objectively poor decision.
“I’d say he’s even better behaved than most of the others,” the handler confirmed. “It’s often the more intelligent ones who are harder to train, which means he won’t just be following commands mindlessly. He’s learned to choose doing so. We can go inside so the two of you can interact a bit and get a feel for each other.”
Suguru turned to the man with wide eyes. He was definitely going down the same path Shoko had. “We can?”
“Just follow me,” the handler said as he pulled keys from his belt and led Suguru to a small hall that ran along the backs of every cage. “It’s recommended that potential owners get an introduction before purchasing. We highly value customer satisfaction, so returns with full refunds are guaranteed for two years after purchase. Thankfully, it rarely happens despite the long time frame.”
Then the man was turning a lock to a door and ushering Suguru in to step into the vast cage. If anything, it was almost the size of his bedroom, but void of anything aside from the almost comically large animal bed the hybrid lay napping on. Maybe the place just didn’t want too much clutter during hours potential customers would be shopping.
Suguru took a hesitant step forward, careful not to make a sound. It almost felt wrong to even consider waking up the cat, but despite the effort he made to keep each footstep silent, the hybrid’s bright blue eyes blinked open sleepily and stared at him. Suguru’s heart stopped as they locked gazes for a second, before Suguru tore his away. He could tell himself all he wanted that he’d done so because cats saw eye contact as a challenge, but if anything, icy shivers had washed down his spine. Those eyes were too human and far too intelligent.
Breathe. He just needed to breathe and stop getting so lost in his head. Maybe it was good he was having so many doubts about them being mere animals, even if logically, he knew that was the case. He wasn’t ready to be desensitized to something who looked so human.
He tried to look at literally anything but the hybrid’s human face, but froze as his gaze landed on the two thick mitts cinched around the hybrid’s hands.
“Why are his hands, uh…” Suguru started. It all felt wrong even as he reminded himself it was just his brain wrongly thinking the hybrid looked human enough to be one.
“We had to put those on so the poor thing would stop biting at his nails,” the handler said with a sad shake of his head. “Satoru here is a bit anxious.”
“Satoru?” Suguru echoed. Even the name was human.
The handler nodded. “We make sure to give the hybrids names. His family one is Gojo so we can more easily keep track of lineages. Makes things simple to file.”
Suguru nodded. So much for having some cute and common pet name like ‘Snowball’.
“Go on. You can approach him,” the handler encouraged him. Suguru looked back at Satoru again who was just staring at him as if bored.
He could do this.
Suguru took a shaky step forward and then another until only a foot or two separated him from Satoru. He was towering over him and that felt all wrong, so he slowly lowered himself to his knees so they were on near equal level.
Satoru’s eyes followed Suguru’s hand as he reached forward to comb through Satoru’s hair. He almost pulled away at first contact, Satoru’s hair just like a human’s aside from the snow leopard ears that peaked up from Satoru’s from it.
Satoru blinked up at him as if wondering why Suguru was hesitating. Great. He was getting judged by a cat. Perfect.
Suguru finally willed himself to touch Satoru’s head again and run his hands through Satoru’s hair. The effect was near immediate with some sort of peace and even relief flowing through Suguru when Satoru leaned into it ever so slightly. It was all okay. Satoru seemed to either be mildly enjoying it, or at least encouraging Suguru to relax.
“I…” Suguru started. Satoru was still looking at him, seemingly at peace with having a stranger next to him. Most cats weren’t the same, but maybe Satoru was the type of cat who expected everyone to bend to his will. “I think I’d like Satoru.”
“You don’t want to see the others?” the handler questioned behind him.
Suguru was being stupid. Of course it wasn’t a wise choice to just go with the first hybrid he met, but he could swear that something about Satoru just pulled him in.
Suguru shook his head before he finally smiled. He hadn’t felt so relaxed for so long. “I don’t think I need to. He’s perfect.”
Suguru could swear Satoru’s eyes widened by the smallest of increments in shock, but it had to be Suguru’s brain playing tricks on him. Hybrids only understood some basic commands and their name from what he’d researched.
“I’d usually encourage you to at least look at the others, but I’ve seen plenty of people like you who get instantly attached. Don’t think I’ve ever seen a return from you people,” the handler said with a little laugh. At least Suguru wasn’t the only one. “Follow me and I’ll give you the rundown and paperwork while we get Satoru ready to be moved. Right this way.”
Suguru took one last look at Satoru whose eyes had somehow become blank, but not in the sleepy way as they’d been earlier like so many cats he’d seen in the past. It almost looked as if it was a carefully made empty look like a human would make.
The handler was right. It would be a few awkward days as Suguru adjusted, but he’d give Satoru a chance. He got to his feet and followed the handler out the cage. It wasn’t long until he was led into a perfectly normal looking office, and he took a seat on one side of the handler’s apparent work desk.
“Aside from a few papers to sign, we generally like to give new owners a rundown on what exactly to expect with a hybrid pet,” the handler said as he pushed a small binder of papers toward Suguru. “This is essentially a manual. It has all the commands that our hybrids will understand. As you can see, it is rather extensive, especially since they’re trained to recognize variations of the same command. You won’t have to memorize it all word for word.”
Suguru nodded as he flipped the binder open. His eyebrows raised as he skimmed the pages. They really hadn’t been kidding when they’d claimed their training to be extensive no matter the price tier of hybrid.
The handler pushed a collar toward Suguru. “It is law that hybrids must wear collars when taken outside, though we suggest that they be kept on at all times due to how intelligent they can be. There’s a tracker inside, a clip on the outside for a leash when going out, and an electric shock feature inside it. There’s three different levels of shocks. Level one will be a reprimand to it so it’ll think twice, level two will hurt and leave it a little stunned for a few seconds, and level three is the harshest. It’s generally only advised to use only if needed, but it won’t kill a hybrid. As a general reminder, do not test the shock levels on yourself. Hybrids are much sturdier than humans, so the levels have been adjusted accordingly.”
Suguru tried not to frown. He’d always hated the idea of shocking animals, even if for training, but it made sense with hybrids. Especially ones like Satoru who had been aggressive at some point in their lives. It was just for safety. With any luck, Suguru would never have to use it.
“And lastly, here’s our care package,” the man said with a smile as he lifted a decorated bag and handed it to Suguru. “There’s a leash inside, the remote for the shock collar along with QR code so you can download the settings app on your phone to calibrate the collar, a few cans of recommended hybrid food, and some grooming brushes. Feline hybrids are usually very good when it comes to grooming themselves, but it can be a good bonding moment for the two of you.”
Suguru nodded. Everything was honestly sounding like he’d just be owning a giant cat who might just listen to him every once in a while. He could work with that.
“You said Satoru is anxious,” Suguru said, thinking back to the mitts around Satoru’s hands. They must be hell for him to wear, especially with the way even normal cats hated it when anything touched their paws. “Is there anything I can do to help him? Like calming things, I don’t know, whatever cat hybrid Prozac is?”
The handler laughed as he shook his head. “Don’t worry, Satoru will be perfectly fine. He probably just needs a good home and owner to take care of him. We do what we can here, but it just isn’t really meant to be a long term home for them, you know? If he keeps having problems, then just reach out to us and we’ll figure out something together.”
Suguru nodded. From there on out it was all paperwork with the handler reading out the surprisingly short list of what hybrid abuse was defined as. If anything, it was concerning. Suguru was pretty sure most animals had better rights than that… but at the same time, the handler was probably just pointing out the obvious rules the same way tech support would ask if you’d tried turning your computer off and on again. No shit Suguru wasn’t allowed to kill or have intercourse with a hybrid. Both ideas nauseated him.
All too soon, Suguru found himself in the lobby again. Everything still felt like a whirlwind he still hadn’t processed, but his thoughts settled as his gaze landed on Satoru. The hybrid was standing as any human would and obviously trying not to shift from one foot to the next, his long tail wrapped around his leg with the tip of it flicking back and forth over and over again.
Poor thing. Even if the facility wasn’t the best place for it, Suguru couldn’t imagine that suddenly being moved and handed off to a stranger without any understanding of what was happening would be anything but stressful. The staff member who stood beside him didn’t seem to care about the hybrid’s obvious anxiety.
Suguru walked over as quietly as he could in an attempt to look as non threatening as possible, and set the bag of things he’d received down on the ground before he pulled out the collar.
He couldn’t help but smile a little as he realized Satoru was just a few inches taller than him. To his surprise, Satoru bowed his head so Suguru could fasten the device around his neck better. He’d been trained for the moment, then.
Suguru tried not to think too hard about how it really felt he was collaring an actual human, but pushed the thought away as he checked if he could slip a finger underneath the collar so it wouldn’t be too tight. He’d get used to it eventually, and Suguru made sure to untuck the few stray hairs that had gotten stuck under the collar.
Used to it. It seemed he was already planning on keeping Satoru, then. So much for just trying to survive a week or two and then giving up.
“And there we go,” Suguru murmured to himself as he clipped the leash to Satoru’s collar. In all honesty, it was more for show than anything else. He had no doubt Satoru could drag him wherever he pleased if he decided to.
He pulled away, and instead of finding Satoru looked a bit miffed as any cat would be at a collar, if not actively trying to scratch his face off, he almost seemed… pleasantly shocked? His blue eyes had widened by the smallest of fractions as if in wonder.
Suguru once again tried to banish the thought from his mind. His brain was just trying to project human emotions onto Satoru since he looked so similar to one. That was it. Nothing more and nothing less.
Suguru thanked the staff member who’d brought Satoru out before he led with Satoru following a step behind, the leash completely lax between them. Suguru almost froze before walking out the door.
Satoru would be fine in a car, right? Cats went crazy in them, and while Satoru was a hybrid and highly trained, he had the instincts of one.
Oh well. Suguru would figure it out. Walking home would be a pain especially since he’d then have to later retrieve his car, but it was viable. Either way they’d get home, even if one way would take far longer than the other.