Chapter Text
Urahara blinked a few times, trying to focus on the table he was using for his experiments. After an exhausting delay, he realized he had taken a long time to concentrate on the piece of furniture, and when he finally did, he noticed how immense the distance was between him and the base of the table.
He was still groggy, a little drunk if you will, from the experiment. But as he regained his sense of time, of where he was and what had happened, he heard the sound of the laboratory door being blown open by a Kidou and saw Tessai and Yoruichi entering the room. He felt his eyes blinking slowly, but when he saw the two of them staring at him, his body shuddered, as if something was wrong.
"Kisuke-"
"Urahara-san, I hope you're in the main room of the shoten." Kisuke felt his body shudder at Tessai's serious tone, even more so as he stared at him with a frown.
Urahara didn't try to stop himself from running to the main room and listening to what the two were going to say, but as soon as he stood up, he felt that the distance from the table and the two friends standing in front of him hadn't changed much. This was strange, very strange. He should at least be close to Yoruichi's height. He stared into Yoruichi's golden eyes, but saw her bite her lip, almost a playful smile, and she didn't say anything to him, only moved away from the passage down the long hallway of the school. Kisuke found it strange, even frowning and feeling his eyes half-close in response, but he ignored it and kept walking.
As soon as he tried to walk, he couldn't feel his feet, at least not the wooden shoes he was used to wearing. On the contrary, he realized they felt soft, like a cushion. When he looked down at the ground, his heart raced.
He had never found it easy to transform into an animal, not like Yoruichi did so frequently. To be honest, he didn't like it very much. So seeing the yellow paws and realizing he had transformed into a cat made him anxious. Something had gone very wrong with the experiment, very wrong indeed, because even trying to concentrate and return to his human form, as Yoruichi had taught him, wasn't working.
"Now, Urahara."
Urahara didn't wait to see. Seeing that it was easy to walk, he headed towards the room without looking at Yoruichi or Tessai. He could hear a laugh escape his friend, and felt a wave of frustration forming in his chest. He didn't appreciate any of this.
When he reached the main room, he stopped in front of the mirror that was still hanging there. His eyes fixed on the glass, and he realized that it was indeed what he thought. He was in the form of an adult cat, compared to the others that roamed around the shoten. His fur was a mixture of yellow and white, his chest was white, and his paws had some white markings near the pads. He wasn't ugly, but he didn't want to be a cat.
He wasn't fat, he was at a normal weight, and his tail was yellow with some white stripes as well. He blinked slowly, still sleepy or groggy, because he hadn't truly woken up yet. It could all just be a silly dream, and he'd wake up soon. But considering Tessai's frown and judgmental look, he was almost certain it was real.
He couldn't sense any change that would make him feel like he was returning to his original body. He exhaled through his nostrils and felt a headache creep in, making him even more irritated. His ears twitched when he heard footsteps approaching. Taking a deep breath, he could more strongly smell Tessai's tea and Yoruichi's citrusy drink. It wasn't long before the two of them appeared in the room and sat on the cushions near him.
"Your lab is a complete mess, Kisuke," Yoruichi grumbled as she grabbed the sake bottle and poured herself a shot. "You'll need to renovate and replace some of your toys."
"That is, if he even gets back to the lab when he leaves like this," Urahara stared at Tessai and saw his friend raise his eyebrows. "Any idea when he'll be able to get back to normal?"
As he tried to speak, a meow came out. Of course, he couldn't speak.
As soon as he meowed, Yoruichi let out the loudest laugh she could muster at that moment. Tessai sighed and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on the table.
"Oh, Kisuke! How adorable, you really have turned into a cat!"
The smile on her face was playful and very sincere, because of course she was loving all of this. As he turned his body and sat down again, he felt his tail twitch and land on his front paws. Yes, this was a nightmare, and much worse than playing chess with Aizen and knowing that something was wrong with everything he was doing.
"You're out until you figure out a way to go back to normal," Tessai murmured, but he stood up and walked towards him, crouching down and picking him up. "You won't be able to go back to the shoten until you figure out how to change this. And also, when you do go back, I won't allow you to use the lab for a month."
Hm?
He felt Tessai walk to the door of the shoten, where he opened it and placed him on the ground outside. Yoruichi was behind him, grinning from ear to ear. But who said he would leave? How would he figure out how to return to normal if he couldn't even access his laboratory?
Before he could say anything, or even meow, Tessai stared at him.
"I'll make a different kind of protection too, so I'll know if they try to get in. And if they try, they won't be able to pass."
Urahara protested, but only meowed after meowed. Tessai had already turned her back to him, and Yoruichi still had a smile on her face.
"Good luck, Kisuke, maybe you'll have a different view of the world as a kitten."
As he meowed and tried to walk towards the closed door, he felt the barrier preventing him from entering. His meows grew louder and a growl escaped his lips. So funny. He tried to go around the room to enter one of the openings at the back, but when he tried to jump onto the cupboard that gave access to the open window, he was pushed back.
Another growl escaped his throat, and as he sat near the barrier, he closed his eyes and tried to feel his presence within it. He could feel Tessai's reiatsu within the raised barrier, so he quickly gave up. After all, Tessai was excellent with barriers and protections, so if he didn't allow Kisuke to enter, he wouldn't be able to either.
At least he could still sense the reishi spreading through the city and the reiatsu nearby. It wasn't so bad.
Now that he had given up trying to get back in, he realized it was already the end of the day. He had probably spent too much time in the lab, which resulted in the catastrophic outcome of his experiment. He was still hungry, but he could wait a little longer.
Deciding to walk around the area a bit, he set off towards some of the streets surrounding the shoten. He could see people walking together, some children in uniforms accompanied by their parents, shops open and others closing. In this state, he noticed that his hearing was better, managing to overhear some of the surrounding conversations, and of other people a little further away.
He felt the warmth of the ground embrace his paws, and even though it had been a very hot time of year, the falling night helped make it less unbearable. As he approached the more secluded area, one he knew to be a division of a delinquent territory, his attention was drawn to a young woman crying and handing her purse to an idiot who was robbing her. He couldn't do much, but approaching slowly, he meowed, drawing the attention of the two. When the man looked at him, his gaze went to the woman, who was still holding her purse.
Before the man could say anything else, Urahara jumped onto the man's leg and, instinctively, his claws dug into the skin, biting hard. The man screamed and dropped the bag, and taking advantage of the opportunity, the woman ran off in the direction Urahara had come from, where the idiot probably couldn't follow her.
"Hey! You bitch, come back here—" The man yelled, but turned back to face Urahara, unhappy and angry. "Damn cat."
Before Urahara could move away, he felt the man's fist strike his head, causing him to growl and groan at the impact. Shaking his head and trying to stand, Urahara couldn't dodge the kick to his stomach, which threw him to the ground. A groan escaped his lips; still disoriented, he couldn't stop the man from approaching and kicking him two more times.
When he felt himself being lifted and held tightly, Urahara remembered why he never helped the people around him. There were always stupid people who took advantage of those who couldn't defend themselves so easily.
"Damn cats, always getting in the way of anything we do."
His blurred vision and the pain in his body were too much to growl at the man or scratch his face. But before he could try to react, he felt himself being released, and probably heard the man groan and fall to the ground. And before he felt the asphalt hit his body, a pair of hands caught him and a firm, warm chest pressed against his body.
"But wha- Kurosaki?"
"Asshole."
"You idiot, what do you think you're doing? Isn't it enough that I have to deal with you preventing us from collecting the residents' tax here, now I have to deal with you sticking your nose where it doesn't belong?"
"Nobody told you to show up in front of me and cause trouble."
Urahara blinked, feeling the hands tighten around him, pulling him closer to his body. It was warm. And honestly, exhaustion was consuming him even more. Kurosaki, huh? How long had it been since he'd heard or seen him? How funny that he was the one who found him.
"Don't mess with those who aren't invited, kid," Urahara noticed the anger in the man's voice and saw Kurosaki squeeze him even tighter and turn his body as he walked away. "Hey, give back that damn cat, I have scores to settle with that pest."
"Get out of here. You shouldn't even be here, and to be honest, if he hurt you, he deserved it. Get out of here and leave that cat alone. Don't make me go after your boss to talk about the crap you're doing outside what you're asked to do."
"You—"
"Now. And I hope I don't see you again. Next time I see you hurting another animal, I'll return you with both arms broken."
Urahara felt Kurosaki begin to walk faster in another direction and felt the man hold him more carefully. He was now supporting him as if he were a baby in his body, and stroked his back, while slowly moving his head gently and gently touching his ear.
"Come on, don't fall asleep now." Urahara opened his eyes, blinking slowly and noticing Kurosaki's furrowed brow and worried expression. "Don't you dare fall asleep, I don't know how badly hurt you are, we're taking you to the vet."
Urahara thanked him, but the only thing that came out was a high-pitched, low meow. This resulted in even more worry etched on his face. Ah, Ichigo always had a frown; it made him look so much older than he should be. He wanted to rub his forehead, but his paw felt heavy, and he couldn't even move properly.
"Don't meow either, let's not force it any further."
Urahara huffed, closing his eyes and resting his head against his chest.
What a strange day to try and help someone, and what a stupid way to be found by someone who hadn't spoken in a long time.