Disclaimer: KHR is owned by Amano Akira-- well, everyone knows that part:

I also don't own the werecat concept used in this oneshot. The concept sprouts from a Yaoi Manga known as the 'Kuroneko Kareshi Series', by Sakyo Aya. I often take a liking to the unique storylines some Yaoi Manga seem to possess, so I decided to write it out for once.

-

Meeting the one man he had come to swear his loyalty toward; Meeting comrades he can count on in battle; Having someone with him that would always be there to trigger his irritation--

All these were a blessing to Gokudera hayato. 

Being a bastard child, he never received such honour. But now-- he had earned his name, his right, his platform and his position. No one cared about his origins any longer. 

At present, he would give up anything for the sake of his Boss.

Hypocritically speaking, Gokudera wasn't a very open person. To his Boss, he held a delightful openness-- opinions, directions, occasional inputs-- but never much about himself as a person.

Unsurprisingly, even the loyal right-hand man of the Vongola had secrets confined.

-

Well, there were days when Gokudera just didn't feel it. 

Waking up, staring at the ceiling-- and just, urgh, the world was a pain in the ass. Nothing could make his morning worse than actually needing to get up and face it.

Curling over in his sleep, glaring with sleep-blurred eyes at the accursed neon red alarm clock--

Fuck, he swore, I already overslept.

But there was this heat at his chest, a heavy lead in his head. And the disgusting sweat creeping down his neck.

Shrinking into a bundle of comforters, he groaned.

Can I skip work today, please? A half-hearted joke-- and it hit himself hard that Gokudera and jokes never come in a fifty mile radius of each other.

He wasn't being himself.

With a sigh, his eyes squeezed shut and he muttered some inaudible complain to the laws of the universe. Pushing himself up with a string of childish grunts and mums, he found himself tangled in sheets and--

Rubbing his eyes hazily, he pulled the duvet over his head with a disgruntled swear.

A knock on the door he didn't respond to, the doorknob crunched open and a light call of "Hayato-san?" was heard.

Chrome, the only other Guardian with responsibilities starting seven in the morning.

Saying a soft mumble of apology Gokudera barely heard, she took a step in and approached and bundle of blankets.

"Uh, Hayato-san?" she must have thought it was unusual. Gokudera was always done thirty minutes before seven, after all. But now it was thirty minutes after, and he hadn't gotten out of bed? "Are you feeling alright?"

Her voice was meek and hushed, although it didn't need to be.

Uri, in her bed at the side, perked up at the new presence, and made her way over with a soft purr of friendliness.

Reaching out toward the duvet, Chrome jumped as the duvets sank-- nothing was within the bulge she thought was Gokudera?

Lifting the covers she froze in bewilderment.

Gokudera's clothes were strewn about the bed in tangles with the duvet-- even the Vongola gear he wore to sleep was lying around. But under the covers, curled up in the center of the bed, was a cat. 

A cat-- quite on the fluffy side, its coat was a mixture of colours. Black, brown, grays-- but it was a domesticated cat, perhaps. What else could explain the shine in its coat?

At the sight of the cat, Uri hissed angrily, claws barred as she jumped onto the bed with a growl. In Chrome's eyes, she guessed Uri wasn't too happy about the invasion of territory.

The cat seemed young and peaceful. In precaution, Chrome cradled Uri in her arms so she wouldn't attack the feline.

But where was Hayato-san?

The cat, rousing awake, seemed to look around confused for a long moment. Rising to its paws, movements smooth and graceful, it fixed its eyes on Chrome.

Green eyes, Chrome noticed. How pretty.

She was tempted to pick up that cat as well.

Turning to the window, the cat made elegant jumps to the windowsill, pushing open the unbolted windows with its face, it left the mansion as quickly as it came.

-

Gokudera sighed.

Sitting down at the corner of an alley right by the Vongola Mansion, his tail waving nervously and his ears slumped down in regret, he looked down at the ground in worry.

It had really been way too long since he accidentally changed forms in his sleep.

Losing control of his transformation, what is he, one?

(Eighteen human years now, so in cat years, uh, a little over one year?)

(goddamit I AM a one-year-old!)

Staying in his cat form, he looked around. He would have to find a way to get back to the mansion casually, and maybe think up of an excuse as to why he was gone from the room, and why there was a cat on his bed and--

oh, why does this have to happen? Last time this happened was when some moron brought fuckin' catnip to the Inheritance Ceremony!

Hearing a low growl, Gokudera flinched.

A black cat-- one on the larger side-- had come up to him. It looked feral and fierce-- and hostile, definitely. Teeth showing in its growl, it tensed up to show anger.

The message was clear-- Gokudera was in its territory.

The cat seemed angry, and Gokudera, prideful as he was, did not back down. Instead, he seemed to gaze upon the bigger cat with a condescending expression.

Before either party could launch an attack, a sharp yell was made.

"HEY!!"

Both felines flinched, and the bigger black cat, catching sight of the owner of the voice, scurried away to the sewers without missing a beat. 

That was a clear sign to all cats, 'just fuckin' run!'. Gokudera knew that sign well and was about to dash off too--

But almost instantly, a large hand scooped him up at the stomach.

Gokudera's first defensive reaction was to bare his claws and chomp on an exposed finger. He earned a yelp, but the man did not let go.

"Calm down, geez, it's me!"

Turning around now, he recognized the man-- teenager. "You're Hayato-nii, aren't you? Right?"

Shifting into a more comfortable carry, Lambo sighed as he faced the cat. "Are you being serious right now, Hayato-nii?" he whined, "Do you have any idea how worried Chrome-nee was?"

Geh, exposed. 

Well I kinda guessed at least one other Guardian would be a werecat.

Why Lambo, of all the bloody-

Looking away, Gokudera knew he had no excuse to provide. His negligence had caused disarray in the mansion, and he could only hope Tsuna didn't hear about the event as well. 

They suspect an enemy attack. A hostage situation. Or maybe even worse things, seeing as the hostility in the Mafia was growing as of late.

Lambo began to walk out of the alley, grumbling to Gokudera who could not verbally reply to him. "And aren't you supposed to be Italian? Why on earth are you a Norway Breed?"

Gokudera snapped back with a comedic growl of 'How the fuck would I know??'.

Cradling the feline gently, with knowing hands, Lambo ran a hand through Gokudera's fluffy fur. "You're lucky I managed to calm her down before the noisier ones got to her."

Thankfully, it seemed Tsuna was not aware of the occurrence. Now he just had to apologize to Chrome. Oh, he still had to think up an excuse that wouldn't expose the existence of the werefelines. Gokudera begrudgingly relaxed in those arms, a sign of 'yeah, thanks. I appreciate'.

"I'm a Birman and you're a Norwegian Forest. We're fellow fluffy cats!"

Gokudera was tempted to bite this idiot. What was he being so excited about, for goodness sake. 

"I'm so glad I found another domestic cat around! Everyone else I've ever met around like, ferals or uh, the scary ones. Most of the ferals are perverts, though."

The only reason Gokudera and Lambo seemed even remotely purebred was because of their slightly more noble blood in the Mafia. Purebred werecats were very rare.

"Hey hey, and I think I once saw some guy that was a leopard! He only half transformed but I'm quite sure he was a leopard! How cool is that!"    

Lambo as overexcited-- a kitten about half a year old, experiencing new things. But now he was chattering noisily to a cat in the middle of a lightly busy street.

People cast amused glances over now and then, and Gokudera was beginning to feel the second-hand embarrassment. Lambo was speaking in a volume that wasn't too loud so other people probably didn't hear the content of the conversation, thankfully.

"All that aside, Gokudera, your fur's so soft. Is Bianchi-nee as pretty as this?"

With one sharp growl and a scratch from Gokudera, Lambo kept quiet for the rest of the journey up to the mansion.