Accidental Marriage for Kisuke and Erich (please let Erich be a werewolf, or a weresomething) or soulmates for Kaito and Tatsuki.
anonymous
(Erich as were-lynx // added rand-genned second trope: Bodyguard Falls In Love With Client)
(In this AU, Quincy aren’t the only werebeasts, it’s a common and normalized thing throughout the population, as is magic which replaces spiritual powers.)
“So I have good news and I have bad news, which do you want first?”
Erich rumbles a protest and rolls over, shoving his muzzle beneath one of his pillows and laying his ears flat against his head; it is far too early for how awake Urahara sounds, which means the man probably hasn’t gone to sleep yet.
Which means he’s going to have to run interference all day, because a sleep-deprived Urahara is a terror to everyone around him, and he really doesn’t need any more people out for Urahara’s blood.
(Not that Urahara seemed to care at all, the bastard.)
(Urahara had spent the first month and a half of the contract trying to lose him in every conceivable way possible.)
(Still, he’s lasted longer than any other bodyguard the Shihoin had hired for the man, so… he supposes he should be proud.)
A hand settles on his head, fingers sinking into his fur and scratching just so at the base of one ear; it’s an indulgence he hasn’t allowed himself in a long time and he takes a deep breath, a purr rumbling in his chest as he savors Urahara’s scent—
(Wait.)
(Urahara’s scent?)
Erich snaps from his half-asleep daze and twists around, seizing Urahara’s arm in his mouth and clamping down, teeth millimeters from breaking the man’s skin.
Urahara freezes, eyes wide and lips parted, and murmurs, “Uh… good kitty? Nice ki— ow! Sorry! Sorry!”
Erich heaves a sigh and lets go of the man’s arm in favor of scanning the room he’s in; it’s Urahara’s room, though why the hell he was sleeping in the man’s bed he… has no idea. He doesn’t think they did anything the previous night—
(Surely he’d remember, wouldn’t he?)
—so him being here on his day off is… strange.
(Damnit, whatever happened, he hopes he didn’t give any indication of his growing crush on the man!)
“Maa, so now that you’re awake, good news or bad news first?” Urahara asks as he straightens up and rubs absently at the red marks on his arm that Erich’s teeth left behind.
Erich gives him an exasperated look at the question, then closes his eyes and concentrates, pulling his body out of his true lynx form and into a more humanoid form so he can actually answer. “Knowing what you consider ‘good’ and ‘bad’, I’m not sure I want to hear either,” he says as soon as the change settles.
Urahara chuckles awkwardly and rubs at the back of his head, then says, “Ah, well… good news, you make an adorable lynx?” When Erich just scowls at him, ears flattening against his head and lips curling back to display his canines, Urahara raises his hands in defense and babbles, “I mean, that wasn’t what I meant to say! Er, a-anyway! Good news! The symposium has agreed that you can come along!”
“And what, exactly, is the ‘bad news’ that goes along with this,” Erich asks warily, not trusting Urahara’s news in the slightest; the symposium the man is talking about is famous for being invitation-only, and ‘bodyguard’ has never been one of their invitation criteria. If the Shihoin had to bribe someone to get him in, they’re almost certainly going to hold that over his head until he can pay them back somehow.
(Though he wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest by it; he’s the first bodyguard in years who’s lasted more than six months with Urahara.)
(It’s no surprise that they’d want… insurance… against him suddenly quitting.)
“W-eeellll…” Urahara hesitates a moment, then flashes Erich a bright mask of a smile and says, “Remember those forms we had to sign a while back that I said not to worry about at all because it was just for a pretense and the Shihoin would take care of everything to make sure nothing untoward happened?”
The breath catches in Erich’s throat as his eyes go wide, knowing exactly what forms Urahara is talking about; the forms had been vague as to their purpose but the terms had been reasonable enough, just another contract amongst all the other contracts he’d needed to fill out during his time as Urahara’s bodyguard. He’d thought nothing of it at the time, especially when nothing had seemed to change about, well, anything.
(He should have known better.)
(It’s the Shihoin, after all!)
“What. Happened,” Erich forces out as soon as he untangles his thoughts enough to speak.
Urahara bites his lip and looks away, shoulders hunching in just like every time something uncomfortable comes up. It makes Urahara look smaller, more vulnerable, even though Erich knows it’s a lie.
(He still wants to reach out.)
(Still wants to pull the man into his arms and hold him close and reassure him that everything will be alright—)
Erich desperately shoves his emotions aside and clasps his hands together to keep himself from acting on his desires; Urahara is his charge and he cannot afford to let his emotions interfere. One day this contract will be up and then he’ll have to find a new contract, a new employer, and if that puts him at odds with Urahara and the Shihoin then he’ll have no choice in the matter.
(Emotions, he learned long ago, are more trouble than they’re worth.)
“Urahara, explain,” Erich prompts when the man remains silent, wondering exactly what’s happened to make the normally talkative man clam up.
“You’re uh… you’re listed as my husband now, so the symposium will allow you to come with me,” Urahara mumbles, still not meeting Erich’s gaze.
Erich freezes, claws digging into his skin as his hands tighten around each other, but the pain doesn’t miraculously wake him up from what has to be a nightmare. “Pardon?” he asks faintly, hoping desperately that he heard wrong.
Urahara swallows and repeats, “The Shihoin set up an arrangement a while back to make us look engaged in order to lessen scrutiny on you for uh… being around so much, but someone uh… someone… actually filed it. We’re married now. It’s fine, though! I’m… I asked Yoruichi to look into it so I’m sure it’ll be fixed soon! But until then, on paper we’re married, so you can get into places you otherwise couldn’t.”
(‘It’s fine, though’?)
(His own growing fondness of the man aside, Urahara barely tolerates him most days, and now it’s ‘fine’ that they’re listed as married?)
(There’s a catch here and he’s not looking forward to discovering it.)
“I’m surprised you’re going along with this,” Erich says as he leans forward a bit, scenting the air in an attempt to get a clearer understanding of Urahara’s state; all he smells is nervousness-caution-anxiety though, and that he could piece together just from the man’s body language. “You’ve been trying for months to get rid of me, and now you’re fine with me tagging along?”
“Maa, well… you’re… not as bad as some of the other bodyguards the Shihoin have foisted on me,” Urahara says with a grimace and a small shrug. “At least you listen to me instead of just trying to order me around.” He pauses and eyes Erich in consideration, one hand half-raising as if to reach out before he clearly thinks better of it and drops it back to his side. “Though you being a werelynx probably explains how you managed to keep up with me all the times I tried to dodge you.”
Erich hums, unwilling to confirm Urahara’s guess even if it is somewhat accurate; he has been utilizing on his lynx side when the moon isn’t full, but that’s not the only thing letting him keep up with the man. He’s always had a good sense of who a person is and how they will react, and that, more than anything else, has let him figure Urahara’s habits out with a minimum of issue.
But if Urahara wants to think it’s because he can enhance his senses while the moon is down, the man is welcome to his assumptions.
(It won’t help Urahara anyway.)
(He already knows the man’s habits.)
Urahara watches him for a moment, then cautiously asks, “Rerugen-san…?”
“There’s nothing we can do about it for now,” Erich says with a touch of resignation, eyes closing as one paw-like hand rises to rub at the side of his muzzle. “Get me registered for that symposium as well, and give me the paper you’re submitting. I might as well do my best to pretend knowledge of your field so I’m not entirely out of place.” He casts a despairing look down at his furred arms, ears flattening in annoyance as he adds, “Not like I’m going anywhere until moonset anyway.”
(Usually he’s tucked away somewhere private well before moonrise.)
(He’s spent his life keeping his were-form secret for exactly the sort of edge it let him have over Urahara.)
(He’s not about to discard that just because one person found out.)
“Ah… alright then,” Urahara agrees, tone bemused and gaze calculating. “I’ll get you a copy to read. If you have any questions let me know.”
Erich gives Urahara a sharp nod, internally hoping against hope that he won’t need to ask the man anything. As much as he’s come to like Urahara, he’s not unobservant; Urahara doesn’t do explanations, not willingly at least, and when he does explain things, he does a poor job of it. Not on purpose, Erich suspects, just… Urahara is a genius and rarely pauses to consider that no one else around him is.
(He’ll be better off looking things up online, he suspects.)
(Well… so long as Urahara doesn’t notice.)
(Otherwise the man will pout at him.)
(…why does he like Urahara again…?)
(Ugh, emotions are such a nuisance…)