Work Text:
1. S.O.S.
*bop bup*
Mysta turned his head to the monitor as a discord notification rang. It was Shu's private chat. He wonders if the sorcerer sent him some funny memes or videos.
He clicks the chatroom only to see some random Alphabets and numbers. Is that a password to a collab lobby?
It shows that he is typing another message.
"Plzx vpme 2 my rooom"
"SOS"
Mysta was alerted as soon as he saw the code. Though Shu could be playful and silly sometimes, he bet he wouldn't joke about emergency. Shu is calling for help!
Shu's room is on the other side of the Luxiem House, which has the least sunlight to prevent disturbing his random sleeping schedule. It was quite far away from Mysta's that the detective would easily miss out any weird sounds in the past few hours. All he could recalled is Nina's visit, but she had already left before Vox and Ike went out for dinner.
As Luca hasn't came back from his trip, Mysta is probably the only person left with Shu, probably… He carefully walk through the corridor and grabbed a baseball bat that is hanging on the wall outside Luca's room for no reason.
Shu's door was left opened a gap, but Mysta could only see his empty bed through it. The detective took a deep breath before kicking the door wide opened.
"Shu! I am here…?" His voice got a weird turn as he met eyes with the creature in front of him.
It's a fluffy baby penguin at the height of his knees. It's body is covered with gray fur, black and white on the head with a bunch of yellow hair at the forehead. Why is there a penguin in Shu's room? Mysta looked around and couldn't find the owner of the bedroom.
"Mysta-"
"OMFG YOU SPEAK!!!!" Mysta jumped when the baby penguin opened its mouth.
"M-Mysta…"
"AHHHHHHH!!!!STOPP NOOOO!!!" Mysta raised the baseball bat up high as the furry creature approach him, only to get the baby screaming back with an oddly familiar sound.
"No, Mysta! Please don't hit me!" It attempts to defend with its two little wings.
Confusion is painted on the detective's face. He slowly crouches down and takes a look at the penguin.
"…Shu, is that you?"
.
2. Cursed
"Why are you penguin?"
Mysta asked as he watched the baby penguin, his housemate Shu Yamino, attempting to climb up the bed and sat next to him. He is so adorable in this form.
"I guest it's something about the curse Nina asked me to made for her this afternoon…" He replied. Nina requested a curse to transform people into animals for her revenge on Alban. "It was supposed to be a very minor curse for prank, but I could feel that Nina has strengthened it with her power."
"Is there a way to break this curse?" "Yes, of course!"
"…"
Mysta looks at the soaking wet ball of fur in front of him. They both stood still, speechless, only the dripping water from the shower head can be heard.
Originally, as they were planning to turn Alban into a cat, the curse was designed to be broken if the target took a bath.
"I think we should call Nina…" Mysta commented as he watched Shu trembling in coldness.
.
3. Shupport
Shupport is Shu's nickname among their friend circle as the young man always provides the best advice and technical support whenever his friends is in need. However, in this state, he can only rely on people to survive.
"Oh my God, look at this cutie." Vox lifted the penguin pup up to take a better look. "How fascinating… You still got your banana hair."
"Yo! Give him back to me!"
Shu, like his usual patient self, didn't mind being treated as a stuffed toy or a baby. He is just glad that his friend finally comprehend the situation after an hour of explanation.
"Is Nina still out of reach?"
"I think so." Ike answer after ending his fifteenth phonecall of the night. "Reimu said she was out for a vacation and probably won't come back until next weekend."
"Oh Nyooo…" Alban cried, hearing the news. The Noctyx boys are currently on video call with them. "Shu senpei, I am so sorry about that. I promise I wasn't involved in this prank I swear.
"It's okay Alban. I was planning to take a week break anyway." If it's not 'coincidentally' Shu's break from streaming, he might not be this calm though. Maybe Nina did planned this through?
"Shu senpei…(ノДＴ)"
"Senpei if you need anything, please let us know! We would try our very best!"
As Shu was about to reject Fulgur's offer out of habit, Ike spoke before him. "Thanks a lot, he really needs it."
The renowned Shupport needs support now.
.
4. Brother
Shu could hear people talking downstairs when he woke up. As a pup, he slept through 10 hours with ease, maybe more if he didn't want to check the noise out.
He accidentally steps on someone's stomach as he's leaving the bed. With no surprise, he hears Mysta's twisted scream.
"Ouch! Watch out, bro…You are still very heavy as a penguin." He stretched his arms then reached to grab Shu's chubby body, but the pup steps back.
"Oh, I forgot I cannot… do stuff on my own…" Shu shook his wings to balance himself. "Sorry about that."
"No worries, I got your back now." Mysta volunteered to look after Shu not purely because he has the most flexible schedule the coming week, he just really wants to payback the endless support Shu had been offering to him.
"It might sound a bit cringe, but I guess we are going to spend a lot of time together," Mysta barks out a laugh as he patted Shu's tiny head that is barely bigger than his palm.
"My little brother."
Mysta Rias and Shu Yamino had the same producer, a.k.a mama, when they were preparing for their stream debut. Therefore, they were being called brothers.
There are actually other duos that can be called as brothers, like Luca and Alban, or Vox and Fulgur, but it seems like only Mysta emphasizing that.
Shu couldn't understand why. He started to repell the title ever since someone jokingly said he got 'brozoned'.
Since Mysta had finished his 6-hour late night stream the night before, he got the rest of his day off. He had been carrying the baby penguin everywhere within their house. Baby penguin needs warm, so Shu unintentionally seeks for skinships and became very clingy. Not that Mysta mind it.
After breakfast, they watched a movie, baked cookies that was totally a failure, and took another nap during sunset. Then, they ordered sushi for dinner after Petra suggested feeding him fish. It was also the first time Mysta trying raw fish, unsurprisingly, he didn't like it, so he ate all the rice and side dishes instead.
It feels different to spend time together, away from their pc and gaming chair. Only the two of us…
.
5. Relied
Shu wakes up around 3am. Mysta is not by his side as he is streaming in his room. Shu figures he can left the bed by rolling down along the blanket, like a slide. He thought about doing it this morning, but having Mysta to carry him around is not a bad idea.
There is no doubt Shu is a smart person, even when he is in this smaller body. He could find solutions and adept new ways to move around if he wants to. It just…
He wants to be selfish this time.
Mysta is having a bathroom break when the penguin sorcerer arrives his room with his cute little waddle. He picked him up and let him set on his lap without a word. Luckily, his penguin is too tiny to be in frame. He was about to end his stream, after finishing some superchat reading.
"Collab with Shu?" Shu raised his head to look at him. "Maybe after his break, we could plan one." Mysta's fingers stroke his head and chin tenderly, Shu can't help but closing his eyes. He could smell the light smokey sense on the man's body.
When would Mysta ever treat him like this if he is not a helpless pup?
Since the beginning of his career, he wanted to befriend with this detective guy. He is funny, witty and playful, but sometimes so fragile and anxious as if he is walking on thin ice. It seems that the latter side was exclusive to very few closed friends, and Shu is grateful to be one of them. However, whenever Mysta is having a serious emotional breakdown, he tended to push him away and seek for other's help.
Thinking about that still hurts Shu a little.
.
6. Jealousy
Mysta could be a little loud on stream, but he is not good at expressing himself in real life, especially in front of Shu, his patient, smart and kindhearted friend. Sometimes he would be afraid that he took too much from him and provided too little. Now that He can finally give him a helping hand, he feels relieved. When would Shu Yamino ever need Mysta Rias help if he is not a helpless pup?
"Did you have a great sleep?" He looks down to the baby penguin in his arms.
"Yeh, Mysta, are you going to bed now?" He is so adorable.
Mysta didn't answer, instead, he left his chair and laid on bed with Shu in his arms. Shu uses his beak to pull up the blanket for him. "I guess we can sleep in your bed if you don't mind." Shu cuddles closer to the taller man as they both close their eyes.
*BANG*
Not long after, Luca stormed in the house and woke everyone.
"Oh my god! Is this really Shu?!" Luca Kaneshiro, who was on a working trip, returned with an early flight after hearing about his friend's condition.
"Yes, Luca. I am actually Penguin now." Shu walks around the dinning table to show his new body.
"POG!!!" Luca slaps the table in excitement, the bowl of soup Ike made for him nearly spilled. "I wanna try it too."
"Nonono, we can't have two penguins in this house. Finish your soup and go to bed Luca." Ike shuts him down as it is very early in the morning. The novelist offers to pick Shu upstairs, but the latter decided to spend more time with Luca.
"Yo Shu, are you feeling better now?"
"I am fine so far." Shu, sitting by the side of the table, swings his tiny feet in mid-air. "I'm in gooda hands."
Meanwhile, Mysta is listening to them from afar. He is too tired to chat with the golden boy. As much as he wants to grab penguin Shu back, he doesn't think disturbing the two is a right thing to do. He retreats before he reaches the bottom of the stairs and heaves a sigh.
The next morning, Shu went to Mysta's room with a DVD. "Mysta, look! I found a Sherk DVD! Let's watch it together!"
It is hard to tell if the detective is awake as his back is facing the door. Shu walks to the other side of the bed, but Mysta turns and buries his face in the pillow.
"…Mysta?"
The said guy mumbles something Shu cannot catch, so Shu called him again.
"I said you should f**king go ask Luca to watch it with you!!!" Mysta didn't sleep well. The idea of Shu sleeping in Luca's bed kept him awake, though it might be purely his imagination.
"But Luca is having jet lag. He's sleepin-"
"So I am your backup plan huh?!" Mysta literally jumps up and yells aggressively.
"No…" Shu steps back in fear. A grown-up man standing on bed is like a giant to him right now. He doesn't understand this man's change of attitude, unless…
"Mysta…Are you jealous?"
The room becomes dead silent.
.
7. A Promise
The two had a wordless stare contest after the short burst out. Mysta was the one who broke the stare, diffidently. He feels stupid because, the sorcerer is right, he is indeed jealous. Shu is too good at reading him, but he just seldom point it out directly.
"Whatever,"
Things made a quick turn when the baby penguin throw the DVD into the bin furiously.
"Why are you jealous when you are the one who keeping our distance?"
Mysta is speechless. Anger is a rare emotion in Shu Yamino.
An undescribable tension keeps growing in the air, Shu felt uneasy. "I think I should go…" He waddles as fast as he can to leave the scene.
"Wait no!" Mysta jumps off the bed and blocks his way.
Though that was biologically impossible for a penguin to blush or cry, Mysta felt like there is a shade of pink on Shu's cheeks, tears in his eyes.
Apparently there is some misunderstanding between them and Mysta finally connects the dots as to why Nina started this mess.
He recalled a conversation they had when he slept over at Nina's place. That time he was having a breakdown and decided to run away from his friend, mostly Shu.
"No, Nina, I can't let Shu sees me miserable like this…"
"What do you mean, baby? I am pretty sure Shu wouldn't mind if you reach out to him."
"B-but… I am a mess…"
"Hey hey," Nina grabbed his shoulders so he would look into her eyes. "Being vulnerable is not a bad thing! I know you are a hot mess right now. I won't force you to do anything, but next time I hope you could try. This is unfair to Shu if you keep hiding from him."
And they made a promise.
"Yes, I am a total idiot. I am jealous of Luca. "
"Huh?"
"I had this problem for a long time." He confessed sheepishly. "I kept avoiding people I like because of anxiety and insecurity, but then I would be jealous when they become closed to someone else, which is very childish and stupid."
Mysta slowly kneels down in front of Shu and holds his little palms.
"I kept avoiding you because… I was scared that you may not see me the way I see you…if I am vulnerable and weak. "
"…" The sorcerer was caught off guard with the sudden burst of words, or maybe he is just not ready for what Mysta is going to say.
"Shu, I like you, a lot." Mysta's head is hanging low after finishing his confession.
Suddenly, purple light starts glowing from Shu's penguin body. In a blink of an eye, Shu turnes back into his usual form. They are still holding hands and their noses are about to touch.
"OMFG it worked."
.
Unlike those female leads in Japanese anime, Shu has clothes on when he turns back to human. Mysta is low-key disappointed. Nevertheless, Shu is blushing so hard, realizing how closed their face are.
"What you said earlier…do you mean it?" They can feel each other's breath, but none of them move away.
"Yes, it's all true." He looks him into his eyes. It has been days Mysta can see those beautiful purple pupils and long lashes. "So what is your reply?"
Now that Shu doesn't push him away despite being an expert in dodging flirts, Mysta is pretty confident the feelings is mutual, but he wants to hear it literally.
"I like you too…Therefore, stop running away from me, okay?" Shu starees back and meets Mysta's beaming blue eyes.
"Anything for you, baby!♡♡♡"
"Shall we kiss now?"
"///Okay."
AND THEY LIVE HAPPY EVER AFTER!!!
+ LOTS OF COLLAB TOGETHER!!!
.
- The curse would actually break in 3 days, according to Nina.
- It was truth she wanted to prank Alban, but he wasn't taking a break.
I looooooove baby penguin shu and fox mysta, so maybe a mysta turning into fox au in the future?
I am not good at writing in English, thanks for reading! Plz give it a kudo if you enjoy it:')