KOF Extras

Trip to Ireland: Part three (final)

Second night in Dublin
"Now, why are we dragged into a late night walk?" K' asked, annoyed. "In an unfamiliar place?"
"Come on, I stayed her for more than a month," Krizalid said, his face once again hidden behind the collar of his trench coat. His stuffed his hands into his pockets, glad with the warmth radiating from his own body. "Besides, it isn't even that late, only nine! By the way, isn't it nice?"
K' rolled his eyes and nodded. He couldn't argue, the place certainly was breathtaking, especially with the cool night air. But Zayn didn't think so.
"Really?" Zayn said, trying his best to warm the icy fingers of his right hand. "I think it's freezing!"
He looked around before making a blood-red flame on his invisible glove. He pressed his palms together, and overlapped his fingers over the other. Isolde chuckled and warmed her hands over the flame radiating from his hand.
"Nice and warm..." Isolde said, a relaxing smile creeping up to her face. "My hot boyfriend..."
The others started snickering. They passed a back alleyway where the sound of aggressive meowing could be heard. Iori stopped in his tracks and grabbed Aiko's shoulder.
"You guys, we'll be back in a minute," Iori announced, leaving with his sister. "We wanna feed the kitties."
The K' team laughed as they watched the Yagamis skip off to the dark alleyway. They went closer and waited, right below a streetlight. From where they were, they could hear cats fighting.
Iori activated the torch app on his phone and illuminated his way. He made his usual sound to get the cats' attention and took out the foldable milk bowl he always carried. He laid it down and asked Aiko for the cartons of milk in her bag. She took it out and crouched, filling the bowl up with low lactose milk. A few cats scampered out of the dark and started drinking the milk she poured.
But to Iori's surprise, one of the cats started tugging at his trousers leg. He looked down, shining his light, and saw glowing eyes stare back at him. He almost jumped at the light reflected from the cat's eyes.b
"What is it, Kitty?" Iori asked, crouching. The cat mewed and ran off to a dark corner. He asked Aiko to stay there and followed the cat. He saw the white cat leaping onto a rubbish bin, glancing back at him with a meow, as if it wanted him to follow it.
Iori went closer and saw the cat sitting on the cover of a dumpster, its tail hanging down. It mewed again and jumped off, watching him near it. Iori went closer, his footsteps being the only sound.
He almost jumped when Aiko called him.
"What is it, Aiko?" Iori asked, turning slightly towards his sister.
"That's what I was gonna ask you," Aiko said. Iori saw her silhouette stand up and come towards him. "What are you doing?"
"Stay there, there's something here that the cats are afraid of," Iori said, turning back to the dark area. "Don't come here."
Aiko watched anxiously as Iori neared the dumpster. He threw the cover open and peeked in. Nothing but a bag of rubbish.
"Seriously, there's nothing here!" Iori said, turning back to the cat. "You've been afraid of trash!"
The cat purred and walked towards him, its tail swinging behind it. It walked towards the dumpster and mewed at something behind it before turning back to Iori.
Puzzled, Iori went to have a look. There was a cardboard box in there. It was evidently full of rubbish.
"Let's just leave that box behind," Iori said, scooping the cat up. "Come with me."
He brought the cat back to the milk bowl and put it down. The cat mewed one last time, as if to say 'believe me!' before licking up the milk from the bowl.
"What was it, Niisan?" Aiko asked, looking up from the cats. "Why did the cat bring you there?"
"There was a cardboard box," Iori said, crouching to top the bowl up with more milk. "Looks like it's full of papers or something..."
Aiko chuckled and stroked the cat's white fur.
"It's just a box, honey," Aiko said softly. "There's nothing to be afraid of."
They heard a slight rustling sound from the dark corner. Iori swung his phone light at the spot, only to see stillness. He thought it was a cat and made a sound to call it over. But... nothing came. He turned back to Aiko and saw her crouching, watching the cats and stroking their fur.
The rustling sound came again.
Iori turned to look saw a cardboard box between the mass of dumpsters and bins. There seemed nothing out of the ordinary.
"Niisan, the milk's finished," Aiko said, standing up. "Come on, Niisan."
Iori took the bowl and stuffed into a plastic bag before keeping it under his coat. He and Aiko left the alleyway after giving the cats a farewell.
They heard a rustling noise again, and looked to see nothing but cardboard boxes yet again.
"Let's go," K' said as soon as they stepped out. "You guys took forever."
They walked down the street, chatting, when there was a thud, followed by the sound of running feet behind them. They turned around to see a silhouette running off into the distance, and an overturned cardboard box on the road. They exchanged looks before making their way back to the hotel.