nine lives.

remembering sunday.

I had been in the same form for a long time. Time didn't pass the same way as it did before, it was fast sometimes, slow others, the seasons has blurred together. (was it three springs, maybe four?) All I knew was the rain was coming down hard, too hard, the sky was open and rumbling thunder and I hadn't eaten in too long, body scurrying and hiding, content, out of sight as the rain came down in heavy and even torrents. I had never seen a storm like this, curled into myself because it was cold, even through the summer storm, my bones ached and I wondered if they would ever find out what happened to me. I brought my head down, curling into myself, the tail curling around myself, bones shaking but my head was a mess. I had gone home, family stricken with grief and misery, losing a daughter whose life paid welfare did that to them, but they didn't want the stray and unknown cat. The only resemblance to my life before was the stripe that went down my back, similar to a scar I had before, but things were different, they had changed. I remember it clearly, the fighting the loud noises, my parents fighting again and dad had a bit too much to drink and I had wished it all away. I had wished for it to stop, to be able to leave, for another life, and I had joked, as I laughed.

Or maybe nine.

I woke up the next morning, deep under the blankets of the bed that smelt foreign, yet my own, and my body felt strange, different, a few desperate attempts to get out of bed and I had landed on my feet on the floor. Black fur stared back, and I walked over my my mirror, and the sight that stared back was a black cat with ocean green eyes, and I had ran.

Aa, it's cold again.

I breathed in, this was how I was going to die, a twelve year old girl who wanted nothing more than to disappear, to escape the loud voices, I would die a stray cat on the side of the road with no home. Footsteps passed, I kept myself hidden, seeing people rush and hurry, out of the rain and into the buildings, briefcases and school bags, and I sighed as I willed all the noises away. My side hurt, everything had gone numb some time ago. I was regretting getting into the fight with the stupid alleycat who thought himself above no one else.

"Um..." The voice had my eyes opening, turning to see the boy, pushing his hair from his face and blinking impossibly bright gold eyes at me. He was in a raincoat, brown hair fading into blonde, and he was holding an umbrella, dressed in rain boots. I hadn't seen him before, but his eyes looked dull and scared, and I was left wondering who he was sacred for, me or himself. He extended his hand, kind and gentle and I moved slowly, body shaking before all but collapsing into his arms. Hearing the sharp intake of breath, and I shook and shivered, and he was warm.

And I went to sleep.

The next time I woke up, it was impossibly warm. I could breathe, the rain pattering on the windows outside and there was a soft hand running over my head and I instinctively pushed against it. "What were you doing out in that storm?" The boy asked, and I opened my eyes, seeing him bent on the side of the bed, the one I was laying on and I hadn't known the warmth of a bed for a very very long time.
I pushed against him, my tongue licking his offered hand, a silent thank you, and he got up, and I sighed, as well as a cat could, and put my head back down. The smell of food made my eyes open again, and there was two bowls being placed on the ground, and warm and kind, gentle, above all else, hands lifted me up, curling me to his chest. "I'm going to take you to the vet once the rain stops." He said softly, there was the sound of the door opening downstairs, the blonde turning to his bedroom door in enough time for it to burst open.

I jumped, letting out a sound as my front paws shook, trying to eat the food, it tasted weird and strange but it was food and that was all that mattered. "I found a cat."

"Yes Kenma, I read your text, are they alright?" He asked, and I glanced up, pausing because—that was a weird ass hairstyle or it was serious bed head—and the much taller boy bent down beside me. "They're so small, thin I mean..."