This is the beginning of book 2 of my my story "A Possibility of Evil." If you have not yet read book 1, then I highly encourage you to go to my profile, find book 1, and read it. Because you need to read book 1 in order to read book 2, since it's really all the same story. I simply split it up into books to make the length a bit more manageable.

This chapter is dedicated to Kitty Obsessive Disorder, because she gave me the idea for the character that's introduced in this chapter. Thanks so much!

In spite of myself, I woke up excited. I mean, what kid wouldn't be excited on Christmas morning? The presents, the snow, the fun with the family… it seemed like everything about the holiday was geared toward giving children the best day they could have.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't expecting any of this. My parents didn't care enough about me to get me presents; I could run away from home and my parents still wouldn't care. Though it's not their fault; I was the one who had hypnotized them into not caring about me. And though that had been a couple of months ago, it seemed to be holding as strong as ever. I suppose I'm actually kind of glad in one sense – I never really enjoyed having 'quality time' with my mom and dad on Christmas. Still, a part of me missed it.

Oh, and when I looked out the window – no snow. So much for a great Christmas.

My hopes slowly dropped with each step I took down the stairs. Still, it wasn't all bad. There was still the party with the Guardians to look forward to. That, combined with the fact that Easter still hadn't contacted me, helped to raise my mood some. Azami floated sleepily onto my head as I made my way into the living room. She seemed bored, and I didn't blame her. I'd already warned her that Christmas probably wouldn't be all that great for me, and she seemed to be taking me at my word.

I looked under our Christmas tree and saw a few presents. Most were from my mom to my dad and vice-versa. I did get a gift, though the box was slightly beat up; my aunt and uncle in the United States had sent it through the mail. They were about the only extended family I had. But that had arrived a couple days before, so it wasn't a big surprise.

One present in particular caught my eye. It practically grabbed my attention, and I forgot about any of the other presents. It was a moderately sized pet carrier, sitting in front of all the other presents. And if that wasn't interesting enough, did I mention that it had been meowing since I walked into the room?

I reached up and nudged Azami to get her attention.

"What is it?" she asked, annoyed at being disturbed.

"Why don't you open your eyes and look for yourself?" I replied mockingly as I knelt down to look through the wire door. My gaze was met by two golden cat eyes, wide with curiosity.

"Who is it for? And who gave it?" I wondered aloud, looking all over the carrier for some sort of explanation. But there was no to/from card anywhere on it.

I looked back in on the cat, who had been meowing for attention this whole time. As it turned to look at me, I heard a jingling and I realized that it had a collar with a nametag. I tried to read it through the bars, but the cat moved too much for me to get a good look. The cat itself had an interesting coloration that I'd never seen before. It was sort of like a calico, but it didn't have any white on it. It was just sort of a patchwork of orangish fur and black fur. (For a picture of this, got to my profile)

I wanted to take it out so I could get a better look, but hesitated. I decided to get my parents in here – one of them had probably gotten it for the other, and just not put any label showing who the gift was to. Then again, neither of them had ever really been animal lovers. I found them in the kitchen. My mom was drinking some coffee, and my dad looked like he was about to make breakfast.

"Can you guys come in here?" I said, more like a command than a question. They just sort of stared at me for a moment as if they didn't know how to react, then they followed me into the living room. I'd gotten used to this side effect of the hypnotism, though I have to admit that it's still somewhat awkward at times.

"So who got the cat?" I asked as soon as they were in the room, gesturing to the pet carrier.

"What! A cat!?" my mom gasped, showing more emotion than I'd seen in a while. Whether or not she cared about me, she apparently did care about having a cat in her house. She looked accusingly at my father, but he seemed just as bewildered as she was.

"Go ahead and open it," Azami suggested. "Maybe there's some sort of letter inside."

I sat down on the floor opened the door of the carrier. The cat immediately sprang out, jumping onto my lap. It began to rub its head and shoulders against my stomach. I laughed at it's enthusiastic drive for attention.

"It's very… affectionate." I said, still laughing a bit. Now that it was out in the open, I could see that it was still fairly young, with a slim build and smooth fur. I tried to get it to hold still so that I could look at the nametag that was dangling from its purple collar, but it just kept on rubbing against me. Exasperated, I grabbed on to the scruff of its neck. It meowed in protest, but instinctually went limp.

"Ginger…" I muttered, reading the front of the nametag. "Is that your name? Ginger?" The cat continued to meow uncomfortably. I flipped the nametag over and saw my address, with my name as the owner.

"It's a tortoiseshell." My mom stated as I sat the cat back down. It went right back to rubbing against me, and I went ahead and started stroking it.

"A tortoiseshell?" I asked.

"That's the coloration," my mom explained. "But how did it get here? I'm not sure if I like the idea of a cat in the house."

As I petted it, my hand brushed against something. I looked to see that a piece of paper had been tucked underneath the collar. The cat hardly paused as I pulled it out and unfolded it. It was a note, written on a small sheet of paper. The handwriting was neat and somewhat stylized, in a way that made it look like a girl had written it. It looked vaguely familiar… but I shoved the feeling of recollection aside as I read the note out loud.

"Dear Miyuki," it began. "I hope you like your present! Her name is Ginger. You'll find supplies for her out in the garage. She's already litter box trained, and she's got all her vaccinations. Please keep an eye on her, and she just might help you out as well! I'll hopefully be seeing you sometime soon!" There was no signature to show who it was that had given the cat, which bothered me. Who would possibly give me a cat? For that matter, who could get into my house and garage?

I picked up Ginger and walked off to the garage, to see if what the note said was true. Ginger purred contentedly all the way there. I opened the door and, to my surprise, the note really had been true. A litter box, cat litter, a bag of hard cat food, a bowl for food and another for water… all of it was there. There were even a couple of cat toys and a scratching post.

I went back to the living room, and finally the impact of it all sank in. I've got a pet! I've always kind of wanted one, and Ginger seems perfect. I petted the cat in my arms as I thought this, and she purred even louder. She seemed to be a glutton for attention. Even if the circumstances are kind of weird, this is awesome! And I thought I wasn't going to get anything interesting for Christmas. I wonder what Azami thinks of it?

I glanced up at my chara. She was looking curiously at the cat, but I couldn't tell what she thought about it.

"So can I keep it?" I asked my parents as I made it back into the living room.

"What!?" Azami shouted. "You want to keep that thing?" Ginger glance up at Azami, and I could have sworn that I saw something like smugness in the cat's eyes. Then again, I was probably just imagining it. Cats don't have expressions, and even if they do, I doubt I'd be able to tell what they were.

My mom, unaware of Azami, seemed to be thinking hard. It seemed like she was conflicted between her worry about having an animal in the house and her hypnotized lack-of-care about everything that concerns me.

"Come on, mom." I urged. "All the supplies to get started are in the garage. I'll take care of her – you'll hardly even realize she's here."

She still seemed conflicted, but the hypnotism won out. "I guess it's okay, as long as you take care of it…"

"Dad?" I asked, making sure he was okay with it. Not like I really needed their approval – I would keep it even if my parents said no.

"It's fine with me." He said. The cat purred louder, as if she knew what was going on. Suddenly, I got a hard hit on the head from Azami's tail. I glared at her.

"We need to talk." She said, before flying up the stairs to go to my room. I followed, with the cat still in my arms.

Once I made it to my room, I closed the door and put Ginger on the ground. She started rubbing against my legs, nearly tripping me as I went to sit down on my bed. Ginger jumped up beside me, and I put her on my lap and started petting her. She relaxed and purred contentedly.

"What in the world are you doing? Why do you want a pet?" Azami asked incredulously.

It seemed like an odd question to me. I'd never really thought about why I would want a pet. "I dunno. She's cute and soft, and she seems like she'll be fun to have around."

"Cute and soft?!" Azami exclaimed. "Do you realize just how girly you sound right now? Dragons don't care about cute and soft!"

I frowned slightly, and paused. Ginger immediately noticed, and gave a plaintive meow for me to continue. I started stroking her again, and she closed her eyes as she relaxed.

"Look at that!" Azami said. "You're practically a slave to it already! It simply meows, and you automatically pet it!"

"Aw, come on." I pouted playfully. "You play with Yoru – I don't see why I can't have a cat to play with."

"You've got Ikuto." Azami said, a mischievous glint entering her eye.

My gaze hardened. "Ikuto doesn't count."

Azami just grinned at my defensive response.

I glared harder, then said, "I think you're just jealous. Maybe you think that I'll forget about you now that I've got a much cuter and much more friendly companion." I got a couple good whacks for that comment, which I guess I deserved. Then I continued, "Anyway, the decision is already made. I'm going to keep her. Plus, maybe I'll find out more about this mysterious gift-giver if I keep her around. Don't you think it seems odd that whoever it was could get into my house? And doesn't it seem like a huge coincidence that this person picked out my favorite color of purple for the collar?"

"Jealous! Of a cat!?" Azami said, ignoring the rest of what I had said. I hadn't really been thinking that she was jealous, but her reaction seemed to state otherwise.

"Well, you certainly seem very defensive…" I said. "Perhaps I've hit the truth?" I smiled tauntingly.

She turned her back on me. "Just don't blame me when you wake up in the middle of the night with a hairball on your face."

I smiled, but decided to let her end the argument. I walked back down the stairs, with Ginger in my arms. Azami followed behind me, looking like she was still in a bad mood. My parents were opening their presents down in the living room. They acted normal now, like they always did when they weren't talking to me or talking about me. I ignored them and they ignored me as I sat down on the floor to open my only other present. I set Ginger down, and she began to curiously explore the presents under the Christmas tree, never straying far away from me.

My aunt and uncle had sent me a couple of movies. Of course, they were in English, so I wasn't sure how much I'd be able to enjoy them – it'd been over a year since I'd had to speak or understand the language fluently. A letter that came with it said that they were good movies, and it said that all of my family over there was hoping I'd come back soon. There was also a recent photograph showing their whole family – my aunt, uncle, and their two young children.

My parents still weren't paying attention to me, so I ignored them as I took the gift up to my room. Ginger followed, her tail waving back and forth as she examined her new home. She had enough sense to stay out of the way of my feet this time, so that I could walk unhindered. Azami still seemed grumpy, and didn't say anything.

Next I started lugging all the supplies from the garage up the stairs. I put the litter box in one corner of my bathroom, and in another corner I put the food and water bowls. I put the bags of food and litter in the hallway closet while she ate her food, and I lugged the scratching post into my room.

Once that was all done, I sat in the chair in my room. Ginger jumped on to my lap, and I started petting her. Azami sat down on top of my desk, next to the pile of 'jewels' that I'd gotten her yesterday. We sat like this for a while. I was lost in my thoughts, trying to figure out who had written the note that went with my cat. The handwriting seemed so familiar… And whether it was from the feminine handwriting or my feeling of recognition, it definitely seemed like the unknown person was a girl.

"Who sent you here, Ginger?" I asked, lifting the tortoiseshell cat up until she was eye level. She stayed limp, looking into my eyes and tilting her head inquisitively. "Do I know her? How did she get into my house? And why does she hope to see me soon?"

The cat meowed, and for a moment it did seem like she was trying to answer. Of course, I can't understand cat language, if there is such a thing.

"What did the letter mean about you helping me out if I took care of you?" I continued, looking into the cat's golden eyes as if they might hold the answers. "Was that just a joke?"

Ginger meowed again, and I put her down. It was almost like she was actually understanding me, but even if this was true, I couldn't understand her.

"You do realize you're talking to a cat," Azami mocked, though her tone was a bit friendlier than it had been earlier this morning.

"At least I'm not guarding a pile of cheap rocks." I retorted jokingly. Azami ignored the comment, and instead floated up to Ginger's face.

"I can't say I'm very impressed," Azami said critically. "I mean, look at it's fur – it looks all mottled. Half of it's face is mostly black, and the other half is mostly orange. It looks messy."

"Well, the pattern is unique," I admitted. "But I like it."

Suddenly, one of Ginger's paws darted towards Azami, batting her away like she was a toy. And yet, she didn't chase after Azami after hitting her, which puzzled me – if the cat was playing with Azami, wouldn't Ginger chase after her like she would a regular toy?

Azami was furious, and I started cracking up. It reminded me of the time when Azami had been in her egg and had bounced into Kiseki when he had called her a 'commoner.' In fact, a satisfied look seemed to be plastered on my cat's face. Then again, that was probably my imagination again. Azami flew towards Ginger, but I grabbed my chara before she could do anything.

"You've got to admit, you had that coming," I said. "No cat of mine is going to let herself be called messy. Isn't that right, Ginger?" Ginger looked up at me and flexed her claws, as if agreeing. I laughed again and let Azami go. No doubt about it – this was going to be one interesting pet.

* * *

"No, you've got to stay here. Okay?" I said, nudging Ginger back inside with my foot and closing the door. I was heading off to the Guardians' Christmas party, and I didn't want to worry about my new cat tagging along. I had all of the gifts I had bought in a bag, along with some store-bought snacks for the party.

I talked with Azami as I walked, but I'd hardly gone a block when I felt something small and furry brush up against my leg. I looked down to see Ginger, walking right beside me.

"How'd you get out?" I asked, slightly annoyed. I walked back to the house, opened the door, and put her back inside. "Now you stay here. Get it?" I shouted into the house, "Mom! Dad! Don't let Ginger out!" Then I closed the door and went on my way again.

I'd barely gone half a block when I felt movement once more. Yet again, it was Ginger. I scowled a bit, but more out of interest than anger. How in the world did this cat keep on getting out?

"Did you at least use the litter box before you came out here? I don't want to have to deal with you digging up some part of the Royal Garden to relieve yourself." I said.

"Nya~" The cat meowed, before flicking her tail and heading back to the house.

Is she really going to do what I think she's going to do? I wondered, following her back. I opened the door for her, and she went straight up the stairs, into the bathroom, and to her litter box. I shook my head in amazement and left her in the house again, knowing that she'd catch up.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late!" I said as I opened the door to the Royal Garden. "I had a bit of… er, trouble."

"Trouble?" Tadase asked as I walked up to the table. "Is everything all right, Yamada-san?"

I reassured him, "Yeah, everything is-"

"KITTY!!!!" Yaya suddenly shouted, being the first one to spot Ginger who was walking just behind me. Yaya dashed forward and picked Ginger up. Rather than squirm away as I had been expecting, Ginger seemed to enjoy the attention.

"A cat?" Nadeshiko asked, smiling.

"Yeah." I said, feeling slightly embarrassed that I brought my cat along to the party. "I got her as a present from someone. I tried to leave her at home, but she kept on getting out of the house somehow and following me. That's why I was a bit late."

"That's okay." Amu said. "I was late, too. I just got here a couple minutes ago."

"So who got you the cat?" Kukai asked. A pang of sadness went through me as I realized that this would probably be the last time I'd get to hang out with Kukai before he started going to another school.

I tried to ignore the thought, and answered, "I don't know. Whoever it was, they didn't leave a name."

"That's weird." Miki commented.

"Who cares?!" Ran shouted. "Let's start the party!"

The party was a big success. There were plenty of snacks and sweets for everyone, and we had a great time. Ginger always managed to have someone petting her, usually either Yaya or me. The gifts I got for everyone went over well – everyone laughed at the present I got for Tadase, and I could tell that Amu absolutely loved the bracelet I got her. Kukai was grateful for the new cleat spikes, Nadeshiko liked her necklace, and Yaya ate almost all of her candy as soon as she got it (for very loud and entertaining results).

I got presents from everyone else as well. Yaya got me (and everyone else) candy. Kukai got me a soccer ball; I'd shown interest in playing before, but I'd never actually owned a ball to practice with. Nadeshiko got me a decorative hair clip (It went perfectly with my hair, even if it can't really serve a practical purpose when my hair is so short). Tadase got me a bracelet with a dragon on it, and Amu got me a small dragon figurine.

The fact that I wouldn't get to see Kukai much anymore still hung at the back of my mind, but for the most part I simply enjoyed what time we had with him tonight. And despite the fact that he would be leaving, I still had my feeling of optimism from yesterday. I was happy about Nikaido's defeat, Easter still hadn't contacted me, and I now had an interesting pet. This year was ending in a great way for me, and I was confident that my luck would continue into next year.

To those of you who have been reading book 1, welcome back! I'm glad you decided to keep reading! And to those of you who haven't read book 1 yet, read it now! (if you want to~) As I've said many times before, I hope you enjoy the story, and I also hope that you review!