Kittens, Toast, and Umbrellas

By Cecilia Cromwell

It was early morning—8:02 AM, to be precise—and it was reported to rain later on today, so Alphonse Elric was thinking ahead and brought with him an umbrella out. He needed to make the job interview quickly or else he'd be late, so for breakfast he just had a cup of Orange Juice and a piece of toast with butter—which he brought with him. Alphonse quickly stepped out and closed the door, umbrella hung on his arm and toast in his mouth. He locked the door and started down the short four stair steps towards the bus stop.

Meow!

Alphonse stopped. Was that a cat he had heard?

Meow!

There it was again! Alphonse took the piece of toast out of his mouth and held it in his hand. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty," he said in a quiet, toned voice.

He looked around a bush and behind a tree to find six kittens, all sitting in a medium sized box. "Meow!" said the brown one.

Alphonse sighed and put the piece of toast back in his mouth to have both hands free to pick up the box of kittens. His umbrella that still hung on his right arm, swung as he bent down and picked up the box of kittens. I'm going to be late for that interview, he thought to himself as he headed back to his townhouse.

One of the kittens, the brown one, peeked over the edge of the box a little too far and was about to fall when Alphonse quickly grabbed it at the scruff of it's neck as not to hurt it. As he held the brown kitten, he slowly felt something crawl up his arm, to his shoulders, to reach his head. He looked up with his eyes to see it was a kitten, the sandy colored cat. He looked down at the box of kittens to see the dark brownish-grey one reaching for the buttered toast in his mouth.

Alphonse continued to walk back to his townhouse, but then he almost tripped. He caught his balance only a moment after.

"Alphonse! You forgot your jacket—you're still here?!" Alphonse looked up to see Kala Itzel Deji, someone who was very close to him and who he thought of as a sister.

"Ah! Kala! Some help? Please?" Alphonse asked, offering her the brown kitten, still held by it's scruff. But it was hard for Kala to understand what he had said since the toast was still in his mouth.

She sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Al, why do you always keep bringing in stray animals? But, I must say, kittens—or any feline, for that matter—are your real weakness?"

"Help?!" he muffled.

Kala sighed again and retrieved the brown and sandy kittens from Alphonse. "C'mon, bring them inside. Then I want to you go to that interview you're probably late for." Alphonse followed Kala inside the townhouse they and Alphonse's brother, Edward Elric, stayed in during summer.

Alphonse put the box of kittens down on the floor inside. Kala held the door open, the two kittens struggling in her grasp. "Al, I want you to go to that interview now. You know how angry Ed will be when he finds out you've missed or been declined from another interview."

He nodded once and headed out the door. Kala then just remembered. "Al! Your jacket!" Kala threw Alphonse his black jacket. He quickly turned and caught it then ran towards the bus stop as the bus had taken the last passenger and was getting ready to leave.

Kala shook her head with a smile then closed and locked the door. She peered down at the newcomers. There were six kittens; a brown one, a sandy brown one, the dark brownish-grey one; an orange tabby, a grey and one black.

"Now I'll have to name you guys, too!" Kala whined as she kneeled down and picked up the box, putting the two she held back. She carried the box to the living room, then walked over to the bookshelf and took out a small white box. She came back to the kittens and opened the white box to reveal colored collars.

Kala took out a teal one and put it on the brown kitten, naming him, "Rohan."

Rohan mewed happily. Kala smiled and set Rohan down on the couch next to her. She took out the white collar and put it on the black kitten, naming her, "Neoma," then set her down next to Rohan.

Kala took out the green collar and put it on the sandy brown kitten, naming him, "Bretton," and putting him next to her. She took out the pink collar and placed it on the dark brownish-grey, naming her, "Doria." She was placed on the table next to the box.

The next collar was black, and kitten was the orange tabby. Kala named him "Aurelio. Because you're golden, like your name!"

The only kitten left was the grey one, who walked around in the box all by herself, lonesome. "Don't worry, Arlen, you have a name and collar too!" Kala put the orange collar on the grey kitten, named Arlen, and held her in her arms.

Kala sighed. "Now what am I going to do with all these cats?" There was a knock at the door and Kala rushed to get it, as not to wake the sleeping Edward upstairs. "Yes?" she asked.

A blond man stood on the steps of 6235 Mello Street, the Elric and Deji residence. "Hello, Ma'am. I'm Jerold Yale from the ACU. We've received some complaints from your neighbors that they hear mewing coming from your home late at night and suspect it to be a lot of cats. I've been sent here to take a quick check on the situation of your home."

Kala stood there. Cats. Cats! Like the one she was holding now, like the ones that had followed her to the door. And like the many that had at least stayed one night at the townhouse.

"Um, Hello, Mr. Yale. I'm Kala Itzel Deji. I have no real idea what you're talking about. Um, a friend of mine has this habit of taking in stray animals into our home, and uh… they're usually cats. Like the ones you see here. But, you see, Mr. Yale, we sell them to proper owners as soon as we can," Kala explained.

"You have checked around town to see if there are any missing posters of these pets you've taken in and sold?"

Kala nodded her head. "Yes. My friend's brother jogs around town everyday and would know."

"Alright, then. I'm assuming you'll sell these kittens as soon as possible, then?"

Kala nodded her head again. "Yes, we will."

"Good. Have a nice day, Ms. Deji." Jerold Yale nodded his head and tilted his hat then left in his ACU logoed van. Kala closed the door and locked it.

"Kala? Who was it?" She turned to her left to see Edward Elric come down the stairs with only his pajama pants on, his hair messed up, and his eyes half open.

"Oh, no one. Just the ACU coming to check up on our pet situation. I'm telling you, Ed. Al has to stop bringing in these stray animals! He said the neighbors are starting to complain," Kala said as she followed Edward into the kitchen.

"Food."

Kala sighed and placed a plate full of breakfast food in front of Edward as he sat down at the kitchen table. "Edward, are you listening to me? He has to stop."

Edward swallowed a bit bite of bacon and took a gulp of water. "Ahh! You cook great, Kala! Now, I can tell you're angry. Just calm down. As soon as Al finds a job he'll be too busy to pick up stray animals."

"How do you know I'm angry? My facial expressions nor body language say so."

"You only use my full name when you're angry. Same with Al." He stuffed his mouth full of eggs.

Kala crossed her arms and looked down at the table as she sat across from Edward. "Al was late for another interview. He might not get this job."

Edward nearly chocked on his food. "What?!"

"Yeah. He saved a box of six kittens earlier. It was already 8:15 when he left." Edward put his face in his hands. "It's most likely that he won't get the job, you know, Ed."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. If he doesn't, this would be his fifth one. What are we going to do?! I'm the only one working; I can't fund this home by myself."

"Why won't you let me work?"

"Because the house needs someone to look after it. Plus, the animals Al brings in needs to be watched over. You and I have some pretty expensive stuff here, Kala."

Kala looked up from the table at Edward, who had finished his plate of food and was now only drinking the water. "My 'Rainbow Lady' vase, my 'Art's Love' painting, my Jane Austen Book Collection, my mini Sakura tree, my garden, and your whole room," she said, listing all the 'pretty expensive stuff.'

"Precisely."

"But, Ed, what really is in your room?"

"I'll tell you once you tell me where you're from and why your 'Rainbow Lady' vase and 'Art's Love' painting are so important."

"Never."

"Than never."

"We had a deal, Ed. I would take you and your brother away from that old world to a new one, along with your old friends from your home world so you can be reunited. In exchange for friendship and trust. You not telling me what's in your room makes me feel like you don't trust me, Edward. Do you want me to take it all back? For me to make Maes dead again? For you and Winry to be separated again? We've had this conversation before, Edward, and I've come down upon you with my iron fist of fury. Tell me now or else I'll take the whole thing instead of a portion like last time."

Edward stared at her for a moment. "Even Al hasn't seen in it."

"Doesn't matter, Edward."

"We've only known each other for a little over a year."

"That doesn't matter much to me, Edward. Let me see your room. Give me your key." Kala outstretched her hand towards Edward. He looked up at her through his bangs, reached into his pant pocket and brought out a brass key. "Thank you, Ed!" she shouted gleefully as she quickly took it and ran off in the direction of the stairs then to Edwards room.

Edward sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I hope she likes what she finds…"

Kala unlocked the door and rushed it open. Once the door was opened and Kala got a good look at Edwards room, her mouth dropped wide open and she took a further step inwards. "Edward… How did you get all these?"

The wall across from the door was covered in photos. There was one of almost everyone Edward knew, even Roy. There was also a photo of Black Hayate, Alphonse still in his armor, and one of the flamel. Kala had no idea how Edward had gotten all these photos, it was clear to see that he didn't go up to the person and take a picture, if that was so then why were the dimensions the way they were? So close…

Kala turned on her heel and walked out, locking the room and heading down the stairs to the kitchen, where Edward still was.

"Like it, Kala? There's one of you there, too."

"Ed, how did you get them?"

"A secret. And you can't nag me about trust, because it's not that I don't trust you—no one has seen my room yet, so you should feel special already—it's because it's simply a secret. No one else knows of what's inside my room, thus no one else knows how they got there other than me. Fine with that, Kala?"

Kala eyed him carefully and handed back the key. "Whatever, Ed. I'm going to go and teach our new pets that Al brought in how to use the potty. Bye." She turned and strode out of the room confidently.