It was a cold night. The sky was grey and snow was falling heavily on already snow covered ground. Despite the dreary weather, people bustled through the streets joyously, old men wore red Santa suites, some ringing bells and asking for money for various charities and there were almost no kids outside for they were all inside their houses, waiting impatiently to open presents. It was Christmas after all.

No one noticed a lowly stray humanoid cat struggling through the snow in a dark alley. His hair and fur, from the tips of his ears down to his small slightly bleeding feet was a dingy grey from dirt and mud. His face was a sickly pale color and there were prominent dark circles under dull deep grey eyes. His body was poorly covered with dirty clothes that had multiple rips in the fabric that he had found in a garbage can and his dirty grey tail was wrapped tightly around him in an effort to conserve heat.

Allen was so cold, so cold that his body had stopped shaking a long time ago and he had turned numb. He was also terribly sleepy but he didn't know if it was because his body was shutting down. He took slow careful steps, knowing that if he fell he probably wouldn't have the strength to get back up. He didn't have a destination in mind, he didn't even know where he was, all he knew was that he had to keep walking.

Unfortunately he didn't notice a patch of ice in front of him and he slipped, falling hard on the ground. It would have hurt a lot more if it wasn't for the snow cushioning his fall. He struggled to get back up but he gave up after a few minutes knowing it was futile and that he should save his energy. Allen curled up into a ball, trying to get as much warmth as he could.

He knew he was dying, but he couldn't find the will to keep living. He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep, a sleep he knew he wouldn't wake from, when he heard a noise. The sound grew closer and closer and Allen realized with surprise that it was singing, probably from Christmas carolers.

The joyous sound brought back memories of Mana who used to love Christmas carols. He had taught Allen every single one and on Christmas they would sing until midnight, trying to make up for the lack of a Christmas tree and presents.

Mana…

Allen bit his lip and choked back a sob. He knew that Mana would be disappointed in him if he could see the state he was in now. In fact, as Allen listened to the songs he swore he saw Mana who was shaking his head in disappointment. The song started to become fainter as the carolers moved on and Allen watched as Mana walked away until he disappeared altogether.

'Keep walking…Don't give up.'

Allen couldn't get up but he wouldn't give up. He would do everything he could for Mana. He moved his head from where he had tucked it against his body and began meowing. It came out weak and faint at first but it steadily began to grow in volume. Even after the carolers were gone, Allen kept on meowing. He didn't know how long he meowed for but he didn't stop, even when his throat got sore.

After what seemed like hours but was probably minutes, Allen made out two figures that were definantly human at the end of the alleyway and he watched as they walked toward him. He stopped meowing and awaited is fate. They were either going to save him or they were cruel and would kill him. Or perhaps they would do neither and would leave him. They stopped a few feet away from him and Allen tried to see what they looked like but it was too dark. The two people began to talk and Allen listened tiredly.

"What should we do Yu?" A slightly high pitched but definantly male voice asked quietly.

"Don't call me that! I think we should just leave it." This voice was much deeper and like the first voice it was male.

"But it will die! We can't just leave it. Maybe I'll bring it home…"

You already have too many pets. You know you're Grandpa will just kick it out."

"Then you take it in!"

"No."

"Come on Yu! Please? It's Christmas, have a heart. Think about it, he's all alone and he has no family, just like you right now."

"I have a family!"

"Like miles away right now. Look, I'm just saying to give it a chance and just maybe you'll grow to love…like him." Allen chose that moment to reach out with a shaky paw and he let out a small, faint meow that could barely be heard.

"Che." Allen let out an inaudible gasp when he was suddenly picked up and he felt strong arms hold him against a warm chest. He immediately curled up as best he could and he leaned his head against the warm body, hearing a heartbeat that lulled him to sleep.

Kanda didn't know what compelled him to bring the mongrel into his clean home. Perhaps it was the usagi's honest words. It was his first Christmas alone without his family and perhaps he yearned for a little bit of company on this supposed joyous day. Still, that didn't explain why he didn't just spend the holiday with Lavi and his grandfather like they had offered. In fact, that was what he was about to do when Lavi had visited, begging him to come over when they had heard the meowing.

Now, he didn't exactly hate humanoid pets but he didn't like that they were commonly used as sex slaves and quite frankly he found them annoying. But when he saw the humanoid pet just lying there, dying, something in his heart stirred. Even when it looked like it was a minute away from death, it still managed to meow, it kept trying to live.

Kanda dumped the neko onto his couch, twitching when he realized that the thing was bleeding from various wounds. Growling under his breath he made a quick trip to the bathroom to grab the first aid kit and he began to patch up the cat the best he could. The humanoid pet was covered in cuts and bruises, his feet being the hardest to bandage up.

Kanda noticed that the cat's left arm wasn't in the arm hole in the shirt and Kanda realized with a start that he might be missing an arm. It wouldn't have been too surprising though since there were no actual protection laws for humanoid pets, so if a humanoid pet was stray like this one then anyone could go up to it and beat it up.

Then Kanda saw something move under the dirty rag that could barely pass for a shirt and when he lifted it he saw that the cat did have a left arm but there was something wrong with it. It was all red and the skin was tough like it was burnt and from what he could see the nails between the cat's paws were black. Kanda winced sympathetically, knowing that receiving a wound like that had to be hell.

When Kanda finished bandaging all the cuts he sat back and studied the humanoid pet. All he could think about was how dirty the thing was. He was pretty sure it was gray haired but it could just be the dirt covering it and it had pale skin that didn't look too healthy. Over his left eye he had a branding tattoo. It started with an upside down star and a line attached to it trailed off over the neko's eye and stopped short of its chin. Branding tattoos were commonly used to tell what company made the humanoid pet but Kanda couldn't recall ever seeing one like that. Perhaps he would look it up later.

Sighing, Kanda got the heaviest blanket he owned and draped it over the neko and with an afterthought he grabbed a pillow and gently placed it under the neko's head. No, he didn't like humanoid pets but it looked like he would have to get used to this one. He wasn't as cruel as he pretended to be. He wouldn't save a pet's life just to throw it back out on the streets again.

So yeah here's the rewritten chapter. I personally think it's a lot better.