I have returned.

I'm trying to get this fanfiction posted while 'tis still the season. But, being that I'm still working on it, I have no idea how likely that is to happen. Like the last update, I haven't gone back over this one to edit it a thousand times like I've done with some of my other works. But I still think it's okay.

Thanks for all of the comments so far! And thanks for letting me know that I'm not the only one who has an incurable addiction to cats. :l

Remember. Tumblr. asking-appelia. That's me. Follow, if you'd care to.

Thanks to my fluffball Pudge for giving me ideas for the story line and my fandom friend no-one-recognizes-my-tshirts for basically giving me my pen name. She also has a tumblr. I follow it. it's pretty cool.

Now I'm gonna shut up and let everyone read.


Mikasa came home around eight that night.

Eren hadn't been all that worried about Levi running up to greet Mikasa before he had a chance to tell her what he'd done. He didn't seem like a very social creature, even for a cat. So he decided to let Levi wander around the apartment while he broke the news to Mikasa himself. Once the bathroom door was open and Levi realized he had his freedom, he dashed out into the apartment and immediately crammed himself back under the couch. Eren stared after him.

Weird, he thought. It's like he thinks something's gonna snatch him up and eat him if he doesn't have somewhere to hide.

Well, having a cat who hides a lot was certainly better than having one who would come up and rub the legs of whoever walked through the door. At least it was for the time being.

Eren was sitting in the living room and watching reruns when he heard the noise of a key clicking the front door open, first in the doorknob lock and then the deadbolt.

"I left it open," he said as the door swung open. Mikasa walked in, her trench coat dripping on the floor and her scarf soaked to a weird, darkened shade of red.

"Hey, Eren," she said, seeming to have missed what he'd just said.

"Hi," Eren replied, grabbing the remote and shutting the tv off. He got up from the couch and went over to where his sister was unloading her bag and dropping her keys onto the kitchen counter. "How was the diner?"

"Horrible," Mikasa deadpanned. "Keith made me stay late and clean up the kitchen again."

"I could tell," Eren mused. "He does that a lot, doesn't he?"

"Ugh." Mikasa growled under her breath and crossed the apartment to drop limply down onto the couch. "A lot doesn't even cut it."

"He's paying you extra for it, though. Right?"

"That depends. I'll have to wait and see what he decides to do at the end of the week."

Eren mimicked Mikasa's low, annoyed growl and perched himself on the arm of the couch. "Well... you're finished with your term paper for American lit at least, right?"

Mikasa exhaled slowly through her nose and rubbed her eyes with her fingertips. "Yeah. I guess. I mean, I've still got to revise it and everything before tomorrow, but-"

"Screw the revisions. It's done. Just get some sleep and turn it in tomorrow."

Mikasa moved one of her hands to peer condescendingly up at Eren.

"Hey, I'm just saying you don't always have to try so hard. You're going to wear yourself out."

Mikasa groaned and draped one arm loosely over her eyes. "Fine. I'll sleep. I can just revise it during lunch tomorrow."

Eren sighed in exasperation. But there was nothing else he could do. He de-perched himself from the couch arm and crossed over into the kitchen to put a kettle on to make tea. A second later, a soft scuffle in the next room let him know that Mikasa had gotten up from the couch. He heard her bedroom door creak open, then more scuffling as Mikasa made her way to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. The apartment filled with a soft hiss and spattering sound, kind of like the rain that was still bombarding the house outside. Mikasa was showering. That meant Eren had at least ten minutes to find out where Levi had gone.

He ran to the couch first. Levi wasn't hiding under it anymore. He wasn't anywhere else in the living room, either. Eren went into his room next. Still no sign of Levi.

A shivering sense of paranoia crawled down Eren's spine as he straightened up from checking under his bed. He slowly turned back toward the doorway to his room. This was a small apartment. There was only one other place that Levi could have gone.

Eren dashed out of his room and into Mikasa's.

He walked in to see that the closet door was cracked open. Still, he checked under the bed first, since under things seemed to be where the tiny cat best liked to hide. Levi wasn't there. But the closet door still was, still standing just slightly ajar. Eren cautiously made his way over and flicked the light on inside. Levi was sitting in the middle of a pile of Mikasa's shoes and clothing. He looked up at Eren and sneezed at the stale smell of the dirty laundry in the hamper she had shoved into the corner. Eren sighed with relief.

I should probably be keeping better track of this cat.

Without a second to spare, Eren lunged in and scooped Levi up into his arms. The cat squirmed in protest, but started to calm down once Eren had him held securely. Eren rushed back to his room and kicked the door shut behind him. He dumped Levi unceremoniously onto the bed. The feline rolled over once before digging his claws into the bedspread and finding his footing again. He glared indignantly up at the human in front of him and lashed his tail.

"Sorry," Eren said earnestly. "She doesn't know you're here. You can't go in there until I tell her about you."

Levi blinked. Eren wasn't sure if that meant he understood or not.

"Stay here," he told him. "I'll get things sorted out." And leaving it at that, he walked out of his room, leaving the light on and closing the door behind him.

Mikasa was already out of the shower and in the kitchen by the time Eren returned to it. She had taken the kettle off of the lit stovetop and was foraging around in the cabinet for the boxes of tea that they always kept around.

"You left the kettle on," she said.

"Sorry," Eren replied mechanically,

"You probably should have been watching it. Nice of you to make tea, though."

"You seemed tired, so I thought maybe I would do it tonight for a change." He reached up toward another of the cabinets and pulled the door open. "Hey... when was the last time we ran the dishwasher?"

"I don't know. A few days ago, maybe. Why?"

"We're out of teacups."

"No, we're not," Mikasa said. She nodded at the sink, which happened to be overflowing with dishes.

Eren gave his sister a deadened look. "Right now?"

"Well, what else are we going to do with this?" She picked up the steaming kettle and waved it in front of Eren's face.

Eren shrank back. "Jesus, Mikasa! Watch where you swing that thing! You're gonna burn someone!"

"Then get washing."

Eren rolled his eyes and turned back to the messy pile of used tableware that used to be their kitchen sink. After unearthing two mugs from the clutter, he set them aside and sorted the rest out, cramming everything into the dishwasher at once, then dropped a soap packet in and slammed the door shut. The mugs could probably be hand-washed once they were done with their tea.

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting on the living room couch, both curled up around a warm mug of steeped liquid happiness. Eren took a slow, lazy sip of the vanilla chai that Mikasa had picked out for him. The tea was still hot and burned his tongue a little, but he didn't mind. It felt just right after the cold, dreary day he'd just suffered through.

"So," Mikasa prompted, blowing steam off her mug of Tension Tamer. "I pretty much made you go deaf talking about how shitty my day was. How was yours?"

Eren looked thoughtfully at his tea for a second. "Good, I guess," he said indifferently. "Not much happened, really. Went to class in the morning. Did homework through lunch. Went to work at the cafe for the afternoon. I got out at five, then..."

Then I found the cat.

"Then what?"

"Nothing," Eren said, punctuating the story with another sip of tea. He took a breath, hoping that the soft chai smell would calm his nerves. 'Hey, Mikasa..."

"What is it?" she asked. Her perceptive grey eyes met his. They seemed tired. Overworked. Underpaid.

Eren could almost guarantee himself that she would not take the news well.

"I, um... well, on my way back from work today, I... Okay. You know it was raining. And... um... I was walking. Back here. And I passed by that thrift shop on the way, the one I go by, like, every day. You know, the one owned by that one weird old guy with the moustache? Anyway, I was passing by there, and... er, I saw this... th-there was a...

"Eren," Mikasa cut in. Her eyes were glaring daggers into him. Eren's mouth snapped shut. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

Eren took another deep breath. His words seemed to fall over each other as they tumbled out of his mouth. "Mikasa, we have a cat now."

Mikasa stared blankly at him for what felt like forever. Eren was surprised that his head didn't explode from the intensity in her eyes. The look on her face was probably the same one she would have had if Eren had told her he was pregnant. It was the same thing, really. Either way, they would have another little thing that they had to take care of.

Things were silent for an uncomfortably long time. And then...

"What?"

"We have a cat," Eren repeated, slowly, as if Mikasa were suddenly hard of hearing.

"How the hell do we have a cat?"

"I found him," Eren explained. "When I was walking home. He was sitting out in front of the thrift store, and it was cold, and he was completely soaked. I... I just felt so bad for him. I couldn't leave him there."

"So you brought him home?!" Mikasa exploded. Eren jumped, almost splashing tea all over himself. God, Mikasa could be scary when she was pissed off.

"Well, what was I supposed to do?"

"Eren, any sensible person would have called animal control and gotten it sent to a shelter. What the hell were you thinking? That thing could have rabies or something!"

"He doesn't have rabies, Mikasa!" Eren objected, trying to keep his voice calm. He wasn't doing a very good job. "Believe me, I hang around Armin enough to know how rabid animals act. And so do you. And I'm pretty sure you were there too when he talked about all the things they do to animals in-"

"It doesn't matter, Eren!" Mikasa shouted, cutting him short. "You shouldn't have brought it home. We can't take care of it. We're both way too busy as it is, and we can't pay for all the extra crap we're going to need to take care of the stupid thing. Think about it, Eren! For all we know, it-"

"He," Eren corrected.

Mikasa growled. "Fine. For all we know, he might have been better off in the street than living with us."

"Mikasa, he was stuck outside! He was soaking wet, he looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks, and I don't even know what else had happened to him before I found him! At least here, he has a place to stay!"

"Eren, you aren't listening to me," Mikasa said, her tone starting to calm down again. "You need to think these things through before you do them. You're not Armin. You're not a vet. You don't have the money or skills to be taking care of anything other than yourself. You can't just take in every mangy stray that you pick up on the street."

"Levi is not a mangy stray," Eren said obstinately.

Mikasa's face went rigid. "Please, god, tell me you didn't already give it a name."

Eren narrowed his eyes and kept them level with Mikasa's as he burned himself with his tea again. "I did," he declared. "It's Levi. And I really wish you would stop calling him it. He's got a gender, you know."

Mikasa let slip a heavy sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead, raking her fingers into her damp hair. "Oh my god," she muttered. "Eren, how the hell are we going to take care of this thing? We can't pay for it, we don't have the time for it-"

"You don't have the time for it," Eren cut in.

"And you do?"

"Yes. And if I don't have time, I'll make time. I'll be the one to take care of Levi. I'll do everything. Food, litter, whatever. I'll take care of it. I'll pay for whatever he needs with my own money. You won't need to do a single thing. It'll be like having a fish. You won't even know he's here."

Mikasa eyed him suspiciously. "Okay," she said warily. "Fine. If you really want to keep him, then fine. He's yours. But he's yours only. I swear, if I have to do a single thing for this stupid cat, we are getting rid of it. Got it?"

Eren nodded. He knew there wouldn't be any further argument after that point.

Mikasa paused for a second to take a sip of her Tension Tamer. "So..." she said, significantly more calmly than before. "Where is this cat you were talking about? If he's going to be staying here, I want to see him."

"He's in my room," Eren said. He leaned over to place his mug on the tiny end table at his end of the couch. "I'll go get him." With that, he got up from the couch and crossed the apartment to get Levi out of his room.

Only to find that the door was open. And Levi was gone.

Shit.

Eren glanced over his shoulder. Mikasa was still in the living room, focused on her cup of tea and trying to unwind herself from the tight knot that the day had twisted her into. He flicked the light in his room on and rushed in. He checked everywhere he could possibly think of. Under the bed, in the closet, even in the tiny gap of space between his dresser and the wall. It was hard to imagine any kind of space Levi wouldn't be able to wedge himself into.

The only problem was that he wasn't in any of those places.

Eren stood back and looked disheartenedly around the room, letting a long, worried sigh rush out of his lungs. Nope. Levi was definitely not in here. He turned back to the door and peered out into the living room. Mikasa wasn't there anymore. Eren wondered for a second where she could have gone.

That was when he heard her scream.

"Eren!"

Eren shot out of his room and out into the center of the apartment, his head whipping around in circles. He couldn't see Mikasa anywhere. But her bedroom door was open. That could only mean one thing.

"Eren, get in here!" Mikasa shouted again.

Eren didn't hesitate to do as she said.

Mikasa was standing at the foot of her bed, leaning back on her dresser with her arms folded tightly over her chest. She looked up when she heard the door creak open and fixed an angry glare on Eren.

"What is it?" he asked, even though he already knew what the answer probably was.

Mikasa nodded toward the bed. "I thought you said he was in your room."

Eren followed his sister's cue and looked down at the bed. And let out a low groan of frustration.

Levi was sitting right smack in the middle of Mikasa's bed. He'd nestled himself right up against the pillows, curled up with his feet tucked underneath him and his tail wrapped snugly around his legs. He looked so comfortable. Not to mention smug.

"Levi," Eren groaned. "How the hell did you even..."

Levi didn't respond. He just looked squarely at Eren, his little black nose held up in triumph. Eren sighed. He'd never known a cat could look so satisfied with itself. And Levi certainly did look proud of what he'd done. Especially the thin layer of black fur that he'd managed to leave on the whitest portion of Mikasa's cherry blossom bedspread.

"So... this is Levi?" she asked.

Eren exhaled slowly and looked down at the cat in defeat. "Yes," he murmured.

"How did he get in here?"

"I don't know!" Eren said defensively. "My door was closed. I swear to god it was!"

Mikasa rolled her eyes and sighed. "Do you think the cat just opened the door by himself?"

"N-no!" Eren quickly replied. Even though, in all honesty, he wasn't too sure.

Mikasa took a step toward the bed and knelt over on the edge. "Okay," she said. She extended her hands toward the tiny black bundle in the middle of her pillows. "Come on, Levi. It's time for you to go."

Of course, that approach got her exactly the same reaction that it had gotten Eren. Which consisted mainly of a lot of bared claws and hissing.

Mikasa quickly took her hands back. "Holy shit! I thought you said he was tame!"

"He is," Eren said, rushing to his sister's side. "Just... not all the time. Here. Let me try." He nudged Mikasa out of the way and knelt down on the edge of the bedspread. Levi watched him, not even bothering to shift out of his meatloaf-like position. Slowly, Eren reached a hand towards him, aiming for the back of his head as if he meant to scratch him behind the ears. Levi didn't seem to mind all that much. He still hadn't moved. Then, as soon as his fingertips had made contact with Levi's fur, his other hand shot out and grabbed the cat around the waist.

Needless to say, Levi wasn't happy about it and tried to squirm away as soon as Eren's hands had fastened around him. But a human can be just as stubborn as any cat. Eren managed to hold Levi's skinny, writhing body still in one hand while he unhooked his claws from the bedspread with the other. Once he'd detached him from Mikasa's bed, Eren wrapped his arms around the struggling cat and pressed him against his chest, so far the only proven method for keeping Levi still while holding him.

But that didn't stop Levi from angrily sinking his teeth into Eren's hand.

"Fuck- Ow!" Eren jerked his hand away from Levi's face, scrambling to hold him with one arm. As soon as his captor's hold was compromised, Levi jumped out of Eren's arms, hit the floor on all fours and ran out of the room.

Eren heard Mikasa scoff as he shook the stinging feeling out of his hand. "Oh, I see," she said sarcastically. "You've definitely charmed him. You must be a cat whisperer or something."

"Shut up," Eren snarled. He looked down at his hand, fresh blood starting to ooze out from the new set of puncture wounds. He took in a sharp, hissing breath through his teeth. "Ow... I don't know why... he's so temperamental..."

"Probably because he's a stray." Mikasa took a step toward him. "Here. Let me see."

Eren looked up from his hand and glanced at his sister. She held a hand out to him, waiting for him to place his into her palm for her to see. He thought very seriously about doing it, but stopped himself before he had even gotten close. Because, of course, the latest bite wound was not the first. Far from it. He'd already upset her enough for one night.

"N-no, it's fine."

"Eren, he just bit you. Come on, let me see."

Eren wrapped his less-injured hand around the other. "No. I told you, it's fine. I'm not even bleeding."

He was. That much Mikasa definitely knew. "Eren, I just want to make sure. Give me your hand and let me-"

"Mikasa, no."

"Eren..." She reached out and went for his wrist. Eren snatched it back. Annoyance flared in her eyes. "Eren! Stop it!"

"Mikasa, it's fine! You don't have to-"

"I want to! Let me-"

"No!"

"Eren!"

"I said no!"

"Come on, don't be a baby! Just let me-"

"Mikasa, stop it!"

"Give me your hand!"

"No! Mikasa, stop!"

"Eren... just... let... me... agh!"

Mikasa snatched Eren's arm and dragged him back towards her, hand-first. Eren tried to wrench it away from her, but gave up quickly enough. He let his hand go limp as his sister held it between her own and stretched his fingers out, exposing the newest bite mark. As well as all of the other ones.

"Oh my god," Mikasa murmured, turning Eren's hand over in hers. "Eren, what the hell happened? Did you try to juggle him or something?"

Eren sighed. "I gave him a bath."

Mikasa turned back to him, her eyes blazing. "You gave him a bath?!"

"Yeah," Eren admitted weakly. "Well... h-he was really dirty when I first brought him home, and I knew that... even if you did let me keep him, you wouldn't want him running around the apartment while he was still gross, since he might roll around on the couch or something, so..."

"Oh," Mikasa said quietly. She let go of Eren's hand. "That was... nice of you, I guess."

"Thanks. I nearly lost my arms trying to do it."
"I said it was nice of you, not that it wasn't stupid that you did it in the first place."

"I know." Eren sighed in defeat and looked down at his hands. "So... are you mad at me for this too now, or-"

"Yes," Mikasa snapped. Eren felt his face starting to turn red. "But not as much as I was for you bringing him here in the first place."

Eren looked up at her, brightening up just the slightest bit. "Was?"

"Yeah," Mikasa said flatly. "Was."

"So... you're not mad anymore, right?"

"Not really. I mean, you said you would be the one taking care of him, right?"

Eren nodded.

"So as long as it stays that way, it should be fine. Now get into the bathroom. I need to clean you up. Your hands are a fucking mess."

"Okay," Eren said.

That settled it. Levi was now officially his cat.