Disclaimer: I do not own anything so get off my back already! Stupid lawyers...

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. I've got loads of exams coming up so updates are going to be few and far between. I should be able to get back on top of things by the end of July though; all my exams will definitely be over by then and I should have loads of free time by then. I know it's a long time but please be patient and I'll try to put a chapter up sooner if possible. Here's something to tide you over until then. Enjoy!


Ellie gave a slight cry as she fell over yet again. It was Friday afternoon and they were doing basketball in PE. Ellie hated it. It wasn't that she was no good at it; it was more the fact that she was a lot smaller than everyone else and they kept falling over her! She was going to have some magnificent bruises in the morning…

Ellie quickly picked herself up and ran after the rest of the team. It wasn't long before she was tripped over again (you think they would've figured out not to pass the ball to her by now…) and she was almost cried with relief when Mr Beloi blew the whistle and told everyone to get changed before they went home. Hopefully the weekend would be long enough for the bruises to heal. She quickly changed into her uniform which consisted of white socks, black shoes, a white shirt, a black blazer with the school crest over the left breast, a blue plaid skirt and a matching bow around her neck.

Ellie slowly walked outside, limping slightly as she went. She shivered as a cold wind swept past her and she quickly hurried over to where Bryan and Tala were waiting. She clambered into the car, sighing softly in thanks as her body was encompassed by the warmth inside the car. She did up her seat belt as Bryan pulled away from the building.

"Where did you get that bruise from? Please don't tell that you're taking after Bryan!" Tala cried dramatically as he turned round in his seat to face Ellie. Bryan just gave a small grunt and glared at his lover slightly from the corner of his eye. Ellie grimaced at the question. Too many painful memories…

"I don't think that I like basketball…" She said softly by means of explanation. Tala and Bryan's imaginations came up with several scenes when they heard this and let's just say that they weren't far off the mark. They both winced.

"Hopefully the weekend will be long enough for the bruises to heal." Bryan said sympathetically. Ellie just nodded. Something told her that she wasn't going to like Friday afternoons…

It wasn't long before they were home and walking through the front door but instead of being met with a cacophony of noise there was nothing. No noise from one of Ian's many video games, none of Murielle's music, not even the sound of Kai and Rei arguing over Beyblade techniques as they were prone to doing. They gave each other puzzled glances. Something was off. Tala suggested looking in the kitchen which the other two quickly agreed to; anything to find their friends and return the mansion to its normal, less than tranquil state.

It took them no longer than a few minutes to reach the kitchen and the trio stopped abruptly when they walked in. Sitting on the kitchen floor was a pouting and sullen Rei who was holding a small black and white kitten. Spencer, Ian and Kai sat round him whilst Murielle got some milk out the fridge. Tala was the first to break the silence.

"What's with the kitten?" He asked as he walked further into the room. The group looked up at the new arrivals.

"Kai and I went shopping earlier and as we walked back to the car we heard a meow. We looked down and saw him just sitting there inside a cardboard box. Since the poor little guy was freezing and obviously abandoned, we couldn't leave him there so we decided to bring him home with us." Rei explained.

"So Hiwatari has a heart after all." Bryan snorted. Kai glared at him.

"Be quiet Kuznetsov!" He snapped. Ellie raised an eyebrow. Didn't he realise that there were two Kuznetsovs in the room? She decided to just ignore it and turned to Rei or rather the kitten in his arms.

"Have you checked to see if he's been chipped?" She enquired. Rei nodded.

"We took him to a nearby vet's and they said he didn't have one as well as several other things." Rei's voice was hard and his eyes flashed with anger. Obviously, the 'other things' had not been to his liking.

"They said that it was a runt and would die soon no matter what they did and offered to put it down right there and then." Kai elaborated for the clueless arrivals.

"Does that mean we're keeping it?" Tala asked.

"Well we're not leaving it on the streets! It would die for real if we did that." Murielle jumped in as she handed a small baby bottle full of milk to Rei.

"We're going to have to name it then. We can't keep calling it 'It' forever." Spencer pointed out. Everybody nodded.

"What are we going to call it then?" Ian asked. There was a silence before-

"What about Yuki?" Ellie suggested. The kitten stopped drinking and looked up as he heard the name and gave a small meow. Everybody looked down at the small cat.

"So you like the name Yuki, huh?" Rei asked, a small smile gracing his lips. The kitten looked towards Rei and let out a satisfied meow before curling up on the boy's lap. "Yuki it is then. Well named Ellie." The small girl blushed slightly.

"Thank you…" Ellie whispered as she hid behind Bryan slightly. "We'd better find her somewhere to sleep…"

"Oh, don't worry about that. We have several old cushions in the loft that we can use." Murielle said briskly. "Come on Kai, I still haven't forgiven for that 'troublesome woman' comment!"

"But that was over a month ago now!" Kai whined as the old maid dragged him out of the kitchen by his ear.

"You should still know better than to say things like that!" Murielle countered. The remaining children sweat dropped. Rei got up to follow his boyfriend, Yuki still in his arms. He stopped in the doorway, a pensive look upon his face. He turned round and kneeled down in front of Ellie.

"Do you mind looking after Yuki for a while, Ellie?" Rei asked quietly. Ellie nodded and gently took the kitten away from the neko-jin. During the transaction, Yuki awoke. The bi-coloured kitten looked up at Ellie confused and sniffed Ellie's face. Finally deciding that the young girl was alright, Yuki meowed contentedly and licked Ellie's face before settling down to go back to sleep. Ellie blushed slightly, a small smile on her lips. Rei grinned before standing up quickly and sprinting after the two retreating Russians.

Ellie looked shyly down at the kitten in her arms, stroking Yuki's stomach fur lightly.

8:30 pm

The moon was high in the sky and all of the houses inhabitants were gathered in the living room. Murielle was knitting; Kai was teaching Rei some basic Russian; Spencer, Bryan and Tala were playing Old Maid; and to finish it all off, Ian and Ellie were playing with Yuki in front of the fireplace. They were wiggling an old shoelace in front of the small kitten and giggling as the small cat tried to pounce on it. Bryan and Tale both smiled as they watched the two play, not noticing as Spencer leaned over and peaked at their cards. Tala glanced up at the clock and walked over to Ellie.

"Ellie, it's time for you to go to bed." He said as he picked her up. Ellie looked up at him and gave him a pout/glare. Unfortunately for her, it just made her look cuter and make Tala squeal and hug her.

"If you go to bed now then you can get up early tomorrow and play with Yuki." Bryan persuaded the small girl, trying not to laugh at her expense. Ellie's expression brightened and she deftly wriggled out of Tala's grip so she could hug and say good night to everyone. She waved good night one last time before allowing Tala to pick her up once more and take her to her bedroom.

"Well, that was unusual." Spencer said quietly to Bryan.

"What was?" Bryan asked as he tried to figure who had the joker card.

"The fact that Ellie put up resistance. Usually she doesn't mind when you tell her to go to bed." Bryan glanced at him.

"I suppose you're right but I don't really mind. It was kinda childish, I admit, but it means that she's finally get the childhood that we missed out on." Bryan said as he set his cards down. "I have a feeling Yuki brought out that childish side."

"I guess you're right." Spencer agreed. "Wanna look at Tala's cards?"

"Sure." When Tala came back from reading to Ellie he was predictably thrashed.


When Bryan and Tala came down the next morning the first thing they saw was Ellie and Ian in the living room. Ellie was holding on to Yuki and was giggling quietly whilst Ian held on to his apparently sore nose.

"Why'd you do that ya dumb cat?" Ian growled as he lowered his hands to reveal four angry red scratch marks raking across his nose. Ellie tried to keep a straight face.

"Maybe seeing your nose first thing in the morning scared her." Ellie teased, her smile taking on a slightly more wicked slant. "Don't worry though, Cameron, I'm sure you'll grow into your nose one day." Ian squawked in protest, the only thing stopping him from pouncing on the younger girl being that kitten that was nestled in her arms. The watching couple stepped into the living room.

"Come on now Ellie, don't tease Ian so much." Bryan berated very lightly. Ian turned his watery joyful eyes to Bryan, ready to worship his saviour. Bryan decimated his hopes moments later. "His brain might not be able to handle your insults this early in the morning." Ellie and Tala laughed as Ian pouted and turned his back on the them.

"Sorry Ian. It was to good an opportunity to pass up." Ellie apologised as she carefully stood up, making sure not to jolt the little kitten in her arms. "The others should be up now so why don't we go and get some breakfast?" Ian stopped pouting and agreed, cheering up at the thought of pancakes. He loved Saturdays…

Ellie was right about everybody being up. Spencer was cooking the pancakes, Kai was downing his coffee and Rei was placing a small bowl of milk on the floor. Yuki smelt the milk and wriggled in Ellie's arms until the girl put her down. Yuki shot over to the bowl, lapping up the creamy liquid happily. Ian and Ellie quick washed their hands before sitting down and digging into their own breakfast. Bryan watched his little sister throughout the meal, glad to see that she was so happy. Ellie rarely dropped her smile but Bryan could tell that underneath the surface she still remembered the scars her mother had left and was scared that it would happen again. Now, however, her smile was full of pure happiness, no strings attached. Bryan was glad.

Murielle and Rei held them back after breakfast, giving them all a quick rundown on how to take proper care of cats. Ellie listened attentively, not wanting to do a single thing wrong that could hurt Yuki. This was the first time she had ever had a pet and it was completely against her nature to hurt animals.

"Okay, I think that's everything. Any questions?" Rei asked. They all shook their heads. "Good. Just remember those basic points and nothing should go wrong." With done and dusted, everybody started to move. Ellie headed towards the kitchen door, planning on going upstairs and getting dressed when Yuki padded over and rubbed her head against Ellie's leg meowing pitifully. Ellie knelt down.

"Don't worry; I'll be back in a minute. I just need to go and get dressed." Ellie tried to explain to the small animal. She rubbed Yuki's head one last time before getting up again. Before she could leave, however, Yuki meowed again and rested her front paws on Ellie's leg. The small girl bit her lip; she needed to get dressed but she didn't want the kitten to think that she hated her. Ellie was torn. Bryan couldn't help but grin slightly. He ruffled his sister's hair.

"Why don't you just have a pyjama day?" He suggested. Ellie raised her eyebrows slightly, the thought obviously not having crossed her mind.

"Can I?" Bryan nodded. "Thank you!" Ellie threw her arms round Bryan's torso and hugged him as tightly as she could (not very) before moving away and picking Yuki up gently. Bryan smiled as he watched the eight-year-old walk out of the room, talking softly to the little kitten in her arms. Bryan stood there for a few moments before stretching and walking out of the kitchen to face Tala. He kissed his koibito lightly on the lips. Tala pushed him away, a small smile playing on his lips.

"What are you doing here? Usually you're the first one upstairs so you can get the bathroom before me." Tala asked. Bryan stretched again and gave a small smile.

"I think I'm just gonna have a pyjama day today." He said as he folded his arms behind his head and made his way after Ellie, pointedly ignoring the spluttering Tala. Everybody deserved a day off once in a while…

Ellie spent most of her weekend with Yuki, not that the little cat seemed to mind; it actually craved the attention it garnered from Ellie. Even when the girl was doing her homework, Yuki would sit on her lap and watch the girl's hand move across the paper. According to Rei, when Ellie went back to school on Monday the little cat seemed depressed. Yuki practically attacked Ellie when she came home. Life carried on normally for the motley family and their new pet. That is until Wednesday evening came round. Nothing really happened until after dinner when they were all in the living room. Ian and Ellie were teasing Yuki with a shoelace again but for some reason the kitten didn't seem as energetic or coordinated as usual. When Yuki tried to pounce on the shoelace not only did she miss the shoelace completely, she also overbalanced and fell into a table leg. Ellie worried her lip as she picked up the young animal and placed her gently on her cushion. Rei walked over.

"What's going on?" He asked. Ian shrugged.

"I have no idea. Yuki was perfectly fine this morning." He said. Rei frowned.

"Strange how a seemingly perfectly healthy cat can become so down in such a short space of time." Rei whispered to himself. He looked at Ellie who was stroking the kitten's head soothingly and sighed. It was always much harder when little kids were involved. "I'll take Yuki to see the vet's tomorrow. It's probably just a cold or something." Ellie nodded, obviously thinking that if Rei had said it than it had to be true. He was the 'cat guru' after all, as Spencer had jokingly put it a couple of days ago. Ellie stroked the kitten one more time before allowing Tala to pull her to her feet and take her to bed.

Rei was as good as his word. Whilst Ellie was at school on Thursday, he took Yuki to see the vet. Ellie couldn't concentrate during her lessons and was the first out of the door when the bell rang, almost forgetting her coat in her haste to get home. When she walked into the kitchen, Ellie could tell that something was wrong though everyone tried to paste on smiles.

"Turns out I was right. It is just a cold. The vet gave me some medicine. Yuki should be as good as new in a couple of days." Rei said in short sentences, obviously trying to convince the girl without letting on that he was lying. Ellie could tell though. Rei was very bad at lying. They were all trying so hard though and she didn't want that effort to go to waste. She also didn't want to believe what they were not saying. She decided to play along. She put her hands to her chest, sighed and put on what she hoped was a smile of relief.

"That's good. I was really worried for a moment. I'm glad Yuki's going to be okay." Ellie tried to say happily. Her voice cracked a tiny bit in the middle but fortunately nobody noticed. "Do you mind if I give Yuki her medicine?" Rei nodded and handed the kitten to Ellie. The girl made sure to put the appropriate expressions on as Rei talked her through how to give Yuki the pill. She spent her whole evening watching over the kitten, barely moving from her spot in front of the fire. Way too quickly for the girl, it was eight o'clock and Tala was helping her up the stairs with Bryan right behind them for once.

"Good night, sleep tight; don't let the bed bugs bite." Tala whispered as he kissed the girl on forehead. Ellie giggled slightly and Bryan smiled as he hugged his sister.

"Calm down now, Ellie. You don't want to be too tired tomorrow." Bryan said even though it was his fault that she was slightly hyper; he and Tala kept putting on funny voice as they read to Ellie. The girl grinned apologetically and snuggled down underneath her duvet. She waved good night to Tala and Bryan one last time before they shut the door and left Ellie in the darkness. It was only then that she let on that she knew. Tears poured down her cheeks and she bit her lip in an attempt to muffle her sobs. She dived underneath her duvet where she wept herself to sleep…


It was Friday afternoon once more which meant it was PE. Ellie didn't really care, though. She wasn't concentrating on the ball properly and as a result got even more beat up than she had the previous week. All she could think about was the little kitten at home. That morning Yuki had been just as bad, if not worse, then she had been the night before and Ellie couldn't get rid of grim feeling that rested in her gut. She was glad when Mr Beloi finally blew his whistle. She shot off to the changing rooms and was already dragging on her shoes by the time the other girls came in.

It was quiet, just like the previous week when Rei had brought Yuki. This silence didn't feel comfortable though. This one felt slightly ominous. She peeked into the living room where she saw everyone else in front of the fireplace; in front of Yuki's cushion. Tala gently pushed her into the room. Ellie bit her lip as she slowly walked forward and knelt down next to Rei. Yuki was lying on her cushion, her little eyes half open and her sides moving up and down as she struggled to breathe. Ellie looked at Rei who nodded and she leaned forward to pick up the kitten. She cradled Yuki gently in her arms. The kitten opened its eyes fully and leaned forward to lick Ellie on the cheek one last time before falling back and closing her eyes. Ellie's hair fell forward to hide her face as tears fell from her eyes. Bryan hugged her as Murielle took the dead kitten off the girl. Ellie threw her arms round Bryan's neck and let the tears flow freely.

"She's been struggling all day. I think Yuki was waiting to see you one last time." Tala said softly as he knelt down next to the siblings. Ellie sniffed softly as she hid her face in Bryan's chest. Ellie cried on and off for the rest of the day, sometimes not even noticing the liquid pouring down her cheeks. They buried Yuki at the bottom of the garden, erecting a small wooden cross over where they had buried her. Ellie barely touched her dinner and stuck close to Bryan for the rest of the evening. When Bryan and Tala went to bed, barely half-an-hour after they had settled down for the night Ellie came in. Ellie bit her lip and tried not to cry but the odd tear still strayed down her face.

Bryan got up early the next morning. Tala opened a bleary eye but Bryan put a finger to his lips. Tala nodded and put his arms round Ellie as he drifted back into unconsciousness. Bryan silently slipped out of the room and wasn't seen again for about another hour.

The door creaked as it opened and Ellie stirred. She slowly sat up, Tala beside her. She rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and saw a fully-dressed Bryan sitting down on the bed. He was hiding something.

"I know it's not exactly the same as a pet but it's something for you to hold on to when you're upset." Bryan mumbled as he blushed and gave Ellie the hidden item; a fox plush. Ellie took it silently, holding it gently. She it her lip as she felt tears welling up again. She threw her arms round Bryan's neck.

"Thank you…" She whispered. "Thank you…"