Author Note: This chapter contains mention of an injured animal, but I promise everything works out fine, so you'll have to trust me.

Nejire couldn't stop looking at the tattoo on her arm. Sometimes she would just stare at it, amazed at the beauty that now covered something she had been so ashamed of. The following day, she went to the store and bought a dozen short-sleeved tops to celebrate.

The next time she walked to the coffee shop, she dropped by the tattoo parlor to see if Dabi had come up with ideas for her next tattoo. Tomura was at the front counter, ringing up an older man, when Nejire came in. He gave her a nod to show he had noticed, but kept his focus on his customer. Nejire looked around at the art on the walls while she waited.

Dabi soon appeared with a handful of sketches. Looking them over, one stood out to Nejire immediately. It was a bird in flight, with a music staff trailing from its beak. The staff curled behind the bird as if blowing in the wind. Nejire could imagine just how the design would look around her leg. She glanced at the other drawings, but her mind was already made up. She pointed to the notes on the music staff. "What's the song?" she asked.

His blue eyes glinted. "I'll give you a hint… it's Elton John." Nejire felt her stomach flutter, thinking about the song Dabi had nicknamed her after. He tossed the other designs into a trash can. "Let me get some measurements while you're here, and I can make up a stencil before you come back in."

"A stencil? I thought you'd just freehand it like the other one."

"Normally I would, but this one's in a tricky spot. It's easier for me to draw it on a flat surface and then transfer it onto your leg."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"Go ahead and get scheduled; tell Tomura I said to give you first priority."

A question came to mind; something Nejire had been wondering since she and Dabi first spoke. "Why are you so eager to help me? You're not making any money off this."

"I have plenty of money. This is how I give back; karma, you know."

"Yeah, I get that. But there's plenty of other people with scars besides me. Why do I get priority?" Dabi looked a little uneasy. Nejire narrowed her eyes. "What is it? Tell me."

"Honestly?" Dabi ran his fingers through his black hair. "The sooner I finish tattooing you, the sooner I can ask you out."

Nejire's cheeks flushed pink. "Excuse me?"

"I try not to mix work and play; so as long as you're a client..."

"How do you know I'd say yes?"

Dabi blinked in surprise. "You'd turn me down? Wow… I guess that takes the pressure off!"

Flustered, Nejire tried to backpedal. "That's not what I meant. Besides, am I really a client, if you're doing the work for free?"

"I distinctly remember you handing me cash."

"Dang it," Nejire said, wrinkling up her nose.

He grinned. "You're adorable. Go get scheduled; I gotta get back to work. Take care, Tiny."

Nejire's next tattoo wasn't until the following week, and the waiting left her feeling a little lost. She wondered if tattoos were addictive. The first one was barely healed and she was already craving another.

To fill the time, she picked up some extra shifts at work. During some downtime, Toga called their boss over to show her Nejire's tattoo. "Please tell Nej how much money she'd make here as an alt girl."

Mags, the club owner, nodded in agreement. "How much ink are you planning to get?"

Nejire shrugged. "Five or six more, I guess."

"People will eat that shit up," Mags said. "Besides, I know you've got the talent. You really should consider it."

"I don't know." Nejire pulled her hair over her cheek. Moments like this, she really missed her long hair. It used to reach down past her waist, but when she was in the hospital they'd chopped it short for convenience. Nejire had been growing it out ever since, and still it barely reached her shoulders.

Mags leaned closer, lowering her voice. "Hey, no pressure. Okay? I'm happy to give you whatever work you're comfortable with."

Nejire nodded. "Thanks, Big Sis."

The next day, Nejire found herself with nothing to do, so she decided to walk to the store and pick out some shorts. She wanted something cute to wear for her next tattoo. Nejire never wore shorts outside the apartment, and the ones she owned were old and worn. She hit a few different stores, and soon had a wide variety of colors and styles. Before long Nejire would be able to dress comfortably for the roasting Vegas summers.

She took the long way home, in no rush to get back to the apartment where Toga would still be sleeping after a late night shift at work.

Nejire was waiting for a crosswalk signal to change when an odd sight caught her eye. There was something lying by the curb. It looked like a ratty plush toy someone had discarded. Nejire took a step closer and bent forward, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. Then it moved. Nejire jumped back with a gasp. It was some kind of animal.

When she realized it wasn't going to attack her, Nejire moved closer again. It appeared to be a cat, but it was in bad shape. It seemed injured, and it was filthy. Its fur may have been white at some point, but now looked grimy brown. Nejire wondered how long it had been lying there. She had only been a few feet away and had nearly overlooked it. She circled around wide and crouched down to get a better look. The cat looked up at her and growled.

Nejire pulled out her phone and searched for nearby veterinarians. One popped up about a quarter mile away, and she hit the call button. After one ring, someone picked up. "Thanks for calling University Animal Hospital. Is this an emergency or can you hold?"

"I found a cat on the side of the road. It looks hurt. Can someone help?"

"We can squeeze you in, if you get here before three-thirty."

Nejire scowled. "It's not my cat. I don't even have a car."

"Sorry dear, I don't know what to tell you. Try the dog warden, they might be able to come get it."

"Wait, no," Nejire begged. "Let me figure something out; I'll be there, I promise."

Nejire hung up the phone, and stood there for a moment, feeling completely lost. She couldn't exactly pick up a strange animal with her bare hands and carry it to the vet. There was an alley nearby, and Nejire ran over, carefully picking through the junk lying around. She soon found a small cardboard box and a ratty flannel shirt.

Kneeling at the edge of the street, her back to traffic, Nejire eased the cardboard box closer to the injured cat. It watched her warily, but didn't growl. Moving slowly, she draped the flannel over the cat until it was covered. Then she swiftly closed her hands around it, flannel and all, and hoisted it into the box. The trick worked, until she pulled her hands back. The cat shot out a paw and scratched her knuckles with its claws.

Nejire yanked her hand back with a shout. For a second she was angry, but the feeling soon gave way to pity. This poor thing could not possibly know that she was trying to help. Nejire suddenly remembered fighting the nurses as they tried to intubate her after her accident. They had known that Nejire must be scared, confused, and in pain, so they didn't get angry or impatient with her.

Trying not to jostle it too much, Nejire scooped up the cardboard box. The cat didn't fuss. It didn't even growl this time. Nejire stepped up onto the curb and balanced the box in one arm as she checked her phone. If she moved quickly, she could get there in time. When the signal changed, Nejire hurried across the road and headed the direction my phone showed.

She got to the vet with time to spare. A young woman in scrubs took her back to a room, and Nejire put the box down on a metal table. Her arms and shoulders ached. Today had been more of a workout than she'd had in years. "You're pretty heavy there, buddy," she said to the cat.

The pile of flannel didn't budge, and for a second, Nejire had the horrifying thought that maybe the cat had passed away on the journey here.

Holding her breath, Nejire pulled back a corner of the flannel shirt. A low growl greeted her, and she smiled with relief. "Yeah, I know. You're welcome."

Soon the veterinarian came in, and Nejire was taken aback by the looks of him. First, he was a young man, she figured he was even younger than herself. Second, he had purple dyed hair. He gave her a bored look. "You found an injured cat?"

Nejire stared. "Are you old enough to be a vet?"

He closed his eyes and gave a tired sigh. "I'm a fourth-year veterinary student. This is a teaching hospital. If that's a problem you can go elsewhere."

"No, I'm sorry," Nejire said. "I was just surprised; I'm sure you know your stuff."

As she filled him in, the young man pulled on some thick work gloves before pulling back the flannel to take a look. The cat hissed at him, but he didn't hesitate. He pressed his fingers all over the cat's body, earning more hisses and growls. Then he covered it with the shirt again. "He may have been hit by a car. Most likely he's got broken bones and other internal injuries. Some of these wounds look much older; he's probably had a hard life on the street."

Nejire nodded. "Okay, so what now?"

"Unfortunately, our best option is probably to euthanize."

"What? No!"

The young man looked grim. "We don't know the extent of his injuries without scans and testing, which cost several hundred dollars alone. If he needs surgery, it could end up in the thousands. Even then I can't promise it will help. What I can recommend at this point is to end his suffering."

Nejire's mind was flooded with thoughts about her own accident. What if everyone had given up on her so easily? She had been in much worse shape than this cat. What if they had decided that she was too damaged; that it would be better to put her out of her misery?

Tears filled her eyes. "I have the money. Please, we have to try."

He looked surprised. "Are you sure? Of course, I'm willing to do whatever I can, but I can't guarantee anything."

Nejire blinked back tears. "He deserves a chance."

"Alright." The vet paused. "I wish there were more people like you." He scooped up the box, and soon Nejire was alone in the room. She sat down and cried.

The scratches across her knuckles started to sting, bringing her back to the present.

Nejire stood and paced back and forth for a minute. Then she pulled out her phone, trying to distract herself by scrolling through instagram. Dabi had posted a picture of the treble clef tattoo, and it had a lot of comments. A few people made subtle remarks about having similar scars, hinting at what the tattoo had covered. Nejire reposted the photo to her own page.

Finally, the young man returned, with a computer tablet showing some black and white images. "The x-rays don't look nearly as bad as I was expecting." He pointed to some details on the screen. "There's a couple fractured ribs, no surprise there. He's got a broken tibia; we would need to go in and plate it back together." He switched to another tab. "The CT scans look good. There doesn't appear to be any organ damage or internal bleeding. The blood tests aren't too bad either. He's malnourished, but he doesn't seem to have lost much blood. I can get you an estimate on the costs if you want to think about it."

"No, let's do it."

He smiled. "We can get him to surgery in about an hour. After that I'd like to keep him under observation for a few days to make sure he's improving. If everything keeps looking up, then you can take him home."

Nejire's eyes went wide. "Home? But he's not mine."

The vet's expression grew serious. "Can I be honest with you?" Nejire nodded. "You can sign off, and the cat will be released to a shelter; but… he's not a cute little kitten, and he hasn't exactly been friendly with us. His odds of getting adopted aren't the best, and shelters are overwhelmed this time of year."

Nejire swallowed. "You're saying, if I don't take him in, he might still be put down?" The vet nodded. "Do I have to decide today?"

"No," he said, his expression softening. "This is not a decision you should make lightly."

Nejire sighed. "Could I maybe see him before I go?"

"Absolutely. This way." He led her through the door and down a wide hallway lined with medical supplies. "We gave him some meds for the pain, so he's pretty chill at the moment."

They stopped in front of a wall of stacked cages. The man gestured to one of the doors, and Nejire peered through the bars. The cat lifted its head and stared at her, but didn't growl. Nejire wondered what her roommate would think of her bringing home such a creature to live with them.

She pulled out her phone again, and snapped a few pictures before leaving. Maybe, if she played it right, Toga would fall for the pitiful thing in the same way Nejire had.

Toga squealed with joy when Nejire first mentioned bringing home a cat. "Ooh, I love kitties!" That was before Nejire showed her the pictures. "What the hell, Nej? He's so fugly. Are you sure that's even a cat? " Eventually they reached a compromise, in which Nejire could keep him, as long as he never left her bedroom.

The following morning Nejire headed to the tattoo parlor early. She checked her phone a dozen times to see if she had missed a call from the animal hospital. She got to Stain twenty minutes before her appointment. Tomura waved her around. Before she went back, Nejire pulled up a photo of the cat to show Tomura. "Look what I found yesterday on my walk home. I guess I'm a cat owner now."

Tomura stared at Nejire as if he were seeing her for the first time. "You just found it on the side of the road, and decided to keep it?"

"Yeah," she said, a little embarrassed. "I didn't really think it through, but I couldn't just leave him there, you know?"

"Most people would," Tomura said harshly. "Everybody assumes that someone else will come along and do something. I wonder how many people saw it before you, and chose to ignore it and keep going." Nejire got a strange feeling they weren't just talking about the cat.

She headed back to sit in the waiting area. Dabi was focused on tattooing someone and didn't notice her. A middle-aged man was sitting on another couch, reading a magazine. He had small, round glasses and silver hair. When he noticed Nejire, he closed the magazine and smiled. "Well, hi there. I don't believe we've met." He held out his hand. "I'm Giran," he said, as she shook his hand.

"Nejire," she answered. "I haven't been in Vegas long."

He sat back, looking her over curiously. "May I ask… are you a dancer?"

Nejire's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

"The way you held out your hand." Giran demonstrated, mimicking the way she stretched out her fingers gracefully, like she was posing.

"Good catch," Nejire laughed. She hadn't realized she still did that.

"Are you working anywhere now?"

She shrugged. "Just waiting tables."

Giran's eyes lit up. "Well, this must be our lucky day. I'm a talent scout."

"Oh, no thanks. I'm not looking for anything like that."

"If you say so." He fished in his pocket and pulled out a card, which Nejire took. "Call me if you change your mind."

Dabi appeared, interrupting them. "Giran, what did I tell you about fishing our clients?"

Giran put his hands up as if he were surrendering. "I only gave the young lady my card, that's all."

Dabi turned to Nejire. "My last appointment is taking way longer than I planned for; I'm running an hour behind. Do you want to wait? If not, we can reschedule."

Normally she would wait, but Nejire was anxious and jittery about the cat, and didn't exactly want to be stuck here with Giran. "I'll just reschedule."

"Sorry 'bout that," Dabi said, shaking his head.

"It's fine," Nejire insisted. Just then, her phone rang. It was the animal hospital. She gave Dabi an apologetic look, then hurried outside to answer.

The cat was doing great. He was still heavily medicated from the surgery, but he had eaten and used the litter box. They had run new tests and he was already showing some improvements. If everything kept trending this way, Nejire could take him home in a couple days.

They also asked for a name to put on his file. Nejire couldn't think of anything.

Too jittery to go home, she ordered a ride to take her to a pet supply store. By the time she finished shopping, Nejire hoped that the employees there earned commission. She had gotten way more than she ever dreamed necessary. Finally, she headed home to set up her room for her new pet.

Author Note: Now we've got some cameos! If you know who the veterinary student was, you get a cookie!