"All of these volunteers have ulterior motives. I don't think we should let any of them in, it could be a risk to the animals and yourself."

Yuuri sighed and looked up from his phone. "We've talked about this, Otabek. Yuuko and Takeshi went on vacation for their honeymoon and Minako went back home to visit my parents. We have the new rescues coming in and, as much as I hate to admit it, we're going to need the help. There's no way we could find a suitable place for them to wait when they've already been secured for travel."

Phichit hummed from where he was eating a stack of pancakes. "It's going to be harder to keep it all secret, too. I managed to hire some people to make a distraction while we take them in and have Ciao Ciao check them out, but if we wait any longer the news could be up on social media within minutes. Even with the EMPs we have, I wouldn't risk it."

Guong Hong winced on the floor and rolled over onto his stomach to set his imploring eyes on Phichit. "Please don't talk about the EMPs. Do you know how much our backup generators cost? How many times I negotiated with those people until we reached a deal?"

Phichit gave him an apologetic smile. "But anyway, I think it'll be fine if we do a really in depth background check. Which shouldn't be a problem, right Beks?"

Otabek grimaced at the nickname and crossed his arms. "I already checked them more than five times, but something still seems off. I don't know what it is, but their stories don't match up and it's full of holes that the other volunteers didn't have. Small, but there nonetheless."

"What volunteers?" Phichit laughed. "I was the last volunteer we had, and that was years ago."

"Still. I don't like this idea."

Yuuri's phone buzzed, startling the two Capuchin monkeys sitting in his lap. Guong Hong laughed as they jumped onto his back, sitting up so they could comfortably rest on his shoulders while he cooed at them with a bright smile.

Yuuri watched the display with an amused quirk of the lips and answered the phone just before it stopped ringing. "Hello?"

"Yuuri? It's Leo."

"Oh! Hey, how're the animals doing?"

Leo sighed on the other end and his stomach dropped. Sensing the mood, his friends and coworkers quieted down and urged him to put it on speaker so they could listen in.

"It's worse than we thought. The lions and the elephant were being used for a circus and they're all pretty roughed up. All of them have overgrown claws and one of the lions is going to need oral surgery. I'm concerned about their hips, too. We're going to have to prepare therapy for the elephant as well because one of the tusks is cracked pretty severely."

There was a short silence in the room as they took it all in. Yuuri scowled at the floor, trying to keep his tears in check. It didn't matter how many times he heard the numerous injuries his animals suffered, it always broke his heart to hear how much pain and hostility they were forced to go through.

"I got it. I'll make sure Ciao Ciao is here when they arrive. Do you have anything else you're concerned about?"

Leo hummed thoughtfully. "Not really? I mean, there's the usual other minor injuries that they have but nothing too concerning other than what I mentioned. The lions are pretty attached and protective of one another though, so you might not want to introduce them to the other prides yet. We both know how… welcoming Vicchan likes to be."

Yuuri nodded. "Okay. I'll make sure to write it down so nobody forgets."

Leo started to respond when there was a commotion in the background, and told him to wait while he went to see what was going on. Yuuri was used to this, however, and kept the phone on speaker while he went to search for his small notepad.

The monkeys followed after him, making small sounds from their throats as they jumped onto his waist and started the familiar climb to his shoulders. He giggled as they settled, their movements tickling him. He tsked when Momo's sister, Marley, began to roughhouse with him and gently separated the two. She always was the more feisty of the two.

"Yuuri," Guong Hong called. "Are you looking for the small blue one? The one with the poodles on it?"

"Yeah."

"I put it in the cabinet over the fireplace when I was helping Phichit clean up."

"Oh, thanks."

He grabbed said notebook and relaxed back into the chair, making a quick list of what Leo had told him to prepare for. He managed to finish the final warning about keeping the lions separated when Leo came back on the line, a little hesitant as he asked if Yuuri was still there.

"I am. Is everything okay over there?"

"Uh, about that. Do you have room for three tigers? Possibly? A mother and her two cubs, somebody was caught trying to drive away with them."

Yuuri blinked and looked outside to the sanctuary. They had over seventy enclosures for their animals and rotated them biweekly so they wouldn't get bored of their surroundings, but even then, he wasn't sure if they could squeeze the small family in there. Still, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he denied them the right of a nurturing home and the respect they deserved as wild animals.

"Yeah, okay. We have some volunteers coming so we'll put them to work building the enclosure for them. Do you think they can wait for a week? I don't think it'll be longer than that, especially with all hands on deck."

"That should work. Thanks a ton, Yuuri, you're really helping these animals out."

He blushed and refrained from shaking his head wildly like he so desperately wanted to. "No, no, no! I'm just providing food and shelter for them, that's all!"

Leo laughed on the other end. "Sure. Appreciate yourself more! And tell Guong Hong I said hi, yeah? I have to get going, but I'll call you soon to see how the enclosure's coming."

Phichit snickered at their friend's blushing face, and even Yuuri nudged him with his sock clad foot from where he was covering his face on the floor. "Sounds good. I'll talk to you soon." Yuuri ended the call with a sigh and glanced at his coworkers, who were staring at him expectantly. At his look, they rolled their eyes fondly and got to work.

"I'll call the suppliers and update our budget." Guong Hong announced as he left for his office.

"I'm going to research what band is hot these days and see if they want to do a live show here next week." Phichit called over his shoulder cheerfully.

Yuuri waved at them and braced himself for the conversation he knew was coming. Sure enough, Otabek sat down beside him with a scowl. Momo went into his lap and reached for him, which softened the man a bit before he turned to Yuuri.

"Are you sure you want to do this? We can wait for other volunteers, we get a good amount every year. Who knows, maybe Minami will come back. Vicchan liked him a lot."

"Minami is going to college right now, he'll probably come back once he gets his veterinary degree. Besides, we both know how much the animals need us right now. Time waits for nothing, humans, animals or otherwise."

Otabek groaned and pushed back his hair before giving a reluctant nod and standing. "Fine. But just so you know, I don't like this at all. I'm not letting them near any of the animals, either."

Yuuri raised an eyebrow. "That kind of defeats the purpose of having volunteers, does it not? They mostly throw food over the fence and help cut down the weeds, anyway. Plus you'll be there overlooking them, too."

"Damn right I will."

"When are they getting here again?"

"The day after tomorrow."

Yuuri hummed. "We'll have to make arrangements then, clean up the Nishigori's and Minako's rooms so they can rest there."

"You're going to let them stay in the main house?" Otabek asked incredulously. Well, as incredulously as he let himself sound.

"It's the best way to keep watch on them. Besides, you and I are the only ones with the keys to the locked rooms and the enclosures. There's no way they'd get their hands on it and even if they did, they'd have no way of knowing which key goes to what."

Otabek frowned. "I guess."

"I'm going to go say hi to the animals, you want to help me measure the fields later for the new arrivals?"

Otabek shrugged a shoulder and headed towards the back door, which Yuuri took as a yes. Marley tugged on his hair and he tapped her hand firmly as he clicked his tongue. "None of that now, my girl. You're supposed to be the mature one, remember?"

She grinned back and he couldn't help but giggle at her face. Say what you will about the troublemaker, but he loved her personality and all of her imperfections that came with it. All of his animals were extraordinary, and even though Chipper may be one of the more irritable animals he housed, he still found the lion as adorable and cuddly as Vicchan.

They just needed the right animals to balance them out, and that was his job, one that he took incredibly seriously. He'd worked at a zoo before opening his sanctuary with the help of all of his friends and family, and he'd been so disgusted with how they treated the animals he worked with when he wasn't there. He lost count of how many times they'd forgotten to feed them or give them fresh water, claiming that they were too busy and figured someone else had done it.

Yuuri promised himself that he'd save them, give them a life that they deserved full of reverence and care. And that's exactly what he did.

Katsuki's Animal Kingdom was full of animals he'd rescued over the years. Some of them were scarred, some of them had mental or social disorders and some were as pure hearted as the day they were born, but they were all beautiful in their own right and he loved them with everything he had.

Yuuri shook the thoughts from his head and refocused on the task at hand.

Otabek had four long poles of wood under his arm and was waiting in the center of a large field, the grass up to their calves and weeds sprouting everywhere. Yuuri looked around as he walked closer to him and pointed to an abandoned ant hill that was over a foot tall.

"We're going to need to clear that out and cut the grass and weeds before we do anything else."

"I'll get the shovels and bags."

"Can you get extra gloves too? Lutz and Axel got a hold of mine yesterday."

Otabek chuckled and nodded as he walked away. "You're too lenient with those girls. At least it wasn't Loop this time."

"No, she was the one distracting me with cuddles while her sisters pick pocketed me." Yuuri smirked at the memory. The three girls were rescued from a zoo in the United States and Yuuko had fallen in love instantly. Their wounds weren't too severe and they seemed compatible with her, so Yuuri had no problem handing them over to her care.

It went without saying that they were more… excessive, when they saw him though. As it was with all the animals under his wing. Kaido rumbled as he walked past his enclosure, his paws kicking up dirt as he got closer to him.

Yuuri double checked that Otabek wasn't back yet before he went to them, crouching outside of the fence. "Hello, my boy." He crooned, laughing softly when he bumped his head against his hand. Yuuri stroked his snout and giggled when the lion started licking his hand before rubbing his head on it. "My silly boy. Where's your sister, huh? Is she bullying you again?"

He saw movement in the corner of his eye and turned his head just to see Jasmine lunge out of the bush she was relaxing under to jump on Kaido's flank, running around him to avoid the snap of jaws.

Kaido bared his teeth when he laughed and he waved a hand in front of himself, apologizing through his laughter. The lion trudged away with a flick of his tail and Yuuri smiled when he saw how he returned the favor to the lioness.

He saw Otabek coming towards him from his peripheral and stood up with a small groan. His friend snorted from behind him and placed two large trash bags over his shoulder with a heavy pat.

"Come on, it's getting late and I'd rather get back to the house before Phichit gets his hands on the stove again."

Yuuri winced and sped up to catch up with him. Phichit was many, many things, but a good cook wasn't one of them.


Author's Note: