Kat gazed out of the window, down at the children whom were playing blissfully, ignorant to the neon eyed girl that watched them, an open book lying in her lap forgotten. Winter was gone and spring had come in full force, bringing with it torrential showers and dances of lightning.
In just the short span of time in which Kat had been there, she noticed quite a few things. One: L had arrived to the orphanage merely a week before her, so the children treated him just as spitefully as her, that is, before they began to acknowledge his unmatched wit and intelligence. Therefore, like the prodigal children they were, they started to respect him, yet gave little to nothing about how Kat had been striving to prove to them that she was worthy of being around them.
Her ear twitched as she saw a bunch of older miniature children on all fours, trying to pounce on each other while the rest ran away. Her eyes darkened; they were ridiculing her, she just knew it.
L looked away from the language work Mr. Wammy had given him and saw Kat directing her blank stare to the back courtyard. She had been doing that a lot lately and he made no comment, deciding that it was none of his business to meddle with her emotional affairs. Yet, he could not help but notice how she seemed to get more morose or irritated when she heard the other orphans going outside.
He bit his thumb, gray eyes darting over to the neat stack of papers on Kat's desk. She had finished her language work in record time, normally curious eyes bored with the tedium of working on something she already knew. He turned back to his French papers reluctantly, giving the slightest grunt of frustration when he saw the verbs.
"Do you need help?" The quiet voice startled him a bit, (her innocently calm and quiet voice was unsettling, like how you would imagine a deranged person to speak after confinement) how did she manage to be so quiet and spook him when they were in the same room?
"L, do you need help?" She repeated her question, unsure whether he had heard her the first time or had decided to just flat out ignore her.
Her mood darkened a bit more when he gave her no answer. This was something more or less common in their interactions. He never like help, asked for it, or even bothered with it when it was given unless he was at his wit's end. He was the type of person who much preferred figuring things out for himself. Not to mention that him even budging to answer her few questions or conversing with her at all seemed like an impossible feat.
Kat placed her book on the bed, pulling some loose strands of her hair behind her ear before walking over to the closet in her peculiar way, grabbing a thick book with only her four fingers, as per usual.
"This, perhaps, might be of some help to you," She mumbled, gingerly placed the book in front of L, pointing at the title. "French Dictionary, Vol. !. Basics," She mused, turning back to her bed and climbing on it, smoothing out her sweat pants.
"That would be how I practiced most languages," She continued, pushing the thought of him ignoring her out of her head, aiming her curious eyes at him, measuring his response to her actions. "A dictionary would be placed in front of me…and I would memorize it…very useful if you have a fair memory."
L simply opened the book precariously, finding this was a one of the kind dictionary. They had the etymology, euphemisms and enunciation help. Flipping through the pages, noting how there were no pictures whatsoever to differentiate or help visualize the words and the fact that the words were scarcely separated in small font did not go unnoticed.
Kat's lips twitched up a bit when she saw that he was at least considering her suggestion, then turned back to her own book, tail swaying as she delved into the world of WWII, fascinated by how humans waged war with each other over trivial things… well, trivial to her at least.
-
Mr. Wammy looked at the small monitor that was on the desk, noting how the two children were more or less making an effort to not be rude to each other though he had to admit: Kat was the more civil of the two considering her literal animosity.
"Mr. Wammy?" A man in a bullet colored uniform asked unsurely, having come back from his break, a small dab of mustard stuck on his mustache. He was a small man with little to no hair on the top of his head, a big round belly and the kind eyes common to any adult that worked in the orphanage.
Said male turned around, "Oh, yes?"
The guard scratched the nape of his neck embarrassed. "Just wonderin' why you might choose to wander on over here of all places as of late."
Mr. Wammy pushed his glasses further up his nose, offering the guard a small smile. "Nothing my dear lad, I was just checking up on 'the two,' Kat and L," He spoke eloquently.
The guard furrowed his brows at the mention of the particular reclusive children. "You mean you think those two kids…" He trailed off. Just about every adult in the Wammy House knew what Mr. Wammy was referring to when he mentioned 'the two.' But it was somewhat odd to see him pick out the oddest of the bunch to crown the term upon.
"Yes, they will go far," He turned on his heel, fully intending on leaving, waving at the guard. "That reminds me, I was going to propose something to them. Thank you for your time, Joseph." He nodded his head at the guard.
As the kind founder left, Joseph wiped his hand across his mustache, muttering mortified when he saw the yellow on his hand.
-
Kat was absolutely enraptured in the war. The blood shed, the way everyone took a side, but most importantly (to her), the failed and succeeded battle ploys used in it. She had curled herself up on the bed, flicking through the pages quickly than going back to reread the more interesting parts.
L was too busy memorizing the French book that Kat had kindly fetched for him to speculate her every move. It was easier to learn a language with the dictionary she gave him.
There was a knock on the door that caused both children to look up, wondering who might want to come to visit them, since they were practically the orphanage weirdoes.
"Kat? L? Are you two in there?" The kind male voice made small unnoticeable grins to appear on both their faces. Kat abandoned her book and sprung up from her bed, landing right next to the door (which was a fair eight feet away), opening the door with only her four fingers.
Mr. Wammy offered the petite child a kind look upon seeing her peeking around the door. "Ah, Kat, is L in?" He asked her, noticing that she was wearing an almost exact copy of what she was brought to the orphanage in.
She nodded, opening the door farther to let him in. She became quiet, but do not get her wrong. She trusted him but did not have faith in her mouth. To be truthful, the chances of Kat blurting something completely and utterly rude to the kind elderly man were high. As for the last conversation with him a season ago, that only happened because she was completely relaxed and calm.
Mr. Wammy entered and greeted L, looking at the clean room and making a mental not of the reading material.
"Hello, Mr. Wammy, it is a pleasure to see you," L said, dog-earing the page he was on.
Kat mentally rolled her eyes. Sure, he could speak to Mr. Wammy but noooo, he favored to just grunt or make some sort of primal sound to communicate with her if he even bothered to.
"May I ask, what brings you here?" Kat inquired, tilting her head at him, still at the door.
Mr. Wammy just flashed his smile at her again, "Oh, I came to inform you both that we are going on a trip in a fortnight; to give you two a better perspective of the world."
Kat bounded back over to the bed casually, taking a seat. She remained silent, pondering what it would be like to see another part of the worl and observe the different human characteristics and cultured in effect rather than portrayed in print.
"Where are we going?" L quipped casually, covering up the confusion that now flooded his eyes. To his knowledge, there were no field trips scheduled for the Orphanage this month, and it was unheard of for Mr. Wammy to take children with him on any endeavors.
"Brazil, I intend to meet a colleague and the orphanage there." Mr. Wammy informed them, informing them of what to pack for the trip and what behavior would be considered appropriate.
-
Kat was lounging in the playroom, finding that her energy was completely zapped. Water was falling from the sky outside, and the caretakers were ushering the other miniature human inside, hushing the ones that wanted to play in the rain.
She felt absolutely dreadful; too weak to stand, fighting to stay in her half-cat form, not wanting to transform into a kitten that the other tenants of the orphanage were sure to torture.
Her eyes felt unbelievably heavy, she could not resist the urge to close them.
Why had she come down again? Oh, L wanted to be alone and had politely requested that she leave for a little while. It was a few days before they would depart across the seas on their trip. L had been trying his hand at being polite with her, actually paying attention when she would give tips here and there but still made no sound when she offered him help.
Kat huffed; it was getting steadily harder to breathe, as if the air was being sucked away from her by an invisible vacuum. This, in no way, motivated her to move. Not even when the older children came in, the ones that would make fun of her.
The eldest, an unruly boy of sixteen, walked in with his lackeys, the smell of cigarette hanging off of them. Their loud, mocking laughter echoed through out the room, causing the girl draped across the couch to wince violently. The only reason the boys were in the "gifted orphanage" was because they had exceptional espionage skills and could devise ingenious but strenuous plans that had good probability of succeeding.
"Hey! What's the little kitty doing here?! I thought that she kept to herself, cooped up with L?" The leader, Henry, bellowed out, a creepy grin crawling onto his face.
"I thought so too, boss," Edwin, the biggest of the three but youngest spoke, which left Carsem, the quiet one with blonde hair.
Henry stalked up to the couch, noticing how the female was mumbling about leaving her alone and the weather being a hindrance to her.
"Het, what happens to cat girls when you put them outside in the rain?" He asked sinisterly, turning to the other two, a hard glint in his eyes.
In silence and with stealth, they hauled the girl out into the rain, placing her up against the Oak tree she had practically destroyed in the wee hours of the morning.
Kat could only feel the rough bruising grips on her limbs and the disgusting precipitation that was building on her body (the rest was just numb). She felt like she was dying, taking her last shuddery breaths. What was wrong with her? This had never happened to her! But that question had no plausible answer as most of her thoughts melted into a hazy nothingness.
Hours could have passed and she would have never known.
-
L raced down the stairs, running into Mr. Wammy's study, interrupting the conversation that was going on. He panted a bit, trying to regain his composure. "Mr. Wammy, some older boys dragged Kat out into the rain, she isn't getting up!" He spoke hurriedly, adjusting the rain coat he had put on haphazardly in his race to reach an authorative figure.
Mr. Wammy and Roger halted their debate, acknowledging his need to check up on one of the "two," Roger settled for letting his long time friend go. The kind man known as Mr. Wammy quickly followed behind L, brushing his hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Lead the way, L," He urged the boy.
Within minutes they were in and out, but this time, a sodden cat girl in Mr. Wammy's arms, shivering so much she seemed to vibrate.
-
Kat awoke in a warm cozy state. Then the memories of what had occurred flooded her head. She sat bolt upright, eyes popping wide open.
"You are awake, thank goodness," She heard the gentle voice next to her bed. She snapped her head in the direction, frightened. It was only Mr. Wammy. Only Mr. Wammy.
"Kat, calm down," The monotone voice said from across her. There, perched on his bed in a crouched fashion similar to how she usually chose to sit was L, flipping through a book nonchalantly. She took a deep breath then let it out.
She opened her mouth to speak but all that spilled out was a soft "meow." She frowned, not appreciating the fact that her mind was playing tricks on her vocal cords.
"Hm, can't speak?" Mr. Wammy said, leaning his face in closer to hers. She wrinkled her nose up trying again but this time a small "mew" came out. She suppressed the instinct to claw at her throat, annoyance flickering in and out of her desolate emerald orbs.
"Do not worry, you will probably be able to speak later on, just focus on getting better, we leave for Brazil tomorrow." L informed her, glancing up from his book once, noticing just how deathly pale she looked, even worse than when she first came.
And so, she rested her heart out, mewing furiously or hissing when anyone dared to come into her room other than L, Mr. Wammy or occasionally Roger. When it came time to go to Brazil, Kat was completely healthy and absolutely ecstatic on the inside that she was being let out of her temporary confinement.
In Brazil, to her disappointment, she was being dragged all over the place with a ribbon and cap covering her second set of ears and her tail wrapped forcefully as a belt or hidden by her parka. She would mutter foul comments under her breath at the absurdity as she shadowed L in their little adventures to the nearby village or the museum, once even to the sweets shop.
The one thing that happened that was truly exciting to her was when they found the locals playing a game that consisted of emphasizing their Capoeira skills.
-
Kat ran over to the large circle, watching wide eyed with L as they fought without hitting each other, a cacophony of kicks, sweeps and head buts, all moving around gracefully.
An idea bubbled inside of her as she saw a much smaller version of it being played a whiles a way by children. Racing over to the bateria (ring around two fighters), she listened to the proctor. "Who ever can beat the champion will receive a year's worth of sweets from Yara's Sweet Shop! Come on! Who wants to give it a try?" He yelled in Portuguese over the crowd's murmurs. Kat was glad she had worn her tail as a belt today and had opted for wearing a cat and boy's clothing. She turned to enter the bateria but was stopped by an equally pale hand on her arm.
"What are you doing?" L asked her, apathetically, unknowingly leaning closer to her, aiming his wide set eyes at her.
She grinned reassuringly, wondering if he was concerned for her. "I am just going to exert some extra energy, do not worry yourself."
She strode over to the proctor, leaving a befuddled L in her wake. "Worried? Me? No, just questioning your sanity." He said slightly irate, pushing his way to the front, next to the people on drums to have a better view of the fight that was to go on.
"And, the next to challenge our champion, Flavio, is Mister Kale Kimo!" The proctor yelled the boy name. Kat, or Kale Kimo as the man announced, eyed her opponent, deducing him in a moment: Older teenager to adult, scars on body meant he was either very experienced or was so horrible he was not allowed with the other men, he was twice her size and would probably be able to overpower her. So her best bet was her speed and ability to dodge. The music started and she started off slow since the key in this was to test your opponent, if he could not be able to escape a slow hit that it would be an entire waste to go any faster.
Kat jumped in the air, twisting her spine back so that she could execute a hand stand, effectively dodging the high kick that was aimed for her face. She pulled her cap down farther over her head before dropping to her hands and sweeping the ground under Flavio, succeeding in catching him off guard, causing him to stumble across the dirt arena. Kat placed her hands together before pushing herself off of the ground in a flip, wanting to try and slam Flavio to the ground.
It seemed like a bluff, the first stumble, as Flavio dodged, missing her body by a few inches as he kicked again at her. She landed on the ground, one leg outstretched.
Had she underestimated her opponent? No, of course not, her deductions were usually dead on; this person was just being elusive. But he did not know she had a few things up her sleeve. Bringing her leg back in, she stood in her usual way, a cocky smile on her lips hidden from the crowd.
L watched on dumbstruck, with Mr. Wammy at his side in much the same façade. Both were watching the elegant dance of brawns and wit (Mr. Wammy had come his way just as the fight had started). . Flavio seemed like he would be likely to win but then again, L knew little to nothing about Kat save the fact that she seemed to be oddly exceptional in fighting arts from what he saw of her killing the trees in the mornings in Winchester.
Flavio charged at Kat, causing the smirk on her lips to widen, He fell for the trap! She pounced away from the drop kick that was coming in for her, twisting her body around violently as she pushed her hands against the ground, spinning her body so that she was in a mid air split, double kicking Flavio in his over-confident tan face. He fell to the ground as she landed back on all fours, raising herself up.
The audience erupted in a roar of applause, all congratulating her in Portuguese.
"AND OUR NEW CHAMPION IS MISTER KALE KIMO!" The proctor yelled, grabbing Kat's hand and forcing it into the air. She winced at the contact but smiled nonetheless as a card was forced into her other hand. The card that would tell the sweet shop she could get a year's worth of candy.
She slipped away from the crowds, nodding her thanks to the miniature humans and the adult ones that congratulated her on a good fight. She pushed through the crowds, making her way to Mr. Wammy and L, pulling off her cap when she was out of the throng of people, letting her ebony and silver hair cascade down to her shoulders, ear still concealed by a yellow ribbon.
"L, Mr. Wammy, I won a year's worth of sweets!" She beamed, letting a small bit of her giddiness through the surface. Mr. Wammy looked down kindly at her; L was still in awe at the fight, speechless. "L, you can eat as much candy as you want! But I want to leave some for the miniature humans back home, Mr. Wammy." She addressed both males; grabbing their hands and making a bee line for Yara's Sweet Shop. L kept his thoughts bouncing between the fight, Kat being so joyful and how he was going to get so much sugar filled things.
-
Back at the Orphanage, the children were ecstatic when they were given candy out of a gigantic truck. Kat was hiding in her room, she had asked Mr. Wammy to not tell them that she had gotten it for them, even if it could be a sort of peace offering, she just thought that she and L alone could not eat the sweets alone and if they told the Orphans it was from her, they would think it diseased or something, so better it not go to waste.
L was right next to Kat, hearing the cries of joy from the children bellow, a large mountain of sweets piled in front of them. Maybe Kat was not as he first thought, the seven and a half year old boy thought.