Chapter II – You Look Just Like Her

"Mia…come back!"

"N-No…! L-leave me alone…AH!"

She fell to the floor with a gut wrenching thud after tripping over her own legs and fell to the ground in tears.

They both stayed where they were, panting wretchedly.

Diego realised that they had run all the way back to the office.

Was that physically possible?

But it didn't matter right now.

Mia, his pupil and the woman he had failed to protect, was badly hurt.

"G-Go away…I d-don't need you to look d-down on me…" she whispered and curled into a ball, her eyelids red and puffy from crying and her clothes stained with tears.

Diego stared at her with a twisted pain in his heart.

It hurt.

It hurt more than the shards that were digging into his flesh.

…even more than the fact that his hand was completely ruined from crushing his favourite mug…

"Mia. Please…I want to help…"

"WELL, YOU CAN'T! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?" She suddenly turned to him and glared, her pupils almost seemed like slits, contrasting the gentle hazel warmth that he always felt when she looked at him.

"YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. SO…JUST…GO AWAY!" Mia screamed out the last few words and collapsed into a heap on the floor, weeping silently.

"M-Mia…" He said again weakly…pleadingly.

But he knew better to go near her and offer comfort.

So he could only sit at a distance…and watch his pupil cry herself into unconsciousness.

"That witch…" he whispered without thinking.

"Mew?"

"O-Oh…nothing" He tilted his head downward to see her lick his tanned hand in concern. Her whiskers were glistening drops of white from the cream.

"Mew…" The kitten he had thus dubbed Mia placed two paws onto his legs and looked up at him.

Diego took in her physical features for the first time.

She had a shiny brown pelt, with a tanned patch stretching from her neck down to along her belly. Her paws were all white, save one, the front left paw, which was an odd, almost golden orange. Her tail was long, flexible and ebony black. And she had tiny little white dot like clumps of fur close to her ears.

Mia seemed to enjoy all the attention and rolled onto her back, purring and leaning against him, as if she were asking to be stroked.

"You sure are a suck up, aren't you, little missy?" He teased and scratched her ears, which she seemed to enjoy immensely.

"Mew…"

Her eyes were a hazel brown and full of so much warmth and innocence.

How could he let anything unspeakable happen to her?

She was to be touched by nothing but the softest of hands.

With that thought, he gently rubbed her belly; which closed her eyes in bliss.

After stroking the kitten's furry stomach for a while, he began dozing off himself.

"Eugh…I'm so BORED!" Maya stretched her arms up high and slumped against the office couch.

"Can't we go out and get something to eat, Nick?"

"For the last time, whilst you have nothing to do…I myself have a trial tomorrow so stop acting like this is a vacation!" Phoenix was almost buried amongst all the paperwork he was sorting into his court record and sounded very irritated.

"Mystic Maya, I think Mr. Nick is quite busy at the moment…Are we allowed to go out ourselves?" Pearl looked up from cleaning her steel samurai bouncy ball and eyed her cousin with a curious gleam in her eyes.

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea, Pearly! Quick, Nick! Give me your wallet!"

"WHAT? You expect me to trust YOU with my already empty wallet? No way, you're not getting anywhere near it!" And in the act of hiding his precious money holder from his assistant, several sheets of paper were knocked to the floor, which Pearl diligently picked up.

"Don't worry, Mr. Nick! I'll make sure Mystic Maya doesn't buy anything too expensive!" Pearl clasped her hands together happily.

She was finally going to spend some quality time with her beloved cousin alone!

"…Fine. Here." He took out all the big notes of money and then handed them the wallet.

"Thanks so much, Nick!" She gave him a quick hug and then grabbed Pearl's hand to pull her out of the office.

"Yeah, sure…Tell me that when you've paid me back…" He looked up from his work and suddenly noticed that even after Maya and Pearl had left, he wasn't alone in the office.

"Hmm? Where did you come from?" He left his work desk and knelt down to her level.
"And how on earth did you get in here?"

"Mew."

"Huh…you look familiar…" He noticed the kitten's pelt colour.
"You certainly do remind me of someone…"

"Mew?" She nuzzled him gently and yawned slightly.

"Are you lost? I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to have cats in the office. One of my clients may be allergic to cat fur."

"Mew…"

Phoenix felt extremely guilty as he lifted up the kitten and carried it to the door.

"Here, go back to where you came from…"

"Mew." She dipped her head at Phoenix and gave him what looked like a furry smile, then walked down the stairs.

"Huh…the way it looked at me just then…it couldn't be…" He sat down on his desk and suddenly saw a photo he had taken with…her before she had left.

Phoenix looked up suddenly to the open door, a shocked expression on his face.

"…C-Chief?"

"Where did you go? I was worried sick!" Diego sighed with relief and scooped her into his arms.

"Mew."

"Just because I fell asleep, doesn't give you the liberty of wandering wherever you want to go."

"Mew…" She let one of her short ears droop slightly and Diego couldn't do anything but reluctantly forgive her.

"Where have you been, anyway?"

The kitten hopped gracefully out of his hands and placed a paw on an old case file.

Diego's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the photo of the defendant of that certain case.

"T-Trite..? You were at TRITE'S OFFICE?"

"… Mew." She sat on the photo of Phoenix as a university student and began to groom herself.

"H-How did you even KNOW where that was? Even I don't know the exact location of his stupid firm!"

"Hisssss."

Diego jumped back slightly, even more surprised to see the ball of fur glare at him for the first time since they had met.

"What…you LIKE Trite?"

"Mew…" She turned her back to him with a swish of her tail and held her head high in the air.

"Gee, thanks, Diego. Just because you like the taste of this coffee doesn't mean the whole world does."

This kitten…no, it couldn't be….

She turned to look at him with her eyes still narrowed, yet there was the slight hint of a smile on her face.

"I, for one, don't think I can digest blend #46."

He suddenly held her close to him, causing her to yelp in surprise and stared at her intently.

"…Mia?" He croaked.

And she knew he hadn't meant the pet name he had given to her.

But that he was addressing someone much more dear to him.

"…Mew." She said simply and leaned against him, a paw on his chest.

"Y-You…You're really…" he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence and ended up sitting on the office couch with her cradled gently in his arms.

After a few heartbeats, he realised she had fallen asleep and sighed endearingly.

"I better go to the pet store to buy you some supplies. Especially a litter box since you'll be staying here in the office from now on." He murmured and slowly got up, afraid that he'd wake her.

A sudden memory flitted across his mind as he removed his office key from the door to head down the stairs to his parked car.

"Mia?"

There was no response from her still form slumped across her work desk.

He walked quietly over to her and saw her sleeping, spread over numerous sheets of paper on the case she'd been working on.

"Did you fall asleep whilst working again, Kitten?" He sighed, affectionately ruffling her hair with his hand.
"You really do work too hard. Keep this up and you'll fall ill."

Diego took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, making sure she didn't catch a cold.

"Mmm…G-Go away…" She sleepily mumbled.

"Huh…?"

"…I…don't want coffee right now…"

Diego chuckled softly and let his hand fall from her hair to her cheek, which he caressed lightly.

He had long stopped denying that he was falling in love with this woman.