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“Dad’s gonna kill you.”
“Only if he finds out, which he’s not going to.”
“How are you so sure?”
“Because the only reason he’d find out is if you were to tell him, and you’re too scared of him to do that.”
“H-Hey! No I’m not!”
“No? If you do tell him, I’ll tell him about all the times you’ve given into Shouto’s pleading and hung out with him.”
“You wouldn’t,” the younger boy hissed.
The look in his eyes was one Ryou was all too familiar with and he knew his brother was being completely serious.
“...Fine. I’ll keep your stupid secret.”
Sosuke gave a triumphant smirk and turned back to the shoebox, the cat inside looking at him and arching its back.
“What are you gonna do with it?”
“It’s hurt so I’m gonna help it. It would’ve died if I didn’t step in and rescue it from that fight.”
“Now it’s gonna die when Dad finds out,” he muttered, ignoring the glare his brother gave him. “What are you gonna do about ‘Yumi and Shouto?”
“Fuyumi already knows… and we don’t have to worry about Shouto.”
He didn’t say anything to that. It was clear Shouto was going to be their biggest problem with his constant pleading to play with him. He didn’t seem to understand that they weren’t supposed to be around him and took it upon himself to find them whenever their father wasn’t around.
“...You gonna name it or something?” he asked after a minute.
“Maybe. Want to help me think of one?”
Sure, it was a dangerous game, but they were some perks to it, too.
It didn’t take long before they were found out. They did their best to do everything with at least one other person, so as to cause a distraction if necessary. Unfortunately, there were only three of them and they each had their own things to do.
Sosuke was rummaging through the fridge and had just shut the door when he nearly ran into Shouto. The boy looked up at him with his big eyes and he tried not to flinch at the ugly pink scar that still hadn’t fully healed.
“What’s that for?”
“Eating, of course.”
“It’s raw.”
He grit his teeth and forced a smile. “Just go back to playing or something, Shouto. I’ll do something with you later, if that’s what you want.”
“I want to know what you’re doing with the fish.”
“Shouto, please, just go back to your room or something.”
“You’re hiding something.”
“Dammit,” he hissed.
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”
He didn’t trust the young boy in the slightest but knew that they were more at risk of being caught by their father by just standing there. “...Alright, but you can’t tell anyone. Especially not Dad.”
“I know. I keep all kinds of secrets from him.”
They hurried to his room and as soon as he opened the door the cat began rubbing against his legs. Shouto gasped and tried to scoop it up but it hissed at him.
“He’s shy. You can… feed him, if you want, and maybe he’ll let you pet him.”
“What’s his name?” the boy whispered.
“Doesn’t have one yet.”
He slowly offered the fish and the cat approached him before snapping it up, nearly biting him in the process. Shouto giggled and gently scratched behind its ears. It finished eating and nudged the boy’s hand, looking for more.
“Look, he’s got a star on his chest!”
True to his word, there was a crooked star on the cat’s fur.
“Let’s call him Hoshi. Can I stay here and play with him?”
“For a little bit. Then you have to go back to your homework or whatever Dad wants you to do.”
He nodded, Hoshi settling into his lap and purring.
“He really likes you.”
“I like him too. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Dad.”
“I have to go downstairs so Dad doesn’t get suspicious. Make sure he doesn’t leave the room, okay?”
“Yup.”
He was hesitant to leave the two of them but he knew Fuyumi would be back from school soon and would be able to watch them.
Shouto, meanwhile, couldn’t stop smiling and petting the cat. “Hoshi Hoshi Hoshi,” he whispered.
He didn’t know how long he sat there but the door opened again and Fuyumi entered. She gasped upon seeing him and he grinned. “Hi, ‘Yumi.”
“Y-You’re not supposed to know about--”
“It’s okay, I told Sosuke I wouldn’t tell Dad.”
“You need to get downstairs before he starts looking for you. C’mon, I’ll help you brush the fur off your clothes.”
“Can’t I stay here with Hoshi?”
“Not right now.”
He sighed. “Okay…”
“Pouting won’t change my mind.”
They did their best to get all the fur off of him but she still chewed at her lip. “I don’t think he’ll notice, but I’m not sure…”
“It’s okay, ‘Yumi.”
“Yeah, you should just go downstairs. You can play with the cat tomorrow while he’s working or something.”
“Seeya, Hoshi.”
He meowed in response and the girl relaxed a little. Things were going to be fine.
They fell into a rhythm after that. Shouto spent his afternoons playing with the cat while Sosuke made sure their father didn’t get suspicious as to where his masterpiece was running off to. When Fuyumi came home she’d take Shouto’s place and do her homework in Sosuke and Ryou’s room. The younger boy avoided the cat after it fell asleep on his face the second night.
That day seemed no different and Shouto was dreading his sister’s coming home. He wanted to spend more time with Hoshi but he knew they couldn’t be found out.
Except she didn’t come back. He was glad to spend the extra time with their pet but at the same time he grew worried. He’d heard the front door open but she hadn’t come upstairs yet. Had their father caught her?
“Hoshi, stay here,” he whispered, getting to his feet and slinking out of the room. He thought he’d shut the door tightly but he didn’t notice the cat trailing behind him.
“We can’t keep him any longer. His wounds are healed and it’s too risky to keep taking care of him.”
That was Sosuke, trying and failing to be quiet. Who was he arguing with?
“It’s not like he’s just going to leave suddenly! After all the attention Shouto has given him, he’s going to come back for sure. Unless we take him somewhere far away, he’s just going to show up again and get all of us in trouble. We’d be better off just keeping him a bit longer and coming up with a better plan.”
What was Fuyumi talking about?
“I looked up information on a shelter nearby. They’ll take him in. Believe me, I don’t want to see him go and I don’t even want to imagine what it’ll do to Shouto, but we can’t keep risking this.”
“Even if we do bring him to the shelter, Shouto’s not going to understand! And then Dad’s going to ask all kinds of questions as to why he’s so sad all of a sudden.”
“We can make up a story or something. Just about anything would be better than the truth. Fuyumi, you know that it’s the right thing to do.”
She sighed. “...I know. I’m just going to miss seeing Shouto smile so much. Even when I was bandaging him up yesterday, he seemed happier.”
“Believe me, it’s not just you who feels that way. But it’s better that we say goodbye now instead of risking Hoshi’s life if Dad finds out.”
“You’re right… Let’s tell Shouto and we can let him say goodbye tonight.”
The boy’s breath caught and he backed up, tripping over Hoshi in the process. “No!” he cried, watching him take off down the stairs, ears flattened and back arched.
Sosuke and Fuyumi watched as he ran past them and exchanged a horrified look.
“Dad--!”
The two of them raced after the cat and slid to a stop in the kitchen, Shouto not far behind, and found their father looking down at it with little interest. “So this is the secret you were keeping, hmm? I had a feeling it was some kind of animal but I wasn’t expecting a stray cat.”
Sosuke felt as though his throat had closed up and he couldn’t breathe. There was nothing he could say to fix the situation. They’d been caught.
“Hoshi!” Shouto yelled, grabbing the cat.
His gaze hardened. “So you were in on it too. I should’ve known that’s where you were disappearing off to. You realize what comes next, of course.”
“I won’t let you hurt him!”
“Shouto,” his brother hissed. “Put him down. It’s over.”
“No! You said he was gonna kill him!”
“Listen to your brother before I decide that the cat isn’t the only one who’ll be dying today,” their father growled.
“No!”
“For god’s sake,” he muttered, grabbing him by the hair and tearing the animal from him. Hoshi hissed and tried to scratch at him but couldn’t reach. Shouto began to cry and Fuyumi held him close.
“All three of you, get out of my sight before I change my mind.”
“Don’t hurt him!” the boy shrieked.
“Shouto, come on, don’t make him even more mad.”
“He’s gonna kill him,” he whimpered.
There was nothing they could say to comfort the boy. Not when he was right.
None of them went to school the next day under strict instructions from their father. No amount of cold water or bandages could hide their new bruises.
Sosuke found Ryou in their room and hesitated a moment before approaching him. “How are you doing?”
The other boy just glared at him, arms red and splotchy where the gauze didn’t quite cover. It was the same for all of them.
He sighed. “I went digging in the trash--”
“What the hell?”
“--and found Hoshi. I… I figured we could have a funeral.”
“You went through the garbage to find his--”
“Ryou,” he said sharply. “Go tell Fuyumi and Shouto. And do not be mean about it.”
“Whatever,” he muttered. “Don’t see why we should mourn the cat that got us in so much trouble but apparently you’re already crazy if you’re going through the trash to find its corpse.”
“Y’know what? Just go wait in the courtyard.”
“Gladly.”
The boy made sure to shove him as he passed and Sosuke took a deep breath to calm himself.
Before long they were all gathered outside and the two boys had a decent sized hole dug. Hoshi’s body was wrapped in a blanket and in the same shoebox Sosuke had brought him home in.
He tossed aside the shovel and gently laid the box down. “He wasn’t here very long, but Hoshi was the best cat anyone could ask for. He didn’t bite or scratch unless he was being fed and he took a liking to almost everyone. I can only hope his next life goes better than this one did.”
“He was good company while I did my homework,” Fuyumi added, fighting back tears. “I just wish he could’ve been here awhile longer. Truly, he went too soon.”
They looked to Ryou and he scowled. “He smelled bad and he nearly suffocated me by sleeping on my face… but he was a good cat. I’m gonna miss him.”
Shouto hiccupped and looked down at the box. “He was always there for me, even when I was sad or hurt, and when I hugged him he was warm like Mom. I miss him s-so much--!”
“Rest in peace, Hoshi. May the rest of your nine lives go better.”
They filled in the hole and Fuyumi held Shouto close. “It’s not fair,” he mumbled. “Everyone who gets close to us goes away in some way.”
She rubbed his back and fought back tears of her own. “I know it seems that way, but… it doesn’t have to be that way. We can change it when we get older and make it so he’s not in charge. Maybe you can get a cat of your own and take care of it until it gets really old.”
“Really?”
“Yep. And not just cats or pets, but people too. You’re not always going to be stuck here, Shouto. One day you’re gonna find someone and… you’ll be happy. And you won’t have to worry about any of this.”
He leaned into her. “I want that day to come soon…”
“Me too.”