Chapter Text
The new arrival was already proving to be a troublemaker.
Mr. Pixis was doing his best, but the small black cat was stubborn and determined to break free. It was hissing and attempting to claw him.
“Fiesty, aren't ya?” he chuckled at the cat. “Good thing I don't believe in any of that black cat superstition nonsense. You can't do anything to me!”
The cat somehow knew it was being taunted and tried to attack the human. But Pixis showed no fear and held him down on the table for his colleague, Erwin, to inspect.
“Looks like a male, about 3 years old. His size makes him look younger than he is.” Erwin inspected the cat's fur and could see mild patches of exposed skin. What surprised him even more was that the cat had a large scar over his right eye and multiple other scratch scars on his cheeks. The cat was also missing some toes on one of his paws. “Definitely a longtime alley cat from all the damage. He's been licking himself too much as well. Better give him some inoculations.”
As if the cat knew what was going on, it started to hiss wildly. Its yowling could be heard throughout the entire animal shelter once the first needle was injected near his hind.
Three more needles and the cat was starting to get a little dizzy. He felt a little better when the humans gave him a bath. The water made him nervous at first, but he always liked the feeling of being clean and he didn't even have to lick himself to accomplish it.
“He should be fine for the night,” said Erwin. “Let's go ahead and set him up.”
Pixis carried the cat into the cat wing of the animal shelter. He only now realized that all the cages were full and contained at least one cat, which meant the new cat would have to share a cage. Normally, procedure required new cats to be by themselves for a while to help them adjust. But Pixis didn't want to go through the trouble of moving cats around.
“Here you are.” Pixis dumped the black cat into one of the larger cages with another reddish-brown fluffy cat sleeping on an upper bunk. “It's only for a night or two. Don't get into mischief. Oh you'll need a name… How about Levi? Yes, that's a nice adoptable name for a cat.”
Pixis wrote the name on the blank card and placed next to the one of the brown cat.
“Have a good night,” he told all the other cats as he turned off the lights and shut the door behind him.
“LEVI!” a strange voice greeted the black cat from within the cage. The fluffy brown cat came down from its bunk. It had very unkempt fur and didn't look remotely clean in the least. It was determined to sniff the new arrival as a greeting. But the black cat, instead of giving a friendly 'hello', hissed and then turned and started clawing at the cage lock.
“That's a great name, Levi!” the brown cat told him.
“I'm not Levi,” said the black cat while clawing. “Or whatever that human wants to call me.”
“Okay, so what's your real name?”
“I don't have a name. I'm an alley cat and I'm trying to get out of here.”
“Why would you want to leave?” the brown cat asked. “We have it great here. We get meals, a warm bed, and we get a chance at a home!”
The black cat argued. “I don't want a home! I want out!”
“Okay. Can I still call you Levi?”
“No.”
“That's great!” The brown cat said, clearly ignoring him. “My last human named me Hange. So you can call me Hange.”
The black cat, stuck being referred to as Levi, spent the next hour clawing at the cat to no avail. He was getting tired.
“Are you done?” Hange asked him patiently. “I was going to give you a tour of our cage.”
Levi groaned, having given up on escape for the night.
Hange looked up at the cat bunks that had crumpled blankets on both. “These are our beds.” Hange then turned to the bowls sticking partway through the gate. “Here's our food dishes and over there is our litter box.”
“OUR litter box?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You mean we have to share?”
“Yes,” Hange smiled.
This place was hell, Levi decided. To be put to sleep was starting to become more preferable.
In his distraction, Hange was able to successfully sniff Levi. “Ooh, you're a male! Well we should be fine. I already went through the 'you know what' a couple days ago.”
“No,” said Levi. “I don't...”
Then it struck him.
On top of everything he was stuck in this cage (too small a space for him) with a female cat...a big, very annoying, and dirty female cat at that.
…
The next day, humans were coming to see the cats and Hange was getting excited.
“Lighten up, Levi,” she said to him. “Look at all the people who want to take us home.”
“Take YOU home, maybe,” he said. Levi was lucky his scars and missing toes were acting as a deterrent to scare off the more picky humans.
“Where did you get all your scars from anyway?”
Levi was starting to get annoyed with her. “None of your business!”
A woman worker opened the door to their cage and tried to reach an arm out to grab one of them.
“Yay!” Hange started leaping for joy.
But Levi instantly reacted and started lashing at the arm. The worker shrieked and got her arm out before Levi could do any damage.
“Levi! How could you?!” Hange scorned him. “They were interested in us!”
“Well I'm not interested in them!”
“But if we don't get adopted, they could put us to sleep. You know what that is, right?”
“I'm fully aware of it,” Levi snarked. “How much time do you think we have?”
“Well I was only here a few days before you came along. So I may have less time than you. But at least I'm doing more to get adopted.”
“You think you're ever gonna get another human? No one can see a cat under all that disgusting batch of fur you wear!”
Hange didn't know if Levi meant any of it as an insult. She felt slightly offended but chose not to respond with harshness.
Instead, she would mess with him.
As soon as his back was turned from her, Hange pounced him. “Augh! Get off me!”
The two cats were now wrestling each other on the cage floor.
“You've never played before?” she asked him.
“No, I've never played!” said Levi.
Hange immediately started nibbling his ear like a chew toy.
“Oi, quit it!”
Hange was enjoying herself (and Levi's misery) until she felt a funny, cold and wet feeling on her fur.
“AH! What are you doing?!”
“Giving you a bath, you filthy furball,” Levi said in-between licks.
Hange tried to break free but Levi had her curled up in a firm grip.
“Lemme go! Lemme go! Lemme go! Lemme go!” She kicked her back legs but Levi smirked upon realizing that she was declawed. She couldn’t hurt him even if she wanted to.
Hange continued to resist until finally, her body began adjusting to the black cat's constant grooming.
“There,” Levi said as soon as he finished. “Ugh. There was so much, I'm gonna throw up the biggest hairball tonight.”
“Hee-hee.” Hange giggled. From what little she could see in the reflective metal wall of the cage, her fur looked much slicker and shinier now.
As the day passed, Hange patiently waited for another human to take an interest in her, but there seemed to be no takers. Even when Levi was napping and not throwing a fit, the humans seemed to be passing her by, which made her start to feel sad.
When Levi wasn't sleeping, he was secretly watching Hange and was starting to feel guilty. Was his presence as her cage-mate really scaring off people?
Why did it matter anyway? He didn't want to be adopted. He wanted to get out of there.
Erwin came by the cage. “It looks like both of these cats haven't been neutered yet. We better get to it quickly. Let's schedule it for tomorrow, first thing in the morning.”
'Tomorrow?' Levi panicked. He heard all the horror stories about being neutered. It wasn't so much the inability to breed that bothered him so much as the surgical procedure which he feared would put him through massive pain. Granted his scars were proof of how tough he was. But he would rather deal with the streets again than be strapped helpless to a table for the humans to knife.
He needed to think of an escape plan, and he needed for it to happen tonight.
…
During the final visiting hour, Hange was happy when someone asked to hold her and even complemented her fur. She was disappointed when she was being put back in the cage.
Unknown to anyone, Levi set a mouse toy in the perfect position by the cage lock so it only seemed like the door was fully closed after Hange was put back in.
After visiting hours ended, Levi made his move. Thankfully he didn't have to leap very far to reach the floor.
The noise startled Hange from her sleep. She looked down from her bunk to see the cage door completely open and Levi gone.
“Levi!”
Without thinking Hange got out of the cage to follow him.
To the cats’ surprise, the door leading into the main hall was propped open, likely because Mr. Pixis (who was on night duty) had a bit too much Sherry that he was currently sleeping off at the front desk.
By the time Hange caught up to Levi, the black cat turned a corner and was already heading down the hall.
“Levi, what are you doing?!”
“I told you I'm getting out of here.”
“You can't just leave!”
But Levi ignored him and kept going until he was in the back storage area of the shelter. “There's gotta be an open exit around here,” he said to himself.
“Levi, listen to me! We have to go back to the cage before...”
They both heard the sound of a door opening. In a panic the two cats jumped into one of the large cardboard boxes in the hall and hid themselves.
“Quiet,” Levi told Hange.
The box began to move. The two cats remained still. Then, they heard an engine running.
It was in that moment, when they realized that they were now in the back of a truck…
About twenty minutes later, Levi and Hange jumped out of the box and felt the bitter cold nipping at them.
“Eeek!” Hange looked around. “Where are we?”
“A dumpster probably,” said Levi.
“Oh no! We're not anywhere near the shelter anymore!”
“Fine by me.”
Levi stared to walk away but Hange caught up to him.
“Wait a minute! You can't just leave me here! This is all your fault!”
“My fault? You didn't have to follow me!”
“I could have gotten another human tomorrow! Maybe you could have too if you weren't such an a'hole about everything!”
“I told you I don't...want...a human!”
It started to drizzle and the black cat was quick to storm off. He turned around only for a brief moment, only to wish that he hadn't.
Hange was sitting there sniffling and trying to huddle herself against the cold rain.
Levi sighed. “Oi...” he said to her. “You coming along?”
Hange was confused. “Y-y-you don't mind?”
“You wanna go back to the shelter that badly, I'm sure we can find it again. But don't expect me to go anywhere near it. Right now, we should get out of this rain.”
“And go w-where?”
“I'm an alley cat, remember? I know all kinds of places to sleep.”
Their quest for shelter brought them to an overturned trashcan lying by an outside heating vent. Levi was usually very picky about where he slept at night. It was difficult having to sacrifice cleanliness for freedom at times.
Reluctantly, he allowed Hange to sleep next to him so that they could both keep warm. Hange was still shaking and shivering.
“Tch, you’re filthy again,” said Levi as he started grooming her.
He could feel her starting to calm down from his licks and eventually fall asleep.
…
The next day, the two cats went to the fishing wharf.
“I thought we were going back to the shelter,” Hange moped.
Levi was getting annoyed. “Wanna starve before we get there? We could both use something to eat. This will be better than hunting mice, believe me.”
However, Hange notice a lot of fencing around the area. “This looks heavily guarded.”
“Yeah, they got a big dog keeping an eye on things here at night. In the day, the people are distracted with work. We should be fine.”
Hange felt uncomfortable with the idea of stealing but it came naturally to Levi. The black cat snuck under a hidden tear in the fence. Hange had no choice but to follow.
The wharf was filled with fishermen and crates upon crates of freshly caught fish. Levi used his skills and awareness of the area to make sure it was safe. He had Hange follow his lead.
Soon they were safely out and back through the fence, each with a fresh fish in their mouth.
Hange had to admit, it was the best tasting meal she ever had...a far cry from her usual kitty kibble.
They spent the entire day roaming the city hoping for some direction...some sign of where the animal shelter might be. Their noses could only track so much and they seemed to be going around in circles. There weren’t even any animal catchers (not that Levi was hoping) that could take Hange back quickly.
It wasn’t like they could ask for directions and other cats would think them mad for wanting to go back.
It got more frustrating as the days past. Levi hoped to be free of Hange by this point, but she was practically stuck with him. She had never endured street life before like he had. So he had to teach her how to find food, where the safest places were to sleep. They would have to part ways eventually. So whatever Hange could learn from him would be helpful.
In return, Hange had no choice but to accept his baths, and sometimes Levi would have her clean his face and ears where his tongue couldn’t reach.
Their journey brought them to a city park. It was familiar to Levi, which made them hopeful that they were getting close to the shelter.
“Look at all the humans!” Hange said happily. “Maybe they’ll give us something to eat...or even give us a home!”
Levi scoffed. “I doubt it. Besides, we should just wait till nightfall before…Oi!” He watched as Hange was already wandering down the park pathways.
Levi hurried to follow her and nearly bumped into a mother and her child. “Kitty!” the child squealed.
The mother panicked. “Get back, dear! That stray looks very sick. We’ll find you another kitty to pet.” The mother started to shoo away Levi. Levi was ready to respond, but Hange quickly came and approached the child snuggling up to the tiny legs and meowing softly.
“Kitty!” the child cheered again.
This time, seeing that Hange seemed cleaner, the mother permitted the petting if only for a brief moment before the humans went on.
“I saw that,” said Hange. “Were you about to attack them?”
“Natural instincts,” Levi replied. “I never had a human owner before.”
“So you were always a stray? I know you’re not used to being around people. But if you opened up to them a little, maybe you’d see they won’t all be like that woman.”
“That woman thought I was sick, Hange. Look at me and ask yourself what human would ever want a cat in my condition.”
Hange frowned. She failed to understand Levi’s animosity towards humans until now. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to be rejected like that. All the humans she ever had loved her. In the end, she was separated from them for a variety of reasons that she was quite forgiving and understanding towards.
“You’re right,” Hange said sympathetically. “We should hide and wait till night.”
The sun began to set and the fall chill was starting to worsen. But they both knew that it would be easier to find food if there were less people in the way.
They crossed paths with an elderly couple that were out for an evening stroll.
Levi froze in hesitation, but Hange moved forward, hoping that they had some food on them.
“Oh look! Aren’t they adorable,” the old lady said. Hange moved in rubbing against the woman’s leg and letting her pet her.
“Here kitty,” the old man beckoned Levi.
Hange motioned a cautious Levi to come forward, which he did slowly. The old man was even bending down and stretched out his hand with something inside. Levi sniffed it.
“Cat treats!” said Hange happily as she went to the old man’s hand and took some.
Levi reluctantly decided to lick and consume the remainder. He never had cat treats before and it tasted strangely like the scraps of chicken bone he used to find in alleyways. He nearly panicked when he felt the old man’s hand patting his head. A few deep breaths and the black cat began to calm himself. He was even starting to purr a little. Levi realized he never actually purred before.
“He looks just like you, Harold,” the old lady said smiling. “...with the scars and everything.”
Levi looked up and took notice for the first time of the old man’s scars on his face, including one near his eye.
After the couple had moved on, Levi still felt strangely warm. Hange had come up to him and they look to see their tails entwining with one another. Hange chuckled.
“Who knew you could purr?” she teased him.
“Shut up.”
…
That night, they snuggled up together on a park bench. Hange was stretching herself oddly.
“Levi?”
The black cat sensed the nervousness in Hange’s voice. “What’s wrong?” he asked concerned.
“I think I’m…” She was shaking a bit but not from the cold. “...you know...in that mood…”
“Oh…” Levi knew what she was talking about now. “Well, to be honest...I’m kinda feeling it too.” He was starting to feel a bit sheepish.
The two cats were awkwardly silent, unsure as to what to do.
“Maybe…” Hange started but then stopped. “Well...if you wanna go find another female cat to do it with...I won’t take offense.”
“Why would I do that? You’re here, aren’t you?”
“But I’ve never…” she stuttered. “I mean...not with another cat before.”
“I know,” Levi assured her. “It’s nature though, right? You’ll be fine.”
Levi jumped off the bench. “If you want this, we should find someplace more private. I’m not into the P.D.A.”
Hange then followed Levi into the darkness of an underpass.
When they were done, Levi was cleaning Hange up once more. She never felt so relaxed in her entire life. Curled up against Levi, she couldn’t stop purring.
“Mmm.” Hange sighed. “I miss Moblit.”
“Who’s Moblit?” Levi asked confused.
“My former human. He did worry about me too much. Nearly had a heart attack once when I got near the front door and he always panicked every time I try to jump on some high furniture.”
“Is that why he gave you up?”
Hange got defensive. “Of course not! He...he got a girlfriend who’s allergic to cats and complained about how overprotective he was of me. And once they got engaged...I mean...he felt really awful about having to do it. I think he even cried when he brought me to the shelter.”
Levi groaned. He was annoyed with Hange’s attempt to put a positive spin on her predicament. “And what makes you think something like that won’t happen again?”
“I don’t. But I’m not going to give up that easy.”
“Tch,” said Levi. “You’re naive to think that all humans are going to be like that Moblit guy. You trust them too much.”
Hange was getting angry. “Oh yeah?! Well...you never trust humans at all!”
“I’ve been around far more of them than you have. Unlike you, I didn’t live most of my life inside a single room.”
“It wasn’t a single room! It was an apartment!!!”
It was in this moment that Hange, irritated as hell, squirmed away from Levi and sulked her way out of the underpass.
“Where are you going?!” Levi asked her.
“To find the shelter myself,” she said. “...since you clearly don’t want anything to do with people. Good-bye, Levi. Enjoy your street-life.”
Levi yelled at her. But he didn’t know what to yell at her for. For her to just leave like that, it was so sudden. And it seemed she had already sped off into the night before Levi could even consider going after her.
…
Hange had been wandering around the city for almost two days now.
At times, she was getting disoriented, ill, and hungry.
She was starting to regret ever leaving Levi, thinking that she would find the shelter anytime now.
She even tried to approach humans hoping one would lend her some food (or give her a home) but without Levi to keep her clean, she was starting to appear feral and unapproachable.
Never had Hange felt so alone and so hopeless. Perhaps Levi had been right about everything. She should have known better given that she’s a house cat.
Remembering what he taught her, Hange managed to find some food and warmth at night, but for some reason it never seemed like enough.
As fate would have it, just as it seemed Hange was too weak and too sad to go on, she came across a familiar wharf. She remembered how she and Levi ate some fish from there.
The memory of how tasty the fish was, was enough for her mouth to water. It was easier and quicker to find food in trash cans, but her craving could not be contained. She found the opening in the fence where Levi led her before and squeezed in.
Although it was dark and foggy, the scent of the fish was alluring enough for Hange to find the barrels. Too her disappointment, however many were already sealed closed, probably because there were no humans around.
Just when Hange thought that she had found an open barrel, she heard a strange growl from behind her.
She turned around and was confronted with a massive terrifying dog.
“Stupid Hange,” Levi grumbled. It was just because she knew nothing about the streets. That’s what he told himself. And it wasn’t like he had nothing else better to do these days other than to look for her.
It was a good thing that Hange had a distinct (though smelly) odor. He would be able to smell her if she was close.
After a couple of nights of searching, he caught a familiar whiff in the air.
Hange was near.
He saw the familiar wharf nearby.
‘Shit,’ he thought. Would she really...?
And then he heard a dog barking and a cat screaming.
Hange ran from the guard dog, as fast as she could, along the edges of the fencing, desperate to find to opening she came in from. But it was clear that even if she did find it, she wouldn’t make it through before the dog caught up with her.
Her only option was to try and climb.
The wire fencing was not supporting her body as much as she hoped it would. Only getting up halfway through, Hange fell but thankfully landing on her feet.
There was one last resort left for her. She would try and fight her way out.
She jumped towards the dog having forgotten that she was declawed.
It was a terrifying scream.
Levi sped to the fence, heading straight through the opening.
He could see in the darkness that the large dog had something in his jaw. So Levi quickly ran up the backside of the creature. The dog felt claws digging into its back and wildly tried to shake the cat off. Levi dug his claws in until he reach behind the dog’s head and scratch its eyes with a single strike.
The dog dropped what it had in its mouth. Levi jumped off as soon as it started running off blindly.
“Hange!”
Levi saw Hange, lying still on the ground, with blood oozing from her left eye.
He started sniffing her, grateful to sense that she was still alive.
The sounds of the dog however, concerned him. It could likely come back soon.
Levi did his best to pull Hange back under the fence and drag her as far from the wharf as he could to a safe place.
The remainder of the night was spent with Levi doing his best to lick away the blood from her wounds and keep her warm.
Morning arrived, and Hange could be heard moaning for the first time. “Levi?”
“Yeah, it’s me, you idiot,” he said sarcastically. He dropped scraps of a discarded sandwich infront of Hange, hoping that she would eat it.
“I…” Hange wanted desperately to eat the sandwich but at the same time, she didn’t. “I don’t feel so good.”
“No shit.” Levi looked at her damaged eye. It didn’t look very good. In fact, it appear to be grotesque and bulging. Could it be that it was infected? From Levi’s experience in the streets, he knew that certain wound infections could result in a slow and painful death for strays.
He remembered his mother dying when he a small kitten from a similar infection. He couldn’t let that happen to Hange.
For a small size cat, Levi was surprisingly strong. He pushed for Hange to walk in small increments at a time...rest...then help her walk again, sometimes even dragging her along by the neck.
But it was clear she was getting sicker, and neither of them knew where they were going.
Just when it seemed like Levi was getting Hange going again, her body completely collapsed.
“Dammit! Get up, Hange!” Levi pushed her.
She just lied there, breathing heavily.
He looked around hoping to find a human to help, but it was an unusually quiet and gloomy day there were more cars than pedestrians in whatever part of town they were now in.
Levi realized he had dragged Hange too close to the edge of the street when a passing car nearly hit them. On instinct, he hissed at the large vehicle which suddenly came to a stop and then backed up right alongside them.
A person stepped out of what appeared to be a white van and looked down at the two cats.
“There you are,” the man said smiling. “We were wondering where you two have been off to.”
Levi was in a defensive mode but soon began to calm down when he looked upon the man and recognized his blond hair and big eyebrows.
Erwin bent down and picked up Hange first, noticing the bad damage to her eye. He wrapped her in a blanket and carried her gently into the back of the van.
Levi watched. After all this time, Hange was finally going home. They would treat her, he thought. She was going to be okay.
To his surprise, he felt himself being picked up by Erwin and placed into the van with Hange.
“Hey,” Levi called to her. But the only signs of life she gave was the occasional whimper of pain.
The entire ride, he continued to clean her wound and nuzzle his face to hers, hoping for some kind of change to come.
…
For two days now, Levi was back where it all began: trapped, confined in a small cage back at the animal shelter.
But this time, he was all alone.
This time, the humans had been successful in neutering him once he and Hange were brought back here and were separated. He couldn’t really move around, not that he wanted to anymore.
Levi now feared the worst.
Hange’s infection must have been so bad...her sickness incurable. The only option at that point was to end her suffering.
The humans here...they probably would have done it by now.
When that horrible realization came to Levi, he stopped eating. All he did was lie in his cage not caring if his time ran out and he met the same fate that Hange did.
It was his fault, after all, that this happened to her.
And this cage, without her, was too lonely, too quiet.
He heard the door open, but he had no will to move or to look alive in any way. Let the humans do what they want with him.
“Levi?”
He didn’t believe his ears when he heard that familiar voice.
He looked up and saw the fluffy brown cat that was now occupying his cage, brandishing a large white bandage over its left eye.
“H-Hange?!” He had to sniff her just to be sure. Her scent...her awful, wonderful scent.
It was really was Hange.
Levi came right to her and snuggled up to her.
They both purred in unison.
“I thought they’d…”
“I know,” said Hange. “I was scared too. They’ll take the bandage off in a week and soon I’ll have a scar over that eye just like yours.”
Seeing Hange smile made Levi feel ecstatic inside, which was something he really ever felt. She also smelled fresh and quite clean from the humans giving her a decent bath. “Is that what took so long or were you really that dirty?” he joked with her.
“Well,” she said nervously. “They wanted to keep an eye on me since they found something else, too.”
Levi got worried again. “What? They found what?”
Her face lit up. “Levi, I’m pregnant! We’re gonna have kittens!”
Levi was stunned, and now he was the one that seemed like he was going to faint.
…
Before their kittens would come into the world, fate had another life-changing event in store for Hange and Levi.
That was the day a young couple came into the shelter looking to adopt a cat.
“Oh Mike, look at them!” Nanaba peered into the cages. “They all look so adorable.” Her eyes then turned to a fluffy brown cat lying in a cage with a smaller black cat resting calmly by her side. She looked at the name on the cage. “Han-ge.”
Her boyfriend Mike leaned in and took a sniff of the cat. “Hmm...she has only one eye and she smells funny.”
Mike was unaware that Levi heard him. The black cat sneered at the man ready to slice him. But Hange gave him a look.
“One eye or not, she’s beautiful,” said Nanaba. “I think this is the one…”
Levi leaned down to whisper to Hange. “Looks like you and the kittens are finally getting a home.”
Hange shook her head. “Levi, no! I can’t leave you…”
“Hey, after everything we’ve been through. I’ll feel better knowing you’ll have a nice home to live in again. Even if this is good-bye…”
Hange couldn’t bear the thought that she would have to leave Levi. She had hoped he would be around for the birth of the kittens. She should have known that separation was always a possibility.
The big guy, Mike, was still staring at the two cats. “Why does ‘Han-ge’ look like she swallowed another cat?”
Levi was getting agitated and started to growl. The nerve of this human insulting his Hange.
In that moment, Pixis came by the cage. “That’s because Hange here is expecting. And we suspect this little guy here…” he said pointing to Levi. “...is the baby-daddy...or uh...’kitty-daddy’, as the young folks would call it.”
Nanaba started to squeal. “Oh Mike! Kittens! We have to adopt both of them!”
“Both of them?!” Mike was starting to think his girlfriend was crazy. “We only came here to get ONE cat!”
“Well we can’t separate the parents, can we? They should all be together! Come on, we can handle a few more cats.” She was starting to use those eyes that often made Mike weak.
And soon enough, they were signing papers to officially adopt ‘Levi’ and ‘Hange’.
…
Months later…
The cats were settling well in their new home.
Mike and Nanaba decided to buy a house so there would be plenty of room for all of them: Levi...Hange...and seven little balls of fur that were growing and getting into all kinds of mischief.
“Levi!” Hange called out to him. “Sasha’s eating everyone’s food again!”
“Tch.” Levi groaned and hurried over to pick up the furry brown kitten eating out of everyone else’s food bowls. He managed to carry her far away from the food and plop her down in-between Connie and Jean, who were in the middle of rough-housing each other.
Soon all three kittens were playing peacefully.
“She’s getting heavier to carry,” said Levi.
Hange smiled. “They’ll all be grown up before we know it.” She couldn’t move as Armin and Historia, the smallest kittens, were fast asleep against her belly. “I don’t see Eren or Mikasa anywhere.”
“Probably running away from another bath,” Levi smirked. As if on cue, Levi coughed up another hairball. It was more common now that he had many cats to keep clean.
He eventually found a little black kitten pulling at another light brown striped kitten. The striped kitten got free and managed to climb onto the sofa.
“Oi!” Levi called to Eren but Eren was now jumping onto the coffee table knocking over and stomping on anything he could.
He was always the most troublesome of the seven kittens.
Levi was giving chase around the living room once again. “Get back here, you little world-wrecker!”
Hange laughed, knowing that Levi would get things under control as he always did.
And that is the story of how two unlikely cats came together to become one big happy cat family...even if poor Mike had a lot more cat litter to clean up after.
THE END