"Oh, I'll get you back for this." I whispered right into Seven's ears before I slid off her back.

I saw her frown a little, then just shrug. To be fair, I would too. But let's see how she shrugs off some jello on her bed. Oh wait, she sleeps on the floor... for some reason. I don't really get it, but I saw her get on the bed, lie down on, and then just decide that the floor was better. I mean, she uses blankets, but still.

...I guess I'll hold that off for now. Well, my forehead still stung, but I guess that's Mum for you.

It's too bad that I don't have Chiri right now, but it's this early in the morning. What could possibly go wrong? As much as I would've loved to run all the way back, teasing Seven all the way here sounded so appealing that I just couldn't help myself. It's a shame, really. I just sighed as I stood in front of the door to the café with both Mum and Seven behind me, waiting for me to open the door. I get Seven but why Mum? Did she get into another fight with Uncle? Eh, whatever. Door duty's on me today.

I took a moment and set my sights beyond the door, and I caught a glimpse of the thin frame of a pretty young girl with long platinum hair, noticeably brighter than Seven, seated by the counter. She wore a dull blue varsity jacket over a gray turtle neck, plain black pants and a pair of red sneakers. The clothes were remarkably plain, but she wore them well. She looked awfully animated as she talked with Uncle Monty, and looked like they were having a good time in general. Furry pointed ears twitched from the top of her head and her long white tail swished energetically from side to side. She was...

Wait, it's Ciel, isn't it? My bad, this one's a guy. Might be self-proclaimed. I know he has a little johny of his own, but still. With a pretty face like that, I find myself wondering about that every now and then. Though I've no doubt he'll burn me alive if I said that to his face. Real prideful, this one.

Uncle was the same as usual. Dirt colored hair and a wolfish grin. He had pale eyes, looked like he had cataracts but had no noticeable problems with his eyesight, as far as I can remember. He wore a brown waistcoat over a plain white office shirt. He didn't bother locking the last two buttons and didn't wear a necktie. Black pants, leather shoes and so on. Neat, sharp, and formal but somehow laidback.

Ciel looked so happy talking to Uncle that I'd almost feel bad for ruining the moment.

Nah, who am I kidding? I couldn't help but grin as I quietly told the other two to give me a moment while I slowly opened the door, just enough so that the bell wouldn't ring. I kept a hand close to the bell as I quietly snuck inside, just to make sure it wouldn't move suddenly and make noise. The café was barely occupied, just Monty and Ciel, and Uncle caught up to. I lunged at little Ciel from behind and held him in a bear hug, lifting him from his seat. He yelled, struggled, and so on while I found myself extremely pleased by the long string of curses that spew forth from his adorable little mouth.

Nothing short of music, I swear.

"June." Uncle Monty chuckled even as he greeted me with a rather small nod. "Coffee?"

"I'd rather have tea for today." I said that, right before playfully nibbling on Ciel's ears.

Ugh, there's fur in my mouth, but it was still worth the frantic gibberish and death threats that quickly followed. I should make that a ring tone or something. I'm brought out of my thoughts as I catch Ciel raising both of his feet up the air bracing for a stomp aimed at my right foot, but I dodged in the nick of time, trying to make as little movement as possible; didn't want that cut opening up.

Okay, this might not be worth it. He noticed the wound and targeted it anyway. Yep, he's definitely out for blood.

I let him go and backed off, only to duck as I was forced to dodge a backhanded swipe aimed right for my face. He used that momentum to turn around and face me, and I could see him glaring at me, face completely red from all the indignity. Aww, he's furious. That's adorable!

"Try that again and I'll bash your face in." He glared, ears drawn back as he clenched his teeth. That's, like, the hundredth time you've made that one. Not that you've never tried to follow it up.

I smiled as the door opened and the sound of a bell rung out. Saved by the... That's kind of a cheap joke now that I think about it. Mum steps in, with Seven following closely behind her, the latter looking somewhat confused by all the shouting from earlier, while the former looked indifferent at worst. and as soon as Ciel noticed someone else stepping into the room, he quietly sighed and tried to get himself together.

"Missy!" Uncle looked extremely pleased by the visit, arms stretched out in a welcoming gesture. I guess Mum hasn't been coming by as of late. "I thought you'd never come!"

"Good morning, Ms. Valor." Ciel greeted after he took a moment to calm down. His face was still a little red, but he looked respectful as he gave her a slight bow.

Mum gave them a quick wave, though she did look with Ciel with a complicated expression. Well, to be fair, it was a cringey family name. I think Uncle told me an old story about that but I couldn't quite remember it. All I knew was that she was always against the idea of being called by it.

"Ms. Ellie's fine." She said as she took a seat at a table, some distance away from the counter.

Ciel looked a little panicked as he sputtered an apology or two but Mum just gave him a slight smile, and it worked. He calmed down and wore a shy, apologetic smile on his face as he shrank right back into his seat. Like I said, adorable.

But!

You see that crap? That's favoritism right there! I swear, this woman...

"So, what bring you two—" Uncle catches Seven from the corner of his eye and corrects himself "—Ah, sorry. What brings all three of you here today?"

"We need an ID for this one over here." Mum said, lazily pointing a thumb towards Seven, who was just standing right behind her.

"That's a new face." He gave Seven a polite smile, and I could already see the gears turning in his head. "Hello there. The name's Monty, by the way. You are?"

"...Seven." She took her time with that one. Head lowered as she tried to avoid eye contact. Come to think of it, she does that with Mum too. Something against older people, I guess.

"That's... a very nice name." He winced, right before giving me a quick questioning glance. Explanations, right. Of course. He knows more than Mum so it could be a little easier. Or harder, depending on how persistent he'd be with grilling me. He quickly wore a much nicer smile as he turned his attention back to the tall girl and continued.

"This little guy over here is called Ciel." He pointed towards the young albino, who also followed suite and wore a polite smile on his face as his complexion returned to normal. It looked quite forced, actually. Amateur.

"Nice to meet you, Seven." A rather stiff greeting, answered by a small nod. He didn't mind that.

"He's very cuddly." I butted in and earned myself a pair of irritated glances. This, he did mind. And despite that, I'm not hearing any objections, therefore, it must be true.

Oh my, it's a two for one deal. Where's the cameras when you need them? They caught a glimpse of each other's faces and after a moment of silence, shared a look of mutual understanding. More like mutual sympathy, if I had to be specific. No alliances please, I really can't handle threesomes right now.

"Looks like you'll get along just fine." Uncle Monty looked satisfied, and I could at least see some semblance of relief on Mum's face as she watched. "I'll have to warn you though, he can be a little... standoff-ish."

"I'm... working on that." Ciel said, even as he cringed at the words. His ears drooped, along with his tail.

"Very competitive." I added, which made him click his tongue and glare at me. Both his ears and tail came right back to life, raised aggressively into the air. "Quite petty too."

"Shut it, drop out." There was some hostility to his voice that I didn't quite expect, and, even then, I couldn't help but push him a little more.

"But of course, Mr. honor student." Oh, he hated that one. Too bad, no way I'm stopping now.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Let's not do that here." Uncle's voice took in a more authoritative tone for a second, but quickly made an apologetic gesture towards Seven.

Speaking of which, she looked kind of... lost, for a second. Not scared, just completely out of touch. Ah, I might've messed this one up. Ciel follows Uncle's gaze and frowns. He tries to put on a calmer expression as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head, but it takes some time.

"My bad." I apologized with a shrug. Crude, maybe, but it's better than nothing. Ciel clicks his tongue, but it wasn't directed towards anyone. Probably. Well, there's me. But he still quickly follows up with one of his own.

"I'm really sorry you had to see that." He did another slight bow. Mostly directed towards both Monty and Seven.

Uncle sighed as he slowly shook his head, dejected. Disappointed. Most likely both.

"As you can see, they don't get along very well, but they're both nice people." Monty said, sounding quite similar to a teacher introducing his students, and for some reason, both Ciel and Seven were looking at me with expressions that just screamed 'I doubt that'. Like a wise man once said, 'Nothing bonds people together better than mutual dislike for someone else.'

Well, I don't think that she hates me that much, at least.

"With introductions out of the way, let's get this over with quick." Uncle gave us another smile as he turned around and opened the door to the backroom. "Seven, this way, please."

Seven gave both me and Mum a quick glance, and... Mum, was well... Mum. She just shooed her off so reassuring smile duty was left to me. I tried not to make it a grin, and I got a small nod from the girl as she followed after Uncle so I guess it worked. She was lead to the back, and honestly speaking, there wasn't much in there;

Empty rooms, a crammed storages, and a breakroom and a kitchen. The decor was quite similar to the dorm room, only less muted. The furniture was... Is it mahogany or something? I don't really know. It did look quite ornate though. The empty rooms were useful for taking pictures, blank white backgrounds and all, but enough about that. If there's one person I'd trust not to do anything weird, it's Uncle Monty. And him being him, there's nothing remotely interesting behind there.

I stopped looking around and just recalled my vision for the time being. The streets were still remotely dull, nothing interesting just people moving from here to there. Office workers, laborers, stand owners, civilians and so on. Saturday mornings were nice. Quiet, but not dead silent. Peaceful, in a sense.

"Ah, the barista's gone, and I'm not seeing any drinks." I sighed as I sank to the seat in front of Mum.

"Rude." She comments, eyes closed, arms folded as she allowed herself to relax a little.

"Go drink river water." Goddammit, Ciel. Good one! Still angry?

"Eh, too far." On the other side of the city, I think. I guess it's drinkable? Probably. Well, I still wouldn't drink from it. It'd be nice to hang out over there though. Scalies are pretty chill.

"I'll bring some over next time then." And what he left unsaid was the fact that he'll probably put it in a spray bottle and threaten me with it.

"How kind of you." I'll make a note to check if he has any on him next time. I'll make sure to steal it and use it all up on him

There was a long pause after that. I swung my legs underneath the chair, only to stop as I felt the stitches on my leg tighten up. Not exactly painful, but it was uncomfortable. After a few more minutes, Mum gets up from her seat. She looked awfully bored. If she was anything like Eri, I'd be more terrified but thankfully, she didn't inherit her sociopathy from Mum. Where did she get that, anyway?

"I'll just be in the washroom." She said as she walked towards the CRs.

"Picking flowers?" I asked. I could hear Ciel sighing at that one.

"...What?" She paused right as her hand had just pushed the door open.

"It means taking a pi—"

"Stop." Ciel cuts me off, looking more than a little annoyed as he glared at me from across the room.

"Oh, I see." She blinks once. I think she got it, but didn't find anything strange with it. Whatever her reaction was, she didn't really show as she just slipped into the toilets and forever vanished from my life. You will be missed.

With nothing else to do, I let my eyes wander off outside. What time was it? 6? 7? I took a glimpse of the clock, just to confirm. Nope, 8:32. Wow, we're up late. The streets were getting busier by now. It was lively outside. Traffic's picking up. There's cars, a truck or two here and there, and definitely more civilians. Stalls are getting busy.

I should start looking around for clothes, since I'll just be sitting here anyway. What would Seven like? I don't think she likes showing much skin so probably lots of pants and long sleeved shirts. Colors... probably something quite muted. Like gray, black, or white, with the occasional accents here and there. I'll probably sneak in a few dresses every now and then and see what happens.

Let's see... t-shirts, sweaters, sweatshirts, jackets, ponchos, long shorts, hoodies, cardigans, cargo pants, and... hm, that's a lot. Eh, sounds like a pain, walking around from store to store. Too much ground to cover round these parts. Well, that's what I'm here for. I'll just get her the bare neccessities and keep adding on from there.

"So," Ciel suddenly speaks, and I had to stop searching for a minute. "Who's the girl?"

"...My sister, I guess?" Not exactly wrong. "What, is she your type?"

"Really? Blood related?" And he completely ignores the question.

"Not really."

"Ms. Ellie adopted her too, then?"

"No. Not yet." I shook my head as I traced a finger down the table, mainly just to keep myself occupied. If I had to be honest, I kind of hope she does. It'll make things easier. "I just sort of... picked her up last night."

"O...kay? How does that work?" Ciel tilts his head, one ear perked up as the other just flops down lifelessly. Even from behind, he just looked way too adorable. Cameras, please. Somebody.

"Well, shit happened, and now she lives with us." I didn't want to talk about it, really. Too much trouble.

"Details, please." This little busybody just can't help himself, can he?

"Look," I huffed, making sure that I looked more irritated and uncomfortable than I actually was."If you're so curious, ask her yourself."

"I'll keep that in mind." You know, I've noticed people tend to say that when they don't want to deal with something. They put it off for tomorrow over and over till they just can't afford to do it anymore. The thing about tomorrow is you'll run out of it eventually. Or everyone just gives up on you. Same result either way.

"So, how's school?" I asked, stopping the search for the time being and just kept my sights within the café for a while. Not like I'll be able to focus now.

"...Tedious." He sighed tiredly. I feel you. "But it's something. What are you doing anyway?"

"Oh, this and that." I shrugged. He'll probably try to get in the way if I was honest. Rope me into something else while he was at it too.

"You're not unemployed, are you?" He turned, squinting his eyes as his ears perked up. Give me back my concern, please.

"How rude." Strangely enough, I actually found myself genuinely offended by that. "I get paid for what I do, you know."

"What? Compensated dating?" Hah, as if! I mean, I might be pretty and all but people find me scary. Or really fucking annoying.

"Would you like me to shove that tail of yours up your ass?" He chuckled a little, amused by my answer even as he slightly cringed from the image in his head.

"Then what?" He looked genuinely interested, for some reason.

"Basically being a general nuisance." That... might actually be the best way to put it, now that I've said it. Hm. Never really thought of it like that. Then again, a catch-and-release sort of vigilante really did sound like a major pain in the ass. Like a certain caped crusader. Paddle the heretics and run. Sounds awfully appealing, as long as you don't put much thought to it.

"Oh, I'm sure you're loving that." He chuckles again and his tail swings twice before stopping.

"Not really."

"Really? That's surprising."

"Well, everyone gets sick of something eventually." I sighed, closing my eyes in a somewhat melodramatic fashion. "Something good all the time is too much, and never is too goddamn little. Like a wise goose once said; 'Sometimes is enough'."

"...I don't get it."

"That's rough, buddy." I lowered the pitch of my voice and made it sound gruff. More a funny voice than anything believable but well, that works just fine.

"Fuck you." There was less bite in it. Definitely friendlier than that comment from earlier.

I paused, just to mess with him a little more. I placed a hand to my chin, furrowed my brows, and hummed thoughtfully in some exaggerated impression of someone thinking.

"...Maybe." I finally said with a sly grin on my face. His ears twitched once, along with his tail swished too. It's not much but I'll take it. Still a win.

"...You just had to make this weird, didn't you?" It went quiet for a while after that.

Mum's just... standing there by the sink. Come back already, please. What about Seven? I saw Monty talking to her as she sat down with a piece of paper in front of her. Nothing important, just a form. The name's blank, though.

Wait, why did she put on her cloak?

All of a sudden, space overlaps and I catch a glimpse of myself from inside the room they were in. Shit, she's right behind me, isn't she?

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Maybe it was something in the tone of my voice, or maybe it was because there was a tall shroud of black standing behind me, but I could see Ciel's expression turn into one of worry as he got up from his seat. I gestured for him to stand down, despite the sinking feeling in my gut. I take another look at Seven but the cloak just gets in the way. I can't see her face right now.

"...You." Seven hissed the word out. Did Monty say something? Why's she so mad?

Shit, how many seconds has it been?

A hand darts out from underneath that cloak and grasps at the back of my head. Well, fuck. Thoughts stop as I'm slammed into the table facefirst and my vision blacks out for a second. I'm suddenly reminded of all the times this happened before. The time I slipped and slammed my face unto the floor when I was taking a bath back when I was a kid. The time I ran into a pole. And that other time where the butt of a rifle was shoved into my face, and like all the other times, I still wondered if my head still hadn't crumpled in on itself.

Even through all the ringing, I can make out the sound of shouting as doors slammed open.

Can't move. Can't think. Too dizzy.

She pulls me back and I'm thrown backwards, sent tumbling across the floor. Where'd the chair go? Ah, shit, we moved. Where are we?

My hearing clears up and I notice the buzzing of a street. The sound of cars. Traffic. Civilians. My hand pushes against the floor, rough, stony, but flat. Asphalt. Car horns and there's shouting again. My head still hurts, but at least I can put a few ideas together. My leg stings, but it's bearable. Face, feels wet. Blood? Did I break my nose? Put that aside for now, first things first.

What? How? Why?

I hear her yelling but I can't quite get any of it. I can't make out what she was saying but there was this furious incredulity to her voice that seemed to come right out of nowhere. Okay, did I do something that set her off? She seemed fine just a few minutes ago! And I wasn't even with her! Did Monty do something? Doesn't look like it.

My vision clears up and I focused my eyes on my position. Down on the ground. A sidewalk. Cars. And, shit. That's a crowd right there. It was the street just some distance, in clear view from the cafe windows.

And in clear view of everyone else too, apparently.

Not good.