Second Chances
They should’ve known Kiyomi wasn’t going to stay in place. Even putting her with a stricter family that had more security and placing her in a room with no windows wasn’t going to keep her out. At one AM, Kiyomi sat on the steps of a run-down apartment building, where a lot of people squatted at, holding her hand out to a stray cat.
“Hey, there…” Kiyomi adjusted her gaze. “boy. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”
Kiyomi’s hand held steady, as the cat slowly approached. The poor thing was, or had been, bleeding. Its hair was matted against its body in dark splotches, and one of its legs was misshapen. The misshapen leg wasn’t hurting the cat, despite the fact its paw jutted outwards at an odd angle and its leg bent out instead of in. It must have healed like that.
“Yeah, that’s it. Good kitty.” She never once moved. Kiyomi didn’t want to scare the cat off. The rescue shelter was open 24 hours, so Kiyomi could just stop by and drop off animals that were abandoned. She stopped by at least once a week.
The cat inched closer, eyeing Kiyomi’s outstretched palm with a hate only the abused could muster. In her two years as a vigilante, Kiyomi had helped a lot of stray animals, whether to help some people get rid of them or out of the kindness of her heart.
This particular cat had been stealing food from these squatters for as long as they’d been there. Kiyomi knew some of them and decided to help out.
She seemed to have a way with animals, especially the abandoned ones. Somehow, they always found her.
“Good boy!” Kiyomi fawned softly as the cat sniffed her hand. “See? You’re safe now. No one’s going to hurt you anymore.”
As if the cat understood her words, he pressed into Kiyomi’s hand, dirt and whatever else rubbing off, but Kiyomi didn’t mind. She just smiled softly and held out another hand patiently.
The cat saw the new figure and turned into it, nosing it.
“Good boy…” Kiyomi, very carefully and slowly, wrapped her hands around the cat’s middle. She brushed a crusted wound on the animal’s stomach and the cat jumped back, hissing in pain. “Okay! Okay, I’ll stop. I’m sorry. See?” She held her hands open as the cat eyed her. “I’m not going to hurt you. It’s alright now.”
The cat looked ready to run off, so Kiyomi took out her back-up plan. She placed a cat treat on the ground in front of her, holding her hands away.
He sniffed, and hesitantly wandered over. He poked at the cat treat, batting it around nervously, before deciding it was safe to eat. His eyes sparkled in the dim street light, asking for another.
“Of course. Here.” She placed another next to her. The cat inhaled it. “Good boy. I’m going to pick you up again, okay?” She slowly moved her hands, starting to wrap one around the cat’s chest. When the cat didn’t struggle but instead sniffed her hand for more treats, she gently lifted him up, giving him another treat as she placed him against her chest.
“It’s okay,” she muttered to him again. His claws dug into her sweatshirt. Since Kiyomi knew she’d be dealing with a stray, she’d worn a few extra layers to avoid getting slashed. It was warm, but Kiyomi was better safe than sorry. The cat mewled softly, a low tone that sounded hoarse and sad.
Kiyomi was going to cry. The poor boy seemed so happy to finally have someone hold onto him again. She wanted to murder, or at least heavily assault, the people who’d left. No one deserved this, not people, and not animals.
She held the cat close as she stood, wrapping her arms around him as she started for the rescue shelter. It was roughly a kilometer, half a mile, to the shelter, but Kiyomi didn’t mind. The cat was safe against her chest.
He'd been a house cat beforehand, judging by how quickly he came to trust her. She wondered what happened to his leg. Cats were agile creatures, so an injury like that probably affected him severely. Was it his previous owners who’d done this? Some random stranger? Kiyomi didn’t like any of the possibilities.
The walk to the rescue shelter was a quiet one, Kiyomi mumbling reassurance to the tired cat as she kept an eye out for any police officers or a particular underground hero she’d had the luck of not talking to since the day she’d been arrested.
“Shard, hey.” The usual Wednesday night vet greeted her with a small smile. “Changing up the masks again?”
“Yeah, I think this one brings out my eyes.” Kiyomi posed in a dark mask she literally stapled together, as she wasn’t allowed around masks of any sort or a needle and thread. It was an old t-shirt Kiyomi had found and washed about five times. “You like it?”
“Eh, the white suits you better.” The vet walked over and held her hands out for the mass curled against Kiyomi’s chest. He’d fallen asleep on the walk there. “Who’s this?”
“This guy was bothering some squatters up at the Tatemono Building.” Kiyomi gently woke the cat, who blinked at her. “He must have severely broken his leg a while back and it healed really badly. He warmed up to me surprisingly quickly. I gave him some treats and he came running.”
“Okay…” The doctor was thinking as they transferred him over slowly and patiently. The cat struggled against the vet but calmed down when Kiyomi held out a treat for him. “Thanks, Shard. Hey, do you remember that golden you brought in last month?”
The golden retriever had been left in a dumpster, and he hadn’t been able to get out. The dog had been paralyzed from a fall and it had taken Kiyomi a while to get him over to the shelter.
“Of course I do.” Kiyomi was smiling under her mask.
“Well, he was adopted a few days ago. His name is Shin now.” The vet held the cat against her chest, muttering to it just as Kiyomi had.
The warmth in Kiyomi’s heart couldn’t be matched. “Oh, that’s great. I really hope they like him.”
“I hope so too.” The vet was lost in thought again. That was pretty common with this one.
“Well, I’m off. See you around.” Kiyomi didn’t wait for a reply, waving to the cat as she left the shelter.
All in a night's work. Kiyomi had subdued some dangerous thugs, who had knives and bad intent, and shooed off some kids who were going to rob a bank. She had a feeling she’d be talking to those kids again, but for now, they were successfully discouraged. It had been slow these last few days, and Kiyomi was itching to do more.
Maybe she’d shatter her shield again, just for the heck of it.
Though the last time she did that, it had taken her all night (about six hours) to even begin to crack it. Kiyomi was pretty sure the brick walls were more damaged than her, but at least it was a good workout.
She needed to get back to the house before anyone noticed she was gone. This new house, run by a woman named Tori Yukimori, had much stricter rules than the Sakimotos, not that Kiyomi couldn’t work around them. It took her a few days to get a pattern but once Kiyomi got it, she was in and out endlessly, though she often cut her patrols short due to the time frames.
Kiyomi knew she was pushing it, but she needed to be out here. If she wasn’t, something was going to go wrong and Kiyomi would have to live with the knowledge that she could’ve stopped it.
Getting back into the house was easier than leaving it, as there was an old window in the attic Kiyomi could just climb through. Technically, Kiyomi could also leave the house that way, but it would require her to scale a wall Kiyomi really didn’t want to climb.
Balancing on the fence around the house, Kiyomi skillfully jumped and latched her hands onto the window frame. With a small maneuver, Kiyomi opened the window and pulled herself in, careful not to land too hard. The attic was dusty, empty, and forgotten. Maybe Kiyomi should live up here.
The entrance to the attic was near the room Kiyomi was staying in. She opened it quietly. There were no stairs or a ladder attached, so Kiyomi had to jump down into the stairwell below. It was a dangerous idea, seeing as if Kiyomi messed up, she’d be sent tumbling down the stairs and not only hurt herself, but also wake everyone up. But Kiyomi didn’t mess up and closed the attic entrance as she jumped down onto a middle step.
As silently as she could, Kiyomi ran to the small room that was currently hers and another girls. Kiyomi forgot the girl’s name, but they’d struck a deal Kiyomi’s first night there. The girl would “forget” if she ever saw Kiyomi sneak out in exchange for candy bars. Kiyomi didn't know why candy was this girl’s preferred bartering tactic, seeing as she was older than Kiyomi, but Kiyomi never said anything except for an agreement.
A little note sat on Kiyomi’s bed. ‘Kit Kats,’ it read in messy handwriting.
With a shrug, Kiyomi went to bed without hesitation.
[From: Okane Satomi]
hey
hey hey hey
hey hey hey hey
Tamatsuki! Wake up!
[To: Okane Satomi]
Okane, i’ll be to school in forty-five
Give me a break
I’ve been awake for hours
[From: Okane Satomi]
I forgot to do my math and i need help :(
if you’ve been awake, why haven’t you replied?
[To: Okane Satomi]
i’ve been busy.
Is it just the math?
[From: Okane Satomi]
yes, just the math.
whatcha been doin
[To: Okane Satomi]
practice. Have been for an hour.
[From: Okane Satomi]
For what????
And why?
[To: Okane Satomi]
It’s practice so i dont die.
thats all im gonna tell you so dont try to ask
Kiyomi turned off her phone as she picked a few shards from her hand. She’d technically left the house an hour ago, and had spent that time trying to come up with new ways to break her shield faster that didn’t include running into walls. She’d wanted to jump off a building and see what happened, but since it was seven o’clock in the morning, Kiyomi didn’t think that would go over well.
In the end, it was Bubble she’d shattered, the weakest of the bunch because of all its surface area. Kiyomi didn’t mind pulling shards from her hands instead of eating breakfast. The cuts would heal fast anyway.
“You’re still going out at night.”
Kiyomi actually shouted at the sudden voice above her. She’d settled in an alley, sitting against the wall and listening to her music in one ear. Above her on the fire escape, sat Mister Underground Hero, Eraserhead.
“Do you have any proof?” Kiyomi rolled her eyes at him, but the anxiety had already settled in, that familiar chest pain joining her and her bloody hands.
“I saw you leaving the rescue shelter.” Eraserhead jumped down from the fire escape and knelt next to her. “Did you punch another window?”
“A-- A window?” Kiyomi raised her eyebrows. “Excuse you, I don’t punch windows. I punch faces. Now, what the hell do you want?”
“I want you to stop going out past eleven.” Eraser watched Kiyomi through his ugly yellow goggles. Where did he even get those? “Even if it is to rescue stray cats.”
“How often do you watch me, Aizawa?” Kiyomi glared at him, throwing shards off to the side before wiping her blood on a tissue. “Every night? Once a week? Don’t think I don’t notice. I do. Random guys disappearing in the middle of a fight is a pretty hard thing to ignore.”
“That was one time, and you were outnumbered.” Really? Was that his excuse? “I follow you whenever my patrol overlaps.”
“So, every night? Stalker-y much?” With a snarl, Kiyomi stood up, brushing off any left over shield shards that hadn’t disappeared yet. “Leave me alone.”
“Not until you start following the law.” Eraser’s reply was harsh and immediate. “I could report you at any time. Any career you could’ve had, any school you could’ve wanted would be gone in an instant.”
“Well, I’m already in the last school I wanted to go to, so your threat means nothing.” Adjusting her jacket, Kiyomi started out of the alley, but turned suddenly. “Are you the one keeping me out of prison? Because if you are, stop it. I don’t deserve special treatment. Stop giving it to me.”
Eraserhead didn’t follow her, or if he did, Kiyomi never saw him. “Fucking bastard,” she muttered under her breath. “Can’t keep me in prison, doesn’t want to put me in one. Make up your goddamn mind.”
[From: Okane Satomi]
are you any good at fractions??
[To: Okane Satomi]
how did you make it into this school?
[From: Okane Satomi]
**magic**
[To: Okane Satomi]
obviously.
And ill be there early. Caught the early train.
[From: Okane Satomi]
nice. meet me in the classroom.
[To: Okane Satomi]
gotcha. see you soon, Okane.