Rainbow Umbrella

Kanda was having the weirdest dream of his life.

It was made even weirder by the fact that cats don't dream. Dreams were created from ones desire, shown by the mind through images and scenarios created by the brain, or so dream Kanda thought. He also thought it odd that his dream self had the thought process of an average human but then again, his cat self was not very far from it. He knew he thought differently compared to other cats.

They didn't have inner monologues for one.

His current train of thought was derailed by the unmistakable scent of smoke. He could see it billowing through the black backdrop. He was slightly familiar with this scent. There were a lot of humans with that minty smokey scent clinging to their person. His nose twitched. He raised a paw to scratch it.

Kanda froze and stared.

"Shocking, eh?"

Kanda didn't even bother to jump in surprise. He was totally floored and he was sure his brain stopped functioning from the shock.

Shocking couldn't even begin to describe this.

"Kinda overdramatic for a cat, don't you think? It's just a hand."

That's just it. That's just it. It was a hand. It was a hand attached to an arm attached to him.

It was his hand!

"Okay, kid, listen. I know you need time to execute your little mental breakdown but we're on a schedule here, but not really. At least you are on a schedule so listen."

The voice didn't continue probably because Kanda was not listening. The cat-turned-human even made a point of raising The hand for further inspection.

He received a bop on the head for his effort.

He hissed rather loudly because that actually hurt. His hand automatically reached for the source of pain. The feel of hair, so much longer than he was used to, didn't even register before a hand placed on his shoulder roughly turned him around.

A puff of smoke was blown to his face.

"Listen kid, freak…whatever you want to be called. I know you're shocked or whatever, I don't really care." The man took an inhale from the stick in his mouth and blew his exhale slowly, irritating Kanda's nose and Kanda himself in the process. "You might also be wondering why you look like a douche. Well, a human douche. God knows you look like a douche when you're a cat. Anyway," the man raised a gloved hand to halt whatever retort Kanda was about to spew. "The thing is; I like you, so I'm going to do you a favor…not now but someday...I don't know. It really depends on you." Here the man paused for effect, for another inhale of smoke and for the sake of pissing Kanda off, he was sure.

Kanda took the time to examine this brand new annoyance.

He was tall, he wore all black clothes and his hair was red. Kanda wondered if the half mask he wore was there to hide half the ugly on his face. Darn it, but if being human made one a bastard like this man, then he would rather remain the way he is forever. Licking his balls all day was better than being a disgrace to all living things.

The man smacked him in the head again for no particular reason.

"If you're going to think snarky thoughts then the least you can do is say it to my face when you're done. I can have a reason to hate you that way. Makes things easier for the both of us." The man suddenly sat down and Kanda was really hoping to see him on his ass but then, just like magic, a cushiony chair appeared out of thin air. Kanda blinked and he found himself sitting on a chair, albeit his was stiffer than his grandma, if he ever had one.

The man stared him down and Kanda fought hard not to fidget.

"Okay, here's the thing. You," the man pointed rudely at Kanda, "are a cat. However, you're more than that. Have you ever heard about evolution? No? Too bad." The man smirked and made himself more comfortable. "I give chance to everyone, you see, and you," another rude gesture to Kanda's general person, "certainly deserve one, so I'm giving it to you. You know, evolution and all."

Kanda was confused. He knew about evolution more than a cat probably should, but he didn't know what it had to do with anything.

"You see? That's why you deserve a chance." The man's stick reached the end of its usefulness and it was tossed lazily to the side. Another stick appeared with just a flick of the man's wrist. "You're more than what you are. You're more than a cat. At least your brain is. The other parts, though," the man leered at Kanda's crotch and Kanda knew he was missing something vital here.

"…anymore…told you…I just…"

Kanda blinked and shook his head. He was suddenly feeling groggy.

"Oops. Time's almost up."

"…your fault…last time I'm answerin…"

The smoke from the man's stick was getting thicker and thicker…or maybe there was something wrong with his eyes.

"I don't have time for…Lavi is just a friend…you're…irrational…"

Everything was white…and then it was black again…then white and Kanda was getting a headache from this sudden development.

"Whatever, I don't care anymore…two weeks…we're over."

Kanda's head was lolling back and forth. He heard a chuckle before he received another smack in the head, lighter than the previous ones.

"You can give me your answer when the time comes. You'll know when."

"Goodbye."

When Kanda opened his eyes, he got the vague feeling that he had previously been in a pissy mood. There was a constant nagging in his head that wasn't there before and it was driving him crazy. He tried to hiss out his irritation and found, to his aggravation, that he couldn't. It only served to fuel his ire.

The sudden increase in his mental vocabulary didn't miss his attention.

There were more pressing matters, however, so he filed the information away for later inspection.

His muscles felt sore and numb at the same time. He also felt like he'd been sleeping in the same position for days and it did nothing good to his body. He tried moving his tail but all it resulted to was more pain. He mewled in distress.

What the fuck was going on?

There was a constricting feeling on his chest, too, like something was wrapped around it. He moved his feet and made to stand but everything felt heavy. With nothing more to do, he settled for crying out what he was feeling now. He hoped that Alma could feel his irritation at the situation just by hearing his choked hisses and screech.

There were sounds in the background, formerly ignored in light of Kanda's current condition, but now that he was done with his hissy fit, he could definitely hear the sound of…things banging against each other. Then there was the voice.

"…called, just a while earlier, in fact…but of course…ha-ha, very funny, Lavi…and I told him you're an arse…am not…am not!...am not. Or else you'll find your fridge empty next time I come over…"

It was hard to tell if the owner of the voice was male or female with the way it changed in pitch to express the owner's emotion. It was low when he growled out the threat and then turned high when it started to chat animatedly, becoming even when the owner would mellow out every now and then.

Kanda didn't even know why he was contemplating these unimportant things.

There was one glaring fact here, though, that he could never miss.

He was obviously in the presence of a human and that was never a good thing.

Rain falling continuously, making his fur wet and his vision to blur, a hunched form fading in and out of his vision, his eyes focused solely on the pathetic heap on the ground, perfectly still on the wet pavement.

Kanda sighed explosively, or as explosively as a cat could make it, blinking away the foreign feeling on his eyes. His breathing was becoming uneven and he desperately wanted to howl out his pain. Physical pain he could take, but this burning feeling in his chest spreading throughout his body was too much.

"I'm sorry…I tried to…"

The memory of that day brought back the scent of death, the pitter-patter of rain and the desperation he felt as he ran away from those humans and from Alma.

Alma was dead and he was hit by a fucking car!

Dead Alma…

Car…

His momentary shock distracted him from his breakdown. It was probably a good idea since mewling and hissing pathetically was just giving him more pain.

"…I think I'm going to keep it…yes, but Tim's still there so…it'll survive. If not, then I demand refund…it's not just that, Lavi…but I have you and Lenalee…it's more than enough for me…"

The voice was accompanied by the unmistakable sound of footsteps. An archway was just at the edge of Kanda's vision, probably connecting this room to the kitchen as the banging sounds earlier were obviously made by pans hitting pans. Now that he was paying more attention, he could smell something cooking.

"…I'll see you later…yeah, bye."

There was a click followed by a very long silence. It made Kanda tense, anticipating what would happen next. He wanted to run away, if only his legs would just move the way he wanted it to. Every time he tried to stand up all he'd manage to do was some weird squirming and wiggling.

"Oh…Oh! Wait. Stop! Don't move, please." The voice was much louder now. Kanda doubled his efforts because he was sure the human had spotted him.

A shadow loomed over him. His head wouldn't respond to his command so he just settled to moving his eyes to see the face of…his…

White…

This person was very white. This male person was very, very white.

A pale hand reached out to him, probably to touch and that just wasn't going to happen! Kanda hissed and hissed, ignoring the flare of pain in his chest. He squirmed harder, trying to get away from that hand, anywhere but near this human.

Alma, cold and stiff, eyes half open, unblinking and glazed.

"Shhh…come on, stop that. You're just hurting yourself." The hand touched his head lightly and Kanda's reflexes kicked in. In a sudden bout of adrenaline, he jumped off of…a table?...and landed on the floor on his feet. The sudden impact made him stagger from the sudden pain and he wobbled on the spot.

"Hey!"

Kanda limped as much as he could, releasing a pained mewl every step he took.

Have to get away, have to run

There was a couch just a few feet away. Kanda decided that it was as good as any hiding place now and tried to run and go under it. He would think of a better plan later. The rusty scent of blood reached his nose, the smell somewhat familiar but he ignored it in favor of hiding away. He heard the man screech behind him and his ears twitched at the grating noise.

Almost there, almost there…

But it seemed that no amount of mental cheering could save him this time, if ever, because a second later he felt himself being lifted up by hands going under his body, the touch unnervingly milder and comforting than Kanda was used to. He felt it as the man started walking before placing him back to that cursed table. He thought that the surface was softer than it should be and realized that a soft blanket was folded and placed there to serve as a makeshift bed for him. This fact brought further confusion.

His natural reaction came much later when the hand touched and lifted his front paw. He hissed, his claws withdrawing automatically before he lashed out and swiped at the offending hand.

A hiss of pain came from the man but the hand did not let go, tightening even more as if in warning. This in turn made Kanda grit his sharp teeth, not wanting to satisfy the man by making a sound of pain. Another scent reached his nose, this one unfamiliar in the way that there was a certain unknown scent mixed in with the scent of blood. It was definitely the humans.

It was grumbling under its breath, too, for some reason.

"…stupid cat, opening your wound like that…need Lavi right now…"

Kanda was certain something was burning in the kitchen.

"Oh, bloody hell!"

Kanda would have smirked if his face would allow it. This human was stupid, so stupid it put those sewer rats to shame. The man made jerky movements with his head, debating whether to leave the cat alone or save his house from burning down to the ground.

In the end, the man settled for a stern look at Kanda before running to the kitchen to save whatever was left of his food.

Kanda meowed in satisfaction. Now that that idiot was out of the way, he could finally find a way to escape. He was very hungry and he still needed to find Alma.

Alma.

Doing his plan, however, proved easier said than done. The idiot was right, he was wounded, and he was leaving a small puddle of blood on the very white sheets. Then again, it wasn't his problem. He cast a glance at the entranceway, trying to see if the man was going back anytime soon. When he was sure that he was still busy cursing in that stupid accent of his, Kanda jumped carefully down his perch, making sure to put the pressure on his uninjured leg. He slipped a bit, his paw becoming wet because of his blood. He sat for a moment and licked the open wound. It was deep, and it hurt really badly, as if his flesh was punctured from the inside. When he was satisfied with his work, he awkwardly walked to where he could see a window.

He could see that it was very dark outside. The evening traffic penetrated the closed window and a closer inspection showed that it was locked. Not that it would do him any good if it weren't; Kanda was too small to be able to lift the window open.

He walked back to the living room, ignoring the fact that he suddenly knew what it was called. He made a point of walking all over the carpeted floor, living a bloody trail that would be a bitch to remove. It was his version of the middle finger to the idiots face.

His ears perked when he heard the distant sound of footsteps, but it wasn't coming anywhere inside. He followed the sound, moving as best as he could with his injury. His troubles led him to a door. An open door. An open door leading outside or, at least, Kanda thought it was.

He stopped himself just in time before he did something very out of character and impossible, like jumping around in joy. He was starting to think that something was wrong with him mentally and…

It was a hand. It was a hand attached to an arm attached to him.

…physically?

He looked down to check if his limbs were still all intact. They were.

"…oh…ARGHHHH! Where'd you go?!"

The sudden exclamation broke Kanda's trance and he made a mad dash towards the open door. His legs burned from the exertion and he could feel the blood dripping from his front leg. He skidded slightly to avoid colliding with the wall, slipping gracelessly through the small gap.

Instead of the fresh air he was expecting to greet him, Kanda almost had a heart attack when the wheel of a pushcart missed his head by inches. The momentum made it hard for him to stop and he smacked head first on the adjacent door. He felt shortly winded, shaking his head to rid himself of the vertigo and leaning on the door for balance. Without warning, he felt himself being pushed violently as the door he was leaning on opened suddenly. The force was enough to push him all the way across the hallway. Panicked, Kanda ran, using the force he was thrown with to increase his speed. His mind had blanked the second he was out in the open and in the midst of impending death, his animal instincts kicking in and telling him to run, as fast as he could.

There was no time for him to rest and catch his breath because there were humans at every turn, screaming in shock the moment they saw his bloodied form. It escaped his mind that there was a bigger chance of him dying from blood loss because he was agitating all his wounds. The bandage wrapped around his chest had loosened from all his running, making his chest hurt from the lack of support.

He ignored it all. He ignored it because just another corner, down those stairs, he could finally see freedom. There was the door leading outside. He knew because the moment it opened, admitting a man inside, the sound of cars and pedestrian entered with him.

Just a little more…

"Lavi, stop that cat!"

Kanda jumped the five steps of the stairs, landing with surprising grace after all his running. He sidestepped the booted foot, tensed the muscles on his back legs and jumped.

Kanda made the most magnificent jump of his life…to freedom.

The door closed with a bang, followed by a softer bump as he hit his head on the door.

"Lavi, thank God. I swear this cat will be the death of me. Only a few minutes awake and he's already causing this much trouble."

"Why keep it, then?"

Kanda was feeling very disoriented. He didn't know how many more hits his head could survive but he was sure the last one just took one life from his remaining stock. A hand grabbed him by the skin on the back of his neck, lifted him carefully before cradling him gently. His head was felt, his wounds examined and his chest poked a couple of times. When the man was done, he began walking…somewhere. Honestly, at this point Kanda was beyond caring. He just wanted to rest his head and get some sleep. Sleep sounded good right now.

He half listened to the conversation between who he assumed was the idiot and the new man. They were talking about him, no doubt about that, and from what he could make out of the conversation, his hope of getting out and getting back to Alma was decreasing by the minute.

He didn't know what these humans wanted from him. They never cared before. Why not stay that way forever? Why was this white man different from all the others?

Why not just let him die?

Alma.

He didn't know when they entered back to the white man's living room. All he felt was being put back down gently on the white blanket. His scent had already stuck on the fabric and it was the only comfort he could get at the moment. He tried to make himself as small as possible, curling his body into a ball. Someone made a tutting sound before more hands touched his body, wrapping more bandages around him and putting chemicals on his bloodied skin. Kanda hissed when a particular liquid made his wounds hurt. Another hand touched his head, scratching behind his ears and neck, trying to comfort him, but Kanda didn't want comfort, especially coming from humans.

He just wanted to be left alone.

He just wanted to cry.

"There, all done. So you're a trouble maker, eh buddy?" Someone flicked his ears teasingly a couple of times and his furs stood on end when he gave a warning hiss. He looked up to see the new human with his hands held in front of him in a sign of innocence. "Hey, no need to be like that. I'm harmless, see?" the human-red hair, green eyes- wiggled his fingers and smiled almost mischievously before turning suddenly to the other human, the idiot, the white one. "But clearly, your new pet isn't." His voice held a scolding tone and Kanda turned just in time to see the white man hide his left hand on his back.

Must be the one I scratched, Kanda thought.

At least he got to hurt someone.

The man left, rummaging through the bag Kanda just noticed, placed on the couch haphazardly. He took out something…pointy, and a bottle containing more liquid chemicals. Losing interest on what the red man was doing, Kanda turned his attention on the white one. As if noticing Kanda's attention shifting on him, the man looked down, straight, on Kanda's eyes.

Kanda thought that no matter how many times he would see the white man's eyes, his opinion of it would always remain the same.

Rain, it will always remind me of the rain…

It was too gray for his comfort and just looking at it made him feel gloomy. It was disturbing, looking at those eyes and seeing that monochrome color…that dead shade…

"Hold its head. Arms, too."

Kanda started when the white man reached out and held him down, just as instructed. He tried to lash out but then there was a prick of something on his front leg, something foreign entering his system and when he was released, all Kanda could do was stare wide eyed at the white man.

He felt betrayed, somehow.

"That'll do. The next one will be after a week. Check the right leg regularly, see if there's any infection. But at the rate his going, I'll say he'll be okay in three to four weeks."

The man was shuffling something somewhere Kanda couldn't see. It was okay, though, because Kanda felt…weird…He felt…like something was wrong with its head…

"I actually didn't believe you when you told me its ribs actually healed. And just after three days. That just never happens, you know?"

"I know, Lavi. You told me it's like magic. Or something…Hey!"

"Hold still, I'm just going to clean it. Honestly, can't you take care of yourself?"

"It's just a scratch, mommy, nothing to worry about."

Kanda could've escaped with no problem now that their attention was not on him but somehow, he couldn't muster the energy to move. All he could do was lie there, stare straight ahead and breathe. He felt different, everything felt different, like…like everything was going woo woo…

…oh…oh fuck! He was going crazy!

Blinking a couple of times was the only reaction Kanda could make from his mental exclamation. The something that was running through his veins was making it hard for him to think straight and so, he decided, all that was left to do was lie there, stare straight ahead and breathe.

"Dinner burned, by the way. All I can offer now is left over pizza, if that's okay with you?" He heard someone say after a while.

"You burned my dinner? And now you're offering me pizza? Are you sure you're okay, Allen?"

Allen

"Your dinner? What am I, your maid?"

"Aren't you?"

"Just because I cook food for you…"

"And clean after me, and wash my clothes underwear included, and do my shopping and-."

"Thank you, Lavi. You're point was quite clear after the underwear comment."

"Seriously, though," the voice continued, sounding farther than before, probably because the two had finally moved to the kitchen. Kanda could hear the sound of plates clanking. "It's the first time you messed up with food. That's just weird. Maybe if you, you know, want to talk about something…" the sentence was left hanging and there was a very distracting lint on the floor. It was very irritating, especially the way it moved back and forth from some imaginary wind, no doubt.

The two humans ignored Kanda's predicament as their conversation continued.

"What, you mean Tyki?"

"What? No! I didn't…I mean…well, if you want to talk about him."

"I just talked about him with you over the phone."

"Yeah, but…"

"Lavi," the irritation coating the name was very clear to Kanda even with his current state of mind. "I'm not a girl. I'm not going to cry because of him."

"And it's okay to cry because of a cat?"

Kanda fought hard to clear his mind. He knew the conversation just took a very interesting turn and he wanted, no, he needed to know anything about his situation, about this white human.

"It is a very cute cat, though."

"It's a stray."

"What's your point, Lavi"

"My point is that I think you're pulling another Tim on me. You can't take in all the street animals you see out there. What about rabies? They've been in all sorts of places."

There was a very loud sigh. "You're a vet, I thought you of all people should understand animal rights and all that."

"I'm a vet, not a fucking animal orphanage! I get paid to do what I do, but it doesn't mean I have to cry when a cat gets run over by a fucking car. It doesn't mean I have to make a grave for a dead cat in an alley, in the middle of the night under the rain! It doesn't mean I have to be like you!"

Kanda tensed. He knew that a line had been crossed. He knew that something was going to explode.

"…I'm sorry, Allen. I don't know what-."

Something hit the ground, a chair probably, toppled down when someone stood up too fast.

"Allen!"

"I'm going to bed.", was the curt reply as the white man, Allen, walked past him in a brisk pace. The door was slammed.

"Fuck, I'm sorry."

It was late, though, for any kind of apology. There was only regret and Kanda must have been very addled to be thinking like this.

A shadow fell over his form. Kanda didn't move only because he knew there was no harm. There was no fight left in this man.

He felt the warmth of the man's hand. Kanda heard the cool conviction in his words.

"Distracting yourself when you're in pain is not a good thing. When are you going to face your fears?"

It didn't mean anything to Kanda. If he think long and try hard to understand, maybe it will.

The lights deemed and the front door closed softly. There was a moment's silence before another door cricked open. The light coming from the window illuminated the man's form. His face was veiled in shadow but Kanda can imagine how grim it would look.

"You must be cold."

He wasn't. The hand on his body was warm, the breath ghosting over his form was warmer, and by the look things, he wasn't going to be cold all night.

The human's breathing evened out and against Kanda's will, it slowly lulled him to a deep slumber.

I surprised myself with the length of this chapter but I guess it's okay since it's been a long time I published this story and I haven't updated for what, months? A year?

Sorry if there are a lot of mood whiplash in this chapter. It's because I wrote this four different times. I write, stop, write, edit, stop, write again and here is the outcome. There are a lot of errors, sorry about that, I haven't done any final editing and English isn't my first language so it wouldn't be any good. Please point out all the errors and I'll fix it. If you want to edit this chapter then I'll be happy, too.

About this chapter

I tried to write Kanda's pov like a cat and a human because at this point he is somewhere in between. Allen's character is still not very solid since this is the first time he is mostly focused in this story (only 2 chapters, sorry XC).

Lavi's role here is the best friend, of course it is. Laven? I still don't know. There is a bit of poker pair in this story and Tyki will be introduced much later.

I just want to tell you that this story will have a very simple plot, nothing complicated with lots of traumatic pasts and evil villain or whatever. If Kanda turned into a human without much explanation about magic and the like, just let it be. It will be too complicated to explain everything and, really, Kanda is the only one that will turn into a human and explaining the process will not be relevant in the plot.

Cross…is still a mystery, don't even ask me.

Review?