Chapter Text
“Thank you, Sir Finral! See you next week!”
Finral waved, keeping up his smile until the matron had closed the door. Once the latch clicked, he slumped, breath leaving him explosively. His arms and back ached. He hated making heavy deliveries inside the capital's spatial barrier. They'd tightened security since the Eye of the Midnight Sun's attack. Finral technically could open portals from inside, but only if he felt like explaining to Cob why it counted as an emergency.
Thankfully, it was his last delivery of the day. Finral straightened with a groan, stretching his fingers. He oriented himself towards the nearest edge of the barrier. Once he got outside, he could port home and relax until it was time to go pick up the rest of the Bulls. They were scattered to the four winds on various missions, same as they had been all week.
Asta had really gotten them all on board with his enthusiasm about stars. Finral had to hand it to him. The kid didn't have a subtle bone in his body, but he did have the charisma to back up his drive.
Wizard King, huh. Well, if it's Asta, I'll believe it.
Finral was believing in a lot more, these days. It was nice.
He was mentally tallying up today's earnings- more than usual- when his stomach growled.
Charmy made some of the best food in Clover. But occasionally one got cravings for less than the best. Finral had developed a taste for street food before he'd even joined the Bulls, back when he'd sneak out of House Vaude for a few hours of freedom. Today, Finral let himself follow his nose to a vendor selling fried fish sticks.
Greasy treat in hand, Finral headed toward his original goal. Familiar with the streets around the edges of the barrier, he took a shortcut through an alley. Just as he felt the change in magic, a bit of color caught his eye. Someone had planted begonias along one wall since the last time Finral had been through. A good choice; they liked shade. Finral strolled over to admire the flowers, unwrapping the fried fish. He'd take a bite before porting home.
There was a mew from the begonias.
Finral slowed, looking into the shadows under the leaves and blossoms. A single eye reflected back at him. The lack of a second made Finral stop altogether.
A cat crept out from under the shrub.
It was black as night and rail thin. There was a scabby wound, not quite healed enough to be called a scar, across one of its eyes. The other was fixed on Finral- or rather the bit of fried fish in his hand- even as its ears twitched at every sound. Its tail was low to the ground.
There was a ratty, filthy bit of ribbon around its neck. Finral's heart sank. Probably an abandoned pet, then. Unlike out in the poorer villages, there was little call for mousers in a castle town. Most of the major granaries and such were warded against vermin. There wasn't much for a stray cat to eat on the streets either, except human scraps.
There wasn't a point in giving the cat his fish. It'd be fed for one more night, and then go back to slow starvation. But his eyes kept going back to the ribbon. The cat mewed again. It was cautious, but not silent and wary as a truly feral animal would be. Yeah, this was definitely a former pet.
There was no point in giving it the fish, but Finral's fingers twitched. The cat followed the motion avidly.
There were probably dozens- maybe hundreds or even thousands- of strays like this across Clover kingdom. Mousers who had too many kittens when there weren't enough rats to go around, pets that got abandoned. It was sad, but there wasn't anything Finral could do about it.
The cat mewed. Its one eye blinked. Not slow and sleepy, contented and trusting, but quick and paranoid. Its head was cocked a little to the side, making the best of its single field of vision. Finral was abruptly reminded of Gauche.
*
Roughly three years ago...
“Why did you recruit a convict on the run?!” Finral demanded. He ran his fingers through his hair, too agitated to stay still.
Yami settled into his chair. It creaked. Like most of the furniture in the house, it had seen better days. They really needed a new place. “Felt like it.”
The nonchalance did nothing to ease Finral's concerns. “He's going to live here, that's not a good enough answer!”
“He's not going to kill you in your sleep.” Yami starting fishing around in his grimoire bag. Probably for a cigarette. Finral couldn't even muster any annoyance at Yami's habit of smoking indoors. A smell was a lot easier to deal with than a potentially-murderous roommate.
“How do you know?!” Finral demanded. Seeing Yami start to smirk, Finral added sharply, “Don't even think about saying 'I trust my gut'.”
Yami just looked smug and amused. He'd definitely been going to say that. Finral glared at him.
“If he kills you he won't get to see his sister again. That's all he cares about.'”
Yami pulled a rolled parchment out of his grimoire bag, then tossed it to Finral. Finral fumbled for a second before getting it open. 'Gauche Adlai' was laid out in neat script at the top. Below was an accurate sketch of the young man, including the magic item embedded in his left eye socket. Beneath that was a long list of charges. Some of the later ones were violent. But the first dozen were petty thefts from food vendors. After that, items that Finral recognized as being easy to palm and flip for quick cash. More efficient, especially when trying to feed a growing girl.
Finral sighed. The agitation faded into resignation. He could extrapolate from there. “I get it. But there's hundreds or thousands of guys like him in Clover's jails. You can't recruit them all.”
“Maybe not. But what's the point of being a captain if I can't help someone right in front of me?”
*
Back in the present...
Finral sighed, a rueful smile tugging at his lips at the memory. Didn't I just go through this? Sorry, Asta. I'm still used to giving up too easily. I'll keep trying.
Finral slowly held up the fish stick, waving it just a little. The cat inched forward, its head going lower and its back haunches bunching to pounce.
When the cat was fully engaged, tail lashing and ears forward, Finral tossed the fish.
Just like he'd hoped, the cat went bounding after it. Finral opened a portal right as it jumped, and the cat sailed through. Finral closed it immediately to keep the cat from darting back out. The filthy thing was going to make an absolute mess of his bed, but doing an extra round of laundry was a small price to pay for a guaranteed soft landing. Smiling at his success, Finral walked over to pick up the fish. He'd drop it through another portal so the poor cat could have dinner-
There was another, even more pitiful mew from the begonias.
Finral slowly turned. The mew repeated, insistent. Then again, and again, like someone striking a poorly-tuned, shrill piano key. Finral's stomach dropped. He walked over and peaked under the begonias.
Two pairs of barely-open eyes awaited him. A painfully thin, cream-colored kitten blinked up at him, but didn't seem to have the energy to do anything else. The source of the noise, a gray kitten still mewing its little head off, shuffled further back under the begonias.
Finral sighed.
Of course.