My long brown hair cascaded down and passed my shoulders as I ambled along the sidewalk, humming along quietly with the tune of the music my earbuds produced. Dark clouds stretched out above me, and a light rain fell, prompting me to zip up my black jacket in preparation for the heavier droplets that were sure to come. Lightning blinded me for a moment, accompanied with the loud crashing sound of thunder.

The tiniest drops of rain had grown into large amounts of water, pelting my jacket mercilessly as I scurried to put my hood up. More flashes along with boisterous thunder enveloped me and I turned the volume up on my phone in an effort to drown them out. My screen was dotted with specks of water, and I made sure to wipe them off with my sleeve before returning it to my pocket.

Icy cold wind lashed out at me as I continued along the sidewalk, trembling violently and staring straight at the dimly lit house on the other side of the street. It was a relief to see something familiar, and I crossed over from the sidewalk into the yard, making sure to check for any incoming cars as I did. This house was mine, if it hadn't been made obvious, and I hurried over to the door to take cover on the porch.

My entire body shook from the cold, and I grabbed the door handle in a desperate effort to reach warmth, only to notice something out of the corner of my eye. A small cardboard box sat beside the door, taped shut with only the smallest of holes on the side. At first, I thought it was a prank my obnoxious younger brother had come up with, but a soft mrrow proved me otherwise.

There couldn't possibly be something in that box… I thought silently, leaning down to peer into the single hole on the box's side.

It certainly smelled of some sort of animal, and I managed to make out several bundles of fur running amuck in the blackness. A black one meowed frantically as it was chased by a yellow colored one, and two others sat in the corner, their fur blanketed by the shadows as they meowed quietly to each other, almost as if they were discussing something. When my eyes adjusted a bit more, I found a crimson one sitting in the back corner, a gray one and dark gray one tussling in the middle, along with a black and white one strolling around and meowing to itself.

I was almost positive there were probably more, but I decided to find out when I went inside, and gripped the bottom edges of the box, slowly lifting it up. It was more complicated with the added weight of the kittens, but I managed to reach the living room and set the box down on the floor at least. However, when I entered I was met with my brother, Kin, sitting on the edge of the table, his legs crossed and a wide grin stretching across his face.

"Where'd you get that, Calida?"

I furrowed my brow, ignoring him as I undid the tape and opened the box. Meows erupted from inside it immediately, and ten furry kittens scurried to escape what probably was the equivalent to prison to them.

"Whoa, calm down…" I coaxed, slowly and carefully tipping the box on to its side so that the small animals could explore.

They spilled out in disoriented clusters, some crawling under the furniture while others hurried to scramble away from me, practically tripping over their own paws. There were two in particular, however, I noticed, that stayed right beside me. Upon further examination, I found that one was a ginger furred kitten with lavender eyes, the other being dull blue with amber eyes.

They weren't the only two, however, a black furred one, though he'd retreated, was staring straight at me with his dull black eyes, as well as a crimson one with light brown eyes, who'd ducked under the chair.

"Cute aren't they~?"

I narrowed my eyes and sat up with the full intention of breaking a bone or two of my brother's, only to pause at the sound of the doorbell ringing.

He did not do what I think he did… I thought agitatedly, turning away from my snickering brother and reaching for the door.

Once I'd opened it, I looked up and locked gazes with the two shadowy figures in front of me, the flash of lightning that revealed their identities confirming my suspicions.

"Sup, Calida"

One of the figures greeted me while she entered, blinking her violet eyes and running a hand through her dark brown hair as she stared at Kin, who'd shown up behind me. The other figure, a bit more energetic then her partner, raced forwards and wrapped her arms around me, rambling on at an alarming rate.

"Wow, Calida- ow!" Kin began from behind me, but quickly shut his mouth as the dark brown haired girl grabbed his arm and pushed him on to the floor.

"Don't-ow ow ow!"

My ears filled with Kin's pleads as I gently pushed the girl clinging to me off, raising my voice a bit to overpower her own as I muttered "Okay, okay, it's good to see you to, Juliet"

A smile stretched across her face and she nodded, reattaching herself to my arm after a moment.

"Alex, seriously, stop- tch!"

I turned my head around as Kin's cries grew more desperate, only to find Alex bending his arm backwards while she pushed his face into the floor.

"Calm down!" I shouted, trying to pry her off with the one arm that wasn't being latched on to "Medical bills, Alex, think of the medical bills!"

She glared down at my brother, but loosened her grip "Sorry, I just can't stand the sight of this *******" She spat out, climbing off of him reluctantly "Its scum like him that drive me nuts"

I rolled my eyes, but didn't reply as I led her and Juliet into the living room, where all the kittens had scattered. Most of them were hidden under furniture or in places I couldn't quite get to, but a few stood in plain sight, catching Alex's attention.

"Where'd you get the kittens?" She asked, and I glanced back at Kin, who lied sprawled out in the hallway, clutching his side while groaning in pain.

"It was that idiot"

She let out an exasperated sigh, turning her head around to glare at him for a moment, before crouching down to examine the kittens further. Her sights seemed to be set on the light gray cat with distinctively colored purple eyes, so I left her to it and leaned down to snatch a crimson furred one with brown eyes. He struggled violently in my grip at first, but gradually calmed down as I stroked his fur and whispered soothing words into his ear.

He let out a small mrrow and curled up in my lap, closing his eyes slowly while I gently pet his back. Beside me, Alex allowed the light gray cat to bat at her hands, while Juliet cradled a dull blue furred kitten with black stripes and beady black eyes close to her cheek. Even Kin had come over to join us, and was playing with a ginger kitten.

I glanced down at the crimson fur ball curled up in my lap for a second, and then lifted my head up to fix my gaze squarely on Kin as I asked "Hey, can you please explain where these kittens actually came from?"

He held my gaze for a moment, and then smiled cheekily "I found them on the street, it looked like they'd been abandoned by their owner so I picked em' up and left them outside on the porch for you to deal with, I'm not really a cat expert, so…"

"I'll kill him"

I rolled my eyes at Alex's response, and sighed, leaning back against the couch.

"We'll decide what we'll do tomorrow, for now let's just feed them"

Kin nodded in agreement and I sat up, careful to set the crimson kitten down on the couch before I headed into the kitchen. Once I was there, I opened the refrigerator in search of something they might like, many of the fruits catching my eye.

It's all I have right now, they'll have to deal with it I thought to myself, grabbing an unopened thing of Raspberries and setting them on the table.

Once I'd opened it, I grabbed ten plastic bowls from a shelf, and lined them up on the table, filling each one with only a few of the fruit each. By the time I'd finished, it was completely empty and I made sure to throw it into the garbage before returning to the living room, carrying each bowl and setting them down in separate areas.

"Did you really get them raspberries, sis?"

I ignored my brother as I sat up, brushing off my red sweatpants before turning to Juliet and Alex.

"I know you've only just gotten here, but it's getting pretty late, you two should probably go"

Juliet let out a small whimper, but Alex nodded in agreement, turning away from me and towards the door.

"Alright, we'll be here straight thing in the morning tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay"

I watched as they left, sighing as I turned to Kin.

"I don't know if you're staying up or not, but shut off all the lights when you go to sleep, the last thing we need is a huge electrical bill"

He smirked, and nodded as I passed by him.

"Good night, sis"