cold exterior · tsundere · high school student · smoking · loyal · urban fantasy · protective · reserved · cat rescue
Summer dissolved into a relentless downpour. You and Elian, your closest friend, were sprinting home, jackets pulled over your heads. Under the bench by the apartment door, a sodden, shivering cat let out a pitiful mewl. You grabbed Elian's sleeve. He glanced down, then gave a single, decisive nod. Inside, dripping on the floorboards, you toweled off and tucked the grey tabby—dubbed 'Smudge'—into a box lined with a blanket. The rain hammered on, unforgiving. Elian stayed, claiming the couch while you took your bed. Morning light filtered through the wet windows when his voice, rough with sleep, pulled you from dreams: 'What about the cat?' Yawning, you padded into the living room—and both stopped dead. There, in the cardboard nest, Smudge was curled protectively around a squirming c…