Wow 8K total reads. Haha I know that's mostly due to the fact this story has so many chapters, but I'm still happy!  Anyway, on with Be My Kitty.

•••

(Shino Asada)

I frown at the thoughts that circulated in my mind at the moment.

How could I possibly afford a funeral?

What am I going to do?

These thoughts swirled my mind, but Kazuto brought me back into reality by gently squeezing my hand.

Back to reality.

On the bus. On our way home. I leaned my head against the cold window.

"What's going through your mind?" he mumbled. My head left from the cold window and found its place on his warm shoulder.

"The expenses," my finger and my thumb rubs my eyes. I was a lot of things at the moment. Stressed. Sad. Mournful. Weak.

I heard him sigh and wrap an arm around my shoulders.

"You worry too much," he murmured as he rested his head on mine. I had a puzzled face.

"Of course I would. This is my mom, Kazuto," I replied.

"Have faith that things will work out," he muttered. Was this the same Kazuto that planned everything through?

The rest of the bus ride, we stayed silent, and when we arrived at the bus stop, silence still loomed over us.

Until he broke it.

"Hey, why don't we go get a cup of hot cocoa?" He slipped his hand in mine. I stared at him, feeling weary.

"I'm not sure I'm in the mood for hot cocoa Kazuto," I mumbled with a frown. He smiled weakly at me.

"Please?" He insisted, resorting to his pout. I scoffed with a weak smile of my own.

"You're persistent, aren't you?" I raised an eyebrow, and he smiled sheepishly.

"I assure you, you'll feel much better," he promised.

"This better be some good cocoa," I teased. He nodded.

"Duh, cmon," he led the way, and we started walking towards the shops, the opposite direction of our homes.

We walked the streets filled with people, and he made sure he had a good grip of my hand until he led me to a small coffee shop. It was lit up with warm golden lights.

"Festive," I he chuckled lightly.

"You'll like this," he guaranteed as he led me inside, and I couldn't help but notice a cherry red car parked not too far away. It was bright red, standing out from the gray concrete. Nice.

I was led inside and was greeted with warmth at the first step inside. The aroma of coffee and chocolate swirled within the shop.

"Shino," I heard a collective voices call to me, causing me to jump slightly. Everyone was seated at a big table.

Asuna, Tsuboi, Keiko, Rika, and Suguha are all sitting there with mugs in their hands.

"Right now is not the time to be alone Shino, not only do I want you to lean on me, they want to be your rock too," Kazuto gently squeezed my hand, looking over to me as he spoke in a soft tone.

"You're right," I muttered. We made our way to the table, and Asuna rushed out of her chair to greet me with a hug.

"Asuna," I was rather surprised.

"I'm sorry, Shino," she whispered in my ear, and when she pulled back, her eyes were misty.

She led me to the table, and I took an empty seat in between Asuna and Kazuto.

"So you all know?" I mumbled as I  down at my lap, as Kazuto ordered two hot mugs of cocoa.

"Kazuto told us," Tsuboi mumbled with a sad smile. Although Tsuboi already knew since what I told him on the first bus ride there.

"And, we're here to help," Keiko whispered shyly.

"Help?" I tilted my head in confusion until I saw they all pulled out their wallets.

"For your mom's funeral, we know it will be hard to come up with the money, so we decided to pitch in with all of our savings," Asuna smiled. Kazuto came back with our cocoa and took his seat next to me.

"Kazuto," I muttered. He smiled.

"We want to help Shino, please let us," Suguha mumbled.

"Yeah, we're you're friends Shino, and friends stick by your side when you're in need," Rika responded. I take a long glance at all of them, from Asuna to Tsuboi to Suguha, Rika, Keiko then Kazuto.

"I've been truly blessing to have such wonderful friends, it makes all my past struggles worth it, just to get this far, its all been worth it, because I have all of you," I mumbled.

"Shino," Asuna reached over and placed a hand on mine.

"I've never met people who have been so kind to me. You're not only my friends, you're family," I spoke family in a nervous hushed tone. Keiko giggled brightly.

"You just realized that now? We've all been family since day one," Keiko reassured me, causing a small laugh to escape my lips.

"Yeah, family," Suguha responded as she smiled towards me.

That night, we spoke till it was closing time, discussing all the preparations.

They all pitched in a decent quantity, Asuna made the biggest donation, but what made my heart melt was everyone pitched in the most that they could.

Kazuto was right. I did feel better after drinking the cocoa. But it wasn't the cocoa that made me feel better, I thought as I smiled at them all.

I'm still grieving for the family I lost, but I was overjoyed for the family that I have gained.

•••

(Time Skip)

All dressed in black, all coated for the harsh cold that night.

I watched the coffin being lowered down into the dug up hole, into the earth, inch by inch, until it disappeared from my sight.

Fresh dirt was scooped up and swept into the hole. Until it was completely covered. Soon, it was patched with grass, with a nice new tombstone right above it.

Right next to my dad.

I felt Kazuto's arm wrap around my waist and felt Asuna's hand on my shoulder. I stood before this new grave that wasn't here before.

I knelt down and lay a fresh bouquet of rosy red flowers in between the two graves.

Staring at both the new grave and then the old, at my mom, then my dad, I start to hum that lullaby. So you both can sleep peacefully, together.

"I'm sure there's a new star in the heavens, and I'm sure it's you, mom, right next to dad," I smiled sadly, recalling old memories.

"May you two shine brightly tonight, and always, watch over me, until its time for me to shine too," I whispered under my breathe, looking up at the night sky before getting up from my kneeling position.

"There's still some graves I'd like to see before I go," I mumble.

"Of course," Asuna nodded. Kazuto sighed.

"You're such a forgiving soul, you know that?" He muttered. I smiled gently.

"Lucky you," I responded. He rolled his eyes with a small smile.

"Go on, we'll wait," he reassured, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," I replied. They waited for me at the cemetery gate as I walked off to the farthest corners of the cemetery until I saw a grave, fairly new, next to another one.

"I hated what you did to me, but I didn't hate you, I didn't want you to die," I knelt down to a marbled grave with the name Ken Shinkawa on it.

"You're such a dummy," I sighed. I turned to the grave next to it. Hikari Horimara.

"And you, I didn't want to take you away from this world because at one period of time, I thought we could've been friends. I thought we were friends," I placed a single rose on each grave, one artificially stained blue, and the other one stained purple.

Goodbye.

•••

Happy Thanksgiving to those in America! If not, well, um, happy Thursday!

This had to be done. I can't just gloss over Hikari and Ken like nothing. Same with her parents.

Now you are all ready for the final chapters of Be My Kitty?

I would say congratulations for reading this far, but we're not at the very end just yet!

Until Next Time.

-InGameProdigy