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The day had been slow, and Lizzy had just been... Well, walking around the school grounds with no real destination in mind. She was so bored that she actually wandered out of school grounds and towards the town, all the while running through - in her head - things that might be important to remember for the upcoming Shun and Mitsu date; after all, it wasn't everyday that you stalk someone on their first date to see their reactions.

... Uh, maybe not 'stalk'. Just 'follow'.

Distracted with her own thoughts, Lizzy wandered into an alleyway after making a wrong turn; how she did that was a mystery... Ot was just 'one of those days. While these dimly lit alleyways were not uncommon in Halloween, tonight was a little different; someone - drunk on pumpkin cider - had wandered into the same alleyway and was in a bit of a foul mood...

Meanwhile, Riyo had been up to her usual trips around town, gathering paperwork from the company to complete in her dorm, picking up a few groceries, window shopping here and there as she passed interesting stores. She never actually walked in though. There wasn't time to loiter around with frivolous girly fantasies. There was work to be done and she was the only one who could do it. Cats to feed, homework to complete, and budgets to check. She could rest when she was dead.

Though, a noise managed to catch her ears as she walked past an alley on her way back to school. A soft, wimpy sounding mew from just beyond her line of sight. Wait. What was that pink thing that just disappeared into the dark?

A... A pink cat?! She had never seen one of those! Perhaps it was homeless, lost and cold... Oh, she couldn't bare that thought. It was, at the very least, worth a check.

Carefully, the feline sat her bags down by the front of the alley behind a trash can, figuring she'd be in and right back. Though, the more her vision adjusted to the dark, and the stronger the scent of alcohol became, Riyo was less sure that this situation was as simple as she first imagined.

The mewing was actually coming from inside a small cardboard box, a ghost cat kitten pawing at the walls as it called for its mother, who had long abandoned it. Snapping out of her thoughts - and frowning at the fact that she was in an alley instead of the tunnel she was supposed to have turned into - Lizzy looked around, trying to find the source of the distressed mewing.

Too bad the drunkard got there first.

"JACK DAMNIT, SHUT THE JACK UP WILL YOU." He growled, hovering over the box, raising the half-finished bottle of pumpkin cider into the air and throwing it down - hard - on the box, intending for it to hit the kitten to 'shut it up'. Thankfully, his aim was off; however, the bottle was smashed, spraying glass and pumpkin cider everywhere, including into the box where a piece of glass found itself embedded into the kitten. If the drunkard's yell did not catch Lizzy's attention, the result meow of pain did.

"Hey! You!" She yelled, her frown depending as she ran towards the drunkard, fearing the worse as the kitten lapsed into silence; ugh, what to do in this situation? What to do, what to do? Despite the determined, mildly angry look on her face, she was panicking inside; what if the drunkard decided to do something bad-

... Oh wait, didn't Xiu teach her that knee-to-between-the-legs self defense move? Perfect time to test it out, maybe?

Lizzy might be grinning a little too much for someone who was confused and panicky just a moment ago as she stopped a short distance from the drunkard, unaware of the ghoul who was approaching from behind her.

Riyo had closed the gap just in time to see a ghost kitten in a box. The other two occupants in the alley didn't seem to matter all that much...

Until she saw the man throw a glass bottle at it. Almost immediately her heart sank at the pain-filled cries of the tiny being, and then... RAGE.

The ghoul's hands balled up into tight, almost painful fists. There was a hint of glow to the crimson irises as she stared down the a*****e who caused this. "YEAH. HEY YOU." She shouted right behind Lizzy, tossing her hat next to the box that the kitten resided in. The poor thing needed attention, but not before this guy ate the concrete. "You wanna beat up cats? Come at me."

Lizzy actually jumped when a voice came from behind her, the grin wiped from her face as she blinked, turning around and coming face to face with the source of the yell; or rather, she came face to chest. Looking up, she saw a really... Well, frightening face on the ghoul behind her; however, realizing that the newcomer was 'on her side', she felt a little relieved.

"YOU MAD, BRO?" The drunkard yelled back, flipping Riyo the bird as he laughed, made a choking 'I might throw up' sound, and then laughed again, "What you gonna do, huh? Mew at me?"

Meanwhile, as the man was preoccupied with Riyo, Lizzy had snuck over to the box, dragging it away from him as quickly as she could. The ghost cat kitten was still unconscious, although it was still doing the ghost equivalent of breathing, which was a huge relief.

"HEY, WHAT YOU DOING."

... Whoops.

Giving a short sideway's glance to Lizzy, Riyo figured if the ghoul meant harm like this man, she would've done something by now. Wait... Wait, her face looked familiar. ********, there was no time for that now!

Mad? MAD? Riyo was past mad. She had even scaled past livid. Right now, her levels were at BATSHIT INSANE. There was no patience for a witty retort. There was only her tightly balled up fist, which she aimed to plant in the middle of this man's face with all the force she could muster. "OVER HERE, FAT a**." She screeched as the man turned his head to look at Lizzy, a look of pure feverish rage on the ghoul's face.

"YOU WANT A PIECE OF TH-" He never got to finish his sentence as he rushed over to the side of the alley and bent over, clutching his stomach as a series of disgusting sounds followed. A foul smell could be smelt as he vomitted the contents of his stomach out, a string of curses soon after.

Wincing at the smell, she had to stop herself from joining in the emptying of the contents of her stomach. As the drunkard started to swear, Lizzy saw her chance to escape; grabbing the hat, she tossed it into the box with the kitten and lifted it up, yelling "RUN!" before dashing past the ghoul. Her worried gaze shifted from the poor injured kitten in the box to the path before her; with any luck, they could get it to a minipet FEAR healer...

Riyo seemed... Surprised? That she didn't even get a chance to attack before the guy was bent over and-

Oh. Oh, that's what happened... Cringing, the feline's fists unclenched in favor of covering her sensitive nose, the smell practically making her hair curl. "Run?" Was her muffled question as she looked back towards Lizzy with a raised eyebrow. "I dont-" She was gonna say she didn't run, but something caught her eye. "Hey! That's my hat!" She shouted angrily and ran after the pink haired ghoul. Ugh! What the hell? "I could've taken that guy, you know!" Now, in her defense, Riyo HAD been training, and while she knew how to throw a punch... Noodle arms wouldn't be able to knock everyone down. Flimsy cocky demons? Sure. Big a** guys who towered over her? Eeeeeeh...

"I'm not sure getting into fights with a drunkard is a good idea," She yelled right back at the ghoul, panting a little as she clutched the box tightly to her chest, trying not to shake it too much as she ran out of the alley, "Besides, I think the kitten needs help... Quick!" It wasn't moving, after all, and the wound caused by the glass fragment was still bleeding.

The moment she was out of that dreaded alley, she stopped, pausing to catch her breath as she turned to face the other ghoul, supporting the box using one hand while using her free hand to make various gestures, most of which ended up with her directing her attention to the kitten in the box. The fact that she was out of breath did not help her to explain the gestures, although she was trying her best, "Maybe... Minipet... FEAR... Healer...?" At least she went straight to the point.

Riyo was about to argue the point, until Lizzy mentioned the kitten. s**t, how could she have been so stupid? That poor creature had been suffering the whole time she was plotting vengeance for it. It was her anger she was trying to satisfy... And not the kitten's pain.

When Lizzy stopped just past the alley's exit, Riyo looked into the box. Her usual cold demeanor was almost immediately shot down, narrow eyes replaced with big, sad ones. "Jeez..." The cat ghoul mumbled, ears falling back against her head. "Well, we gotta do something. The longer we stand here, the less a chance it has at surviving." Riyo didn't want to remove the glass shard, because the blood flow would probably increase as soon as the item was removed. They didn't really have much of a choice here. "Do you know where the closest one is?"

Lizzy was a ghouly ghoul, although there was no helping the pink hair; she was born with it, after all, not that she minded having such a... Unique hair color.

"Secks and the city?" She echoed softly, raising an eyebrow; she had, surprisingly, never watched that movie before... And was probably never going to, now, thanks to Riyo. She noted down everything said by the magazine in her head, just in case those tips word; however, she was using that as a guide as to what not to do.

"I wonder what's taking them so long..." Her attention went back to the now empty reception table as she frowned, the worry coming back - not that it ever really left.

"Sounds terrible, I know." The feline mumbled, unconcerned whether the ghoul actually watched it or not. It still sounded terrible.

Glancing through the book a little more, she finally sat it aside with a sigh as Lizzy brought the kitten back up again. "I don't know." The ghoul finally admitted after a few moments of silence. It never took this long when her cats got injured, but they'd never faced something that bad, either. Though, she hoped for the best. "Maybe they're hanging one of those little trees around his neck to give him that new minipet smell." Sarcasm amongst the tenseness might help... Or not..

She chuckled weakly, "Maybe..." She knew that Riyo was just trying to lighten the mood, and she wasn't helping. Lapsing into silence for a moment, she was about to comment on something just so there wouldn't be this tense, awkward atmosphere around when the receptionist appeared behind the desk again. Immediately, Lizzy stood up and hurried over.

"Who's the owner of the cat...?" The receptionist asked, looking at Lizzy and then Riyo, "Or... Is it a stray?"

"We found it," She explained with a brief nod, "How is it doing?"

"Pretty well," She answered with a smile, "The glass cut pretty deep, but nothing too serious. It helped that you got the poor thing in just in time... It was given stitches to help heal, but it might leave a scar... Are any of you going to keep it? It'll need some care before the stitches can be removed."