"Yeah," I agree. "That might get a little dicey." I move in close and press my nose into his hair. It's a cat thing, but I don't care. I'm a cat thing too, I know that and I'm not really ashamed of it. "But I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, okay? Not him, not OOO, not anyone. Okay? We all deserve a chance."

And they'd better give him a fair chance. I thought I was the one who spent the longest as a human, but I guess not. Now it's him, he's got the seniority over all of us.

"They'll handle it. I think... I think we all need to stick together."

If Maki comes back, no one'll know how to deal with him but us.