"It hurts." Umji choked out through her tears, unable to stop her body from shaking. 

  "I know. I'm sorry." Sowon said softly, tucking some of Umji's black hair behind her ear. Normally the former kittens doctor visits were just simple checkups but during Umji's routine blood test, the doctor had discovered that the former brown striped kitten was missing a lot of vaccinations that the other former kittens had already gotten long ago. The vaccination medication had shown up in the other former kittens tests but most of them had been missing in Umji's, which was reason for concern. But it made sense to Sowon. After seeing the visions of each girl's past, thanks to the witch who cursed them, it was clear that Umji had barely been taken care of by her former parents. Sowon had pushed the scheduled date for Umji's vaccinations as far away as she could but she didn't want the girl to end up getting terribly sick by some easily avoidable disease. It was conflicting, one of the hardest decisions that Sowon had made so far. She didn't want Umji to be in pain but it was unavoidable. Umji needed these shots. 

  The mentioned girl was leaned against the blonde who was standing next to the examination table, Umji's sleeve rolled up to expose her bare arm. Umji needed six different vaccinations, three on each arm. The doctor had finished with the shots on her left arm and was currently in the process of delivering the three other shots on her right arm, trying to be as gentle as she possibly could be. But Umji had slipped into kitten mode the second she had seen the needles set up and waiting at the beginning of the doctor visit, hiding herself behind the chair, examination table and then in Sowon's arms before being placed on the examination table. The former brown striped kitten was crying, unable to stop her tears as the process continued. Sowon felt awful about the whole situation but was thankful that the doctors were so understanding of Umji's reaction. It wasn't the first time they had seen someone react like this to getting shots. 

"It's almost over, okay? It's almost over." Sowon whispered to Umji, her heart aching as the girl continued to sob. Thankfully, Umji's kitten mode wasn't as aggressive as SinB's. It was more like she was a little kid scared of her shadow when she was in her kitten mode, something that could be explained as a simple fear reaction, unlike SinB's biting. That was always a bit tougher to explain. 

"And that's the last one." The doctor said, placing a bandage over the final injection site before pulling Umji's sleeve down to cover it. "Keep an eye on her. She'll most likely have low energy today. You can put an ice pack on her upper arms to help with the soreness but make sure it's not too cold by wrapping it in a washcloth or small towel. And please call us if she has any sort of unexpected physical reaction to the vaccines later on."

"I'll be sure to do that. Thank you." Sowon responded, bowing politely as the doctor gave the pair a smile before she left the examination room to move on to the other patients waiting for their own appointments. Umji was still crying, her face pressed against Sowon's shoulder. The blonde ran a hand through Umji's pretty hair, letting the girl calm down a bit. It was clear, however, that Umji was most likely not going to calm down any time soon, no matter how long she waited.

"Let's go home, Umji." Sowon said, moving away so that she could help Umji down from the table. Umji hissed, reaching out for Sowon desperately and yelping at the pain in her arms thanks to the movement. The blonde quickly moved back to her previous position, staying in arms reach of the former brown striped kitten as she helped her down to her feet and out the door. Umji continued to stay pressed against the blonde's body as they left, flinching whenever someone walked past the pair on the way back to the car. Sowon had kept the other girls at home, not wanting to overwhelm Umji with everyone around her. She was more than ready to get home, mentally kicking herself for not at least bringing Yerin along to accompany them. She hadn't expected Umji's kitten mode to come out during the visit, thinking that she would just cry for a bit and be back to normal afterwards. She couldn't have been more wrong.

"Umji...." Sowon sighed as she stood in front of the open SUV door, trying to get the former brown striped kitten buckled in the front seat. Umji was refusing, clinging to the blonde as tight as her sore arms could allow her.

"Umji." Sowon repeated, pressing a kiss against Umji's head. "I have to drive now. I can't get us home until you get in."

Umji only growled through her tears, choking back another sob. Sowon kissed her cheek before helping her into the seat, making sure she didn't move Umji's arms around too much. Umji hissed again the second Sowon moved away to close the car door, biting at her seatbelt angrily before Sowon made her way into the drivers seat. 

"Hey, hey." Sowon took Umji's face in her hands, gently pulling the seatbelt away from the former brown striped kitten's teeth. "Don't bite that, silly. It doesn't taste good."

Umji only whined in response, her sobs returning as more tears streaked down her cheeks. Sowon rubbed the tears away with her jacket sleeve. She turned the key in the ignition, safely maneuvering the SUV out of the parking lot before switching to driving with one hand, her other hand holding Umji's the entire way home. The fact that Umji's crying didn't seem to be stopping or slowing down at all was concerning. And the sound of Umji's cries as the pair entered the house was enough to send all the former kittens running to the front door, Yerin at the head of the pack.

 "Umji?" Yerin touched Umji's face softly, pushing away tears with her thumbs. Umji choked out another sob, her lower lip trembling with emotion. 

"It's okay, baby. You're home. You're safe." Yerin cooed softly, keeping her tone low as she pulled Umji into her arms. Umji welcomed the contact, her cries continuing. 

"Oh, Umji." Eunha was the next to reach the younger girl, placing her hand on Umji's back and rubbing it up and down.

"I hate hearing her cry." Yuju said with a sad expression on her face, SinB joining Eunha in rubbing Umji's back while the former brown striped kitten remained in Yerin's arms. 

"Is there anything we can do to help?" SinB asked, turning to give Sowon a concerned glance.

"We can get an ice pack from the freezer to help the soreness in her arms." Sowon replied. "Aside from that, I think all we can do is keep her close and comfortable."

"Was she crying the whole time?" Yerin asked, kissing Umji's forehead.

"Yeah." Sowon sighed. "She tried to hide wherever she could in the examination room too, even if she couldn't fit."

"Kitten mode." Yuju exhaled, coming to that conclusion as fast as Sowon had at the appointment.

"Yeah, kitten mode." Sowon agreed, running a hand through her own hair out of habit.

"I'll get the ice pack ready." SinB said, moving away to dart into the kitchen as fast as she could. Sowon could only watch as Yerin slowly led Umji to the couch with Eunha's help. Once the trio was seated, Umji immediately curled into Yerin's lap, Eunha placing a kiss against her cheek as well while Yerin ran her fingers through the former brown striped kitten's hair.

"Was she like this back then too?" Sowon asked Yuju, frowning at the sound of Umji's continuing sobs.

"Yeah." Yuju nodded. "She was afraid of everything."

"I can imagine." Sowon replied. 

"Let me guess," Yuju turned her head to look at Sowon, smiling softly. "You want to hear a story about Umji as a kitten this time, huh?"

"Of course." Sowon chuckled. "It could help me know what to do to help her right now."

"Right." Yuju continued to smile, moving in close to the other girl before starting her story.

__________________________

"I told you to be gentle around her." The ginger kitten's voice scolded, the kitten firmly gripping the scruff of the black kitten's neck with and teeth. The black kitten only whined, grumbling as she was pulled to the side of the bush hideout. The brown striped kitten was currently curled into herself, shaking badly. The gray kitten sat next to her, leaning down to give her companion's face a with her rough tongue. The brown striped kitten let out a small hiss out of anxiousness before letting the gray kitten continue to her, curling against the other in an attempt to hide.

"I just wanted to play." The black kitten voice said quietly, her ears laying down flat against her head. 

"She's still not used to playing like that." The white kitten's voice chimed in, assisting the ginger kitten in keeping the black kitten away from the other two for now.

"I didn't mean to scare her." The black kitten mewed, the ginger kitten finally letting go of her.

"I know you didn't. But you need to be careful." The ginger kitten nuzzled against the black kitten. "She's still getting used to all of us. Especially since we have a new member of our pack now."

The mentioned gray kitten was grooming the trembling brown striped kitten now, allowing her new friend to stay close.

"How come she likes her more than us?" The black kitten appeared to be pouting, her tail swishing back and forth. "We've known her longer."

"Probably because shes quiet and doesn't try to bite her tail." The white kitten pointed out, playfully swatting her paw at the black kitten.

"Shut up." The black kitten grumbled, swatting back with her own paw. And in seconds, the two kittens were starting a friendly fighting match, small playful squeaks and meows entering the air as the pair tumbled around on the ground energetically. The ginger kitten watched for a while before making her way over to the gray kitten and brown striped kitten's sides. The brown striped kitten hissed softly, burying her face in the gray kitten's soft and fuzzy side.

"Sorry about her." The ginger kitten's voice apologized. "She doesn't know how rough she's being sometimes when she plays. She didn't mean to scare you."

The brown striped kitten only mewed softly in response, indicating that she understood even though she hadn't responded with her own internal voice. 

"Would a bath help you feel better?" The ginger kitten's voice asked, the kitten tilting her head curiously. The brown striped kitten meowed again, a small confirmation that she was fine with the idea. It almost seemed like what the ginger kitten had suggested was exactly what the smaller kitten wanted, the brown striped kitten moving away from the gray kitten's side to position herself in front of the ginger kitten with her shaking paws. The gray kitten gave her companion one last and nuzzle before deciding to join the white and black kittens in their fighting match, playfully nibbling the white kitten's ear and running around the pair. 

The ginger kitten nuzzled against the brown striped kitten, rubbing her face against the other kitten until she could hear the brown striped kitten start to quietly purr. She was quick to start bathing her like she always did, but this time, she made sure to take longer than she usually would. Slowly, her tongue brushed against the soft brown striped kitten's fur, taking great care in getting her groomed and feeling safe. The brown striped kitten quickly started to settle down, pressing even closer to the ginger kitten as her purrs grew stronger. The close contact was helpful for the ginger kitten, her rough tongue cleaning up the other kitten's face lovingly. 

"Is she feeling better?" The white kitten asked, having left the other two kittens to playing by themselves. The black kitten and gray kitten always tended to play a little rougher than the white kitten liked.

"I think so." The ginger kitten's voice seemed relieved, watching as the brown striped kitten made her way over to the white kitten to rub against her as well. The white kitten's voice giggled, nuzzling against her companion affectionately. 

Once the other two kittens had settled down, they joined the others in keeping the brown striped kitten feeling better. The black kitten had even given