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“They’re going to close soon if they don’t get enough money.”
Tohru’s brown eyes are wide, glistening with a sadness that Kyou hears in her voice. He’s already reaching out to wipe the tears away before the words register in his mind.
“Who’s going to close?” he asks, picking up the tabby cat that flops over on the floor next to them, blissfully unaware of any emotional turmoil.
“The shelter,” she answers, giving the cat some affectionate scratches behind the ear. “The one where we found Haruto.”
That has Kyou snapping to attention. Call him cliché, but the cat shelter meant more to him than any other business. “What can we do?”
The rest of the night is spent going through every idea they can come up with to save the shelter. Car wash was instantly rejected when they realized that not a lot of people would need (or want) their car wash in the middle of November. It was too late for any fun Halloween themes, and even the option of gift wrapping didn’t hold as much potential for them.
“What about a food sale?” Kyou offers, and finally Tohru’s eyes light up in excitement.
“That’s such a good idea,” she cheers lightly. “We could sell rice balls at the mall for holiday shoppers.”
And so, the two set out on their mission. Getting ingredients was easy, especially since Kyou had a few family members willing to contribute. Most likely as an apology for everything over the past few years, but it was appreciated, nonetheless. Arisa and Saki even came by to help cook everything, each rice ball molded perfectly and wrapped in nori so carefully that they almost looked like props for a show.
“Thank you so much for the help this week,” Tohru says again when Hatsuharu and Rin help her unload the truck, setting out the rice balls in an artful display. “If we can make seven hundred thousand yen we can help them meet their budget.”
The first hour leaves Kyou and Tohru feeling hopeless, however. Not a single shopper stops by to see their table, and nobody gives them a glance when they try to call for attention. “It’s for a good cause,” the group repeats, again and again, to no hope.
“There has to be a better way,” Arisa grumbles as she looks at the boxes of rice balls. “How many of these did we end up making anyway, Tohru?”
“Umm… about one thousand,” she says with a sheepish giggle. “I think we might have gotten a bit carried away.”
“Looks like it,” Saki agrees.
“What are we going to do if we can’t sell any of these?” Hatsuharu asks, and Rin just frowns at their inventory.
It’s hopeless, they all think but refuse to say it out loud. If they can’t sell a single rice ball, let alone one thousand, there’s no way that the cat rescue will stay open.
“What’s this?” an elderly couple approaches them.
Tohru’s eyes glisten with excitement as she tells them about their goal, that they want to help the cat rescue and they’re selling rice balls to do it. “We have plum, red bean, eel, and even a taro one,” she tells them as she indicates each type. “Would you like to buy one?”
The couple laughs, but they pull out their money and buy two each. “Thank you, dears, and good luck,” the man tells them with a wave.
“Don’t give up,” the woman adds before the two disappear into the shopping center again.
Something in them sparks more passion in the group. The first sale finally happened, so they just have to do it again.
It’s hours of hard work, but as the day goes on and more shoppers stop by, they manage to sell more of the rice balls.
“A thousand rice balls,” one woman gasps. “That’s so many!”
“Are you trying to make a wish?” another man asks. “I thought that was for cranes.”
In the end, Tohru figures they are trying to make a wish; one that goes beyond the paper cranes. And they get so close, when the day finally ends, leaving them with only five hundred rice balls remaining.
“We got really far,” Arisa offers her support. “I’m sure we can get the rest of the money somehow.”
She forces a sad smile, nodding. “I know,” Tohru thanks her, “We have a few days before they need it.”
“Before whom needs what?” a voice asks behind them, and the group jump and look over to see someone they hadn’t for a while; Momiji.
“Before the shelter needs the money for the cats,” Tohru says. “We only got halfway there today.”
“I see,” Momiji nods as he glances over what’s left. “Well, how much are they?”
“They’re seven hundred yen each,” Tohru tells him, gasping when she watches Momiji pull out his wallet.
“I’ll buy them all,” he tells her. “I know plenty of friends who would enjoy such a delicacy.”
“Thank you,” Kyou speaks, before Tohru can try to deny the contribution. “This is very kind of you.”
Momiji simply winks and walks away with the rest of the rice balls, leaving the group to gather their supplies.
And when they head home, stopping at the shelter to donate the money to a group of grateful employees, Kyou makes sure that Tohru gets her own surprise.
A surprise for her and Haruto, really. A friendly new calico cat to help keep their family whole.