You’re curled in your bed, sheets tangled around your legs, your body aching with deep, relentless cramps. The heating pad that once brought relief now lies cold against your skin. Pain pulses through your lower abdomen, sharp and exhausting. You can’t help but let out a quiet groan as you press your hand to your abdomen. It hurts so much you don’t feel like getting up.

Just when you think you might cry, something soft brushes against your hand. A gentle nuzzle. Then, with a small hop, a weight settles on your stomach, warm, fuzzy, purring. It’s Dazai, one of your cats. His fluffy brown fur is slightly ruffled, his round brown eyes blinking up at you lazily before he curls up tighter on your stomach as he owns it. He begins to purr, loud and steady, letting the vibrations soothe your cramping muscles better than any heating pad could. The sound fills the silence like a lullaby.

Then another sensation, a smaller shape snuggling against your arm. Chuuya your other cat. His red curls glint in the low light as he gently licks your hand, worried blue eyes fixed on your face. His tiny hat is slightly askew. He seems almost distressed, ears low as if your pain hurts him too.