You know, my life was pretty simple until I found him. I don't really have much of a social life. And unless you count this one girl who chases me when she feels like it, no romantic life either. I guess I'm just a loner.
Yup, simple life. Lonely, but simple. The day I found him, I was just coming back from the grocery store down the street. There was a sudden cloudburst, dumping rain onto everyone and everything. I ducked into a covered alley to wait out the rain, but with the first flash of lightning I had a feeling that it wouldn't go away anytime soon.
Such is life in NYC. Sigh. As I tried to work up the courage to go walk in the rain, I heard the most pitiful and pathetic noise ever created. It was coming from under a pipe drain for the eaves of one of the houses. It sounded a little like a baby crying.
Wondering if I should even get involved, I cautiously walked over and looked inside the soaking cardboard box. Inside were a pair of kittens, soaking wet and very thin. One was dark and making all the noise while the other was greyish and silent.
I had the distinct feeling the grey one died. The black one would probably die soon if it stayed there. I sighed again.
"Why am I even getting involved?" I asked myself and reached to pick up the kitten. Wet kitties are not happy kitties. It took a swipe at me.
"Ow! Stupid cat!" I said to it, putting the top of my hand to my mouth. The cat yowled and hissed back, tucking it's ears tight against it's head. It's eyes were the most unusual shade of purple. But this wasn't important, because I had to get home, my milk was getting warm.
"Okay cat, into the bag!" I grabbed the kitten by the scruff of the neck and stuffed the spitting hairball into the bag. I checked the other kitten and it was most definitely dead.
I got up and brought the bag of cat and groceries to my apartment, and got soaked in the process. When I opened my front door, I breathed a sigh of relief. I brought the bag to the counter and let the cat out of the bag, literally.
The dark hairball shot out and promptly hid under my couch.
"Baka neko," I said, reverting to Japanese. I looked into the bag to unpack my groceries or what *had* been my groceries. My cold meats had been sliced and munched on, my bread had been shredded and my milk carton was developping a slow leak.
"Great, just great. Now I need to go *back* out there." I glared in the direction of the cat. "You behave now."
I tossed the bread and dumped the milk. I put the remainder of the meat on a plate and set it on the counter. I went back outside, ranting all the while about cats. I think people thought I was nuts.
When I got to the store for the second time and reselected my purchases, I went to the pet aisle to look for cat food. This was not an easy task. I managed to get a few cans and brought it all to the register. The cashier gave me a look.
"I have a cat now," I growled. She nodded like she understood and gave me a total. Now that I paid for my groceries *twice* I went home, again.
I put my groceries safely in the fridge and put the cans of catfood in the cupboard. I looked on the counter and saw that the plate was bare and licked cleaned. The kitten was nowhere in sight.
"Hn. Fine then." My apartment smelled like wet cat. I was not impressed. First priority, wash the cat. Ninmu ryokai. Easier said than done. First, I had to *find* my baka neko. In case you didn't pay attention in your Japanese class (that's a laugh) baka means stupid. Neko means cat. Baka neko means stupid cat.
Back to the hunt. Baka neko was not under the couch anymore. I checked the bathroom, underthe rest of the furniture and had a bad, bad feeling the cat was in the bedroom. Damn.
Sure enough, baka neko was sleeping on my pillow. It was still wet. And smelly.
"Myow," said the baka neko.
"You cause twice as much trouble as you're worth, baka neko," I said and picked up the cat. It fought claw and tooth to get away and I managed to bring it to the sink. Now it clung to me like I was it's last hope.
"You need a wash," I said firmly, putting it in the sink and quickly turned on the water. With one hand I held him still and with the other I wet him down and shampooed him. For reasons I don't fully understand, I had a bottle of pet shampoo. I think I picked it up by accident when buying my shampoo and forgot to take it back.
Cats hate being wet. This is a fact. Baka neko yowled piteously from the treatment but was now wet and clean at least. I grabbed a towel and began vigourously drying it off. During the process, I saw that baka neko was a male.
As soon as I released him, he took off to parts unknown. I cleaned myself up and changed, because I was wet, smelled like a dirty cat and was covered in hair. Oi...
Now dry and showered myself, I decided to clean my pillow. It was covered in hair too. I can't believe such a little thing has so much hair!
Now that everything was freshly clean, I searched for baka neko. He was sitting on my couch, cleaning itself.
"Baka neko, I just washed you. You need a brush." I took a soft baby brush that had been left by the last occupants of this apartment and approached baka neko. Baka neko didn't like me. He took off and I followed in close pursuit. After several hours of pursuing the baka *possesed* neko, he just stopped and went to sleep in the middle of the living room floor.
"Eh?" I said brilliantly, but I take my victories where I can get them. I gently began brushing baka neko's fur, which wasn't really black, more like a chestnut brown. He watched me at first but then lowered his head down and began to purr. It's a nice sound. I don't know how long I sat there, brushing and brushing until I fell asleep to the sound of rythmic purring.
Now, as a good cat owner, you have to make sure your cat has bathroom facilities, a good flea collar, a cat carrier for transport, a bed of some kind and most importantly, it's license and shots.
I didn't have any of these things. But I was working on it. Baka neko reminded pointedly of the importance of a bathroom when I found him pooping in my shower. I was not impressed. However, I was grateful he didn't go on the carpet. So I got the kitty box. I was impressed that he went there right away, rather than having to be trained.
Also, when dry, baka neko doesn't look like a kitten at all. So he's probably a full grown cat. Now, I got the flea collar, cat carrier and cat bed. Everything was pretty fine. I found a flyer from a vet nearby that gave estimates on prices for shots, and for spaying and neutering cats and dogs. Apparently baka neko can read, because he took one look at the word 'neuter' and bolted.
"Here kitty, kitty," I called into my bedroom, his favorite hiding place.
I heard a hiss of contempt. Ouch.
"You know it's for your own good. You can't go around making little baka nekos whenever you're in the mood. And this is the only contraceptive available for cats."
A yowl and a hiss. I don't speak cat, but whatever he said, it wasn't polite.
"Too bad you couldn't promise not to..." Baka neko came running from my closet, frantically rubbing up against my leg. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was saying he wouldn't. I decided to take baka neko up on his offer. At the vet, he didn't so much as glance at any female cats.
After getting him back, the vet said I was very lucky to have such a well behaved and beautiful cat. I had to take a good long look at baka neko to make sure we were talking about *my* cat.
Aside from violet eyes, baka neko had long and silky chestnut fur and a luxuriant tail. He was... beautiful. But well behaved?
That night, after I went to bed, I thought to myself 'He is beautiful, and maybe even well behaved, but he's still twice as much trouble as he's worth.'
I came home from work exhausted. The workload was double today, and it looked to be the sametomorrow. I hate office work. I came home and took off my shoes and flopped onto the couch, tired beyond belief.
Baka neko padded over and sat on my chest. He licked my face and purred. The relaxing feeling drained my tension away and I could feel myself dropping into sleep.
"Maybe you're worth twice as much as I thought, Duo-neko," I murmured sleepily. It was that moment I named baka neko.
I came home from work, and I couldn't find Duo-neko. He would normally rush to the door when I arrived and jump onto my shoulders when I bent down to take off my shoes. This time, nothing.
Feeling a little sad, I noted that a window had been broken by a stray ball and a note had been written in apology. Duo-neko must have slipped out. It was getting colder so I was really worried. I grabbed a sweater and went outside to look for my baka Duo-neko.
"Here kitty, kitty!" I called. I could hear a faint echo as I walked along, calling and looking. I heard a familiar yowl coming from a small, nearby park.
I saw Duo-neko, locked in battle with another cat. I panicked, not knowing what to do. I soon saw they were not fighting, but *playing*. I crossed my arms and glared at Duo-neko.
"Don't you *ever* do that to me again Duo-neko!"
"Don't you *ever* do that to me again Hee-kitty!" said someone very close by. I looked up startled to see a guy about my age, dressed completely in black. He had a long braid of chestnut hair and *violet* eyes.
Our cats looked up at us, smug as can be. The stranger kitty was dark brown and had blue eyes that I could swear were the same colour as mine. His fur looked like it had never been brushed, but was clean.
I picked up Duo-neko just as he picked up his cat. Our heads bumped and we laughed.
"Hi, my name's Duo Maxwell," he said, sticking out his free hand.
"My name is Heero Yuy. It's a pleasure," I said, shaking the proffered hand.
The cats exchanged looks.
End Part 1
What did you think guys?
Cat-ra: Purrrrrrrrrr
Tro-kitty: //_^= ...