The cat remembered being a cat. At least, he thought he did. But now something was different, and his limbs wouldn’t move right, and it was so dark…

There were noises, voices maybe, and he tried to swivel his ears in the right direction, only they refused to obey his commands. They stayed plastered to the sides of his head (the sides of his head?) and besides, they seemed to be stuffed with cotton. Or something. Whatever was wrong with them, he couldn’t seem to hear right—everything was so muted and dull.

Confused and more than a little frightened, the cat (he… was a cat, wasn’t he? He remembered being a cat…) settled down to wait and see what would happen.

“He’s not bad-looking. Sort of cute, actually. In a too-skinny, limbs-too-long sort of way.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up. I’d like to see you do any better.”

“Heh! You know transfiguration isn’t my style, Kyo.”

“Right, you prefer your porno-magic.”

“It’s called sexcraft, you barbarian, and at least my magic is legal.”

“Whatever, Totchi. I’m dedicated to pushing the boundaries. If I have to bend a few laws to do it—“

“Bend? More like stomp on.”

“—then I will. Don’t you have somewhere to be? Like, a job or something? Or were you planning on loafing around my lab all night?”

“Oh, my client can wait five minutes. Besides, hanging with you is more interesting.”

“Thanks.”

“When you’re not being a grumpy bastard, that is.”

“Okay, time’s up, get the hell out of my lab. And don’t let the door hit you on the scrawny ass on your way out.”

“I wuv you too, Kyo.”

“Fuck off.”

“Fine, fine, I’m going. Have fun with your new, uh, pet. …By the way, what are you going to name him?”

“Name him? He’s not a cat anymore, you dumbass.”

“So I guess ‘Fluffy’ is out of the question, hm?”

“Just go you damn whore!”

“Kyo! It says “sexcraft artist” right on my license.”

“A whore is a whore is a whore.”

“Maybe. Which reminds me, you still owe me for that blowjob last Christmas Eve…”

“Are you still here? Do I have to call out the dogs?”

“You don’t have any dogs. And at this rate, you’d be transforming them into people if you did.”

Toshiya walked out into the chill late November air. The rust-spotted metal door behind him closed with an agonized metal shriek and a clang loud enough to make him wince. Kyo really needed to get his damn door fixed, before the thing just rusted off.

Continuing to lollygag, he walked over to the edge of the narrow walkway in front of Kyo’s door and leaned over, taking in the view of the city. Straight across from him, forming a cliff-wall of pitted metal, was the last building before the city ended and the arid, desert-like Empty Land began. He could see it, beyond the massive hulk of the superbuilding (actually a haphazard tower, built like a child’s precarious block-sculpture, with section upon section added as the need for space grew, so that what once may have been a sleek building now looked like a squirrel’s nest of rafter-supported add-ons and crooked, treacherous metal catwalks).

Glancing down over the railing (which once upon a time had been painted red, but now the paint had all mostly flaked off), Toshiya could see miles of city below. More walkways crisscrossed at irregular intervals, so numerous that from this height they made a spiderweb pattern as they connected building segment to building segment. Some were wide enough to drive a tank across, while others were barely able to qualify as catwalks.

This close to the edge of the city there wasn’t much light (why waste the energy on the low-rent end?), but even here Toshiya could make out the riot of neon signs and the occasional floodlamp. If he strained his eyes, he could see perhaps fifty levels down. Beyond that, everything was swallowed in the nighttime gloom.

Closer to the Interior, he knew, you could see almost to the bottom, four miles down.

Kyo approached cautiously as the young man watched him with narrowed eyes.

Okay, so on the outside, he looked human. Cute, he supposed, as Toshiya had said, with an almost painfully narrow frame, long limbs, a strong-boned face, and wild hair that stuck up in punkish red/black tufts.

But one look at those angry/frightened eyes, and Kyo knew there was nothing human there to talk to.

Yet.

“You don’t know it, kitty, but you’re living proof of all my theories,” Kyo said, voice careful as he walked closer.

The not-human/not-cat retreated to the corner of the cell-like experiment room, huddling on all fours and trying to growl with an unfamiliar throat.

“Nice kitty, pretty kitty…” Kyo soothed, feeling unaccountably stupid for saying it. He eased forward, hands up in the “unarmed” gesture. “Here, kitty kitty…”

The thing let him get close enough to touch…

And then it bit him. Hard.

Kyo yowled and so did the not-cat. Kyo scrambled back, clutching at his injured and now-bleeding hand, and the not-cat tried to huddle down as far as he could, eyes wide and teeth bared.

Kyo started swearing, using every piece of gutter-language he knew. “Little bastard! I can’t fucking believe you fucking bit me!”

Growl. Spit.

“Oh, you are SO gonna die.”

Toshiya entered the Interior Dragon, a restaurant so exclusive it probably cost twice what he made in a week just to get an artfully-arranged dinner. And that didn’t even include dessert.

But no matter; he wasn’t here to eat.

Food, anyway.

The maitre d’ led him to one of the private rooms at the back, and on the way Toshiya surreptitiously checked out the clientele. There, that woman was a well-known shipping magnate… And that man over there was an advisor to the City Council… And wasn’t that sharply-dressed guy at the bar a famous actor or something?

I look just as good as they do he thought to himself, pleased. His clothes may have cost a small fortune, but at least it let him fit in at a place like this. He smoothed his diaphanous over-skirt down, and then told himself it was just to be sure. Not a nervous gesture at all. Really.

The sliding doors he was led to were covered in wild-eyed Chinese dragons. Tongues of bright red flame licked out of their gaping maws, and their mother-of-pearl inlay claws slashed at the black-lacquered wood. Wondering vaguely how much a replica would cost and if it would look good in his own apartment, he nodded as the maitre d’ slid the doors open and stepped inside.

“So glad you could make it.”

The voice came from the man seated at the low table that dominated most of the small room. Toshiya took him in with a glance and thought two things simultaneously: He’s pissed that I’m late and Damn, he’s not bad looking at all.

He plastered on his most charming smile. “Forgive me, I was held up. I hope you didn’t wait long, Mr…” Toshiya blanked on the man’s name. Shit!

The other smiled, slightly, his expression sardonic as he realized Toshiya’s trouble. “Kaoru,” he supplied finally, his voice now containing an edge of laughter.

“Kaoru, of course. Please excuse me.” Toshiya sank gracefully to the floor even as he cursed internally. Damn! Hell! I can’t believe I forgot his stupid name. And now he’s laughing at me. Get it together, Totchi!

The man, Kaoru, laced elegant fingers together on the polished tabletop. “Don’t worry about it.” He was still smiling that superior smile. Toshiya wanted to smack him.

What is this, be an asshole to Toshiya day? He masked his thoughts with a sultry come-hither look. “Well then, shall we order dinner? Or skip right to dessert?”

“Actually, I have a question for you.”

No, I don’t swallow, Toshiya thought wearily.

“Do you know a man who goes by the name of ‘Kyo’?”

Toshiya coughed to cover up his sound of surprise. That was NOT the question I expected.

“Kyo? Hmm…” He made a show of trying to remember. “I meet a lot of people in my line of work. And ‘Kyo’ isn’t all that uncommon a name.” Meanwhile, his mind raced. What is he, a detective? Crap, if he works for the Council, Kyo is fucked. I told him he’d be in trouble one of these days…

Kaoru fished in the inside pocket of his oh-so-stylish black jacket. He pulled something out and slid it across the table. “Maybe this will jog your memory?”

Toshiya looked. It was a photo of Kyo, blurred but recognizable. Kyo glared sullenly from beneath frizzy blond bangs, his pierced lower lip sticking out in what Toshiya always thought was an adorable pout. Under his picture were the words “WANTED FOR QUESTIONING” and an offer for an insultingly small reward.

Shiiiit, thought Toshiya.

He pretended to study the picture, frowning in mock concentration. “Doesn’t look like anyone I know,” he said at last. “My customers are usually more, how do you say…”

“Loaded?” Kaoru supplied helpfully.

“Affluent,” Toshiya shot back.

Kaoru again put on that sardonic smile. “I’d imagine.”

Toshiya sighed heavily and toyed with a lock of hair. “Are we done with the weird questions now? Because I’d really like to earn my fee. That is, provided you didn’t just plan on asking me about strangers in pictures and then ditching me without paying.”

“No,” Kaoru said, “I’ll make sure you’re compensated for your wasted time.” He got up and headed for the door with deliberate steps. “I’m sorry to have been a bother.”

“Wait.”

Kaoru turned around, one eyebrow quirked in a silent question.

What the hell am I doing? Toshiya wondered, even as he blurted, “Don’t you even want me to…?”

Kaoru blinked, slowly. “Yes,” he said, voice suddenly serious, “but not in a situation like this.”

Toshiya felt confused, and he wasn’t even sure why. “What’s your deal, anyway?” he asked, his voice losing some of its polished veneer. “You a fuckin’ detective or something?” Shit, I’m starting to talk like Kyo, too.

The smile was back. “I’m just making a living.” He turned and walked out the door, sliding it shut behind him.

“That’s supposed to be my line,” Toshiya mumbled, irritated, at the lacquered Chinese dragons.

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