Hats off to you, wait that doesn’t mean you can take it!

“Are we there yet?” Kato asked, trailing Styx.

“What?” She finally turned, “We’ve hardly walked three feet. Why would we be there yet?”

“I don’t know, it just seemed like the right thing to say.” Kato shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay?” Styx stopped walking and stared at him.

“I knew it! We are there!” Kato exclaimed.

“What? Oh,” she looked at Kato’s cheeky smirk. “Funny…”

She started walking forward, her grey leather turnshoes eating up the ground at a remarkable pace. Her jacket billowed back, thin black straps dancing in her wake.

“Hey, wait up,” Kato called as he began jogging behind her.

Styx didn’t say a word, but a slow, devilish smile spread across her lips.

Then she ran, Kato stared at her retreating back for a moment ‘how do I keep finding crazy?’

Kato ran after her.

She giggled, it was full of mirth, as she weaved in and out of the surrounding crowd.

Kato darted in between people, following as closely as he could, but it was no use, she was just too fast. ‘Lost her.’ “Styx, he called out, his voice tinged with desperation, but there was no reply. For a moment he just stared at the ranks of bodies, hemming him in, ’could ask a stranger, but I already know how that would turn out.’ Resigned Kato just began plodding up the street, ‘who really wants an adventure, with a mystery girl, clad in leather? Not me, no siree bob. I’d rather get robbed and be pelted by coins.’

“Boo!” Styx sprang up in front of Kato.

Kato clutched his heart and staggered back dramatically.

She laughed, “lost you, did I?” She leaned forward slightly, hands on hips.

‘Play it cool, play it cool.’

“No, I knew where you were, it’s just I wanted to experience more of the city you know?” Kato leaned back; his arms crossed with a nonchalant expression.

She looked at him quizzically, eyebrows raised.

His heart beat a little harder.

“Fine you got me, I had no idea where you were.”

She smiled brightly at him, then darted back into the crowd.

‘This woman.’ Kato stared at the crowd again, but it was no use she was already gone.

Goosebumps freckled Kato’s pale skin. Who could’ve known it would be colder not wearing a shirt, than wearing one? He sighed and tried to rub some warmth back into his arms. A lone finger circled his chest, “come on big guy, do me a solid, just this once.” He stared down at the little bumps, they refused to budge, ‘super manly Kato, super manly,’ He walked over to the side of the street and leaned against a wall, he ran his hand through his hair, styling it slightly and looked off to the distance with a smouldering expression.

“Hey!” Kato turned to the sound of a woman’s voice.

“Styx?” He asked, scanning the crowd.

“Sticks? Foolish boy, what nonsense are you prattling about?” A wizened old lady with light grey wispy hair, mottled by white, peered at him from halfway out of a crumbling but studded wooden door. “Get off my wall now” she stated. “And put on a shirt… it’s not decent,” she added as an afterthought. Then she waved a broomstick at him violently, her thin arms trembling under the exertion. Rough straw flew off the broom in Kato’s direction

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

He stared at her for a moment. ‘Seriously. Leaning on a wall. That’s what it takes to get people to notice me?’ He was severely tempted to start kicking the wall, but by sheer strength of will he resisted.

“Fine,” he forced the word out with a grimace. “Have a nice day.”

The woman mumbled something undoubtedly pleasant under her breath and retreated with her back hunched, behind the riveted wooden door. A second later the drapes in her window were pulled slightly to the side and a pair of eyes rested on Kato.

“Seriously? Kato asked the window, “What do you think I’m going to do?”

The window, nor the woman behind it, deigned to answer him.

“Why are you talking to a window?” A voice whispered next to his ear.

Kato jolted back, startled. His shoulder jerked back into Styx’s nose.

She glowered at him, “seriously, that’s kind of rude.”

“Wh-what?” Kato stuttered. “You startled me.”

“Do women usually scare you?” She asked him, a flicker of amusement passed across her features before being swiftly repressed.

Kato looked at her for a moment, ‘this feels like a trap.’ He thought to himself. Kato stared at her, his eyes narrowing sightly,

A wide smile took over her features and she darted backwards. Her unclasped jacket billowed around her from the motion. She stopped, letting the leather settle, before standing straight, with her head tilted to the side in some sort of pose. “Well?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m alright and you?” Kato asked back, his forehead crinkling in confusion, ‘feels a bit off topic.’

“What? No, I mean well, what do you think?” She tilted her head up in a new pose, resting her chin lightly on the back of a delicate hand.

Kato stared at her for a moment, “I think about lots of stuff, sometimes I think, I think too much, and great now you’ve got me thinking about overthinking,” Kato mock glared at her, “thanks.”

She looked at him, her shoulders slumping slightly “My hat, do you not see it?”

It was a dark grey fedora, that rested snuggly over her wavy black locks. A thin, black, silk band wrapped around the crown and a single soft, white feather rose from it, the tip gently swaying along to the wind.

“We match now!” She grinned, tapping the feather atop her head.

Kato’s hand rose up meeting the soft quill behind his ear, ‘How did I forget?’ He plucked it from his ear and proceeded to stagger back, his knees crashing to the floor. Wordlessly he stared at the feather in his hand. His eyes darted over it wildly, refusing to stay in place. He ran a finger along the thin bony spine, it was cold to the touch. Without looking up, he spoke, “how long has that been there?”

“Since I met you. Why? What’s wrong?”

“I don’t remember it.” He stated plainly, “I mean, I remember getting it and putting it on, but everything else …” he trailed off. “I didn’t see it earlier; I saw my reflection, just hours ago and it wasn’t there.” He paused, "maybe it doesn't matter," and with that Kato slowly rose to his feet, unclasping his hand and letting the feather slip from his fingers. It gently floated towards the floor, before the wind picked up and took it away. “Goodbye” Kato whispered as he watched the feather, retreat into the sky, “maybe one day you’ll truly fly again.”

Styx rested a hand on his shoulder, watching with him.

“MY HAT!” Someone shouted, shattering the moment. “THIEF! THIEF!” was cried soon after.

Styx stepped back, “completely unrelated, but… we should probably go.”

Kato kept watching, she tugged at his arm, “Like right now.”

“Why? I thought you said it was unrelated?” Kato finally turned to regard her.

She awkwardly fidgeted for a moment, staring at her hands as she picked at a nail, “Ok you got me.” She looked up at him. “I lied.” She raised her hands up in mock surrender, “It is related.”

The once indifferent crowd parted like a wave, an empty channel that cut outwards from a familiar man wearing that same charcoal suit. The passage stretched from him to Kato and Styx.

“My hat!” The man’s eyes blazed as his vision settled on the pair, Kato’s eyes blazed back. He briefly scanned the crowd, ‘good that woman with the pram is gone.’ Kato began striding towards the figure, his hands clenching by his side, ‘an opportunity for revenge,’ his heart pulsed angrily. If Kato had paused for introspection, he might have asked himself, ‘when did I become the type of person to turn to anger instead of words,’ but he didn’t and his hand only clenched harder, his knuckles morphing to a startling shade of white.

A hand gripped him, “Kato we need to go,” Styx looked at him, the humour in her voice gone, “are you crazy?”

“I need to do this,” was all Kato said, his voice gruff, as he walked on, not even turning towards her.

The man stared back at him, his nose turning upwards and eyebrows raising, an ornate cane rapped the floor beside him. His eyes blazed harder than ever. The man exuded authority, demanded respect, but Kato was prepared to give him neither.

“Kato please.”

He kept walking, the crowd, now forming barriers as they watched the two men intently.

“Kato you might want to fight. But I don’t!” The voice was heavy and thick with emotion, Kato looked down, Styx was looking up at him.

“This doesn’t concern you,” he muttered.

“How could it not. I have his hat. Please Kato. For me. You don’t know what will happen if this gets back to me.”

“It won’t,” Kato replied, but his resolve wavering.

“You don’t know that,” Styx cried out, “please!”

Kato finally stopped. The other man began to walk towards them, confidently, twirling an ornate black cane, capped by a silver plant that seemed to float above a silvered root ball, before melding back into the rich, dark wood.

Kato took a deep breath and let it go. Styx dragged him back into the throng.