Are you feline ok?

Kato walked over to the beast; the monotonous words of a voice were rolling around in his ears.

His face contorted, slightly twitching as he strode over to the little kitten.

It looked up at him, with big round eyes in curiosity, then lost attention a moment later, batting at something imaginary in the air, before falling backwards and toppling off the boxes’ edge. It lay on its back rolling back and forth, constantly swatting at something imaginary in the air.

Kato’s whole face twitched, ‘Is it mocking me?’

Styx looked over at him, strangely, “Kato?”

Kato ignored her, his eyes focusing on the monster ahead of him.

It kept batting the air, occasionally releasing small, happy sounds.

Kato glowered, ‘it is playing with me…. Playing with my emotions that is!’ Kato’s eyes tightened further; he would not let this beast make a mockery of him.

He advanced.

“Mrow?” The cat looked up at him, its dilated eyes, somehow defying physics expanded again.

Kato matched it, his eyes narrowing even further in turn. He looked up, “So!” He shouted at the sky, “you think to mock me?”

In a distant world Evard spoke to nobody in a sterile, white, room, “he can’t be serious, can he?”

“This is the training described,” he laughed mockingly.

“Oh no, “Evard whispered.

“Should’ve picked something harder!” Kato proclaimed, not looking down from the grey sky, that refused to answer him.

Styx looked at him again, her mouth slightly agape.

Evard buried his face into his palms.

Kato’s eyes drifted back downwards to the monster. It yawned and playfully snapped at the air, before doing a full roll through the surrounding dust, and coming back up even greyer than before. ‘I knew it! It mocks me.’

The evil beast, with slow, deliberateness, darted a tongue at a dust covered paw, it missed, and its head lolled to the side. Trying again, the rough pink tongue finally beat the dust off of it.

‘It fights even itself.’ Kato looked closely at it, ‘does its depravity know no bounds.’ He shook his head slowly, this wasn’t just training anymore, it was a personal, this monster could not be allowed to continue.

“Thwap.” A gentle tongue, ran over the fiend’s white socks, lapping delicately, until there was no trace of the grime that had been there. “Mrow?” It looked at him again.

Kato’s heart boiled, ‘it challenges me so brazenly,’ he stepped forward.

“Kato?” Styx called out again, her hand arrested his motion, with a slight shoulder clasp.

“No, of course you’re right?” Kato muttered his mind going into overdrive, he needed to plan this, think it through, it couldn’t be this easy, could it?

“About?” Styx asked, her forehead slightly crinkling till her light, dotted, brown, freckles appeared to overlap in concentration.

But it was too late, Kato was already lost in thought, ‘so I come up behind it and then BLAARRGH, simple but classic.’

“Hmm,” He mused, ‘perhaps simplicity is key, I don’t need to overthink this.’ He sat down ‘Okay but what if? And here me out here, you do a wall run. Flip off the top land right in front of it and BLAARGH, right to the face’, Kato paused, thinking. ‘I don’t know how to wall run; I don’t even know how to flip,’ he replied. ‘…Right,’ his first thought responded. ‘That was a pretty dumb idea.’ Kato stood again; his mind made up, there was no going back now!

“What now?” Styx muttered under her breath, trying to hide a smile.

Kato turned, startled, he had forgotten she was here. “Um,” he said awkwardly, “there’s no easy way to ask this, but could you distract it… please?’

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

She looked at him, dead in the eyes, “you want me to distract the cat?’

“Shhh,” Kato crouched slightly, “It might hear you,” he whispered in hushed tones.

Styx looked pointedly to the small feline.

It was still rolling about batting at the imaginary, making little noises of pleasure.

She looked back at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Don’t let it deceive you,” Kato whispered.

“Fine, I will help you to distract the cat,” she said with a slight smile. “I’m far too invested now.”

Kato looked at her, his lips thinning, “that is your job, to distract the cat, I have a higher purpose.”

“Okay, tough guy,” Styx gently punched his shoulder, “show them hell.”

‘How fitting,’ Kato thought as he crept around the sadistic brute, it had not given up, still trying to lull them into a false sense of security. The daemonic animal’s nose crinkled slightly before a tiny sneeze rocked its head back, its eyes watered slightly.

‘Pathetic, as if I would be so easily fooled!’

“Hey, um, cat, look over here, wow such cool, such excite!” Styx proclaimed from across the street.

“Mrow? The cat turned, momentarily stopping its rhythmic batting at the air, its need for conquest over all temporarily sated by a mere distraction.

Kato smirked to himself; this would be far too easy.

Styx began to hypnotically swing a finger in front of the kitten’s glistening black, button nose. Yellow eyes tracked the movement, the head gently swaying back and forth as the kitten tracked the movement, its tongue slightly poked through its mouth the tip resting on its bottom lip.

Kato charged, the ground flew past as he leapt into the air, he came down with a heavy impact on front of the evil monster. “BLAAARGH!” He screamed at the top of his voice, the cat blinked slightly, its tongue lolled out a little further, then it brushed past him, tracking the finger once again.

‘What? No! Impossible,’ Kato looked over to the little beast, ‘maybe there was latency?’ It strutted on, unbothered, a tiny tail swishing in its wake.

A wave of disbelief washed over him. ‘It really doesn’t care?’ Kato came to the realisation at about the same time something inside him broke.

His vision dropped, as he stared down at the floor, unmoving. He had failed. His raised hands, dropped, slumping against his sides. Then he let his legs collapse, falling to his knees as he just stared forward at a plane of cracked glass ahead of him.

A version of him stared back, his reflection, had messed up hair and a slightly manic look to his eyes. Gently he raised a hand up trailing it against his cheek, the reflection did the same. He stared at it for a moment, just watching as it copied his motions, action for action, stroke for stroke.

‘It was a cat, just a cat,’ he looked down defeated, his reflection did the same, but he never saw it. ‘Just a cat…’

He let his body fall forward once again, till he was lying face first on the cold, cobbled ground. Once smooth stones, now bit into him, tiny imperfections, creating jagged edges, deceiving to his sight but far too honest too his touch.

Kato let them. He didn’t know what he had been thinking, maybe that if he scared the cat, it would all go back to normal? He’d be here one moment, and then gone the next. He opened his mouth to sigh but got a mouthful of dirt for his trouble. He sank further into the floor, ‘this is the life.’

“Hey?” A small foot nudged him slightly, “you in there? I was really scared you know, even if the cat wasn’t.”

Kato pushed himself up slightly, tilting his head to look at her, “thanks Styx, but it doesn’t matter, not really.”

“Okay, I’m going to try and not take that personally, don’t want to get on the bad side of a guy who tries to scare cats,” she teased.

“Sure. Fine.” Kato replied back, curt.

“Hmph!” She turned and walked away, “fine be miserable.” She turned and walked away.

Kato just lay on the floor, his perspective changed to the fog that blanketed the sky. He watched as it slowly shifted back and forth, the cloudscape creating and destroying new and old formations alike on little more than a whim.

Styx walked over him, her face blocking the view, “mrowwww,” she dropped the little ball of fur on his chest. “Mrow?” something soft and warm began to knead his side, digging furiously, turning and folding his shirt, they had bread to sell!

Kato began to smile; he couldn’t help himself. Pounce! The little beast jumped to the centre of his chest, paws outstretched, Kato turned his head towards it, the little one stared back. It walked over to him, slowly, tentatively, then curled up by his neck, purring slightly as it basked in its victory.

Despite the blatant superiority exhibited, Kato’s smile widened, against his will, it was kind of cute, or at least it would have been, if it wasn’t so obviously evil.

The small creature clambered further up, apparently done with its power nap, then a rough, wet began to assault the side of his face. He groaned, ‘was I the bad guy here?' Kato let it continue for a while as he felt his tension melt away, then finally he stood, placing the small creature back to the ground.

Styx smiled warmly, “that was really cute.”

Kato looked back nervous, ‘why hasn’t she left?’ “Yeah, well” he rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly, “Um, I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.”

She pointed down, “I wouldn’t apologise yet.”

The cat was licking itself in a very private area.

Kato rubbed away at the side of his face, “I knew it was evil.”

“You thought it was evil?” She looked at him shocked. “Why?”

“No reason, just a feeling I guess” he muttered his cheeks burning, somewhere on a different world, a monotonous voice laughed.

She eyed him strangely, “right…”

“Should probably get going before this monster pees on me or something,” Kato quipped, weakly.

“All part of its evil plot,” she grinned at him, “it’s probably lulling you into a false sense of security even now.”

Kato reddened further, “that would be ridiculous,” he nervously laughed, hoping she would drop it.

“Hmm, would it? Looks pretty suspicious to me.”

Kato looked back to it; it was back to batting the air. His eyes narrowed.

Styx grabbed his arm, “that was a joke.” Without allowing him to reconsider, she pulled him down the street, until the pair reached a large black door with a thick brass handle.

She pulled it up and let it fall against the door. A voice spoke from the other side in a hoarse, gravelly voice, “what is the music of life?”