A/N: this is just something I wrote at random intervals a while ago as a sort of stand-by to stop me from going insane… I thought I might as well put it up. Sorry if there’s any spelling errors.

Rintaro

Part I

As the Eye of Observation sweeps through the universe, it passes the small, blue planet that is so familiar to us today- Earth. Mostly water, a floating ball of earth, fire and water in it’s own gravity well, slowly turning on it’s axis. Busy civilisations are scattered across the continent and in this time, under the sea as technology continues to overflow the resource capabilities of humans, the arrogantly self-proclaimed only “intelligent life” in the universe.

They are wrong.

Leaving behind the corrupting Earth with its ambitious homo sapiens, the Eye sleets past Mars and Saturn, past the tiny planet of Pluto and onwards until it reaches another solar system, another planet almost identical to that of Earth. High towering cities of white and glass spread across the landmasses and along the ocean floor, but with none of the rubbish and pollution that stains the surface of Earth. In one white city, spreading for kilometres under a giant, almost invisible force field, you can glimpse the life forms that inhabit this planet, this planet of technology. At first glance they appear human, but then it is only humanoid as one notices the cat-like ears and tail on all of the humanoids. They behave exactly like humans. And this is where our story begins, on the planet of Raikyo, over forty light years away from the blue planet Earth…

‘Hey, waitress!’ shouted a male voice over the others. ‘I want a cheeseburger and a coke!

‘Me too!’

This is a small, clean diner, the kind with spotless white walls and red-and-white chequered tablecloths neatly laid with a sugar bowl, and salt and pepper.  The booths and tables are crowded- it’s very popular. The humanoid-cats laugh and joke as they wait for their snacks or meals, but because it is later afternoon, milkshakes, soft drinks, hot chips and donuts seem to be the eternal favourite. Even in this high-tech society, organic waitresses still work, the bioorganic contracts being found too unstable to currently take a position in such high demand of interaction with true life forms. One waitress can be focused on, wearing the typical black dress and white apron of her station, a cheerful expression on her face as she lifts the silver, round tray onto her right hand. Her violently pink hair flicks out as she spins around.

‘Okay Table number six!’ she shouts, holding the order of hot chips aloft.

‘Over here!’

….

The pink-haired waitress paused and blinked at the new dishes suddenly piled onto the counter behind her. She looked at her watch and frowned.

‘Okay!’ she says, lining all the dishes up and putting lids on the drinks, even one sundae. Several regular customers dive under the tables in case something finally goes wrong, because there’s always a first time. The girl picked up the first dish, delicately balancing on her toes.

‘Table Six! Five! Twelve!’ she shouted, as she frisbeed the plates and drinks to the tables. ‘Three!’ another dish and milkshake skidded to a halt on the tablecloth. ‘One! Nineteen! Thirteen! Four!’

 There was dead silence as customers looked at the vibrating dishes and cups on the table, and watched until they stopped rocking. Then the diner rocked with applause as the waitress bowed modestly.

‘Thankyou, thankyou.’ She grinned, throwing the “victory” sign.

As the pink-haired waitress, whose name is Akiko, pulled off her apron a stuffed it in her backpack, her sharp ears twitched, detecting an unusual sudden fall of silence. She stuck her head around the swinging door. A shadow had fallen in the doorway, cast by a slightly built young man, who looked down at the floor, ginger hair flopping in all directions. His clothes and face were slightly dirty, and overall he had an appearance of rugged charm. Akiko raised an eyebrow. Jun, a fellow waitress, fled in the door.

‘Who is that creepy guy? He’s a mess! And he’s scaring me!’

‘He’s just another person, Jun.’ Akiko said, not taking her eyes off the figure as the boy pulled out a chair and fell into it, putting booted feet up on the table. ‘Who is he anyway?’

‘I heard about someone who looks like him. They say he had a pretty tragic past and went feral. He roams the streets as a sort of lone gang or mercenary.’ Jun whispered. ‘They call him Tom Cat.’

‘Tom Cat-‘ Akiko said thoughtfully. She pulled her apron back on. ‘Well since you ninnies seem to have frozen up, I guess I’ll have to see what he wants, yes?’

‘Akiko-‘ Jun began, but her friend disappeared out the door. Jun frowned and made a holy sign across her chest. ‘Goodbye Akiko Yamada. You don’t know who you’re dealing with.’

And in the shadows outside the kitchen, under the window, a pair of golden eyes gleamed and the shadows swiftly moved, only to fall back into place in the space of a second…

‘Sir?’

The ginger-haired boy on the chair looked up briefly at Akiko, giving the impression he’d been occupied with thoughts on how to destroy something big.

‘Yes?’

‘Would you like to order sir?’ Akiko asked cheerfully, whisking her notepad out from nowhere. She poised her pencil as a brief smile twitched across the boy’s face.

‘No thanks kid. I’m just here for the atmosphere.’ Something about the last word sounded sarcastic, to her mind. What was his problem?!

A vein in Akiko’s head twitched. You couldn’t come in and not order! And what gave him the right to look so smug about himself?!

‘You kind of ruined the atmosphere.’ She informed him, trying to keep the snarl out of her voice.

‘Hm?’ Tom Cat looked with vague disinterest at the occupants of the diner and rubbed the back of his head. ‘Oh, well then that’s such a pity.’

‘Well?’

‘Well what?’

‘Aren’t you going to do something about it?!’ Akiko demanded. Like leave, she added silently. Tom Cat rubbed his head again and examined the ceiling.

‘Oh well if that’s the way it goes. I’ll have-‘ he picked up the menu. ‘Is a cup of coffee okay with you, kid?’

‘My name is Akiko.’ She snarled. ‘And yes, it’s fine. Do you even have any money?’

He glanced at her sharply. She covered her mouth, aware a comment like that could get some people fired. She found herself glad she’d never heard about Tom Cat’s reputation as a few people were trying to get out of the door three at a time. He flicked three dollar coins at her.

‘Here you go, kid.’

She glared at him before storming off into the kitchen. Before she slammed the kitchen door behind her, she was sure she heard a faint snicker.

‘I’ll kill him.’ She snarled, before realising she’d probably never see him again after this. Well, that was a relief. Jun was right about one thing. An air of confined violence hung around him like some kind of aura. He really was creepy.

‘Hey Cookie! One coffee for Mr Cat.’

There was a crash of cutlery.  A fat face stuck up over a pile of dishes.

‘Mr Cat?! You mean TOM Cat?! That street mercenary guy?’

‘I think so-he’s that famous?’ Akiko asked, sitting on a bench as the cook leaned heavily on a table.

‘You’ve never heard of him, have you, or you wouldn’t be asking.’ The cook passed a hand over her eyes. ‘No one knows why he’s so dangerous or what made him become like he is now. The only thing people know for sure is that he’s as dangerous as he is mysterious. He roams around free-lance, doing what he likes. He’s stopped a few major robberies.’

‘What, by himself? But why is everyone so afraid of him? That’s a good thing, right?’

‘It was the way he did it.’ The other woman replied, settling into her story. ‘He appears out of no where, somewhere in the shadows, and a few seconds later, blood would be everywhere and he’d be gone.’

Akiko turned pale.

‘You mean he kills the robbers? Why? How come?’

‘No one knows, like I said. He’s definitely got a hatred for both those who’d hurt innocents, but the weird thing is he hates the cops as well. He’s completely unpredictable as well as being the deadliest thing on two legs.’

Silence fell in the kitchen. There was a soft knock on the door and a ginger head poked in the doorway.

‘Is everything okay in here? It’s been ten minutes so I was wondering-‘ Tom looked at the cook, who’d shot back so fast she was up against the stove. ‘Oh- you’re going to-um- burn your bum, miss cook.’

The cook shot up again.

‘Well, have you scared all the customers away, Mr Cat?’ Akiko asked, picking up a cup. He rubbed his head as he leaned on the doorframe.

‘Well actually they have all left. But then again, it’s late. Aren’t you supposed to be closing now?’

Akiko blinked and looked at her watch. It was half-past five. They re-opened at six-thirty- the break was to get the place cleaned and ready for the new shift.

‘Oh, yes- we are. I was wondering why all the girls disappeared.’ She said, and glared at him, yanking open the fridge to get out the milk.

‘Oh come now kid-‘ he said, rasing an eyebrow. ‘What was that look for?’

‘This is all your fault!’

‘What is?’

‘That I’m stuck here after hours!’

‘It is?’ he said, eyes wide. ‘Oh I am sorry. I guess I’ll be leaving then, right?’ Tom let the door swing to a close behind him. The cook and Akiko blinked at his sudden departure. Akiko looked at the three dollars on the table and the half-made cup of coffee on the bench.

‘That bastard!’