Kitten and The River

Jai just let his feet took him. Anywhere was fine. He was not in the mood for anything right now.

As he walked, Jai could not stop thinking of these mixed feelings inside him. On one side, he was glad he could land that punch to the asshole's face and made the bitch beside him suffer for tonight. They deserved it for trampling on someone's feelings and effort. Oh he would count his savings too, alright; he could not—for the love of the universe—let the fact that his savings were now non-existent. The sweat, the tears, the snots and cringe he spent on those money.

His hard work.

He was glad that his relationship with the bitch was over. One regret on this part though, was that he should've bought detergent instead of water at the market before they caught them at it. That would've been a good way to ruin more of her hair and made him more satisfied.

But on the other side, he was feeling guilty of landing a punch. Not because he was sorry of that punk, but because the martial art he learned wasn't supposed to be used in something like this. His grandfather would be greatly disappointed that he had used this on a whim. Just because he couldn't control his emotions.

The sound of water brought him back to the present and he realized he was at a bridge. He stepped closer to the side and looked at the river from above. The current was quite fast. It was not raging, but fast nonetheless. It sent a unique sound that somehow attracted Jai into listening to it.

A sigh escaped his lips. He felt very angry and disappointed at what had happened. He didn't want to think about it anymore. Fortunately, looking and listening at the water calmed him down. It seemed to him that his anger flows out alongside the river, replacing his anger with a more soothing feeling. He closed his eyes and let out another sigh, letting the river sound calm his nerves.

"Meow~"

Jai opened his eyes to the new sound and looked to the side. A small kitten was walking on the railing—approaching him.

"Hey, sweetie..." Jai greeted with a smile. The snowy fur kitten meow-ed again and stopped near him.

"What's your name?" He asked as he patted its head gently. The kitten seemed to enjoy his touch.

He got a, "Meow~", as a response and the furry little creature continued on its path on the railing. Unfortunately, the small kitten lost its balance and fell to other side.

Jai's breath hitched. He immediately jumped and tried to catch the kitten, luckily got it by the nape of its neck. He swallowed for a second before realizing his feet gave away and his body slowly diving below. He tried to grab the railing, but it was slippery and his hand slipped. He reached out the edge of the pavement in panic and his dive came to a stop.

He let go of his breath slowly reached back to pul the kitten to his chest, "That was close."

Jai looked up, his left hand grabbing the edge tightly. He had to get back up fast, he didn't want to slip and get wet. He was about to pull himself up when he heard someone call his name.

"Hey, Jai."

It was a very familiar voice and the owner of it wasn't someone Jai appreciated of meeting right now, especially in this position. Because they just met a while ago—and he'd just punched the person in the face.

Yes. It was the bastard.

"Chen?!" Jai did not believe the bastard chased him to the bridge.

Chen smirked at the shock in Jai's voice. "Looks like you need my help."

And with that, he stomped on Jai's hand.

Jai could feel the pain on his fingers, but he dared not move because the kitten could also fall with him. It was not that Jai feared of diving into the river water, but the current was fast. He might have liked the sound and yes, it did calm him down. But it wasn't the same as jumping down into it.

One more stomp made him grunt.

"I'll gladly help you out. Hahaha!" Chen laughed satisfyingly as he gave Jai's hand another stomp. This time, he pressed his heel on Jai's fingers like one would put out a cigarette on the street.

Jai grunt once more. His fingers hurt so bad right now, but he still didn't let go.

Chen scoffed. He looked down at Jai in disdain, his eyes narrowing in a cynical way.

"No one has ever punched me in the face. No one dared. But you did. And it hurts like hell. So I'm returning it to you now."

Jai wanted to get back at him. He wanted to so badly. But before he could think of anything, another pain shot at his fingers.

"Eat this!" Chen yelled, giving another stomp. However, this time, he continued by kicking Jai's fingers off the edge.

Jai eyes went wide. Chen grinned.

When he realized his hold had come off, Jai sucked in a mouthful of air and clutched the kitten to his chest as both of them fell into the water.

A loud splash was heard, and Chen left the bridge. Laughing in his wake.

**

"Meow."

Jai could hear a kitten meowing in his ear.

"Meow."

The sound repeated, as if calling him.

Jai scrunched up his face, feeling himself waking up. He fluttered his eyes open slowly and was met by two grey moon staring back at him. Oh, did he hit his head? The moon was split in two.

"Meow."

The sound repeated again. This time, a lick on the face too. Jai looked to his left and saw the white kitten from the bridge.

"You're alive," Jai whispered, a small smile crept his lips. Then he felt something bang his head from inside and he grimaced from the pain. Something did hit his head. But the pain signified his survival.

Then he tried to sit up. It was a bad decision, knowing that his head hurt, but he remembered falling into the river. The current might have brought him somewhere unknown by now.

After he did sit up, gritting his teeth of the sore muscles, he looked around. His brows furrowed when he noticed there was no river anywhere near him. He fell into the river, so where was the river?

He tried focusing more on his surroundings and found that the ground around him was red and there were some brown-black things everywhere that looked like burnt trees.

"Where am I?"

He looked up once again to see if the moon had assembled into the familiar yellow moon he always see, but the moon stayed the same twin grey ones.

He squinted his eyes in confusion and opened his mouth in reflex, "What... The..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Jai and the kitten instantly jumped. That was a blood curling scream. Jai wasted no time to take the kitten and sprang on his feet, running to the sound.