Grass

'I swear, if I ever get my hands back, I'm punching fate in the face.' 

Adjusting to this body was one thing.

But trying to be a cult leader like this?

That was a whole new level of absurd.

He could barely control his bladder—how the hell was he supposed to gather worshippers?

Still, he wasn't giving up.

No way.

This body might suck, but he was Kaito goddamn Angel.

Former top student.

Future (well, past) doctor.

And if he had to become the world's first cat messiah to fix whatever was going on, so be it.

But maybe after a nap.

And a snack.

And definitely a proper litter box lesson.

With a tired sigh, the cat rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

Somewhere out there, the world was ticking toward doom.

And Kaito still had fur stuck between his toes.

"Meow…" he whispered with the same energy as a man stuck in traffic.

'This is gonna be one hell of a month.' 

*** 

The sky was blue, the clouds were soft, and Lucy was late.

Again.

She sped across the streets, almost tripping over her own heels as her bag slapped into her side like it was punishing her for not catching the morning train.

"Ugh, stupid schedule," she muttered, brushing her hair out of her face as she joined the flow of students walking down the sidewalk.

Her college was just a few blocks away, and the path was the same every day.

Trees lined the pavement, holographic billboards flickering above in lazy loops, along with the occasional drones zipping past us with a package dangling underneath.

Normal.

Or at least, as normal as things could get a hundred years after the Great Sundering.

Still, even with the rush and noise around her, Lucy's mind wasn't on classes or assignments.

It was on a certain black furball.

I hope he doesn't make a mess of the house again, she thought, her lips curling into a helpless smile.

Or set something on fire.

Or start chanting weird stuff at the toaster again…

Honestly, ever since she'd picked up that weirdly expressive, too-smart-for-his-paws cat, her life had gone from plain to slightly insane.

Not that she was complaining.

There was something…different about him.

Not just the blue eyes or the way he looked at you like he was judging you.

It was like he understood her.

And sometimes, though she'd never admit it out loud, it almost felt like he was human.

Lucy shook her head with a chuckle.

"Get a grip," she whispered to herself as she pushed through the tall, arched gates of The Central Institute Of Technology.

The world had changed a lot in the last century.

It was still Earth, sure, but after the Great Sundering, it barely resembled the one in the history videos.

Back then, no one believed such a major calamity could happen.

Not until the ground cracked open one day and everything changed.

The day it happened, every digital device on the planet crashed.

Satellites fell.

Electricity fizzled, and the people thought it was the end.

But it wasn't.

If anything, it was just the beginning.

From the ruins of tech, humans rose again. Literally.

The world had become a mix of the two ever since, cities built from scratch and the destroyed wastelands outside it.

And of course, the ever-growing appearance of oddities: new creatures born due to the side effects of the 7 Earthquakes and the change in habitats.

And Eurasia?

Well, it was one of the seven "Awakened Cities" that had survived the worst of it.

A place where people still studied and dreamed and lived...while also carrying charm tags in their wallets in case they ran into someone 'hot' on their way to buy coffee.

That was just life now.

And Lucy, well, she was just trying to make ends meet.

Her day went by like usual, lectures that felt too long, group projects that felt too chaotic, and classmates that felt too annoying.

She sat through quantum theories (which she almost dozed off in), had a near breakdown during wormhole Analytics (because who in their right mind gave a pop quiz on time machines?), and ended up eating lunch in the courtyard with her best friend Irth, who wouldn't stop teasing her about the "gothic-looking cat" she'd just adopted.

"What's his name again?" The short-heighted girl asked while chomping on a grilled chicken sandwich.

"Mochi," Lucy said, chewing thoughtfully on her salad.

"Pfft. Mochi? That cat sounds like he runs a death cult."

Lucy snorted.

"Tell that to him. He already looks like he owns the place."

By the time her classes wrapped up and the sun began to dip, Lucy found herself smiling again.

She missed him.

Yeah, Mochi was weird.

And dramatic.

And possibly evil.

But he made the apartment feel a little less empty.

And for someone who'd grown up rich and suddenly lost everything she had?

The black cat was almost a blessing.

Ever since the day her Father had told her that he had to leave, she'd started to feel as if just whatever she did was never enough.

And until her blasted of a father returned back, she had decided to live a low life due to the decreasing amount of funds left with her.

The girl walked along the sidewalk, looking at the glass doored shops bustling around her.

Yeah, in the new age, glass was one of the most inexpensive materials due to how easily it could be made.

And in a time where even adventuring out of the 7 safe zones needed great strength and courage, a lot of resources the humans used to have in abundance had almost fully been exhausted.

Things like gold and diamonds had long stopped mattering and the only currency left in the world was known as 'Credits'.

And as the speeding winds breezed against her face due to a speeding car, she realised that it was indeed nice having something to return to—

Even if that "something" had claws and an attitude it clearly failed in hiding.

As she passed by a tiny pet shop nestled between two spray-painted buildings, her steps slowed.

A lightbulb flicked on in her head as a funny thought came onto her mind.

'Wait a second…' she thought, her eyes darting back to the window shop.

Inside, there was a neat little display of collars.

Red, blue, yellow. Some with bells, others with fancy runes embroidered into the fabric.

One in particular caught her eye.

Black leather, with a sleek silver tag shaped like a crescent moon.

'That'd look good on him,' she thought.

'And who knows…maybe I can finally take him on a walk tomorrow.' A grin tugged at her lips.

That's the least I can do after adopting him.

And so, she stepped inside the shop.

Tomorrow, she decided, Mochi was going to touch grass.

***