Ok people, this is my first attempt at fanfics, be at least not evil, and stupid, and stupid, and evil in your reviews.
Of Cats, Curses, and Giant Robots
Chapter 1:
"Don't you hate parties?"
Note:
"Hi."Normal speech
"Hi."Thoughts/mindspeech
"The past is the past, and the future is the future. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. I am who I am, and you are who you are. Like it really matters anyway..."
- Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)
"Man, this place is totally packed!" Thought Amy Stapleton, as she forced through the packed room along with her team. This room was so familiar to her, even though she came here only twice a year. Team Satomi had stood up on the stage in the back of the spacious room last time, proclaiming their Second IG 1 championship win, and partying their asses off. Well, Takeshi and Liz did all the partying. Amy had never liked parties. She had always preferred to talk to Luca, her cat, who was currently curled up in her arms, as he was technically part of the team. He yawned.
"So, another year, another IG season."
"Yeah." Replied Amy, in her mind. That's what made Luca special. He could communicate with Amy via cybernetic mind link. That, and he was really smart.
"Wow. You sound enthusiastic." Said Luca
"I swear," sighed Amy in her mind "Cats have no grasp of sarcasm."
"Whatever. The new team is being announced, and you haven't blinked in about 85 seconds. It's a wonder people haven't freaked yet."
Amy cut off the mental link, and focused on the room. That was one negative effect of the link. Whenever she was talking to Luca, she didn't blink at all. Her teammates had gotten used to it, but it still freaked people out, also, her thoughts and dreams were never safe from him, which really sucked sometimes.
The Newest IG 1 team was standing on the stage, waiting for the muttering to subside. There was a guy with dyed white hair and jet black eyes, who looked like he was about 23, wearing a black suit with a white silk tie. On his right, there was a pretty girl who looked to be about 19, with chocolate eyes in a dark red China dress with black designs, and her mahogany hair up in buns.
In front of both of them was the least formally dressed of all of them. He had orange hair, which was mostly hidden under a black beany with the kanji for cat in white on the front. He had 3 rings in his right eyebrow, and various ear piercings. He wore a black button down shirt, untucked, and black pants, that gradually flared to burnt orange at the bottoms, over black converse with different colored laces. He looked to be around Amy's age, 16, and had the strangest eyes she had ever seen. They were yellow, like a cat's, and the pupils were slightly slitted. He wore a black choker with a cat bell on it, and had his hands in his pockets. The murmurs had finally stopped, and the announcer lifted his microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? This year's newest additions to the IG 1 circuit are the rising stars of Team Sohmei! All three members are also the three leading members of the punk band "Dead for A Week". Their defender is "Black" Hatsuharu Sohmei, Soft spoken, but that has nothing to do with how he fights!" The white haired man raised his hand and smiled politely,
"Defender?" whispered Liz, "the guy doesn't look like he'd have the heart to hit a mosquito! And what's up with the nickname?"
the announcer was continuing his announcement after the polite applause for Haru. "Sohmei's Midfielder is the lovely Kagura Sohmei! Don't let the pretty face distract you, this girl's got skill!"
There was more applause, but mixed in with a few wolf whistles. Amy shook her head. "Men." She was glad Takeshi hadn't been one of the whistlers, but for one, he was still dating Fontine, and also Liz would've murdered him, brought him back from the dead, and then murdered him again.
"And Finally, we have Team Satomi's Forward, Kyo Sohmei, also well known as "The Black Cat"! This guy's probably the best forward since Takeshi Jin, and twice as crazy!" Amy saw Takeshi lick his lips at the prospect of a serious challenger. Amy could guess exactly what was going through his mind. "Would the members of Team Sohmei like to say a few words before we open this year's IG season?" said the announcer, passing the mic to Kyo, who passed it to Haru.
"I'd just like to say that I look forward to this season, and that I feel sorry for anyone who underestimates us." Said Haru politely. He passed the mic to Kagura.
"I'm hyped up for this year, cause this season, we take the gold! CHA!" Kagura yelled, and then tossed the mic to Kyo.
"Listen up everypeoples, you at the top spot better watch your backs, cause we're fully loaded and gunning for first place!"
"Looks like Sohmei's pretty pumped up, people, watch out for them!" said the Announcer, who had reclaimed his mic, "I now pronounce the 49th IGPX season officially started!"
A rousing cheer went up throughout the room, and team Sohmei left the stage to mingle.
Amy talked for a bit with team Whitesnow's Defender, Judy Ballastros. After last year's season, they had made amends, and became fast friends. After that, she stepped out, to the balcony, and leaned on the balcony, gazing at the massive track suspended far above the city. She was lost in memories of her past two IG 1 seasons. She was replaying one particularly fun race with team Edgeraid when she looked to her right, to see the Sohmei forward leaning on the balcony as well. She yelped in surprise, and somehow, tripped over herself and fell. The boy's eyes widened, and before she could think, strong arms were supporting her back, and helping her stand up. "Are you ok?" asked the boy. He had a nice voice, she thought. It wasn't too deep, and radiated warmth and laughter. He was about 2 inches taller than Amy, which put him at 5' 7" to her 5' 5".
"Oh, yeah. Stupid shoes. Never jump while wearing heels."
The boy didn't miss a beat." I'll keep that in mind." He said, and she laughed.
"My name's Amy Stapleton. We haven't been properly introduced."
"I'm Kyo Sohmei. I've watched you race before. You guys are good, but you won't beat us!"
Amy chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure. Oh, this is my cat Luca." The cat stretched out in her arms, and then looked at Kyo, startled.
"Amy, He said Hi to me!"
"What?"
"Inside my mind!"
Amy looked at the orange-headed boy, shocked.
"Yeah, I can hear Luca's thoughts. This is Sola, by the way." An orange cat crawled onto Kyo's shoulder, sat down, and cocked its head to the side.
"Konichiwa, Stapleton-san!" a female voice said inside Amy's head
"So you have a cybernetic link with your cat too?" said Amy, after sending a slightly puzzled return greeting to the cat.
"Yeah. She's very Japanese."
"She's a very pretty cat."
"Hm."
Luca and Sora were looking at each other, obviously communicating. Both Felines jumped off their owners and walked over to a plant on the other side of the balcony, still talking.
"They've made friends already." Said Kyo, as a waiter carrying a tray of wine and glasses.
"Would you like anything, sir?
"What do you got with alcohol in it?" said Kyo, mischief in his eyes. Amy giggled, and the waiter was about to speak when Kyo cut him off. "I'll just have champagne."
(A.N. The drinking age in this story is sixteen. Same with the driving age. And don't complain, or I'll gouge out your eyes with a spoon. A rusty spoon. That was used to eat beef stew. That way you'll get food poisoning, and go blind.)
"And for you, miss?"
"Same." Said Amy.
They both accepted their glasses, and turned back to the railing.
"Well," said Kyo, Here's to another great year of racing."
"Cheers." Said Amy, and they drank. They were silent for a minute, and then Amy had to ask. "Are your teammates your brother and sister?"
He laughed. "No, we're all cousins. The Sohmei family is huge and really old. In fact our first ancestor was supposedly the emperor who created the Chinese Zodiac."
"Really?" said Amy, "that's really cool! What animal year are you?"
"I was born in the year of the cat." Said Kyo, suddenly solemn
"There is no year of the cat!" She said.
"Yeah there is. It's what we call being born between 11:00 P.M and Midnight on Chinese New Year between the Years of the Goat and the Rat." (A.N. I know it's not accurate to the Chinese zodiac, but bear with me.)
"Wow. I never knew that! Does that happen often?"
"More than you'd think it would." Said Kyo. The laughter had gone out of his voice, and Amy wondered what she had done wrong.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" he said, and his voice was normal again. "What animal are you?"
"I'm the goat!"
"…You're way too cute to be a goat."
Amy blushed bright red at that, and he stammered to finish. "P-Plus you don't seem to have horns."
"She chuckled. "I guess so."
"Kyo! Leave your girlfriend and get your ass over here, we're going!" Kagura Sohmei stood there with Haru, and was waving him over.
"Well, until next time, Miss Stapleton." Said Kyo, as he picked up Sora and put her on his shoulder. "Fuck You!" He yelled to Kagura as he turned back to Amy
"You can call me Amy. Hearing people call me by my last name feels weird."
"Well then, I'll catch you later Amy, but next time, hopefully not literally." He turned to his teammates, and left.
Amy just stood there, a light blush in her cheeks. "You're way too cute to be a goat" That one sentence floated through her mind. No one her age had EVER called her cute before. Smart? All the time. Cool? Sometimes. Weird? Plenty. But cute? HE was the first one to say she was cute, and the interesting thing was that she felt the same about him. His laughter filled, sparkling, cat-like eyes, his perfect smile, how he made her laugh so easily… "AMY!"
Liz was waving her hand in front of her face
"Huh?"
"Are you drunk or something?" Said Takeshi, who was standing right behind Liz
" Amy, we're leaving." Said Liz, glaring at Takeshi. He backed away slowly.
" R-right." Said Amy, following her teammates.
Kyo slid into the back of the limo waiting outside, and sat down in between his teammates.
"So," said Kagura, elbowing him in the side, "You have a girlfriend already, eh?
"S-she's not my girlfriend! We just met!" yelled Kyo.
"Whatever." Said Kagura. Kyo sat back, and thought.
"She WAS really cute though. Why the hell did I say that! I must've sounded like a total idiot!"
"It's ok, onii-san. I'm sure you'll be fine together!
"AAARGH! I already said she's not my girlfriend."
"But you want her to be."
"SHUT UP! Anyways, what were you talking to Luca about? You two looked pretty friendly with each other."
"I-it wasn't anything… A-animal talk."
"Uh-huh," Thought Kyo, skeptically. "Whatever you say."
Meanwhile, Amy was going through the exact same thing. Liz was interrogating her about Kyo, and internally, she was freaking out about the Sohmei forward.
"Oh god, I bet he was just saying all that stuff to be nice. A guy like him wouldn't ever be interested in a plain, ordinary girl like me."
"Oh, get a hold of yourself, Amy! Kyo almost never took his eyes off you. I swear, Humans and their love lives. You make it so complicated and then moan about how love is hard. When you're a cat, you just find a nice female cat, mate, and have kittens, easy as that. No complicated courting, Dates, careful etiquette, breakups, parental issues, or marriage."
"Well, we're not all cats, Luca, although life would be a lot easier."
"Whatever."
That night, one racer made a decision, and another, a declaration.
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A.N. W00T! one chap down, however many more to go! you see the little button in the corner? no, not the X, the one that says review on it? Press the damn thing!