In Cats, Gus is a very old cat, who at any given moment will retell his grandest moments to anyone who will listen.
Kiyoshi Sohma stared out the car window and the pouring rain. Today was a bad day, and the weather perfectly matched his mood.
Today, instead of going to the movies with his friends, this little twelve year old was being dragged to a retirement home to visit his grandfather. His mom kept telling him to cheer up, that it wasn't every day that they got to visit their crippled and practically senile grandfather. Right. Like this was something Kiyoshi was dying to do on a Saturday. Spend a day at an old folk's home. Smell the old people smell and have to deal with old women coming up to him and pinching his cheeks, telling him how much he looks like their own grandson, or their son when he was a wee child.
Kiyoshi sighed, and sank down further in his seat, trying to ignore the annoying children's music that was playing to keep his brother, Sanyu, happy.
Stupid kid's songs, stupid rain, stupid old people with their stupid senile minds….
He wished his grandmother were still alive. She was nice, unlike his granddad. She baked their favorite foods all the time, and took care of granddad so that he would almost always be in a good mood. But, she had died in her sleep one night, and granddad had to be moved a retirement home, as he couldn't take care of himself. He had a hard time walking for some reason or another, and had a hard time taking care of himself in general.
Why his mother insisted on visiting them was beyond Kiyoshi. All granddad did was curse and fart and tell the same stories over and over. And, he'd never remember Kiyoshi's name; he kept calling him Hiro, whoever the hell that was. And, he'd sometimes talk to him, while calling him Hiro, about his grandmother, or about Yuki, an elderly man Kiyoshi's mom was friends with. But, they didn't see him often.
Mostly, though, when granddad thought he was Hiro, he just called him a stuck up little shit. Which could've been the real reason why Kiyoshi hated seeing him; the stupid old man could call him whatever he felt like, and Kiyoshi couldn't do a thing in retaliation. Most of the time, his mom stepped in and gently told grandfather that this was Kiyoshi he was talking to, not Hiro, to which granddad would respond that he knew that.
This was not going to be a fun Saturday.
Once they arrived at the retirement home, the stopped at the front desk to tell the nurse who they were and whom they were visiting. Kiyoshi tried to think of reasons why he shouldn't go in to see granddad. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of a single reason that would keep him from visiting his grandfather, and so, he silently, and slowly, followed his mom and the nurse down the hall to granddad's room.
As usual, Granddad was sitting in a wheelchair by the window, just staring out it. It seemed to be all he did.
"Hi Dad," Kiyoshi's mom said warmly as they entered the room. Granddad looked over his shoulder at them and grunted a hello.
Kiyoshi immediately went to the chair that was in the corner of the room; it was a stiff wooden chair that was incredibly hard and uncomfortable, but Granddad was less likely to notice him this way. Mom kept Granddad preoccupied for a few moments anyway, talking about how her brothers were and Sanyu.
"Kiyoshi's on a tennis team now," Mom said, and Kiyoshi groaned. Did she have to bring him up? He'd have been perfectly happy sitting silently in the corner, completely unnoticed. "He's doing very well."
"Tennis, huh?" Granddad let out a small grunt. "Tennis ain't nothing but a weakling's sport…. Where is that brat anyway?"
Kiyoshi felt his face get hot. He hated it, hated it, when Granddad called him a brat. Or wuss. Or a little shithead, bastard or stuck up little shit.
"Dad, I wish you wouldn't call Kiyoshi such names," Mom said, though she was a little preoccupied with Sanyu, feeling his bottom to see if he was dry.
But Granddad had seen him, and completely ignored his daughter. "Ah, there you are. You listen to me, kid: drop this tennis shit. Ain't nothing but a sport for people who have nothing better to do with themselves. For weaklings, it is. Martial arts, on the other hand…a fine activity it is…. Yes, a very good activity…. Gets you strong, keeps you mentally sound. I was able to marry your grandmother because of it-"
"I know, Granddad," Kiyoshi sighed. He'd heard this story so many times. "You've told me."
"Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't mind hearing it again, Kiyoshi," Mom said, giving him a look as she stood up. "Dad, go on with your story. I'll be back in a minute; I have to change Sanyu's diaper."
Kiyoshi glared at his mom as she left the room. He definitely did mind hearing it again.
"You say you know the story, eh?" Granddad asked.
"Yeah," Kiyoshi said. "You and this other guy fought over Grandma and you won because you trained more."
"Hmm.… That is what I told you…. But I left some parts out." Granddad suddenly smiled. "Get your ass over here boy, and I'll tell you the whole story."
A bit more interested, Kiyoshi did as his grandfather had said, and took a seat beside him. "What did you leave out?"
"Quite a bit, I did…. Now, this has to be our secret, all right? No telling your mother or anybody." Another big smile. This was getting a little creepy. Kiyoshi nodded. "All right," Granddad continued. "I wasn't fighting to marry Grandma; I was fighting for my freedom.."
"What do you mean?" Kiyoshi asked, his interest sparking even more.
"When I was just a few years older than you, I was supposed to be locked away forever; an old family tradition," Granddad said. "And the only way for me to avoid that was to defeat Yuki in a fight-"
"You mean mom's friend?"
Granddad nodded, a bitter look on his face. "Yeah, him. I had to fight him and win, and then I'd be allowed to live wherever I wanted to and do anything I wanted. And, one day, I did win, and I was able to marry your grandmother."
"But…why would you have to be locked away?" This story was definitely something different; Kiyoshi was enjoying this a lot more than the original. It seemed almost like one of those fairy tales he'd read when he was younger.
"Because I was the Cat."
Kiyoshi just stared at his grandfather.
"You see, Kiyoshi," Granddad continued, "our family, the Sohma family, is cursed. Fourteen of us bear the curse; twelve for the twelve animals of the zodiac, on for the God and one for the godforsaken Cat. I was cursed by the Cat, and that's why I had to be locked away!"
For a moment there, Kiyoshi had forgotten exactly how senile his grandfather was.
"And Yuki's the Rat, so we were obvious rivals and that's why I had to defeat him. Understand, boy?"
"Sure, Granddad…." Kiyoshi slowly nodded, and slumped back in the chair, sighing and wishing his mom would come back so he wouldn't have to talk to his grandfather anymore.
The senile old coot.
This was fun to write. It's my first attempt at anything near comedy, and I'm afraid it's the closest I'll ever get. I've been reading a lot of Chuck Pilhaniuk's (forgive me if I spelled his last name wrong) books, and I have the feeling his style is influencing mine, especially in this story.
No clue what story will come next for the Cat's series; I'm still rather stuck. Oh, and if you have any ideas, I have made up a section in my forum just for the Cat's series; feel free to post any ideas there.
Please leave some constructive criticisms.