Since my last fic about Saiga was super depressing, I decided to write something happy this time, and what's more happy than kittens?
For the first time since he was a child, Saiga's life had become, well, boring. Most people would be happy to have a normal life after living through all the crazy events he'd been through, but Saiga was the kind of person who craved excitement; even the dangerous kind, and ever since the criminal gangs of Satellite had been all but dissolved, the only thing he really had left was sneaking into the junkyard, and taking anything he could use without being caught.
As he was examining an old, burnt-out duel runner, wondering if he'd be able to drag it under the fence without the junkyard's resident Rottweiler's catching him, he heard a strange sound coming from under a banged-up car a few feet away, and upon closer inspection, found it to be a kitten.
Saiga wasn't about to leave the cat alone in the junkyard; there was no sign of a mother cat anywhere, and one of those vicious junkyard dogs could easily tear the poor creature to pieces. He abandoned the duel runner, grabbing the kitten by the scruff of her neck, and sneaking back under the barbed wire fence before the dogs could even notice his presence.
Frankly, he wasn't quite sure what to do with the kitten. If he let her go, she'd probably just end up getting killed, anyways, and it wasn't like he knew anybody who wanted a flea-bitten junkyard kitten. Eventually Saiga decided to just take her home with him. He was pretty sure his landlord wouldn't care if he kept a pet (Although, he wasn't even sure if his landlord was still alive, as the man hadn't collected rent from him in nearly a year), and he figured she might be able to do something about the rats that had been there since he moved in.
It wasn't until he got home, that it occurred to him that he had no idea how to take care of a cat, or any animal, for that matter, as he'd never really had time for a pet before now. After a quick Google search of what cats needed, he headed out to the pet store, bringing the kitten with him on a makeshift leash so she wouldn't get in any trouble.
Saiga got a few weird looks from people passing by thanks to the fact that he had a cat on a leash, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He was much more focused on making sure he remembered to get everything the kitten needed. The website he found had recommended that-along with the basics, like food and water bowls, a litter box, and cat food-he buy her a scratching post, some cat toys, a pet bed, and a brush. In the end, the cat ended up costing him over twenty thousand yen (about $200 American), and he hadn't even had her for an hour yet.
Since he couldn't just call her kitten for the rest of her life, Saiga knew he needed to name the cat. He decided to call her Byte because of her small size, and reminded himself to book her a vet appointment soon (which he forgot about, until she gave him ringworm).
Later that night, when Saiga was working getting rid of some nasty malware from one of him client's computer, Byte crawled up into his lap. He stroked her soft fur as she purred; he was really going to like having a cat around.