Author's Note: Please do leave your criticisms, however harsh they may be. I need the feedback if I am to improve.

Chapter One

"It's Kapi! Yay, Kapi!"

"Huh? Wha...?"

"We saw you and boyfriend!"

"He spookyed you!"

"'Cause it's the spooky month!"

Kapi felt as if his brain had short-circuited. One moment, those two little shits that never took their Halloween costumes off had been clear down the other end of the counter, perusing their many donut options in the clear cases, only to appear in front of him as if by magic the next moment.

"It's not... I wasn't..." he attempted weakly to protest.

But the costumed kids weren't listening, having already moved into concluding their ill-advised greeting with that awful "spooky dance" of theirs. And despite both its awfulness and Kapi's irritation, he found himself having to actively concentrate on not joining in. His sharp ears even caught someone outside declaring "It's the spooky month!?" Fuck's sake...

"Let's go to the arcade."

And just like that, it was over, quick as it had begun. Kapi had just happened to blink in that moment, and in that amount of time, they'd vanished. No one said anything for a moment, before the next customer in line shook their head (as if shaking off a trance) and dared chime in.

"Did you really try to take on Boyfriend? Bonehead move, bro."

Kapi's answer came through gritted teeth.

"Yeaaah..."

The wolf-like feline had a sour look on his face as he departed the donut shop later that day, little denim backpack with his stuff slung carelessly over his shoulder. Generally, he was a simple soul: Go to work, go back to the apartment, play games (especially rhythm games), do it all again. On weekdays, at least, that was usually enough for him. Better yet, it was summer, so still daylight out (so much for spooky month). That meant he could cut through the back alleys relatively safely and be home sooner. Plus it was a break from the traffic noise.

And yet, the bitter sting of defeat still lingered. Challenging Boyfriend had been a dumb idea to begin with, in hindsight. He'd starting asking around after the fact and had learned just what kind of a name the guy he'd thought was still just a dorky old school friend was making for himself. And yet, the embarrassment still lingered. He was also now well-aware how many bullets he'd dodged by not managing to bag himself a demon chick.

And yet, he was still temp-banned from one of his favourite arcades!

Yeah, that and the amount he'd had to drop on a new dancepad. That was the real kicker. He'd danced his heart out the other day, and that was all it had gotten him. Where was Kapi's respect, huh? Even that stalker fangirl of his was avoiding him (she wasn't, actually. Kapi just hadn't noticed her around, as his funk made him less aware of his surroundings), and keeping his head down and waiting for people to forget about it obviously wasn't really working.

It just wasn't Kapi's week...

"Maybe I need a change of pace..." he thought aloud as he idly meandered along, the smell of old dumpsters from the donut shop and the row of other shops on the same strip barely tickling his sensitive nose. He was used to it by now.

Couldn't just wish upon a star, or some other kiddie crap, for that, though. Nope, like everything, you had to work for that kinda stuff. Only problem was he had no idea what he wanted to change or where he wanted to start. Thinking about it for too long would just make his head hurt, so maybe he needed to ask the Internet. Ehhh, no, probably a bad idea. Look for an opportunity and grasp it, maybe? They always told you that kind of thing back in high school, but how were you supposed to know what that looked like? Even after graduation he still felt like he had no idea...

So lost was Kapi in his futile musings that it took him several moments longer after rounding the corner from one alleyway to the next, his ears repeatedly flicking in unconscious response to the sound of laboured breathing, for the cat to register that he wasn't alone. He looked up.

It wasn't unheard of to find a person lying in an alleyway, but they didn't usually look like that...

The girl on the ground... wait, girl...? He blinked and peered closer. No, guy. Probably a guy. Possibly a guy. Maybe trans...? Okay, not the point right now. Whoever this was on the ground, not only did they look out of place in an alley, but they would've looked just as out of place walking the streets. Their rich, chocolate-brown skin coupled with the messy, platinum blonde bob might not have done it on its own, but the clothes (and lack thereof)? Now those were something else.

The blue pants were stupid-saggy, and were also cut out along the sides almost to the knee, showing off a great plethora of hip and thigh. But at the same time, this ridiculous getup was tucked into sensible, rather sturdy-looking leather boots. They almost looked like work boots, or at least like marching boots or something. Up top was even more befuddling. Bare but for what seemed like just strips of blue cloth covering the chest and black sleeves attached to nothing that ended in hands that were bandaged but for past the knuckles, some kind of white choker with little tassels on it, a weird net cape sort of thing, and a spikey headband...

... okay, and was that a loincloth? With all the other weirdness, Kapi only just noticed that last thing and it sent him over the edge of befuddlement. His mouth voiced it before his brain could catch up and think.

"The fuck?"

Almost faster than even Kapi's cat's eyes could see, the figure on the ground went from starring at the sky panting to springing to their feet, landing with a dainty grace that belied the wild desperation in their eyes (he guessed that ruled out alcohol). It was now that Kapi noted they were different colours, one kinda sea-green... or turquoise, or teal or something...? The other was definitely amber, though. He knew what amber looked like. Saw it in a movie once. There was also a pretty nasty and fresh-looking gash on their cheek. Huh...

Also, the cape wasn't a cape at all, it turned out, but rather something much thinner that was attached to their wrists. Huh...

Anyways, the pose they proceeded to strike was something Kapi could only have described as being like when you have really weird characters in a fighting game. They were side-on to him, far leg kinda flamingoed off the ground and near leg flexed from carrying their entire weight. Their far arm was now holding up a thin white ring that must've been lying next to them on the far side where he couldn't see it, while the close arm was out-stretched, palm toward Kapi.

"Back... back...!" the figure shouted.

Well, it was a guy's voice, if sorta light and soft. Couldn't place the accent, though. Kapi just blinked, uncertain whether to take the other person's gesture as a credible threat, considering they didn't seem any taller than him and weren't holding something you'd normally think of as a weapon. Once again not really having enough time to think, he just let his confusion shine through (much as it could've been taken as calling somebody's bluff).

"You're... going to throw a frisbee at me...?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.