Reno's face puckered slightly as he ate the blue salty-sweet ice cream in his hand, the conflicting flavors almost too much for his sensitive palette. Zero however, was lapping his up eagerly, a smile on his face as he happily devoured the apparently delicious treat. "It's salty." Reno wondered if the blonde had noticed.

Zero nodded, "It's sweet too! It's amazing!"

Reno chuckled and tried to eat more of his ice cream, not entirely sure if he liked it or not. "I'm not sure if amazing is the term I'd use." He should've just bought vanilla. He liked vanilla.

Zero laughed and finished his ice cream, tossing the light blue stick into a nearby trash bin, "If you're not gonna eat it I will."

Reno gladly handed over the melting mess, his face puckering slightly as he licked the sticky blue residue from his fingers, "Aren't you worried about cooties kid?"

"Cooties? What the heck are those Re-Axel?" Zero raised an eyebrow at him and continued to suck on his ice cream.

Reno snorted in amusement, "Never mind. Any idea what we should do now? I don't wanna go back to the Organization just yet, I'm having fun outside."

Zero paused in his rapturous munching. He pulled a flier off the side of a building, "Wanna go see what this is?"

Reno took the flier, "Struggle? What the hell?"

Zero shrugged, "Sounds kinda interesting to me."

"Sounds kinda sadist to me." Reno laughed and quickly skimmed through the flier, "Let's go see what it is."

Zero grinned and finished off his ice cream, throwing the blue stained stick in a nearby trash bin. They heard a scuffling from within the bin and Zero rushed over looking confused and frightened. A small brown blur jumped out of the trash can and sprinted down the street. Zero jumped and then followed the fluffy object, Reno close behind. "What are you doing Zero?"

"I wanna catch it!" The blonde laughed, speeding up.

"You don't know what it is!" Reno pointed out, huffing and puffing as he brought up the rear of their ragtag line.

Zero shrugged and ran on, following the creature as it ran into a small tunnel near what looked like a train station. "Hey wait up thing!"

Reno growled and chased after his rogue companion, "Zero stop!" The blonde screeched to a halt and Reno ran into him, the pair tumbling head over heels to land in a tangled heap. Reno pushed himself off of the blonde with a pained growl, wondering how he always managed to fall on top of people and never under them. "Why did you stop?"

Zero raised an eyebrow, "You told me to stop."

Reno sighed, "I didn't think you actually would."

The blonde shrugged, "Thats not my fault, wanna help me up? We still gotta find that thing!"

Reno ran a hand over his face, "Why do we have to find that thing?"

Zero shrugged again and sat up on his own, "I want to know what it is."

Reno jumped as he heard a small noise behind them. He quickly scrambled to his feet and spun around, a large flame balling in his fist as he prepared to attack the ambusher. He raised an eyebrow as a small cat crawled its way cautiously into Zero's lap and nuzzled its head on the blonde's leg. "A cat?"

Zero glared up at him, "Put the fire away Axel it didn't do anything!"

Reno shook his hand to put the fire out and crouched down next to Zero, "It's a cat."

The blonde picked the brown tabby up and frowned as its sides began to vibrate, "What's it doing?"

Reno chuckled and scratched the tiny cat behind the ears, "It's purring weirdo."

"Purring?" Zero looked at the cat strangely.

"It means its happy." Reno smiled as the tabby rubbed its head against his palm.

"Think it belongs to anyone?" Zero set the cat in his lap and began stroking it curiously, watching the small creature with wonder as it arched into his hand.

Reno shrugged, "It hasn't got a collar so I don't think so."

"Can I keep it?" Zero shot him a glance, his blue eyes sparkling with hope and want.

Reno sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know if the Organization would allow you to keep a pet. Xigbar would probably use this little guy for target practice and Luxord would teach it to gamble. Either way, not a very good environment for a cat."

Zero pouted, "Can I play with it while we're here then?"

Reno shrugged, "I don't see the harm."

Zero gave him a delighted grin and nuzzled his face in the cat's fur. "What should I call it?"

Reno chuckled, "Not very good at naming things are you?"

Zero stuck his tongue out at him and stood up, the sudden motion startling the cat so that it reflexively dug tiny claws into his arm as it tried not to fall. The blonde yelped and tried to pull the cat off of him, "It's full of spiky things!"

Reno quickly detached the frightened animal from Zero's arm and held it himself, wincing slightly as it decided to latch its claws into his arm instead, "You scared it. Cats do that when they're scared."

Zero rubbed his arm and timidly reached out to stroke the cat until it began purring again. Reno sighed as it pulled its claws out of his arm, "You wanna name it? How about Spike?"

"Spike it is!" Zero laughed and took the now relaxed cat back from Reno's arms, "He's purring, I think he likes that name!"

Reno ruffled the blondes hair and led him out of the tunnel and back into the town, "Lets go take Spike to that Struggle tournament you wanted to see. Sound like a plan?" Zero nodded happily as he gently fondled the tiny brown creature in his arms.

Author's Note: They've got a kitty! Such a silly name too! You'll have to forgive me for the seemingly random plot deviation in this chapter, but the cat is important, I promise. R&R!!!