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The first chapter of "Rebirth," in which Kaneda stumbles across an abandoned kitten.

Warnings for animal endangerment and mentioned character death.

DISCLAIMER: AKIRA and all of its characters are created by Katsuhiro Otomo; I'm just borrowing them for fun.

Words: 1,489

The rain was coming down hard, shaking the already shoddy rooftops all throughout what was left of Neo-Tokyo. As it pounded and pounded, it seemed like it would never end. Many would have thought that it made the atmosphere rather dreary, would have gone inside and drawn the curtains (or any substitute they may have had) closed.

Others, like one Shotaro Kaneda, found it to be rather welcome. Even with the minor flooding it might bring to already damaged basements, the steady drum of rainfall on concrete and shingle was ambient, in a way. For some, it gave a sense of calm within the never ending storm that the last few months had seemed to be.

Had Kei or even Kai been with him at the time, they likely would have berated or otherwise fussed over him, not wanting him to get sick. Normally, they let him be, but any time he put his health even slightly at risk, they made it into an ordeal. He supposed he could understand, though - the three of them didn’t have all that much left aside from each other.

Even though his gang had done dangerous and stupid things almost every day once upon a time, things were different now. He’d get just as upset if he found out either of them had similar habits. At the end of the day, he supposed he was grateful to have people who cared about him that much still around. Neither of them were there at the moment, though, so he was home free to catch anything he damn well pleased.

Well, he wasn’t specifically looking to get himself sick (despite what his former instructors may believe, he wasn’t a complete dunce), it wasn’t like he had gone without a jacket or anything like that. Sure, it wasn’t completely water resistant but it would get him from one place to another without letting him get too soaked. He could concede that it would have been better on a bike; that way he could get through faster and not get caught in the rain for quite as long. But he hadn’t touched his in months. He couldn’t, he just couldn’t. It was just... too much of a reminder.

In any case, Kaneda had found himself with a new appreciation for the rain. Before, it was a nuisance at best and dangerous at worst. It made it hard to see ahead, it made the roads all slippery, and getting wet and cold made you likely to get sick (read: vulnerable). But nowadays, it meant he could be alone (not many other people were too keen on getting caught up in the rain, especially since doctors and medicine were much harder to come by now).

He never imagined himself as one who liked to be alone under most circumstances. And he wasn’t. Sure, it could be nice to just get away from everything and everyone for a little bit - he had always felt that way. But now it wasn’t so much about just having some time to himself (he had plenty of that - too much, really). It was more that it gave him a chance to just think about things for a little while.

He hadn’t liked thinking as a concept all that much before either. He’d rather just go ahead and do what he wanted and deal with any consequences later. Sure, that had landed him in the hospital a few times, but it had also been a policy that had led to some of the best times of his life.

Getting lost in thought wasn’t any fun either- with the places his thoughts tended to go, it was the same as wallowing, sulking, and Kaneda Shotaro was not known for having regrets in the first place, let alone wallowing in them. He still didn’t like just thinking, not really. He had found a new appreciation for this whole “think before you act” thing. But thinking on its own, just sitting there and thinking? Yeah, no thanks.

But he’d rather lose himself in thoughts and memories that felt like twisting a knife in his chest than ever let himself forget about-

A small, weak sound ripped him out of his thoughts (thinking about thinking - just what was he turning into?). Quiet and raspy - a last-ditch cry for help. He looked around, trying to find the source of it. It sounded out again, and this time he realized that it was the sound of meowing. A cat, and a young one, too.

It only took him another moment to figure out where exactly said cat was. He stepped into an alleyway that wasn’t particularly dark as far as alleys go, but could only be described as dimly lit. The sky, shrouded in dark grey clouds, didn’t help matters.

With the minimal amount of light that filtered into the small space, Kaneda struggled to see very much more than basic shapes. He stepped forward, looking for the animal. He didn’t really know why he cared - in fact, he was sure it was more a simple need to quell his curiosity than any sort of emotional connection.

...Why was he here, anyway? Why had he even bothered to walk out this far in the first place...? What was he doing? What would he even do once he found it? Take it with him? He couldn’t take care of himself, let alone another lifeform, and a small animal at that. Would he just leave it there, having satisfied his curiosity? Surely, even he wouldn’t stoop quite so low?

He didn’t know. He didn’t really know much of anything anymore. When he thought about it, he realized he never really had, at least not as much as he had thought at the time. Perhaps he could just wait and see what happened, take things in stride, adapt as best as he could to whatever came his way - he’d done it before, but that lifestyle hadn’t exactly worked out for him in the end, now had it? Ahh, he was just going in circles with himself. He found himself doing that a lot lately.

His thoughts came to a halt once again as he found himself actually standing in front of the poor creature. A little black kitten with big, sad eyes. Those eyes were a shade of gold that might have been electrifying or beautiful, had they not been a part of such an almost tragic scene.

They were the color of sunlight, bright flowers, and joy, yet the life was almost completely drained out of them. To think the world could be so cruel to even such a small, young thing. She was sopping wet, soaked right down to the bone, all alone and abandoned.

All in all, she was the very definition of a sorry sight. She wouldn’t survive much longer if she just stayed there by herself.

...Well, shit. He couldn’t very well just leave her there, now could he?

He looked around, as if checking to see if there was anyone else there to bear witness, although, as expected, not another soul was present.

Finally, he bit the bullet and just grabbed her. In a way, he had known from the start that he wasn’t going to just leave her there, even if she had been beyond help. He crouched down and reached forward, scooping her up and into his arms. She didn’t complain.

She was even smaller than he had first anticipated. If he had tried, he could have counted all of her ribs through her skin. All the more reason to get her somewhere warm and dry as soon as possible. Her short, wet fur felt strange against his skin. Just how long had she been out here?

Ah… his jacket was now thoroughly soaked, but that was now the least of his worries. He shrugged it off and wrapped it around what he now realized was only a kitten, hoping to warm her up, if only a little. Thankfully, his place of residence (it wasn’t anything close to a home, maybe it would never be) wasn’t too far of a walk away. He adjusted his grip to be a little more comfortable and set off.

The wet slapping of his boots against the soaked concrete wasn’t particularly interesting, but it cut through the lonely silence and gave Kaneda something to distract him from his racing thoughts. What was he doing, what was he doing? He couldn’t take care of a cat!

Well, whatever. That was a problem for future Kaneda, who was really just present Kaneda after maybe sleeping, but let’s focus on the important things here.

...He’d never held a cat before, or any animal for that matter. It was a lot harder than it looked. But he was never known to back down from a challenge. With a surge of renewed vigor, he shifted his grip on the kitten and picked up his pace.

To Be Continued...