Curiosity Killed the Cat

Chapter 1 - Curiosity

This was something you least expected.

It was supposed to be another one of your typical dull days: wake up, take a bath, attend school, go home, eat, sleep, repeat- you mindlessly do the same things repeatedly.
It just so happens that today, something else decided to interrupt your mundane schedule and turn your whole world upside down. Perhaps fate itself liked to make your life its entertainment.

Waking up in bed was a pretty ordinary routine already, as well as your mother's loud voice that called your name downstairs every day. You yawned, roughly rubbing your eyes, before strolling into the comfort of your bathroom. After taking a quick shower, you finally slipped into your casual outfit of the day.
Thinking it was still early with the faint light peeking through your curtains, you faced the TV, mindlessly clicking through the channels on the television

Until you hit the (favorite channel)

You heard your mother's call again. "Your friend's on the phone!"
You sighed as you switched off the TV, preparing yourself for whatever the day may have in store for you in the form of towering papers and research projects.
"Come here- like now! We're not done with our report yet," your annoying classmate said through the line.

In truth, you'd rather work alone in this so-called task the instructor handed out a few days prior than be partnered with someone like him. It's not as if he did much compared to you, after all. Frowning slightly, you answered, "Fine, wait for me. I'll be there in a few minutes."
You immediately ended the call and approached the table, grabbing a slice of bread from your plate. Mother's questioning look. She nodded understandably. "Take care then."
After giving you a light peck on the cheek, she waved you goodbye. You returned her gesture with a soft smile. "See you later."

"You too, sweetie."

If only you knew that would be the last time you'd be seeing her, you wouldn't have left without a tight embrace. Or maybe you wouldn't have left the safe space that was your own home at all. Walking has always been preferable than taking the bus. Aside from being able to save more money, it helped you exercise, not to mention appreciate your surroundings a bit. The neighborhood you lived in was really nice, and you were grateful that the school was just a few blocks away from your house.

You breathed in the fresh air of the cold morning, wrapping your arms around yourself when you shivered. Casually turning your head to the bushes nearby, you expected to see nothing but to your surprise, there it was—a gray cat with a striped ribbon. You tilted your head to the side, staring at the little thing as it watched you back. Sure it was an open area, so it was only natural for animals of any kind to wander around, but you couldn't help but feel sorry for it for losing its way. The fact that it was the very definition of cute only made it harder to resist taking it in your arms. To hell with your class project; your partner can wait.
"Come here, little kitty," you said so sweetly, taking slow steps towards the animal, hoping it would gladly hop into your arms. Unfortunately, it didn't, and it disappointed you even more, when it ran in the other direction.

"Wait!"

Who in their right mind would chase a cat across the street and through the bushes? Then again, you did something similar to a raccoon once, continuously bothering it for being an adorable fellow until it got fed up with the head pats and ran away.

You would have probably left the cat alone and gone on your merry way when it stopped right in front of a seemingly abandoned well, that was until it did something that made you shriek in abrupt shock.

"He jumped in!?"

With wide eyes, you immediately followed suit and scanned the well for the poor little guy, but there was nothing else but pure darkness staring back at
you. 's- is it dead..?' The animal couldn't have survived that fall, and so you tried looking down once again out of your own morbid curiosity.
A flash of movement from below caught your eye, and peering in closer this time, and you failed to realize how slippery the edges were. You accidentally lost your balance with your whole weight dragging you into the void head first, the gusts of suffocating air brushing against your face as you towered down.

Your continuous screams, muffled by the rapid wind, died out as soon as your head took a blow from the hard, cobblestones on the way, completely blacking you out in the process. When consciousness first kicked in, the one thing you noticed was the pair of arms holding your encased form against their chest.
"W-who are you," you managed a whisper even throughout cloudy thoughts and the throbbing pain at the back of your head.

You raised your eyes on the stranger the moment you opened them, giving you a glimpse of his appearance; green hair with gold eyes, and he was wearing what appeared like...

'Traditional japanese clothes?'

"Oh, you're finally awake!" It might have been your unfocused vision, but you could make out a relieved smile from his features. "You got me worried there for a sec, passed out like that, it's a good thing he found you before the blots did" he said when all you did was grunt.

"By the way, my name's Trey..."

TO BE CONTINUED...