Chapter 103: Don't steal a cat

Xi Zirui has no idea where Han Yu could have gone to. 

"You really didn't see where he wandered off, to?" Xi Zirui asks Bai Mi, giving her a pleading look.

She points towards the end of the street. "That way," she says, but then hums and turns around, thinking better of it. "Or maybe that way?"

"Who knows how your spacer brains work, honestly," she says, grinning at Xi Zirui's scowl.

'Spacer', is that supposed to be a slur? Did Bai Mi just call him a space slur?

Ni Ni chimes. "Yes," she says, and then, "'Spacer' is a derrogative denomination for people who spend most of their lives on a ship, instead of living in a station. This includes both commercial pilots, freight carriers, as well as rogue subsets of humanity who refuse to settle down on a station and obey UHN regulations and instead live on large ships, most of them stolen."

Xi Zirui spares a sideways glance at Bai Mi and her air of lofty superiority. Yeah, he can understand why drifting away in space is preferable to spending any amount of time on a station with people like her.

Still, "there's another one of those," Xi Zirui says, pointing towards the hairpin in the glass case. "If you help me find him, I'll tell you how you can get it."

Of course he has no way of doing that, and absolutely no idea if the other hairpin Han Yu gifted him made it to this universe too.

But Bai Mi doesn't know that.

She's suspicious of him, though. "How do I know you're telling the truth?" she asks, her eyes narrowed.

"I told you I recognized it, didn't I?" he smirks. "Feel free to ignore me, but you might miss out on the chance of adding another priceless item to your collection."

After a period of silent deliberation, she tsks in frustration and sighs, "Fine, let's go."

She steps out from behind her house's gate and into the sidewalk, shaking out her long curtain of hair. "This is going to be my good deed of the month. You Spacers have probably never seen this much uninterrupted land."

Xi Zirui bites down on his lower lip, walking alongside her with his head down.

Bai Mi points out a random tree they walk past. "That's a tree," she says. "I bet you've never seen one."

"Uh uh, never seen one of those," Xi Zirui says.

He points out a man and a woman on the opposite side of the street. "I've never seen those either. We don't have assholes like that in space."

She frowns. "No, you only have hitmen and smugglers."

Considering his current occupation, Xi Zirui can't refute that last statement.

He turns to Bai Mi with a smirk. "All the more reason for young miss to help me. Better not get on my bad side."

---

They walk for at least half an hour with no sign of Han Yu. 

Xi Zirui's doesn't want to admit it but he's beginning to panic. What if someone finds out he's an Android?

What if the station's police Bai Mi mentioned finds him instead? What even is the penalty for walking around a space station without a work permit?

It doesn't help that every road looks the same, at least in the neighborhoods surrounding Bai Mi's. Just row upon row of houses made of glass and steel, almost more window than wall. All of them with a manicured front lawn and a single tree in front. 

"How do any of you know which house is yours?" Xi Zirui asks, exasperated when they turn the corner into another street exactly like the one they just left.

Bai Mi scoffs. "At least we don't breathe recycled air, and have a sky above our heads."

Xi Zirui doesn't know why he cares, it's not like he belongs to this world, but the whole spacer versus stationer hostility really gets on his nerves.

He's about to mention the benefits of anti-gravity sex --which he has yet to try but hopes he'll get around to, when a commotion draws his attention.

A group of people are gathered in a circle, looking at something in the middle of them.

Xi Zirui has a terrible feeling.

He runs down the street and rushes over the crowed, elbowing people away.

As expected, he finds Han Yu between them, half kneeling on the paved road and holding something against his chest.

"What's going on?" Xi Zirui asks, ignoring the disgruntled stationers and focusing his attention on Han Yu.

Han Yu looks up at him with a relieved expression. "They were hurting him," he says, just as a whiny meow comes up from the cradle of his arms.

For the second time in a day, Xi Zirui sees something completely unexpected. 

Han Yu is holding a long-haired orange cat, one of his hind legs missing.

'Little Thunder?' Xi Zirui thinks to himself, kneeling down next to Han Yu to run his fingers over the cat's soft fur.

The cat turns his wide, beady yellow eyes towards him and lets out a prolonged hiss.

It's Little Thunder without a doubt, no other cat has such a bad temper while simultaneously demanding to be held and petted at all times.

He might not be able to get the hairpin Han Yu gave him back from Bai Mi, but he'll be dammed if he's leaving this cursed space station with his cat.

"Let's go," he says, helping Han Yu to his feet. "You can bring the cat."

A blond man standing near them sputters indignantly. "Not so fast, the cat is Teta-Pi property, the two of you can't take it."

A well-dressed kid nods in agreement. "Yeah, spacer scum like you can't take our stuff."

Han Yu turns his big pleading eyes towards Xi Zirui. "The cat is a stray, he doesn't have anyone to look after him," he nods towards the kid, "he was hurting him."

The kid scoffs. "I can do what I want to the cat, if it doesn't have an owner to complain about it."

Xi Zirui has heard enough. "Listen here kid, we're taking the fucking cat."

He smiles mockingly at the little boy, and pulls Han Yu away from the crowd by the elbow -- his arms still protectively wrapped around Little Thunder.

They don't get twenty paces out, before a shrill voice rings out. "I'm calling station police! Spacers are trying to rob us!"

A chorus of agreement rises up from the crowd.

"Run!" Xi Zirui hisses at Han Yu, as his leisurely stroll turns into a sprint.

Bai Mi looks like she'll give chase for a moment, shouting "Wait! My antique! You promised," after Xi Zirui before losing steam and falling behind.

Xi Zirui takes the tracker out of his jumpsuit's pocket and reverses directions to get back to the ship.

He holds it above his head so Han Yu will understand he's meant to follow him, and doesn't stop running until he reaches the landing deck.

He unlocks the ship and climbs aboard with a relieved sigh, followed by Han Yu, battling against a vicious Little Thunder who refuses to stay put in his arms.

Xi Zirui locks the door behind him and jumps into the pilot's chair.

"Ni Ni get us out of here," he says, just as the sound of banging fists on the Irregular's door rings through the cabin.

"All systems engaged and ready for takeoff," Ni Ni says, as the control panel lights up and the whirring of the Irregular's thrusters makes the ground vibrate.

A blaring alarm rings from outside: "Do not liftoff, an item belonging to Teta-Pi is illegally being carried aboard this vessel, if this item isn't returned we will follow UHN regulations regarding theft of station property to the fullest extent of the law."

Xi Zirui scoffs. "You fucking do that," he says, saddened that the people outside can't hear him.

"If Host wants, I can broadcast his voice outside."

That sounds great, actually.

He really wants these people to go fuck themselves.

Something clicks and static hum echoes through the ship. Xi Zirui clears his throat.

"This Spacer Scum is going to take the damn cat, and there's nothing you stationer pricks can do about it."

Still struggling to keep Little Thunder, Han Yu lets out an amused laugh.

Xi Zirui spins his fingers around in the air. "Punch it, Ni Ni."

She does, and the Irregular takes off from the Teta-Pi's landing dock, disappearing into the fake teal sky, and then the stars beyond it.

---

Han Yu only lets go of Little Thunder when they reach cruising speed. The cat jumps out of his arms in a huff and disappears into one of the cabin's many nooks and crannies.

Xi Zirui gets up from the pilot chair and stretches his arms above his head.

Han Yu approaches him with a downcast look to his eyes. "I'm sorry, I got us in trouble."

Xi Zirui pats him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you did a good thing, the cat didn't deserve to be kicked around by that little brat."

"I saw him run away from the little boy and felt compelled to follow after them," Han Yu says. "I should have warned Xi Zirui."

"Don't worry, I'm just glad you're safe."

Han Yu nods, a little gloomy, and Xi Zirui bumps his shoulder into his. "We have a cat now, we need to give it a name."

There's no doubt in his mind that the cat is Little Thunder, but he's curious to know which name Han Yu will pick, this time around.

Han Yu's eyes flicker down towards Xi Zirui, a little smile playing at the corner of his lips. "Xi Zirui will think it's silly, but I feel like I've met this cat before."

Xi Zirui goes very still. "I don't think it's silly at all," he says, swallowing around nothing.

Han Yu's smile widens. "Then, can we call it Little Thunder?"