exaltkingâs wishâŚ
          ăYatogami, please,                save the kitten from the tree.ă
                          âŚhas been heard, loud and clear.
ăăâ Stupid cat.â
ăA glare of annoyance, that was not uncommon on the godâs usual arsenal of looks, was directed to one of the branches of a particularly tall treeâa cat, of distinct orange fur and quite bright sky-blue eyes, clawed to the wood in evident fright; it might have been clever enough to reach the top in a pair of swift leaps, but had deemed incompetent to find a way back down to the bottom--as ridiculous as it seemed for an animal of natural skill.
ăAnd of course, who else better to accomplish the task of recovering the trapped cat than the ever callous and coldblooded God of Calamity?
ăăâ You can always reject silly requests like these, you know.â
ăHis look turned now, down to the girl sitting on the ground a few meters away from himâwatching amused while he was ideating strategies to get the cat and huffed protests to it.
ăHis face scrunched. â No. It would be unbecoming of a god like me not doing a simple wish of this kind.â In reality, heâd felt relieved of getting a lighthearted one like thisâone that didnât involve killing someone or ravaging on an entire householdâso he was more than willing to gain this easy five yen, as absurd as the demand seemed to be.
ăHe glanced back up to the feline. â It doesnât look hard anyway, Iâll get this one done in a blink.â
ăăâ If you say so.â Her mocking smile merely grew. Ah, was this man really going to do silly requests to avoid his own nature? She wondered silently.
ăA grunt left his lips, and so he charged to the tree; with carefully calculated moves (as if he was a feline himself, ironically), he climbed over the trunk and up to the top. Reaching the level of the cat had been a piece of cakeâhe had escalated trees before, after allâbut now, the trick had seemed to actually get his hands on it; the branch looked quite thin for him to move on it.
ăA careful test tap to the branch made it sway lightly, but it had scared the cat anywayâmade it leap farther away from him, much to his chagrin. He winced. Now what?
ăâŚAh, screw it. He was a god, what was gravity and weight for a spiritual being anyway?
ăOne hand held front, his thighs secured him in place on the wooden extend. He slid with the utmost delicacy, attention kept on every sound the branch made. When close enough to the feline, his fingers released their hold and reached front for itâ
ăBut it had seemed to backfire, for the cat was scared again. But instead of taking steps far from him again, it jolted to him. Claws dug to the skin of his face.
ăăâ Argh--!! Let go!â
ăIn the mid of his fight with the animal, he had unconsciously released his careful grab on the branchâhe lost his balance, and in the blink of an eye his body wasnât holding onto wood anymore. He fell, quite fast down and leaving no point of reactionâand when his back hit hard ground, he could swear he heard the breaking of bones.
ăHis bones, for the cat had landed neatly on his chest and almost immediately fled from scene. Unlike him, whose body lay limp on the ground. A groan, perhaps of pain or of utter frustration, left him afterwards.
ăThe stray, though, was too occupied in giggling at her masterâs unfortunate occurrence.
ăăâ HiiirooooâŚâŚ.â He whined, already feeling his right leg unable to move. â I need a hand over âeeere--â
ăBut she didnât move, instead tilting her head with an amused smile still adorning her lips. â We could have cut the branch and caught the cat in the fall.â
ăăâ You would have cut the cat along the branch, though.â
ăăâ Not if you asked me not to.â
ăHe gritted his teeth. â Then why didnât you--â
ăăâ Because seeing you climb it and fall later seemed more amusing.â Â She finally stood from her place, and stepped up next to himâleaning and grabbing the five yen coin that fell from his grasp. â Would you look at it? Seems to not be your thing âsavingâ, after all.â















