The Stray Lights of Tokyo

Behind the glass, rows of canned coffee and sweet tea were stacked side by side.

Hale’s fingers slid across the buttons, pressed one, and a can dropped with a hollow clang.

When he picked it up, a grinning cat stared back at him from the label, pipe in mouth, whiskers perfectly combed.

Beneath it, a cheerful slogan read:

For the purrfect morning.

Hale raised an eyebrow and looked up.

A steady stream of commuters passed by, coats and scarves, caps pulled over pointed ears, tails flicking from beneath down jackets, phones clutched in their paws.

Among them were only a handful of humans, pale and rushed, as if they’d forgotten how to breathe.

So... there are still humans after all.

He forced himself not to stare and swallowed down a rising panic.

"Is it like this everywhere, I wonder... or only in Japan?" he muttered, barely audibly.

A second can clattered into the tray; he picked it up and headed back to the main entrance.

But when he reached the meeting point, there were only more cats around him.

“Koori?” His voice vanished into the echo.

Where is she, damn it? She was supposed to wait right here!

Hale closed his eyes for a second and felt the mark on his wrist begin to pulse.

The sensation grew stronger whenever he moved in a certain direction.

She said it connects us...

He followed the feeling until he finally spotted her in the center of the station hall.

So the link grows stronger the closer we are?

Koori turned slowly beneath the glass roof like a dancer, her star-filled eyes glittering, black hair drifting softly in the cold draft.

Hale approached her swiftly.

“I told you to wait at the entrance. And where are your sunglasses? Put them on, before someone sees your eyes!”

She spun around, surprised, then beamed. “I couldn’t help it! This place is amazing. I just had to see it without the dark.”

“It’s just a train station.” He popped open the second can and handed it to her as she slid the glasses back onto her nose.

Koori sniffed the drink carefully, as if it were some exotic flower, then took a quick sip, and instantly grimaced.

She spat a dark stream onto the floor. “Pfuaaah! It’s so bitter!”

Hale wiped a few splashes off his sleeve and glanced around in embarrassment.

Several cats had stopped to stare. A Munchkin wearing headphones wrinkled his nose. “Humans...,” he muttered with disdain.

Hale tugged her by the sleeve and pulled her between two vending machines.

“You can’t do that here!” he scolded her.

“But it tasted horrible.” She wiped her tongue with her hand and shuddered. “Why would anyone drink that on purpose?”

“Because...” He stopped himself. “...because it helps you think straight. Something we could really use right now.”

Koori tilted her head. “...Why?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time!” Hale’s voice trembled. “Normally, Japan isn’t full of cat-people! This... all of this... has to be connected to that Neko-gami.”

“I warned you about her...” Her small pout suggested she didn’t actually want to remind him about his mistake.

“She tricked me”, he muttered apologetically, then let out a long sigh. “Well, nothing we can do about it anyway. So let’s just get to my place for now.”

Koori's eyes sparkled in excitement.

“Yes! And where is that again?” she asked as they went to the ticket machine.

“We'll take the Tōkaidō Line to Tokyo Station, from there it's not that far to my home.”

Hale bent over the ticket machine, squinting at the glowing buttons.

Japanese text everywhere, yet somehow he understood it.

The words themselves suddenly made sense, as if he’d known them all along.

Hale pointed at the screen. “Strange. These words. I shouldn't even know what this says, but somehow I do.”

Koori tilted her head slightly, then smiled as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“Of course you do. I shared my power with you.”

“So?”

“It makes you understand!”, she said cheerfully.

He stared at her for a second, bewildered.

“Well, that's actually useful for a change."

Before heading off, they stopped by another vending machine, but for travel goods.

He pressed a button, and with a hollow clunk, a pair of pink slippers with tiny cat ears dropped into the tray.

“Here,” he said, handing them to her. “You’ve been walking around barefoot long enough. Put these on, until we find real shoes.”

She gave them a quick sniff, then wrinkled her nose.

“Ugh, they smell awful! Why do I have to put my feet in there!?”

“Because,” Hale sighed, “they’ll protect you from broken glass and everything else lying around. Please, just wear them.”

She hesitated, then slipped them on clumsily.

“They make funny squeaky sounds,” she said with childlike wonder.

Hale gave a weary smirk. “Great. At least now I’ll hear you coming.”

A few minutes later they stood on the platform as the train pulled in.

The doors slid open with a hiss, and a cat holding a clipboard gave a brief, formal bow.

“All aboard, nya.”

They found two seats by the window, but almost as soon as they sat down, someone tapped Hale on the shoulder.

A conductor, golden-striped fur, red vest.

“Excuse me, sir, but this car is for Nekos only.”

Hale blinked. “What?”

The conductor’s voice remained polite, but his twitching ears betrayed impatience.

“Human passengers are seated in the last car. Section H.”

“Human passengers?” Hale repeated, startled, while Koori simply blinked at him with curiosity.

The conductor pointed to a small sign above the door: Nekos Only – Section C.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Then, seeing the conductor’s face, he sighed and motioned for Koori to get up.

A low murmur rippled through the car as they passed, some cats watched openly; others turned away.

The human car was far emptier, only a few passengers sat there, pale and exhausted, heads bowed.

Hale sank into his seat while Koori gazed around, a mix of awe and sadness in her eyes.

“They all look so... sad and quiet.”

The train began to move and for a while, there was only silence.

Koori rested her forehead against the glass as first the city, then the trees, then the fields drifted by. 

“Amazing,” she whispered.

Hale studied her reflection in the window and gave a faint, crooked smile.

***

Some time later, the train finally rolled into Tokyo Station.

When the doors slid open, a wave of warmth, noise, and motion hit them head-on.

The platform thrummed with life, footsteps, voices, the constant rush of movement.

Hale drew in a deep breath.

“Welcome to Tokyo.”

Koori stopped where she stood, and even beneath her sunglasses, a faint shimmer of starlight glowed in her eyes.

“It smells... like metal, heat, and dreams,” she whispered.

Hale sighed. “...And like way too many people in a hurry.”

He tugged her by the sleeve and steered her gently through the stream of commuters.

Neon ads flashed across the tunnel walls:

NyanAir – Fly the Feline Way; 

Catbucks Coffee; 

Neko Tokyo Times – News with Bite.

“So many, all at once...” Koori murmured as she stepped clumsily onto the escalator behind him.

Hale gently pulled her to the right side after she blocked the left, earning a few irritated glances from rushing businesscats.

They stepped into the main concourse; a tide of bodies, luggage, and echoing announcements.

Koori clutched at his jacket at first, eyes wide, the noise and motion swallowing her whole.

Then a sudden wave of commuters surged between them, a flash of coats, tails, and briefcases.

When Hale turned back, her hand was gone and the spot where she’d been was already lost in the flow of bodies.

His heart skipped a beat.

“Koori?!”

He spun in place, scanning the crowd, but no trace of her.

Not again…

Hale shoved through the stream of people, hand instinctively going to the mark on his wrist.

He froze for a second, heart pounding.

Wait... last time, it reacted when I got close to her.

He closed his eyes, steadying his breath, willing himself to feel it again.

At first, nothing. But then, faintly, a pulse.

It grew stronger as he turned, like a compass tugging him in one direction.

He raised his arm slightly and followed the invisible pull.

That way!

The signal sharpened with every step down the stairwell, into the dim underpass where the roar of the city faded into a low, distant hum.

The mark on his wrist began to glow faintly, threads of light pulsing beneath his skin.

Then he heard voices, echoing off the concrete.

Hale rounded a corner and froze.

Two cats in biker jackets, claws stitched across their backs, a silver paw as their emblem. 

The third scrolls through his phone, flashing a golden tooth, his beanie pulled low over his ears.

They’d trapped Koori in a loose half-circle.

“Well, what do we have here, nya? Lost your way, human girl?”

One leaned close, sniffing.

“You don’t smell like the city, nya. Where’d you come from?”

She stood straight, unafraid, only a little confused.

“I come from the mountain.”

The cat with the golden tooth barked out a laugh. “The meowntain? You screwin’ with us?”

He stepped closer, tail flicking in irritation. “Humans aren’t welcome here. Especially not your kind, nya.”

“My... kind?” Koori asked honestly.

“Don’t play dumb, nya! I hate that act,” he snarled, raising his paw. "I'm gonna teach you a lesson, brat!"

Then a shout ripped through the tunnel, deep and furious:

“Leave her alone!”

Every head turned toward Hale.