Wednesday, September 28, 3:57 AM
Akari couldn't fall back to sleep tonight, and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was the Santa Ana winds blowing through the night, keeping her room uncomfortably warm. Or maybe it was something about the new arrivals in the apartment. Once she had woken up, her mind started going around in circles.
She had been thinking a lot about the youngest one, Chiyo-chan, she was called. Akari could imagine how she felt, as she too had left home at a young age to chase her dream in distant lands. But Chiyo-chan had left her home with no warning, and Akari could feel that she had left something important behind. So too had the tall girl, Sakaki-san, left something very dear to her behind. Akari had no idea how she knew this, but she could feel it inside.
She sighed. This wasn't getting her anywhere near sleep. She decided to put on clothes, and wander around outside for a while. Maybe a walk would tire her out.
She eschewed the elevator and walked down the stairs into the warm night. It wasn't exactly quiet out, with the offshore wind rustling leaves in the trees, bending tall palm trees towards the ocean. But the dry winds were comfortable to walk in at night. It felt like the warmth of daylight on her skin came from the rising crescent moon, like a long starlit eclipse.
With no particular destination, she wandered up onto the beach boardwalk, passing a couple sleeping beach bums along the way. It was so different, so empty without the tourists and surfers and hipsters, but she liked this side of Venice too.
Akari wandered up to the canal zone, and then crossed through towards downtown. The orange glow of street lamps guided her way through the night, wherever she happened to be going.
She sneezed so suddenly that it brought her to a halt. The wind brought plenty of things to tickle her nose, that was certain. That was one side-effect of the so-called Devil Winds, but they didn't seem to quite live up to the hype. There was nothing to be afraid of tonight; the last of the drunks had found their way home, and the roads were empty but for a the occasional car.
Akari found herself following the rundown old train tracks embedded in the pavement of Abbot Kinney Boulevard. They hadn't been here before, had they?
Then she heard the roar of something coming towards her, pushing through the wind. A minute later, a large vehicle bearing a single bright light turned onto the street, with several cars following behind. The boxy, cherry red locomotive led a set of six train cars down the old tracks. The brakes squealed as the train rolled to a halt besides the little shops along the boulevard.
"What sort of train runs this late at night?" she asked no one. Akari couldn't stop herself from walking closer to investigate. While the cars had the number 666 emblazoned on the side, a sign in the front car read "Starlight Express". "Huh." And then, a few cats came leaping out of the passenger cars. Akari walked out into the middle of the street to get a closer look.
In the shadow of the train, she saw someone large with pointed ears in a blue railroad uniform and called out to him, "Cait Sìth!"
A tall orange creature turned to face her; it was oblong, with the skinniest of arms. Akari apologized, "Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else." And he started to turn back around.
But all of ten seconds later, curiosity got the better of her. "Excuse me, but are you a cat?"
A booming, masculine voice emerged from the bipedal feline's mouth, "Now that is an excellent question! Now, you wouldn't happen to be one of those people who believe that other people are cats just because they have pointed ears and fur and a long tail, would you?" His eyes grew narrow and his fur became a roiling red color.
"Eep!" And then she thought about it a minute, and said, "No, but are you not a cat?"
His fur returned to the orange color. "I am as much a cat as you are a human, child."
"My name is Akari Mizunashi? What's yours?"
"Is that your true name, I wonder?"
"I think so?"
"No, your true name has not yet been given," the cat creature determined.
OK, this was managing to be even weirder than she expected. "Hahii?"
"You may call me Mihama."
"Where does this train go? Can it take me home again?"
Mihama's skin shifted to a swirl of reds and yellows, and he swayed back and forth for a minute. His skin shifted back to it's normal hue, and he remarked, "No ticket."
"I see," Akari said sadly.
"All we have right now are one-way fares." His giant eyes narrowed, and after a moment he spoke again. "You are the one who heard the calls, are you not? Follow me."
She followed him a aft past a few passenger cars, where they came upon a juvenile cat with distinctive brown markings, sitting on the pavement next to a large white dog. The dog had a thick coat and a plume of a tail, which she identified as a Great Pyrenees. Akari couldn't make out what kind of cat it was, concluding it must be a mixed breed.
Mihama's skinny right arm wiggled in an entirely impossible fashion for a few seconds, until it pointed steadily towards the cat. "This one seeks the branch of the sacred tree. Will you take her there?"
The idea tickled something at the back of her mind. And well, she couldn't leave a cat alone on her quest, could she? Without hesitation, she pledged, "I will."
The little cat's eyes met Akari's and her face softened, as if to say that she would trust this human. The dog stood up, and rubbed against Akari, as if to say that he had trusted her all along.
"I must go. We must not get off track," Mihama said, as he floated back aboard the train.
"Just… If you see Cait Sìth, tell him that I want to see him again, please."
"Foolish child," he boomed, "to seek the fair folk. I suppose that's why he likes you. I will relay the message true." He returned inside, and the hum of the locomotive rumbled through the street.
"Well, it's late tonight. Will you come home with me?" she asked the cat.
"Nyan." Akari and her quest companions started walking back towards her apartment. Meanwhile, the train departed, following invisible tracks up into the sky.
The cat seemed very determined, while the dog followed alongside Akari with an easy gait. Akari didn't feel foolish, like he had said. Although she realized that she had adopted a couple of strays on the request of a catlike—thingy—Mihama, which was perhaps not the wisest thing to do.
Wait, she thought and blushed, he said Cait Sìth liked her?
She had ended up walking even further than she had intended, and then all of that happened, so by the time she returned to the apartment, morning twilight was creeping across the sky. Well, all she had to do was find a divine tree. That couldn't be too hard, right? There had to be a sakaki somewhere in America, right, or maybe just a really old oak.
And all at once, she realized how stupid she had been, and knew she was supposed to find Sakaki-san. Silly kitty riddle. Maybe this quest was almost over.
It wouldn't be kind to wake them—but they were jet-lagged, and would likely be awake anyway. She decided that it wouldn't be right to delay a quest, and journeyed up to the second floor.
Akari held out her hands. "Do you need any help up the stairs, kitty?"
The kitten ignored her offer and leapt up the steps. The dog, on the other hand, came and brushed his head against her hands.
"Not you, silly dog, you're too heavy," she giggled. "Come on!"
She walked up to the second story, and unlocked the door. And the Akari knocked on the first door on her right.
About sixty seconds and a couple of knocks later, the door opened to reveal the imposing presence of Sakaki, wearing a loose T-Shirt, shorts, and a frown. Akari reflexively took a step back.
"I'm sorry for intruding," Akari said timidly, "but I was wondering if you knew this cat?"
Sakaki looked down, and a smile lit up her face.
"Maya!" Sakaki picked up the wildcat and nuzzled her. "Maya!" The cat returned her attention with a little lick on the nose. "You really did find me!" Holding the cat in front of her, she spun around and around with a big smile on her face, humming happily.
And as suddenly as it began, her mien became serious, as if she had caught herself doing something deeply embarrassing. "I am in your debt," Sakaki said formally.
"I didn't do anything, really."
But Sakaki had turned her attention elsewhere. "Sorry to make you wait, Tadakichi-san. Chiyo-chan is in here. She opened the door to Chiyo's room, and Tadakichi trotted over to her futon, walked in three circled, and lay down right in the middle of the bed.
This was enough to wake Chiyo up, though. "Bwah?" She rubbed her eyes. "Oh, Tadakichi-san, is that you?"
He stood up and gave Chiyo a good sniff on the face, while she petted his head.
"How did you even get here?"
Sakaki explained, "Akari-san brought her here."
"I didn't do anything, really. Maya did most of the work, I think."
"Thank you so much!" she said while hanging around Tadakichi's neck. "You too, Maya."
"Mew."
Since it was now past sunrise, and all three were now fully awake and excited, Chiyo convinced the other two to join her radio exercises. Not that any radio station in L.A. had broadcasted them for decades, but with the help of YouTube lots of things are possible.
They moved downstairs into the yard, and started the calesthenics. Mr. Tadakichi stood guard over his humans, sniffing around the building. He must have decided he liked the places, because he began staking out a territorial claim with head and leg held high. As for the iriomote wildcat, Maya just collapsed on the ground, content that she was finally where she needed to be.
Akari couldn't fall back to sleep tonight, and she didn't know why. Perhaps it was the Santa Ana winds blowing through the night, keeping her room uncomfortably warm. Or maybe it was something about the new arrivals in the apartment. Once she had woken up, her mind started going around in circles.
She had been thinking a lot about the youngest one, Chiyo-chan, she was called. Akari could imagine how she felt, as she too had left home at a young age to chase her dream in distant lands. But Chiyo-chan had left her home with no warning, and Akari could feel that she had left something important behind. So too had the tall girl, Sakaki-san, left something very dear to her behind. Akari had no idea how she knew this, but she could feel it inside.
She sighed. This wasn't getting her anywhere near sleep. She decided to put on clothes, and wander around outside for a while. Maybe a walk would tire her out.
She eschewed the elevator and walked down the stairs into the warm night. It wasn't exactly quiet out, with the offshore wind rustling leaves in the trees, bending tall palm trees towards the ocean. But the dry winds were comfortable to walk in at night. It felt like the warmth of daylight on her skin came from the rising crescent moon, like a long starlit eclipse.
With no particular destination, she wandered up onto the beach boardwalk, passing a couple sleeping beach bums along the way. It was so different, so empty without the tourists and surfers and hipsters, but she liked this side of Venice too.
Akari wandered up to the canal zone, and then crossed through towards downtown. The orange glow of street lamps guided her way through the night, wherever she happened to be going.
She sneezed so suddenly that it brought her to a halt. The wind brought plenty of things to tickle her nose, that was certain. That was one side-effect of the so-called Devil Winds, but they didn't seem to quite live up to the hype. There was nothing to be afraid of tonight; the last of the drunks had found their way home, and the roads were empty but for a the occasional car.
Akari found herself following the rundown old train tracks embedded in the pavement of Abbot Kinney Boulevard. They hadn't been here before, had they?
Then she heard the roar of something coming towards her, pushing through the wind. A minute later, a large vehicle bearing a single bright light turned onto the street, with several cars following behind. The boxy, cherry red locomotive led a set of six train cars down the old tracks. The brakes squealed as the train rolled to a halt besides the little shops along the boulevard.
"What sort of train runs this late at night?" she asked no one. Akari couldn't stop herself from walking closer to investigate. While the cars had the number 666 emblazoned on the side, a sign in the front car read "Starlight Express". "Huh." And then, a few cats came leaping out of the passenger cars. Akari walked out into the middle of the street to get a closer look.
In the shadow of the train, she saw someone large with pointed ears in a blue railroad uniform and called out to him, "Cait Sìth!"
A tall orange creature turned to face her; it was oblong, with the skinniest of arms. Akari apologized, "Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else." And he started to turn back around.
But all of ten seconds later, curiosity got the better of her. "Excuse me, but are you a cat?"
A booming, masculine voice emerged from the bipedal feline's mouth, "Now that is an excellent question! Now, you wouldn't happen to be one of those people who believe that other people are cats just because they have pointed ears and fur and a long tail, would you?" His eyes grew narrow and his fur became a roiling red color.
"Eep!" And then she thought about it a minute, and said, "No, but are you not a cat?"
His fur returned to the orange color. "I am as much a cat as you are a human, child."
"My name is Akari Mizunashi? What's yours?"
"Is that your true name, I wonder?"
"I think so?"
"No, your true name has not yet been given," the cat creature determined.
OK, this was managing to be even weirder than she expected. "Hahii?"
"You may call me Mihama."
"Where does this train go? Can it take me home again?"
Mihama's skin shifted to a swirl of reds and yellows, and he swayed back and forth for a minute. His skin shifted back to it's normal hue, and he remarked, "No ticket."
"I see," Akari said sadly.
"All we have right now are one-way fares." His giant eyes narrowed, and after a moment he spoke again. "You are the one who heard the calls, are you not? Follow me."
She followed him a aft past a few passenger cars, where they came upon a juvenile cat with distinctive brown markings, sitting on the pavement next to a large white dog. The dog had a thick coat and a plume of a tail, which she identified as a Great Pyrenees. Akari couldn't make out what kind of cat it was, concluding it must be a mixed breed.
Mihama's skinny right arm wiggled in an entirely impossible fashion for a few seconds, until it pointed steadily towards the cat. "This one seeks the branch of the sacred tree. Will you take her there?"
The idea tickled something at the back of her mind. And well, she couldn't leave a cat alone on her quest, could she? Without hesitation, she pledged, "I will."
The little cat's eyes met Akari's and her face softened, as if to say that she would trust this human. The dog stood up, and rubbed against Akari, as if to say that he had trusted her all along.
"I must go. We must not get off track," Mihama said, as he floated back aboard the train.
"Just… If you see Cait Sìth, tell him that I want to see him again, please."
"Foolish child," he boomed, "to seek the fair folk. I suppose that's why he likes you. I will relay the message true." He returned inside, and the hum of the locomotive rumbled through the street.
"Well, it's late tonight. Will you come home with me?" she asked the cat.
"Nyan." Akari and her quest companions started walking back towards her apartment. Meanwhile, the train departed, following invisible tracks up into the sky.
The cat seemed very determined, while the dog followed alongside Akari with an easy gait. Akari didn't feel foolish, like he had said. Although she realized that she had adopted a couple of strays on the request of a catlike—thingy—Mihama, which was perhaps not the wisest thing to do.
Wait, she thought and blushed, he said Cait Sìth liked her?
She had ended up walking even further than she had intended, and then all of that happened, so by the time she returned to the apartment, morning twilight was creeping across the sky. Well, all she had to do was find a divine tree. That couldn't be too hard, right? There had to be a sakaki somewhere in America, right, or maybe just a really old oak.
And all at once, she realized how stupid she had been, and knew she was supposed to find Sakaki-san. Silly kitty riddle. Maybe this quest was almost over.
It wouldn't be kind to wake them—but they were jet-lagged, and would likely be awake anyway. She decided that it wouldn't be right to delay a quest, and journeyed up to the second floor.
Akari held out her hands. "Do you need any help up the stairs, kitty?"
The kitten ignored her offer and leapt up the steps. The dog, on the other hand, came and brushed his head against her hands.
"Not you, silly dog, you're too heavy," she giggled. "Come on!"
She walked up to the second story, and unlocked the door. And the Akari knocked on the first door on her right.
About sixty seconds and a couple of knocks later, the door opened to reveal the imposing presence of Sakaki, wearing a loose T-Shirt, shorts, and a frown. Akari reflexively took a step back.
"I'm sorry for intruding," Akari said timidly, "but I was wondering if you knew this cat?"
Sakaki looked down, and a smile lit up her face.
"Maya!" Sakaki picked up the wildcat and nuzzled her. "Maya!" The cat returned her attention with a little lick on the nose. "You really did find me!" Holding the cat in front of her, she spun around and around with a big smile on her face, humming happily.
And as suddenly as it began, her mien became serious, as if she had caught herself doing something deeply embarrassing. "I am in your debt," Sakaki said formally.
"I didn't do anything, really."
But Sakaki had turned her attention elsewhere. "Sorry to make you wait, Tadakichi-san. Chiyo-chan is in here. She opened the door to Chiyo's room, and Tadakichi trotted over to her futon, walked in three circled, and lay down right in the middle of the bed.
This was enough to wake Chiyo up, though. "Bwah?" She rubbed her eyes. "Oh, Tadakichi-san, is that you?"
He stood up and gave Chiyo a good sniff on the face, while she petted his head.
"How did you even get here?"
Sakaki explained, "Akari-san brought her here."
"I didn't do anything, really. Maya did most of the work, I think."
"Thank you so much!" she said while hanging around Tadakichi's neck. "You too, Maya."
"Mew."
Since it was now past sunrise, and all three were now fully awake and excited, Chiyo convinced the other two to join her radio exercises. Not that any radio station in L.A. had broadcasted them for decades, but with the help of YouTube lots of things are possible.
They moved downstairs into the yard, and started the calesthenics. Mr. Tadakichi stood guard over his humans, sniffing around the building. He must have decided he liked the places, because he began staking out a territorial claim with head and leg held high. As for the iriomote wildcat, Maya just collapsed on the ground, content that she was finally where she needed to be.
"Kitto daijoubu da yo." - Sakura Kinomoto