A Tale of Two Kitties [Jojo]

Jomei had come to know Shibuya River very well; he walked by it every day, sometimes along it, and was intimately aware of all the little side areas and branches, where he should and shouldn't step, where animals liked to hang out.  Which alleyways were dead ends and which lead back into the city.  Where the delinquents like to hang out.  The best places to hide that didn't leave him with a minimum of soaked socks.

He walked along the concrete wall bordering the river, a slight spring in his step, though still careful not to slip and fall in.  He'd just finished a delivery a moment ago - a pretty light package, but one the client was very specific about regarding secrecy.  He didn't ask any questions - and he got a pretty nice tip for it. 

He was pondering on just how to spend it until the scent hit his nose.  It was an unpleasant smell, but one he was used to by now.  It was an unfortunate fact that a portion of the river was now a dedicated landfill.  It was a place he generally avoided, though had to pass by frequently when he took this route.  And he didn't plan on breaking that routine.

Until he heard the voices.

He couldn't quite tell who was talking, but he was sure there were at least two different people talking.  And it sounded like one of them was much more focused on finding something than the other.  He couldn't see who they were - and he knew better than to just walk straight in there, but it sounded like they needed to find something pretty important.  He wasn't exactly skilled at going through trash - the only time he ever did it was after dropping his phone in a trashcan, and that was after getting help (from someone who offered him food first out of pity) - but it wouldn't hurt to have more eyes and hands to search with, right?

He kept his distance from the obstructing trash pile, walking around it slowly.  "Hello?  Is someone there?  Do you need help looking for something?"  Better to announce himself first, rather than surprise them; he even made sure that his footsteps were loud enough to hear.  People could do a lot of things when they're scared - even if it was just because some little kid in a hoodie asked if they needed assistance.

As Jomei turned the corner, he could hear some whispering, though not well enough to tell what was being said.  Probably about what to do now that someone noticed them.  He stopped his advance, giving them a moment to talk things over, only to finish walking around once they quieted down.  And once he was around the pile he saw...

A pair of cats.  He stood in place, looking over the pair of weird-looking cats, one white, the other black.  He never saw any cat breed with paws that big, or with hair on the tips of their ears, or with long two-toned tails.  Could cats even be purple? 

Maybe they were a designer-breed.  He'd seen a lot of pictures of designer-breed dogs that looked bizarre, and they looked the same to each other - just with a color change.  And both of them had gloves on their forelegs.  Which meant these were probably lost pets.

The white one seemed nonchalant about him being there, but the black one looked scared stiff - even its meow sounded nervous.  Jomei grinned, kneeling down.  "Hey there, big guy!" he said, offering a hand.  "I'm not gonna hurt you.  I just wanted to check out what was going on back here."

"Do you guys know where the people talking here went?  It sounded like they needed help finding something."  He surveyed the area, looking for any places they might be hiding.  There were a few places they could've gone, but they were far enough away that they rush at him without him noticing first.  

While he was being cautious, he lacked the usual anxiety he had when talking to new people; animals were much easier to talk to than people.  Cats could be mean sometimes, but as long as he didn't antagonize them or approach too quickly, he could guess how they'd react.  They couldn't swear at him or make fun of him

"Don't suppose it was you two talking, was it?"  He let out a small chuckle - of course it wasn't them.  Cats couldn't talk.  He knew he wasn't going to get an answer, but what harm was there in just talking to them?  "Are you two looking for something too?"

He smiled when the black cat shook his hand...before his eyes widened as he realized he was shaking hands with a cat.  He had to look down to realize that the cat was the one grabbing his hand, not the other way around.  The cat seemed just as shocked, as it pulled away and made another awkward meow.  "I...didn't know cats knew how to do that," he mused aloud, standing back up.

These were definitely someone's well-trained cats.  Or at least this one was well-trained; the white one still seemed to be doing its own thing.

He took his eyes off the cats for a moment, to see if the people who were talking before came out from wherever they were hiding.  Still nobody; chances were that they just left the place or just didn't want his help, and were waiting until he was gone to continue their search.  Unfortunate, but he could understand it; he'd probably act the same way in that situation.

His attention went back to the cats when he saw the white one move in his periphery.  It trotted over to him, dropping something by his feet.  He had to kneel down once more to get a good look at what they were...only to realize they were bones.  "...oooooh!  You guys are hungry!  That's why you're rooting around here; you're looking for food!"  He felt a little silly not realizing that was the main reason any animal would be looking around a landfill.

The puppy-dog eyes were completely unnecessary in convincing him to help, though they melted his heart all the same.  "If you guys want, I can get you some food.  There should be a pet store nearby with plenty of cat food...though I dunno if it's gonna be as good as the stuff you usually eat."  Someone with cats like these must have a lot of money; they were probably used to expensive pet food.  He wasn't sure if he had enough for that kind of stuff.

Maybe he'd be lucky, and these guys would have inexpensive tastes.  "It'll probably taste better than anything you'd find in here."

The two cats seemed pleased with his offer - and they both looked pretty hungry.  Poor guys must have been hungry for a while; was nobody feeding them?  Surely, some other people were willing to help feed strays, especially ones as distinctive as these.

But then the pair moved a small distance away after one nudged the other.  Jomei just awkwardly stood there as the two cats seemed to be communicating with each other.  He couldn't hear them very well - and he wasn't trying too hard to eavesdrop on some cats; it wasn't like he was going to understand them if he did.

And yet, what he did hear sounded familiar.  Kind of like the voices he was hearing before.  But maybe he was just hearing things.  No way those cats were the ones he heard talking, right?

Whatever the case, their "conversation" came to an end.  And if the happy meow and the circling around his feet meant anything, they were willing to go along with him.  "Alright, just follow me!  Just...don't go around my legs like that when we're near the river.  It gets kind of narrow and I don't want any of us falling in there."

With all that said, Jomei would leave the landfill the way he came.  It was fortunate to finally get away from the bothersome stench of trash; he hoped wasn't there long enough for it to stick to him, and he definitely had to clean the hand he shook hands with.  He had it in his mind to get those cats washed too, but he wasn't sure where he could go to do that - or if he even could do it, considering how much cats apparently hated baths.

With not much else to do along the way, he decided to try and strike up a conversation.  One-sided, but it'd be something.  "So why'd you guys go away from home?  Did you run away, or did you just get lost?  I dunno exactly where you live, but I might know the area you're from, so maybe we can go there after you're fed."  Probably the more affluent area.  Even if the chance of finding the exact house was close to 0, there was still a good chance of finding their owner.

It always felt nice when he could talk to someone without feeling judged.  A person would probably think it was weird that he was asking questions like that, but these weren't people.  He didn't feel uncomfortable being so forward with cats.

Jomei giggled to himself as it almost sounded like the pair were responding to him.  He even swore he was hearing those two voices again, and looked back for a moment to make sure they weren't somehow being followed.  Nobody but the two cats following him - no way they would be hiding either; there weren't any decent hiding spots in this part of the river.  "Well, whatever's up with you guys, I'll make sure you guys at least get fed.  It isn't fun being so hungry."

It wasn't much further to the pet store, and Jomei wouldn't make any more one-sided conversation for the rest of the way; just a little further along the river, then through a hole in a fence that lead into an alleyway big enough for him.  A little further through the alley, and they'd find themselves in a street.  Less than a minute later, they'd arrive at their destination: a basic-looking storefront name the "Kitty Corral".  "This is the place," Jomei stated, looking back to the pair, "I dunno if they'll let me bring animals inside though.  I've never actually gone in here before.  So maybe you can wait for me out here?"

With that said, he'd make his way inside, careful to use his un-shook hand to open the door.  The first thing he'd have to do was use the bathroom to wash his hands.  Then he would look around for the right food on his own, which took enough time that one of the store employees approached him to help him.  It took a while for her to get him to explain the exact situation, involving a lot of him flubbing over his own words as he struggled to explain that he was just getting enough for a single meal for two cats that weren't exactly feral, but he didn't know whose they were.  He struggled to hold eye contact for more than a few seconds, and he looked guarded throughout.  It would take five minutes of talking for him to explain it all in a comprehensible way, and it would be clear he was very uncomfortable with it all.

It would all be in view of the two cats if they looked inside.

But with that done with, he finally managed to get what he was after: a few cans of wet cat food, and even a double-bowl they would let him borrow for the cats to use.  His face was a little reddened from the situation, and once he was through the door, he let out a massive exhale.

"A-alright," he said, looking back to the cats, "I hope this is enough.  We gotta give the bowl back when you're done though; she'll be watching you guys."  He pointed to the window, where the employee was watching - and looking very concerned about these cats.

He'd lay the bowl down in front of them, opening a couple of cans and dumping the contents in each of them.  "Let me know if you want more!"