【Short Story】The Demon Cats of Tokyo

Subtitle: A Hundred-Cat Night Parade

I wandered over and opened the window on a stifling tropical night.

On such a muggy, breathless summer night, it felt as though something might just crawl out from the shadows.

--What on earth am I thinking?

Even this tiny alleyway visible from my window was completely deserted in the dead of night--

Suddenly, an uncanny wind blew through like a tempest.

A chorus of meows echoed through the dark. Not just one voice, but many.

And then, out from the velvet abyss, cats clad in wondrous attire emerged.

White cats, black cats, orange tabbies, brown tabbies, silver tabbies, calicos...

A hundred of them in all.

Court robes, hunting garments, twelve-layered kimonos, hitatare robes, suits of armour, heavy uchikake, simple kosode... Eras and styles were hopelessly jumbled together, yet altogether, they looked straight out of a historical period drama.

Every single one of them possessed a tail split in two.

Most wondrous of all was that, despite the deep night, not only their eyes, but their entire bodies seemed to glow, softly drifting and hovering within the gloom.

They marched in a solemn procession, overflowing and filling the narrow lane to the brim.

The phrase "A Hundred Cats' Night Parade"—a twist on the legendary "Night Parade of One Hundred Demons"—flashed through my mind, just as a sharp pain struck my ankle.

"Ouch...!"

My own cat hissed fshhh at my feet. It seemed I had just been bitten.

Before I knew it, the bizarre procession of cats visible from the window had vanished entirely.

My body was drenched in a sticky, cold sweat.

"I wonder what those cats were. Do you know, I wonder?"

When I stroked my cat, it purred softly in response, but perhaps finding the heat too much, it soon turned away with a huff. It promptly stretched out flat to sleep once more, right upon the cool wooden flooring.

(The End)

[Author's Note]

・Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (Hyakki Yagyō): A famous Japanese legend about a chaotic night procession of supernatural monsters (yōkai). The title is a feline twist on this myth!

・Two-Tailed Cats (Nekomata): In Japanese folklore, when a cat lives a long, extraordinary life, its tail splits into two, transforming it into a magical yōkai cat called a Nekomata.

・Traditional Attire: The cats in this parade wear historic garments from various eras of Japan—such as Karikinu (court robes), Jūnihitoe (12-layered silk kimonos of ancient princesses), and samurai armour (Katchū)—all walking together out of time.