Somehow the thought of Koneko surviving in a city felt wrong. Her feline companion knowing what to say to be noticed, how to move to avoid the swarms of people, how to adapt to the pulse of this inorganic mess was unfair. She was a cat, she should be doubly off-balance and make Taya feel capable. She shouldn't blend.

Everywhere they went, Koneko knew somebody. There were cats running the inns, cats working tables, cats selling clothes, cats at coffee shops and magic dens. She'd never seen so many in her life, though they spread out like furry specks in the population, and it seemed impossible for Koneko to know them all. It seemed impossible for every single one to be a friend of the family or a cousin thrice removed. It seemed impossible for them all to sneak out a spare cake or find them a table in a crowded pub. And it seemed impossible that they should all know of Taya, somehow, and reassure her about events Taya herself barely remembered.

When she asked, Koneko only grinned and said that word traveled fast in her family. Any other words on the subject were brushed off with handy distractions, like stopping to avoid being run over by a cart or ducking fall-out from an especially rambunctious bar fight.

Tonight it was the arrival of dinner between "how could" and "your family know so much?", scaring the second half of the sentence away. Taya paused, closed her eyes, and took a breath. She tried again.

"Why," a pause as a steaming plate of noodles snuck in between them, "does everyone you know know everything about me?"

Somewhere in the background was a shallow step that pretended to be a stage. On the stage was a man pretending to be a performer, sitting below a cloth pretending to be a sign, decorated with "Challenge the amazing Phantasm! Ask a question he can't answer and enjoy your meal for free." The man was reading.

Koneko plucked a shrimp off her plate and trapped it in her jaws, the heart shaped tail dangling out of the corner of her mouth. A noise gathered in the back of her throat, a quiet rhythmic rumble that Taya had associated with contentment (or perhaps full, since Koneko only seemed content while eating).

"Already told, I think. Keep asking, why?"

"Because that doesn't explain it." Taya frowned, uncomfortable with having to be assertive. Koneko had to know that she hated it, but the feline continued to pluck shrimp off her plate claw by claw.

Someone had approached the so-called Phantasm after a prolonged lull. He raised both eyebrows and set down his book. He smiled broadly but it faded at the edges. "And what question would you have me answer, miss?"

The girl grinned prettily and tossed her head to the side. Her hair rippled against her shoulders in a way that made Taya think of Adenne. She carried herself like her beauty was a weapon.

The Phantasm seemed as taken with it as all of Adenne's admirers were. He grinned broadly and cocked his head to the side. "Should I guess the question itself, or will you oblige me?"

"I might as well. The answer'll take you forever." She lowered her painted eyelids and pursed her lips. "What's my name? Not nickname, real name."

"And I suppose 'Rumplestiltskin' would be too cliché, wouldn't it." The crowd twittered quietly. "Let's see. I'm allowed my five questions before I guess, am I not?"

"Ask away."

Taya sighed and glanced across the table again. Speaking of questions, she had her own to face. She tried again while Koneko filled her plate with fishtails.

"Even if you know every single Cat in this city, and had time to tell them about me, how could they know so much? How... when..." She clutched her napkin. "You know I'm scared enough being here, I'd feel a little better if I knew I could, um, trust you."

Koneko's ears pulled back flat against her head and Taya dropped her eyes. She didn't have all of Koneko's traits memorized and wasn't keen to find out which might mean 'towering inferno of anger.'

"Sorry. I, um, shouldn't..."

Her ears flickered forward, the right slower than the left, a wave-like motion of fur. Koneko closed her eyes and grinned, an expression Taya recognized more easily. "Taya can trust me. Everybody knows so thatcha'ren't alone. That'dya be upset I didn't know. Sorry."

"It's... I'm not upset. I mean I, um appreciate the help a whole lot, but I just wanted to, um, know." Taya raised her eyes again, distinctly aware without wanting to be that she'd backed down before getting a real answer. Again. "That's all."

"S'okay."

Taya sighed and looked to see how the nameless girl was fairing. The Phantasm seemed finished with his questions. He sipped from a mug of tea that someone had set on his table and was talking with the girl.

"I think I might have a guess. A humble guess at a name for someone so beautiful, but it is my job to try."

The nameless laughed and ducked her head. It wasn't as shy as affected, but the man seemed enthralled nonetheless. "Go ahead," she half giggled.

"Chandler, like all the other men in your family."

Silence. Her face melted pale and the rouge of her cheeks and paint of her lips looked abruptly more false than flattering. "No," she whispered. "That's not my name."

"But you did specify..."

"I am not," she hissed, "a man."

"Chantarelle, then. My mistake, the mystic energies, they do mumble sometimes." A look passed between them that Taya couldn't read from the audience. "My apologies, as I can clearly see you are anything but masculine. It seemed a likely trick."

Color filtered back into her cheeks and she stood a taller height. "You should be sorry. And yes, that's my name."

The audience applauded, to which he flourished a hand and half bowed from his chair. The girl stepped daintily down and return to her table of friends. They gushed at her return, assaulting her with failed whispers of "you never told me your name, Relle!" and "isn't he awesome?"

Taya turned amidst her own applause and blinked. Koneko's ears were invisible against the line of her hair and her eyes were slit shut. "...what?"