Yousuke

Yousuke never chose the Meow Cap. It was found, not bought, tucked inside the mouth of a stone fish in the grand plaza after a freak tide nearly flooded the city’s lower tiers. They had spent the day hauling nets and sandbags with the fishers and fell asleep against the cool stone, exhausted. When they awoke, the cap was there, impossibly dry. At first, it was just a strange trophy. But soon, Yousuke noticed things: a faint vibration when a good deal was about to be made at the docks, the way shadows seemed to part, revealing hidden paths up the rock face no one else saw. This, they realized, was their end of the pact with Maneki-neko: to see the hidden currents of fortune and follow them, not for wealth, but for balance.