Speak in the language of cats here. v1c1p3

Mission 1: No Cat, No Life p3

Just as Kohana said, a line of girls from our school had formed in front of her register. And all of them had a melting, passionate look in their eyes.

They would pay for items they may or may not have actually needed, exchange a few words with her in the process, and then leave looking delighted.

Watching them, it was like a handshake event for a celebrity. The term “idol” was certainly fitting.

It seemed Kohana was no exception. She casually got in line for that clerk’s register and was chatting happily with a sparkling expression.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Anya. Haa~, my fave is so beautiful and precious today, too.”

Holding a plastic drugstore bag, Kohana came jogging back. Her face was glowing, and it was clear she was on cloud nine.

“I see, an idol—”

My casual murmur stopped mid-sentence.

Because standing behind Kohana was a person who shouldn’t have been there. A chill crept up my spine, the kind of shock you’d get if a ghost suddenly appeared before your eyes.

“Kohana-chan, thanks for your business. You always buy so much. I’ll have to restock right away.”

The smiling female clerk—Kurisu Akira—spoke, and Kohana turned around.

“Ahaha. All my kids are big eaters.”

“Is that a new friend of yours? I don’t think I’ve seen you before today.”

Akira’s cool eyes fell on me.

“Oh, she’s a transfer student who just joined our class today. She’s from Russia, Anna Grazkaya-san. She’s already super popular, everyone calls her Anya.”

“Oh, from Russia?”

Akira’s gaze, showing strong interest, never left me.

Beside their pleasant conversation, I continued to harbor a strong sense of unease and tension—towards Akira.

I am always observing and grasping the movements of every single person around me in a corner of my consciousness.

It was a habit I had acquired through daily training since I was old enough to remember. Because of it, I can respond calmly no matter who takes an unexpected action.

But…

(This woman… when did she get there?)

After she finished with Kohana’s purchase, from the register about five meters away to here. I had not sensed her presence at all as she covered that distance.

There were two possible reasons.

One was that I had unconsciously let my guard down.

And the other. That this woman routinely moves in a way that conceals her presence from those around her.

I couldn’t be sure which it was. But the latter possibility was normally unthinkable.

This is a peaceful country with no wars. An ordinary citizen living their daily life here couldn’t possibly have such an assassin-like habit.

“Nice to meet you, Anya-chan.”

Akira smiled brightly and called my name.

It was a smile so refreshing that anyone would be captivated, but a cold tension still lingered in my chest. However, I returned her gaze without letting it show on my face.

“I’m Kurisu Akira, I work here part-time. I’d be happy if you’d give me and the store your patronage from now on.”

“A pleasure, Akira.”

I looked up at Akira’s tall frame and nodded in return.

As we exchanged superficially calm greetings, Kohana watched us with a strangely sparkling gaze.

“Haa, what a picture… You’re both too good-looking…”

“…Kohana?”

And for some reason, Kohana began to sigh wistfully. As I felt suspicious of her reaction, I realized a crowd had gathered around us. All of them were female students from our school.

“No way, wow. Who’s that cute silver-haired girl? She’s wearing a Tobamori Girls’ uniform.”

“You don’t know? She’s the rumored transfer student from Russia. You know, from class 1-3.”

“Wow~. She’s so small, like a doll…”

“Standing next to Akira-san, they look like super beautiful sisters! Maybe I should ask for a three-shot.”

Before I knew it, the situation had become just like it was at school today.

This was not good. Honestly, this nation’s fondness for foreigners was getting to be too much.

But I had already learned that giving a warning would only be counterproductive. Choosing a tactic that I already know is ineffective would be nothing short of foolish.

In that case, here I must…

“Well then, Kohana. I’ll see you at school tomorrow!”

A strategic retreat. In other words, run.

As soon as I bid Kohana farewell, I deftly slipped through the crowd and began my escape.

And before the girls I left behind could react, I was out of the drugstore.

***

A five-minute walk from the station, and the surrounding scenery changed to a quiet residential area. A mix of relatively new single-family homes of similar construction, apartments, and condos.

The figures of children playing in the park, now sunk into the indigo night, were no longer visible.

I proceeded through the townscape, which had many organically winding roads due to following the river, and crossed a concrete bridge over a shallow stream.

When I hit the national highway, I crossed at the signal, went through an alley beside it, and one block further in.

The new, five-story apartment building that came into view there was my residence in this town. I passed through the auto-locking automatic doors and entered the bright entrance hall.

I didn’t take the elevator, but went up the stairs to the second floor. Then I walked down the hallway to my room.

In front of the door, I took out my room key, which was hanging from a pen-shaped keychain. The keychain was made of a heavy tungsten alloy and could be used as an instant weapon.

I inserted the key into the lock and turned it. An inorganic, cold sound echoed, like opening the door to a prison cell.

My eyeballs moved mechanically, scanning every corner of the hallway in an instant. No sign of pursuers or an ambush. Confirming it was safe, I quickly slipped inside the entryway.

I locked the door as I closed it and entered the pitch-black dining kitchen. I reached for the light switch, which I knew was there by feel.

A dry click. What emerged in the fluorescent light was the scenery of a bare, white room. Just like the one I had back at the Domik.

“Hmph…”

An indescribable mental exhaustion, born from a new experience, escaped as a sigh.

In any case, my first day as a transfer student was over, and I had managed to survive my first mission since coming to Japan.

I stripped off my uniform, took a shower, and put on a fresh pair of underwear and an oversized T-shirt. Then, I opened the door of the refrigerator, one of the few pieces of furniture in this room.

The only thing inside was a can of an energy drink. I pulled one out from the row of packed aluminum cans and washed down a protein bar with it.

Other than for the purpose of ingesting the necessary calories and nutrients, I can find no meaning in meals. However, at school, surrounded by meddlesome classmates, that wouldn’t be the case, and it seemed I would have to make use of convenience stores or the school store.

After finishing my simple supper, I sat cross-legged on the hardwood floor and operated my smartphone.

I sent a report detailing the day’s events as a message to my collaborator in Japan, Koshka, an opponent whose face and identity I knew only by codename.

Кошка『Situation report received. You were safe in the end, but it would have been over without the conversation with that classmate. From what I’ve heard, it seems there is no harm in calling her an expert on cats. Therefore, from the perspective of gathering knowledge on cats, I recommend you actively associate with that girl and become intimate with her from now on.』

As I confirmed the instructions from Koshka, I pictured the face of Kohana, whom I had just parted with.

Her environment of owning cats herself. In addition to that, the unique insights and philosophy she holds regarding the existence of cats. It might indeed prove beneficial for me in the future.

However, the worlds Kohana and I have lived in are too different.

That carefree brightness and untainted goodness felt too unfamiliar and distant to me.

In the sixteen years I have lived, the only person I could call a friend was Yuki. And Yuki was a person who belonged to the same world as me.

That’s why there was a point of contact for us to understand each other, but I don’t know how to become friends with Kohana, who is not like that.

The future held nothing but uncertainty.

Кошка『Anya. From now on, whether you wish it or not, you must live a life where daily contact with cats is the norm. For you, who are not a cat lover, this will surely be accompanied by various hardships. However, we have the research data inherited from Yuki. No matter how difficult it may be, our goal is to eventually realize the development of a vaccine that will completely eradicate the Krov’vy Klyatva. Until then, you must survive as a test subject. Please consider that your mission to fulfill.』

After receiving the instructions from Koshka, I ended the communication and put away my smartphone.

I leaned my back against the wall, and my gaze naturally turned to the white ceiling.

My mind was dominated by a strange calm. Even though my life tomorrow is not guaranteed, I felt as if it were someone else’s problem.

That lack of reality is surely because Yuki is not by my side.

She was the one who originally wanted to live these days—this ‘freedom’ liberated from the Domik.

Just as I had started to walk, led by her hand, relying only on the warmth of our joined hands, Yuki was gone from my life forever.

What was left behind was just me, forced into a ‘freedom’ I never wanted.

The scenery Yuki must have wanted to see, the future she must have wanted to feel.

I was simply entrusted with it one-sidedly, living in an unfamiliar world we were supposed to walk through together. The result was a daily life of chasing cats alone.

Physically and mentally, I am not fond of that creature. Yet, this unwanted freedom forces that unpleasant task upon me every day. Is it any wonder I find myself pondering how it came to this?

(What kind of scenery did you want to lead me to? Tell me, Yuki—)

Toying with the unanswerable question, I went to sleep in my bed for the day.

My thoughts were on the many hardships of chasing cats that would surely await me again tomorrow.

Just before my consciousness dissolved into a dream, I thought I heard a cat meow somewhere in the night.