Speak in the language of cats here. 3p4

Mission 3: A Memory of Snow p4

“It’s kind of cold today, isn’t it? It’s been cloudy since this morning.”

“Seriously, it looks like it’s going to snow. It doesn’t feel like March at all.”

During break time.

Beyond the classroom’s glass window, a leaden, heavily overcast sky spread out.

The sky had been this color on the morning Yuki died.

About ten days had passed since that day.

I, Anna Grazkaya, had used the escape route that Yuki and I were supposed to use together to enter Japan illegally. Then, through the smartphone that Yuki had left behind, I contacted a collaborator named Koshka. I explained the situation, and following their instructions, I traveled within the country by train and entered this town.

I received the key to the designated residence from a rental box at the station, and in the prepared room, a meticulously forged passport and a forged alien registration card were waiting. I took only my share of the two sets, and all preparations were complete. Under Koshka‘s arrangements, I was to be enrolled in a local girls’ high school according to my actual age… and that’s how it went.

Koshka‘s identity is unknown, and I have not even been told their real name. But since they are serving as my legal guardian for official procedures, they must be a citizen with a reasonably decent foundation in life.

I stopped reading and closed the paperback book. My concentration was broken by the memory of Yuki.

The book I was reading was one of the “assigned readings” sent by Koshka.

The Silent Miaow by Paul Gallico. Not the original, but a Japanese translation paperback version published in the 90s. The cover, a vivid solid yellow, featured an impressive black-and-white photograph of a cat typing on a typewriter with its paw pads.

The contents were as the cover photo suggested. Ridiculously, this essay was presented as if it were written by a cat. The author was an American novelist who died in the late 70s, but there was no doubt that he was a hopeless cat fool.

Reading this book, I couldn’t help but strengthen my prejudice about the species of cats.

Namely, how self-aware they are of their own charm, and how they are constantly scheming to use humans to live comfortably.

And as I had vaguely suspected, I understood once again that cats are creatures that do not get attached to or tamed by humans.

They play with you only because they are bored, and they live with you because they get delicious food. There is not a shred of the touching devotion of a dog that adores its owner.

The Russian Blue cat that Yuki had with her was never found after all. It must have left the corpse of its murdered owner and fled deep into the forest.

That incident, too, was an event that made me feel the coldness unique to cats. If it had been a dog, I have the image that it would have stayed by its owner’s side, waiting for them to wake up. In fact, it seems there is an episode in Japan about such a loyal dog.

“…Well, as long as it’s alive and well, that’s fine.”

For a brief moment, my thoughts drifted to the Siberian forest where Yuki’s cat had disappeared, far to the west of the cloudy sky.

***

During lunch break.

Recently, it had become a habit for me to have lunch with my classmates, invited by Matsukaze Kohana.

Following the custom, we joined our desks together, and I silently ate the croquette bread I had bought from the school store, washing it down with orange juice.

“How’s it going, Anya-san? Getting used to this school yet?”

The one who asked was Umeda Sayaka, who was 25 centimeters taller than me. As a member of a sports club, her calorie consumption was high, and her lunch box was as thick as a dictionary.

“Mm. No problem.”

“You’re always reading a book during break time, Anya. You’re a real bookworm.”

“We only read manga. Reading a book with just words, I kind of respect that.”

“Your Japanese vocabulary is probably better than Ume’s, Anya.”

“Hey! You’re one to talk, Eri.”

“My bad.”

Takesato Eri, with her flashy hair color, and Umeda looked at each other and laughed, for some reason.

What I’ve come to think since transferring to this place called school is that the girls of this country laugh so happily. It’s not that particularly funny jokes are being told, but the laughter never stops. Come to think of it, I hear there’s a proverb in Japan that means happiness comes to places where people are laughing.

“Oh, by the way. Thanks for coming to the shop the other day, Anya.”

As she brought a small onigiri from her lunch box to her mouth, Kohana remembered something unnecessary and smiled.

“Eh? The shop, you mean Kohana’s cat café?”

“Oh, come on. So you were a cat lover after all, Anya-san! You tsundere, you~”

As expected, hearing that, Takesato and Umeda started teasing me. It seems that with this, my cat-lover character is now completely established.

“But seriously, the way Kohana said that just now, wasn’t it kind of erotic, like a lady from a shady establishment?”

“Dyuhah, what’s that, a lesbian brothel? It doesn’t suit your character, Koha-cchi!”

Ignoring the two of them who were laughing boisterously again, Kohana picked up a piece of frozen karaage from her lunch box with her chopsticks.

“Anya, is bread enough for you? You can have this if you want. It’s delicious.”

And then, of all things, she offered it to me, sitting next to her.

To eat this means, in other words…

“Here, say ‘ah’.”

—So that’s what it is.

It was extremely embarrassing, like playing house, but it didn’t seem like a situation where I could refuse and waste her kindness.

The fried chicken that Kohana offered was completely still, halfway between her and me. Her chopsticks, holding it, were also motionless in mid-air, as if showing her unwavering resolve.

I looked at Kohana’s face once more.

Her gentle eyes showed no other intention, just a pure light.

Having seen those eyes, there was no other path for me but to accept defeat.

“…Nom.”

I opened my mouth wide and gobbled up the fried chicken like in a bread-eating race. I think my saliva got on Kohana’s chopsticks, but in this case, it couldn’t be helped.

“Fufu. Is it good?”

“Munch, munch… m-mm. No problem, no… it might be delicious.”

To be honest, I was so confused I didn’t really know what it tasted like.

But my face and ears were incredibly hot. My pulse was racing more than it had when I faced twelve enemies with a single Makarov pistol…

***

That night, after returning home.

Feeling a gaze on me again, I reflexively turned towards the sash window.

“You, again…”

My premonition was correct; a cat had silently visited the balcony.

The same one as before, with the dark brown and white hachiware pattern.

This time, instead of passing by on the railing, it had deliberately come down to the balcony and was looking at me. In that characteristic cat waiting pose, with its front paws neatly together and its back straight.

Its almond-shaped yellow eyes were staring at me, as if expecting something.

“…”

I slowly approached the window and slowly slid open the sash.

Then, after a slight pause, the cat slithered into the room through the gap.

“Hachoo!”

Instantly, an intense itch welled up from the back of my eyes and nose.

When I sneezed, the cat, surprised, opened its eyes wide and looked up at me. But it didn’t run away, and instead started to walk slowly around the room as if exploring. With it in the corner of my eye, I blew my nose with a tissue.

While bewildered by the strangeness of having a cat invade my living space, I pictured a possibility in my mind.

—Could this be… a chance?

The cat might just settle down in the room.

Though it was against my personal wishes, I had been instructed by Koshka to keep a cat as soon as I could. It wasn’t wearing a collar, so it didn’t seem to be someone’s pet.

For the time being, I decided to give it some food. I had stocked up on cat food, just in case a situation like this arose.

I opened the pack, put the food on a disposable paper plate, and placed it on the hardwood floor. Then I moved back to watch.

Sure enough, the dark brown hachiware cat seemed to have noticed it by smell. It cautiously approached, brought its face close to the paper plate, and began to sniff.

Cats sniff things a lot, apparently because they judge a lot of information by their sense of smell. Having confirmed that it was edible, it started to gobble up the dry food, chewing with a kafu-kafu sound. It must have been very hungry.

Watching it, I was strangely moved by the thought that cats, too, are living their lives desperately every day.

Eventually, the cat finished the food on the paper plate. The satisfied dark brown hachiware sat down and began to groom itself. I already knew that this was a sign of relaxation.

I quietly approached the cat.

And, with the same meticulous and precise movements as when assassinating a target, I extended my right hand.

For now, I would pet the cat.

That was the greatest mission I had to accomplish right now.

Ten centimeters… five centimeters… to the head of the cat, which was engrossed in its grooming.

“!”

Suddenly, the cat turned to face me. Did it sense the minute disturbance in the air?

And then it stood up and started to walk away.

“Ah… hey…”

The cat never looked back. With unwavering steps, it went out onto the balcony through the gap in the sash window, jumped onto the railing, and left.

Just a moment ago, it had been relaxing as if it were going to stay… the psychology of a cat is too free and mysterious for me to understand at all.

“In the end, I couldn’t even pet it again…”

On the floor of the room where the cat had left, only the empty paper plate remained.

Now, I was keenly aware of the spaciousness of this room where I lived alone.

—I really wish Yuki were here.

I let out a sigh into the night sky and silently closed the sash window.

The day when I would understand the meaning of freedom and the heart of a cat seemed far away.