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A Cat's Life

You’re sitting on a bus, alone. Heading to a remote area of Aomori, a place where you grew up. The exact destination: a friend’s house. 

For as long as you could remember, you had always liked being alone. You didn’t get acquainted with a lot of people in school. You used to eat the lunch alone, participated as little as possible in school events, and didn’t really hang out with anyone, or at all. There was this one occasion when you were sick and your mom called the school, only for them to not recognize your name. You didn’t keep contact with anyone from school, except for this one girl you grew up with.

Her name was Okayu, not just an acquaintance, a friend. She was a cool, calm, and collected cat girl. Being with her was not unpleasant at all. She never got mad (at least not in front of you), didn’t get into conflicts, and rarely asked favors. You hung out with her a lot in elementary school but just kind of went your own ways after high school. You still showed up at her house from time to time back however, sometimes asking for her advices and sometimes she asked for yours. She got into one of those streaming-idol gigs and you rarely met each other after that, hanging out with a man as an idol wasn’t very good for business and you understood as much.

You used to be a freelance videographer until one day Okayu called you out of the blue. She said she needed a cameraman for an episode of Hologra, it was filmed in a forest so she figured an outdoorsman like you would be interested. You accepted the job and the pay was good, her boss approached you after and offered a more permanent work as their cameraman and Okayu’s manager. You initially declined, valuing your freedom over money. He then talked you into giving your number and now you’re called practically every time there is a Hologra shoot. The pay was so good you could just stop working for a month, enjoy your hobby of solo camping, and wait for his next call. Quite a shrewd man he was. 

As your name spread across the office, the talents began to call you for problem that didn’t exactly involve camerawork and more about general outdoor business. A certain fox girl once asked you to find her cats that ran away into the woods, plural. You spent three days and nights stalking them down and finally brought those kittens back to her. The boss himself had once asked you to get him the head of a deer for office decoration, you had no idea how the hell he knew you liked hunting. You didn’t even tell Okayu about that. The pay was twice the price offered in the market, so you accepted the job anyway. Another occasion would be- ah, there’s your stop.

You got off the bus and walked through the familiar place, Okayu’s place was close by. You wanted to look around a little, but the reason you came here was not exactly for a vacation. One of the girls, A lioness named Botan, called you earlier that day. She said that Okayu was missing and you could hear a girl whimpering on the background with another trying to calm her down. Okayu frequently ran away form home when she was in high school so you told them not to worry and said that you’re going there as soon as possible. 

You opened the front door and there were the three girls you heard on the phone. A dog girl Okayu told you stories about, the fox girl you helped find her cats, and a lioness who talked to you on phone. 

“Okayu… okayu…”

Korone, distraught and clearly not in her best state of mind, was clutching her phone tight as she tried to call Okayu for the nth time. Sitting by her side was Fubuki, trying keep her head cool and telling Korone everything was going to be alright. Botan was the one doing most of the work here, searching the place around for messages and clues. She left Korone for Fubuki to deal with and led you to Okayu’s room to fill you in.

“Anon, Okayu went missing since yesterday. She said she would take a break after a big endurance stream. She didn’t answer our texts or calls, so we went here and you can see the rest for yourself”

You walked around her room. There were not that many things here, despite her earning several times your pay. There were her streaming equipments, a bowl of food and water for Temari that was filled to the brim, plus her neat and tidy bed, it might seem that there were little to no clue to start from, but not for you. 

“Have any idea where she might be?”

“Botan-san, you already know where she might be.”

You turned at her and met her widened eyes. She fell silent for a second, confirming your suspicions. 

“No. No way. It’s too soon, right, …right?”

“In a way, you’re a cat girl too, Botan-san. You would understand.”

You walked out from her room and looked around, it’s not the same house she lived when she was small, but the design was quite similar. She modeled it after her grandma’s house, it seemed. You walked to the back door and turned the knob. As you thought, it was unlocked. You pushed the door open and saw Botan following behind, her eyes downcast and her steps hesitant.

“Botan-san, want to go with me?”

“I …don’t think she’d want me to. I’ll just stay here and calm Korone down.”

“I see… See you later, then.”

You stepped out from her house into the woods. What was this place called again, Shirakami Sanchi? It was a massive mountain range spanning across southwestern Aomori and northwestern Akita. It’s still relatively untouched with beech trees all over the place. You didn’t have the leisure to look at trees, however. There were shoe tracks on half-wet soil, still fresh, but these would fade away pretty soon. You followed the tracks to a more treacherous area; you couldn’t clearly spot the shoe tracks anymore but it was hard to miss the broken twigs and wet leaves with darker spot than others. It was not a long hike, the cat girl not a very athletic person, after all, and you finally found her sitting near the edge of a cliff.

“Long time no see, Okayu.”

“Is that you, Anon?”

You sat beside her. Her clothes were disheveled and there were mud marks on her trousers. Looking at her face, she seemed a lot older than when you last met. You two stared at the view down there, there were just trees, though. Lots and lots of trees. She snickered at your lack of attempt to make a conversation.  

“How cold. You’re not going to talk to me after so long?”

“I thought you wanted some peace and quiet at your last moments. Also, you’re the cold one for not writing a note before leaving.” 

Okayu stared at you, looking genuinely confused.

“Eh? I did put one under the TV, though? It was for Korosan to take Temanyan with her.”

“There’s none, if there were any, Botan would have found it.”

She looked a bit conflicted, the one thing she didn’t like the most was causing trouble for others. She once put up with a bad fever in class just because she didn't want to trouble everyone else. 

“Ah… I must have forgotten it yet again. Tell her for me, would you?”

“You really should’ve told her yourself.”

“Can’t help it. It’s just a cat thing, you know?”

You let out a sigh. You had owned a cat before, sly and mischievous creatures. They go wherever they want, eat whenever they want, and run away at their last moment, leaving you alone. Okayu was not so different, it seemed. She was a cat girl and this place her cardboard box. You once asked why she didn’t move to the big cities if she wanted to see those anime movies so much and she said she just liked this place the most. 

Okayu suddenly coughed. Unsure of what to do, you pat her back and waited until it subsided. Okayu looked at you warmly, as if saying that was a sweet gesture, especially from someone like you. 

“You know, grandma used to bring me to high places to see the sceneries when I was little.”

“All you can see here are a bunch of trees, though.” 

Okayu pretended not to hear that, and continued.

“She usually let me sleep on her lap back then, until I fell asleep from the gentle breeze.”

She looked at you in the eyes. 

“Anon, do you mind?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

She rested her head on your lap. You took off your jacket for her to use as makeshift pillow. You two were silent, just enjoying the view of trees and the company of each other. Okayu coughed from time to time and you gently caressed her hair. You could feel her breathe in, and out, in, and out, until she stopped breathing entirely. 

You continued caressing her hair for a while.

Pasted: Jun 1, 2021, 8:04:02 pm
Views: 134