CH 3

There began the life of a person and a cat.

Although, technically, it wasn’t just one person.

Masaya’s mother and father were living in the same space. However, they weren’t home very often, and when they were, they didn’t seem to care about Masaya or me.What made it worse was whenever his parents came face-to-face with each other they were sure to raise an intense battle of words.

At times like that, Masaya would wrap his arms around me and wait for the storm to pass. He would hole up in his room, not moving an inch. It was hard for me to watch him suffer. However, it made me feel I was needed, which made me feel a little glad.

Two human years after I had met Masaya, our life of one person and one cat became the life of two people and a cat.

One day, without any prior suggestion, Masaya brought someone home. He was unlike anything I had seen before.

“Riku,” was what Masaya called him. He was two years younger than Masaya, and his name was Nomura Riku. He was a first-year.

Compared to Masaya, he was of a much smaller build. He had silky brown hair and round, kitten-like eyes.

He stiffened up when near me—maybe he was bad with animals?— but I could tell he wanted to get closer to me even without words.

It was tough to tell what Masaya was thinking from his face or his voice. The only emotion I knew him to have was the loneliness I felt when he hugged me.

On that particular front, Riku was his polar opposite. His expressions changed as quickly as the seasons, and what he was thinking was written all over his face. It was because of that quirk that I knew from the day I met him that he liked Masaya.

As for what Masaya felt… I really couldn’t say.

But, I did know one thing. That when Masaya was with Riku, he seemed happy. At the very least, when Riku was around, Masaya stopped staring off into the distance.Sometimes it weighed on me that I wasn’t able to do anything cause i was just a cat, but more than anything, I loved how Masaya was when he was with Riku. So, my disappointment seemed trivial.

I thought wholeheartedly that, from now on, we would forever be together as two people and a cat.