Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

“All right. Let’s get you washed up.”

I said to Mashiro, and prepared the cat shampoo I had brought with me.
Mashiro, who had been lazily soaking in the lukewarm water until a few moments ago, stood up and looked at me, as if she had some inkling of what was about to happen—but she quickly looked away.
I haven’t done anything yet…

While I was inwardly depressed by the fact that she still wouldn’t make eye contact with me for some reason, I slowly scooped up Mashiro’s bath water and wet my hands.
Mashiro’s body was slim to begin with, but the volume of her hair became even smaller as it got wet, and the lines of her body became clearly visible.

Seeing this, I was reminded of the first time I met Mashiro.
In the moonlight and snow, Mashiro was very thin and shivering in the cold.
But now she eats food every day and is warming up in the bath like this.

I wonder if I’m making Mashiro a little happier.
At the very least, the distance between my heart and Mashiro’s must be getting closer.

“I’ll get you cleaned up soon.”

I looked into Mashiro’s face and smiled at her. But for some reason, she turns her face away again.
…Maybe it was my unrequited thoughts after all.

Shocked again by Mashiro’s refusal to look me in the eye, I began to shampoo her.
I spread the shampoo lightly on my palm and rubbed it on her, gently washing her.

The dirt that hadn’t come off with the towel was soon removed, and her fur regained its beautiful white color.
The rest of the body was not stained as much since she was only at home for a long time, but I decided to give her a full body wash.

I washed her legs while lightly grasping them, and while I washed the soles of her feet, I touched her paw pads. It was soft and bouncy.
Then I carefully washed her neck, chest, stomach, and finally buttocks.

She was twisting and resisting a little more than when I had washed her legs from her back.
Perhaps the lack of hair made her skin more sensitive and ticklish.
However, on the other hand, I have to be more careful and clean everything.

“You’ll have to bear with me for a bit.”

I apologized to Mashiro and continued washing her. After a while, she calmed down a bit, but she still wouldn’t make eye contact with me.
I was beginning to worry that she might not like me at all.
It was my carelessness that had caused her to take a bath in the first place, so it wasn’t surprising that she didn’t like me at that point.

Gaining people’s trust is a very difficult and time-consuming process. However, it was easy to lose that trust, and it could be broken beyond repair in a matter of seconds.
And it’s not limited to human relationships. It’s the same with animals like dogs and cats.

To be honest, I guess I was getting used to living with Mashiro, and I was getting a little too full of myself.
It was good that both Mashiro and I could spend our time together without worrying about anything, but we mustn’t let our guard down like this.

For me, Mashiro was no longer just a cat I found. She’s an important member of my family.

“Okay, I guess that’s it. I’ll run the shower.”

I turn the shower on low and wash off the bubbles. It takes a while because there is a lot of hair, but I comb it slowly and carefully.
I lightly wipe off the water from her body with my hands, and bring a towel from outside the bathroom.
I bought this fluffy towel at a pharmacy recently. Its touch was no less comfortable than Mashiro’s fur.

I take her out of the bathroom in my arms and quickly wipe off the water with the fluffy towel.
I wasn’t sure if it was okay to use the loud hair dryer, but it wouldn’t be good if I didn’t wipe off all the water.

I brought the hair dryer close to her and turned it on. She seemed surprised at first, but she soon got used to it and came closer to the hair dryer.
The warm air felt good for her, and she squinted her eyes as she bathed her head in the wind. It was very cute.

She didn’t seem to mind, so we were done drying and her fur was back to its usual fluffy state.
Perhaps it was the effect of the shampoo, but it was more comfortable to touch than usual, and my hand was naturally drawn to it.

She didn’t like me touching her too much, and bit my hand lightly, so I reluctantly let go.
As I stared at her back, wondering if she was going back to the living room, she made a U-turn and came back to me.
And then.

“Mew!”

Mashiro licked my fingertips and let out a single squeal as she walked back into the living room.
I couldn’t hide my shock at what had suddenly happened, and froze naked.

It was the first time Mashiro had interacted with me like that.
From Mashiro’s point of view, it may have been just a casual thank you, but it was enough to fill my heart with joy.

There were a lot of things that happened today, but it was now I realized that I definitely got closer to Mashiro.

[TLN: Please bare with the chapter title.]
[TLN: Someone tell me why you would wet your hands when you just got out of your bathtub, unless this is like washing your hands after showering something like that.] [EDN: idk let the man be sanitary ok]