Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

The light coming through the curtains knocked at my eyelids, and I slowly opened my eyes.
It’s a normal morning. But today — from today, it’s a slightly different morning.

I got up from the bed and opened the curtains.
In the middle of the room, brightened by the morning sun, there was a cat curled up in a ball.

“Good morning.”

When I called out to the cat, her ears twitched.
Then she moved her body, which hadn’t moved last night, and raised her face to look at me.

Her body was covered with pure white fur, so pleasant to the touch that I almost felt addicted to stroking it.
Or rather, I’ve already touched it.

However, the fact that I was stroking someone I had just met yesterday was indeed off-putting, and she gave me a low growl and a sullen look.
I pull my hand back and said “I’m sorry,” and immediately started preparing for the morning.

I got dressed, washed my face, brushed off my drowsiness, and went to the living room to eat a light breakfast
Today’s menu was hot cocoa and a piece of toast. It was the usual breakfast.

As I bit into my toast, I looked at the edge of the room and saw the cat curled up there, staring at me.
She had been so weak yesterday that even if I stayed close and petted her, she would only make a small mewing sound, but now she seemed inevitably alarmed.

At first, I thought it was the savory smell of the toast I was eating that was bothering her, but somehow I thought there was something else in her eyes.
The way she stared at me, it was as if she was appealing to me…

“Ah…”

After all that, I finally realized that I had forgotten the most important thing.
Apparently, she wasn’t just curious, she was complaining about her hunger.

I rushed to the kitchen and rifled through the shelves and refrigerator. I found the canned food I had bought on my way home yesterday.
I quickly opened the lid and placed it near the cat’s face.
I checked my phone to see what I shouldn’t feed the cat, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.

However, she was cautious and didn’t eat very much. I tried to move away from her a little to see if she was worried about my presence, but she just sniffed and sniffed.
I wondered what the cause was, but before I knew it, the time for my commuter train was approaching.
I shoveled in my breakfast and cleaned up the dishes while keeping an eye on the cat.

I really want to keep an eye on her since I’m worried about her, but I can’t take a day off from work.
It’s not that the company is a black company, and I think it’s a pretty good environment, but as a working adult, I don’t want to take a sudden day off.

“If you don’t like it, you don’t have to eat it.”

I said one last thing to her and walked out the door, suppressing my desire to stay home.

I arrived at the office without any delays and got right to work.
…I was, as expected, preoccupied with the cat.

Even when I was looking at the Internet to search for necessary information, I opened an ad that showed a cat, and I wasn’t able to concentrate completely.
Time passed more slowly than usual in such a state, and it was lunchtime. As usual, I had lunch with my colleague Sakakibara.
Unlike me, who was single, Sakakibara was happily eating the homemade lunch box his girlfriend, who he had known since high school, made for him.

“Satou, I’m not giving you any even with the look, okay?”
“I don’t want it.”

I said this to Sakakibara, who was hiding his lunch box under his arm as if to protect it, and then I took out my own convenience store lunch box and split the chopsticks in desperation. The crack became slanted, and my chopsticks looked rather awkward.

“If you’re so jealous, I can at least introduce you to Ayano’s friends.”
“No need, no need. I don’t need that kind of help.”
‘Come on. You should get rid of your pride.”
“Shut up!”

I ignore Sakakibara, who said something strangely painful that stuck in my mind and throw the fried chicken into my mouth. Yes, the fried lunch is delicious as always.
By the way, the Ayano Sakakibara refers to is, of course, his girlfriend’s name.
I’ve met and talked to her a few times, and compared to the mild-mannered Sakakibara, she seems to be a bit of a spoiled brat.

She’s always attached to Sakakibara in some way or another, and when I go out with him, there’s always a good chance she’ll come along too.
She’s not a bad person, and rather nice, but sometimes she looks at me like I’m a cat burglar, and I don’t want that.

I’ve had a girlfriend before, too. When I was in high school, I had a girlfriend that I dated for a while.
After I entered vocational school, we had fewer opportunities to see each other, and before I knew it, the relationship naturally dissipated…

Since then, I have lived my life with only one job, without meeting anyone else since I joined this company.
Although I envied Sakakibara who had a girlfriend, I couldn’t bring myself to fall in love with anyone. In the end, three years have passed since I joined the company.

“Oh, by the way, Sakakibara. I have something to report.”
“Eh? Could it be that you think I’m hot? I’m sorry!”

I pinched Sakakibara’s cheek to shut him up when he still spoke in such a cocky manner.
He’s usually a calm and harmless guy, but when he’s naturally agitated like this, it kind of pisses me off.

“So, what’s your report?”

After playing with his cheeks for a while, I let him go, and he rubbed his reddened cheeks and asked me again.

“It’s really sudden. I got a cat.”
“Ho, it’s really sudden… You mean you found the cat?”
“Yeah, on my way home yesterday. It was an abandoned cat in a cardboard box in a back alley.”
“… Hmm, that sounds like Satou.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you appeal to those qualities, I’m sure you’ll have a girlfriend in no time.”
“Still saying that?”

When I raised my hand to pinch Sakakibara again, he immediately apologized and I let him off.
In shounen manga, there’s no such thing as a love story that starts with picking up an abandoned cat nowadays.

“By the way, it was pretty cold yesterday, was that cat alright?”
“She was pretty weak, but she looked fine this morning.”

The only thing that bothered me was that she hadn’t eaten any food in the morning, but other than that she seemed to be doing fine.
On the way home, I should buy her something to eat or something that looked good.

“But is it okay? I don’t think it’s easy to have a pet.”
“I know that, too. I’m going to do my research.”
“Ayano has a cat at home, should I ask her about it?”
“If I need anything, I’ll call on you. Thanks a lot.”

In the end, I thanked Sakakibara for being so reliable and threw one of the uneaten fried chicken in his lunch box.
I was thinking about what to buy on my way home, ignoring Sakakibara, who had a complicated look on his face as he saw the fried convenience store food on top of his beloved girlfriend’s homemade lunch.

I stopped by a supermarket and a pharmacy, which I don’t usually go to, to do some shopping and go home.
At the supermarket, I bought some side dishes and my favorite sashimi for this evening’s dinner. At the pharmacy, I bought a variety of necessities for my cat.
Of course, there was no way I could have known what I would need, so I just kept staring at my phone while shopping.

“Ara, Satou-san. Welcome back.”
“Ah, Oya-san. I’m back.”
[TLN: Oya-san = landlord.]

As I was about to cross the parking lot to my room, I was approached by the landlord who was cleaning outside.
The landlord then rolls her eyes when she saw a large number of plastic bags held on both sides of me.

“Well, you’ve bought a lot of stuff today.”
“I’ve got a few things going on… Oh, that’s right. I’d like to talk to Oya-san.”

I had planned to talk to the landlord about it this morning, but I was so preoccupied with the cat this morning that I forgot.
I talked to the landlord again about keeping pets.
I also apologized for bringing the cat into the apartment without permission yesterday and today, but the landlord just laughed and forgave me.

“There are actually some applications and stuff, but I trust you, Satou-san, so it’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. If you have any problems, please consult with me immediately. Even an old lady knows a little about cats.”
“Thank you very much.”

I bowed my head and expressed my gratitude. I’ve known the landlord since I joined my company three years ago, and she’s been the person who’s been most helpful to me over those three years.
Warmed by the kindness of the landlord, I said good night to her and headed for my room.

To be honest, behind the sense of justice that I felt in picking up the cat, there was hidden anxiety, which probably showed on my face.
However, Sakakibara and the landlord have been so concerned and caring about me. There was nothing to worry about.

Besides, it wouldn’t be good for the cat if I am worried.
I believe that just as human children are sensitive to their parent’s emotions, animals can sense them as well.

So let’s treat cats with great confidence and love. That’s probably the most important thing.

“I’m home~”

So I opened the door to my room and announced my return in a louder voice than usual.