Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

Chapter 53 The Cat On The Lap

The next thing I knew, Mashiro was curled up in my lap, sleeping peacefully.
Time was flying by as I was torn between the joy of her cuteness and the awkwardness of how to respond.

Fortunately, this weekend was a three-day weekend, so I’ll be off again tomorrow.
However, thanks to Mashiro, I’ve been getting into the habit of going to bed early and getting up early, and to be honest, I’m starting to feel sleepy.

“M-Mashiro~?”

When I called out to Mashiro, patting her lightly on the back, she twitched her fluffy ears.
I breathed a sigh of relief…but she didn’t seem to raise her body after that.
I tried to ask her again, but finally there was no response at all. I was out of ideas.

(I want to take a bath…)

With Mashiro on my lap, of course I couldn’t move from the sofa, and I couldn’t even get to the bathroom.
If I could just pick her up and put her aside, everything would be fine, but I felt bad for her if I have to wake her up with physical action.

…And there’s a part of me that thinks it would be a shame to end the situation with Mashiro snuggled up to me like this.
In such a helpless state, time passed just watching Mashiro’s sleeping face.

However, it was not all bad. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Mashiro in her cat form sleeping at such a close distance.
As usual, Mashiro was sleeping with a cute face, which was different from when she was sleeping in human form.

Then I suddenly thought of something and took out my phone from my pocket.
I start up the camera app and gently point the lens at her face so as not to wake her up.
And without hesitation, I clicked the shutter.

I hadn’t been taking many pictures of Mashiro lately, since she was less likely to be in cat form than before, and even when she was, I didn’t feel comfortable pointing the camera at her openly.
Because of this, Sakakibara and his girlfriend, Ayano, have been constantly urging me to take pictures of her.

I liked taking pictures of Mashiro myself, and it became a daily routine to look at them on my way to work.
As a result, increasing the capacity of the cat folder on my phone would be beneficial for everyone.
As if a pinch is an opportunity, I started to take more and more pictures of Mashiro’s cute sleeping face.

By the time the latest photo list page was filled with Mashiro’s sleeping face, my own sleepiness was almost upon me, and I felt as if I would lose consciousness as soon as I closed my eyes.
My body was already so weak that I hesitated to even take a bath, and the sleeping demon refused to let me get up from the couch.

(I can take it tomorrow morning right?)

I told myself that excuse, and naturally my body followed suit, slowly swallowing me up in sleep.
I put my hand on Mashiro’s body on my lap and felt her warmth as I entered the world of dreams.

When I woke up to the morning sun shining through the window, the warmth on my lap was gone, and a blanket was covering me instead.
I looked up and looked around the room for Mashiro. She was preparing breakfast as usual with an innocent look on her face.

When I got up from the sofa and called out to Mashiro, she replied in a normal tone, “Good morning.”
Even though I was sleepy in the morning, my memory of last night was still vivid. As for me, I was not at all at ease, and her behavior did not make sense to me.

“Uh, Mashiro. Umm…about yesterday.”

When I boldly mentioned last night, she stiffened and looked away awkwardly.
…Apparently, Mashiro herself has some kind of guilty feeling.
The way she acted like she didn’t care, it seemed like something she didn’t want me to mention. I was about to say something, but I couldn’t back out now.

“Umm…Why did you get on my lap yesterday?”
“T-That’s…You know, pretend like it never happened…?”
“No can do.”
“U-Ugh…”

Her voice faltered, and she slumped in embarrassment.
Her ears were perked up, which made my conscience ache a little, but at the same time I thought it was kind of cute.

“I-I’m sorry I caused you trouble…”
“Ah, no. It’s not that I didn’t like it or anything. I was surprised, but it was more like the opposite…
“Do you like it…?”
“T-That’s not fair to ask…”

As a result of trying to follow Mashiro in a strange way, she pushed me in the opposite direction, and I flinched.
I can’t say this in front of her, but to be honest, I was quite happy to have Mashiro on my lap.
But to say that I liked it would be too embarrassing, and she’d probably be taken back.

“Last night, that…was a little upsetting or perhaps stubborn…”
“Stubborn…?”
“A-Anyway, it doesn’t mean anything deep, so forget it.”

I didn’t get much of an answer, but I didn’t want to ask any more questions because it would be bad for Mashiro and I might end up digging my own grave, as I had done earlier.
But whatever the reason, I think it’s a big change for her to treat me like that.

Originally, Mashiro was a cat that didn’t like to be held or petted.
As we lived together, the distance between us really began to shrink little by little, and before I knew it, she had taken the form of a person and was now an indispensable part of my life.
Once I spent my days being pampered by Mashiro, it was hard to imagine my life without her anymore.

It was a shameful thought for an adult who lived alone for several years before meeting Mashiro, but her pampers are so irresistible.
She first grabbed my stomach, and before I knew it, she was doing all the cleaning and laundry, always putting me before herself.
My life with her was like an air conditioner and ice cream in summer, or a kotatsu and mandarin orange in winter, a loop that I couldn’t get out of.

I still don’t know if my life with her will change in the future, but I have to try my best to make her as happy as possible.
I can’t see anything concrete, but I stare at her back in her apron, thinking vaguely about such things.