Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel after breakfast.
After what happened last night, I had a hard time falling asleep.
Mashiro, on the other hand, slept soundly until I woke her up.

I felt some conscience about what happened yesterday, so it was a bit awkward, but Mashiro seemed to have already gotten over it.
When we checked out and called a taxi, our conversation went on as usual as Mashiro was looking at the outside world which she hasn’t seen.

“Wow, it has really been long…”

After getting out of the taxi, Mashiro muttered.
We are in a residential area far from the city, and she was looking at a dumpster in a district that could be anywhere in the city.

At this point, I shouldn’t interrupt her.
I give Mashiro a few moments to catch up, and then speak to her again.

“Is it close from here to where it is?”
“Let’s see… I’m not sure about the exact distance, but it is definitely within walking range.”
“You can lead the way then.”
“I will.”

Of all the objectives of this trip, we probably got through the most difficult part.

That man who took her in and abandoned her, even if he had his own reasons for doing so.
I don’t know how Mashiro actually perceives that man, but he has helped us get closer to our goal.
Mashiro and I may have different opinions on the matter, but nevertheless, I thanked him.

But seriously, she has come a long way…I thought in my head as I looked at Mashiro, who is walking by my side.
She lived at a distance where we should have never met, but somehow, and someway, we met on that winter day.
What started as a trivial chance encounter has now made each other indispensable in each other’s daily life.

Maybe it’s not something appropriate for me to say, but I now think it’s so close to a miracle that it’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that it’s fateful in my opinion.
They are such important people to Mashiro. As for me, I would like to talk to both of them.
I also want to express my gratitude to them for taking good care of Mashiro.

A few minutes after leaving the dumpster where we got out of the taxi. For a while, things were going well, but little by little we are slowly approaching a stop.
Sometimes Mashiro would go back the way we came, sometimes she would stop at an intersection and compare the view to the left or right.
Even without saying a word, I could tell that she was starting to get lost.

“It should be somewhere around here…I’m sorry.”
“I don’t mind it. The plan wasn’t to find the place in one go.”

Originally, I didn’t think that we would finish it in just these two days off.
We both don’t know how long it actually took Mashiro to get to the place where she met me.
I have to work on weekdays, so there is not much I could do about that, but if we resume the next weekend, there will be no problem. There are plenty of ways to resume our search.

Besides…Although I have no evidence, I think it was around this area where she had the toughest time of her travel.
She might have a lot of mixed feelings and may be trying to forget those two.
Trying to remember the path she took during those times, it was only natural that it was going to be a struggle…

“Let’s take a break.”
“Alright…”
“Don’t worry too much about it. There is no rush.”

I grab Mashiro’s hand and head for a nearby park bench.
In contrast to my soothing her not to worry, she had a gloomy expression on her face.
Her expression was mixed with emotion, not just that she was lost and guilty for taking up my time.

After sitting Mashiro on a bench, I buy drinks from a nearby vending machine.
I handed one to her and sat down on the bench to quench my thirst, but she remained clutching the bottle with a dampened expression on her face.

Seeing that, I placed my hand on Mashiro’s head and started roughly rubbing her.

“S-Satou-san!?”
“Drink. Think later after you cool down.”

This was my first time, but I talk to Mashiro as if I were consoling a subordinate who has failed at work in a bar.
I can’t easily put it into words, but I think I understand the pain she is going through.

“…Thank you.”

Mashiro reluctantly begins sipping her drink, and I watch the children playing happily in the middle of the park.
There, children in their early elementary school years were playing catch with a large ball.
As I watch the scene play out, one of the children unexpectedly throws the ball out of play.

The ball, which went a little high for an elementary school kid to catch, flew over the head of the child on the receiving end and went straight to the bench where we were sitting.
After rolling on the ground, it stopped right at Mashiro’s feet.
As she was wondering whether she should pick up the ball and throw it back, the child approached us.

“Here you go”
“Thank you Onee-chan!”

Mashiro hands the ball to the child, the child thanks her with a smile appropriate for his age.
Both Mashiro and I couldn’t help but smile, but the child who had received the ball stared at Mashiro’s face.
I took another sip of my drink, jokingly admiring that the child had found Mashiro attractive even though he was a child…

“Onee-chan, you look like a cat!”
“Heh!?”

I coughed up the drink that was in my mouth in response to the outrageous comment.

“cough, cough…”
“S-Satou-san, are you alright!?”
“WOW, Onii-chan spilled his drink!”

Mashiro is concerned and the child laughs as he tries to avoid the drinks splattered on the ground.
It is a rather embarrassing moment, even though we are dealing with a child, but that is not the point now.

I checked Mashiro’s figure without thinking, but her cat ears were hidden as usual, and of course, her tail was not showing.
There is not a single element that would reveal her to be a cat…So the child didn’t find out.
Well, it is the words of a child. Children do and say the wildest things.

After getting a handkerchief from Mashiro and wiping my mouth, I turned to the child.

“Um…what do you mean to look like a cat?”
“Onee-chan’s hair is the same color!”
“The same…?”
“Yes, the same as the cat on the bulletin board!”

Bulletin board…? Both Mashiro and I tilted our heads at the answer, which had nothing in common with what we had expected.

“They’ve been posted in various places for a long time now, and they haven’t found it yet.”

However, the moment I heard those words, I involuntarily choked up and locked eyes with Mashiro.
The child who innocently answered me immediately afterward went back to the other children as he waved “bye-bye!”

We remained in our place as the child resume the game of catch. Mashiro and I looked at each other and nodded.

“Satou-san.”
“Yeah, I know.”

We don’t know for sure, but at this point, this was the best clue we can follow up on at the moment.
We then got up from the bench.

[TLN: I’m kinda alive again?]