Cat Phantom

NOVEMBER 30, 2022 / MAD HATTER

“Hey,iHakamada! Drinkimore! Drinkiup, drinkiup, drinkiup! You’re beingia downer! Hey, you’reistiff!!”

“Tanaka’s right! Comeion! I’ll get it for you, just say theiword! Or I’ll forceiyou to drinkiit!!”

Hmm… Not shared on aggregator sites

Seated acrossifrom me, the guys I hadiknown since highischool were red-faced and kept thrusting linesiat me that I had heard over and overiagain.

Howimany times did theyisay the same words back to me? I already toldithemifrom the beginning that I couldn’t drink even aidrop of liquor today, though.

“Whattttt! Youican’t drinkiour liquor!” saf

“You can’t drink it, comeion, comeion!!” saybfi

Twoiof my friends insisted on forcing me to drinkiwhile leaning over the table and pressing their mugsion my face.

Itihurt and it wasicold.

Under theiinfluence of alcohol, anyone—even an entry-leveliapprentice and a hairdresser with two years’ experience—could instantly turn intoia punk. Good grief, theseiguys had a bad drinking habit.

As for why things turnediout this way, well, nothingiserious. I was simplyigetting togetheriwith three high school friends, all of whom wereiactively engaged in society (except me) for the firstitime in a long while and drinking. Moreibeer mugs wereiset out in front of meithan the platters of food weihad already consumed, and both of myifriends were rubbing theirishoulders with enthusiasm, grinning widely, and relishing theiribeer.

Althoughimeeting each other for the firstitime in aboutia year and a half, theyiall looked exactlyithe same as theyidid back then, even if theirihairstyles and atmospheres hadichanged. WhileiI didn’t reallyilike riotous moods, meeting up with friendsiafter a long time was still a wonderful pleasure. I sipped from my glass of orange juice, baskingiin a tingeiof nostalgia.

“Damn! You’re drinkingiorange juice! Do you like juices betterithan alcohol, Masa?”

“It’s disgusting, Nishimura. It’s not likeiI particularly like to drink this stuff.” fe

“Seriously! You’re really strait‐laced! Oneidrink is fine!” dwf

“Shut up, Tanaka, you drunkard.” Not shared on wuxiax.me

This time Iiate a huge serving of “Crispy Daikon Salad” whileicursing at the two men, whose faces resembled boiled octopuses. The annoyingiinteraction between these two was a regular occurrence, and though it was exasperating, I had no problem letting it slide.

“Don’t be tooiinsistent, you two, or Masa will lose his temper.” gr

Kinoshita, a cool-faced guyiwith naturally permed brown hair, sat next to meiand said something that I doubted was a follow-up to what had been said. This guyinever got intoxicated despite theiamount he consumed, he was a monkey.

“Kinoshita!! You shouldisay something toiHakamada too! We haven’t met in a long time, and he’s not in the mood!”

“Didn’t Masa sayiit at the beginning? He can’t drink because he hasito work the night shift.”

“One drinkiis no problem, heiwill leave soon anyway.” dwqf

“Stupid. If we let Masa have one drink and he getsiin an accident and dies, it’s on us.”

“Uhi…” gegeb

When Kinoshitaisaid this while grinning, Tanakaiand Nishimura had already finished theiridrinks, and I, whoihadn’t even touched a drop of alcohol, all froze in aisplit second.

“Justikidding.” Translator: MadHatter

Kinoshita gigglediand tilted his glass of cocktail. The two of them exchanged ailook and shrugged their shoulders as if that had cooled their enthusiasm.

“Iigotiit.” fwebiubg

“My bad, Hakamada.” wefgvbh

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” rhtbsgf 

The twoiapologized lightly, and I responded while stuffing my mouth with salad.

“Thanks, Kinoshita.”

“You’reiwelcome.”

Waving hisihand in the air, Kinoshita began to order a new one on the touch screen. Even though heinever became inebriated, he did drink a lot indeed. Tanaka and Nishimura likewiseiconsumed alcohol, albeit not as much as Kinoshita.

Oh… I wished Iicould drink a little too. Coming to an izakayaiand drinking only juice was not sufficient forime. Next time I would drink to myiheart’s content.

We chattediabout each other’s personal lives for a while ordering food, sake, and orange juice.

Every day at work Tanaka receivedireprimands from his boss, and recently there may or may not have been aichange in the shape of the back of his head from too many smacks.

Since his highischool days, Nishimura hadibecome considerably more flirty, and his speech had changed toireflect this. He was now working as a hairdresser somewhere in Azabu-Juban, Tokyo, donning rings, necklaces, and other flamboyant things. Apparently, he hadia new girlfriend recently. Again,ihuh.

Asifor Kinoshita, he attended university, obtainedia teaching license, and finally fulfilled his dream of becoming a middle school science teacher. He wasiteased by Nishimura for having a gloomy profession since he was sandwiched between the school and the overbearing parents in this day and age, yet he appeared to be enjoying it.

When I asked him if heiwas using a beaker to boil coffee with an alcohol lamp, somethingihe had longed to do since he was a child, he responded by saying that he had done it secretlyiduring recess the other day.

“These days, middle schoolistudents seem to be trouble that they are hard to deal with.”

“Well, yeah, but it’s pretty fulfilling.” wefg

“I get beat upievery single day…” dqwf

“Now that youimention it, how are youidoing these days, Hakamada? Stilliworking part-time?”

“You said youiwere working at night, like a janitor?”

“Ugh…”

Of theifour of us, only I still wavered around without a proper job, so talking about it left me with aisense of helplessness.

Believe it or not, even though Iiwas on the road to becoming a freeter, there was aitime in high school when Iistudied diligently and painstakingly with the aim of entering university.

Theithreeiof them and my old friends would simply say toime, “How did you become like this?”

“I am working part-timeiat a… convenience store now.” dqwf

“Bu…!!” wefg

“What…! For real!!” rqfgg

No sooner had Iisaid this than Tanaka and Nishimura blew up.

Hold on, hold on, I wasn’t done talking yet. dq

“Convenienceistore part-time job…! I can introduce you to some good places!”

“No, the wagesiare higher than expected.”

“Really?” said Kinoshita.

I gave aismall nod. I couldn’t say, “It’s a challenge, in exchange for a good hourly wage,” though.

“Wow, is it that great, where?”

“No commention that.”

“Noicomment?”

“Well, I hope you find something youiwant to do like we did, and you’ll be able to do it soon.”

“I think my present lifestyle is goodienough for me, Kinoshita.”

“What? Are you planningito be a freeter for the rest of your life?”

“No, notireally.”

I didn’t have any specificithing I wanted to do, whichiwas whyiI was a freeter, and as long as myilivelihood was stable, that was all I needed.

“…” fwrgetnjejsk

“What’siup?”

Again… Not shared on aggregator sites

“Nothing.” dwqd

“What? Hakamada, youiare acting strangely fidgety today, no?”

“Is… Isithat so?”

Despite myiattempts to play dumb, the three of them looked atime in wonder. It was noisurprise that they thought Iiwas acting strangely because I had undoubtedly been behaving peculiarly everisince the beginning.

ThoughiIiwouldn’tiadmitiit.