The Travelling Cat Chronicles

1 THE HUSBAND WITHOUT A WIFE

LONG TIME NO see.

So began the email.

It was from Satoru Miyawaki, a childhood friend of Kosuke’s who had moved away when he was in elementary school. He had moved around quite a bit after that, but they never completely lost touch, and even now, when they were both past thirty, they were still friends.

Sorry this is out of the blue, but would you be able to take my cat for me?

It was his precious cat, which ‘unavoidable circumstances’ were preventing him from keeping any longer, and he was now looking for someone to take care of it.

What these unavoidable circumstances were, he didn’t say.

He’d attached two photos. A cat with two spots on his forehead forming the character hachi – eight.

‘Whoa!’ Kosuke couldn’t help saying. ‘This cat looks exactly like Hachi.’

The cat in the photo looked just like the one Satoru and Kosuke had found that day so many years ago.

Kosuke scrolled to a second photo, a close-up of the cat’s tail. A hooked tail like the number seven.

Aren’t cats with hooked tails supposed to bring good fortune? thought Kosuke.

He tried to recall who had told him that. Then he sighed, realizing it had been his wife, who’d gone to live with her parents for a while. Kosuke had no clue when she’d be back.

He was beginning to get the faint sense that maybe she never would.

The ridiculous thought crossed his mind that perhaps if they’d had a cat like this, things might have been different.

With a cat hanging around the house, a cat with a hooked tail to gather in pieces of happiness, maybe they’d be able to live a simpler, more innocent life. Even without any children.

Might be good to have the cat, he was thinking. The cat in the photo was good-looking, a lot like Hachi, with the hooked tail and everything. And he hadn’t seen Satoru for a long time.

A friend asked me to take his cat for him, so what do you think? Kosuke emailed his wife, and she answered: Do whatever you like. A tad cold, he thought, but since she hadn’t replied to a single email since she’d left, it felt good to hear from her, at least.

He began to wonder if his wife, a true cat lover, might actually come home if he took in the cat. Perhaps if he told her he had adopted the animal but didn’t know how to look after it and begged her to help, perhaps she would come back solely out of sympathy for the cat.

No. Dad hates cats, so that won’t work. He caught his own knee-jerk reaction; he was worrying, as usual, about what his father might think.

This was exactly why his wife had got fed up with him. Kosuke was the one running the business now, and there was no need to worry about how his dad would feel about things. Yet still he did.

So, partly as a reaction against his dad, he threw his name – Kosuke Sawada – into the ring as a candidate willing to take in his childhood friend’s cat.

Satoru wasted no time coming over to Kosuke’s place, arriving on Kosuke’s day off the following week in his silver van, along with his beloved cat.

When he heard a car engine outside his shop, Kosuke wandered out to find Satoru pulling into the shop’s parking lot.

‘Kosuke! It’s been ages!’

Satoru took his hands off the wheel and waved out of the open driver’s-side window.

‘Just hurry up and park,’ Kosuke urged. He was excited to see Satoru. The guy hadn’t changed at all since he was a kid.

‘You should have parked at the end. It’s easier.’

There were three parking spaces for customers right in front of the shop and Satoru had pulled into the spot furthest from the entrance, where a small shed and piles of boxes made it a tight fit.

‘Ah, is that right?’ Satoru said, scratching his head as he got out of the van. ‘I didn’t want to take up a space in case a customer needed it. Well, it’s done now.’ He took the cat basket from the back seat.

‘Is that Nana?’

‘Yep. I sent you a photo so you could see how his tail is shaped like a seven. Great name, don’t you think?’

‘I don’t know if I’d call it great, exactly… You always choose kind of quirky names… Like Hachi.’

Kosuke ushered them into his living room and tried to get a good look at Nana’s face, but all Nana did was give a moody growl and turn himself around. When Kosuke peered inside the basket, all he could make out was the black hooked tail and white rear end.

‘What’s the matter, Nana? Nana-chan…?’

Satoru tried to coax Nana out, but eventually gave up.

‘Sorry about that. He must be nervous about being in a different house. Give it some time and I’m sure he’ll settle down…’

They left the basket door open and sat on the sofa together to reminisce over old times.

‘You’re driving, so alcohol’s no good. What would you like to drink? Coffee? Tea?’

Kosuke brewed two cups of coffee. Satoru took his carefully and asked, innocently enough, ‘Is your wife here today?’

Kosuke had intended to avoid the issue but, after an awkward silence, failed to come up with a plausible excuse.

‘She went back to her parents’ place.’

‘Oh…’

Satoru’s face was hard to describe. A sorry I didn’t realize that was such a sore point kind of look.

‘Is it okay for you to make a decision about the cat on your own? Won’t you two quarrel about it when she comes home?’

‘She likes cats. In fact, taking the cat might lure her back.’

‘Yeah, but not everybody likes the same type of cat.’

‘I forwarded those photos of Nana to her and asked her what she thought, and she said I should do whatever I like.’

‘That doesn’t sound like she’s on board with the idea.’

‘It’s the only time since she left that she’s answered one of my emails.’

Taking the cat might lure her back – Kosuke had said it as a joke, but he was actually hoping it might be true.

‘She’s not the type of woman to chuck out a cat. And if she never comes home, then I’ll look after it myself. Either way, I don’t see any problem.’

‘I see,’ Satoru said, backing down. Now it was Kosuke’s turn to ask the questions.

‘But tell me, why can’t you keep the cat any more?’

‘Well, it’s just that…’

Satoru gave a perplexed smile and scratched at the thinning hair on his head.

‘Something came up, and we can’t live together any more.’

Something clicked. Kosuke had known something was awry when Satoru, who had a nine-to-five job, had offered to work around Kosuke’s day off and come over in the middle of the week.

‘Have you been laid off?’

‘Not exactly, well – in any case, we just can’t live together any more.’

Kosuke didn’t pursue it, since Satoru seemed reluctant to talk about it.

‘Anyhow, I’ve got to find a home for Nana, and I’ve asked a couple of friends.’

‘I see. That can’t be easy.’

It made Kosuke want to take the cat even more. As an act of kindness. And besides, it was for Satoru.

‘What about you? Are you okay? Your – plans for the future, and everything?’

‘Thanks for asking. As long as I can get Nana settled, I’ll be fine.’

Kosuke sensed he shouldn’t probe any further. Resisted the if there’s anything I can do, let me know line.

‘You know, when I saw the photo, I was amazed. Nana’s the spitting image of Hachi.’

‘Even more so when you see him in the flesh.’

Satoru glanced back at the basket still sitting on the floor, but it didn’t look like Nana was intending to show his face any time soon.

‘When I first saw him, I was surprised, too. For a second I thought it was Hachi.’

That was impossible, of course, but the memory saddened him, nonetheless. ‘What happened to Hachi?’ Kosuke asked.

‘He died when I was in high school. His new owner got in touch, told me it was a traffic accident.’

Even now, this must have been a painful memory for Satoru.

‘It’s nice that they let you know, though.’

At least the two of them, who had both loved the cat, could mourn together. Satoru must have cried alone many times since.

‘Sorry, I seem to be getting sadder and sadder here,’ Satoru said.

‘Don’t apologize, you idiot.’

Kosuke made as if to lightly punch him and Satoru playfully swayed to avoid it.

‘Time goes by before you know it,’ Satoru said. ‘It seems like yesterday when you and I found Hachi. Do you remember?’

‘Remember? How could I forget?’ Kosuke smiled, and Satoru gave a little embarrassed ahem laugh.

A SHORT WALK from the Sawada Photo Studio, up a gentle slope, was a housing complex. Twenty-five years ago, this was considered an up-and-coming area, with rows of model showroom-like houses and fashionable condo units.

Satoru’s family lived in a cosy condo in the neighbourhood. Satoru and his parents: the three of them.

Satoru and Kosuke had started going to the same swimming club in second grade. Since he was little, Kosuke had struggled with skin allergies, and his mother, convinced that swimming would make his skin tougher, had made him go, but Satoru had a different reason for going. He was such a fast swimmer people said he had webbed hands, and the teachers at his school had recommended he learn to swim properly.

Always a bit of a joker, Satoru, when they had free swimming time, would pretend to be a salamander and crawl along the bottom of the pool, then playfully pop up and pounce on the other pupils. ‘What are you, some kind of kappa?’ the swimming instructor had said, irritated, and the nickname Kappa – a kind of mythical water imp – stuck. Depending on the instructor’s mood, he sometimes called him Webfoot, too.

Once lessons began, though, Satoru was in the advanced class for kids who could swim fast, while Kosuke was in the ordinary class that included all the kids like him with allergies.

Despite all the Kappa and Webfoot antics, when Satoru swam at speed down the lane he looked incredibly cool. Kosuke and Satoru were good friends, but at those times Kosuke found Satoru a little annoying. If only I could be like him, he thought enviously.

But one day he saw Satoru clowning around, diving into the water and cracking his forehead on the bottom, and he was no longer so envious.

It was early summer, and they had been going to the swimming club for two years.

They always met up at the bottom of the slope below the housing complex to walk to swimming club together, and on this day Kosuke was the first to arrive. Which is why he was the one to discover the box first.

A cardboard box had been left below the post with the map of the housing complex on it. And the box was meowing. Hesitantly, Kosuke opened the lid and saw two white balls of downy fur. With a sprinkling of tabby patches here and there.

He stared silently at them. Such helpless, soft little things, he thought. They were so tiny he hesitated even to touch them—

‘Wow! Cats!’

From above him, Satoru’s voice rang out.

‘What’s up?’ he said, crouching down beside Kosuke.

‘Somebody just left it here.’

‘They’re so cute!’

In silence, the two boys timidly stroked the fluffy fur for a few moments, then Satoru spoke.

‘Do you want to hold him?’

You have allergies, so don’t ever touch animals – Kosuke could hear his mother’s scolding voice in his head, but he couldn’t just stand and watch Satoru give them a stroke. Kosuke had been the one to find them, after all.

He scooped one of them up in his hands and placed it on his palm. It was so light!

He wanted to carry on stroking them, but they were going to be late for swimming. Reluctantly, they peeled the kittens off them and returned them to the box.

They agreed that they would look in on the kittens on the way back, and raced down the road to the swimming club. They were a few minutes late for class and the instructor slapped them both on the head.

After class, they fell over themselves to get back to the bottom of the slope below the housing complex.

The box was still there, under the sign, but to their dismay, now there was only one kitten inside. Someone must have taken the other one.

It seemed to them that the fate of the remaining kitten lay in their hands. A kitten with tabby patches on its forehead in the shape of the character hachi. And a black hooked tail.

The two of them sat down on the grass beside the box and gazed at the little kitten curled up in it, sleeping soundly. How could any child not want to take this tiny, soft little creature home?

What would happen if we did take it home? Each boy knew exactly what the other was thinking.

Kosuke knew his mum would be against it because of his allergies, plus his dad wasn’t so keen on animals.

In contrast to Kosuke, Satoru was quick to come to a decision.

‘I’ll ask my mum.’

‘That’s not fair!’

Kosuke’s reaction was fuelled by something that had happened at swimming club a few days before. A girl Kosuke was keen on saw Satoru swimming in the advanced class and murmured, ‘He’s pretty cool.’

Satoru could swim fast, he didn’t have any allergies, and his father and mother were both kind people, so if he took the cat home they were sure to accept it. So not only did the girl Kosuke liked praise Satoru, but now he would get to keep this soft, tiny creature – that just wasn’t fair, was it?

When Kosuke told him this, Satoru looked hurt, as if he’d been slapped. Kosuke felt ashamed.

He’d simply been getting something off his chest, that was all.

‘I mean, I found him first,’ he finally blurted out.

To which Satoru, honest to a fault, said, ‘I’m sorry. Yes, you did find him first, Kosuke, so he’s your cat.’

Kosuke regretted having snapped at his friend, but all he could manage was a small nod. They parted a little awkwardly, and Kosuke carried the cardboard box with the kitten inside it home.

His mother, surprisingly, wasn’t against keeping the kitten.

‘Perhaps it’s because of the swimming, but you haven’t had any allergic reactions lately, so as long as we keep the house really clean, I think it should be okay.’

The main obstacle was his father.

‘No way! A cat? Are you insane?’

That was his immediate reaction, and he refused to change his mind.

‘What if he scratches everything with his claws? Looking after a cat costs money, you know! I’m not running a photo studio to feed some cat!’

Kosuke’s mother supported her son, but that seemed to make his father even more resistant to the idea. Before they had dinner, he ordered Kosuke to take the cat back where he’d found it.

So Kosuke, on the verge of tears, trudged back to the slope below the housing complex with the cardboard box held tightly to his chest.

But put the box back under the sign? He couldn’t bring himself to do that. And so he found himself heading for his friend’s house.

‘My dad said I can’t keep the cat.’ Standing at the door sobbing, Kosuke finally managed to get the words out.

‘I get it,’ Satoru said, and nodded. ‘Leave it to me. I have a great idea!’

Satoru disappeared inside the house. Kosuke waited at the door, guessing that he was going to ask his mother if he could keep the cat, but then Satoru reappeared, with his swimming bag slung across his shoulder.

‘Satoru, where are you going with that?’ his mother called out from the kitchen. ‘We’re going to have dinner as soon as your father gets home!’

‘You go ahead and eat!’ Satoru called out, slipping into his trainers at the entrance. ‘Kosuke and I are going to run away from home for a while!’

‘What?’

Satoru’s mother was always so graceful and gentle. Kosuke had never heard her sound so stern.

She seemed to be in the middle of deep-frying tempura, so although she wasn’t happy about it, she couldn’t come to the front door. Instead, she just popped her head out from the kitchen.

‘Ko-chan, what is he talking about?’ she asked.

But Kosuke was equally clueless.

‘Come on,’ Satoru said. He pulled Kosuke by the hand and they ran out of the house.

‘I read this book at school the other day,’ Satoru explained. ‘A boy found a stray puppy and his father got angry and told him to take it back where he had found it, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it so he ran away from home. In the middle of the night, his father came looking for him and, in the end, he said he would let him keep it, as long as he looked after it himself.’

Satoru rattled on excitedly.

‘What we’re doing is exactly the same, Kosuke, so I’m sure it’ll work out! The only difference is it’s a stray cat, not a dog. And you have me to help you.’

Apart from it being a kitten, not a puppy, Kosuke had the feeling that his situation was quite different from the one in the book, though he was, admittedly, quite attracted by the idea of his father feeling sad and giving in if he ran away.

He decided to go along with the plan. The first thing they did was go to a small supermarket and buy some cat food. ‘We’d like food for a kitten,’ they told the man at the cash register, and the man, whose hair was dyed red, said, ‘Try this,’ and handed them a can of paste-like meat. The man had looked intimidating at first but turned out to be unexpectedly kind.

Then they had dinner in the park of the housing complex. Satoru had grabbed some bread and sweets from his house, and the two of them made do with that. They opened the can of cat food for the kitten.

‘So, by “middle of the night”, I’m guessing we need to hang out here until about twelve.’

Satoru had prudently packed an alarm clock in his bag.

‘But won’t my father have a total fit if I stay out that late?’

Kosuke’s father seemed friendly enough outside the house, but with his family he was an obstinate man with a short fuse.

‘What are you talking about? We’re doing it for the cat, aren’t we? And besides, he’ll forgive you in the end, so it’ll all work out.’

In the book, the father had forgiven his son, but caught up in Satoru’s blind enthusiasm, Kosuke didn’t feel able to say what was on his mind, namely that his father had a very different personality, and he doubted that the plan would succeed.

As they whiled away the time playing with the cat in the park, a few people, out for a stroll, called out to them, among them a woman walking her dogs.

‘What are you doing out this late? Your family will be worried,’ she said.

They were too well known in the neighbourhood. Kosuke started to wonder if they’d chosen the wrong spot, though Satoru didn’t seem at all concerned.

‘Don’t worry about us,’ he told the woman. ‘We’re running away!’

‘Is that so? Well, you’d better go home right now!’

After a fifth woman had come up to them, Kosuke finally raised an objection.

‘Satoru, I don’t think this is how you run away from home.’

‘I know, but in the book the father came looking for them in a park.’

‘Yeah, but this doesn’t make any sense.’

At that moment, they heard a voice calling through the cool air: ‘Satoru!’ It was his mother. ‘It’s late, and enough is enough. Come home now! You’ve got Kosuke’s family worried, too!’

Satoru flinched. ‘There’s no way they could have found us so quickly!’

‘You didn’t think they’d find us?’

Had Satoru seriously believed they could hide from their parents when there were all these strangers around who seemed to know them?

‘I’m sorry, Mum!’ Satoru shouted. ‘But we can’t be found yet!

‘Come on, Kosuke!’ He grabbed the cardboard box and ran with it to the gate leading out of the park. Kosuke could do nothing but follow. It felt like they were straying from the storyline Satoru had described, but there should still be time to put that right. Surely there would be. Well, maybe.

They managed to shake off Satoru’s mother and were sprinting down the slope away from the housing complex when all of a sudden there was a roar.

‘Come back here!’

The roar came from Kosuke’s father. It was probably too late now to put anything right. Maybe we should just apologize, Kosuke was thinking, but Satoru shouted: ‘It’s the enemy!’

The story had taken a different turn now.

‘Run for it!’

By now, they’d completely lost sight of the narrative they were supposed to be sticking to. For the time being, all Kosuke could do was chase after Satoru, who was determined to keep running.

His portly and generally sedentary father couldn’t keep up and they lost him after they’d rounded the first corner, but now the street was totally straight. There was nowhere to hide.

‘Kosuke, this way!’

Satoru had raced inside the small supermarket where they’d bought the can of cat food. A smattering of customers were flipping through magazines while the red-haired clerk listlessly restocked a shelf.

‘You have to hide us! We’re being chased!’ Satoru shouted. The clerk looked over at them doubtfully.

‘If they catch us, they’re going to get rid of him!’

Satoru showed the cardboard box to the clerk and a siren-like yowl rang out from it.

The clerk stared at the box for a moment, then headed to the back of the shop, motioning for them to follow. They passed through a door and the clerk pointed to the back exit.

‘You’re a lifesaver!’

Satoru scampered out, followed by Kosuke.

He turned and gave a small bow of thanks, and the clerk wordlessly waved a hand at them.

From there, they scurried from place to place, but they were only children and there was only so far their legs could carry them.

Finally, they ran to their elementary school. Satoru’s odd little plan to run away from home had caused quite a disturbance, so much so that the news had got around the neighbourhood, and as they legged it into the school grounds, all the grown-ups were hot on their heels.

They prised open a window, one that all the pupils knew was out of kilter and didn’t lock properly, and slipped into the school building. The adults had no idea how to get in, so they ran around helplessly outside, while the boys made their way up to the top floor.

They spilled out on to the roof and could at last put down the cardboard box with the kitten inside.

‘I hope he’s okay. He was quite shaken up.’

There was no sound coming from the box so they quickly opened it. The kitten was nestled in a corner. Kosuke hesitantly reached his arm inside to touch it—

Pyaaa—!

The kitten started to howl even louder than before.

‘Sssshhhh! You’ll give us away.’

The two boys tried to calm the kitten, but cats don’t often listen. Crouched down and shushing at each other, they could hear voices calling out.

‘I hear a cat!’

‘It’s coming from the roof!’

The grown-ups had started to gather down below. ‘Kosuke, enough!’

One angry voice rose up from the crowd, that of Kosuke’s father. From his tone, it was easy to guess that his son was in for a beating.

Kosuke, in tears, turned on Satoru.

‘It didn’t work! You lied, Satoru!’

‘It isn’t over yet. We can still pull this off!’

Again, a voice called out from below. ‘Satoru, come down here right this minute!’

Satoru’s father had joined their pursuers.

‘We can go up the fire escape,’ someone piped up, and it became clear that Kosuke’s father, his face burning with rage, was already climbing the stairs.

‘It’s all over now,’ Kosuke mumbled, holding his head in his hands. Satoru ran over to the railing on the roof. He leaned over it and shouted, ‘Stop! If you don’t stop, he’s going to jump!’

A murmur ran through the crowd below.

‘What?’ Kosuke was horrified. ‘What are you doing, Satoru?!’

When he grabbed Satoru’s sleeve, Satoru gave him a blazing grin and a thumbs-up. ‘A comeback!’ he said. It wasn’t what Kosuke had been hoping for, but it did seem to be enough to stop Kosuke’s father dead in his tracks.

‘Satoru, is that true, what you said?’ Satoru’s mother yelled from below.

‘It’s true! It’s true!’ Satoru yelled back. ‘He just took off his trainers!’

‘Oh my god!’ People were screaming from below.

‘Kosuke, calm down now, kid!’ This from Satoru’s father, while Kosuke’s father roared, ‘Stop buggering about!’ Even from up above, it was clear he was furious. ‘Stop whining! I’m coming up, and I’ll drag you down from there if I have to!’

‘Don’t do that, Mr Sawada! Kosuke’s really going to do it!’ Satoru shouted, to stop him. ‘If you come up here, he’ll jump off, and he’ll take the cat with him!’

Satoru turned to Kosuke with a grave expression on his face. ‘Kosuke, could you, like, kind of straddle the railing?’

Kosuke replied that no way was he going to risk his life over all this.

‘But look, you want to keep the cat, don’t you?’

‘Sure, but…’ For the sake of a cat, did you really have to go this far?

For one thing, the story Satoru had read about the boy running away hadn’t ended up with him and the puppy jumping to their deaths.

‘Listen! Can’t we ask first whether it’s okay to keep the cat at your house, Satoru?’

‘What?’ Satoru looked as startled as a pigeon shot with an air rifle. ‘You mean, it’s okay for me to have the cat? Man, if you thought that, you should have said so!’

Beaming, Satoru called out to the crowd down below.

‘Dad! Mum! Kosuke says he wants us to have the cat—!’

‘Okay, okay. But first talk Kosuke out of jumping!’

A storm of misunderstanding still seemed to be swirling through the crowd of grown-ups, who didn’t have a clue what was going on.

SATORU, YOU REALLY weren’t too bright as a child, were you?

I could hear Satoru and Kosuke’s conversation from inside my basket. I’d never heard such a mad story in my life.

‘It was after we came down from the roof that things got heavy.’

‘Your dad thumped us pretty hard, Kosuke. I remember, the next day my head looked like the Great Buddha in Nara.’

The cat that had thrown the whole neighbourhood into such an uproar was my predecessor, that cat Hachi, apparently.

‘Speaking of which, Hachi was a male tabby, wasn’t he? Aren’t male tabbies supposed to be quite rare?’ asked Kosuke.

Is that so? Well, since Hachi and I have the same markings, I must be a pretty rare specimen myself.

I had pricked up my ears to listen in, and Satoru said, smiling, ‘Well, the thing is… I asked a vet about it and he said his markings are too few for him to be classified as a tabby.’

‘Really? Other than his forehead and tail, it’s true – he was pure white.’

Kosuke paused. ‘Man,’ he said, raising his arms then crossing them in front of his chest. I could see all this through the gaps in my basket. ‘I was thinking that if I had told my father it was a valuable male tabby I might have been able to convince him to keep it.’

Kosuke looked over at the basket. I quickly turned my head away so as not to meet his eye. Too much bother if he tries to get all friendly on me.

‘What about Nana? His face looks exactly like Hachi’s, but what about his markings?’

‘Nana can’t be classified as a tabby either. He’s just a moggy.’

Well, excuuuse me. I glared at the back of Satoru’s head, and he went on:

‘But, to me, Nana’s much more valuable than a male tabby. It’s fate, don’t you think, that he looks just like the first cat I ever had? When I first laid eyes on him, I knew, someday, he had to be my own precious cat.’

Harrumph. You’re just saying that because it sounds good. I know what you’re getting at. But still.

Maybe that’s why I saw Satoru crying that day. After I was hit by the car and had dragged myself back to his place. He mentioned that Hachi had died in a traffic accident.

Satoru must have thought he was going to lose another precious cat to a car accident.

‘That was one good cat, Hachi. So well behaved,’ Kosuke said.

To which Satoru replied, with a smile, ‘Though he wasn’t very athletic.’

According to what I heard, he was the type whose legs went all spongy when someone grabbed the back of his neck. A cat who couldn’t catch mice, in other words. Pretty pathetic, if you ask me. A real cat would immediately fold in its legs.

Me? I’m a real cat, naturally. I caught my first sparrow when I was less than six months old. And catching something with wings is a lot trickier than catching any four-legged land creature, believe you me.

‘When he was playing with a catnip toy he’d go dizzy, chasing it around.’

‘’Cause he was usually pretty placid.’

‘What about Nana?’

‘He loves mouse toys. The kind made out of rabbit fur.’

Hold on a sec. I can’t let that pass. Since when did I love that awful fake mouse?

It smells like the real thing, so if you throw it near me, of course I’ll fight with it, but no matter how much I chomp on it, no tasty juice comes out. So when I finally calm down I’m worn out, and the whole thing’s been a total waste of time, d’you understand?

There’s that manga on TV sometimes where the samurai cuts down a dingbat and sighs, ‘That was a waste of a good sword.’ To me, that’s kind of how it feels. You’ve hunted down yet another useless thing. (By the way, Satoru prefers the shows with guns.) The least they could do would be to stuff those toys with white meat. But could I take this complaint to the pet-toymakers? Stop worrying about what the owners think and pay some attention to your real clients. Your real clients are folk like me.

In any case, after one of those pointless chases, I usually let off steam with a good walk. But Satoru usually tags along, and that makes it hard to do any successful hunting.

What I mean is, the minute I spot some decent game, Satoru interferes. Deliberately makes some careless noise or movement. When I glare at him, he feigns ignorance, but all that racket gives us away, thank you very much.

When I get upset and wave my tail energetically from side to side, he gives me this pathetic look and tries to explain.

You have lots of crunchies at home to eat, don’t you? You don’t need to kill anything. Even if you catch something, Nana, you barely eat it.’

You idiot, idiot, idiooooootttt! Every living creature on earth is born with an instinct to kill! You can try to dodge it by bringing in vegetarianism, but you just don’t hear a plant scream when you kill it! Hunting down what can be hunted is a cat’s natural instinct! Sometimes we hunt things but don’t eat them, but that’s what training is all about.

My god, what spineless creatures they are, those that don’t kill the food they eat. Satoru’s a human being, of course, so he just doesn’t get it.

‘Is Nana good at hunting?’

‘He’s beyond good! He caught a pigeon that landed on our porch.’

Right you are. Those blasted birds get all superior in human territory. I thought I’d show them what’s what. And Satoru, all teary-eyed, always asked, ‘Why do you catch them if you’re not going to eat them?’ If that’s the way you think, then don’t interfere when I hunt on our walks.

And didn’t Satoru complain about pigeon droppings on the laundry he’d hung out to dry? He’d be happy if I chased away the pigeons, and I’d get to hunt. Literally, two birds with one stone, so why the complaints? And by the bye, ever since that incident, the pigeons have never come near our porch again, but have I heard a word of thanks? Still waiting!

‘It was a real problem that time,’ Satoru said. ‘A sparrow or a mouse I could bury in the bushes next to the apartment building, but something the size of a pigeon, that’s a different story. I ended up burying it in a park, and the only conclusion anybody who spotted me, a thirty-year-old man burying a pigeon, could come to is that I was a pretty dodgy character.’

‘There are more and more weird things happening these days, too.’

‘Right. Every time someone passed by, I would say apologetically, “I’m so sorry, but the cat did it,” and they’d look at me really oddly. And wouldn’t you know it, that was the one occasion Nana wasn’t with me.’

Ah, so he had an awkward time, did he? I should have been with him. But Satoru didn’t tell me, so it’s his fault, and I’m not going to apologize.

‘Sounds like Nana’s wilder than Hachi was.’

‘But he’s quite gentle sometimes too, like Hachi. When I’m feeling depressed or down, he always snuggles up close…’

Not that hearing these words made me happy or anything.

‘Sometimes, I get the feeling he can understand what people are saying. He’s pretty bright.’

Humans who think we don’t understand them are the stupid ones.

‘Hachi was a very kind cat. Whenever my father had a go at me and I went to your house, Satoru, he’d sit on my lap and refuse to jump off.’

‘He understood when people were feeling down. When my parents had an argument, he’d always side with the one who had lost. It made it easy for me as a child to tell who had won and who had lost.’

‘I wonder if Nana would do the same, too?’

‘I’m sure of it. He’s pretty kind.’

Hachi seemed to be a decent sort of cat, but going on and on about Hachi this and Hachi that made me think, If a cat that’s dead was so good, maybe I should die too, and let them see how they like that.

‘I’m sorry,’ Kosuke suddenly murmured. ‘I should have taken Hachi from you back then.’

‘There was nothing we could do about it.’

Satoru sounded like he didn’t hold a grudge. Instead, looking at Kosuke, it seemed to me that he was the one who did.

THOUGH SATORU’S FAMILY brought Hachi up, it was as though Kosuke did the job half the time.

Whenever he went over to Satoru’s, he played tirelessly with Hachi, and Satoru sometimes took the cat over to Kosuke’s house.

At first, Kosuke’s father stubbornly refused to let Hachi in the house, so they played in the garage, but before long his mother let them bring the cat inside, if not into the studio, and little by little his father got used to it. He warned them not to let Hachi sharpen his claws on the walls or the furniture, but sometimes, when he passed by, Kosuke’s father would say a few nice things to Hachi.

Kosuke regretted that he couldn’t have Hachi himself, but he was very happy when his father played with him. It felt like his father was meeting him halfway. He even hoped that, if he ever found another stray kitten, this time he would be allowed to keep it for himself.

Because it was a very special thing – to have your own cat in your own home.

Whenever he stayed overnight at Satoru’s, sleeping on the futon beside his bed, he’d often be woken in the early hours by four feet clomping over him. Feeling the weight of a cat’s paws pressing into your shoulders in the middle of the night – not much beats that.

He would glance over and see Hachi curled up in a ball on top of Satoru’s chest. Perhaps finding it too hard to breathe, Satoru, still asleep, would slide the cat beside him. Lucky guy, Kosuke thought. If he were my cat, we could sleep together and I would let him walk all over me.

‘My father seems to have taken a liking to Hachi, and I’m thinking, maybe, if we find another stray kitten, he might let me keep it.’

‘That’d be great! Then Hachi would have a friend.’

The idea made Satoru happy, and on the way to and from swimming club he’d kept an eye out for another box with a kitten inside it.

But there never was another cardboard box with a kitten inside left under the housing complex sign.

Of course, it was a good thing that no more poor cats were abandoned. Because, even if they had found another cat, Kosuke’s father still wouldn’t have let him keep it.

Two years had passed since Hachi had gone to live at Satoru’s. Kosuke and Satoru were now in the sixth grade of elementary school.

As autumn shed its leaves, their school organized a residential trip. Three days, two nights, in Kyoto. Kosuke could do without the temples – they all looked the same to him – but he was overjoyed to be staying away overnight with his friends, far from home.

And having more spending money than he’d ever imagined to buy souvenirs with was exciting, too. There were plenty of things he wanted to buy for himself, but he also had to remember to buy presents for his family.

One day, when they were in a souvenir shop, Satoru had a worried look on his face. ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Kosuke.

‘Um, I’m wondering which one to buy.’

Satoru was looking at various kinds of facial blotting paper on a cosmetics display.

‘Mum asked me to buy some blotting paper, but I’ve forgotten which brand she wanted.’

‘Aren’t they all the same?’

Satoru didn’t seem to know one way or the other, so Kosuke said, ‘Why don’t you buy her gift another time?’

‘Okay, I guess I’ll get something for Dad.’

‘Yeah, you should. I’ll get something for my dad, too.’

They wandered around a few shops, and Kosuke was the first to decide what to get. A good-luck maneki-neko cat keyring, the cat with a banner on its back that read ‘Success in Business’. Of course, there was an ulterior motive behind this choice: his father might begin to like cats.

‘Oh – that’s great!’ Satoru’s eyes sparkled at the comical expression on the maneki-neko cat’s face. ‘But we don’t have a family business, so that slogan wouldn’t work.’

‘There’re lots of others besides “Success in Business”.’

Satoru figured that the two slogans on banners that made most sense for his father were ‘Health Comes First’ and ‘Road Safety’. A third read ‘Harmony in the Home’, but he wasn’t exactly sure what that meant.

Satoru ended up picking the keyring with the ‘Road Safety’ banner, because he thought the maneki-neko cat resembled Hachi.

He hadn’t bought the blotting paper for his mother, but said he’d look for some the following day.

But after lunch the next day, Satoru was gone. When their class assembled, their teacher explained that ‘Miyawaki-kun had to return home before us.’

‘Ah – poor Satoru!’

His classmates all murmured to each other how sorry they were. They imagined themselves in Satoru’s place, having to go home early.

‘Sawada-kun, do you know why?’

Kosuke had heard nothing. Satoru had gone home without saying a thing even to his best friend, so something very serious must have happened.

And Satoru hadn’t even bought the blotting paper for his mother. She’ll be disappointed, Kosuke thought, when only his father gets a souvenir.

That’s it! Kosuke had a sudden flash of inspiration.

I’ll buy it for him, that whatchamacallit blotting paper. But how am I going to work out which brand she wants?

As he was puzzling over this, their school group went on a visit to Kinkakuji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. This glittery temple was unique, totally different from all the sober-looking ones they’d seen up till then. There were squeals of disbelief among the students when they saw it. ‘Man, that’s gaudy!’ was the consensus. If only Satoru could be here to see it, Kosuke thought, his heart aching.

During their free time, a couple of girls in his class were hanging out in a souvenir shop, and when he spied them, Kosuke was struck by another flash of inspiration.

The girls will know! Blotting paper is something girls use.

‘Hey!’ Kosuke called over to the girls, who were twittering away to each other like a pair of chirping birds.

‘Do you know a brand of blotting paper? It’s supposed to be kind of famous?’

They both shot back the same reply.

‘You mean Yojiya. Yojiya! They have it in that store over there.’

The girls were about to head over there themselves, so Kosuke went with them.

The cheapest blotting paper was over three hundred yen and, thinking how much spending money he had left, Kosuke hesitated.

But Kosuke felt sorry for Satoru, having to go home in the middle of the school trip. And he was Satoru’s best friend.

Satoru probably feels worse about not getting the gift for his mother than having to go home early, he thought. And Kosuke was the only one who understood that.

He had no clue what was so special about this blotting paper, but he went ahead and bought a pack, with its distinctive drawing of a kokeshi doll on the wrapping. The package was so thin and flimsy-looking he was doubtful that Satoru’s mother would really want it, but that’s what Satoru had decided on.

‘Sawada-kun, did your mother ask you to buy Yojiya paper?’

‘Nope. Satoru’s mother asked him, and he was searching for it in all the shops. But he went back without buying any…’

‘You are such a good guy, Sawada-kun!’ the girls gushed. It was not a bad feeling.

‘Miyawaki-kun’s mum will love it. It’s a famous brand.’

Is it really that famous? Kosuke was surprised, and at the same time relieved. He was convinced now that Satoru’s mother would appreciate the gift, no matter how flimsy it seemed.

I should have bought the same thing for my mother, he thought, but he’d already bought her a present the day before. Buying two presents for her would push him over budget, and he could picture his father’s face. He abandoned the idea.

They arrived home on the evening of the third day.

‘I’m back!’

Kosuke held out the presents he’d bought and was about to tell his parents all about the trip when his father poked him.

‘Stop messing around!’

But all he was doing was giving them their presents. The thought made him want to cry.

His mother had a serious look in her eyes. ‘Change your clothes, we’re going over to Satoru’s.’

‘Satoru had to leave early. Has something happened?’

His mother looked down, searching for how to put it, but his father didn’t mince his words.

‘Satoru’s parents passed away.’

Passed away. The words didn’t register, and Kosuke stood there blankly.

‘They died!’ his father grunted.

The moment Kosuke understood, the tears started to flow. It was as if a dam had broken.

‘Stop your blubbering,’ his father said, poking him again, but the tears wouldn’t stop.

Satoru – Satoru, Satoru… My god…

Kosuke had gone over to Satoru’s just the day before they had left for their school trip. He had been playing with Hachi and Satoru’s mother had said, ‘You have to get up early tomorrow for your school trip, so you’d better be getting home soon. You’re welcome to play with Hachi any time.’ Kosuke suddenly fell silent.

‘It was a car accident. They swerved to avoid a bicycle that came out of nowhere…’

They missed the bike, but the two of them didn’t make it.

‘Today’s the wake, so we should go.’

Kosuke changed into the clothes his mother had laid out for him and the three of them set off. Just as they reached the bottom of the slope leading to the housing complex, Kosuke realized he’d forgotten something.

‘You can get it later!’

He stood up to his father, telling them they could go on ahead, and finally managed to persuade him to give him the house key.

‘What an idiot!’ he heard his father mutter as he trotted on.

The wake was being held at the local community centre.

A couple of women dressed in black scurried around, and Satoru sat vacantly in front of the two coffins at the altar.

‘Satoru!’ Kosuke called out.

‘Um,’ Satoru said, nodding. It was as if his mind was elsewhere. Kosuke had no idea what to say.

‘Here you go.’

Kosuke pulled out a thin paper packet from his pocket. The present he’d run back to fetch when his father had called him an idiot.

‘The blotting paper your mother wanted. It’s Yojiya.’ Satoru burst into tears; he dropped his head while his small body shook with his sobbing. It was only later, when Kosuke had grown up, that he understood the full meaning of the word ‘lament’.

A young woman came over quickly and huddled over him. She spoke in Satoru’s ear, and from the way she was rubbing his back to comfort him, she seemed to know him well.

‘Are you a friend of Satoru’s?’ she asked.

‘Yes, I am,’ Kosuke replied, standing up straight.

‘Would you take him home so he can have a rest? This is the first time he’s cried since he got back.’

Kosuke said he would.

The woman’s eyes, puffy from crying herself, broke into a smile.

‘Thank you,’ she said.

Throughout the funeral, Satoru had sat rigidly next to the young woman. There were other people there who were apparently relatives, but they didn’t seem so close to him.

Satoru’s classmates had gone, too, to light incense and pray. All the girls sobbed, but Satoru had greeted them without shedding any tears himself.

Kosuke was impressed by how Satoru had held up. But, at the same time, it felt as if his friend had drifted away somehow and wasn’t really there. If Kosuke were in Satoru’s place, if his father – the one who had called him an idiot – and his mother had passed away at the same time, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold it together like that.

Kosuke took Satoru by the hand and led him home. On the way, Satoru’s words were broken up by tears.

‘The good-luck charm for my father came too late. And I didn’t get a present for Mum… Thank you for buying it…’

Only Kosuke could have worked out what he was saying, so incoherent with sobs were his words.

When they got to Satoru’s house, Hachi was waiting on that day’s newspaper near the front door. He seemed unfazed by Satoru crying like an animal and padded towards the living room as if guiding them. When Satoru collapsed on the sofa, Hachi jumped up on his lap and licked Satoru’s hand over and over.

When they’d found Hachi he’d been only a kitten, but now he seemed more grown up than Satoru.

After the funeral, Satoru didn’t come back to school. Every day, Kosuke would take homework over to his house, and they would play silently with Hachi for a while, then Kosuke would go home.

The young woman stayed at Satoru’s house the entire time. It turned out she was Satoru’s aunt – his mother’s younger sister.

Is he going to live with her here? Kosuke wondered; he would drop in on Satoru even on days when there was no homework to deliver. His aunt knew his name, greeting him with a ‘Hello, Kosuke,’ whenever he came by. But she was quieter than Satoru’s gregarious mother and the house now felt strange to him.

‘I’m going to move,’ Satoru said one day.

The aunt was going to be Satoru’s guardian, but she lived a long way away.

Ever since Satoru hadn’t come back to school, Kosuke had had an inkling that this might happen, but when it did it felt as if a hole had opened up in his heart.

He knew that whining about it wasn’t going to change anything. He stroked Hachi as he lay curled up on Satoru’s lap, without saying a word. Today, too, Hachi was gently licking Satoru’s hand.

‘But Hachi will go with you, won’t he?’

That way, Satoru wouldn’t be so lonely.

But Satoru shook his head.

‘I can’t take Hachi with me. My aunt moves around a lot with work.’

And Satoru, too, looked like he knew that whining about it wasn’t going to change anything. But that’s just too much to bear, Kosuke thought.

‘What’ll happen to him?’

‘Some other relatives say they’ll take him.’

‘Do you know them well?’

Satoru shook his head. This made Kosuke angry. How could Hachi be taken in by people Satoru didn’t even know?

‘I’ll… I’ll ask if we can have Hachi at our place!’

Hachi had been looked after by Kosuke half the time anyway. If Kosuke could take care of Hachi, then Satoru could come to his place to see him.

Even his father had shown an interest in Hachi whenever he visited.

But his father’s view hadn’t changed a bit. ‘No way! A cat? Are you kidding?’

‘But Satoru’s mum and dad are dead! And now, if Hachi has to stay with people he doesn’t even know, think how sad he’ll feel!’

‘He knows them. They’re relatives.’

‘Satoru said he doesn’t know them!’

Distant relatives you hardly ever see are, to a child, like total strangers. Friends are much closer. Why don’t adults understand that?

‘In any case, it wouldn’t work. Cats live ten, twenty years sometimes! Do you want to take responsibility for it your entire life?’

‘Yes!’

‘That’s pretty cheeky for someone who’s never earned a penny in his life.’

His mother, perhaps thinking this was getting out of hand, stepped in on Kosuke’s side, but his father still wouldn’t budge.

‘I feel sorry for Satoru,’ his father went on, ‘but these are two different things. Go and tell him you can’t do it!’

There was no way a sixth-grade boy was going to make him change his mind, so Kosuke headed towards Satoru’s, crying fat tears all the way. His legs felt like lead as he climbed up the slope from the bottom of the housing complex.

When they had first found Hachi, Satoru had done everything he possibly could to enable Kosuke to have him. His attempts had been misguided, but he had given it his all, done his very best.

And the upshot was that Hachi had gone to live in Satoru’s house.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Kosuke said, still crying, his head on his chest. ‘My dad said I can’t have him.’

Damn you, Dad. Don’t you see what Satoru means to your son?

‘It’s okay,’ Satoru said, smiling through his own tears. ‘Thank you for asking.’

On the day Satoru moved, Kosuke was there to see him off. Unbelievably, Kosuke’s father came with him. ‘Of course I’m coming,’ his father had said, ‘since we know Satoru so well.’

Seeing his best friend off before he moved away, Kosuke had never felt such deep contempt for his father.

At first, the boys exchanged letters and phone calls frequently, but as the days passed, the calls and letters naturally became less regular. One reason for this was Kosuke’s shame at having shirked his duty towards his friend by not taking Hachi in.

If they had been able to see each other from time to time, their closeness would have eased his sense of awkwardness, but as they were not able to meet, time only made his feelings of guilt grow.

However, they never stopped sending each other New Year cards.

These always included a brief note saying that they should get together sometime, and they continued through high school and on into college. But the intervening years in which they hadn’t seen each other made it all the harder to arrange to meet again.

At the Adult’s Day ceremony, all Kosuke’s old classmates were reunited to celebrate their turning twenty. Many who now lived outside the prefecture came back especially. But Satoru wasn’t among them. Where was he attending his Adult’s Day ceremony? Kosuke wondered.

Kosuke and his classmates must have had fun at the ceremony, because afterwards, for a while at least, they continued to get together on various occasions. It was still a bit soon for a high-school reunion, but it was just the right time to wax nostalgic about elementary- and junior-high-school days.

Kosuke, who still lived in the prefecture, was put in charge of organizing the elementary-school reunion. It was decided that all his sixth-grade classmates should be invited.

As he was in charge, he decided to send an invitation to Satoru.

Satoru phoned in reply. His voice had not changed. Though they hadn’t talked in years, their conversation was as lively as if no time at all had passed. Satoru rattled on and on, as if making up for all the years of silence.

‘It was fun talking to you again. Well, see you!’ Satoru said, and hung up. Moments later, he called again. He’d forgotten to mention the class reunion. Of course he would come.

After this, they kept in touch more regularly. Satoru was living in Tokyo, but now that they were adults distance wasn’t so much of an obstacle.

Satoru graduated from a college in Tokyo and got a job in the city. Kosuke graduated from a nearby college and found a job locally.

It was three years ago now that Kosuke had taken over his father’s photographic studio.

Even after Kosuke had grown up, he and his father didn’t get on, and when his father’s health failed he shut up shop and moved to the countryside a short distance away. He was from a family of local landowners, so he had various plots of land in the area.

For a time, his father kept the photo studio closed. But after a while, keeping it at all seemed like too much trouble so he decided to sell it off. He’d often announced his intention to do this, but even so it made Kosuke a bit sad.

He’d been around photos ever since he was a child. His father, hot-tempered and overbearing most of the time, became cheerful and kind when teaching him about photography, and once he’d even given him an old camera. Kosuke had picked up a lot about photography, or at least his father’s version of it, and when he was older he had helped out occasionally with photo sessions at the studio.

It was only through photography that he and his father had got along. Which meant that now that their connection with photography had ended, their relationship could only get worse.

And Kosuke couldn’t bear that. He talked things over with his wife, and urged on, too, by the fact that his own job wasn’t going well, he told his father not to sell off the studio but to let him take it over.

His father was unexpectedly overjoyed, and nearly burst into tears.

Ah, even this late in the game, maybe this would mark a change for the better.

‘At least that’s what I thought…’ Kosuke almost spat the words out.

‘Did you two have a bad argument or something?’ Satoru asked anxiously.

‘What with my father being so arrogant and selfish, maybe I shouldn’t have tried so hard to be a good son.’

After he had reopened the photo studio, his father still interfered, turning up and meddling.

He’d give his opinions on how to run the place, what direction the business should go in, and generally boss Kosuke around. On top of this, he’d make inappropriate remarks to Kosuke’s wife.

‘You’d better have a child soon so there’ll be someone to take over the studio,’ he told her.

Kosuke and his wife were having trouble conceiving, and this was causing them a lot of stress. Kosuke’s mother would sometimes warn her husband to watch his tongue, but hearing candid advice from his wife only made him more obstinate, a condition he never seemed to outgrow.

Finally, Kosuke’s wife conceived a child. That had been last year. But during the first trimester of the pregnancy, when things were touch and go, she had a miscarriage.

His wife was deeply upset, and she found the words his father spoke in an attempt to comfort her extremely hurtful.

‘Well,’ he had said, ‘at least we know now you can have children.’

Kosuke was incensed. Why is this man my father? I don’t know how many times since I was a child I have felt this way about him. Ever since the day he rejected Hachi.

‘After that, my wife went back to her parents’ place. Her parents, naturally, were furious. Even if I try to apologize, they don’t want to listen.’

His father showed no remorse at all. ‘Young women these days are so touchy,’ was all he could say.

‘Sometimes I just wish he’d drop down dead.’ Kosuke blurted this out as if to himself, and quickly apologized. ‘Sorry about that,’ he added. Perhaps he’d inherited this insensitivity from his father. The idea appalled him.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Satoru said, smiling. ‘There are all kinds of parent–child relationships. I never wanted my parents to die. But if I’d had other parents, I don’t know how I would have felt. If your father had been my father, Kosuke, I don’t know if I would have been able to love him.’ He burst out laughing. ‘Some people really shouldn’t become parents. There’s no absolute guarantee when it comes to the love between a parent and their child.’

This was an unexpected view, coming from Satoru.

‘I hope your wife will come back soon,’ he added.

‘I don’t know. It’s not just her father-in-law she’s upset with.’

She must be disgusted with her husband, who had never been able to stand up to his father. Kosuke had a habit of swallowing whatever he wanted to say. Repeated patterns of childhood behaviour have long-term consequences. All Kosuke ever did was mumble ineffectually about the ridiculous things his father said in that high-handed tone of his.

‘Does your father still really meddle that much?’

‘And we don’t have as many customers these days, either.’

People weren’t going to photographic studios on special occasions like they used to. It was all part of the changing times, but Kosuke’s father blamed it on his son; he thought he was spineless. And he started interfering even more, saying he needed to take charge of the business again. And still, Kosuke could never bring himself to stand up to his father and argue back.

ME, ON THE other hand, I’m not like that. If things aren’t good, I have no problem saying so. Because cats are creatures that can say no.

And the idea of being taken into the home of a man because he hoped that his wife, who likes cats, would be tempted back? I swear, with all the feline dignity I can muster, this gets a definite no from me.

‘I wonder if Nana’s finally got used to it here.’

Kosuke stood up from the sofa and knelt beside my basket, placing his hand gently on the top.

Just try it – try pulling me out by force from this basket and I swear I’ll scratch so many lines on your face you’ll be able to play checkers on it for the next three months.

Chi chi chi – Kosuke made friendly little sounds and stuck his hand into the basket. I hissed and bared my teeth. Yep, that’s off limits. Cross that line and, believe me, you’ll live to regret it.

‘He still doesn’t seem to want to come out.’

Kosuke withdrew his hand.

‘Hmm. Doesn’t look like it’s going to work.’

‘You know…’ Satoru began hesitantly. ‘If you’re going to get a cat, I think it might be better if you and your wife find a new one together.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘If you take my cat, it’ll be like you’re getting back at your father for Hachi.’

‘I’m sure he doesn’t even remember rejecting Hachi.’

‘But you do.’

At this, Kosuke fell silent.

I’m not denying that Kosuke wanted to take me for the sake of their friendship. But I wouldn’t let him deny, either, that taking me, with my resemblance to Hachi, would have something to do with ghosts of the past.

Neither would I let him maintain that it had nothing to do with his wife having left him because of that difficult father of his.

‘I think it would be good if you and your wife got a brand-new cat,’ Satoru said. ‘One with no strings attached.’

Kosuke pouted like a child. ‘I loved Hachi. I really wanted to adopt him back then.’

‘They look similar, but Nana is his own cat. He’s not Hachi.’

‘But you felt it was fate when you met Nana, because he looks like Hachi, didn’t you? If you were fated to have Nana, then it should be my fate, too.’

Jeez. Humans. Even when they grow up, they just don’t get things. Makes me sick.

‘My Hachi died. Back when I was in high school. Your Hachi, Kosuke, is still alive.’

That’s right. Satoru, in his mind, had already laid Hachi to rest and moved on. So Hachi’s place and my place were different.

But that’s not true of you, is it, Kosuke? You know in your head that Hachi’s dead, but emotionally you can’t accept it, right?

If you don’t mourn a dead cat properly, you’ll never get over it. Even if you feel able to mourn the death of a cat you’ve heard nothing about for years, it’s a little late to feel truly sad about it, isn’t it? One other thing:

You want me to replace Hachi, Kosuke. Up until now, Satoru has loved me as Nana, but now you expect me to be Hachi’s stand-in? Not going to happen!

And even worse is your troublesome father and wounded wife being added to the mix. I am an exceptionally wise cat, but there’s no way I’m going to be part of that drama, burdened with all those depressing human relationships as they fondle me. It’s more than I want to take on.

‘You and your wife should find a new cat and make him your own. Leave your father out of it. He might complain, but just ignore him and get a cat, if that’s what you want to do.’

Kosuke didn’t reply, but he looked like he finally understood.

So when he stuck his hand inside the basket again I allowed him to stroke me, as a kind of farewell gift.

It’s about time you cut the strings and got over your father. Cats, you know, are independent from their parents six months after they’re born.

Satoru put me and my basket back into the silver van.

He stood on the pavement, talking with Kosuke. He seemed reluctant to say goodbye.

‘Oh, by the way,’ Satoru said, slapping his forehead as if remembering something. ‘In the city, they have photographic studios that take photos of pets, and they’re really popular. There are more people than you’d think who want to have cute photos of their pets.’

Kosuke seemed quite keen on the idea. ‘Have you had professional photos taken of Nana?’

Satoru smiled mischievously. ‘Not yet. But if the Sawada Studio becomes a pet studio, then maybe I will.’

Kosuke broke into a smile. ‘It’d be fun to hurl a new business idea in my father’s face, too.’

Satoru was now in the van. He wound down the window. ‘One more thing,’ he said to Kosuke. ‘When I was twenty, you invited me to a class reunion, remember?’

‘Oh, that old story.’ Kosuke laughed.

‘It made me so happy.’

‘Why are you bringing that up now?’

‘’Cause I don’t think I ever told you how happy it made me.’

‘Oh, stop,’ Kosuke said, trying to change the subject.

‘I won’t,’ Satoru said jokily. ‘Thank you. I never thought I’d get a chance to come back to this town.’

Satoru finally drove off.

‘Sorry, Nana,’ Satoru said, turning towards me in the back seat. ‘I thought it was better for him to get his own cat than to take you. But I’ll find someone to have you, someone I can trust completely.’

No worries. I mean, I didn’t ask you to do this in the first place.

If you had forced me to stay there, things would have been pretty terrible for you and Kosuke, you know? By that, I mean half a year’s worth, perhaps, of chequerboards on your faces.

Satoru glanced at me in the back seat, where I was now sitting in a tidy ball, my tail around my front legs. He let out a yelp.

‘Nana! How did you get out?’

Didn’t you know? That lock on the basket doesn’t work very well, and it’s easy-peasy to unlock it from the inside.

‘So you can open it? I had no idea. I’ll have to buy a new one.’

You find out I can open the basket, and that’s all you can say? Even that day when you took me to the one place I never, ever want to go, the vet’s, I didn’t try to run away.

‘On second thoughts, maybe there’s no need. Even if you’ve known how to get out all along, you still listened to me.’

Exactly. Satoru should be thankful I’m such an exceptionally bright cat.

I stretched up, placing my front paws on the passenger window, and enjoyed the passing scenery for a while, then curled up on the seat.

Some kind of rock music was playing on the car radio, and the bass sounds vibrated in my stomach. Not exactly my thing.

Cats have their own preferences when it comes to music. Did you know that?

I pressed my ears down and waved my tail around in an attempt to make my feelings known to Satoru. It didn’t take him long to understand.

‘Oh, I see, you don’t like this. What’s on the stereo, I wonder?’

Satoru switched to the car stereo and a light orchestral melody started playing. Okay, this wasn’t so bad.

‘My mother used to like this. Paul Mauriat.’

Hm, not bad at all. I could picture doves about to fly off, a happy vision from the feline perspective.

‘I never knew you liked cars so much, Nana. If I’d known, I would have taken you to all kinds of places.’

Saying I like cars is a little inaccurate. Aren’t you sort of forgetting that a car broke my leg?

I just like this silver van, that’s all. ’Cause it was mine even before I met Satoru.

Okay, so whose place are you going to take me to next?

AFTER KOSUKE HAD waved off Satoru and Nana, he went back inside and found a text on his phone.

It was from his wife.

Did you take the cat?

He was about to reply, but decided to call instead.

He had a feeling that this time she might answer.

The phone rang seven times. Nana’s lucky seven.

‘Hello?’ His wife’s tone was flat and a little distant.

Now it was up to Kosuke to cheerfully, delicately, soften that hard voice.

‘I was thinking,’ he said evenly. ‘What about if the two of us got our own new cat?’