Ch.260Epilogue. Like a Cat (8)

If my living space had multiple rooms, and if I wasn’t sharing with Kagami or Koko but had my own room, I probably wouldn’t clean until the mess became noticeably unbearable.

This was one of my bad habits. In my previous life, I would pile things on my bed, then hastily move them to a nearby desk or chair before sleeping.

After I became fully independent, I lived without a bed, so there wasn’t even a boundary between my sleeping area and the floor. Even when my family was still alive, they would all be shocked and horrified whenever they visited my apartment.

…After I lost everything, well, that goes without saying.

Though that bad habit remained with me, ironically, when I first arrived in this world, I had so few possessions that there wasn’t much to organize. Later, since friends frequently visited my room, I ended up having to keep it tidy.

Plus, I eventually gained a younger sister named Koko, so I cleaned regularly to instill proper habits in her.

After Kagami started living with us, what more is there to say?

But even with daily cleaning, it seems it wasn’t entirely satisfactory to “mom” Kagami’s eyes.

We do thorough cleaning periodically. We don’t move furniture around, but at least we wipe everything visible that can be wiped.

Today was one of those days.

I opened the windows wide and dusted the entire room. Books on bookshelves especially collect dust, and if not properly dusted, the dust accumulates endlessly.

While cleaning the bookshelf, I suddenly discovered the literary collections we had created over three years.

Literary collections we had consistently published once a year from our first to third year of high school. Once sold out, they couldn’t be found anywhere else.

I thought about scanning them sometime later. For now, I took them out and placed them on the table.

“I’ll read them again after cleaning.”

When Kagami tilted her head curiously, I explained with a smile.

Though we called it a thorough cleaning, our home was essentially just a room, so it didn’t take terribly long. After ventilating and turning on the air conditioner to cool the room, I picked up one of the literary collections.

The first collection we ever made.

Honestly, it looks more hastily put together than the ones we made in second and third year. But still, it was truly an item of memories.

Back then, I thought this might be my last trace in this world.

As I flipped through the pages, my own writing caught my eye.

Cat Observation Report.

At the time, I had labeled it as a “working title,” but honestly, I couldn’t think of anything better, so it stayed that way.

There was also an illustration of a black cat in the corner. It wasn’t taken from somewhere else; I think Kaoru drew it. The drawing wasn’t exceptionally good, but the deformed black cat looked reasonably cute.

Even reading it now, it was clearly a piece that revealed my struggle with what to write.

“…”

Glance.

I looked up to see Kuro again.

Kuro had been lying just below the sunny window, basking in the warm light with his whole body.

Both then and now, Kuro seems to have a good life.

Well, it’s bound to be better now. Back then, he still had things to do and places to go, but now he can truly live just like a cat without any concerns.

Kuro has gained quite a bit of weight over time.

With a personality that doesn’t enjoy moving much but has an enormous appetite, it’s impossible not to gain weight.

Still, he follows people well and is quite popular with everyone who enters this room.

I looked at the literary collection again.

A parade of characters that made me wonder if I really wrote this.

Then, my gaze lingered on the final sentence.

“…living like a cat doesn’t seem so bad.

Lying leisurely under warm sunlight, nodding off…”

Living like a cat.

That phrase made me smile slightly.

Did I write this before or after meeting “Kuro”?

The cat-like god of the dream world told me to live leisurely. Like a cat.

My memory was hazy, but reading it again now, I think I understand why I wrote this.

I truly longed for such a life.

Living leisurely like a cat means having no lack in life.

No need to worry about people, no threats to my life.

At that time, I was experiencing all those situations, so it wasn’t strange that I unconsciously wrote something like this.

I see.

I gently closed the literary collection.

Then I slowly got up and went to where Kuro was lying.

I flopped down next to Kuro.

Thanks to the air conditioner, the room was cool, but it couldn’t block the hot summer sunlight coming through the uncurtained window.

Hmm…

It feels like I’m being grilled.

“Kotone?”

Koko looked down at me, tilting her head.

Then as now, her long hair tickled my face.

“Koko.”

She called me, but I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I just called her name back.

“Huh?”

Tilting her head to the other side, Koko lay down next to me as if trying to figure out why I was lying there.

With the three of us lying side by side like fish on a grill, Kagami, who was coming from the kitchen, tilted her head curiously.

She had a tray with neatly cut watermelon slices in her hands.

“What are you three doing in a row?”

When Kagami asked that, I thought for a moment and said:

“Meow.”

“Meow?”

When Koko repeated after me, Kagami’s body twitched.

She quickly put the tray on the table and somewhat urgently picked up her camera.

Click.

She took a picture of the three of us lying side by side.

Kagami’s photography skills improved day by day, to the point where I thought she might become quite proficient with smartphones by the 2010s.

Actually, she occasionally posts our photos online these days. Her blog gets quite a lot of visitors.

Maybe later we could compile those writings into a book.

She also regularly uploads videos, and lately she seems to be getting the hang of it.

“Hey, Kotone, Kotone.”

Kagami called my name.

“Could you make that sound one more time?”

“Meow.”

At my response, Kagami put her hand on her heart.

Then she quickly approached us and deliberately squeezed herself between Koko and me.

Wait, wouldn’t that be too hot? Even with the air conditioner running inside, we were being baked in the sunlight.

Kagami didn’t seem to mind the heat at all and hugged Koko and me tightly with both arms.

“Wow!”

Koko shouted happily.

Seeing our mom happily hugging us with both arms, well, temperature didn’t matter anymore. We had watermelon ready anyway, so if it got too hot, we could just get up and eat some.

But somehow, it seemed unfair for just the three of us to be like this.

“Meow!?”

I grabbed Kuro, who had been dozing with his belly on the ground under the sunlight, and put him in our embrace.

But Kuro doesn’t particularly like moving, even normally. Perhaps finding our embrace warm, he didn’t feel the need to escape and just sprawled in our arms.

…That’s somewhat annoying.

Well, there’s a reason he’s a cat.

Even though he’s gotten this fat, he still likes narrow spaces and warm places—that’s what makes him a cat.

“…”

Hmm.

I don’t particularly want to go to a wider place either, and I like warmth, so I guess we’re somewhat similar.

Though I haven’t seen him since then, I’m still grateful to that “Kuro.”

And lately, I’ve been constantly feeling what his words meant.

Perhaps Kuro was telling me how to live the life I so desperately wanted.

Like a cat, playfully.

It doesn’t need to be spacious. If anything, this is just right. This place where I can see the people I want when I want. This place where I only need to take a few steps outside to see friends. I like this place where I can see precious people and feel at ease as soon as I enter.

Cool places are nice, but I like being in someone’s embrace like this. I like this moment that shows I’m not alone, that there are people to be with.

I don’t know if all cats are like this, or if it’s just me.

If I were to write this as a report, the sample size would still be insufficient.

So, it might not be bad to take it easy and live slowly like a cat for a while longer.

Just like now,

Lying leisurely under warm sunlight, nodding off.