On my way home from college, I sometimes meet a cat near our house.
The cat is of course an animal cat, not Miyagi.
Miyagi is a better place to bump into a cat, but cats arenât bad either. I never liked cats, but I started seeing them because I live with people who look like stray cats.
There it is, there it isnât, there it is.
As I walk along, looking around, I see a tortoiseshell cat grooming herself on the side of the road. Some days there are cats and some days there arenât, so today is a lucky day.
ãHeyï½ Neko-chan.ã
I crouch down close to the cat.
ãWill you let me touch you today?ã
As I reached out my hand, thinking Miyagi would definitely say no, the tortoiseshell cat purredãUhnyaâãand let me pet her back. This cat, which is not around when I go to the college, seems to be a stray cat, but it lets me touch it once every few times. Even when she doesnât let me touch her, she doesnât scratch me.
Sheâs very different from Miyagi.
The tortoiseshell cat continues to be petted maturely. I used to think Miyagi was like a stray cat, but that is rude to stray cats. Stray cats are much more affectionate.
Well, Miyagi is only unfriendly to me.
Still, she isnât cold, and sheâs gentle in some ways. The other day she took care of me when I caught a cold. Thanks to the unusual care she gave me, my fever went down the next day and I think my cold went away faster. If I could have, I would have stayed sick all the time.
ãI hope youâre being nice to me, Iâm in good health.ã
I can say things to cats that I canât say to people.
Unlike Miyagi, I talk to the affectionate cat and stroke her back slowly and repeatedly. Todayâs tortoiseshell cat seemed to be in a good mood, and when I stroked the bottom of her throat, she rolled over and showed me her white belly.
ãThia is good service.ã
Iâm stroking her fluffy belly.
The tortoiseshell cat has a good amount of flesh on her, as if she had been fed from somewhere, and is comfortable to pet.
Come to think of it, Miyagiâs belly also felt good when I stroked it. It was neither too skinny nor too fleshy, Miyagiâs belly was moderately soft and receptive to my hands.
I would like to be able to touch it a little more easily.
As I was thinking such a nonsense, the cat ran away, perhaps sensing my thoughts.
ãDo cats understand my ulterior motives?ã
I get up and start walking away when I can no longer see the tortoiseshell cat. Within five minutes, I reach the house and open the front door. The light in the common area is not on, but Miyagiâs shoes are. I walked up to her room and knocked on the door, and Miyagi immediately appeared.
ãIâm home. Wanna make dinner?ã
When asked, Miyagi nodded.
I decide to make the main course today, which will be a frozen food called âyakisoba,â and leave my luggage in my room. Back in the common area, Miyagi was preparing the ingredients for a Chinese-style salad with bean sprouts. I decided to cut the cucumber and ham, and asked Miyagi to boil the bean sprouts. While the yakisoba is warming up in the microwave, throw the ingredients for the Chinese salad into a bowl and season.
In no time at all, dinner is ready and we eat it together.
After cleaning up, we make tea and go to my room. Miyagi sat down with the bed against her back. I put two mugs on the table and sat down next to her.
I turn on the air conditioner and raise the temperature setting once.
Although July is nearing and the temperature is getting warmer, Miyagi tends to complain that this room is cold. Since she have come to visit my room as a matter of course, I am willing to compromise at least once on the temperature.
I take a sip from my mug of tea.
Miyagi, who is sitting next to me, is also drinking tea silently. Miyagi, like a stray cat, is also quiet there when eating and drinking. I took another sip of my tea, almost reaching out my hand to Miyagi as I did with that tortoiseshell cat. As soon as I touched any part of her body, she would raise her fur and bite me.
ãMiyagi.ã
ãWhat is it?ã
ãIf I ask you to let me touch your belly now, will you let me?ã
ãDefinitely not.ã
Miyagi puts her mug back on the table and says in a grumpy voice, no matter how I ask.
ãI thought so. Iâm just saying.ã
I donât expect her to let me touch her.
I had no intention or expectation of doing anything Miyagi didnât want me to do. Still, I think I wanted as much affection as that tortoiseshell cat.
ãSendai-san is a pervert. Donât say something weird all of a sudden.ã
When she said this, Miyagi moves away from me just a little bit.
ãI have seen a cat in the neighborhood these days.ã
I donât want Miyagi to run away like a tortoiseshell cat, so Iâll tell her why Iâve been called a pervert.
ãA cat? Iâve never seen it.ã
ãEh? I sometimes have a tortoiseshell cat when I come home, have you seen it?ã
ãNot at all. What does that cat have to do with my stomach?ã
ãThat tortoiseshell cat let me pet its belly, so I was wondering if Miyagi would let me pet yours too.ã
.
ãI donât understand. Iâm not a cat. If a cat lets you pet its belly, pet the cat yourself.ã
Miyagi, like a stray cat, will deny that she was a cat.
ãWell, yes. Cats, theyâre not always around though.ã
I do not want to replace Miyagi with a cat.
To be clear, I want to touch her because it was Miyagi.
In fact, her place to touch doesnât even have to be the belly.
ãIâll think about it if Sendai-san will let me pet her belly.ã
ãOkay.ã
I respond seriously to Miyagiâs words, which I donât think she really meant.
ãEh?ã
ãI can stroke Miyagiâs belly instead, right?ã
ãYouâre still a pervert. Get away from me.ã
Miyagi wrinkles her brow and pushes my shoulder.
I brought up the exchange terms on my own, but she treats me badly.
Considering what Miyagi has said and done to me so far, she deserves the term âpervertâ more than I do. I never told her to lick my feet, nor did I tie her wrists.
What does Miyagi think I am?
I wonder what kind of me I am in her mind. But if I ask her what she thinks of me, she will definitely say âpervert,â so I ask her questions that will get her to answer in concrete terms.
ãHey, Miyagi. Are there any animals that look like me?ã
ãWhy are you asking me that all of a sudden?ã
ãSomehow. I donât have anything else to say. Answer me.ã
ãA dog.ã
Miyagi says plainly.
The short words do not seem to have come from serious thought.
ãWhat makes you think I was a dog?ã
ãYou do what I say.ã
As expected, it was that simple.
Itâs not surprising to find such an obedient animal, since I have been listening to most of Miyagiâs commands so far, but that was not a very interesting answer.
ãWas the dog, a poodle or a corgi?ã
ãNo. What makes you think youâre such a cute dog?ã
ãThe prettier, the better, right?ã
ãSendai-san is not that kind of cute dog, youâre a much bigger dog.ã
ãBig? Like a big dog?ã
ãYes.ã
ãWhat kind of dog, for example?ã
I know she would say Iâm a dog, but I didnât think she would say I was a big one. Iâm not that big and Iâm curious what kind of dog Miyagi imagines. But Miyagi doesnât say anything.
ãIs there a breed or something?ã
When I asked again, Miyagi answered as if she had no choice.
ãA dog with a thin face and body.ã
I donât know what to ask.
Is there a character of a lanky dog?
ãIs there such a dog like that?ã
ãYes. Iâve seen it on TV before.ã
ãI have absolutely no idea though.ã
ãLend me your tablet.ã
I handed her the tablet as told, and Miyagi began her search. She then immediately said,ãHere,ãand showed me the screen.
I look into the tablet Miyagi is holding. It showed dogs that were not the large dogs I knew, such as golden retrievers and Siberian huskies.
The dog has a thin face and body, as Miyagi said. Its ears are droopy. Its legs are awfully long, and the hair covering its body is long. The fluffy fur is mostly white, but there are a few patches of brown. It says â
ãIâm a dog like an aristocrat, but am I like this?ã
It is a beautiful dog, more than pretty, and has a noble air about it. If I saw this, I would never be able to tell Miyagi that she looks like a stray cat. It makes me feel like Iâm thinking terrible things.
ãItâs just size. Sendai-san, youâre taller than me.ã
It was certainly taller than Miyagi, but I think I was about the size of a medium-sized dog. Iâm not tall enough to be considered a large dog, and I donât think Borzoi looks like me.
ãIâd say itâs about four or five inches high.ã
ãSendai-san, how tall are you?ã
ã163cm. What about Miyagi?ã
ã157cm.ã
ãI donât think a six centimeter difference is big enough to be called a big dog.ã
ãItâs because youâre big.ã
She said this in a whisper, and Miyagi erases the image of Borzoi from my tablet. Then, as if in excuse, she said,ãI just felt like both of you looked alike.ã