Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatte Iru - Volume 5 - Chapter 5

5

Komachi Hikigaya considers that one day, her brother may leave.

It was approaching mid-August, about the time when that summer vacation feeling begins to fade. When I counted the days I had left, melancholy washed over me. It gave the words an eerie ring to them as they came out of my mouth, like the ghost in “Bancho Sarayashiki.” August fiiiiirst… August seeeecond… I’m short two moooooonths! Frankly, I wanted about three more months.

I crossed off one more day on the fridge calendar with the dismay of counting down the days until the world was destroyed. If I put a circle on the calendar, that would be Takoyaki Manto Man. There were only two weeks of summer vacation left. Hey, did you do a time leap? I put my finger on the calendar one more time to make sure. Seriously, did I just count it wrong or something? That’s when something crawled up to my feet.

“…What?” I looked down to see the family cat, Kamakura, gazing up at me with displeasure.

We stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Kamakura snorted and flopped down on top of my feet. You’re in the way, dude. He seemed to be demanding attention.

Come to think of it, Komachi had constantly been with Sablé for the past two or three days. I guess Kamakura wasn’t happy about that and was compelled to come to me instead. I sat down on the floor with an oof and started giving him some full-body petting. At first, I slowly stroked him from head to tail in the direction of his fur. After a while, he started purring, so I began rubbing around with my fingers like a gentle massage. Kamakura closed his eyes, huffing in pleasure. He seemed pretty tired.

Well, no surprise there. The entire time Sablé had been with us, he had been chasing Kamakura around. Even here at our house, Sablé ran here and there and everywhere with the unbridled restlessness typical of a small dog. And this seemed to have been his first encounter with a cat. Sablé was extremely curious about Kamakura and charged at him as if to say, Play with me! And every time, Kamakura would run someplace Sablé couldn’t reach, like on top of the fridge or behind a dresser.

And to make it worse, Sablé drew Komachi’s attention away from Kamakura by bothering her nonstop with one thing or another, leaving the cat with no choice but to come to me. Sorry I’m your only option.

“Well, you know. Just put up with him and let him have his way until the end of the day today… You’re the older brother, you know.” I gave Kamakura a speech rather like the one I’d received when I was little. I don’t know how old Sablé is, but Kamakura has a longer history in the Hikigaya household, so that gives him seniority. Like a younger performer with a longer career might have.

After my attempt at persuasion, Kamakura slapped his tail on the floor: his grudging reply. Sorry.

I continued stroking his fur, smooshing his paws, and fluffing up his tummy. That’s when the door to the living room opened.

“Bro! …Oh-ho, what a rare combo.”

Hearing my name, I lifted my head to see Komachi with Sablé in her arms. Hey, how is it rare to see a cat with his master? What are you trying to say here? “I’ve got something of an affinity for cats,” I said.

“You do come off as kinda feline.”

I don’t know what she meant by that. Am I really territorial or something? But I deliberately chose to interpret her remark positively. “I suppose. I am indeed the king of beasts.”

“Uhhh… Sure, I guess.”

“Why suddenly no comment? Don’t give me that pitying look. Didn’t you know? Male lions don’t do any work at all.”

“You really are the king of beasts!” she cried.

“Right?” I gave a triumphant snort.

Sablé yipped from Komachi’s arms as if in reply. Kamakura snorted a funsu! and stood from where he was sprawled over my feet. He yawned wide like a catbus and wandered off. As he took his leave, he swished his tail back and forth just as if he were waving a hand. I watched him go with a hint of a wry smile on my face.

“So did you want something?” I asked, pushing myself to my feet.

Komachi replied with a start as if just remembering what she’d come here for. “Oh! Yeah, yeah. Lend me your phone, Bro.”

“All right, but what for?”

“Hmm, well, I heard there’s this app called Dog-lingual? You have your dog bark into it, and it tells you how he feels!”

“Huh. So that’s a thing?” Sounds handy. They should come up with a Human-lingual. What people say doesn’t necessarily reflect what they actually feel, after all.

“Come on, come on!” Komachi urged me, so I picked up the phone I’d left on the table. My fingers slid skillfully along the phone’s surface until the download screen opened. Among the listed apps, there was not only Dog-lingual but also a Cat-lingual.

“Oh, get the Cat-lingual while you’re at it,” said Komachi.

“Righto.” I downloaded the Dog-lingual app and the Cat-lingual app as instructed. “Here.” I launched Dog-lingual and handed it to Komachi.

She put down the dog and tried out the app immediately. “Come on! Come on, Sablé! Say something!”

“Yip!” (Play with me!)

“Well, I guess that’s it.” The message displayed in the Dog-lingual app was about what I’d expected. That was a fairly normal doggy desire.

Komachi continued to keep the app turned toward Sablé. Sablé, like his owner, was good at picking up on what other people wanted, I guess, since he diligently barked into the phone.

“Yip!” (Play with me!)

“Yip!” (Play with me!)

“Yip!” (Play with me!)

“Yip!” (Play with me!)

Huh? What’s going on? Is this just copy-paste?

“Maybe it’s broken, Bro,” said Komachi.

“No, I haven’t used that phone enough to break it.” Maybe I could bark like a dog to test it. If Dog-lingual displayed something else, it would mean the app was working fine. I promptly began howling toward the future.

“Bowwow!” (I do not want to get a job, that I do not!)

Terrifyingly accurate. Not even an expert could translate that so elegantly. “Looks like it isn’t broken after all.”

“Yeah, you’re what’s broken here, Bro.” Komachi was beyond exasperated; she had nearly given up. She had the enlightened expression of a high monk.

I would like everyone in my family to know that even I am a little hurt when my own flesh and blood looks at me with such warmth. “…Anyway, he says he wants to play,” I said.

“Hmm. I guess he needs to go on a walk, then,” she replied.

“Yeah, go on, then.” Then I wouldn’t have to hear him yipping at me for a while. He’s cute, but it’s obnoxious when he’s running around the house 24/7.

“Then get me the leash.  ”

“Yeah, yeah.” I did as Komachi said, pulling Sablé’s leash from the implements Yuigahama had left to us.

“Thanks. Okay, then put it on him. I’ll hold him still.” Komachi grabbed Sablé and clung to him as if to say, Leave this to me; you go on ahead! While she had him still, I attached his leash.

“Okay, is this fine?” I asked, swinging the hand grip back and forth.

Komachi nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah. All right, then let’s go walk this dog!” She pointed at the door with her whole arm.

“You’re telling me to do it?” I asked.

“More like I’m walking you. If I don’t do this, you’ll never leave the house.”

Well, that’s true. They don’t call me Hikki for nothing. I let out a deep sigh, emphasizing with my whole body and soul how much I didn’t want to go. But Komachi didn’t seem to care one whit, prodding me in the back as she urged me.

“Come on, come on. I’ll go with you.”

The sun had already descended, and in the wash of ink over the indigo sky, the white moon was drawing its bow. The area I live in is quiet, the sort of residential block with a one-generation-old look you’ll find in any city, but you can find a smattering of fields by the river that runs along the main road, and the street is lined with where farmers live and work. A long time ago—when my mother was young, so about thirty years ago, I guess—there were apparently fireflies around here, by the river and fields. In other words, there aren’t anymore. Why do the fireflies die so quickly?

As I recalled what she’d told me, I looked out over the paddies, thinking maybe I’d see one.

Something rustled. A passing wind bowed the ears of rice. After a plentiful shower of sun during the day and sucking up water and nutrients from the ground, the rice was full and ripe. It was as if the wind was pushing its way through the field. When I was little, I used to think it looked like the work of something supernatural.

I don’t see any fireflies or spirits now.

Why is it that people are so taken in by nostalgia? People claim, It used to be better or The good old days or Oh, this reminds me of the Showa era! The older it is, the more of a positive light people are prone to seeing it in. They think fondly of the past and yearn for olden times, or they lament and mourn what has changed, what has been changed. Doesn’t that mean that, fundamentally, change is cause for sadness? Are growth, evolution, and transition really so joyous, right, and wonderful? Even if you don’t change, the world and everything around you will. What if everyone is just desperately chasing after the crowd because they don’t want to be left behind?

When there is no change, no sadness comes into the world. In my opinion, preventing the birth of something negative has serious advantages, even if it means nothing is born at all. If you check your balance sheet and you’re not in the red, then you’re heading in the right direction, economically speaking.

That is why I won’t rule out the option of never changing. I have absolutely no intention of denying who I was in the past or who I am in the present. Change is, ultimately, about running away from your current situation. If you choose not to run, you should stay the same; you should stand firm right there. There are things to be gained from not changing. It’s like how you’ll learn moves faster if you cancel evolution with the B button. I answered that question for myself at some point… I feel like it was a long time ago.

Komachi was holding the leash as if she enjoyed the feeling of being tugged along. “Hey, hey, watch out. There’s a car.” The vehicle skimmed by us.

Sablé snorted and sniffed some grass, then began scarfing it down. Both dogs and cats eat grass like this so they can cough up hairballs, so this is a necessary process on walks. Komachi and I stopped, waiting there for Sablé to finish literally chewing the scenery.

Komachi compared me and Sablé, then gave me a pleased smile. “Man, it’s been so long since we last went for a walk together.”

“Yeah.” It had indeed been quite a while since we had gone out strolling together. I tend to prefer spending my time at home, so unless we have a clear goal like shopping or a pet show, I don’t walk around with Komachi very often.

Sablé tugged at the leash, and Komachi smiled at him. “Okeydoke. Let’s go.” Sablé yipped in response and launched into the characteristic hoppity-hop walk of the miniature dachshund. I followed after them.

So many lights intermingled—the faint afterglow in the western sky, the evenly spaced streetlamps coming on at once, and the sundry lights of each house. In the slowly dimming town, the currents of people flowed in various directions: salarymen heading home, housewives going shopping for dinner, elementary schoolers running alongside their bicycles with friends, middle schoolers chatting at the convenience store on the way back from clubs, high schoolers just going to hang out, and mothers going to pick up their children. The scene was filled with the type of nostalgia and warmth you often take for granted.

“It’s a blessing to have someone there to welcome you home,” Komachi murmured.

“Yeah, I guess. Not in every single circumstance, though.”

“Wow, you really are a killjoy,” said Komachi, clearly fed up with me.

But hey, I mean, there are exceptions to every rule. I might be like, Oh, there’s no one here to welcome me home…, but if some random hippo suddenly showed up to greet me and recommend me some mouthwash, I would not feel blessed at all.

“You may be a killjoy, but I’m still happy when you welcome me home.” Komachi looked away from me toward Sablé.

As her pace slackened, I passed by her. I had to have her behind me, or she’d see my face relaxing into a smile. “I don’t really do it for you, though. I just happen to be there, okay?” I retorted, embarrassed, and there was the slightest pause.

“Still. It’s nice,” she said warmly, and without thinking, I turned around. Komachi closed her eyes and put one hand to her chest. As if to confirm the faint but gradually warming heat, she spoke each word slowly. “That just now was Admirable and Noble Little Sister Komachi showing off her cuteness.” Her smile was the fakest one I’d seen all summer.

“Uh-huh…” So obnoxious… I straightened my shoulders out of their droop and started walking again, leaving Sablé and Komachi behind. Good grief, she’s really not cute when it comes to the important stuff. Usually, she’s cute. Supercute.

Komachi kicked a pebble with the toe of her sandal and gazed up at the flickering stars just beginning to shine. “While you were away in the hospital, Kaa was there for me, anyway. He actually comes to the door for me.”

“He doesn’t come to the door for me. He just looks down at me from the veranda.”

“That’s just him being disagreeable to hide how much he cares,” Komachi joked, giggling. “It’s a rough life being surrounded by you hinedere types.”

“That again? I’m not secretly soft and caring.” In fact, I’m not disagreeable, either. On the contrary, there’s no one more upright than me. I just seem twisted despite my respectable life because the world is so warped and distorted.

“Well, it’s nice to have someone welcome me home, hinedere or not.” This time, she was chuckling.

“What? I’m not gonna be around forever. You’ve gotta let go of your brother’s apron strings.”

“Huh…? You’re gonna move out, Bro?” Komachi stopped in place and turned to look at me. Gone was that manufactured, pasted-on smile. Now, she looked like she’d been shot all of a sudden.

“Of course not. I’d never leave without a reason.”

“That’s a relief…”

“Living at home is so easy, it’s great. I’ll take unemployment to the limit. It’s just how I roll.”

“…or not. I’m anxious about your future…” Komachi held her head in her hands.

I put my hand over hers and gave her head a gentle thump. “I can live at home while I’m going to school, and I plan to pick a university I can commute to. I’m not leaving unless something drastic happens.” If I can get into the university in Chiba city, the commute is an hour or so, and that’s good enough. Well, if it was the campus in Kanagawa or Tama, I’d have to do some thinking. And Tokorozawa… That place is so remote, I’d need to go in heavily armored.

“I think that’s kinda weird for a guy your age. Don’t you want to move out at all?”

“Eh, not really,” I said. “Our parents are pretty laissez-faire, and they both work, so I get time to myself. There isn’t really anything inconvenient about it.”

“…Or so he justified it to himself, but in truth, he just didn’t want to move out because he’d be too lonely if he lived apart from Komachi.”

“What’s with the weird monologue?” Ha-ha-ha, don’t be so stupid, ha-ha-ha. “There’s just no benefit in living on my own. It costs money, and I’d have to spend time and effort doing chores. How can you do chores when you don’t get anything for it, anyway? Don’t you know the principle of equivalent exchange?”

The Hikigaya family isn’t on bad terms. Our dad is completely worthless, but really it’s just his ideas and everything he says that’s garbage. I don’t really have any complaints about him aside from that. I’ve never seriously considered moving out, so in that sense, I have no real desire for independence. Not without reason, anyway. Well, I guess people who live alone must have reasons for what they do.

“Oh, you!” said Komachi. “We all know you’re actually so lonely!”

“Huh? What is this loneliness you speak of? Is it something you’ll go check out, something you’ll go find in your neighborhood Akihabara?” I don’t experience that kind of emotion. I’m the type who loves his alone time more than anything else, so to me, loneliness is my wonderful something.  

“I’d be lonely, though.”

She totally ignored my joke. Ngh, I guess it was a little forced! Komachi was dribbling the conversation right past me like a pro soccer player, so I dropped the joke and went with it. “Well, maybe you would be, but I—”

“I’m not just talking about you. I mean, Yukino lives alone, doesn’t she? I wonder about her… I wonder if she’s okay.” She seemed to be implying that perhaps even Yukino Yukinoshita experiences a touch of loneliness in her life. Though Yukinoshita conducted herself in an absolutely perfect manner, she occasionally revealed her fragility. Or perhaps you could call whatever it was a sense of transience. Not that I understand what that means yet, though.

“And…,” Komachi continued, “I think the people who get left behind feel lonely, too.”

…Yeah, that was true. I wonder why I thought the only one who would be lonely is the person who leaves, even though the people left behind would surely feel the same. If Komachi were to get married and move out, I know I’d blubber like a baby.

Komachi tugged the leash to prompt Sablé to get going. I took over the leash as if taking a baton from her.

“Bro?”

“You must be tired. I’ll handle it.”

She was obviously not going to be tired from walking such a tiny dog. Only an extremely feeble girl would be tired out by that. Komachi gave me a curious look before breaking into a sudden smile. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll make sure you don’t wander off anywhere,” she said, squeezing my hand.

“I said I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay at home until I get married off.”

“…Does ‘married off’ really apply to househusbands, too?”

“Then until I get married on.”

“Well, I guess…it doesn’t really matter.”

It’s been so long since we last took this path, and the town has changed from how it used to be. Let’s go the long way around and head home.

Right when dinner was just about ready, the doorbell rang. Komachi was standing in front of a pot on the stove, so I decided to get it instead. I could see Yuigahama on the intercom screen, cheerfully adjusting her hair. I figured she was there to pick up Sablé. Once I’d checked the intercom, I went out to let her in.

When I opened the door, she waved. “Oh, yahallo!”

“’Sup.”

“Here’s your souvenir,” she said, handing me a paper bag.

From the size and weight, it didn’t seem to be a wooden sword. Too bad. I would have been rather pleased to receive a keychain of a little sword with some random dragon winding around it or a glow-in-the-dark skull keychain.

“You can only get them there!” she said.

“Huh…”

I looked into the paper bag, as Yuigahama instructed, and inside were sweets from her trip. Well, they were a regional version of snack you’d often see for sale. It was a pretty safe choice. It indicated where she had gone, and she had also been careful to choose something that few people would dislike. The sweets were in individually wrapped packets, so it would be easy to pass around at work or school. It was a very tactful souvenir. But seeing her gift suddenly reminded me of a particular incident. “These are…”

“Huh? You don’t like them?” Yuigahama peered into the paper bag in my hands, looking worried.

“No, they’re fine, but…girls always buy something like this as a souvenir, don’t they? And then they pass them around to all the other girls in class.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Some people don’t, though. Like Yumiko.”

Miura, huh? I’d expect nothing less of the queen. She takes it for granted that other people should be the ones buying stuff for her, and I can respect that. “Once, someone put a wrapper from some region-limited snack into my shoe cubby,” I said. “It was definitely one of the girls in my class. She clearly had no desire to hide the crime, either. Her confidence just made it hurt all the more…” A dry chuckle welled up in my throat.

Panicking, Yuigahama attempted to amend the situation. “I-it’s okay—that’s not gonna happen this time!”

“I hope not.”

“It’ll be fine!” Yuigahama insisted, clenching a fist. “Nobody’s even aware of you enough to do something like that.”

“That’s true.” Her comforting skills were practically nonexistent, but she was actually convincing anyway, so whatever. I’m really glad my stealth abilities have been giving me results. They’re so good, they could even work on the Ant King. I was relieved to hear I would be able to spend the second semester in peace and tranquility.

Yuigahama, however, was peering into the house from the door with a little concern. “So how is Sablé?”

“Oh, he’s good,” I told her. “Komachi!” I called into the house.

Komachi came to the door, holding Sablé in her arms. He yipped.

When she saw him, Yuigahama smiled. “Thanks, Komachi!”

“It was nothing,” my sister replied.

Yuigahama petted the dog in Komachi’s arms and asked, “He didn’t cause you trouble?”

“Oh, no, not at all,” replied Komachi. “We played together with Dog-lingual and stuff. It was fun.”

“Dog-lingual? Oh, that thing. I remember they used to have that, a long time ago.”

“There’s an app out now,” I said, but since it would be faster just to actually show her, I launched the program.

“Let me see, let me see.” Yuigahama circled around for a better view of my phone, and then to test it out, she tried calling out to her dog. “Come on, Sablé! It’s me!”

Sablé tilted his head, looking puzzled. “Waff?” (Who’s she?)

“Sablé?!”

The despair in her tone probably startled him, as he yipped and ran around my ankles. I scooped him up in my arms and then gently put him into the carrier Komachi had brought over. I zipped it up and handed it to Yuigahama. “Here. He’ll remember you in a couple of days.”

“Ngh… I really wanted him to remember…” She was half in tears, but she held the carrier firmly and with care. Sablé pressed his nose against the mesh and whined.

“…See you, then,” I said. I hadn’t been all that partial to the dog, but now that it was time to part, there was a little something welling up inside me. If he started yipping in protest, then all the more.

“Bring Sablé over again sometime to play, Yui.” Komachi, her eyes a little wet, took Yuigahama’s hand. She had been glued to our guest for the past three days.

“I will! For sure!”

“Yes, please do,” said Komachi. “When our parents are here, with a box of cakes, while you’re doing your greetings.” Komachi’s eyes glinted suspiciously.

“Yeah, greeting your pa… Wait, what?! No! No, I’m not going after all!”

Komachi clicked her tongue quietly, her expression quickly changing back to normal. “Anyway, I hope you do come over again sometime. I’ll be waiting.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Yuigahama expressed her gratitude, then heaved up Sablé and the rest of the doggy things. It was about time for her to go.

And that’s when I remembered. “Oh yeah, about Yukinoshita. She might be at the fireworks show. Miss Hiratsuka was saying that since it’s a municipal event, a lot of VIPs will be showing up with their families.”

“Oh, really? All right. I’ll go and check it out.” Yuigahama paused for a moment as if something had suddenly occurred to her. She quietly took a deep breath and focused on me. “U-um…s-so do you want to go see the fireworks together? As thanks for taking care of Sablé. I’ll buy you some kind of food there.”

“You hear that, Komachi? Let’s go to the fireworks,” I said.

The two of us going alone together had never been an option. Besides, I mean, if this was her thank-you, Komachi should go as the one who had actually been taking care of Sablé.

Komachi apparently saw right through me. She set her hands on her hips and let out a tiny sigh of exasperation. “Good grief,” she muttered, “completely useless, as always,” but I ignored her. Komachi offered Yuigahama her apologies. “Oh, I’m really flattered by your invitation. But I’m so busy studying for exams. I know you want to do something for me, but I don’t know if I can go out…”

“Oh…of course.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Buuut! But, but! There’s some stuff I’d like you to come help me buy. But, well… Agh, I just don’t have the time to go! I really want it, but I don’t have the time to go shopping! Whatever shall I do?! It’s so much to carry, too, so you’d have some trouble getting it on your own, Yui,” Komachi recited with incredibly forced delivery, and then the little twit looked right at me.

Yuigahama realized what that meant and jumped on that opportunity with gusto. “Oh! Y-yeah! Hikki! Why don’t you come with me to buy that thank-you gift for Komachi? She’s done a lot for you, too, after all!”

“U-uh… Well, um…” I racked my brain for a reply, but Yuigahama was staring straight at me.

I could hear Komachi whispering quietly behind me. “I’d be worried about a girl going all alone to the fireworks show, you know! It’s so dangerous out there these days… Oh, if only there were some boy right now who had the time to go…”

“U-um, if you have plans to go with someone, or if you’re busy, you…don’t…have to, though…” Yuigahama hedged, giving me a timid glance.

When I say I’m doing “nothing much,” I’m doing literally nothing. So of course I was also free on the day of the fireworks. Plus, in the face of such an appeal, there was no way I could refuse. The inner and outer moats were already filled in. It was like the summer campaign of the Siege of Osaka.

“Well, since this is for Komachi, too, then. Call me whenever,” I said, returning to the living room.

Just before I shut the door, her cheerful reply reached my back. “Yeah, I’ll e-mail you later!”

With Sablé gone, the house was now quiet. It was so still, it was like all that 24/7 yipping had never happened. As I washed the dishes, the clinking rang out clearly. When I turned off the faucet in front of me, I could hear the sound of an insect far away. The Hikigaya household would probably remain in this typically tranquil mood until our parents came home.

From the kitchen, I could see Komachi sinking into the sofa, somehow cheerless as she let out a long sigh. I filled a glass with barley tea pulled from the fridge and handed it to her. “For all your hard work.”

She accepted the proffered glass and guzzled it down all in one go, giving a satisfied ahhh before returning the glass to me with a grunt. “Man, I’m tired… I feel like I’ve just sent my child off into the world.” Komachi seemed greatly aged, wearing a calm expression that belonged on a granny zoning out on the veranda.

“It’s that bad…?”

“But this is Yui, so maybe I can relax and leave it to her…”

“He was never your dog in the first place. Just how shameless can you get…?” I sighed.

Komachi looked up at me, tilting her head. “Huh? Oh, we’re talking about Sablé?”

“What? We weren’t? Then what were we talking about?”

“Nothing!” On the sofa, Komachi flopped over and rolled around lazily. She reached out to pull a cushion toward her but was prevented by the sleeping Kamakura sprawled out on top of it. The cat seemed more relaxed than usual. He usually slept curled up, but this time he was stretched out with abandon, with one paw stretched over his head, one paw on the chest, and one leg bent like that guy who always went “Sheeeh!” I guess now that Sablé was gone, he could finally let his guard down. His fuzzy tummy was completely exposed and vulnerable. It was the kind of no-guard strategy that would make even Southern Black Panther Ray Sefo reflexively go on the defensive.

When Komachi saw that, her eyes sparkled. “Kaaaa-yutie!” She pounced on him, burying her face in his tummy, smooshing his paws so hard they might come off and purring in unison with him. “Oh! We could ask what he really feels like right now! Bro, Cat-lingual! Hurry up and get it! Come on, come on!”

“A-all right.” As instructed, I hurriedly got my phone, launched the app, and immediately handed the phone to Komachi. Komachi thrust it in Kamakura’s face.

“Purr, purr, purr.” (I’m suffocating… Help… Itchy. Tasty.)

“Kaa?!” Komachi panicked.

Hey, is this cat okay? And is the guy who made this app okay? He’s the one who’s messed up, isn’t he?

After that little incident, Komachi played with Kamakura nonstop as if to stave off her loneliness. Though Sablé hadn’t been with us for very long, she had given him a lot of TLC.

Their frolicking made for a charming scene, and after I’d watched them for a little while, Komachi peeked at my phone. “Oh, Bro,” she said. “Your battery’s running out.” She held it out to me.

“Mm-hmm. Okay,” I said, accepting it. Indeed, the battery life was down to a few percent. It would run out of juice at any minute. I noticed the tiny clock displayed in the upper corner of the screen—it was getting rather late. “Perfect timing. You should get back to studying.”

“Okaaay!” Komachi gave Kamakura one final pet and slid off the couch to leave the living room. She was probably going to study in her own room.

Finally released from Komachi’s clutches, Kamakura sauntered up to me just as he had when Sablé had been with us, looking drowsy and tired. You’ve been working hard, too.

While I was hunting for my charger so I could keep my phone on, Kamakura gave a high-pitched mewl. The Cat-lingual app was still running, and it flashed some characters on the screen.

I laughed in spite of myself when I saw it. “Yeah, no kidding.”

Kamakura meowed once more in reply, but the screen had already gone dark.