Sometimes, on my way home from campus, I would run into a cat.

         Of course, I was talking about an actual cat, not Miyagi.

         Though, if I were to run into a cat, I’d much rather it be Miyagi — but a real one wasn’t so bad either. I’d never had any particular fondness for cats before, but ever since I’d started living with someone who resembled a stray cat, I’d begun noticing them more often.

         Sometimes, it was there. Sometimes, it wasn’t.

         I scanned the area as I walked, and before long, I spotted a calico cat grooming itself on the side of the road. Today seemed to be one of those days when the cat was willing to show itself.

         「Hey, little kitty.」

         I crouched down near it.

         「Will you let me pet you today?」

         I reached my hand out toward the cat. If this had been Miyagi, she definitely would have said no — but the calico simply meowed and allowed me to stroke its back. It never appeared on my way to campus, and it looked like a stray, but every now and then, it would let me pet it. And even on days when it didn’t, it never scratched me.

         It was very different from Miyagi.

         The calico continued to let me pet it. I’d always likened Miyagi to a stray cat, but now I knew that was an insult to actual stray cats. They were much friendlier than she was.

         Granted, the only person Miyagi was cold to was me.

         But she wasn’t completely heartless. She had a kind side too. Just the other day, she had taken care of me when I was down with a cold. Thanks to all the attention she gave me, my fever went down the very next day and I recovered in no time. It almost made me wish I were sick all the time.

         「I wish you’d be nice to me even when I’m not sick, though.」

         I murmured — something I could never say to the person herself, but somehow felt fine saying to a cat.

         Unlike Miyagi, the cat in front of me was very affectionate, and I could talk to it while gently stroking its back again and again. The calico seemed to be in an especially good mood today, because when I started petting the area around its neck, it rolled over and exposed its belly to me.

         「Oh, you’re so receptive.」

         I said as I stroked its fluffy belly.

         It had a nice layer of fat on it — probably because it was finding food somewhere — and it felt wonderful to pet.

         Speaking of which, Miyagi’s stomach had felt really pleasant to touch too. She wasn’t too thin or too chubby — just the right amount of softness under my hand.

         If only she’d let me touch her more, I thought. But as if reading my mind, the calico suddenly bolted.

         「So even real cats can tell when someone has ulterior motives, huh.」

         Once the cat was out of sight, I stood up and continued home. I made it back to the apartment in less than five minutes and opened the front door. The lights in the shared living space were off, but Miyagi’s shoes were by the entrance. I went up to her bedroom door and knocked. She opened it almost immediately.

         「I’m home. Do you want to start on dinner together?」

         I asked, and Miyagi nodded.

         I decided to make frozen shumai the main dish for dinner and dropped my bags off in my room before heading back to the kitchen. Miyagi was already prepping the ingredients for a Chinese-style bean sprout salad. I started slicing the cucumber and ham while she boiled the sprouts. By the time the shumai was spinning in the microwave, I had tossed everything into a bowl and dressed the salad.

         Dinner was ready soon after, and we ate together.

         After cleaning up our dishes, I brewed us some tea before we went back to my room. Miyagi sat down next to my bed, leaning her back against it. I placed two mugs on the table and sat down beside her.

         I turned on the air conditioner and raised the temperature slightly.

         It was almost July, and the weather had been getting warmer lately, but Miyagi often complained about how cold my room was. Since she’d been going out of her way to come hang out here more often, I figured I could compromise on this at least.

         I took a sip of black tea from my mug.

         Miyagi, sitting beside me, quietly sipped from hers too. Just like a stray cat, she was fairly docile whenever she was eating or drinking. I took another sip before reaching my hand out toward her — the same way I had with the calico earlier — though it felt like if I touched her anywhere, she would probably jolt upright and bite me.

         「Miyagi.」

         「What?」

         「If I asked for your permission to touch your stomach right now, would you let me?」

         「Absolutely not.」

         Miyagi’s voice was clearly grumpy as she set her mug back down on the table.

         「Yeah, I figured. I just wanted to try asking anyway.」

         I hadn’t expected her to let me.

         I had no intention of doing anything she wouldn’t like, and I didn’t actually hope she’d say yes either. But still, I wished she were even half as friendly as the calico I’d seen earlier.

         「You’re such a pervert, Sendai-san. Don’t say weird things out of nowhere.」

         Miyagi slid herself away from me.

         「You know how there’s a cat that hangs around our neighborhood?」

         I didn’t want her to run away like that cat had done, so I tried to explain myself.

         「A cat? I don’t think I’ve seen it.」

         「Huh? There’s this calico I keep seeing on my way home from school… You’ve never run into it before?」

         「No, but what does that have to do with you wanting to touch my stomach?」

         「Well, that cat sometimes lets me rub its belly, so I thought I’d try and see if you’d let me do the same.」

         「What are you even talking about? I’m not a cat, you know. And if that cat lets you rub its belly, then go rub its belly, not mine.」

         Miyagi — who was a lot like a stray cat — denied being one.

         「Well, yeah, I know. But the cat’s not always around.」

         It wasn’t that I wanted to use Miyagi as a substitute for the cat.

         If I was being honest, it was her I wanted to touch.

         And truthfully, it didn’t even have to be her stomach either.

         「I’ll consider it if you let me touch your stomach too, Sendai-san.」

         「Okay.」

         Miyagi didn’t sound serious, but I responded seriously anyway.

         「Huh?」

         「So you’ll let me touch your stomach in exchange, right?」

         「You know what, never mind. You’re such a pervert. Get away from me.」

         Miyagi frowned and tried to push me away by the shoulders.

         She was being so mean to me, even though she was the one who had brought up the idea of a trade in the first place.

         Plus, considering everything Miyagi had done to me before, she definitely deserved being called a “pervert” more than I did. I had never ordered her to lick my feet before, nor had I ever tried tying her wrists together.

         Just what does Miyagi think of me, anyway?

         I was really curious how she saw me. But if I asked her directly, she would definitely just call me a pervert. So instead, I decided to ask a different question that might give me a rough idea.

         「Hey, Miyagi. If I were an animal, what would I be?」

         「Why are you asking all of a sudden?」

         「Just for fun. It’s not like we have anything else to talk about, so answer the question.」

         「You’d be a dog.」

         Miyagi responded coldly.

         It didn’t seem like she had thought very hard about it.

         「Why do you think I’d be a dog?」

         「Because you obey my orders.」

         As expected, her reasoning was simple.

         Since I had obeyed all of her orders so far, I wasn’t surprised she picked an obedient animal. But I didn’t particularly like the answer.

         「A dog, huh. Like a poodle or a corgi or something?」

         「No. Why are you only listing the cute breeds?」

         「I don’t know. Being cute is better, isn’t it?」

         「You’re not one of those cute breeds, Sendai-san. You’re more like a big dog.」

         「Like a large breed?」

         「Yep.」

         「Do you have any examples?」

         I could understand why she thought I was a dog, but I hadn’t expected her to think of me as a large breed. I wasn’t that tall, so I was curious what kind of dog she had in mind — but she wouldn’t answer.

         「Do you have a specific breed in mind?」

         I asked again, and Miyagi answered as if she had no other choice.

         「Like one of those dogs with a really thin face and body.」

         I wasn’t sure what kind of breed she meant.

         Or maybe she was thinking of a specific character?

         「Are there really dogs like that?」

         「There are. I’ve seen them on TV before.」

         「I can’t think of any breeds like that, though.」

         「Let me use your tablet for a second.」

         I handed Miyagi the tablet, and she began searching for something. After a moment, she said, “Here, this one,” and showed me the screen.

         I stared at the tablet in her hands. Unlike a Siberian husky or a golden retriever, it was a breed I didn’t recognize. Just as Miyagi had said, the dog had a slender face and body. Its ears drooped, and its legs and body were unusually long. Its fur was white with brown patches here and there.

         Apparently, the breed was called a “borzoi,” but I had never heard of it before.

         「It looks like such a noble, aristocratic breed… Am I really like that?」

         Rather than “cute,” the word “beautiful” fit it better. It had a noble air about it too. Seeing that, I couldn’t bring myself to tell Miyagi I had compared her to a stray cat — it felt too cruel.

         「I only thought of it because you’re taller than me.」

         It was true I was taller than Miyagi, but not by that much. If anything, I felt more like a medium-sized dog. I couldn’t imagine myself as a borzoi.

         「You say that, but I bet I’m only about four or five centimeters taller than you.」

         「How tall are you, Sendai-san?」

         「163 centimeters. What about you?」

         「I’m 157 centimeters.」

         「Well, I don’t think a six-centimeter difference is enough to make me a large dog.」

         「No, you’re definitely a large dog.」

         Miyagi mumbled, closing the borzoi photo. Then she added, “It just kind of reminded me of you.”

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