It’s not here today either, huh.

          These days, I found myself glancing around on my way home from university, careful not to look suspicious, hoping to catch sight of the calico cat Sendai-san had talked about—but without any luck.

         「She wasn’t lying to me about the cat, was she?」

          I was starting to think that maybe the cat didn’t actually exist, though I couldn’t think of any reason for Sendai-san to make something like that up. If that were true, then the cat really did exist somewhere—it just didn’t want to show itself to me.

          That thought annoyed me.

          It was mean of the cat to show itself to Sendai-san but not to me.

          I quickened my pace and climbed the stairs. After going up three flights, I reached the front door, opened it, and took off my shoes.

          Sendai-san’s shoes weren’t by the entrance, and naturally, she wasn’t home either.

          I was usually the first one back, so I was used to opening the door to an empty apartment. Things had been that way ever since I was a child.

          It had always been normal for me to say, “I’m home,” and hear no response.

          Until Sendai-san started coming over to my place, being alone was my normal—to the point that I’d almost forgotten what loneliness felt like.

          But these days, I felt lonely whenever I was by myself for too long.

          That was how much Sendai-san had become part of my life.

          The emotions she’d brought with her were ones I’d never known when I was alone—and some of them were honestly annoying.

          I sighed and headed to my room.

          Picking up the black cat plush that had been lounging on my bookshelf, I climbed into bed with it.

          Sendai-san was off work today, so she’d be home early.

          The thought of her stopping to pet the calico cat before coming back made my heart uneasy.

          I stroked the black cat plush’s belly.

          It felt nothing like Sendai-san’s.

          The thing in my hands was just a stuffed animal. Sendai-san was a real person.

          Her body was warm, and she obviously didn’t have cotton stuffed inside her. When I placed my hand on her stomach, it would rise and fall with her breathing, and if I pressed too hard, she’d complain. It was much more interesting than touching a stuffed animal.

          If she’d let me, I’d want to touch her stomach again.

          That said, I hadn’t had the chance since then, so for now, I had to settle for the plush.

          I gave the black cat’s belly a squeeze.

          It wasn’t a squeaky toy, so its body only bent a little, and nothing else happened. Its face stayed exactly the same as when I’d been stroking it gently.

         「How boring.」

          I placed the black cat plush on my stomach and stroked its head.

          Sendai-san had said that she liked cats.

          Ever since the day she mentioned that, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some hidden meaning behind her giving me this cat plush for Christmas.

         … No, there was no way.

          From my bed, I glanced at the tissue box with the crocodile cover.

          Sendai-san had said back then that the black cat plush was supposed to be the crocodile’s friend.

          That was all there was to it. It was nothing more than an ordinary stuffed animal.

          And even if there had been some kind of meaning behind it, it was far too late to ask about it now.

          Every day, the things I wanted to know about Sendai-san kept growing—and that was all.

          Most of the things I wanted to know, I never ended up finding out. Instead, I learned other things about her.

          Things like how she liked cats more than dogs—so much that she’d actually go out looking for them.

          Or how her stomach felt even nicer to touch than all the times I’d touched her before.

          Though they weren’t the things I wanted to know, the small things I did learn about her made the frustration of not knowing what I really wanted to a little easier to bear.

          I sat up on my bed.

          I still had some assignments to take care of today.

          I’d been under the impression that university students spent their days hanging out with friends or just lazing around, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Things might change once I reached my second or third year, but even as a first-year student, I already had more to do than I’d expected.

          I’d thought I could get through university by slacking off whenever I wanted—but I was very wrong.

          I didn’t have time to just laze around forever.

          Reluctantly, I pulled out my laptop and turned it on. After setting out the papers I needed for my homework, I began typing, but about thirty minutes later, there was a knock at my door, followed by Sendai-san’s gentle voice.

         「You there, Miyagi?」

          I stood up and opened the door. Before I could even say anything, she greeted me with, “I’m home.”

         「Welcome home.」

         「I’m hungry. Wanna have something simple for dinner today?」

         「Sure.」

          There were so many things I wanted to ask her, but none of the words came out. As usual, I just went along with her.

          I left my room and walked over to where Sendai-san was standing by the dining table.

         「So, is Utsunomiya actually coming over?」

         「Yeah.」

          We’d agreed she would come on Sunday afternoon—the day after tomorrow.

          To be honest, I didn’t like the idea of Maika and Sendai-san being in the same room together. Seeing them side by side filled me with an indescribable feeling, like paint dissolving in water. But I’d promised Maika last month, so there was no backing out now.

         「Sendai-san, please make sure you don’t say anything weird to her.」

          I warned her, since she could be unpredictable. I doubted she’d touch me in front of Maika, but I was afraid she might say something that didn’t need to be said.

         「Of course I wouldn’t. I’m not going to do anything that’d cause trouble for you.」

         「I don’t believe that at all.」

         「Well, in that case, do you want me to swear on your earrings?」

          Sendai-san said, touching my ear.

          Her fingertips brushed my earlobe, ticklish enough to make me try to push her away, but she didn’t budge.

         「Not right now.」

         「Why not?」

          As she spoke, her fingers traced along my earring, then slipped behind my ear. There was something in her touch that felt like more than a simple promise, and my heart started pounding harder. I knew I was probably just being overly conscious of her, but I couldn’t help focusing on my ear.

          Even though I’d told her not to swear on my earrings right now, Sendai-san leaned in close anyway. Her warm breath brushed against the edge of my ear, and I kicked her in the leg.

         「Ow, that hurt.」

          Sendai-san pulled her hand away from my ear and stepped back.

         「I made sure to kick you hard enough so it would hurt.」

         「Come on, you should’ve held back a little.」

         「If I had held back, you wouldn’t have let go.」

         「Well, I guess that’s true. Anyway, are you sure you don’t want me to swear on your earrings?」

         「If I made you do that now, you’d probably turn around on the day of and say the promise expired the moment Maika showed up. So no, I’ll have you promise me on Sunday morning instead.」

          I was the one who decided the details of our promises and when she had to make them. If I let my guard down even a little, Sendai-san would definitely try to add or remove conditions without my permission.

         「You still don’t trust me at all, huh.」

          Sendai-san said in a dissatisfied tone as she opened the refrigerator.

         「Maybe I’d trust you a bit more if the cat had actually been there.」

          I trusted her more than I used to, but I still couldn’t bring myself to trust her completely.

         「Are you talking about the calico cat in our neighborhood?」

          She asked, closing the refrigerator door.

         「Yeah. I still haven’t seen it yet.」

         「… I swear it really exists, okay?」

          Sendai-san said, probably noticing the doubt in my voice, with a slightly troubled look on her face. Then she added, “Anyway, wanna have omelette rice today?”

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