Case 05: The Cat Mystery (5)

I staggered back to the university carrying the bag with Miiko inside.

The sun was already high in the sky. I chose a less crowded part of campus and sat alone on the edge of the lawn.

I put my fingers in my hair, and tore my hair out. Not knowing what to do from now on, I unconsciously took out my phone. There was a message on my phone. It was from Krishna-san.

《Congratulations on finishing your work. You’ve done well.》

I should have felt jubilant at being praised, but my heart remained still and heavy as iron.

My dead cat has returned to me.

I thought about replying that way, but decided not to.

I don't know where to begin the story, and Krishna-san might recognize Miiko as a monster cat and start working to exorcise her. But I felt that wasn’t true. She hasn't done anything wrong. She simply returned to be by my side, to fulfill the promise she kept with me.

A light breeze blows past me.

I guess summer has ended, I surmise as I look up to the sky.

In front of the main school building, lots of students were laughing as usual. They were all dressed in clean, trendy clothes, laughing happily together and having fun as if they alone exemplified youth. It really wasn’t the kind of atmosphere I could join in straight away, but even just being around so many students, I felt the fear clinging to my body slowly dissipate. After watching them for some time – I finally gathered the courage to open my bag.

I took a single breath, and outstretched my trembling fingers – towards the zipper.

And in a single breath, I opened the bag.

There was no such thing as a monster inside.

Nor was there any sign of the slanted woman.

There was only Miiko, who pushed her face out of the bag with a small meow.

Miiko wasn’t smiling anymore.

She merely looked up to me with a single-minded look of trust on her face.

With a sigh of relief – I stroked Miiko as I inquired.

“Are you… Momo’s reincarnation?”

I felt like an idiot. If she were to answer ‘That’s right’, what would I do then?

But I couldn’t help but ask.

Miiko merely looked up to me with clear eyes. She neither made a sound, nor spoke.

It really must have been an auditory hallucination back then. I had half-heartedly tried to return Miiko to Ooki, and my reluctant heart had ended up hearing that auditory hallucination.

But --- all of a sudden, I felt it again, a gaze.

It was that gaze. The gaze that had been haunting me lately, as if I were confronting an unfathomably deep hole.

--Where is it? Where is it… coming from…?

I tried to trace that presence as I looked around me, and… I noticed it.

On rooftop of the building of the main school building, someone was there.

It was a thin, young girl. She was tall, wearing white clothes. Her shoulder-length hair danced in the wind. She was swaying like a paper doll. Her face was too far away to make out, but --- but the edges of her eyes were dark and hollow. Only the area around her eyes remained unnaturally dark. But I knew that those hollow eyes were fixed on me.

“…Ah.”

Suddenly, I felt as if the girl smiled – and it was the next moment.

Without warning, the girl… jumped.

Gradually, As if in slow motion.

Like a dream, she falls down to the ground from the roof.

As I reflexively flinched and looked away -- I heard a crunching sound.

I couldn’t move from that spot.

It was as if I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened in front of me.

Someone had jumped. From the roof. I heard a crunching sound. The sound of something being crushed. The sound of something bursting. However --- no one made a commotion. The students continued to laugh, as if nothing happened. They were laughing and murmuring, as if there was something fun going on. Apathy. Indifference. Insouciance. Even though someone fell. They paid no attention to events that didn’t concern them. To the very end, they shut themselves in their community. A community that I, and only I, could not enter. That's not true, is it? Even though someone fell down, why isn’t anyone coming to help?

Feeling a cold isolation -- I timidly turned my eyes to face the spot where the girl had fallen.

However, there was no one there. There was no body. There was no blood. That spot was just a stone floor with not a single piece of trash on it.

“…What…?”

The scenery blurred. I stared at the crowd of students, feeling like I wanted to cry.

--Something… was wrong with me.

It's not that they're coldhearted, it was I who was messed up.

It’s all because I’m not normal. It’s because I still haven’t been cured. That’s why, I couldn’t associate with those guys over there. It wasn't their fault, it wasn't that they were bullying me, it was just me who was broken.

I heard a voice say, ‘Meow.’

As if to gently comfort me, by saying, "It's okay.”

And then, I finally realized.

“So that’s why, huh?”

I spoke to Miiko – or rather, to the white cat reincarnation of Momo.

“So that’s the reason you are white?”

--A garment with a Saiwaibishi pattern.* A white short sleeved kimono.* The Uchikake that was worn--*

It reminded me of the only wedding I’d ever attended, the traditional Japanese wedding* of my paternal cousin.

My cousin was so beautiful, with a silent joy and a trace of nervousness on her white face.

Momo’s pure white fur, served as a white kimono.

To become my wife. To be my bride. To be my companion for life. And thenceforth, share in all my hardships. And if that wish couldn’t come true – she had demonstrated that she would simply die again.

Something inside me, something that was barely holding me together, broke away.

“Alright, I get it.”

I declared to that white kimono wearing woman.

I’m sorry. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. I remember my promise. I was about to say those words – when...

“Momo-chan isn’t thinking that at all.”

Hearing that familiar voice – I looked up, and saw -- Yoishi Mitsurugi.

In her usual Koumei school uniform, her black tie was swaying in the wind.

With her usually sickly pale face, her dark eyes shined, as she quietly started at me.

Miiko immediately began to growl as she leaned out of the bag.

But Yoishi didn’t care, as she bent forward.

“Get out.”

She brought her face right in front of Miiko’s, and asked.

“Who are you? What are you trying to do?”

With each word, Miiko growls became louder and angrier.

“You seem to be interested enough to live together and observe him – but why is that?”

However, I perceived it. Miiko wasn’t making a voice out of precaution or fear. Miiko was…laughing. She opened her red mouth in delight, as if she had found a being of her own kind. Yoishi continued to speak as if they had known each other for many years.

“Yes, that’s true. This person will certainly join his heart with anyone. Be it the living or the dead, as long as there's room for compassion, he'll do it. He can’t abandon others to their pain. Even if it has nothing to do with him, he can’t use that as a justification. That’s why he gets involved. That's the interesting thing about this person, he's helplessly foolish.”

I didn’t know if I was being praised or disparaged harshly -- but I continued to stare at Yoishi.

“However, if you intend to associate with this person any longer, I won’t show you mercy.”

Yoishi paused for a moment, gave Miiko a cold stare, and said:

“This person is a friend candidate of mine.”

---Friend… candidate…?

The hell is that? I wondered, as Yoishi suddenly outstretched her hands.

In the next moment, *Slap*, Yoishi slapped her hands in front of Miiko’s eyes with great force.

In an instant –

I felt something break. As if time quickly began to move again, a feeling of warm air seeping out of a crack in the ice. And then the strange air cleared up. Somewhere along the way, I realized that something heavy must have wrapped itself around me.

“It seems that Nekodamashi* is really effective.”

*TL/N: This is a sumo term meaning to slap your hands in front of your opponent's face to confuse him. In this case it’s also a pun because neko actually means cat in Japanese.

“…Nekodamashi?”

I remained dumbfounded at Yoishi’s words – before long, Miiko began to look around her surroundings restlessly, and started struggling to get out of my bag.

“H-hey, Miiko!”

However, it seemed like Miiko didn’t recognize me at all. As if she were surrounded by strangers she’d never seen before, she couldn’t understand why she was shoved into a bag. She squirmed and wriggled, eventually slipping out of my arms, and ran off somewhere at breakneck speed.

““H…hey, Miiko!”

In a panic I stood up, and Yoishi spoke to me.

“That cat’s probably not named Miiko.”

“Huh?”

“I think it’s just a stray cat.”

“No, what are you saying? That’s Ooki’s cat I was taking care of…”

“That’s not it.”

“I shouldn’t have kept ignoring her, that’s why the girl ended up turning her eyes to you.”

“…Huh?”

--A girl? Turning her eyes to me?

“Something resembling a stain that remained in this school. And the other ghost inside the clock tower.”

With those words, I recalled the thing I'd seen that night when I'd left the clock tower -- something clinging to the old woman's leg. ‘Because it’s fun, after all’, The whisper reverberated in my ears once more.

“It certainly is a slightly troublesome ghost.”

Yoishi spoke with a sigh and turned back. Just like that, she put her hands in her pockets and walked away, looking somewhat pained.

It was a few days afterwards.

I couldn't find Miiko no matter how hard I looked for her. Afterwards, I went to visit Ooki’s apartment again. I had lost the cat he had asked me to take care of. I was going to get down on my knees and apologize. As a token of my apology, I had even bought an expensive package of sweets with my full allowance this month. However, when he opened the door and came out, Ooki said something unexpected.

“Hey Nagito, it’s been a long time.”

“…Huh?”

“Well, I’ve been cooped up in here for a while now. I've been working hard on finishing my artwork for the school festival in the fall.”

I looked inside, the small room had an easel with an incomplete painting, countless art supplies on the side table, and it was filled with the pungent smell of turpentine and painting oil.

“Look at this. It’s gonna be a masterpiece, don’t you think? It's been a while since I've been on a roll like this.”

“Uh…Yeah it’s good, but… I wanted to talk about Miiko.”

“What the heck is Miiko?”

“…”

The conversation didn't go well, and I somehow took the long way around to find out that Ooki hadn't been to my house that day. In fact, he bluntly stated:

“I didn't leave my cat with you, and I never had a cat in the first place.”

…No, wait a minute.

Then who was the Mitsuru Ooki who came that day?

And worse yet, what was the Miiko he gave to me on that day?

“Do you think I even have the composure to take care of a cat? I might end up eating it if I get careless.”

He laughed at me with a dumbfounded look on his face; I tilted my head in contemplation and left Ooki’s place.

I returned to my university right away, and encamped outside of the affiliated school’s gate.

If I didn’t get an explanation from Yoishi, I’d be having nightmares about cats in my dreams.

Eventually the high school classes ended, and I found Yoishi coming out with her head dropped down, as always, she had the aura of death around her. I rushed over to her and started interrogating her.

“What the hell was that all about? Do you even know?”

With a vacant gaze Yoishi looked at me and spoke.

“Oh, it’s you.” She muttered her usual line.

"Don't 'it's you' me. And at least tell me your phone number for once. Why do I have to wait outside the school gates every time I want to meet you like some kind of flunkey?" Yoishi silently took out her black phone in response and displayed her phone number on the screen. Ohhh, I hurriedly typed it into my own phone and rang her number once.

“That’s my contact number.”

I told her, and then I felt pathetic, wondering why I finally did it after all this time.

“Anyway…that’s all and good. But about that cat. That white cat named Miiko. Ooki told me he never owned it, but what does it all mean?”

Yoishi then replied in a bothered tone of voice:

“Didn’t I tell you? That was just a stray cat.”

“No…surely, that’s not true. That cat was named Miiko, or rather, it was really Momo…”

I was mid-sentence when I suddenly realized.

That time – she definitely said: “Momo-chan isn’t thinking that at all.”

“Y-you, how did you know that name….? I mean, how did you know the name of the cat I had when I was a kid?”

“Because, you’ve always had a brown cat with a white streak by your side.”

“Huh?”

“I saw most of her memories: That she was called ‘Momo,’ that she often used to sleep by your side, and how much you cherished her.”

“I…is she here, now?”

When I asked her that, Yoishi shook her head quietly.

“She disappeared to try and get rid of the girl inside that cat. The Nekodamashi was certainly effective, but Momo’s help from the inside was essential.”

Saying that, Yoishi began to walk away.

--Wait a minute.

To get rid of? What do you mean she disappeared to get rid of the girl?

Confused, I ran ahead of Yoishi and turned around to ask:

“Hey, what are you saying? You mean to tell me that Momo’s been next to me ever since she died?”

Yoishi gave a small nod.

I --- I….

I never even… had the faintest clue. Why couldn’t I notice her existence in the least? Shaking my head in complete disgust at my own insensitivity, I once again asked:

“Say, Yoishi. Tell me…”

There were many things I didn’t know, like the troublesome ghost inside of Miiko, and why she was gazing at me. But right now, there was one thing I wanted to know far longer than anything else. No, it was something I needed to know.

“Didn’t Momo… didn’t she resent me?”

Yoishi stopped in her tracks. Then, after looking me straight in the eyes, narrowed her eyes slightly and said:

“The only thing in Momo-chan’s mind, were treasured memories.”

“…”

“She said that she loved you. That you always treated her like a person, not a cat. From the bottom of her heart, she was happy to disappear for your sake.”

…Damn it all, it’s no use.

The moment those words reached my heart, I forgot that I was standing in front of Yoishi, and... I burst into tears.