His eyes were the color of blue skies. They were a very clear, almost transparent blue.
“Meow,” he cried out in a sweet voice. He was alone and had been placed in a worn-out cardboard box, with a towel inside for bedding. This was his home when they first found him.
“So cute!” Mai said, looking sweetly at him.
Mai lifted the tiny kitten from the box. He was a tortoiseshell cat with strong features. She took extra care to hold the trembling kitten as gently as possible.
The usual “please give me a home” sign was nowhere to be found. This was a back street, away from the more populated residential areas. It didn’t seem like whoever left it hoped it would be found.
On the other hand, the street was often used by grade schoolers as a shortcut. Someone aware of that might have thought that a child would pick the cat up out of curiosity.
In any case, it was Kota and Mai who had discovered him. Although Kota had no way of sensing this at the time, it was indeed a very momentous encounter for both of them. But instead, Kota thought it was only going to be a bit problematic.
Mai continued to hug the kitten and showed no signs of letting go.
Hmmm. This could be trouble… Kota thought.
He felt a stinging pain on the side of his head. It was a muscle memory of his mother’s fist, during a similar incident.
Six months before, Kota and Mai had found another kitten in an almost identical situation. The two of them had casually taken the cat home, but were both scolded severely by their parents. At the Seto household, Kota had been reprimanded by his mother.
“There’s no way you’re going to take care of it properly,” she had scolded.
When Kota had retorted that this wasn’t true, he was reminded of the time he allowed a Mississippi red-ear turtle to die by leaving it out under the hot sun for two days. He had resented being reminded of that, but all he got for his angry shrieking was a knuckle sandwich from his mother. The result: Kota loses via knockout.
Next, they had headed towards the Makihara household. But, of course, they wouldn’t allow the cat to be kept as a pet either. Their reason, however, was different from that of the Setos.
Mai’s mother was concerned about her daughter’s health. She suffered from childhood asthma. The symptoms had appeared soon after Mai entered the fourth grade.
One night, she suffered an attack and the Makiharas ran through the night, carrying their daughter. They dashed into a hospital emergency room, but were turned away because there was no children’s physician present.
They met the same rejection at the next hospital.
With the possibility of death looming, the couple desperately banged on the door of a small clinic.
They were finally admitted. Mai somehow managed to survive.
Because of that incident, her parents were very sensitive to Mai’s physical condition. So the possibility of having a pet was never even considered. Mai fully understood her parents’ feelings. But when Kota saw Mai’s mother’s pained expression, he realized the seriousness of Mai’s condition for the first time.
Feeling helpless, the two of them had returned the kitten to where they had found it. Trying to comfort Mai as she cried, Kota had fought back his own tears.
After a while, though, Kota completely forgot how he had felt at that moment. Males—whether they are boys, teenagers, or full-grown men—will always be dense. Perhaps it is because they are emotionally weak. Perhaps they choose to forget rather than be crushed by painful emotions.
But women are different. Their hearts are so sensitive and just a little bit stronger. This is probably why little girls grow up faster than little boys.
And Mai was about to grow up much faster than young Kota. She herself wanted to, and perhaps her illness and the environment she was in spurred her to do so.
Even if half a year had already passed since the kitten incident, Mai still had not forgotten her feelings. She often wondered what happened to that kitten. She wanted to know if someone had rescued it and if it was living happily ever after.
“I’m sorry,” she had wanted to say. “I couldn’t give you a home. I’m so sorry. I’m still a child. I’m really sorry.”
Mai projected the memory of that kitten from long ago onto this kitten, which she now held firmly in her arms.
“We can’t keep it anyway,” reasoned Kota. “So let’s just hurry up and go home.”
Mai did not respond and continued holding the kitten.
Kota spoke in a troubled tone. “I mean, we can’t do anything about it, y’know. We can’t have pets at either your house or mine.”
He tried to reason with her, but it wasn’t working. As he wondered what to do next, Mai suddenly spoke up.
“This kitten is asking us to rescue it.”
“Huh?” Kota asked. “What are you talking about?” There was no possible way for her to understand what the cat was saying.
“I do know,” she answered, reading his thoughts. “I understand clearly what he’s saying.”
She spoke to him in a clear voice. “This kitten is asking me to save him,” she explained. “So I want to save him. After all… he’s just like me…”
Kota didn’t understand what Mai was saying. But he could somewhat perceive the painfully serious look on her face. He knew it was never going to work. If they took it home, he was likely to get slugged by his mom again. Just thinking about that hurt. He was willing to bet she could crack his skull in two. His mom, after all, had brute strength.
What should I do…? he asked himself.
He glanced over at Mai as he was thinking things over and noticed the pained expression on her face. He wanted to ask her why she was looking at him like that, but couldn’t say the words.
He finally blurted out, “Aggh! All right, already! I’ll hide it in the shrine near my house, okay?! It’ll be all right… probably. There’s hardly anybody who goes there anyway. It’ll probably work out!”
Hearing the suggestion, her eyes brightened and her face relaxed into a smile.
“But… y-you shouldn’t touch that cat too much, you know…” Kota added.
“Okay. I know! Thank you, Kota!”
Kota felt anxious, and he had absolutely no idea what to do next.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Can’t we just give it some milk?” he asked.
“Noooo,” she said.
“Why not?”
“It says so in this book,” she explained.
“Hey, why do you have so many books anyway?”
“I bought them before,” she stated.
“Before what?”
“Does it matter?” she asked.
Mai had prevented Kota from giving the kitten milk he had brought from home. Her handbook, entitled How to Be a Good Pet Owner (Cat Version), strongly advised against it. The book was opened to the pages describing how to take care of your kitten.
Of course, Mai had bought this book just after that day half a year ago. The events of that day had left a deep impression on her.
There were no signs of anybody near the shrine. It was just as Kota described. Situated a bit far from the residential areas and up a long flight of stairs, it was the perfect spot to hide a kitten. They concealed the cardboard box behind the shrine, as an extra precaution to keep it hidden from people.
Mai tended to the kitten diligently, all the while holding the book in her free hand while she was at it. Kota, on the other hand, had no expertise in these matters and was left to play sparring partner to the playful kitten. This was how they divided the responsibilities.
Suddenly, Mai spoke up.
“Blue is good.”
“Huh? What is?” Kota asked, startled.
“You know, the kitten’s name,” Mai said. “We haven’t decided yet.”
“Why does it have to be ‘Blue?’”
“Look.” Mai lifted the kitten and turned his face towards Kota.
“Meow.”
Kota couldn’t tell if the kitten was happy or upset, but the kitten, now named Blue, meowed.
“His eyes,” she explained, “aren’t they pretty? So blue and clear… like the sky. That’s why I named him Blue, for the sky. Nice, isn’t it?”
Kota nodded with hardly any interest. “I guess so,” he shrugged.
Noticing his lack of enthusiasm, Mai puffed out her cheeks and told him, “Come on, straighten up! You’re a father now!”
“Huh? Wh-what are you talking about?!”
“I’m the mom,” she patiently explained. “And you’re the dad, Kota. And Blue is our child!”
She smiled shyly, her cheeks beginning to redden.
“Huh? Whaaaaat?!”
Kota was still just a child, but being called “dad,” he suddenly felt this huge burden of responsibility. He had not put much thought into any of this. It was as if he had to force himself to tighten his very loose belt.
Under the burden of his new responsibility, he said, “Then I guess I’ll just have to go ahead and do it!”
Having said that, he felt energy bubbling up within him.
And so, this very young “husband and wife” set out on the difficult road of raising a child.