[Novel] I Was Here—The Cat Says Nothing, But Sasebo Knows the Town Scenery (Episode 10: "Fish Voices, Father's Back, Cat Footprints" / "Standing in Father's Shop")

Side A: "Fish Voices, Father's Back, Cat Footprints"
—With Bun-chan at the morning market

The morning market starts early.
While the sky is still dim, the shop shutters begin to rattle open.
The smell of fish and the sound of ice. The sound of the auction echoes in the distance.
Today, too, the morning in this town is beginning.

I am a cat. Bun-chan.
The cardboard box behind the market has been my regular morning spot lately.
I felt a slightly different atmosphere today, so I quietly pricked up my ears.

There was a man there, arranging fish with still-awkward movements.
He looked to be in his 30s. His apron and white coat were brand new.
His back looked like he was stretching, somehow restless.

Written on his name tag was "Uoukyu Shoten, Second Generation, Makoto Uozumi."

—So, it's "Makoto"-kun.

I knew the previous owner, too.
He was quiet and stubborn, but very particular about fish.
It was his daily routine to open the shop at 4:30 every morning,
and he would often tell his son, "You don't have to take over this job."

However, after he collapsed and was hospitalized last year, Makoto-kun quietly took over the shop.
Apparently, he used to work in advertising in Tokyo.

"It's not like I wanted to follow in my father's footsteps."

Saying that, he continued to arrange the horse mackerel with clumsy hands.
He couldn't lay the ice properly, the tray tilted, and the fish fell.

"...Ah, geez! Why is this so difficult!"

A voice of irritation echoed softly through the market.
The veterans around him continued their work in silence, saying nothing.

I approached slowly and sat down neatly beside the ice box.
Makoto-kun noticed and looked a little surprised.

“...A cat? Here?”

“You’re the cat my old man used to dote on, aren’t you?”
There was a hint of a smile mixed into the voice that muttered those words.

He sighed, sat down, and
“...Honestly, there’s still a part of me that wants to run away.”
He let out his true feelings in a murmur.

“My old man could do everything by himself.
I still can’t even remember how to slice sashimi properly, and I feel like the regulars think I’m just young and unreliable...”

—That’s perfectly fine.

I leaned my body against Makoto-kun’s feet.
I felt like I wanted to convey something warm, soft, and deeper than words.

He smiled a little and said,

“...I wonder if my old man used to vent his weaknesses to you, too.”

I didn't answer.
But, in return, I gave my tail a slow wag.

—As if to say, 'Maybe so.'

A little while later, the owner of a nearby shop called out to me.

Hey Makoto, you're not laying the ice out right.
It's fine, just watch me once. This is how you do it.

The way he said it was blunt, but it was also warm.

Makoto stood up and bowed his head.
Yes, please teach me!

I quietly returned to the top of the cardboard box.
Makoto's morning had only just begun.

But his back was already turned on the 'feeling of wanting to run away'.

—I am sitting in the market morning again today.
Amidst the fish, the hands, and the smell of sweat between father and son.

I say nothing, I just watch over them.
That is my job in the morning, after all.

[End]

Side B: 'Standing in Father's Shop'
—Makoto Uozumi's Monologue

The ice is heavier than I thought.
Before my hands can get cold, my arms feel like they're going to cramp.
Even so, the morning market is so busy and hectic that there's no time to worry about such things.

'Uohisa Shoten, Second Generation, Makoto Uozumi'

Even looking at my own name tag, it still doesn't quite feel real.
That I, who was at an advertising agency in Tokyo until three months ago,
would actually take over my father's fish shop.

That day, when my father collapsed and regained consciousness in his hospital room, he muttered to himself.

'...I might have to close the shop after all.'

I didn't even have to look at his face to know
how heavy those words were for him.

Before I knew it, I had said, 'I'll do it.'
Even though, in truth, I had no resolve at all.

This morning, too, I couldn't arrange the fish properly.
I couldn't lay the ice down right, and the horse mackerel flipped over and fell.
I clicked my tongue without thinking, 'Tsk...'

It was pathetic.
My father had done this job alone for decades.
And I can't even handle a single tray properly.

I went out back without thinking and crouched down.
I still can't bring myself to like the smell of fish that has soaked into my apron.

'...I wonder if I can really make it here.'

Just then, a shadow fell softly at my feet.

It was a cat.
White and brown patches.
Even though it looked dignified, it had somewhat gentle eyes.

'...Are you the cat my father used to dote on?'

A name I heard somewhere came to mind.
"Bun-chan"—that was what he was supposed to be called.

He approached whimsically and rubbed his body against my feet.
I was surprised, but soon, that warmth seeped into my heart.

"…What is it? Did you come to cheer me up, too?"

I stroked Bun-chan's back with a wry smile.

The touch was soft and warm,
and strangely, the true feelings I couldn't tell anyone else just spilled out.

"…Sometimes I think I want to run away.
But if I run away, I feel like I won't be able to see my father anymore."

Bun-chan says nothing.
But he was there for me.

I realized that there is such a thing as a sense of security that doesn't require words.

Before I knew it, the master nearby called out to me.

"Hey Makoto, you're not laying the ice out right.
It's fine, just watch me once. This is how you do it."

I stood up and bowed my head.
"Yes, please teach me!"

I'm still nowhere near ready.
But in this town, there is Bun-chan, there is the master,
and there is me, wanting to keep that shop's sign alive.

I don't know if a day will come when I can grow to love the smell of this fish.
But,the fact that I am now standing in the place where my father once stood—
must surely have some meaning.

That day, the warmth of the cat at my feet,
felt like it was telling me, "That's fine."

[End]

Previous episode▼

Series Title List: (To be posted sequentially)

• Episode 1: "The Cat on the Hill" / "The Delivery Person's Mission"

• Episode 2: "The Letter Shop at the Bottom of the Hill" / "The Word Florist"

• Episode 3: "The Tail's Map" / "The Tail's Arrow"

• Episode 4: "I'm Waiting for You" / "The Scent of the Wind, the Sound of Curry"

• Episode 5: "The Tail's Guide" / "A Cat in Sasebo"

• Episode 6: "The Sound That Unravels Me" / "The Sound of Trying Too Hard"

• Episode 7: "The Day I Let Go of That Hand" / "Me, Still Not Understanding"

• Episode 8: "The Reason I Cried That Time" / "A Mother's Heart, the Warmth of a Child's Hand"

• Episode 9: "The Night I Couldn't Say 'I'm Home'" / "Will I Be Able to Properly Become a 'Father'?"

• Episode 10: "The Voice of Fish, Father's Back, Cat's Footprints" / "Standing in Father's Shop."

• Episode 11: "The Day I Returned to Land" / "A Heart Returning to Port"

• Episode 12: "Beside a Warm Tail" / "The Presence of a Distant Mountain Behind the Scent"

• Episode 13: "Waiting at the Exit of the Night" / "A Few Minutes to Return to Myself"

• Chapter 14: "Before the Sound That Hasn't Rung Yet" / "Sorry. But, Thank You" / "Is Staying Behind the Same as Running Away?"

• Chapter 15: "Beside the One Who Prays in Silence" / "The Prayer of the One Who Prays"

• Chapter 16: "Before Silence Turns into Sweat" / "You're Here Today Too, Bun-chan"

• Chapter 17: "The Reason for Raising the Noren" / "Bun-chan, It's Not Over Here Yet"

• Chapter 18: "I didn’t say it out loud, but you heard me." / "I Can Hear Your Voiceless Voice Just Fine"

• Chapter 19: "The Winner Who Doesn't Sing and the Clown Who Doesn't Laugh" / "The Distance Seen from Above, the Scent Reaching from Below"

• Chapter 20: "Light Ignites Between the Two" / "I Thought You'd Come. I Have No Proof, Though" / "I Didn't Come to See You—Though You Probably Won't Believe Me If I Say That"

• Chapter 21: "The One on the Boundary" / "I Can Tell by the Scent Whether You're Leaving or Arriving"

• Chapter 22: "Even When Falling, My Eyes Are Still Looking Forward" / "I Wanted to Say That I Did It"

• Chapter 23: "Even on Days Without Sound, There Are Those Who Can Hear" / "Beyond the Sound, There Is a Heart"

• Chapter 24: "The Sound of Unraveling Isn't in the Voice, but Deep in the Eyes" / "Mom, the Cat, and the Stranger"

• Chapter 25: "Today, There Was No Sound of a Broom" / "When That Guy Is Quiet, I Feel Like the Garden Gets a Little Bigger"

• Chapter 26: "Even If You Can't Hear the Bell, the Wind Is Still Blowing" / "Even Without the Sound of a Bell, the Scent of Memories Remains Here"

• Chapter 27: "Because Someone Was Certainly Here" / "Because They Were Here"

• Chapter 28: "Because Those Hands Were Kind"

• Chapter 29: "The Scent of Dried Nets and Silent Kindness" / "There Are Things That Are Understood Without Saying Anything"

• Chapter 30: "I'm Glad You Were a Policeman" / "There Was a Kind Presence in the Shadow of Your Hat"

Afterword

Thank you for picking up this book.
And I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for walking this far with Bun-chan and the town of Sasebo.

I was born and raised in Sasebo.
However, I left town for university and found employment outside the prefecture.
But after several milestones in my life, I am now living in this town again.
This collection of short stories began because I wanted to try depicting the somewhat nostalgic, yet certainly changed, scenery of Sasebo that I see now that I am "living in this town again," and the figures of the people who live there, throughthe quiet lens of a 'cat's perspective'.
The protagonist, Bun-chan, is a white and brown calico cat.
He doesn't speak human language, but just by being there, he gently accepts the small fluctuations in people's hearts and the expressions they show to no one else.
A cat in a corner of town.
While that is all he is, he is a presence that is certainly remembered as having 'been here.'
The title of this short story collection was named as a symbol of Bun-chan's way of being, and Sasebo as a 'place where memories remain' for the people who have spent time in this town.
Furthermore, for the creation of this book, I have utilizedOpenAI's ChatGPTas a creative partner.
At first, I started consulting on the plot with a light heart, wondering 'what kind of story would be born with a cat and a town as the stage,' but before I knew it, it became days ofcarefully exploring the breath of the story and the lingering resonance of the words through dialogue with AI.
'A cat that doesn't speak,' 'people who don't want to speak,' 'memories of the town that disappear without being told'—I feel that being able to shape these themes into something that is sometimes like poetry and sometimes like a story through collaboration with ChatGPT was a truly indispensable process for this work.
Sasebo is a town of slopes and ports.
The scenery that has changed and the atmosphere that remains unchanged all continue to nurture the memories of the people and the town.
I would be happy if Bun-chan's story could gently nestle into your heart as one of those memories.
Spring 2025
From the town of Sasebo
Author

Profile | Kazuomi Matsunaga

Biography:Graduated from a national university in Kyushu with a degree in Engineering (Materials Science) ⇒ Engineer at a metal materials manufacturer in the Chukyo region (Production Technology) ⇒ Advertising sales for a local free paper in Nagasaki Prefecture ⇒ Educational institution staff (← Currently here). A person in their 50s living in Nagasaki Prefecture.
I am a writer who lets my thoughts play daily at the intersection of 'questions' and 'curiosity.' Recently, I have been writing about my own unique perspectives on themes such as education, storytelling, psychology, AI, and design, centered around my serialized column series, 'The Science of Thought.' I am exploring 'free design of knowledge' that transcends existing frameworks. My motto is 'Imagination opens up the world.'
In my professional life, while working in university and education-related fields, I value carefully observing 'the moment someone starts to like something' and 'the scenes where questions sprout.'
🧭 I would be happy if I could deliver articles that leave you with a 'new perspective' after reading them.
📮 Feedback and messages of support are always welcome!