[Novel] I Was Here—The Cat Says Nothing, But Sasebo Knows the City Scenery (Episode 33: "Drinks, the Night Breeze, and Bun-chan" / "When Your Tempo Is Off, Listen to the Sound of the Wind")

Side B: "Drinks, the Night Breeze, and Bun-chan"
—From the perspective of a female Yosakoi dancer

The park at night has a different face than it does during the day.

Beside the Sasebo City Gymnasium, in the plaza of the new park.
Under the streetlights, young people are dancing to the music.
Laughter.
Bouncing footsteps.
I should have been there, too.

But today,
pretending to take a break, I slipped away to the convenience store by myself.

As I left the store with an iced coffee in hand,
the night air slowly clung to my skin.

I let out a small sigh.
The tempo of the dance doesn't match up like it did when I was younger.
I used to be able to move better than anyone. I used to stand out more than anyone.

Now, I can tell that I am the only one
falling slightly behind the speed of the younger ones.

Is it because of my age?
I felt that a wall I couldn't overcome with skill or effort
was definitely drawing near.

Is it okay for me to be in the middle of the team?
Was it that the young people looking at me
wanted me to remain an "unchanging ideal"?
…Or was it just that I wanted to think so myself?

I was thinking about things like that,
on a night when the coldness of the coffee seeped into me.

Just then.

Softly, there was a presence at my feet.

When I looked,
there was a white and brown calico cat.
A small scar on one ear.

"Ah... it's Bun-chan."

I had heard the name often enough in town.
A cat that wanders around Sasebo,
and quietly sits beside someone.

Bun-chan
didn't even meow.
Just, on the concrete under the convenience store eaves,
it sat down neatly in front of me.

Without moving,
looking up,
saying nothing,
it was just there.

I crouched down and said softly,

"...I'm just a little tired."

Bun-chan didn't say a word.
He just gave his tail a slow, single flick.

It was as if he were saying,
"That much is fine."
or something like that.

As I stood up,
I felt the tightness in my chest lighten just a little.

I adjusted my grip on my iced coffee,
and started walking back toward the park.

Dancing isn't just about youth.
It isn't just about skill, either.
Because I am who I am right now,
there must be a rhythm and a voice that only I can bring out.

When I looked back, Bun-chan was already gone.
But, carried on the night breeze,
the faint presence of his tail still lingered on my back.

—It's okay.
It's okay, probably.

I smiled to myself just once more,
and climbed the slope.

Under the night sky, I could hear the laughter of my friends again.

[End]

Side A: "When the tempo is off, listen to the sound of the wind"
—From Bun-chan's perspective

I am a cat. Bun-chan.
Today, too, I was walking while listening to the town's breeze.

From the park beside the gymnasium, lively music can be heard.
The sound of drums, the sound of flutes, the sound of jumping feet.
The scent of youthful energy was bleeding into the night sky.

However, behind that sound,
I could tell that a slightly different rhythm was mixed in.

—It's just a little off.

A small fluctuation in sound that no one else would notice.
I could hear it clearly.

Under the convenience store lights,
a woman stands with an iced coffee in her hand.
Still in her dance outfit, all alone.

As I approached,
I could see that this person's heart was also wavering just a little.

When she was young, she could dance better than anyone.
Even now, she is relied upon like a leader.
However,
somewhere in her heart, there was a scent of her blaming herself,
thinking, "I can't move as well as I used to."

I sat down quietly in front of her.
I don't meow.
I don't reach out.
I just stay by her side.

The woman crouched down and looked at me.
And then, she let out a quiet murmur.

"…I'm just a little tired."

I gave my tail a slow, gentle flick.
"It's okay."
"That's fine just as it is," I wanted to tell her.

Dances, music, and life itself,
will always fall out of tempo eventually.
But,
when you're out of sync, you don't have to force yourself to match.
Listen to the sound of the wind.
You'll be fine if you just take another step at your own pace.

The woman smiled a little.
She adjusted her grip on her coffee cup,
and headed back toward the park.

After watching her back as she walked away,
I melted back into the night town.

—It'll be alright.
This town knows how to embrace even the smallest fluctuations.

[End]

Previous episode ▼

List of series titles: (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 Flower Shop of Words"

• Episode 3: "Tail Map" / "Tail Arrow"

• Episode 4: "I'll Be Waiting" / "The Scent of the Wind, the Sound of Curry"

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

• Episode 6: "The Sound That Unties Me" / "It Sounds Like I've Been 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: "A Night I Can't Say 'I'm Home'" / "Will I Be Able to Properly Become a 'Father'?"

• Episode 10: "The Sound of Fish, My Old Man's Back, Cat Footprints" / "Standing in My Old Man's Shop."

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

• Episode 12: "Beside a Warm Tail" / "The Presence of Distant Mountains Deep Within the Scent"

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

• Episode 14: "Before the Sound That Hasn't Finished Ringing" / "I'm Sorry. But, Thank You." / "Is Staying Behind the Same as Running Away?"

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

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

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

• Episode 18: "I didn’t say it out loud, but you heard me." / "I can hear your voiceless voice just fine"

• Episode 19: "The Silent Winner and the Unsmiling Clown" / "The Distance Seen from Above, the Scent Reaching from Below"

• Episode 20: "A Light Is Lit Between the Two" / "I Thought You'd Come. I Have No Proof, Though" / "I'd Say I Didn't Come to See You—But You Wouldn't Believe Me, Would You"

• Episode 21: "The One on the Boundary" / "I Can Tell Both Departures and Arrivals by the Scent"

• Episode 22: "Even If You Fall, Your Eyes Are Still Looking Forward" / "I Wanted to Say I Could Do It"

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

• Episode 24: "The Sound of Unraveling Is Not in the Voice, But Deep in the Eyes" / "Mom, the Cat, and the Stranger" / "Halfway Up the Slope, I Felt Two Winds Overlap"

• Episode 25: "Today, There Was No Sound of a Broom" / "When He Is Silent, I Feel the Garden Gets a Little Wider"

• Episode 26: "Even If You Can't Hear the Bell, the Wind Is Still Blowing" / "Even If the Bell Doesn't Ring, the Scent of Feelings Remains Here"

• Episode 27: "Because someone was definitely here." / "Because they were here."

• Episode 28: "Because that hand was gentle." / "Since the day I touched that child, I feel like the town has become a little warmer."

• Episode 29: "The scent of dried nets and a silent kindness." / "There are things that are understood even without saying a word."

• Episode 30: "I'm glad you're a police officer." / "There was a gentle presence in the shadow of your hat."

• Episode 31: "What Bun-chan reminded me of." / "The scent of memories rose up around the wooden box."

• Episode 32: "The last bus of spring, and Bun-chan." / "The scent of the bus and the rules of spring."

• Episode 33: "Drinks, Night Breeze, and Bun-chan." / "When the tempo is off, listen to the sound of the wind."

• Episode 34: "A mountain of lucky bags and the scent of that day." / "Beyond the scent of the mountain of lucky bags."

• Episode 35: "A waltz mixed with the wind, and Bun-chan." / "Under the cherry blossoms, scooping up the wind."

• Episode 36: "The scent of water and Bun-chan." / "The scent of water and the sound of footsteps."

• Episode 37: "The scent of the river, a prayer, and the silence of spring." / "The scent of the river, a vow, and Bun-chan."

• Episode 38: "The scent of the tide, the words spoken, and Bun-chan." / "The wind scooping up the tide and the sound of prayer."

• Episode 39: "Thoughts swaying on the water's surface and Bun-chan again." / "The scent along the river and the shadow of prayer."

• Episode 40: "The sound of being unraveled and Bun-chan." / "The sound of passing through the wind and the scent of the sea."

Afterword

Thank you for picking up this book.
And I offer 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 turning points in my life, I am now living in this town again.
This collection of short stories began with my desire to depict the somewhat nostalgic, yet certainly changed, scenery of Sasebo and the lives of the people there, as seen through my eyes now that I have "returned to live in this town again,"through the 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 by simply 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 surely remembered as having "been here."
The title of this collection was named as a symbol of Bun-chan's way of being, and of Sasebo as a "place where memories remain" for the people who have spent time in this town.
Furthermore, I have used
OpenAI's ChatGPTas a creative partner in the creation of this book.At first, I consulted it about the plot with a light heart, wondering "what kind of stories might be born with a cat and a town as the setting," but before I knew it,
it became a daily routine of carefully exploring the breath of the story and the lingering resonance of the words through dialogue with the AI."A cat that doesn't speak," "people who don't want to talk," and "memories of the town that disappear without being told"—I feel that being able to shape these themes into something that is at times like poetry and at times like a story, through collaboration with ChatGPT, was an indispensable process for this work.
Sasebo is a town of slopes and harbors.
The scenery that has changed and the air 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 Kyushu University, Faculty of 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 => Staff at an educational institution (<- Now 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, stories, psychology, AI, and design, centered on the serial column series "The Science of Thought." I am exploring "free knowledge design" that goes beyond existing frameworks. My motto is "Imagination opens up the world."
In my main profession, while involved in university and education-related work, I value carefully observing the moments when "people start to like something" and "scenes where questions sprout."
🧭 I would be happy if I could deliver articles that help a "new perspective" sprout within you after reading them.
Feedback is always welcome!