[Novel] I Was Here—The Cat Says Nothing, But Sasebo Knows the Town Scenery (Episode 38: "The Scent of the Tide, the Words Spoken, and Bun-chan" / "The Wind Scooping the Tide, and the Sound of Prayer")

Side B: "The Scent of the Tide, the Words Spoken, and Bun-chan"
—From the perspective of a Japan Coast Guard diver

After finishing the off-duty procedures,
I left the Sasebo Coast Guard Office building.

Across the road, beyond the international terminal
—nicknamed "Yoko Terrace"—
the international cruise ship that had docked this morning
filled my entire field of vision.

A massive ship, over 100,000 tons,
likely 10,000 times larger than the ferry I rescued today,
towered over me like an apartment building.

"It's so small..."

I muttered, comparing it to my own sun-tanned arm.

The scent of the tide was still soaked into my clothes.
In my hair, and on my fingertips, too.

I passed the produce market,
thought about heading to the station, but changed my mind,
and walked along the Port Side Terrace.

The surface of the harbor,
catching the midday light,
was just swaying quietly.

I took out my smartphone
and called her.

On the other end of the line,
a voice answered with a soft "Hello."

I'm sorry.
That was the first thing I said.

I told her.
That I had received a distress signal yesterday and gone out on a rescue mission.
That among the people who needed rescuing,
her grandfather was there.

And that right now,
even though he is still unconscious at the hospital,
he is alive.

Choosing my words one by one,
I spoke as if I were giving a report.

At first, she
said nothing on the other end of the phone.

But,
just from the sound of her breathing,
I knew how much she was crying.

Then, a trembling voice spilled out.

"Why did you... my grandpa—"

The raspy words that followed
tightly constricted
the depths of my heart.

That man, who treated me like a mentor
when I was a high school student.
He was strict, but
with a somewhat goofy smile,
he was the kind of person who could easily win people over.

After he retired,
he became obsessed with the fishing he learned on the remote islands,
and he would brag over and over again,
"I'm going to catch a huge sea bream for you."

…I never imagined,
that I would end up saving that person,
from a sinking ship.

I pulled the smartphone away from my ear,
and slowly let out a breath.

"I'm sorry..."

Without waiting for that word, she cut the call from her end.

The scent of the sea.
The slightly cold wind of early spring.

That was when it happened.
Suddenly, I felt a presence at my feet.

A white and brown calico pattern.
A cat with a small scar on one ear.

"...Is that you, Bunchan?"

In the town of Sasebo,
a mysterious being,
that appears when someone's heart is shaken.

Bunchan,
simply sat down quietly right beside me.

It doesn't even meow.
It doesn't even rub against me.

It just,
amidst the scent of the tide,
stayed with me.

I,
clutching my smartphone, slowly sat down.

The feel of the red brick I sat on.
The sea breeze brushing right past me.

Hey, Bunchan.
That person will surely be okay, right?

After all,
they stayed on the ship until the very end,
trying to protect the other passengers.

Someone like that
could never be defeated by the sea.

I
glanced at Bunchan.

Bunchan
quietly flicked its tail just once.

—It'll be okay.

I make eye contact with Bunchan, who has looked up.

—It’s getting through to you, properly.

That is how
it seemed to me.

As I stood up,
Bunchan,
without saying a word, walked off down another path.

I adjusted my grip on my smartphone and
called her once more.

This time,
I wanted to convey it properly.

That you, Sensei, protected everyone.

The harbor lights
flickered, just a little, with warmth.

[End]

Side A: "The Wind That Scoops the Tide and the Sound of Prayer"
—From Bunchan's perspective

I am a cat. Bun-chan.
Today, too, I was walking along, gliding through the scent of the town and the sea.

Near the harbor.
In front of the Sasebo Coast Guard building.

This place is where
the tide, the ships, and
someone's wishes always softly intersect.

Today's wind
was a little heavy.

It wasn't just the scent of ships.
The sound of a heart trembling on the sea
was mixed in a little.

I
walked, following that sound.

A man came out of the building.
A well-tanned face and sturdy arms.

However,
now, the tension in his shoulders has eased a little.

A smartphone in his hand.
With it held to his ear,
he is staring up at the sky.

The wind
brushed his hair,
along with the air that held the scent of the tide.

I quietly sat down at his feet.

He didn't even meow. He was just there.

The man's voice on the other end of the phone was trembling slightly.

—I saved him. But he still hasn't regained consciousness.

The person he pulled from the sea was someone important to him, too.

His lover's grandfather. A former mentor. A warm person who possessed a love for fishing, laughter, and the power to believe in others.

I felt the trembling of his back, along with the sound of the tide.

After a while, the man gently pressed his smartphone against his chest.

The wind blew. The waves in the harbor sparkled.

I slowly gave my tail a flick.

"It's okay," and
"It reached them properly," and
a sign that isn't words.

The man
relaxed his shoulders, just for a moment.

I,
thinking my role was done,
started walking toward the harbor again.

Amidst the scent of the tide,
inside his heart too,
surely, a warm breeze
must have flowed through.

[End]

▼Bunchan (deformed version) LINE stickers are now available🐾

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 Flower Shop of Words"

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

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

• Episode 5: "The Tail 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" / "The Me Who Still Doesn't Understand"

• 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 Become a Proper 'Father'?"

• Episode 10: "The Voice of Fish, My Father's Back, and Cat Footprints" / "Standing in My 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 Distant Mountains Behind the Scent"

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

• Episode 14: "Before the Sound That Hasn't Yet Rung" / "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 the Silence Turns Into Sweat" / "You're Here Today Too, Aren't You, Bun-chan?"

• Episode 17: "The Reason for Raising the Noren Curtain" / "Bun-chan, it's not over here yet."

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

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

• Episode 20: "A Light Ignites Between the Two" / "I Thought You'd Come. I Have No Proof, But Still" / "I didn't exactly go to see you—though you probably wouldn't believe me if I said that"

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

• Episode 22: "Even When Falling, My Eyes Are Still Looking Forward" / "I Wanted to Say That I Did 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 That One Is Silent, I Feel Like the Garden Gets a Little Wider"

• Episode 26: "Even If You Can't Hear the Sound of the Bell, the Wind Is Still Blowing" / "Even If There Is No Sound of a Bell, the Scent of Affection Remains Here"

• Episode 27: "Because Someone Was Definitely Here" / "They Were Here"

• Episode 28: "Because Those Hands Were Kind" / "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 Silent Kindness" / "Even Without Saying Anything, There Are Things That Are Understood"

• Episode 30: "I'm Glad You're a Policeman" / "There Was a Gentle Presence in the Shadow of Your Hat"

• Chapter 31: "What Bun-chan Reminded Me Of" / "The Scent of Memories Rose Around the Wooden Box"

• Chapter 32: "The Last Flight of Spring, and Bun-chan." / "The Scent of the Bus and the Rules of Spring"

• Chapter 33: "Drinks, the Night Breeze, and Bun-chan." / "When the Tempo Is Off, Listen to the Sound of the Wind"

• Chapter 34: "A Mountain of Lucky Bags and the Scent of That Day" / "Beyond the Scent of the Mountain of Lucky Bags"

• Chapter 35: "A Waltz Mixed with the Wind, and Bun-chan" / "Under the Cherry Blossoms, While Scooping the Wind"

• Chapter 36: "The Scent of Water and Bun-chan" / "The Scent of Water and the Sound of Footsteps"

• Chapter 37: "The Scent of the River, Prayers, and the Silence of Spring" / "The Scent of the River, a Vow, and Bun-chan"

• Chapter 38: "The Scent of the Tide, the Words Spoken, and Bun-chan" / "The Wind Scooping the Tide, and the Sound of Prayer"

• Chapter 39: "Thoughts Swaying on the Water's Surface, and Bun-chan Again" / "The Scent Along the River and the Shadow of Prayer"

• Chapter 40: "The Sound of Unraveling 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 would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for walking with Bun-chan and the town of Sasebo this far.

I was born and raised in Sasebo.
However, I left the 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 short story collection began with my desire to depict the scenery of Sasebo—which is somewhat nostalgic yet has certainly changed—and the lives of the people who live there, as seen through my eyes now that I have "returned to live in this town," using a quiet lens called a 'cat's perspective' as a medium.
The protagonist, Bun-chan, is a white and brown calico cat.
He does not speak human language, but by simply being by your side, he gently accepts the small fluctuations in your heart and the expressions you show to no one else.
A cat in a corner of the town.
Even just being that, he is a presence that is surely 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 utilized OpenAI's ChatGPT as a creative partner.
At first, I started consulting on the plot with a light heart, wondering, "What kind of stories could be born with a cat and a town as the stage?" but before I knew it, it became days of carefully exploring the breath of the story and the lingering resonance of words through dialogue with 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 sometimes like poetry and sometimes like a story through collaboration with ChatGPT was an essential 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 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 Engineering) => Engineer at a metal material manufacturer in the Chukyo region (Production Technology) => Advertising sales for a local Nagasaki prefecture free paper => School corporation staff (<- 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, centering on the serial column "Science of Thought" series. I am exploring "free knowledge design" that goes beyond existing frameworks. My motto is "Imagination opens up the world."
While working in university and education-related fields in my main profession, I value carefully observing the moments when "people start to like something" or "scenes where questions sprout."
🧭 I would be happy if I could deliver articles that, after reading, sprout one "new perspective" within you.
Any feedback is welcome!