[Novel] I Was Here—The Cat Says Nothing, But Sasebo Knows the Town Scenery (Chapter 4: "I'll Be Waiting" / "The Scent of the Wind, the Sound of Curry")

Side B: "I'll be waiting"—Bun-chan and the grandmother on the hill

An old, one-story house on the hill.
A grandmother sits on the veranda there every day.

Her name is Hisae-san.
Her hair is snow-white, and her voice is soft. She grows many seasonal flowers, and even the mailman calls it the "Flower House."

However, for many years now, not a single person's footsteps have returned to this house.

Hisae-san had an only son.
He loved studying from a young age, got into the best high school in town, and went to the city for university.
Even after that, he only came back a handful of times.
"Work is busy," "I'll come back when things settle down"—
His voice on the phone was distant and somehow aloof.

Even so, Hisae-san says,

"I'll be waiting."

To no one in particular, facing the wind.

One spring day, Hisae-san met someone in the garden.
A white and brown calico cat that appeared out of nowhere.
It was laid-back, rubbed against her, and settled heavily onto her lap.

"...Are you Bun-chan?"

A name a neighborhood child had told her.
"It's a mysterious cat that appears where people are troubled."

Bun-chan started coming every day.
They would sunbathe together on the veranda, and in the evening, it would circle the garden and suddenly head home.

Hisae-san talks to Bun-chan.

"Takashi was such a mama's boy when he was little. ...If he saw a cat like this, he would have surely hugged it tight."

One day, Bun-chan brought a small box to the veranda.
When I opened the lid, inside were an old photograph and a letter.

—Things Takashi should have tucked away in his room before he left for the city.

The letter was written in a boyish hand.

"Dear Mom. I'm going to get strong, and I promise I'll come back. When I do, let's make curry together."

Hisae-san held the letter to her chest.
No tears came. Only the sound of the wind soaked deep into her heart.

" ...I wonder what that boy is doing now."

Bun-chan gently buried his face in Hisae-san's lap.
Only his tail swayed gently.

—A few days later.

Someone was walking up the hill.
A man in a suit. His face looked a little tired, with sweat beading on his forehead. But his eyes were looking straight ahead.

" ...I'm home."

Hisae-san opened her eyes wide in surprise.

" ...Takashi?"

Bun-chan stood up in the corner of the garden.
And then, without a word, he vanished into the wind.

That night, the scent of curry drifted softly from the kitchen into the town.
It was the same taste as long ago. Yet, somehow, it had grown gentler.

Hisae-san said.

"I've been waiting for you."

That voice was no longer directed at the wind.

[End]

Side A: "The Scent of the Wind, the Sound of Curry"—From Bun-chan's Perspective

I am a cat. Bun-chan.
Where I live is never decided. But, I know just about everything about this town.
The voices of people, the scent of the wind, the gaps between the seasons. I feel it all, as if tracing it with my tail.

Up on the hill, there is a house where flowers bloom.
Every time I pass in front of the house, the back of my nose feels a little warm.
Deep within that scent, even deeper—there was a faint, drifting "loneliness."

I wandered over and sat on the veranda of that house.
Then, the one who came out was an old lady. Hisae-san.

Pure white hair. Soft hands.
But the light flickering deep in her eyes always looked like she was searching for "someone."

Hisae-san would often talk to me.
"Takashi was..." "When he was little..."—
Every time she spoke, her voice would get just a little higher. When humans remember the past, their voices become gentle, you see.

I just sat and listened.
Sometimes I would climb onto her lap, look into her eyes, and tell her, "I'm here."

I don't use words. But, there are things that can be conveyed regardless.

One day, I followed the scent of the wind and entered a small shed.
A single old box was sleeping quietly in the shadow of a tree.

When I opened the lid, I found a photograph and a letter.
There was a nostalgic scent of ink. A child's handwriting was lined up clumsily.

"To Mother: I will become strong, and I promise I will come back. When I do, let's make curry together."

—I have to deliver this.

I held the photograph and the letter in my mouth and slipped through the garden.
I placed them gently in front of Hisae-san, who was sitting in the sun on the veranda.

Hisae-san read them with trembling hands.
She read them, then quietly closed her eyes.
She didn't cry. But I felt that the 'feeling of waiting' deep in her heart had finally reached its destination.

After that, the wind changed direction.

Someone was coming up the hill that Hisae-san hadn't walked down in years.
A man in a suit. His eyes looked a bit too grown-up. But his scent was exactly the same as it used to be.

—Is that you? Takashi.

"…I'm home."

At those words, I quietly raised my tail.
My delivery is finished now.

I left behind on the veranda the scent of curry and a single hair of mine.
When someone needs me again, I'll ride the wind to see them.

I only appear when someone's heart is "waiting."

In place of words, I use silent arrows to guide feelings that had been forgotten.

—That night, the scent of curry mingled with the town's breeze.

It was the taste of a reunion. A gentle sound.

Today, too, someone's "I'm waiting for you" is pushing me forward.

[End]

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Series Title List: (To be posted sequentially)

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

• Episode 2: "The Letter Shop Below the Hill" / "The Flower Shop of Words"

• 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"

• Chapter 7: "The Day I Let Go of That Hand" / "The Me Who Still Doesn't Understand"

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

• Chapter 9: "A Night When I Can't Say 'I'm Home'" / "Will I Really Be Able to Become a 'Father'?"

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

• Chapter 11: "The Day I Returned to Land" / "A Heart Coming Back to Port"

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

• Chapter 13: "I Was Waiting at the Exit of the Night" / "The Few Minutes It Takes to Return to Myself"

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

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

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

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

• Chapter 20: "A Light Ignites Between the Two" / "I Thought You'd Come. Even Though I Had No Reason to Think So." / "I didn't exactly come to see you—though you wouldn't believe me if I said that."

• Chapter 21: "The One on the Boundary" / "I Can Tell Both Departure and Arrival by the Scent"

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

• Chapter 23: "Even on Days When There Is No Sound, There Is Someone Who Can Hear" / "Beyond the Sound, There Is a Heart"

• Chapter 24: "The Sound That Unravels Is Not 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 He Was Silent, I Felt the Garden Grew a Little Larger"

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

• Chapter 27: "I Was Here, Someone Was Certainly Here" / "I Was Here"

• Chapter 28: "That Hand Was Kind"

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

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

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 the 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 short story collection 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," usinga quiet lens called a "cat's perspective."
The protagonist, Bun-chan, is a white and brown calico cat.
He does not speak human language, but by simply being there, he gently catches the small fluctuations in people's hearts and the expressions they show to no one else.

A cat in the 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 collection was chosen to symbolize Bun-chan's way of being, as well as Sasebo as a "place where memories remain" for the people who have spent time in this town.Furthermore, in the creation of this book, I have utilizedOpenAI's ChatGPT
as a creative partner.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, my days were spentcarefully exploring the rhythm 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 shaping these themes into something that is at times like poetry and at times like a story, through collaboration with ChatGPT, was an essential process for this work.
Sasebo is a town of hills and harbors.
The scenery that has changed and the air that remains the same 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 engineering department in Kyushu (Materials Engineering) => Engineer at a metal materials manufacturer in the Chukyo region (Production Technology) => Advertising sales for a local free paper in Nagasaki Prefecture => School corporation 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, stories, psychology, AI, and design, centered on the serial column series "The Science of Thought." I am exploring "free knowledge design" that transcends existing frameworks. My motto is "Imagination opens up the world."
In my professional life, while involved in university and education-related work, I value carefully observing the moments when "people come to like something" or "scenes where questions sprout."
🧭 I would be happy if I could deliver articles that leave you with a "new perspective" after reading them.
📮 Impressions and messages of support are always welcome!