[Novel] I Was Here—The Cat Says Nothing, But Sasebo Knows the Town Scenery (Episode 24: "The Sound of Unraveling Isn't in the Voice, But Deep in the Eyes" / "Mom, the Cat, and the Stranger" / "I Felt Two Winds Overlap on the Slope")

Side A: "The Sound of Unraveling Isn't in the Voice, But Deep in the Eyes"—Bun-chan, Watching Over a Small Encounter on the Slope

I am a cat. Bun-chan.
I walk by the scent of the wind again today.
What's different from usual is thata premonition that something is about to beginwas flowing down the slope.

A small park halfway up the slope.
Nishiyama-san from the delivery company was sitting next to the bench.

He isn't in his work clothes today.
He seems bothered by his shirt collar,
fidgeting.

Sitting across from him is a woman I don't know.
Next to her is a small child.
It seems she's an acquaintance of his younger sister.

I walked through the grass,
and approached them casually.

Nishiyama-san is smiling on the outside, but
his body is a bit stiff.
In the first place, he doesn't seem good at talking to women.

And I wonder if that's Nishiyama-san's sister?
A woman with similar features is standing a little way off,
looking awkward.

—Indeed.
When people are too considerate, it can sometimes make it even harder to talk.

However,
what caught my attention was the eyes of that woman I didn't know.

When the child got off the bench and started picking up stones,
she didn't say a word.
But,her eyes were incredibly gentle.

'Don't trip,' she seemed to say with just her eyes,
a quiet, thoughtful concern that reached me clearly.

In that moment,
Ms. Nishiyama's expression changed just a little.

Her blink deepened just once.

Perhaps I can tell.
It was the moment the ice in her heart made a sound, crack, just a tiny bit.

It wasn't that she decided something with words.
But perhaps she realized that what she thought she 'disliked',
might not be entirely true.

The child looked at me and smiled, saying 'Kitty'.
I wagged my tail in response.

In the park,
a new breeze was blowing before anyone even noticed.

I decided it was time to go.
I'll leave the rest of the conversation to the humans.

——But, you don't have to forget.
True conversation begins before the words are even spoken.

[End]

Side B: 'Mom, the Cat, and the Stranger' —— The bench on the slope, and what's in my heart

Today, I went to a new place with Mom.
It was a new place.

We moved here from Tokyo.
Mom said, "It's called Sasebo," but
there were way more slopes than where we lived before, and
the sky looked a little wider.

A small park.
Mom is sitting on a bench, talking to a man I don't know.
She's smiling, but her voice sounds a little bit like she's putting on an act.

I was playing by picking up stones, but
I was listening to Mom and the man with my ears.
Somehow, I understand.

This man is someone who was "introduced" to Mom.

I've heard the word "introduced" on TV before.
It's the first time spent getting to know someone.

Does that mean—
is Mom going to be with someone other than me from now on?

I don't really understand it yet, but
my chest felt a little bit prickly.

Mom looks at me once in a while, but
she's been looking at the man more.
I couldn't get into the line of her gaze.

That was when it happened.

Popping out from between the stones was a
white and brown cat.

I couldn't help but say out loud, "It's a cat."

The cat sat down near me.
It didn't say anything, but
somehow, it had the look of saying, "It's okay to be here."

I picked up another stone and
showed it to the cat.
The cat moved its tail just a little.

——Just like that,
somehow, my heart felt a little lighter.

I felt like Mom's voice had softened a bit.
The man was also calmer than before.

But for now, I still want to watch from a little further away.

The cat stood up and walked away.
It looked at one of my stone boxes, and
I felt like it said, "Take good care of that."

I know, cat.
Mom won't forget about me.
But I was just a little worried.

——Thank you, cat.
Today was, somehow, a special afternoon.

[End]

Side B': "I Felt Two Winds Overlap on the Slope"
—From the perspective of Mr. Nishiyama's younger sister

A small park on the slope.
That place hasn't changed since I was a child.
A bench, a round slide, and
a slightly weathered water fountain.

Today, I was waiting for my brother there.
…No, to be precise, for my brother and a friend.

My best friend from high school got divorced and came back from Tokyo.
Bringing a little boy with her.
It seems she'll be living at her parents' house here for a while.

“...Why don't you introduce them?”
I thought that a few days ago.
My brother has always been bad with women, but
at this age,
wouldn't it be nice if there was someone
who could just 'be' by his side?

So today, we made plans.
To meet up casually, just for a little bit.

My brother wasn't in his work clothes, but a collared shirt.
He was fidgeting, touching his collar with restless hands.
My friend, sitting across from the bench,
was as calm as ever,
but her voice was just a little bit strained.

I was standing a little way off.
Maybe I didn't have the courage to step in.

—But I think that was for the best.

When the child got off the bench to pick up a stone,
her eyes followed his back gently.
Even though it wasn't words,
it was a gaze that clearly said, 'Don't fall.'

At that moment, my brother's expression changed just a little.
His tense face seemed to soften all of a sudden.

Ah,
perhaps one piece of ice had unraveled.

My brother had always built a wall around himself.
But that wall wasn't really to protect himself,
so as not to be a burden to anyone,
he might have just been standing there quietly.

Suddenly, a cat appeared from the grass.
White and brown patches, a small nick in its ear.
It was "Bun-chan," a name I often heard around town.

The little boy called out, "Kitty."
That voice melted straight into the air.

Strangely, I felt the air soften.
My brother, my friend, the child, and Bun-chan.
It wasn't as if anyone had decided anything,
but it was a moment where two winds felt like they had overlapped.

—Yes.
Perhaps today might be the beginning.
Even if it's slow, even if it's vague,
something began to move within this wind.

I let out a soft breath.
Then, saying, "Shall we head home soon?"
I took a slightly longer way around and walked down the slope first.

I think that conversation on the bench
was just right
as a "way to begin" the story from here on out.

[End]

This is the story of Mr. Nishiyama, the delivery man who appeared in Episode 1▼

The previous episode▼

Series Title List: (To be posted sequentially)

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

• Episode 2: "The Letter Carrier at the Bottom of the Slope" / "The Word Florist"

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

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

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

• Episode 6: "The Sound That Unravels Me" / "It Sounds Like I Tried Too Hard"

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

• Episode 8: "The Reason I Cried That Time" / "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: "Fish Voices, Father's Back, Cat 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 Distant Mountains Behind the Scent"

• Chapter 13: "I Was Waiting at the Exit of the Night" / "The Few Minutes I 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" / "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 Winner Who Doesn't Cry Out and the Clown Who Doesn't Laugh" / "The Distance Seen from Above, the Scent Reaching from Below"

• Chapter 20: "A Light Is Lit Between the Two" / "I Thought You'd Come. Even If There's No Basis for It" / "I didn't exactly go to see you—you wouldn't believe me if I said that, would you?"

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

• Chapter 22: "Even If You Fall, Your 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 of Unraveling Isn't in the Voice, But Deep in the Eyes" / "Mother, the Cat, and the Stranger"

• Chapter 25: "Today, There Was No Sound of a Broom" / "When He Was Silent, I Felt the Garden Get a Little Wider"

• 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"

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

• Episode 28: "Because That Hand Was Kind"

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

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

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 collection of short stories began with my desire to depict the somewhat nostalgic, yet certainly changing, scenery of Sasebo and the people living there, as seen through the eyes of someone who has "come back to live in this town again," usinga quiet lens called the "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 catches the small fluctuations in the depths of a person's heart and the expressions they show to no one else.
A cat in a corner of the 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 chosen 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, in the creation of this book, I have utilizedOpenAI's ChatGPTas a creative partner.
At first, I consulted on the plot with a light heart, wondering "what kind of stories would be born with a cat and a town as the setting," but before I knew it, my days had becomea process 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 atmosphere 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
The Author

Profile | Kazuomi Matsunaga

Biography:Graduated from a national university in Kyushu (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 => School corporation staff (<- Currently here). A person in their 50s living in Nagasaki Prefecture.
I am a writer who lets my thoughts play every day 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 serialized 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 main profession, while working in university and education-related fields, I value carefully observing the moments when "people come to like something" or "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 is always welcome!