The Cat After That

They say that when a house cat gets old, it turns into a nekomata, and I feel like my cat is really starting to reach that stage.

It has started to understand human speech to some extent, and its personality has become strangely sophisticated.
It used to be a huge people-hater, but now if there are guests, it appears saying
“It is I,”
and climbs onto their laps.
It’s just like the Ken Takakura version of the dog’s “It is I,” truly refined.

When I press my hands together in prayer at the family altar, it has started running over to join in.
I hope it’s not seeing something strange.

I’m looking forward to its continued growth.

It would be nice if I could take it to my new home and live together.
My husband loves our cat too, but...
That little one is a carrier of feline AIDS, so stress is strictly forbidden.
It’s something we decided after talking with the vet and our family.
Besides, the cat likes the house, too.
It’s no big deal; I just need to come back home.

The cat, for its part, seems to have understood in its own way.
Lately, even after I moved out of my parents' house, it seems to be spending its days without the slightest change.
You’re a quick learner, which helps your big sister out... (I’m a little lonely, though).

While I’m at it, a little bit about my new home.

My neighbors have two cats.
A round black cat and a long-haired milk-tea colored one.
Our apartment building allows up to two pets.

They sometimes show their faces from the window facing the common corridor, so
“Which one is it today?”
I secretly look forward to passing by as a daily pleasure.

“The black one was there today.”
“The long-haired one was there today.”
My husband and I would talk about it with smiles, but
there seems to be a discrepancy in our stories about the “long-haired one.”
The level of skittishness and the amount of eye boogers. The information we share sometimes doesn't match up.

I realized it recently.

There are three of them.

A round black one, a long-haired one, and
there is one more long-haired one that looks exactly the same.

They look like twins, but actually, triplets are swapping places...!
I’ve seen this in a detective manga before!

If you use this trick, you can keep an infinite number of similar-looking cats, Watson.
You might be able to fool the building manager, but you can’t fool a cat-loving couple.

…No, I don’t think it’s a trick or anything.
They’re probably just looking after it for some reason or another.

We’ve had a string of hot days with the worst heat in recent years.
There are days when I feel sluggish, but when I pass through that corridor and think,
“There are three cats on the other side of that wall…”
it cheers me up a little, so it’s very, very good.