My Childhood Friend Meows Under My Skirt. (GL) - Chapter 1

“Can I touch your ears?”

After a brief silence, Maki replied.

“…No.”

“Why not?”

“Your face just bothers me…”

Maki twisted her body as if to protect herself.

I took another step closer.

“Let me touch them. Just a little.”

“Don’t come near me! Who’s going to let you touch them?”

“Just for a moment.”

“I said don’t come near me!”

“Just the tips.”

“Scary, scary, scary, scary, scary!”

She pulled the hood of her parka over her head. When I reached out to peel it off, I was grabbed. I immediately extended my left hand, but that was blocked too. We ended up grappling, locked in a test of strength.

“Come on, it’s not like anything’s going to be lost.”

“I feel like something important as a person is going to wear away. Especially with you.”

“You knew this would happen the moment you stepped into this room, right? You know my personality. I’m not scared or creeped out, but I never promised I wouldn’t be curious, did I? Do you think you can dangle something like that in front of me and get away with it? Weren’t you secretly hoping to be touched?”

“First, stop with that perverted tone!”

Maki almost lost her balance. Seizing the opportunity, I put more strength into it. Just a few more seconds, and I could break free and touch her. At that moment, a voice of concession echoed.

“Okay, I get it. Just back off for now.”

Maki stood up from the chair and, for some reason, moved to the bed. She sat down, rolling her neck a few times as if preparing herself. Then she took off the hood of her parka. The white cat ears were still there, unchanged.

“I’ll allow it for just three seconds.”

“Wait, three minutes is fine too?”

“I’ll punch you for three hours straight.”

After some further negotiation, I managed to secure a precious ten seconds of touch time. Ten seconds! The most important ten seconds of my life was about to begin.

“Don’t get me wrong. This isn’t just my selfish desire to touch your cat ears; the real purpose is research for Maki’s sake. Even if something inside you wears away, what I gain will be worth so much more.”

“Hide your selfishness and that drool before you say that.”

“Who knows, it might just pop off if I mess with it enough.”

“Like a baby tooth?”

I looked around again, deciding from which angle to touch. I had to act before she could refuse again.

“Come on, if you’re going to touch them, do it quickly, ah…”

In the middle of her words, I reached out and touched her right ear. Maki’s body jolted for just a moment. From her reaction, it was clear the sensation was connected. As I parted her hair to see, I could tell they were growing right from the roots.

“That’s definitely too much touching…”

“It hasn’t even been ten seconds yet.”

“No, but still…”

“Don’t move.”

“…Mmm.”

She let out a moan and fell silent. I didn’t know what sensations were overwhelming her, but she had to endure it. Incredible. They were definitely cat ears. Real ones. Even though they were on a human head, her reaction when touched was pure cat. When I stroked the edge of her ear with my finger, it moved quickly as if swatting away a bug.

“Time’s up! Ten seconds are over!”

“Okay, got it. Now it’s the left ear.”

“One ear at a time!?”

“Of course. It’s only fair. Why would you think otherwise?”

I asserted it, even though that wasn’t the case. It was Maki’s fault for not setting strict rules.

Before she could resist, I quickly moved my fingers to her left ear. Maki bowed her head as if bracing herself, clenching her fists on her thighs. She twisted her neck and shook me off once, but I kept touching. It was probably more than ten seconds, but maybe she was too overwhelmed to say anything. Leaning in closer, I pushed for more, but she finally swatted my hand away.

“That’s enough!”

“I confirmed they’re really there.”

“Shut up! I’m not letting you touch them anymore! I’m going to take a nap! Get out!”

“But this is my room, and my bed…”

“Just get out!”

Maki’s face was bright red, even her ears were dyed with color. And she wouldn’t meet my gaze at all. Was it that painful? Or was it ticklish? Or perhaps—. I wanted to ask her in detail, but I felt like I’d get punched the moment I did, so I decided to quietly leave the room.

As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I found myself wanting to ask again, so I turned back.

“Hey, did it hurt when I touched them? Or was it nice, and that’s why you’re making that face—”

The door was slammed shut with a bang.

________________________________________

As I lay on the sofa, something hit my forehead hard, jolting me awake. Looking up, I saw Maki standing there, and the culprit was an empty orange juice carton. Why does everyone feel the need to hit me on the head?

I was about to protest when her loud voice drowned me out.

“It was a baby tooth!”

“Huh?”

“It came out. It came out. I took a little nap, and when I woke up, it was gone.”

“…What?”

It was indeed gone.

The cat ears had completely vanished from Maki’s head. I almost shouted “No way!” but held back, thinking it would be inappropriate. I forced a smile of relief in front of Maki, pretending to be happy for her.

It was nearing seven in the evening. We returned to the room and searched the bed together, but the fallen cat ears were nowhere to be found.

“Maybe it didn’t come out but just disappeared,” Maki murmured.

“Or maybe it got buried inside your skull.”

“Don’t say scary things.”

She glared at me, but then, as if to check, she lightly started tapping her head, which I found amusing.

It seemed the urban legend that had suddenly attacked us was resolved just as easily without doing anything.

“Oh, thank goodness. I was really worried about what to do starting tomorrow…”

“Always wearing a cap or the hood of your parka is pretty conspicuous.”

“Yeah, I got into fights with teachers back in elementary school too.”

We both laughed at the same time, recalling it. I thought we might stop and feel awkward like we did during the patrol earlier, but perhaps due to the relief of solving the problem, Maki kept laughing. I joined in.

“Still, what on earth was that? I’ve never heard of a curse where the ears of a cat you saved grow from your head.”

“I don’t know. But I’m going to forget it. Even if I see that white cat in town again, I won’t go near it.”

“You’re going to forget? Such a precious experience, and you won’t tell anyone?”

“Of course not. No one would believe me. I’ll forget everything. Completely forget.”

“Then are you going to delete this photo too?”

“When did you take this, you!”

She lunged for my smartphone, which had the cat-eared version of Maki saved on it. Naturally, I resisted. For some reason, she focused on kicking my shins, and reluctantly, I showed her that I was deleting the photo right in front of her. I decided I would never mention that it was saved in the cloud.

“Well, I should be heading home now.”

Maki put on her cap and headed for the door.

“Ah, wait.”

“What is it?”

“My mom made curry for dinner. Do you want some? She always makes too much.”

She paused for a few seconds, considering.

Maki’s parents were transferred out of the prefecture for work. She was the only one left in this town, living alone in an apartment. I heard her grandparents lived on the floor below, which allowed her parents to let her live alone. That was something my mom told me when she was still in contact with Maki’s mom.

Maki shook her head.

“No, my grandma must be preparing dinner.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Then I’m going home.”

I walked down with her to see her off at the entrance.

From unexpected committee work and the attack of the urban legend, this had been the day I spoke the most with Maki in a year and a half. Days like this might not come again. The restoration of daily life was complete, and we would soon return to our usual tracks. Starting tomorrow, would we go back to our original distance, pretending nothing had changed? Or would something be different?

“See you tomorrow.”

As I opened the entrance door to step outside, I threw those words over my shoulder at Maki’s back.

Even after waiting a bit, the same words didn’t come back.

But she stopped and turned around.

Her face was hidden under the deep cap, but I could clearly see her mouth moving.

“Thank you, Ichika.”

I heard the entrance door close and her footsteps fade away. I felt an urge to open the door again and see her face, but I decided against it, thinking it would probably be awkward.

The name I was called for the first time today made my ears tingle.