My Childhood Friend Meows Under My Skirt. (GL) - Chapter 2

Arriving a little late at five o’clock as promised, I reached the supermarket “Himawari” located in the shopping district. It was the supermarket known for having the cheapest meat, vegetables, and fish in Miyage. There was no sign of my grandmother in front of the store.

As usual, she must have started shopping ahead of me, and when I entered, I found her just pushing a cart toward the meat section.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Grandma.”

“Yes, Maki.”

“What are we having for dinner tonight?”

“I was thinking of making sukiyaki, how about that?”

“No one dislikes sukiyaki.”

I took over the cart from my grandmother and continued as we moved through the aisles.

“I can help too. It’s easy; you just throw in the ingredients.”

“That’s why I decided on sukiyaki.”

“That’s cruel.”

Since it was indeed cruel, I added a pack of meat to the cart. My grandmother laughed. I loved this time we spent together once a week.

Due to my parents’ (strictly speaking, my father’s) job transfer, I was supposed to move away from Miyage in the summer of my third year of middle school. Just before that, my parents consulted me and suggested that I could stay in this town. My mother said it would be tough to be separated from Ichika-chan, but by that time, we had already cut ties, so it wasn’t much of a reason to stay. If anyone asked, I intended to stick to that story.

At first, I stayed with my paternal grandparents who lived in the same Miyage. However, when I entered high school, my grandmother, wanting to celebrate, kindly arranged for a studio apartment for me through her connections. Apparently, one of her former students, who had been a teacher, was now an executive at a real estate company in this town. I didn’t know the details.

When I reported to my parents about living alone during their transfer, they allowed it on the condition that I would spend this time with my grandmother once a week to report on my well-being. It seemed they imagined I would dislike it, but I loved my grandmother, and honestly, I wouldn’t have minded seeing her twice a week. Three times would be a bit much to consider, and four times would definitely be a hassle.

After finishing the checkout, while helping to bag the groceries, my grandmother asked me.

“How’s Ichika-chan?”

“Huh, why Ichika?”

“You’ve been talking to her a lot lately.”

“I’m not talking that much.”

“They say you started talking more since you both became part of the greening committee.”

“…Well, that’s true.”

I had told my grandmother about how annoying it was to be in the same class as Ichika. Of course, I hadn’t mentioned anything about the cat transformation. I certainly hadn’t revealed that there might be a white cat inside me, that sometimes it took over my consciousness, or that I sprouted a tail or ears. If that got out, my parents would rush back home.

Exiting the supermarket, I headed toward my grandmother’s house. Surprisingly, for her age, she walked quite fast, making it a bit tough for me as I carried the bags.

“Maki has been talking about Ichika-chan a lot lately, just like before.”

“That’s not true. I just happened to run out of topics.”

“I thought you two made up.”

“That’s not it.”

My grandmother sighed as if exasperated. She looked a little sad, too.

After about ten minutes of walking, we arrived at my grandmother’s house. It was in the opposite direction from both my school and my apartment. It was a single-story house with a garden that had a lawn and a small pond. They used to keep several koi fish, but now there was only one left, as the strays had taken the others. This one was too heavy for the strays to carry off, so it continued to swim there.

“I’m home.”

I opened the door and called out, but there was no response from the hallway.

“Oh, I see, Grandpa isn’t here…”

“That’s right.”

“It feels like just yesterday we were chatting happily.”

“He left yesterday for a trip with his friends.”

“Please don’t kill him off in my jokes,” my grandmother lightly brushed off my humor. It was the usual banter, and it felt comforting.

I began preparing dinner. While my grandmother was busy, she tried to bring up Ichika again, but I got annoyed, and she stopped.

We moved to the living room, gathered around the pot for sukiyaki, and occasionally made comments about the TV while we ate. I answered the obligatory updates about my life as part of living alone, extending the small talk. I talked about how annoying Ichika was, and my grandmother laughed. I had told her not to bring it up, yet I ended up talking about Ichika myself. Embarrassed, I pretended to focus on the meat.

The premonition came just as we were finishing our meal.

“…Huh?”

Something was tickling around my cheeks, and when I scratched, the itch wouldn’t go away. Soon, a wriggling sensation inside me grew stronger, and I was certain it was the sign of the cat transformation.

I hurriedly stood up.

“What’s wrong, Maki?”

“Sorry. I need to use the bathroom.”

I slid open the sliding door and stepped into the hallway. The wriggling sensation intensified. The skin on my cheeks began to twitch for some reason. Ears, tail—what would come next?

As I moved along the veranda toward the bathroom, I suddenly noticed a cat sitting in the yard.

It was a white cat, and for a moment, I thought it was the one I had saved.

But it was different. The distinctive feature was its ears. The colors of the ears were different, one brown and the other gray.

As I locked eyes with that cat, a second stray appeared from the hedge near the fence. Then a third, a fourth, and more kept coming. They didn’t seem to be there for the koi in the pond.

I had encountered this scene before. Before I knew it, they were following me, as if they thought I was one of them.

I dashed to the bathroom. I locked the door, peered into the small mirror provided, and was stunned.

“…Whiskers.”

I gently touched what was growing on my cheeks. When my fingertips brushed against them, the whiskers moved reflexively. The muscles in my cheeks twitched in response.

Now it was whiskers. The whiskers of that white cat. A part of the cat inside me.

What should I do? I can’t go back to Grandma like this. I need to get home immediately, no matter what. Is there any way out?

Thinking I might raise suspicion if I took too long, I exited the bathroom. The tatami room near the bathroom was originally the room I had used for just a few months after moving in.

There, I finally came up with a solution.

I opened the sliding door and entered. The room was just as it had been when I moved in. Some of my belongings were still left behind.

As I rummaged through the rack for miscellaneous items, I found what I was looking for. My memory had served me well, and I felt relieved. Holding what I found, I left the room.

It was getting dark outside, and I could still sense the presence of the cats in the yard, but I ignored them and returned to the living room.

“Oh, Maki, what’s that?”

My grandmother looked at me with a puzzled expression as I came back.

I lightly touched the mask I was wearing with my fingers and explained.

“I, um, suddenly have a sore throat.”

“Oh dear, that’s terrible.”

“Yeah. So I think I’ll just head home like this. I don’t want to pass anything on.”

“What about medicine?”

“I’m fine. I have some.”

Still, my grandmother insisted on giving me cold medicine and throat lozenges before I left. The pain was deeper in my throat, but I couldn’t let her find out.

My grandmother watched me until I turned the corner and disappeared from sight. As I walked home alone, I sighed inside my mask and thought.

How should I explain this to Ichika tomorrow?

(End of Extra Chapter 2)