Natsue and Emiri headed over together. The cat was once again in Kajiwara’s arms. It seemed this patchy cat was coming home.
Koga’s gaze kept flicking to Kajiwara’s face.
“Um, are you sure you’re not the doctor from the clinic? You know, the small practice called Nakagyō Kokoro Clinic for the Soul, located between Takoyakushi and Rokkaku streets?”
“Oh, I know that place,” said Kajiwara with a laugh. “It’s Dr. Kokoro’s hospital, right? I used to go there quite often. He also drops by our rescue center occasionally.”
“When you say hospital, you mean a psychiatric clinic, right?”
“Psychiatric clinic? No, I’m talking about Suda Animal Hospital in Nakagyō Ward.”
Their conversation wasn’t quite clicking. Even Kajiwara looked troubled and was laughing awkwardly.
Emiri and Natsue returned.
“We decided to take Six—I mean, this cat—home for a trial stay. Is that okay, Dad?”
“Yeah.”
Koga was distracted. He was looking at the ID badge hanging from the man’s neck. Tomoya Kajiwara. He looked just like that doctor from the clinic but more composed. Talking to him like this, he did seem like a different person.
Kajiwara handed the cat to Emiri. “Six, make sure you get along with everyone,” he said, scratching the cat’s head.
The cat closed her eyes in apparent contentment. Emiri was in high spirits as she placed the cat into the pet carrier borrowed from the shelter.
“When I uploaded a pic with a caption that we’re trial fostering a cat, I got a ton of likes. Hey, people are saying they like the name Six-Patch. I don’t know why, Dad, but the name’s popular. Good for you.”
“Hmph. Your father isn’t easily delighted by cheap compliments.”
But truthfully, he was glad the name he had given the cat was getting likes. Although not a tortoiseshell, it seemed a cat that was strong like Margot was joining their household. That, too, brought him joy.
Once I get home, I’ll take some videos and photos, too. Then I’ll share them with people. And if people compliment me for them, I’ll compliment them back. Six-Patch is sure to get a ton of likes. Essentially, that means I will get all the likes for naming her.
Koga grinned as he watched his wife and daughter shower the cat with adoration.
Koyuki
3
Koyuki
Megumi Minamida stopped by the park on the corner of Rokkaku and Fuyacho streets. When she turned around, she saw her daughter, Aoba, standing on the other side of the street, gazing down at her feet. Irritation started to bubble up. She breathed out slowly and reminded herself to stay calm.
“Aoba, hurry up. You’re getting in the way of other people.”
Aoba approached her with a sullen look. For a fourth grader, she still looked quite babylike and exuded an air of sadness, so it made Megumi feel like a villain for being cold to her. But having been forced to go on this wild-goose chase, Megumi didn’t have the bandwidth to be kind. They had indeed found a hospital located at the vague address Aoba’s friend had given her, but it wasn’t the one they were looking for.
“Lize and Tomomi said it’s around here. Kiko’s mom’s friend also said they’ve been seeing Dr. Kokoro at his practice,” said Aoba.
“We were just there, and it was a different hospital, wasn’t it?” Megumi couldn’t hide the frustration in her tone even though she knew it was also her fault for not looking up the details ahead of their visit.
When Aoba got to the fourth grade, she became markedly more difficult to deal with. While it was normal for her to complain that school was boring or her studies were tough, recently she’d started exhibiting signs of depression. And a few days ago, she expressed her desire to visit Dr. Kokoro’s clinic in Nakagyō Ward.
At first, Megumi dismissed the idea of psychiatric care for elementary school students, but when she casually brought up the topic with her neighborhood mom friends, to her surprise they insisted that these days, mental health care was considered normal even for preschoolers. Megumi felt an urgent need to act. If she didn’t take Aoba to the clinic right away, she felt she would be seen as an old-fashioned, incompetent mother. She couldn’t bear to remain idle.
And so Megumi arrived at Dr. Suda Kokoro’s hospital in Nakagyō Ward, as directed by the map app on her phone. But it wasn’t a psychiatric clinic or a pediatric clinic. It wasn’t even a clinic for people.
It was an old and smallish hospital, located along a narrow path. In the entrance was a large dog lying down beside a bench. On a wall were hundreds of photographs, all featuring dogs or cats, many with their owners.
Dr. Kokoro’s hospital turned out to be an animal hospital. Megumi had reluctantly come here because she wanted to fit in with her mom friends, but she’d made a mistake by unquestioningly accepting Aoba’s information.
“Let’s go home. Mom needs to prepare dinner,” said Megumi.
“No way. I want to find Dr. Kokoro’s clinic. It’s on some street in Nakagyō Ward.” Aoba frowned.
“We passed Suda Animal Hospital. It was a vet.”
“It’s somewhere different. On the top floor of a building, with a doctor who actually listens to you. Both Lize and Tomomi have their own regular psychiatrists, and they’re told that they can call up the doctor anytime, even if there’s nothing wrong.”
“Regular psychiatrists for children. I see.” Megumi laughed weakly. Her friends are completely manipulating her.
Megumi had heard from her mom friends that therapy and mental health care were becoming trendy among kids. Things that kids thought were cool included going to cram school, participating in extracurricular activities, having phones, and seeking advice from professionals instead of their parents or teachers. The older the kids became, the harder Megumi found it to connect with or understand them.
“If there’s anything you want to talk about, you can talk to me after you finish your homework.”
“You say that, but you don’t understand anything, Mom,” Aoba said. “You never listen to me.”
