“Mimita.” Abino kneeled on the cobblestone, not caring that her kimono would get wet. “Mimita, it’s okay. Come here.”
She extended her hands slowly. Mimita remained cautious, as if ready to bolt at any moment. Tears welled up in Abino’s eyes, and her lips trembled.
“I’m sorry, Mimita. You came to my home, but I’ve been acting coldly. The truth is, I didn’t want to start liking you too much. It felt like if I started liking you, I was forgetting Chitose. I felt bad about Chitose and couldn’t properly cherish you. I’m so sorry.”
Tears streamed down her face. She had been so wrapped up in guilt that she had been unable to see what was right in front of her.
“Mimita, don’t go. Don’t leave me.” Abino closed her eyes and prayed. Come back. Come back, my little cat.
Something cold brushed against her fingertips. Mimita was licking her fingers with his scratchy, sandpaper-like tongue. He nuzzled his round face against her.
“Mimita…”
She gently lifted the cat into her arms. He was heavy and warm. As she felt the softness of his long, stretching body, a smile escaped her.
Abino held Mimita tenderly against her body until she was inside the okiya. He jumped gracefully down into the foyer as if nothing had happened and, with light steps, padded farther inside. Shizue, who had come to the door, was astonished as Mimita effortlessly slipped between her legs.
“My goodness! Was Mimita outside? He was supposed to be upstairs.”
“Could there be a secret exit in my room? It’s the second time this has happened.”
“Oh no, that would be bad.”
They headed upstairs to Abino’s room. As soon as they entered, they both froze.
“The window’s open!” cried Shizue in dismay. “I double-checked that it was locked before I let Mimita into your room. I must’ve been mistaken.”
Just as it had that night, a breeze flowed through the room. Abino approached the window. It was only slightly ajar, but the gap was big enough for a cat to slip through.
“Mother!”
“I’m sorry, Abino. Because of me, Mimita almost ended up becoming lost like Chitose. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Look here. This latch isn’t hooked onto the window frame on this side,” said Abino, pointing to the crescent-shaped latch hanging from the window. There was a big gap between the two glass panes, and the clasp was not latching onto the bracket. Even though the window was ostensibly locked, it could be opened with the slightest push.
“Oh, my, you’re right. When did our window hardware get this worn-out?” Shizue was appalled.
Abino tried opening and closing the window multiple times. How long had it been since the window stopped locking securely? She always checked her windows before leaving, so how had she not noticed?
She leaned out of the window to peer at the exterior walls and roof. That’s when she noticed the rain gutters hanging low and pushing against the edge of the window frame. Shizue took a peek out the window.
“Oh, the gutters become dislodged sometimes when it rains heavily. Just wait a second. I’ll fix it right away,” said Shizue, reaching out to push the rain gutter back into place.
With the external pressure on the window frame gone, the gap between the windowpanes closed up.
“Because of this, the window…”
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“No, nothing. This is dangerous, Mother. Let’s have a handyman come fix this soon.”
“That’s true. I’ll call them tomorrow.”
Abino turned the latch. The clasp clicked into the hasp.
The lock became useless every time the rain gutter was dislodged. It had also rained heavily the evening Chitose had disappeared. Perhaps the window had been in the same unsecured state. There was no way to confirm it now, but it felt like the thorn that was stuck in her heart had been pulled out.
A voice came from outside the room. “Abino, I brought Mimita with me. Can I come in?”
After checking that the window was properly closed, Abino opened the door to find Yuriha standing there with Mimita in her arms.
“Thank you, Yuriha,” said Abino. But when she tried to take the cat from Yuriha, Yuriha held on to him tightly with a somber look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” asked Abino.
Yuriha shook her head. “I don’t want to return him. I don’t want to return Mimita. Sis, do you think it’d be so bad if we just adopted him? If you don’t like him, I can keep him in my room and take care of him myself.”
It was then that Abino realized that it wasn’t just her who had been struggling. Shizue and Yuriha also missed Chitose.
They all knew how difficult owning a cat could be. What worked with one cat didn’t always work with the next.
Mimita’s round face was resting on Yuriha’s shoulder. He might seem friendly on the surface, but if they were going to live together, the road ahead was going to be challenging. To earn his trust, everyone in the family would need to make an effort.
Abino planned to go back to the clinic tomorrow. The nurse had said she didn’t need to, but that wouldn’t do. It wasn’t just about Mimita. She wanted to meet with that strange doctor one more time to reassess her feelings.
Abino pushed open the clinic’s door, the carrier with Mimita in hand. The nurse sitting at reception looked up.
