After Distancing Myself From the Childhood Friend Couple Who Looked Down on Me, I Started Interacting With a Small Animal-Like Beautiful Girl - Chapter 15

“…Haa.”

Saitou-san waved the cat’s teaser, and Maru’s short legs quickly tried to catch it. The amber-colored, round eyes had transformed into those of a beast stalking its prey, and Saitou-san’s skillful use of the cat toy, likely honed from playing with the cats at his grandparents’ house, was quite impressive.

Even though they only met for the first time about an hour ago, they have already become completely comfortable with each other.

I was cleaning up the trash on the table while watching the beautiful girl play with my pet cat.

As soon as Saitou-san saw Maru, she reacted as if her eyes were burned, so I waited for her to calm down before moving to the living room, where we spread out the things we had bought from the convenience store on the table.

“The real thing was too cute…”

Muttering that, Saitou-san was eating a katsu sandwich larger than her own hand.

I never thought she would react that strongly. Maru also flinched a bit and stepped back.

But it feels like my Maru’s cuteness has been recognized to that extent, and I’m proud of it. I want to brag about it to the stupid couple who used to make fun of Maru.

While having lunch, I asked Saitou-san, who had been watching Maru the whole time, if she could play with it later, and she turned around with such force that I thought her thin neck might snap, saying, “Is that okay?” And she turned around with such force that it seemed her slender neck might snap. As she nodded with a wry smile, I noticed her eyes shining brighter than I had ever seen, and I felt the image of her as an unreadable beautiful girl gradually breaking down within me.

I pour tea from a plastic bottle into the two cups I brought to the table and call out to Saitou-san, who is waving a cat toy.

“I’ll leave some tea here, so feel free to drink it.”

“Thank you for going out of your way. I’m sorry, I have just been playing around a lot.”

“If you’re able to relax, that’s all that matters.”

“I might even be more relaxed here than in my own room.”

“That’s just too much of a lie.”

When Saitou-san says something, it sounds so serious that it scares me.

It seems like I’m able to do things more easily, and the atmosphere feels softer compared to when we’re at school. Having Maru around is probably a big part of it.

I sat down next to Saitou-san and stroked Maru, who looked satisfied after playing a lot.

“That’s great, Maru. You got to play with her.”

Nyaa, the cat’s meow comes back, and my cheeks naturally relax.

I stroke Maru’s chin as it sits on my lap. As I listened to the rumbling sound of the purring, I noticed that I was being stared at intently from the side.

Ah, I’ve shown my lazy face again.

“…As expected, Yoshizaki really does have a very kind face towards Maru, don’t you?”

Saitou-san said with a deep sigh as she had been looking back and forth between me and Maru with great interest.

“You’re completely different from when you’re at school. Like you’re a completely different person.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. It’s like you forgive Maru for everything.”

“Everything…”

I lower my gaze to Maru on my lap. The round amber-colored eyes are also looking up at me.

…Now that she mentions it, that might be true.

Because Maru was not only family to me but also a source of emotional support.

“–––I met Maru when I was in the first year of middle school. It was a stray cat that sometimes appears near our house, but it came up to me right from our first meeting. It also got close to my mom and dad, and before we knew it, everyone was looking forward to Maru’s visits.”

Without any hesitation at my sudden recounting of the past, Saitou-san quietly nods.

While watching Maru rub its head against my thigh, I continued.

“At that time, the relationship between those two… Daiki and Serika were also changing. I was someone who couldn’t take the initiative back then, so I was always with the two of them… But gradually, the way we interacted with each other stopped being like good childhood friends or rather.”

The memories of those days that resurface in my mind leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

It all started back then when Daiki began to use me as a benchmark to always show that he was superior, and when Serika started using me as a stress outlet as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“I felt like I was being treated roughly, but I couldn’t say anything. We were supposed to be close enough to say anything to each other… Honestly, it’s just hopeless.”

I can’t help but become self-deprecating.

While I don’t even know why I’m talking about this, I still keep my mouth moving.

“…When I got home after feeling a bit exhausted, Maru was sitting in front of the door. When I saw Maru come up to me like always, I felt so relieved and just cried a lot. Even though I had been crying for a while, Maru stayed right by my side the whole time.”

I think I will never forget that day.

I crouched in front of the house, managing to suppress my voice, but I couldn’t do the same with my tears.

To the human who suddenly burst into tears, the nameless cat curled up its filthy body and snuggled close.

That day, when Maru protected my fragile heart, it became the most important person to me and the one I could trust the most.

“I think that’s why I seem relaxed in front of Maru… ah.”

Before I knew it, I was lost in appreciation and then suddenly came back to my senses.

I was talking while looking at Maru, so I didn’t pay any attention to Saitou-san’s condition at all.

No matter how much it’s a story about cats, listening to someone else’s past story, I wonder if I’ve been zoning out halfway through… I turn my face towards Saitou-san in a flutter.

“I’m sorry, I talked too much–––”

“…I see. Yeah, I get it.”

Saitou-san nodded slightly up and down as she was laughing.

Even though she only slightly narrowed her round eyes and lifted the corners of her mouth just a bit, I couldn’t help but be irresistibly drawn in.

Her smile, which no one in the class, or even in the entire school, had ever seen before, was more delicate and infinitely more adorable than any perfectly crafted doll.

“Maru, you’re amazing.”

A small hand reaches out to my knee and strokes Maru.

That gaze filled with compassion was directed at me once again.

“Thank you for telling me… That, that makes Maru special.”

Just that alone makes it clear that Saitou-san has accepted my past.

It was enough.

“So, does that mean you won’t be able to find someone special who surpasses Maru for a while?”

“Huh? Um, um…”

In a slightly teasing tone, I was asked by Saitou-san.

I was troubled by something I had never even thought about.

Will someone who feels more special than Maru come along in the future…?

“…Hehe. You’re seriously deep in thought.”

I ended up being laughed at, and I felt a bit embarrassed about having taken it seriously.

It might have been okay to have a lover who is generally considered special.

“Even if you can’t surpass them, there are still people who seem special, right? Someone like Kubo.”

“Kubo?”

“Because we’re friends, right?”

My heart skipped a beat at those words spoken without a hint of doubt.

With a surprised look on her face, Saitou-san blinked at me with a puzzled expression.

As if to say, “Why are you reacting like that?”

Me and Kubo looked like friends to her.

“…I don’t know if Kubo thinks that way but.”

“You think so, don’t you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t borrow and lend manga, and you wouldn’t eat lunch together during breaks. Why don’t you ask the person directly?”

For some reason, when Saitou-san says it, I start to think it might be true.

After all, I thought I was nothing more than a classmate to Kubo.

What if she was wrong? I thought about it for the first time today.

“Oh, but if that’s the case, does that mean I’m also a special candidate for Yoshizaki?”

“Huh?”

To my outlandish exclamation, Saitou-san pointed to her face, which had returned to her usual expression, and said calmly.

“We exchanged contact information, we’re both cat lovers… yeah, that’s definitely enough to be friends.”

–––How can this person say such things so easily?

While I couldn’t help but laugh at Saitou-san while nodding as she spoke, I felt a warmth spreading deep within my chest.