Hiro Arikawa - The Travelling Cat Chronicles

But I wonder how many more of these winters I can put up with.

You’re getting on.

Don’t say that. Just because you left this world when you were younger than me, don’t get carried away.

A mellow sun shines but there is a dusting of snow fluttering in the air. Another winter is just around the corner.

And I’m finally coming to the end of my story.

Satoru left behind a list of people he was close to or who had helped him in one way or another, together with a note requesting that they all be contacted and thanked. Which Noriko duly did.

I was amazed by how many condolence letters and telegrams flooded in. Not just from friends, but from colleagues and former supervisors at work, and even from former school teachers of his. Even people Noriko didn’t contact, but who had heard the news, got in touch.

Noriko was terribly busy dealing with them all. I think it was good for her to be busy so soon after Satoru passed away. I was worried she would become depressed after his death. ‘She might age a whole decade,’ Satoru told me when he was in hospital. ‘So you’ve got to stay by her side, okay?’

In the end, Noriko aged maybe two or three years, max. I mean, she wasn’t that young to begin with (about as old as Momo the cat, I imagine), so a couple of years wasn’t going to make much difference. Oops. If Noriko or Momo heard that, I imagine they’d be pretty upset!

‘Satoru knew so many kind and thoughtful people, Nana.’

As well as sending their condolences, people asked to come and light incense and pray in memory of him. They were all people I knew, and Satoru had left handwritten letters for all of them.

On Honshu, the main island, the cherry blossoms were blooming further and further northward. They wouldn’t start blooming in Hokkaido for a while, though. On the streets of Sapporo, there was even some leftover snow in the shadier spots.

The weather was dodgy for a few days, but on the day of the funeral the sun shone. It was as though Satoru was welcoming his guests. It was a quiet affair, with only Noriko and relatives on his mother’s side attending. I waited at home while the funeral was taking place. I can’t say I’m much interested in the ceremonies humans like to conduct.

I was in the hospital to see him off. But he’s still here, in my heart, so I don’t need a ceremony to remember him.

Later, several people I hadn’t seen for a long time arrived at Noriko’s and my apartment: Kosuke and Yoshimine, and Sugi and Chikako.

They all wore black and didn’t say much, their lips drawn.

‘Please – come on in. I ordered some sushi. It’s fine to have some, now that the period of abstinence is over. And I’ll make some soup to go with it, so please wait a moment.’

Noriko said this cheerfully, but the others were concerned they were causing too much trouble.

‘I’m so sorry you have to do all this,’ Kosuke said, and all the other guests murmured their agreement, bowing to her.

‘Don’t worry about it. I’m delighted to have Satoru’s friends over.’

‘Do you need some help?’ Chikako said, standing up. But Noriko waved her offer away.

‘Don’t worry. I’m really not comfortable having people in my kitchen.’

As usual, Noriko didn’t mean anything by this, but it made Chikako feel a little awkward. If Satoru had been there, he would have said, ‘I’m sorry. Her heart’s in the right place.’ But Noriko kept her eyes fixed on the chopping board and didn’t seem to notice.

If she had seen Chikako’s reaction, she would no doubt have said something else and dug herself into an even deeper hole.

‘Instead of helping, why don’t you play with Nana?’

Oh – well played, Noriko, to get me in on the act. I went over to Chikako and rubbed the side of my body up against her leg.

‘Hi, Nana. I wish we could have taken you in,’ she said, reaching down to fondle my tummy.

‘Hm?’ Kosuke said. ‘Did Satoru arrange a meeting with Nana for you, too?’

‘He did,’ said Chikako and Sugi together, both smiling wryly. ‘Our dog and Nana didn’t really get on, so it didn’t work out.’

‘For me, it was my kitten that was the problem.’ This from Yoshimine.

This seemed to break the ice, and they all started telling each other their Nana stories. ‘Nana is surprisingly fussy,’ Kosuke said. An uncalled-for remark, if you ask me.

Oh, really? And who’s the one who quarrels with his wife and gets all weepy about it, eh?

It seemed that Kosuke and his wife had adopted their own cat. Kosuke proudly showed a few photos on his phone of a pretty silver mackerel tabby. You and Satoru might have been childhood friends, but there’s no need to show off your cat like that.

Then Yoshimine pulled out his mobile phone. ‘Me too,’ he said, passing it around.

Et tu , Yoshimine? That cat with the silly name, Chatran, had grown up to be a rugged young thing. He was an expert at catching mice now. Perhaps my efforts to train him had paid off.

‘Satoru met him, so I thought I’d show him this photo.’

Yoshimine got up and went over to the altar in the corner of the room set up in memory of Satoru.

‘If I’d known we were going to be bragging about our pets, I would have brought my photo album,’ Chikako said, but she and Sugi weren’t about to be left behind when it came to animal photos. Both of them pulled out their mobile phones to share photos of Momo and Toramaru.

‘We run a bed and breakfast that welcomes pets, so please stop by sometime,’ Sugi said, pulling out some business cards. They all exchanged addresses.

You know something, Satoru? After you passed away, the people who miss you all became connected.

‘If you wouldn’t mind taking one, too?’ Sugi said to Noriko, handing her his business card as she brought in the sushi.

Yes, please, give her one, I thought. I’d like to lie down all snug on top of that boxy warm TV set again someday.

‘Thanks. I haven’t climbed Mount Fuji in ages, and that would be lovely.’

Go right ahead, Noriko. I’ll hold the fort back at the Sugis’, on top of that toasty TV.

They all sat around the table, eagerly sharing stories about Satoru.

‘What? So Satoru didn’t swim in junior high?’ Kosuke blinked in surprise.

‘That’s right.’ Yoshimine nodded. ‘When he was with me, we were in the gardening club together. Was he that good at swimming?’

‘He was in the swimming club all through elementary school. He won a lot of races in big galas, and people had high hopes for him… Did he swim in high school?’

Sugi and Chikako both shook their heads.

‘He had a lot of friends, but he wasn’t in any particular club.’

‘Really? He was such a fast swimmer. I wonder why he gave it up.’

As she gave me some tuna sushi, minus the wasabi, Noriko casually murmured, ‘Must have been because you were no longer with him, Kosuke.’

Oh, Noriko, what is wrong with you? You’re usually so clumsy with words, but occasionally what you say is spot on and cuts right to the quick. Kosuke’s face fell.

‘As he was writing those letters, he told me a lot about all of you. About how he and you, Kosuke, ran away from home with the cat, and that he was a little bit worried about you since you and your wife had argued.’

Come on now – you didn’t have to say that!

‘We’re fine now,’ Kosuke hurriedly explained.

‘He told me how much he enjoyed helping you, Yoshimine, and your grandmother in the fields, and how you always did things at your own pace and ran off in the middle of class to take care of the greenhouse, and how anxious that made him.’

Yoshimine looked out of the window, as if deep in thought.