Kosuke regretted that he couldn’t have Hachi himself, but he was very happy when his father played with him. It felt like his father was meeting him halfway. He even hoped that, if he ever found another stray kitten, this time he would be allowed to keep it for himself.
Because it was a very special thing – to have your own cat in your own home.
Whenever he stayed overnight at Satoru’s, sleeping on the futon beside his bed, he’d often be woken in the early hours by four feet clomping over him. Feeling the weight of a cat’s paws pressing into your shoulders in the middle of the night – not much beats that.
He would glance over and see Hachi curled up in a ball on top of Satoru’s chest. Perhaps finding it too hard to breathe, Satoru, still asleep, would slide the cat beside him. Lucky guy, Kosuke thought. If he were my cat, we could sleep together and I would let him walk all over me.
‘My father seems to have taken a liking to Hachi, and I’m thinking, maybe, if we find another stray kitten, he might let me keep it.’
‘That’d be great! Then Hachi would have a friend.’
The idea made Satoru happy, and on the way to and from swimming club he’d kept an eye out for another box with a kitten inside it.
But there never was another cardboard box with a kitten inside left under the housing complex sign.
Of course, it was a good thing that no more poor cats were abandoned. Because, even if they had found another cat, Kosuke’s father still wouldn’t have let him keep it.
Two years had passed since Hachi had gone to live at Satoru’s. Kosuke and Satoru were now in the sixth grade of elementary school.
As autumn shed its leaves, their school organized a residential trip. Three days, two nights, in Kyoto. Kosuke could do without the temples – they all looked the same to him – but he was overjoyed to be staying away overnight with his friends, far from home.
And having more spending money than he’d ever imagined to buy souvenirs with was exciting, too. There were plenty of things he wanted to buy for himself, but he also had to remember to buy presents for his family.
One day, when they were in a souvenir shop, Satoru had a worried look on his face. ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Kosuke.
‘Um, I’m wondering which one to buy.’
Satoru was looking at various kinds of facial blotting paper on a cosmetics display.
‘Mum asked me to buy some blotting paper, but I’ve forgotten which brand she wanted.’
‘Aren’t they all the same?’
Satoru didn’t seem to know one way or the other, so Kosuke said, ‘Why don’t you buy her gift another time?’
‘Okay, I guess I’ll get something for Dad.’
‘Yeah, you should. I’ll get something for my dad, too.’
They wandered around a few shops, and Kosuke was the first to decide what to get. A good-luck maneki-neko cat keyring, the cat with a banner on its back that read ‘Success in Business’. Of course, there was an ulterior motive behind this choice: his father might begin to like cats.
‘Oh – that’s great!’ Satoru’s eyes sparkled at the comical expression on the maneki-neko cat’s face. ‘But we don’t have a family business, so that slogan wouldn’t work.’
‘There’re lots of others besides “Success in Business”.’
Satoru figured that the two slogans on banners that made most sense for his father were ‘Health Comes First’ and ‘Road Safety’. A third read ‘Harmony in the Home’, but he wasn’t exactly sure what that meant.
Satoru ended up picking the keyring with the ‘Road Safety’ banner, because he thought the maneki-neko cat resembled Hachi.
He hadn’t bought the blotting paper for his mother, but said he’d look for some the following day.
But after lunch the next day, Satoru was gone. When their class assembled, their teacher explained that ‘Miyawaki-kun had to return home before us.’
‘Ah – poor Satoru!’
His classmates all murmured to each other how sorry they were. They imagined themselves in Satoru’s place, having to go home early.
‘Sawada-kun, do you know why?’
Kosuke had heard nothing. Satoru had gone home without saying a thing even to his best friend, so something very serious must have happened.
And Satoru hadn’t even bought the blotting paper for his mother. She’ll be disappointed, Kosuke thought, when only his father gets a souvenir.
That’s it! Kosuke had a sudden flash of inspiration.
I’ll buy it for him, that whatchamacallit blotting paper. But how am I going to work out which brand she wants?
As he was puzzling over this, their school group went on a visit to Kinkakuji, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion. This glittery temple was unique, totally different from all the sober-looking ones they’d seen up till then. There were squeals of disbelief among the students when they saw it. ‘Man, that’s gaudy!’ was the consensus. If only Satoru could be here to see it, Kosuke thought, his heart aching.
During their free time, a couple of girls in his class were hanging out in a souvenir shop, and when he spied them, Kosuke was struck by another flash of inspiration.
The girls will know! Blotting paper is something girls use.
‘Hey!’ Kosuke called over to the girls, who were twittering away to each other like a pair of chirping birds.
‘Do you know a brand of blotting paper? It’s supposed to be kind of famous?’
They both shot back the same reply.
‘You mean Yojiya. Yojiya! They have it in that store over there.’
The girls were about to head over there themselves, so Kosuke went with them.
The cheapest blotting paper was over three hundred yen and, thinking how much spending money he had left, Kosuke hesitated.
But Kosuke felt sorry for Satoru, having to go home in the middle of the school trip. And he was Satoru’s best friend.
Satoru probably feels worse about not getting the gift for his mother than having to go home early, he thought. And Kosuke was the only one who understood that.
He had no clue what was so special about this blotting paper, but he went ahead and bought a pack, with its distinctive drawing of a kokeshi doll on the wrapping. The package was so thin and flimsy-looking he was doubtful that Satoru’s mother would really want it, but that’s what Satoru had decided on.
‘Sawada-kun, did your mother ask you to buy Yojiya paper?’
‘Nope. Satoru’s mother asked him, and he was searching for it in all the shops. But he went back without buying any …’
‘You are such a good guy, Sawada-kun!’ the girls gushed. It was not a bad feeling.
‘Miyawaki-kun’s mum will love it. It’s a famous brand.’
Is it really that famous? Kosuke was surprised, and at the same time relieved. He was convinced now that Satoru’s mother would appreciate the gift, no matter how flimsy it seemed.
I should have bought the same thing for my mother, he thought, but he’d already bought her a present the day before. Buying two presents for her would push him over budget, and he could picture his father’s face. He abandoned the idea.
They arrived home on the evening of the third day.
‘I’m back!’
Kosuke held out the presents he’d bought and was about to tell his parents all about the trip when his father poked him.