"Excuse me, I brought somebody home with me."
When Halkara returned from the factory, she was holding a leopard-spotted kitten in her arms.
…Or was it indeed a young leopard?
In any case, it was definitely a feline.
"I saw this little guy near the factory. He was all alone, and he looked cold. And then, when I held out my hand, he just got so attached to me… He's saying, 'I want mew to adopt me,' isn't he?"
Halkara was smiling cheerfully, but the kitten was gnawing on her hand. Doesn't that hurt…?
"That animal is a Nanterre wildcat. Ordinarily, they live in deserted places; it may have wandered into town by accident, or possibly its mother abandoned it," Laika, who took Halkara to and from work, explained. As she spoke, she was watching Halkara get bitten. "As a rule, the species doesn't domesticate well, so—"
"But look, he's taken such a liking to me! I don't think any animal has ever loved me this much!"
Halkara cut Laika off firmly.
"Madam Teacher, I'm keeping this little one! I'll be his mother!"
Frankly speaking, it was hard to believe Halkara could take care of an animal. Besides, at this point, it didn't seem to like her at all.
"He says so, too. 'I want an elf to take care of me.'"
"Halkara, you keep saying 'he,' but I believe the kitten is a girl."
"M-maybe she's a tomboy! It's fine!"
At that point, Falfa and Shalsha came to see what was going on.
"Ooh, cutie, how cute! It's a kitty!"
Falfa's energy levels hit the ceiling.
The kitten jumped out of Halkara's arms and went over to her.
"Kitty, good girl, good girl. "
When Falfa petted her head, the kitten purred. She didn't look as if she was planning to bite my daughter. Shalsha also gingerly petted the kitten from the side.
Aww… My Daughters, Featuring Kitten. It was the cutest thing in the universe!
"Shalsha thinks we could probably take care of her at this size."
"Falfa wants to keep the kitty! Can we, Mommy?"
"Shalsha is interested in observing animals as well."
"Sure. As a matter of fact, we have to keep her."
The kitten brought out my daughters' cuteness, and so she was staying here. Maybe I really should study magic, make a camera, and take photos of my daughters and the cat.
"Good work, Halkara. I appreciate your initiative."
"Madam Teacher, did Falfa's reaction just drastically change your evaluation?"
Halkara wore a rather complicated expression.
The kitten—strictly speaking, she may not have been a cat, but she was pretty similar—was named Doughnut.
This happened because she was the exact same color as the doughnuts we'd made two days earlier.
Halkara was the one who gave her the name. She was the one who'd brought her home, so she got to name her.
It seemed overly simplistic to me, but it was true that a unique name would probably have been harder to remember, so that was okay.
At first, maybe because Doughnut wasn't used to being indoors, she prowled around exploring everything. However, at some point, she began going up to a certain person.
"This cat can see me…"
Doughnut gazed steadily at Rosalie. Apparently, cats could see ghosts.
It seemed as though Doughnut had two or three set Rosalie-viewing times each day.
Come to think of it, a cat that had belonged to one of my high school friends would sometimes stare out the window at certain times. When the translucent paper windows were closed, it would meow, demanding that we slide them open.
By the way, all you could see out the window of my friend's house were concrete blocks; there hadn't even been any potted plants. The feline aesthetic sense was an enigma.
However, you couldn't really say that Doughnut had taken a liking to Rosalie. The one she was friendliest with was Falfa, or maybe Halkara. It all depended on what you took into consideration when making your decision. It was a bit like the way committee members' evaluations differed widely when they decided who to award with the literary Akutagawa Prize.
"Doughnut, din-din time. "
When Falfa set out a saucer of milk, Doughnut darted right over. She seemed to acknowledge Falfa as her boss, and she accompanied her faithfully. Even when Falfa picked her up, she didn't appear to mind. I'd watch them from a distance, grinning to myself.
My daughter is cute. The kitten is cute. Put them together, and the cuteness is infinite!
The way Shalsha would hesitantly come up at times like that and pet her on the head or below her chin was also quite nice.
However, by a different standard of evaluation, Halkara was holding her own, too.
"Doughnut, no, don't bite, please. No, just because you can't bite doesn't mean you can claw me!"
When Halkara was walking around indoors, Doughnut would scoot up to her and attach herself to her leg.
Sometimes it seemed like she was attacking her, so it looked as though she might consider Halkara to be lower in the hierarchy than she was. On the other hand, perhaps she just thought of her as a companion. Even with the biting, the attacks clearly weren't serious.
As Shalsha put it, "The way you act toward your parents is naturally different from the way you act with your friends." That seemed like the correct interpretation to me as well.
In addition, maybe because she was a wildcat instead of an ordinary cat, Doughnut was very active and had to be taken for walks in the highlands. Since Halkara went off to work as the president of her factory, Laika and I often ended up in charge of the walks.
It was fun just to watch Doughnut run through the open fields in the brisk air.
They say that keeping pets is good for the soul, and I think I know what they mean.
One day, when Halkara had the day off, we decided to go for a walk nearby as a family with Doughnut.
We were so enthusiastic about it that we packed box lunches for all of us.
"Wait! Wait!" Falfa called, running after Doughnut. We followed them at a leisurely pace.
"Doughnut has gotten really used to living here."
It might have been better to say that we'd gotten used to life with a kitten.
"You're right. We will have to give a bit of thought to the future, though."
Laika, ever the honor student, was looking serious now, too.
"What do you mean?"
"Wildcats grow so large they can't be compared with ordinary housecats. When she's full-grown, we won't be able to keep her indoors any longer."
"I see. The 'growing pet' problem, hmm?"
In Japan, I'd seen a news story about someone whose pet turtle had gotten too big for them to keep. Turtles live for decades, so you can end up with grim situations such as the human getting old and having to part with the pet because they can't handle it any longer.
"The highlands are vast, so we'll be able to stay close to Doughnut as long as possible!"
When Halkara spoke, her voice was a bit on the loud side.
She was wearing the "mature working adult" face she wore when she was at work.
"We've lived with Doughnut too long now, and I'll take care of her. I'll take responsibility."
"Mmm-hmm. I don't intend to send her away, so don't worry."
Just then, we heard Falfa shout. "Aaaaaaaah!"
It wasn't tense enough to be a scream, but it was obvious that something had happened.
"Falfa?! What is it?!"
When we ran up to her, there was a big wildcat, more than two meters in length.
The wildcat and Doughnut were gazing at each other.
The adult wildcat was fairly thin, and its body was muddy and dirty. Even so, its legs were stretched out firmly and planted on the ground, as if it had forgotten it was tired.
Before long, the big wildcat slowly approached Doughnut and began licking her.
"That's a parental demonstration of affection. There's no mistake—those two are family. The mother's here."
Even if I hadn't heard Shalsha's explanation, I would have known that was the case right away.
The mother wildcat must have been searching for her missing child all this time. Just by looking at her ragged body, you could tell that she hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else.
"Halkara, since her real mother is here, we need to—"
When I looked at Halkara, she was wearing a despondent expression, and I stopped speaking.
Still, I thought, it wasn't the selfish sorrow of a child. The expression on her face was a mature one.
"So this is good-bye."
As she gazed at the two cats, Halkara murmured quietly.
Maybe the mother wildcat was very intelligent, or maybe she was exhausted, but when Falfa told her there was food back at the highland cottage, she obediently followed Doughnut.
It was possible that Doughnut had told her mother about the food.
In front of the house, the mother noisily scarfed down her meal and regained her energy without incident.
However, there were many people in my family who couldn't be genuinely happy about that.
Since the mother had come, that meant it was time to say good-bye.
After the wildcats had completed an exchange only they could understand, they both turned their tails toward the house. Doughnut's real home was wherever her mother was, not here.
"Doughnut, don't go! Doughnut!"
Falfa called her name over and over; she was crying. I thumped her lightly on the head.
"You wouldn't like it if you and I got separated, would you, Falfa?"
"No…"
"It's the same for Doughnut. If she has a mother, then she'd rather be with her."
Falfa nodded, rubbing at her eyes with her hands.
To be honest, I was more worried about Halkara than about Falfa. After all, she'd liked Doughnut enough to bring her home.
Halkara had stooped down and was quietly waving a hand.
Oh. She was at Doughnut's eye level.
"Good-bye, Doughnut."
Halkara looked far older than I did. Her farewell contained the maturity of an adult and a sense of distance. However, that only meant that something special was happening to Halkara right now, and I didn't know if it was a good thing. If you had to act like an adult all the time, it would wear you out mentally, I was sure.
Then Doughnut spun around to face us.
She trotted right up to stand in front of the crouching Halkara.
"Doughnut, you're going the wrong way."
Halkara and Doughnut gazed straight into each other's eyes.
Doughnut gave a small mew, then began to lick Halkara's hand. Even though she'd bitten her constantly before.
"Oh, that tickles. It's a bit dull when it doesn't hurt, isn't it?"
When she spoke, Halkara's voice was slightly thick.
As if in return for the licking, she petted Doughnut's head.
It was probably about fifteen seconds. After that, as if she'd thought it was time, Doughnut returned to her mother. Any longer, and the mother wildcat would have gotten worried.
"Animals have feelings, after all. She probably wanted to express her gratitude," Laika said, her expression quiet and serious. Yes, she was probably right.
"You're welcome to stop by the factory again, you know? I'll be waiting for you."
Doughnut mewed, as if she'd understood the words.
"I just saw what a big shot Sis Halkara actually is." Rosalie looked impressed as she hovered. "She is a big-sister type, after all. She isn't like your daughter."
It was probably true that Falfa was still a child.
"You're right. She's an adult. Well, as Falfa's mother, I'd have mixed feelings about it if she got too mature, so I think this is just about right."
Take care, wildcats.
***
One week later.
"Madam Teacher, I brought somebody home with me!"
Halkara was holding a creature that looked like a fox kit.
By the way, it was gnawing on her hand again.
"Look at how much he likes me. I'll just have to be his mother!"
At that point, Shalsha came up rather hastily.
"That breed of fox is the potential carrier of a disease that only elves can catch. It's better if you avoid touching it too much."
It's already bitten her good!
"Halkara, put that one back where you found it! Then go disinfect your hand with medicine!"
That dashed any possibility of our acquiring a new pet.
The End