"Here."
"This one."
"It should be here this time."
A sheen of cold sweat was on Matsuo's forehead. He studied the cat. It had managed to correctly identify the bowl that contained food every single time.
He jumped. "Momo, did you just laugh at me?"
The ginger cat looked up at him innocently.
Matsuo let out a ragged sigh of relief.
"Silly me. Cats don't smile. We're done for tonight. Let's continue playing tomorrow."
The next day, he won every game he tried his hand at. Winning had become the norm and it no longer excited him like it used to.
At night, he played the same guessing game with Momo. It was supposed to be fun, but it did not feel fun. In fact, being with Momo made the hairs on the back of his neck stand.
Matsuo swore that he could see Momo smiling at him from the corner of his eyes. However, every time he tried to take a closer look, the cat's expression was blank.
