Page 7 of We’ll Prescribe You Another Cat

Bibi was larger than the previous two cats. His body was well toned, devoid of any flabbiness. His paws were as cute as squid ink dinner rolls, but his upper limbs were thick. He was svelte but had defined chest muscles.

His fur was like velvet. At first glance, it appeared completely black, but on closer inspection, it wasn’t actually pure black but more of a bluish gray. No surprise—his ears were largish triangles, his face was small for his body, and he had a shapely snout.

If Bibi were human, he’d be a handsome Italian.

“Not that I’ve been to Italy,”

muttered Moé, who was watching Bibi gracefully roam around the room.

Bibi’s movements were calm. He didn’t dart under the bed or leap onto the curtain rail. But perhaps he was still waiting to see how things played out. She sensed his certainty radiating from his confident gait, that he was stronger and more beautiful than she would ever be.

It made total sense that he had competed in cat shows.

She watched as he drank a bit of the water. He seemed to avoid the cat food completely. Moé had set up two litter trays with the wood-chip litter—one near the bathroom and another in the corner of her bedroom. She had also bought an extra litter tray for cheap during Noelle’s stay. Reona mentioned that it was a good idea to have multiple litter trays.

“Do you not like the food, Bibi? Preparing lamb and horsemeat is a bit too much for me.”

Bibi wouldn’t even sniff the food. Perhaps he wasn’t hungry. Even if your staple diet is Italian cuisine, when you’re hungry, you’ll eat white rice. But just in case, she searched for cat food recipes online.

“Chicken and vegetables. Wow. They look simple, but you can’t prepare them in bulk in advance.”

While Moé was scrolling, Bibi seemed to have moved closer to her. Maybe we’ll bond more easily than I thought. She decided to approach the cat.

But the closer she got, the more Bibi backed away. It seemed he hadn’t let his guard down yet. But when she went back to browsing, Bibi again came near. He seemed curious.

“Come here, Bibi.”

Moé stretched out an open palm, but he retreated.

This cycle repeated endlessly. By now, they must have circled the room at least twice. Even now, Bibi was observing her from a distance.

Maybe it’s against the rules for humans to approach first?

It was a one-sided rule, but whenever Moé stayed put, Bibi approached her. When she remained still, Bibi gradually came over and lay down sideways beside her. Moé was overjoyed just to have him come close to her.

She eyed his sleek, glossy black coat, which, upon a closer look, revealed a leopard-like pattern. It was sophisticated, as if from a refined Italian designer brand, and perhaps too understated for a flamboyant Osaka auntie. Bibi lay on his side for a while, then all of a sudden, he got up and moved toward his food bowl, sniffing around it for a moment. Slowly he took one, then two bites.

“I’m glad you’re going to eat that, Bibi.”

Just as relief was washing over her, Ryuji arrived. She had not forgotten this time. She took in his serious face as he stood at the door and realized she could no longer put things off.

Ryuji strolled into the apartment and froze. Bibi was in the center of her bedroom, grooming himself.

“Moé, this is wrong. It’s just one cat after another…What happened to the others? Did you return them to the store where you got them?”

His eyes began to twitch. He had completely misunderstood the situation. Rather than anger, Moé felt disappointment.

“I’ve said this before, but these cats have been prescribed to me from a psychiatric clinic in Nakagyō Ward. It’s a strange place. You’ll see when you go there. I’m not making it up.”

“I looked it up after you mentioned it last week. I couldn’t find a single thing about this clinic.”

“That’s because…”

Moé trailed off.

Ryuji pursed his lips.

What could she say to make him believe her? There was nothing about the clinic online. She had no proof of its existence. Even if they headed there right now, they might not find it. But if they couldn’t…

“Reona believed me.”

Ryuji scowled. They both looked down, falling into a terrible silence.

“Moé?”

“Yes?”

“Is it normal for cats to leave food in their bowls?”

“What?”

She tried to meet his eyes. She had been sure he was just about to break up with her, but Ryuji was watching Bibi, who was giving his paw a good clean with his tongue.

“I have a dog at home, but he eats his meal in one go until nothing’s left.”

As Ryuji moved toward the cat, Bibi scampered away. He crouched by the food bowl.

“He’s left most of the food. Is this normal?”

“Normal? Well, the others did the same. They ate their food bit by bit throughout the day.”

Still, Bibi had eaten very little. In all likelihood, it was as the doctor had said—he was fussy about his food. But it annoyed her that Ryuji had pointed it out.

It was true that Moé could be unreliable. But she hadn’t tried to avoid anything. For all three cats, she had researched the things she didn’t know, thought carefully about their care, and even faced their smelly things head-on. She was no longer going to use her helplessness as an excuse. She had enough of trying to gauge what was going on in Ryuji’s head.

“Bibi is used to high-protein, home-cooked meals. I don’t think he likes commercial cat food. I’m going to cook for him as much as I can while he’s here since he’s a precious cat under my care. Rather than all this chat, why don’t you just say what you have to say? You’ve been wanting to break up all this time, haven’t you?”

“What?”

“I’ve been pretending not to notice, but I know you’ve been growing distant. You’ve come to end things, right?”

There was probably a better way for her to have expressed her feelings. But at the very least, she wasn’t going to start crying. Moé blinked back her tears.

“What are you talking about? Why would I want us to break up?”

asked Ryuji. He looked baffled.

Moé, too, was baffled.

“But—”

“It’s true, I’ve been a bit distant lately—I’m sorry about that. It’s just that I didn’t know how to tell you…well, next month, I’m going to be transferred to the Tokyo office.”

Ryuji looked away awkwardly.

“Once I’m in Tokyo, we won’t get to see each other as often. Knowing how you dislike being alone, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. You don’t handle things like this well.”

A job transfer. To Tokyo. Moé was speechless.

From the side, she caught a glimpse of a black leopard-print cat. It was Bibi. He was sitting in the litter tray in the corner of her room, trembling.

He’s going to the bathroom. So Bibi’s okay with doing his business in the same space where he eats. I’ll check on it later and note it down in the Cat Record.

What goes in must come out. It was that simple. Things became strained between people when they couldn’t manage something as simple as that.

* * *

Moé showed Reona the picture she had taken on her phone.

“What do you think? Isn’t it a bit small?”

“Well, yeah, I guess so. But I don’t really pay that much attention to my cat’s daily poops.”

“I think the color and the texture are fine. But the amount is smaller than the previous cats’.”

“But according to what’s in this journal, it looks like the amount coming out matches the amount going in. Maybe it’s just that this cat’s a light eater?”

Reona was flipping through the Cat Record that Moé had brought.

Bibi was indeed a light eater. He left food in his bowl every day. Moé needed to be crafty. In addition to the cat food from the clinic, she tried giving him boiled chicken and vegetables, but he showed little interest. She couldn’t leave the cooked food out, so while she was at school, she left cat food in his bowl.

“Well, even a cat eats less when he’s not in his own home,”

Reona continued.

“And it doesn’t necessarily mean eating a lot is good. You’re going to return him next Tuesday, right? If it’s just until then, I think it’s fine. He’s eating and doing his business.”

Moé took the Cat Record back from Reona. Lately, during their lunch break, it had become routine to have Reona check the photos of the cat’s excretions.

Maybe she was being too open, or this was something borne from trust, or it was just Reona’s personality. Whatever the case, Reona believed everything Moé said. This made it possible for Moé to talk to her about things she couldn’t discuss with other friends. If that was what a mutual friendship was, she didn’t have it with Ryuji.

Ryuji had not told her about his transfer because he found it difficult to bring up.

“I’m also worried about your boyfriend. If he moves to Tokyo, you won’t be able to see him as often as you do now.”

“I know. His day off is during the week, and it’ll be hard to get to see him once a month, let alone every week. That’s why he didn’t want to bring it up. He said I get lonely easily and can’t handle being alone.”

“What? That’s so rude. He’s the one who can’t handle being alone. He’s been making his girlfriend take off school every week.”

She could see that Reona was furious. But it had been Moé who had led her to believe the things she’d said about Ryuji. She was finally able to admit it wasn’t fair.

“I’m sorry. That wasn’t Ryuji. That was me.”

“What was?”

“Ryuji actually told me that I shouldn’t skip classes, but I wanted to be with him, so I did it anyway. It’s no wonder he thinks I’m too dependent and unreliable. He couldn’t tell me about his transfer because he was worried if he left me alone, I’d get sick from the stress. And look, just a little bit of tension in our relationship pulled me to that psychiatric clinic.”

She had unnecessarily escalated a small misunderstanding. She should have confronted Ryuji directly the moment she thought he was behaving strangely. Avoiding unpleasant situations doesn’t resolve anything.

“I see.”

Reona nodded.

“So he’s a decent boyfriend after all. I’m also sorry for assuming you’d fallen for him for his looks.”

“No, that’s on me for giving you the wrong impression. I was actually glad when you got mad just now. I really value how you always listen to my problems. Thank you.”

“You’re so straightforward. I have a hard time saying thank you to anyone,”

said Reona.

“Well, maybe keep the cat poop photos between us. Most people won’t appreciate them.”

“I will.”

“Also, speaking of stress, could it be that he’s not eating much because he’s not getting enough exercise? The cat, I mean. He’s a Bengal, and I think they’re an active breed.”

“Exercise!”

It struck her then that, compared to the previous cats, Bibi was the least mischievous.

“Maybe it’d be good if you played with him more. Why don’t you try teasing him a little?”

“But when I get close to him, he runs off.”

“That’s just how cats are. You have to get him off his high horse. Do you have toys? They love that classic teaser wand. Should we go buy one?”

“Let’s go!”

Reona gave a hearty laugh.

How many times had they been to the pet store that month? The size of it no longer made Moé feel dizzy.