ICYM Ch 7

Episode 7

I set my bag down next to the fence, opened it, and popped open a can of wet cat food I’d been carrying around.

It was a cat I’d run into a few times by chance while out jogging early in the morning, back when everything still felt unfamiliar after enrolling and transmigrating.

“Kitty.”

Normally, the cat would come out at the sound of the can opening, but today, it didn’t appear.

It usually showed up from the torn section at the bottom of the fence, so I checked there and spotted a Styrofoam box I hadn’t seen before.

At first, I thought it was trash.

But when I noticed the roughly cut entrance and the blanket spread inside, I realized someone had made a little shelter for the cat.

I vaguely remember seeing someone out in the garden that day.

Could it have been them who made this?

I should’ve paid more attention to who it was back then.

I was about to just leave the can behind and go when I suddenly heard a pained meow coming from deeper in the bushes.

“Nyaa—oww.”

I shot up.

Was someone else here? Who?

I quickly pushed aside the bushes with my hands and squeezed my body into the small fenced area.

Rip.

Before my whole body had made it through, an ominous sound rang out.

“Ah. Shit.”

When I looked back, I saw that my clothes had gotten caught on the fence and torn. I hadn’t washed my other uniform yet. Clicking my tongue in frustration, I mentally added an unexpected stop by the laundry room to today’s schedule.

Everything felt like bad luck today.

As I cursed under my breath, I sensed someone freeze up ahead.

Might as well keep going since the damage was already done.

I crawled forward awkwardly and then stopped. Coming face-to-face with someone while crawling like this was far from ideal.

Not something I’d wanted to experience firsthand.

“…Are you okay?”

A concerned voice came from above. I looked up, but the backlight made it hard to see his face.

Still, I recognized who it was instantly by the voice.

Even after puberty, most kids still had a bit of youth left in their voices.

But this voice was low and steady, different from the others.

It was the kind of voice that seemed to cling to your ears.

His voice is really nice.

The thought struck me unexpectedly, and I blinked quickly.

Soon, his large frame came into view, impossible to mistake for anyone else.

“…I’m fine, but… you…”

“Huh?”

But it wasn’t the right moment for casual greetings.

In Kendrick’s hands was a cat, squirming frantically like it had gone mad.

Next to him lay another cat, completely limp.

I shot to my feet.

I’d heard bad rumors about his family, but I thought maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy himself.

But the scene before me left little room for misunderstanding.

“The cat looks like it really hates that.”

“Ah.”

The cat squirmed and meowed in Kendrick’s hands.

“…What are you doing to the cat?”

When I asked in a sharp voice, Kendrick finally seemed to realize he’d been caught holding the cat and looked flustered.

“…No, it’s not like that…”

From what I could see in this brief moment, it looked like Kendrick was forcibly holding a cat that clearly didn’t want to be held.

No matter how scary a person might be, threatening a helpless animal was something I couldn’t ignore.

“You think it’s okay to do that to something that can’t even speak?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant—”

“Not what? I just walked in and saw it with my own eyes!”

“Meoooww!”

Flustered by my fierce tone, Kendrick let his guard down for a moment.

The cat seized the opportunity, slashing his hand with its claws and leaping free.

Tap.

Taking advantage of that moment of loosened grip, the cat landed lightly on the ground.

Thunk.

Clatter.

As the cat struck his hand, a white pill fell from Kendrick’s grasp and rolled across the floor.

Soon after, the cat calmed down and casually lifted a leg to groom its private parts.

A strange silence settled in the sudden stillness.

Kendrick lowered his head and mumbled as he picked up the medicine.

“…I was trying to give it deworming medicine.”

“…?”

“I wasn’t trying to hurt it.”

“…Medicine?”

“Yeah. I mixed them into the food, but it keeps spitting them out.”

Now that he mentioned it, I noticed an overturned food bowl nearby.

Why hadn’t I seen that before I started yelling?

“…So you’re the one who’s been feeding them?”

“Yeah.”

Come to think of it, hadn’t I seen an unfamiliar hand with the cat below the window when I was leaving the library last weekend?

“Ah…”

To clear up the misunderstanding, Kendrick went on at length about when he started taking care of the cats, to how the white cat I hadn’t even seen yet was injured and currently hospitalized but would be back soon.

“I just haven’t gotten close with the cats yet.”

“……”

“Extreme-dominant Alphas tend to make animals very wary.”

Kendrick added, almost like an excuse.

I stared blankly at him, watching him desperately trying to clear up the misunderstanding, and thought, So it’s just me overreacting again.

Why did I keep misunderstanding things in front of him and overreacting on my own?

Maybe it was from crawling all the way over here just now, or maybe I was shaken by the fact that I’d once again jumped to conclusions and unfairly cornered him. Either way, my legs felt weak.

“…I’m really sorry.”

“As long as the misunderstanding’s cleared up, it’s fine.”

Kendrick replied, looking down at the cat with an intense gaze that, to someone who didn’t know better, might’ve made it seem like he disliked cats.

“Haha… I really made such a ridiculous assumption, didn’t I?”

I crouched down, picked up the deworming pill that had fallen to the ground, and dropped it into the opened can of wet food, laughing awkwardly.

Kendrick remained standing, watching the cat from where he was, careful not to startle it.

“I’m glad there’s someone feeding them, even if it’s not me.”

“Why?”

From what I’d seen, there were quite a few stray cats in this neighborhood.

And people generally seemed kind toward them. I’d often seen well-fed cats lazing around in the sun on my way home from school.

“I thought maybe it wasn’t being fed properly because it’s a black cat.”

The fact that someone still held such an old-fashioned prejudice made me blurt out without thinking, in a blunt tone.

“It’s just cute, though.”

“Right?”

Kendrick replied with a faint chuckle in his voice at my words.

That’s when I realized.

Even knowing that small animals usually kept their distance from dominant Alphas like him, he still kept feeding them.

This cat must’ve had nowhere else to go, so it kept coming back.

“I don’t actually know much about cats. I just feed them sometimes.”

My family’s always raised dogs, generation after generation.

I quickly added that part, worried he might expect too much.

“That’s more than enough.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“That’s great, Nabi.”

“…Nabi?”

The name was so familiar and friendly, and felt strangely out of place coming from someone with such a Western-looking face, that I blurted it back in surprise.

“I gave it that name.” Kendrick, maybe misreading my reaction, gave an embarrassed smile.

“…That’s a nice name.”

I swallowed the rest of what I wanted to say and awkwardly nodded with a “I see.”

Since I was the one who had wronged him, even trivial replies felt like something I had to be careful about.

“Didn’t you give it a name?”

“I just called it ‘Kitty.’”

“Really?”

“…Yeah. I was afraid I’d get attached.”

Eventually, I’d have to leave for university, probably in another region.

If I got too attached, I’d be the only one left hurting later.

To my cold response, Kendrick didn’t say anything.

I thought he’d at least scold me with something like, ‘Then maybe you shouldn’t feed them at all.’

Maybe I was more biased against him than I thought.

“Ah.”

A sudden thought struck me, and I hurriedly snatched up the bag I’d left on the ground.

Rustle.

Rustle.

Even with my sudden movement, Kendrick didn’t seem to pay much attention and kept his eyes on the cat.

My fingers brushed against the thick box I had carefully tucked inside the bag.

“Hey.”

“…Huh?”

“Here. Take this.”

I grabbed the box and shoved it into Kendrick’s hands, more like forcing it on him than giving it.

It wasn’t nearly enough to make up for what had just happened, and honestly, it just felt like I owed him more now.

Still, offering an apology came first.

Kendrick looked down at the box, his face dazed like someone receiving a gift for the first time. After staring at it for a while, he finally asked in a slightly bewildered voice, “What is this?”

“Chocolate.”

“It has my name on it?”

“Because it’s yours.”

“Mine?”

Kendrick’s dumbfounded expression made me laugh.

A breeze passed between us. It hadn’t been long since the grass was trimmed, and that fresh grassy scent lingered in the air.

The forecast had called for rain, but true to the famously fickle British weather, the clouds had cleared and the sun was now shining bright.

“Last weekend, I misunderstood you and ended up stealing your donuts.”

“…You didn’t steal it. I just shared it with you.”

Well, technically I had asked, not snatched it away, so I guess it was more like he shared it with me.

I just shrugged instead of replying to his needlessly precise correction.

“Whatever the case.”

“And I didn’t mind sharing it.”

“Well, then consider this a thank-you for the food.”

“……”

“And don’t report it as lost property again like last time.”

When I tapped Kendrick’s arm and said that, his eyes grew huge with surprise.

“…The donuts? Oh.”

“Those donuts were really good.”

“That was… something you gave me?”

“Who else would it have been for?”

I even hung it on his door handle. Did he really not know?

At my confused look, Kendrick awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and replied in an embarrassed voice.

“…I’ve never received anything before, so I thought someone made a mistake.”