“U-ung, uu….”
Why won’t this open…?
Come to think of it, someone had always opened it for me — I had never done it myself. Especially now, in this form.
Only then did I look down at my soft, round paw pads instead of a human hand, and despair settled in. Blinded by hunger, I hadn’t noticed the obvious. Cat paws couldn’t open a hard tin can.
S-still, my claws are sharp. If I hook them through that little ring and pry it back, maybe it’ll open?
The man rose from the sofa and walked toward me with a steady, unhurried stride. I hadn’t even noticed the sound drawing closer. I’d been so completely absorbed in my struggle with the can.
It wasn’t until the man’s large hand slipped in through the bars that I sensed his presence. I jolted in surprise, leaped up, and slammed the top of my head straight into the ceiling of the cage. My vision spun. The man’s hand flinched to a halt, then slowly approached again.
“If you go flying every time you get startled, you’re going to end up with a bump on your head.”
It wasn’t a scolding or a jeer — just a calm, even tone. It almost sounded like a gentle voice laced with concern. He looked down at me for a moment, then spoke quietly, as if he’d made up his mind.
“Baby, sorry. Staying cooped up in there isn’t good for you.”
The moment those words ended, the cage was suddenly lifted. As the floor fell away, the wide-open entrance tilted downward at an angle.
“Weong! Kao!”
The balance gave way in an instant. The can I’d been gripping tightly slipped from my grasp and rolled to the floor, and I slid downward as if being dragged. I dug my claws in and scraped at the floor of the cage, but it was no use.
My claws left scratches across the slick metal floor, and a long, grating screech rang out — kiii, kiiiik — as my body steadily pitched further down.
Ah, I’m going to fall. Then at least I have to land properly—!
The moment I stretched my legs out for the landing, the scruff of my neck was seized.
“E-ong!”
I dangled in midair, swaying, and found myself face to face with the man. Close enough to feel each other’s breath. My nose trembled, and my pupils dilated on reflex.
The feeling of coming face to face with a massive predator locked every muscle in my body and left me unable to move. All I could manage in resistance was to unsheathe my claws and bristle the fur along my back like spines.
Two pairs of eyes watching me. Both of them Suin. Both of them dangerous predators.
“There we go. Good. I’ll open it for you.”
He apparently couldn’t even see my claws, raised as if to slash at any moment. He settled calmly onto the sofa and set me down on his lap.
Keeping a firm grip on the scruff of my neck to stop me from doing anything rash, he used his other hand to slowly, gently stroke down the fur that had stood up like bristles, smoothing it back down. The touch that had seemed like it would be rough was surprisingly careful.
By the time my ragged breathing had steadied, he had popped the can open cleanly and placed it in front of me without a word.
The man’s broad thighs were wide enough to fit both me and the can with room to spare. Without loosening my guard, I tilted my head.
…What is he after?
There was no way to know the man’s intentions.
He’d suddenly forced me out of the cage, and the only thing he’d done was feed me. Yet his gaze was still unsettling, and his touch could hardly be called gentle.
The hand gripping the scruff of my neck to keep me from bolting or escaping hadn’t loosened even once.
“You’ll collapse if you starve. You need to eat properly to keep your strength up.”
It was a low, measured voice. The words were close to a command, yet strangely, there seemed to be something like worry mixed into them.
His hand stroked my body slowly and gently, as if trying to ease my tension. Because of it, my fur kept rising and then settling back down, over and over.
“Eu-ung—?”
What is this situation?
“Aren’t you hungry?”
No, it’s not that I’m not hungry… Of course the food itself isn’t at fault, and I could see he hadn’t tried anything suspicious. But I was taught not to follow people who offer you food. Not that I have much of a choice since I’ve already been caught…
As I stared at the gleaming contents of the can, it felt like another drop of saliva was about to fall. In the end, instinct won. By the time I came back to my senses, I had my face buried in the can.
“U-eng, eng, chop, chap-chap!”
Wait — why am I eating with my face shoved in like this?
That question did cross my mind, but the canned food in my mouth tasted so good that I couldn’t stop.
“…Good lord. He’s eating like he’s been starving for days.”
“So it’s true he refused to eat or drink. Was he too sad to get food down? Being stuck in this kind of place and sold off like that — baby doesn’t like things like this, does he?”
I was too preoccupied with eating to catch much of what was being said around me. But when the man lifted his hand to try and touch my belly, I immediately jerked my head up and glared at him.
Hands off. Hands. Off. How dare you reach for my belly!
The man withdrew his hand under my glare. I snorted triumphantly and went back to eating.
But the man didn’t give up. This time he carefully placed his hand on top of my head, then stroked slowly from my head all the way down to the tip of my tail. As he finally succeeded in petting me, I flattened my ears back in wariness, raised my tail stiffly, and tried to pull away.
Then, a low, gentle voice reached me.
“Eating well. Why did you hold out when you were this hungry.”
Our eyes met for just a moment. Once he’d finished speaking, he looked away from me. The touch that had clung so persistently also lifted. His manner said clearly that he’d noticed my discomfort, and that he wouldn’t push further.
By the time I came back to myself, the hand that had been holding me down had disappeared as well. He simply sat quietly, as if telling me to eat in peace.
“…….”
I looked up at him. Even though I was clearly right there on his lap, he was focused entirely on his own affairs, as if he weren’t aware of me at all. Neither his gaze nor his hands came my way.
And yet he didn’t let his posture slack, so I found myself sitting quite steadily on his thighs.
By human standards, isn’t that a rather uncomfortable position? The hand that was gripping my scruff is gone, so I could leave now. If I wanted, I didn’t have to keep eating the can — I could go hide in a corner again.
I looked around. I couldn’t find anywhere suitable to hide.
For the time being, I quietly slipped down from the man’s thighs. And the moment I turned my head to check his reaction, I spotted the mess I’d left behind. In my frantic eating, scraps from the can had fallen onto his trousers.
That looks like an expensive outfit — is it going to be okay…?
It was a mess I’d only noticed after my eyes moved away from the can I’d already cleaned out completely. His black suit had greasy, sticky food smeared all over it.
A faint wave of embarrassment crept over me.
Far from eating neatly, I’d practically inhaled it. And after all that stubborn refusal — before I knew it, even my wariness had been swallowed up along with the food. I couldn’t believe myself.
This is the problem with being a Suin. That’s why, from a certain age — once I’d grown up and developed some sense — I had come to dislike returning to my true form.
When I was young I hadn’t understood, but the world is full of things like manners and basic common sense that have to be maintained. But the moment I returned to my true form, the things I’d been holding onto with reason loosened one by one, and instinct forced its way into the gaps. For a Suin, returning to one’s true form was something close to a liberation — a release of everything that had been kept suppressed.
You followed instinct over reason, and your emotions swung up and down without cause. Impulse pushed to the front more often than not. That’s why humans feared Suin. On the outside they were no different from humans, but inside, they were not entirely human.
I swallowed a sigh. The man’s gaze still made my body flinch, but what I’d done wrong was mine to deal with. I was a little reluctant to approach him, so I tried tapping at the mess from a distance with my paw to brush it off, but it wasn’t working.
Then I heard a low rumble of laughter from the man.
“Baby, that tickles. What, are you still hungry? Want more?”
I was perking my ears at the quiet voice coming from above when a strange rush of embarrassment and tingling crept over me, and my ears quivered — and I jumped down from the sofa. He didn’t try to stop me.
I looked around wondering where to go, but the cage had already disappeared without my noticing.
I went under the sofa on the other side. Then I poked my head out and looked up at the man. Without even glancing at me, he broke into a smile for just a moment. The eyes that had only ever looked sharp and frightening curved ever so slightly and seemed to soften.
I tucked my face back under the sofa.
Hmm… is he actually thinking I’m a real cat and trying to take care of me?
When I thought about it, it was my father who had sent me here as collateral. These people hadn’t done anything wrong. My worry that I might be sold off somewhere was still nothing more than my own assumption. If anything, they might have ended up saddled with me when they hadn’t particularly wanted me. Arriving in a cage, sent by my father’s own hands — I must have seemed pitiful.
So that must be why he’s being strangely gentle and making sure I eat. Right — I need to eat and get my strength back. I can’t just sit here crying because I was betrayed. I shouldn’t be foolish enough to starve myself, either.
I don’t know what these people want. Not that it matters. Because I’m going to get out of this place.
