The night broke. Mio opened her eyes. Something felt different from usual. Something was... missing. She reached out her hand. Rei's futon. Cold. (Rei?) She sat up. She looked around the six-mat room. Beside the cat tower. The kitchenette. The unit bath door. He wasn't there. When she looked at the pillow, she noticed. Three black hairs, fallen on the sheets. Cat hair. Mio's body went rigid. Then she moved toward the entrance at incredible speed. She opened the door. The hallway. Dim. Before 6 AM. The apartment was silent. At the end of the hallway, there was a figure. Leaning against the wall, sitting down. Black hair. A body that was 181 centimeters tall, somehow looked smaller. "[scared]Rei!" She rushed over and dropped to her knees. The moment she saw Rei's right hand, her voice died. His right hand had become a cat's front paw. Black fur grew from it, his fingers curled, not a human hand anymore. Above his left ear, black cat ears sprouted. Rei looked at her with a pale face. His golden eyes seemed larger than usual. "[whispers]...It's transforming back." Just one sentence. Mio grabbed Rei's arm. It was cold. She pulled him to his feet. Rei swayed. Mio caught him. Together they returned to the room. She closed the door. She took out a towel and tried to wrap Rei's cat paw. It wouldn't wrap properly. Her hands were shaking. No matter how many times she tried, the knot came undone. Then. The cat paw gripped the towel tightly. "[laughing]..." She laughed. Even though she felt like crying, she laughed. That thing cats do. That squishy paw thing. Rei noticed and tried to pull his hand back immediately. But Mio gripped it back, towel and all. "[cold]...Stop." "[gentle]I won't." She tied the towel. This time it wrapped properly. Mio held Rei's hand and looked down just a little. (It's not that I'm scared of Kuro disappearing.) Something became clear in her chest. (I'm scared of Rei disappearing.) Outside the window, the morning of Minase City grew brighter little by little. * * * Just after noon, the intercom rang. "[scared]Huh?" Rei was sitting on the futon. His cat ears were still there. His right hand was wrapped in a towel. She looked at the screen. It was Makoto. Soft, brownish hair. Calm green eyes. A small bouquet in his right hand. Mio froze for three seconds, then picked up the intercom. "[gentle]Um... just a second, Makoto." "[serious]Oh, yeah. It's fine." She spoke quietly to Rei. "[scared]Hide." "[cold]No. Why would I hide?" "[scared]Please!" Rei stood up. He started toward the hallway. The moment he opened the door, Makoto was standing there. Silence. Makoto's eyes stopped on Rei's left cat ear. They stopped on his right hand wrapped in a towel. The hand holding the bouquet twitched. "[scared]This is, um, a costume! It's a costume!" "...Mio." Makoto looked at her. His calm green eyes were more serious than usual. "[serious]You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" Mio's mouth stopped. (I can't tell him. If I tell him, Rei will— but if I lie to Makoto—) Makoto continued in a gentle voice. "[gentle]I won't get angry. I just want to know." That voice pierced Mio's chest. Then Rei stared at Makoto's bouquet. He tilted his head slightly. "[cold]...Can you eat that?" "...Huh?" "The bouquet." "[surprised]You can't... eat it." "[cold]Then what's it for?" "Um... to convey feelings." Rei thought for three seconds. "[cold]That doesn't make sense." Mio didn't know whether she wanted to cry or laugh. * * * In front of the entrance, there were three of them. Makoto was looking at Mio. Mio couldn't say anything. "[serious]Mio, I..." Then Rei opened his mouth. But no sound came out. Rei put his hand to his throat. He opened his mouth again. Only a hoarse sound came out. Not a voice. That was all it took to understand everything. His voice was gone. Rei's golden eyes showed surprise. Something snapped inside Mio watching that. "[crying]Rei...!" Mio embraced Rei. In the hallway, in front of Makoto, it didn't matter. Rei's shoulder width seemed slightly smaller than yesterday. His body temperature was high. When she put her hand on his back, something felt different. The feel of his bones was changing. "[whispers]Rei, Rei, Rei..." She kept calling his name. Rei couldn't speak. So he just stared at Mio's face. His golden eyes were trying to say something. Mio didn't understand what. That made it even more frightening. Mio's phone lit up. A message from Hinata. "Tomorrow I'm confessing to Rei! I'm definitely going to make it work so cheer for me! 😤" Mio looked at the phone screen with tears on her face. The person she was confessing to was disappearing in her arms right now. Hinata didn't know that. That fact spread slowly through her chest. "[serious]...If there's anything I can do, tell me." Makoto said quietly. Mio shook her head. She could only shake her head. She saw Makoto's palm close tightly over his pocket. Rei moved his mouth. No sound came out. But Mio understood. He was trying to say "shut up." His usual face. Mio held him tighter. Makoto looked at Rei. Then he said quietly. "[surprised]...A cat?" No one answered. * * * Night came. Makoto had left. Only Mio and Rei were in the room. Rei's cat ears were gone. His right hand had returned to a human hand. But his complexion was bad. His sharp tongue and stubbornness had gone somewhere. Rei sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window. Toward Hazuki Bridge. The place where, as a cat, he'd run away alone many times. "[cold]...I'm just a cat anyway." His voice was low. He wasn't looking at Mio. "I was just pretending to be human." There was a pause. "[cold]You should be with that man instead." "[angry]That has nothing to do with it!" Rei kept facing the window. "[angry]Rei is Rei! Whether you're a cat or human, you're still Rei!" Rei didn't answer. His profile as he looked toward Hazuki Bridge seemed to be preparing to disappear from here. Mio collapsed on the floor. She hugged her knees. (What am I supposed to do?) Tears came. They wouldn't stop. She cried silently. The words "you should be with that man instead" repeated in her head. That means I'm not worthy of being by your side. Mio understood. (Not worthy of what?) Her chest hurt. She had loved Kuro. The cat Kuro. The Kuro she'd been with for five years. But the pain in her chest now wasn't because of that. It was because Rei might disappear. Rei was so important to her it was terrifying. (I... I love Rei...) She turned off the room light. It became dark. Street light came through the window. Rei remained sitting by the window. Mio collapsed on the bed, still hugging her knees, and continued crying. When she was starting to doze off, she felt a presence. Something sat on the edge of the bed. Mio opened her eyes slightly. Rei was sitting at the edge of the futon. His body small, hugging his knees. Exactly the same position as the cat's apology from last night. Mio said nothing. She didn't have the energy to point it out. But. (He's here.) She closed her eyes. Rei's body heat faintly reached her from the edge of the futon. Tomorrow morning, Hinata would come to confess. She still hadn't explained anything to Makoto. She had no idea why Rei was transforming back into a cat, what the cause was. Everything remained unresolved. The night that had solved nothing slowly began to break.