My name is Arisugawa Hiroaki, and I’m a 22-year-old freeter.
You can probably guess that after graduating from an average liberal arts university, I’ve been spending my days aimlessly without anything specific I want to do. Of course, my history of not having a girlfriend is equal to my age. Currently, I live alone in an old apartment near a station, about three stops away from my workplace.
But even I have a small pleasure. It’s admiring the stray cat that occasionally appears on my apartment’s balcony. Of course, I can’t bring it into my room because pets are forbidden, but I enjoy watching its reactions after giving it snacks and catnip.
And so, today, just like any other day, I’m on my way home carrying my dinner and pet supplies purchased from the nearby supermarket.
As I turned the corner of the park near my apartment, something white flashed into my vision for a moment.
No, upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a white cat. I hadn’t seen one around here before. I gently approached the cat, and after making sure there was no one around, I spoke to it in a low voice.
“Hey, I haven’t seen you before, where did you come from?”
Trying not to startle it, I crouched down to pet it, but the white cat glanced at me and then suddenly ran off.
“Haha, yeah, that makes sense.”
Cats are cautious, aren’t they? As I thought that, I happened to look in the direction the cat had run.
To my shock, the cat had reached the middle of the crosswalk at a red light, and a large truck was barreling towards it without slowing down.
“Hey! That’s dangerous!”
Even if I say so, animals won’t understand, will they? The white cat stood frozen in place, illuminated by the approaching truck’s headlights.
The moment I realized, I had already leaped out in front of the truck.
