“Such amazing powers of wisdom. Such penetrating insight! Guess that’ll save me the trouble of explaining.”
“Explaining what?”
“The second labyrinth. I need your help again.”
“You’re not . . . ?”
Rintaro glanced down the never-ending aisle of books.
“You’re going to get me to help you rescue books again, aren’t you?” he ventured.
The cat’s reaction was grandiose and far from humble.
“Correct!”
*
“Somewhere there is a man who steadily acquires books from all over the world, then chops them up into tiny pieces,” said the cat solemnly. “He collects books and then mistreats them horribly. We can’t let him continue to get away with it.”
Rintaro sat down on the stool by the cash desk and began to fiddle with his glasses. He was silent for a while, observing the tabby at his feet.
“What?” the cat protested. “Do you think staring at my face is going to make things better? Are you coming with me or not?”
“You’re pushier than ever.”
“You’d never do anything unless I pushed you. And I can tell you my life’s a lot easier if I don’t have to be pushy.”
The light in the green eyes seemed to get more intense. Rintaro thought it over a little while longer.
“Okay then.”
He sighed deeply.
“So I just follow you again?”
The cat seemed taken aback by the simple response. It narrowed its eyes.
“What a refreshing attitude. I thought you were going to start squirming like a little worm again.”
“Well, I may not properly understand difficult concepts, but one thing I learned from my grandpa was that you should always handle books with care. Helping people out may not be my forte, but when I hear that books need my help then I’m ready.”
The cat’s eyes widened a moment, then narrowed once more.
“Fine then.”
There may have been the hint of a smile, but before Rintaro could really register it, they were interrupted by the jingle of the doorbell. He turned to see a face peering in through the doorway.
“You alive, Natsuki?”
It was the peppy voice of class rep Sayo Yuzuki. Rintaro glanced at the clock and saw it was 7:30 a.m. She must have been on her way to morning band practice again. Rintaro went into a panic.
“Who’s this? Your girlfriend?” said the cat.
“Be quiet!” Rintaro hissed.
It was only two days since Sayo and Rintaro had tea together. Rintaro had only replied vaguely to her pleas for him to go back to school, and ever since he had stayed holed up inside Natsuki Books. Really there didn’t seem any reason to go to school at all at this point. But he always wavered whenever Sayo was there in front of him.
And in what was already such a delicate situation, for her to come and try to persuade him first thing in the morning while he was talking to a cat . . . Well, it was awkward, to say the least.
“Wh— What’s up?”
“Nothing’s up.”
Frowning slightly, Sayo made her way uninvited into the shop. Rintaro heard the cat’s voice whispering in his ear.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Proprietor. Only certain people are able to see me, and only under special conditions. Just act like I’m not here.”