There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

-Hamlet, Hamlet Act I Scene V

TWO TALKING CATS

"What is it with you and cats?"

"Hmm? I... don't know. I just like them. They're so cute, aren't they?"

Machida chuckled and adjusted his bag, slung on the shoulder of his sweaty soccer uniform. "You remind me of one yourself."

"Huh? Oh!"

"No need to be embarrassed, Haru. I meant that in a good way."

"Well, thanks, I guess." The high-schooler stood up from the sidewalk in front of her house, where she had been kneeling and petting a kitten, and self-consciously pinched the folds of her pleated dark-blue skirt. "Thanks for walking me home."

"You aren't busy this Saturday, are you?"

"Huh? No, why?"

"We could... you know, go out."

Haru blinked her large, expressive eyes. "Are you asking me for a date?"

Machida smiled ruefully and scratched the back of his head. "I guess so. Yeah, I am."

"S-sure! Sure!"

------oOo------

Funny I should remember that now, Kei Machida thought as he stared at the street in front of Haru's house. He swallowed and continued his journey to the front door. Why should I remember the beginning of our relationship, when I'm most probably at the end of it?

------oOo------

Naoko Yoshioka was washing the dishes on a hot Sunday morning in late July when the doorbell chimed. She looked and found Hiromi and Tsuge standing outside the sliding glass doors at the front of the living room, waving at her.

"Good morning," she said as she opened the doors, surprised.

"Good morning, Auntie," said Hiromi, bowing together with her boyfriend. "Sorry to drop by unannounced. We just thought we'd see if you needed anything."

"That's so sweet of you," Haru's mother replied. "I haven't got anything for you to do, but you're welcome to hang around. It makes the place less lonely..." Her eyes wandered to someone coming up the lawn behind Hiromi and Tsuge.

"Machida-kun," she greeted as the youth bowed to her, her voice acquiring a note of frostiness. "Fancy seeing you here."

"I... um, just wanted to see if I could help."

"Oh, we asked him to come over too, Auntie. I'm sure he could help," said Hiromi quickly, giving Machida a significant look. She stormed into the house past Mrs. Yoshioka together with Tsuge. The mild-mannered woman watched them begin to power through the rooms like a pair of energized dustbunnies. Hiromi asked her for a vacuum, and Tsuge asked to borrow a rag. She got them for the two and they began puttering about and cleaning.

Mrs. Yoshioka thought about protesting some more, then decided to leave them alone. She knew they only wanted to make her feel better. "Oh, um, don't touch my room, and leave the cloth swatches on the floor alone. They're my work," she called.

"Haaaai," Hiromi shouted down to her. She had elected to clean upstairs, while Tsuge would work at ground level.

Mrs. Yoshioka turned and realized Machida was still standing outside, waiting for her to step aside so he could enter. She cast a baleful look on him, and he seemed to wilt and shrink.

"Mother," he said, "I know you'd rather not see me around–"

Mrs. Yoshioka sighed. "It's okay, Machida-kun. I'm not so mad at you anymore. I'm just so worried about Haru. That email and then nothing else, no call, no message telling me she's fine. She's been gone, what, almost four weeks now?"

"Twenty days," Machida answered promptly. He had been counting, ever since Mrs. Yoshioka had found the balcony door closed but unlocked, and some of her daughter's things missing.

"Auntie!" Tsuge yelled. "Could I move this cabinet temporarily?"

Mrs. Yoshioka peered inside. "Yes, but please be careful. Oh, Machida-kun, please, come in."

The somewhat relieved Machida entered. Since Tsuge and Hiromi seemed to be having their departments well in hand, he settled for folding some t-shirts and pants in the living room space, a task he quickly realized he shouldn't have taken up as Haru's garments began to pass under his hands. On seeing a fine blue rayon blouse of hers he had to stop and pause for a while. It was the blouse she had worn on their second anniversary date.

------oOo------

"Haru? Haru!"

"What? Oh, sorry."

"You're zoning out on me again. Remembering your mystery friend?"

She nodded at him from across the restaurant table. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Machida raised his wineglass and let the pale amber liquid inside glow in the discreet lighting. "To you. To us."

Haru's answering smile made her face positively radiant with happiness as she lifted her own glass. "To you. To us." They clinked glasses together and drank.

Machida listened for a moment to the subdued sounds filtering in from the street outside the large plate-glass windows. "It's hard to believe we've graduated," he said.

Haru followed his gaze. "I know what you mean. I keep thinking of homework I have to do, whether I have a uniform for tomorrow."

"Well, there'll be enough of that when we enter college."

"Yeah, back to the grind again, except we don't have our old friends with us. I guess I should relax and enjoy this free time." Haru chuckled, took a small sip and returned her wineglass to the table, and they began to eat.

"Speaking of relaxing, you want to go see the Rainbow Bridge tonight?" Machida suggested some time later.

"Sure! But if you're driving–"

"I know, I know. I'm not going to drink any more."

An hour and a half later they were at the riverside, under the glow of Shibaura-Odaiba's Rainbow Bridge lights, watching the ferries pass by on the water. Haru had gathered her skirt under her and was sitting on the walkway rail looking out at the scene, while he stood close beside her, leaning on the cool metal.

"It's such a pretty sight," she quietly said.

"Not half as pretty as the sight I'm seeing." Haru turned and found him looking at her, a faint smile flitting across his lips. She blushed and averted her gaze, keeping her thoughts to herself.

"Take a walk on the promenade?" he suggested, gesturing towards the white structure. "It's still early, so it should still be open."

"Okay. It isn't too far for you?"

"No, of course not."

Haru twisted and got off the railing with his help. She fixed her skirt, then looked up at him.

"Hey," she whispered huskily. "It's time I ponied up for the wonderful time I had tonight."

"Huh?" Machida straightened. "Are you sure?" he asked. She had never been this straightforward before.

"Well, if you don't want it–"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean that. By all means, ante up." He brought his face close to hers; she balanced herself, leaned over and kissed him.

------oOo------

Machida shoved his mind out of its maudlin mood, stopped folding the clothes, and stood up. He went to the tiny genkan.

"Mother," he said as he put on his shoes, "I'm going to get us some food."

"Oh, don't bother about that," said Mrs. Yoshioka. "I'm making some macaroni salad. I do need some things to make it better, though."

Machida waited while she wrote a list and gave it to him along with some money.

"After I come back," he said quietly, holding the list and a shopping bag in his hand, "could I... tidy up Haru's room?"

Mrs. Yoshioka looked at him from the tiny dining table. "Machida-kun... you know as well as I do that that would be unwise."

"Please, Mother. You can watch me, if you want to."

"I... Okay."

The lad went out, came back after twenty minutes, and waited patiently as she drained the macaroni and created the salad. Then, wiping her hands on a towel, she said, "Alright, let's go upstairs."

The padded silently up the stairs in their slippers. Hiromi was busy vacuuming her friend's room when they entered.

"One side, one side!" she hollered. "Can't do a decent job if you're in the way. I—oh, Auntie."

"You can stop now, Hiromi. Kei will take over. There's salad in the fridge, mashed potato, and tea. Call Tsuge-kun and go ahead and eat."

"Okay," she said, switching off the vacuum and quietly leaving. Her slippers made muffled plak-plak, plak-plak sounds as she scampered down the stairs.

"Hey, Walleye!" they heard her call. "Food!"

"Who're you calling Walleye?"

"You! C'mon!"

Mrs. Yoshioka smiled. "What I'd do without their visits, I don't know. They've kept me from dwelling too much over Haru's disappearance... that is, we've done everything in our power to find her." She wasn't at any relative's, she wasn't at any friend's; it was as if she had dropped off the face of the earth.

Machida glanced at her, picked up the vacuum hose and finished Hiromi's job. Then he idly moved the things on her study table and dresser around, placed Haru's funny, brightly-colored quilted alligator cushion to one side. There was too little space, Hiromi had done much already, and there were too many things for him to really clean up without Haru's supervision, but he did the best he could.

His hand lighted on the little jewelry box on her dresser. He knew its contents; she had shown them to him a long time ago. Two rings, a pendant he had given her, a pair of post-backed cat-shaped earrings...

------oOo------

"Look, Tsugumi, Haru already apologized. Now why don't you and your goons just back off and leave her alone?"

The curly-haired sukeban in the dark winter uniform sneered at him. "Ain't gonna happen, pretty boy." She pulled the chain she was carrying taut. "Someone ought to tell her to get her head out of the clouds more often. Then she wouldn't bump into people so much."

"B-but I said I was sorry!" Haru wailed from behind Machida.

"You've done that too many times for me to forgive you." Tsugumi smiled a cruel smile, and her slit eyes narrowed even further. "But I might be persuaded to forego beating you up this time if you give me those earrings of yours."

"What? I can't! My mom bought these for me!"

"Haru–"

"Oh, too bad then. Get ready for a world of hurt..." Tsugumi and her gang surrounded them, and Machida clenched his fists and got ready to fight.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" shouted someone from across the gym. Tsugumi paused and looked.

"Ts-Tsuge-sama!"

Tsuge nonchalantly walked up to them. "Are you nuts, Kinyo-chan? You want to get caught and not be able to graduate?"

"But this girl–"

"Happens to be a friend of mine," Tsuge butted in, raising his thick brows. "Please forgive her. You have my word she'll never bother you again."

Tsugumi vacillated, looking first at Tsuge, then Haru, and back again. She loosened her grip on her weapon and relaxed. "It's guess it's okay since it's you, Tsuge-sama." She turned to her posse. "Come on, girls." With a bow to Tsuge and a brief apology to Machida they left the building.

Tsuge waited until they had left before he turned to the couple. "It's a good thing Momo-chan told me what was happening, you two." He raised a hand and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, Machida-kun, why do you and Haru seem to have a penchant for getting into trouble?"

"Sorry." Haru came out from behind Machida.

"Did you zone out again, as I heard?" asked the ping-pong player.

Haru nodded.

"Well, don't do that any more, okay? Hiromi would be very sad if we all didn't graduate on time, so watch yourself. Oh, and she told me to tell you she can't come to your house later. She needs to do some research with Chika-chan."

"Ara?" said Haru. "But she promised me..."

------oOo------

"Ara?"

The sound made him look up. "What is it?"

Mrs. Yoshioka was standing by the balcony doors, looking through the slats. "There's that black cat again. It's always been there, ever since Haru left. It's as if it's watching the house." She shivered.

"Let me see." Machida opened the door, but all he got was a glimpse of feline tail and rear end jumping down from the low railing surrounding the house. Somehow it didn't surprise him. His girlfriend always did seem to have a strange affinity for cats. And she sometimes seemed to like them as much as she liked people.

------oOo------

"That was real tasty, Auntie," Tsuge said, stretching. "Especially the miso. I'm really sorry I have to eat and run, but duty calls."

"Me too," said Hiromi. "I could come back later, if you want me to."

"It's okay. I enjoyed your company. Thank you for your hard work."

The two stayed for a little longer and then left. Machida lingered.

"You can go if you want to," Mrs. Yoshioka told him. "You don't need to stay."

"Could I stay a little longer? I feel... I mean, if I stay here, I feel as if Haru's not so far away." He shifted in the chair he was sitting on.

"Oh, alright. But I've got to get back to my work. You just go watch TV. Leave the dishes in the sink." She headed for the stairs.

"It's okay, I'll wash them," Machida said. She nodded and disappeared. Machida began gathering the bowls up and stacking them in the sink. He'd irrigate them and let them stand for a little while before washing them. So engrossed was he in his memories as he sat down on the couch that he didn't notice the black cat hopping back up on the railing and looking through the glass doors of the living room at him.

Upstairs, Mrs. Yoshioka groaned as she sat down on the low doughnut-shaped cushion in front of her laptop. She just couldn't stay angry at the young man, especially when he was as doleful as he was right now. She had to admit he loved Haru a lot; her kindness made her overlook his faults for the present, sharing as he was her grief and perplexity over her daughter's disappearance. She remembered his frantic protestations of innocence when the police had questioned him and wondered where Haru was.

------oOo------

Machida lingered until the early afternoon, cleaning the little kitchen space. When he was finished, he happened to turn around and look out the glass doors.

There's that kitty okaa-sama was talking about. The black feline was once again on the railing, and the way its greenish-yellow eyes stared intently at him made the hairs on the back of neck stand up.

The cat looked away from him, distracted by something coming up the street. Well, he thought as he quietly made his way to the glass doors, he could do something about it, make Mrs. Yoshioka feel better about the insistent felid. He'd chase it away.

When he looked again the cat was no longer on the fence, but he heard it meowing behind the wall. He tiptoed to where it was and carefully looked over the rail.

There were two black cats sitting on the road, facing each other. They looked alike, and Machida couldn't tell which was the one that was bothering Mrs. Yoshioka. He watched them sitting there with their tails flicking and lashing, purring and meowing and chirruping all the while, and darned if it didn't look like they were talking to one other.

"Hey, shoo!" he called, making waving motions with his hands. "Go away! Quit hanging around here! Quit bothering Haru's mom!"

The cats stood and backed away a foot or two, then—seeing how he wasn't coming out of the gate to chase them off—sat back down, and, if anything, seemed to engage in an even more intense conversation.

The sight irritated Machida. He went back inside the house to look for something to swat the cats with, and came up with a broom. He rushed back outside, and found one of them standing just beyond the glass doors, looking up at him.

"Please don't hit me," it said in an earnest, lispy girl's voice. "Are you related to Haru Yoshioka?"

Machida blinked and stopped the broom in mid-swing. All the worry these past couple of weeks must've really strained his mind, he thought as he looked around for the ventriloquist or joke-player.

"Do you know Haru Yoshioka?" came the voice again. He was impressed. It really seemed to come from the cat itself.

"Well, well," he murmured to himself, "a talking cat." Two can play that game, Tsuge. "She's my girlfriend, why?" he answered loudly.

"She's in terrible danger."

Machida lowered the broom and frowned. "Dammit, that's not funny, Hiromi, Tsuge," he called, looking around. "Come out, you two. Stop this foolishness."

The other black cat suddenly bounded into view, jumping onto the railing. "I told you he wouldn't believe you," it said in a voice that sounded decidedly male. "Come on, we have to find someone else to help Miss Haru."

The black cat in front of Machida turned around. "But Moon, he's her boyfriend!"

Yep, Machida thought as he listened to the exchange. Brain go bye-bye now. How long has it been since I slipped into insanity? he wondered. I guess they ought to really lock me up now.

"So what?" called the other cat. "I don't think he loves her any more. In fact, I think he's trying to put the moves on Miss Haru's mom."

There was a muffled thud as the broom hit the floor.

"Are you crazy?" Machida shouted, outraged. "Oh, what the hell! Where's Haru?"

"Machida-kun, is everything alright down there?" Mrs. Yoshioka called from upstairs.

"Ah, yes, Mother," he replied. When he turned to look back outside he found both cats sitting on the lawn.

"Well?" the male-sounding one asked. "Are you going to gawk there like an idiot, or are you going to come with us?"

A cat with an attitude. This is getting better and better, thought Machida. "Alright, I'll play along. But if this is all a joke of some sort I promise I'll turn your insides into violin strings, whoever you are."

"Whatever," said the other cat, rolling its eyes. "Please, come with us. We need to hurry."

"Just a minute," Machida said, still wondering how he had disconnected himself from reality. "I need to tell Mrs. Yoshioka I'm leaving."

"Hurry up!"

Machida got his brown leather jacket and said his farewells to Haru's mother, then exited the house through the glass doors without waiting for her reply. Still doubting his sanity, he followed the two felines down the road.