Takemichi Hanakagi is an 18-year-old college student living a seemingly ordinary life in Japan. Since a tragic accident at age 16 left him with amnesia, he's been starting over, trying to piece together his past while managing a normal routine. Now...
It was a peaceful morning, though like many others, I felt lazy. (Well, the author is lazy too, so I guess we're all in sync). Even so, everyone, including me, was doing their usual morning routines—cleaning, cooking, getting ready for school or work, feeding pets, watering plants, and countless other daily tasks that fill the early hours.
As for me, I had been staying at my best friend’s house for the past three days. Today was the day I was heading home, along with the other friends who had also been crashing here. We packed up our things, ready to leave.
Stepping outside, I spotted Aunt Mary waiting by her car. She's my mother’s best friend, and she was here to give me a ride home. I had called her instead of asking my Onii-chan, because I knew he was exhausted. Between his part-time job at the DVD store, his schoolwork, and running our library shop, he had his hands full. The last thing I wanted to do was add more to his plate.
I waved goodbye to my best friend and got into Aunt Mary’s car. Once inside, she smiled at me warmly and started driving.
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When we arrived, I thanked Aunt Mary and made my way into the library shop. Since our house is located on the third floor, I opted for the elevator—because let’s be honest, I was too lazy to take the stairs.
As I reached the front door of our home, I heard the sound of something crashing inside. Instinctively, I rushed to unlock the door and hurried inside, my heart racing with worry. What I found left me momentarily stunned.
There was my older brother, Takemichi, sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. Scattered around him were towels, pet food bowls, cat toys, and countless other items. The house was a complete mess, like a storm had blown through it.
But then I noticed something odd—everything strewn across the floor seemed to be for... cats?
Wait, cats?!
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⫘⫘ No One's POV ⫘⫘
Rain stood in the doorway, arms crossed and a frown creasing his face. He wasn’t mad—just utterly confused by the disaster zone that used to be their home.
"What happened here, nii-san?" Rain asked, his voice a mix of concern and exasperation.
"Oh, Rain! You’re back! Welcome home!" Takemichi said with a sweet smile, trying to act like everything was normal. (For clarity, though they were cousins, they considered each other brothers).
"Yeah, I’m home—but don’t change the subject! What is all this?" Rain gestured to the mess around the room, his eyes narrowing in on the chaos. It looked as if a tornado had swept through the place, leaving nothing untouched.
Takemichi fidgeted nervously, clearly at a loss for words. He scratched the back of his head, his eyes darting around as if searching for a way to explain the situation.
"Well... uh… as you can see," he began, taking a deep breath, "we're going to have some new family members in our home!"
With that, Takemichi stood up and began gathering the scattered items from the floor, trying to regain some sense of order.
Rain, still in shock, took off his shoes and set down his bag, planning to help his older brother clean up. But his mind was still stuck on one word that had escaped his lips unconsciously earlier—cats. He hadn't realized he’d spoken it aloud, but Takemichi had clearly heard him.
"A cat?" Rain questioned.
Takemichi shook his head. "No, not a cat—cats," he corrected with a slight emphasis on the plural.
Rain blinked, processing this new information. "Wait, cats—what?!"
End of Chapter 2
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Author’s Note: Guys, I’m really sorry about how short this chapter is!! 😩😩
I know many of you have been waiting for an update, but I had a bit of writer’s block today. 😓 I made this while I was in church and was feeling really lazy (not sure why, but it happens, right?).
🥺🥺 Anyway, that’s all for now! Thanks for reading!
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