WILDLIFE

Chapter 15 : part 2

Sakura's PoV:

I was on my way back to my apartment from the convenience store, a plastic bag swinging lightly in my hand, when I spotted two very familiar figures down the street.

Suo.

Nerei.

And—

Someone walking beside them.

I slowed my steps.

Okami?

"There he is! HI, SAKURA!" Nerei shouted, waving both hands in the air like he was signaling a rescue helicopter.

I blinked.

Why were they all together?

Suo glanced at me, looking far too composed for someone clearly involved in whatever this situation was. Okami, on the other hand, looked like she was reconsidering every life decision that had led her here.

"...What's going on?" I asked as they approached.

"I found her communing with a pole," Suo answered calmly.

"I was not communing with a pole," Okami said flatly.

"He was lost," Nerei added helpfully.

"I was temporarily directionless."I stared at her.

"...You live ten minutes from here."She looked away.

Nerei grinned. "She was looking for you."

That caught my attention.

"For me?" I repeated.

Okami hesitated for half a second before answering. "My aunt invited you for picnic."

"Oh?" I shifted the bag in my hand. "That's sudden."

"She wants to thank you. For the clinic."

Nerei blinked between us. "Wait. Back up. Picnic? Clinic? Since when?"

Suo tilted his head slightly. "Yes. I don't recall being informed about this development."

Okami stiffened almost immediately.

"It's not a development," she said flatly. "It's just a picnic."

"To thank him," she pointed at me.

I sighed. "It was nothing dramatic."

"It involved a bridge," Okami muttered.

Nerei's eyes widened. "A bridge?"

Suo looked between us. "I assume this explanation will not disappoint."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "There was a cat."

Nerei nodded seriously. "Of course there was."

"It grabbed her phone and ran along the railing," I continued. "I chased it."

"And I caught it," Okami cut in quickly.

She crossed her arms like she needed that fact documented.

"That's true," I admitted. "She caught it."

"Wait," Nerei interrupted. "You're telling me both of you chased a cat onto a bridge?"

"Yes."

"And she caught it?"

"Yes."

"And yet she's the one who ended up at the clinic?"

Silence.

Okami looked away.

Suo's gaze sharpened slightly. "What happened after you caught the cat?"

"She jumped," I said.