Forgotten

Chapter Forty-Four

As soon as Ichimatsu managed to stop sobbing, the two of them decided to walk home to see if they had received a phone call from the vet.

And just like that, as soon as they walked in the door, the telephone was ringing.

Running, Ichimatsu grabbed the phone anxiously.

"Hello?" he asked, and was scared to death when he heard the vet's sorrowful voice.

"Hi, uh, Ichimatsu," the vet began. "We removed the cancerous tumor, but we were beyond saving Harvey. Luckily, he didn't wake up after the anesthesia supposedly wore off. I am terribly sorry. I don't think he would have made it much longer even if he woke up. Though we removed the tumor with success, we found that the cancer had spread over his entire body. These was no hope either way. Harvey was very strong to have not shown any signs of pain up until yesterday. I have to say, that itself, is a miracle."

Ichimatsu's hands trembled, unable to speak as the vet stopped talking. His lips quivered, but he was unable to speak a word.

Harvey was dead. Never again would Ichimatsu be able to hear the sounds of of Harvey's comforting mews and soft, caring purrs. He wouldn't be coming home alive. Harvey no longer existed as a living creature.

"You may come over to pick up his body whenever you like. I understand that you were very close to your cat," the vet said, then hung up.

Ichimatsu dropped the phone the slid down to the ground, his eyes filling with tears again. Covering his face with his hands, he forcefully took a deep breath, trying to keep it all inside. He wanted so badly to be strong at a time like this.

"Nii-san..?" Jyushimatsu asked, running out of the living room when he heard the phone drop. "What's wrong? What happened? Are you okay? How's Harvey doing?"

"He didn't make it..." Ichimatsu wheezed, still not crying. "Now look at what a terrible pitiful human being I am. Do I even deserve to be called human? Harvey was just like Kanola...he hid his pain. Why do people always hide their pain from me? Why won't they let me help them while there's still a chance...?"

"Ichimatsu," Jyushimatsu whispered, sitting down on the floor beside his brother. "Sometimes people hide things so others don't get hurt. You know that, don't you? Homura did that a lot..."

"Even a cat?" Ichimatsu rasped, "How would an animal know how to do that? Explain that to me!"

"Nii-san..." Jyushimatsu said sadly, patting him on the head. "Are you going to go pick Harvey up then?"

Ichimatsu nodded his head, shakily standing back up. "There's no use stalling...it's not going to bring my treasure back..."

"I'll tell everyone else where you'll be then, nii-san," Jyushimatsu replied quietly. "I'm sure you want some alone time with Harvey, don't you?"

Ichimatsu didn't reply as he walked back out the front door.

"Dead..he's gone..." Ichimatsu thought as he walked down the sidewalk," He's never going to come back. Just like everyone else. As soon as you love someone, they leave you to suffer alone. Harvey was all I had when I was alone. I hated everyone with all my heart, but Harvey...even though he was a cat..sometimes he seemed more human than anything. Now look at him. He's gone. Just like that. I never even got to say goodbye..."

That same purple bird flapped it's wings weakly, struggling to stay up in the sky.

"Don't you dare die either, you bird.." Ichimatsu muttered. "I know what you are...keep watching me suffer, why don't you? I'm sure it's pleasing you."

Ichimatsu stopped in front of the vet's office, wiping his eyes before he walked inside. The vet immediately greeted him, taking him back to one of the examining rooms where Harvey's body was, calmly "asleep" in a large shoebox.

"There is a place where you can bury Harvey right behind the vet's office here. We have an animal cemetery for the people who don't have room at home," the vet said. "Are you fine with that?"

Ichimatsu nodded his head and the vet wrote something down on a piece of paper.

"I already had someone dig a hole in the graveyard in case you agreed. Go outside behind the office. You should find someone there. Take your time saying goodbye to Harvey. I know it's hard to let him go so suddenly," the vet said.

And after several painfully awkward moments of watching Harvey be buried, Ichimatsu began to cry as soon as the person walked off. He was still in complete shock.

Just the week before, he was still living with Ichimatsu in the alleyway. Life could change so quickly. Almost like someone was betting every day what you would feel like for the next few months.

Not being able to bear lying over Harvey's grave, Ichimatsu took a walk to the park.

When he sat down on the bench, he began to long for a cigarette. But, unfortunately, Jyushimatsu had found them while Ichimatsu was asleep the first night, and had flushed them down the toilet. Apparently the garbage can wouldn't have been enough.

Sighing, Ichimatsu stared at the sky, his thoughts completely empty, that is, until the weak purple bird pecked him on the toe.

"What the heck?!" Ichimatsu spat jumping up, grabbing his toe. He was astonished that such a weak, tiny bird could bring so much pain.

The bird looked up at Ichimatsu staring him in the eye.

"Follow me..." an unknown voice whispered in Ichimatsu's head.

Glaring at the bird, Ichimatsu began to follow it around as it would fly low to the ground, the hop a bit. Fly, then hop, fly, then hop.

"What am I doing with myself now...?" Ichimatsu muttered as he continued to follow the bird.