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Hitoshi hummed to himself as he tugged one of Dad’s old sweatshirts with a calico cat pattern over his head. Winding past the kitchen counter, Hitoshi retrieved a cup of reheated coffee from the beeping microwave. Papa’s radio show echoed from the radio perched next to the toaster.
Stepping onto the weathered living room carpet, Hitoshi took a sip from his mug. Crayons and construction paper laid scattered across the coffee table. Eri’s horn bobbed up and down as she sketched away at a red blob.
Probably an apple. But better to ask than risk making Eri upset by guessing dead wrong.
Hitoshi placed his mug on the coffee table. “What are you drawing?”
“An apple!” Eri flashed a grin as wide as the ocean. Hitoshi’s heart melted at how his sister had finally learned to smile again. Heaven knows how long it had taken Hitoshi to relearn how to smile genuinely after he’d gotten out of foster care.
Grinning over how he’d ended up guessing the drawing correctly, Hitoshi reached over to ruffle Eri’s hair bound into braids courtesy of Papa. Hitoshi suppressed a chuckle as he recalled his parents’ light-hearted bickering over who was better at styling Eri’s hair.
“I’m making pictures for Papa and Dad,” Eri said.
“None for me? I’m heartbroken.”
“Well, it’s for fathers’ day – and you’re not a dad.”
Hitoshi shrugged. “Yeah, not that I know of.”
“Huh?”
As Eri’s gaze drilled into him, sweat gathered at the nape of Hitoshi’s neck. Crap, he probably should not have made that sort of joke in front of his sister. Sure, she didn’t understand it – but if worse came to worst Eri would end up repeating it. Hitoshi shuddered at the thought of his parents shaking their heads at him disapprovingly.
Quick time to pivot . “Shit, I forgot about Father’s Day.”
“You said a bad word!” Eri’s expression lit up as she skipped over to a table holding a lamp and grabbed a metal tin resting on it.
Sighing, Hitoshi fished change out of his pocket, letting it clank into the jar. “You’re taking all my coffee money. You know that, right?”
“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t have a potty mouth.”
Snorting to himself, Hitoshi nodded his head toward the apple sketch. “I’m sure they’ll love the drawings.”
“I guess so. But I already gave them drawings for their birthdays. What’s a good Father’s Day gift?”
“I haven’t really had dads before. No clue what kids normally get for Father’s Day.”
Eri tapped her chin in deep thought. “Hmm. Maybe we can get Dad and Papa a fancy gift from a store.”
Pulling his wallet out of his pocket, Hitoshi nodded toward the swear jar. “Let's see what kind of budget we're working with.”
A single crumbled bill tumbled out of Hitoshi’s wallet. Barely enough for a coffee. Only a handful of coins fell onto the carpet as Eri shook her jar. No wonder the jar had been so loud. It was practically hollow.
Hitoshi raised a brow. “I thought there was more money in the swear jar.”
“You don’t understand. I needed candy apples.” Eri crossed her arms. “Why isn’t there more money in your wallet?”
“I needed caffeine.”
Eri sighed and shook her head. Yet, as her gaze lingered on Hitoshi's cat-print sweatshirt her eyes lit up. “Big brother! I have an idea for a gift that costs zero yen.”
“Zero yen? Huh, that does sound like a bargain. What do you have in mind?”
“An alleycat!”
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “As if Dad and Papa need another one—” he cut himself off as a cat made her presence known. “Hey, Mocha,” he said, crouching down so he could rub her velvety fur, which almost exactly matched the shade of coffee beans, earning her the name.
“Mocha!” Eri exclaimed. She was short enough that she only needed to reach down to scratch between the cat’s ears, but she dropped to her knees to give Mocha a full hug. “What do you think about us getting you another friend?”
Out of the fourteen cats in the Yamazawa household, Mocha was Eri’s favorite. She’d been severely malnourished when she had joined the family the same week that Eri did, and the two had taken a liking to one another, each helping the other open up to the rest of the family.
“Mrow.” Mocha nuzzled closer into Eri.
Hitoshi smiled as he watched his sister. You know what, maybe an alleycat wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all.
The plan (really, it was nothing more than a half-baked idea) came to fruition a mere three days later, as Hitoshi was walking home in the evening. It was peaceful, the slightly humid air filled with the sounds of crickets chirping and cicadas crying. Then suddenly, as he speed-walked past the dumpster, there was something else: the unmistakable sound of a cat in pain.
Rolling up his sleeves, Hitoshi ran headfirst towards the noise (and, in his haste, into a trash bag).
And that was how Hitoshi, reeking of rotten bananas, arrived home far later than he was supposed to, having spent the last thirty minutes trying to coax out a scared tabby. It was fortunate that Dad and Papa were working late that day — otherwise if he hadn’t been able to keep the surprise, his embarrassment would have been in vain. Even after minutes of aggressive shampooing and scrubbing in the shower, Hitoshi wasn’t proud to admit that he still hadn’t gotten all the smell out.
But there were more pressing problems at hand.
Eri tugged at the sleeve of his now-clean pajamas. “Hitoshi,” she started, looking up at him with wide eyes. “How are we going to hide this?”
Hitoshi took a glance down at the cat he was holding. “He is probably hungry. Eri can you go and get our new friend some food?”
Eri, with a determined look in her eye, nodded fiercely and ran away to the kitchen.
Hitoshi didn’t want to let go of the cat yet, he needed to introduce their new friend first.
Most of the cats had gotten used to meeting new strays, as almost half of them were strays. It went surprisingly quickly for the new cat to adjust.
Then he realized that the cat had never attempted to escape or scratch him after being captured. He remembered how common scratches were for Papa and Dad from scared cats when they first arrived.
A bit worried he lifted the cat towards his head to inspect it. He tried to look for any sign of problems but saw nothing. As he was preparing to put the cat down it wiggled and jumped onto Hitoshi's shoulder.
He tried to gently lift the cat off but to no avail, the cat was determined and gripped onto the sweatshirt Hitoshi had slipped over his pajamas. He did not want to damage his Dad's sweatshirt so decided to let him be for now.
The sound of Eri rapidly returning with a bowl of food broke him out of his thoughts.
“Here, please eat, Mr. Cat.”
The stray refused to let go. Hitoshi, annoyed, did not know why and tried again to get it off him to no avail. Eventually, Eri lifted the bowl so the cat ate from his shoulder, while Hitoshi sat down.
“Ugh, what do we do, he doesn’t seem to want to leave my shoulders.”
Eri took a step back and looked at Hitoshi and the cat. Then her glance went to something behind Hitoshi and then back.
“I got it, stay here I will be back” Eri excitedly said and ran off somewhere.
Hitoshi was confused and looked behind him. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Then he spotted it, a picture of their entire family, with Dad and Papa in their hero costumes. He tried to understand what Eri had planned before it clicked.
“Please Hitoshi wear this,” Eri insisted.
Hitoshi had his hands before his face, “No, please don’t. I will die of embarrassment if they see me wearing that.”
Eri was holding Shouta’s signature scarf, at least the comfy version he used at home.
“Come on, it would be perfect, we can hide Mr. Cat and he gets a comfy place to stay while hiding.”
Hitoshi knew that if removed his hand and looked Eri in the eyes it was over. He was already teased enough by Papa for looking similar to Dad. Looking almost like Dad in his hero costume would just ignite a new flame for the teasing. Unfortunately, he also knew he could not win this argument with her.
Sighing, he wrapped it around him and the kitten. Looking back, he grinned at the photo on the coffee table.
“Hey, Eri Berry. If I’m to look like dad…”
He trailed off as Eri brightened.
“Then I can look like Papa!! Hito! Hito help me make his speaker please?”
“Oh and how would I do that?”
He swore his arm almost got ripped off as he was dragged to the cardboard bin. Eri grabbed a large box from a purchase that he couldn’t remember. He looked it over and nodded.
“I think I’ve seen videos using cardboard like this. Good that it’s gray already” Hitoshi mused as he pulled up a tutorial and printed the pattern.
Eri carefully traced the pieces and Hitoshi cut them as the tiny kitten slept on his shoulder. By the time they were done the door clicked open.
Papa walked in and looked around at the mess then absolutely melted when Eri beamed at him wearing a handmade speaker collar and Hitoshi still wearing the spare scarf – the gray kitten perfectly blending in it – his face soft.
Stepping into the room, Dad huffed, “Cute. Good job on that, Eri. And good job on minimizing the mess.” He paused while sniffing the air. “Why do I smell rotten bananas?”
The kitten woke up, letting out a high-pitched sneeze against the coarse fabric of the spare capture weapon. Papa’s eyes lit up while Dad raised a brow at the cat nuzzled in one of his scarfs. Hitoshi didn’t miss the faint smile pulling at the corner of Dad’s lips.
“Another cat?” Dad asked gruffly.
“Happy Father’s Day!” Standing on her tiptoes, Eri gingerly fished the cat out of the scarf. The makeshift speaker fastened around her neck bobbed up and down as she skipped over to Dad and Papa.
“Here’s an alleycat. We spent zero yen.”
Dad nodded approvingly. “How economical.”
Red eyes flashed in Papa’s direction before he had the chance to activate his quirk and inadvertently leave everyone’s eardrums bleeding. Squealing ever so slightly, Papa wiped away a tear from the corner of his eyes. “Aww, Hitoshi and Eri. Group hug time! And you’re not gonna pass on it, Shouta. Got it?”
“Alright, if you insist,” Dad said.
As Papa held his long arms wide open, Hitoshi, Dad and Eri stepped into his embrace. Sinking into the warmth, Hitoshi let euphoria fill the cavity of his chest. Even a year ago he wouldn’t have thought that this sort of familial affection was going to be in the cards for him. And now he never wanted to let go of all these little moments.
Somewhat reluctantly untangling himself for the group hug, Hitoshi heard the alleycat let out a soft purr against Eri’s chest. As Eri set the cat down onto the carpet, Dad knelt down to pet the cat on the back of his neck. Cooing at how the cat closed his eyes with satisfaction, Papa turned toward Eri.
“What were you thinking of naming him, little listener?”
“Banana!” Eri grinned widely.
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. “Eri, I did get cleaned up, you know.”
Looking back at Hitoshi skeptically, Eri scrunched her nose together. “But you’re still so stinky.”
Not pausing petting the cat, Dad spoke up. “Are you sure that Banana is a good name for a cat?”
“Yep! It feels right to use Banana’s name as a way to remember how Hitoshi found him.”
“Fair enough. It’s not like he’d be the only cat we’ve got named after food and such.” Dad nodded in Mocha’s direction as she paraded her way along the armrest of the living room sofa.
Papa marched over as Mocha mewed for attention and stroked her coat. With Mocha satisfied, Papa gestured in the direction of the newest addition to the family. “Banana isn’t even yellow though, Shouta.”
“Does it really matter, ‘Zashi?”
“Guess not,” Papa laughed.
Holding Banana in his arms, Dad muttered to himself. “We should probably take him to the vet. For vaccines and the usual alleycat fanfare.”
Papa nodded. “Yeah, not sure whether we want him to be the one celebrating Father ’s Day.”
“Ew, Papa.” Hitoshi gagged and protectively placed both hands around Eri’s ears. “Stop being so gross. Eri’s right here.”
“What’s gross about what Papa said?” Eri asked.
“It’s probably better if you don’t know,” Hitoshi sighed. “But yup, it’s for the best to take Banana to the vet and get all the necessary procedures done.”
Leaning down to scratch Banana behind the ears, Hitoshi smiled to himself. For all that he suspected the scent of dumpster would remain glued to his skin for days on end – all in all, Hitoshi considered his first-ever time experiencing Father’s Day a roaring success.