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There's a cat in front of Rin. It's a cat he's never seen around before, with fluffy red fur and a bored look on its furry face. Strangely, it reminds Rin of someone, but he's not sure who. Crouching to observe the cat better, he tilts his head to the right and to the left to attract its attention.
In the first place, how does one become friends with a cat?
Now, Rin doesn't have many friends – or rather he has none except his brother – so he can't answer this question. Petting it maybe? The last time he tried that with a stray kitten, it scratched him – Sae said he should have put less strength in his caresses, and he's always right. What would his brother do? Since he often says Rin's name, perhaps he'll start by calling out to the cat.
“Kitty.”
It doesn't react, its tail swaying left and right as it continues to not pay attention to Rin.
“Cat.”
The cat deigns to look at the boy for a split second before it yawns and goes back to staring at nothing.
“Mister Cat.”
This time, it works. The cat stretches out lazily, and then it walks to Rin, rubbing its body against his knees. When he tries petting it, as slowly and nicely as he can, the cat accepts it without batting his hand away. Making friends with it is easier than it is with other kids – not that he cares about having friends. Sae is enough. Speaking of him…
“Mister Cat, do you want to meet Nii-chan?”
His new friend peers at him with its big blue eyes and since it's not running away, Rin takes it as a yes. He gets up, throws the action figures he was playing with on the ground, and grabs the cat. Putting his arms under its forelegs and around its belly, so the rest of its body is dangling in the air, Rin walks slowly to the other end of the park where his brother is practicing. The cat meows with each step he takes and Rin answers.
“Meow,” he says and hopes the cat listens. “Meow meow.”
The cat replies with a high-pitched “meoooow” and Rin nods as if he's understood everything his friend says. The strange conversation continues until they reach Sae who’s too absorbed in juggling to notice them. Rin is fine with that – it gives him time to explain everything to Mister Cat.
“Nii-chan plays football,” he starts, “and he’s very good at it.”
Mister Cat looks at Rin like he just grew a second head. It’s very possible he doesn’t understand human language beyond its name, Rin realizes quite late. They stare at each other for a few seconds before he opens his mouth again.
“Meow meow…”
He isn’t sure every nuance about how amazing Sae is can be conveyed like this, but he’ll try. It seems to work at least, as Mister Cat looks away from Rin and to Sae in front of them.
Readjusting his hold on the cat, he continues. “Meow meow meow.”
Mister Cat meows a reply Rin doesn’t understand at all, but it’s good enough. It’s listening. Meanwhile, Sae hasn’t dropped the ball once, handling it with a precision that’s rare for a kid of that age. When he starts explaining what makes his brother so great to his friend, Rin whispers, not wanting to distract him. After telling it how good Sae is as a striker in every way he can possibly think of, Rin pauses. What to say next?
And like always when he’s in a pinch, his brother appears to help him.
With his ball under the arm, Sae approaches them. “Rin, what’s this?”
“Mister Cat.”
“Mister Cat,” Sae repeats, a look of confusion on his face. “Where did you find it?”
Rin turns and the cat protests vehemently at the sudden movement that makes its entire body sway around. “There.”
“Hm.”
Without saying anything more, Sae ruffles Rin's hair like he always does without a second glance at the cat.
“Nii-chan, it's Mister Cat that you should pet.”
Sae looks at the cat then at his little brother, his hand still stroking Rin’s hair. “I'm not touching a dirty cat.”
“It's not dirty… I think…”
“It is.”
“Mister Cat, are you dirty?”
“I told you, it is.”
At these words, the cat squints its eyes as if the boys have offended him greatly, and wiggles around until Rin can't hold properly anymore, and it jumps out of his arms. After a last glance at the brothers, it trots away, unbothered.
“Mister Cat…” Rin raises his hand toward the cat which is rapidly disappearing among the park's trees. “I didn't finish my explanation…”
“What were you telling it?”
“Nii-chan.” Rin grabs the hem of Sae's kit to drag him where he left his toys – if Sae has finished practicing, they can go home now. “I was talking about Nii-chan.”
His brother sighs. “We can come back tomorrow so you can find it again.”
That's good. He finally made a friend other than Sae so he should cherish it… And most importantly talk about his brother when he’s off the field. Also, he should make sure Mister Cat isn’t dirty so Sae can try petting it – its fur is so fluffy that it’s waste if Sae doesn’t touch it at least once. Rin's still unsure about something though.
“Hey, Nii-chan, can you speak cat?”
A few seconds pass before Sae nods. “Sure. Meow meow meow or something.”
His cat voice is leagues above Rin's – if he closes his eyes, he can imagine it's a real cat walking next to him. One that looks quite a bit like Mister Cat.
“Incredible… You’re too good, nii-chan!”
“Of course. I'm your big brother.”
“Meow meow!”
“No, not like that. More slowly, 'kay? Like 'meow'.”
“Meow?”
“Better.”
Until they arrive home, Sae continues giving Rin advice and petting his head when he does well, as he would with a real cat.