Rin Hoshizora's Birthday

Whoosh~

A stream of cool air blew out of nowhere.

Strange?

On the way home on a certain day at the end of September…

My body felt weird. As Rin was just thinking about that…

Ah… ah… ah—

“—achoo!”

Heh heh heh, I sneezed.

Rin rubbed her nose and……

“Ah— achoo, achoo, achoo, achoo!”

Rin is one of those people who sneezes in a row.

If Kayo-chin, who is always sticking with Rin, sees Rin sneezing in a row, she’ll tease her about it too.

She said Rin’s face will scrunch up and she’ll close both eyes when she sneezes; that face looks just like a newborn kitty~ heh heh heh♪

Aw~ Really, is Rin as cute as a kitty~?♪ Just kidding♥

Just as Rin was thinking about these things…

Meow~

Ah, a kitty! Rin heard a meow from a real cat.

“Oh my, it’s a kitty~ Where are you hiding?”

Rin moved her nose, which was just sucking up mucus earlier, and then bent her waist down, ready to find the kitty~!

Meow~ Meow~

When Rin was looking for it, Rin could still hear a very weak meowing coming from a certain place.

Hm…… it sounds like it’s a really small kitty.

Is it okay, nya?

Maybe it’s hungry, nya?

The kitty couldn’t have… fainted from the summer heat from a while ago, got hit by this autumn wind when it hadn’t even recovered, and then caught a fever?

“Okay, captain! Rin will now begin her journey to find the poor lost kitty!”

Rin saluted, and then got down on the ground to look for the kitty.

“Where are you? Where are you, Rin’s cute little kitty? Don’t be afraid, come out quickly~”

Speaking of the places nearby that cats often appear, it’s that dense hedge by the house with the old tiled roof, or under the cars in the open parking lot, or the super narrow path which is roughly 30cm wide in the middle of a the cement wall in between two houses—

Rustle, rustle.

The uniform’s skirt rubbed against the cement wall and Rin almost got stuck, but Rin still continued to look for the kitty.

Hey~ Come out, come out quickly, kitty!

Rin can share half of her Pringles chips with you~

Nyaa~♪

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Rin really loves cats.

Why?

Rin has loved cats ever since she was little.

Probably because they’re really cool?

Like their soft body, and the ability to jump really high without a running start.

And even if they fell head first, they could still do a really cool spin and land on their feet; as well as their elegant movements, and their upright big eyes.

Ah, they seem to have so much fun playing by themselves, too.

Rin really loves… all these features of a cat.

Every time that Rin sees a cat, she can’t help but to stare at them. When Rin was little, she got lost many times too because she let go of her mom’s hand to chase after a cat.

Mrow~ Meow, meow~!

The cats I met by the roadside always had this intriguing look.

I couldn’t tell if they were interested in Rin or not…

Rin tried really hard to imitate their meows to chat with them; after meowing a few times, they finally softly responded back to Rin. Although they sound pretty helpless.

Meow~

Even though they’re cold, Rin still felt really happy.

Rin stared at the eyes that finally responded back to her. Great, today…… today might be the day I can touch it. Rin slowly approached— but the kitty immediately turned around and escaped.

Dammit! So close.

Cats’ eyes are just like big glass marbles, sparkling and watery. They’re very pretty, but Rin still doesn’t quite get what are they thinking.

Feels like if I keep staring at their eyes, I’ll be sucked in, and it makes Rin thinks she has become one of them, but in the end she still gets straight up dumped by them.

Every time.

Sigh! Rin always thinks about this every time this happens.

Sigh!

It would be nice if Rin could become one with the cats.

Rin has had this thought ever since she was little. It’s like a one-sided crush that is destined to fail, nya~

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

That thing… happened one day when Rin hadn’t even hit ten years old yet.

It was a cold night in the middle of winter.

Because it was past New Year’s, the elementary schools’ winter break was about halfway through.

Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and the New Year’s days on January 1st to 3rd that Rin had been looking forward to had all passed. Rin had become like a flat soda.

Rolling and rolling and rolling in the room.

Rice cakes, New Year’s dishes, red bean cake soup, quizzes and punishment games on New Year’s specials— Rin is tired of them~ As Rin was rolling about with her cheeks puffed up, a door bell suddenly rang from the entrance.

“Rin-chan, what… what should we do…“

The person who came is none other than Rin’s childhood friend Kayo-chin; she was wearing a pure white wool hat, shivering all over.

“Whoa~ What’s wrong? Rin wasn’t expecting Kayo-chin at this time. But that’s great, Rin was bored, so let’s eat some rice cakes and play kids’ mahjong—“

Rin said as she opened the entrance door, and reached out to pat the wool on Kayo-chin’s hat.

Huh? It’s so cold— it’s snow!

There’s a layer of light snow covering the top of the pure white hat— it’s the snow that fell in large flakes just now.

The huge dark purple and blue sky behind Kayo-chin is raining white snow that looked like flower petals.

“Ah~ It’s snowing, it should be getting cold! Hurry up and come in, Kayo-chin.”

Even after Rin finished, Kayo-chin still hasn’t moved a single step from the cement floor at the entrance, shivering as she said:

“Rin-chan— what should we do? I think under our house’s storeroom, there’s a bunch of newborn kittens.”

EEEEHH! Newborn… kittens?

Rin still remembers even now, that time she was so shocked her eyes could fly out.

I originally thought Kayo-chin was shivering because of the cold, but the real reason was not even about the sudden drop in temperature at night. It’s from the surprise of suddenly discovering the newborn litter, on top of being in the middle of a snowing winter— it was from the fear that formed after hearing the energetic meowing slowly becoming weaker and weaker.

“I think a stray cat got into our house and gave birth to them. Even though I could hear them since yesterday, today I noticed their sounds were getting softer… the storeroom is in the very cold north side, so I think we need to move them to somewhere warmer… but Daddy and Mommy are not home because of work, and Grandpa and Grandma also went to the town council meeting. Rin-chan, what should we do? The kitties’ noises are already so weak, and it even started snowing now; if this goes on, the kitties might…… they might die…“

Kayo-chin nearly cried when she finished.

Rin silently moved close to Kayo-chin and wiped her tears away.

Kayo-chin didn’t stop Rin, she just closed her eyes holding in her tears.

Rin immediately took a scarf from the hangers and wrapped it around Kayo-chin’s neck.

The gloves and feather-woven coat Rin bought during the new year are getting put into use for the first time too!

“Mommy, I’m going to Kayo-chin’s house! There are newborn kittens!”

Rin yelled at the entrance, and closed the door before even receiving a response. And then immediately inhaled the cold air of the night that hurts deep inside the nose.

Rin held Kayo-chin’s hand and started running.

“Let’s go, Kayo-chin! Super-Fast Express~“

Kayo-chin said to Rin who started running:

“Rin…… Rin-chan, wait up. You’re running…… running too fast—“

Even though I can vaguely hear Mommy’s “You’ll disturb people this late, Rin—“ voice coming from behind Kayo-chin.

But now is not the time for that!

Kayo-chin and cats. Rin’s two most important friends in the world are now in big trouble! Super-Fast Express Number Rin, full speed ahead☆

 
 

“It’s over there—“

Passing through the old gate with the tiled roof, Rin followed Kayo-chin’s guidance, and reached the backyard behind the main house.

Since I’ve been here so many times to play, to Rin, Kayo-chin’s backyard is as familiar as Rin’s own house. I heard there used to be a warehouse in the backyard, but now it’s just a really big storeroom.

“Can you hear it?”

Kayo-chin asked anxiously.

Hm?

Rin lay down on the ground before the storeroom, perked her ears up and listened carefully— and heard a really weak noise.

Mew.

Mew mew mew~

“It’s true! There really are kittens’ noises!”

It’s also Rin’s first time hearing this kind of sound. So this is what baby kitties sound like— they’re sooo tiny!

The sound was so helpless, weak, and fragile, almost as if it would disappear at any moment.

Rin took a deep breath— heart pumping wildly.

Rin reached out her hand to suppress her suddenly increased heartbeat.

“We have to save them!”

Kayo-chin stared at Rin’s face.

“But… how do we save them?”

Her voice started shaking towards the end; it sounded like she was about to cry.

How do we save them?

After being asked, Rin crossed her arms and just started to think.

Hmm…

The storeroom of Kayo-chin’s house is really huge: at first glance, it looks like a small, square side room.

However, the entrance is one of those huge board sliding doors with no windows, and there’s only a really small window that you can’t reach on the north side of this building, kind of like the little window in a restroom. There was a huge lock pad on the handle of the door, and the window is so tiny and high up that even if we opened up the window, only kittens… can actually get through it!

“No keys?”

Hearing Rin asking, the almost-crying Kayo-chin shook her head.

“Usually Grandma keeps it, so Hanayo doesn’t know where she put it.”

Kayo-chin sagged her shoulders.

Oh yeah… Rin thought while looking at the only window access into the storeroom.

“This… might do.”

Rin thought of it. If she imitates the cats that she has always looked up to, she might be able to get inside.

So then, Rin took a few steps back, and lowered her body into a pre-running posture.

Okay, even if knowing this probably doesn’t work, Rin still wants to try it.

“Go—!”

Rin sprinted, and high-jumped towards the north wall.

“Uwaaahhhh~!”

Because Rin accidentally put in too much force, she turned around quickly, to avoid hitting the wall directly with her face— thud!

Rin ended up brutally hitting the wall with her back.

“Ow ow ow—“

What should I do? I couldn’t even touch the window frame, let alone getting into the gap in the tiny window.

“All right, again!”

Kayo-chin quickly stopped Rin, who wanted to sprint again.

“Rin-chan, it’s no use, you’ll definitely hit the wall again.”

She’s right, but if this goes on, the kittens will…

Rin knows.

Doesn’t matter if it’s human babies or cat babies— because their bodies are so small, if we don’t help keep them warm, they’ll lose temperature.

The weather is so cold, so if we don’t get them out soon, their warmth will get lower and lower, and the kittens— they might die!

……

Rin was shocked.

Her heartbeat increased as she thought about it.

Rin silently stared at the snow slowly falling down.

Feels like she can almost hear the loud “whoosh—” sound of a huge snowfall coming from nowhere.

But today was a quiet night in January.

And then, Rin noticed something.

“Kayo-chin, what should we do? I couldn’t hear the meows form the kittens since just now!”

Both of us perked up our ears to listen— but we couldn’t pick up anything.

Rin realized what the silence could mean this night, and started panicking.

“Kayo-chin, what do we do? Kittens…… the kittens—“

Rin was on the edge of crying.

Rin shuffled repeatedly on the spot uneasily, even though doing this wouldn’t make the kittens feel any better. But…… but but but— what should we do!

At this moment, Kayo-chin hugged Rin tightly.

“Rin-chan, don’t panic! It’s okay, because today— I actually couldn’t hear them a few times. They must be sleeping right now.”

Hearing Kayo-chin’s soothing and gentle voice, Rin calmed down a bit.

“So… Sorry, Kayo-chin, I’m a little nervous… But……”

Seeing Rin’s serious expression, Kayo-chin’s expression dimmed slightly.

“Kayo-chin is right, they probably fell asleep. But it’s nighttime now, so their sound seems to be getting weaker and weaker, and if we don’t save them now…”

Kayo-chin thoughtfully said:

“I wonder if we can get in from here?”

With that said, Kayo-chin quietly pointed in the direction she was talking about to Rin— it’s under the flooring.

The old-style storeroom at Kayo-chin’s house has a gap between the floor and the ground: a patch of soil with big rocks in it can be seen below the flooring from in between the pillars lifting up the storeroom.

Then Kayo-chin swiftly lowered her head, brushing past the door frame, and looked at the space under the flooring. When she got back up, there were some dirt on her face.

“Urgh, my arms are not long enough. But they seem to be right down there.”

Rin too quickly laid on the ground, looking inside.

Deep inside the humid, pitch black space with a musty smell, you can hear—

Mew~ Mew~

The weak mewing of the kittens.

“—!”

The kittens are in there! Still alive!

Rin is suddenly filled with power.

“I’m going inside!”

Before Kayo-chin could stop her, Rin was already twitching her body, wanting to get deeper—but her shoulders would still get caught, so she couldn’t proceed at all.

“This won’t work, Rin-chan. Not to mention, it’s so dark down there, and there must be a lot of centipedes, lizards, and bugs. I think we need to wait for Grandma to get back—”

Mew~ Mew~

At this moment, the kitten’s mewing suddenly rang in Rin’s mind.

“No way! The kittens might die while we’re waiting!”

The snow that only started falling just now has already covered the tops of the camellias in the yard of Kayo-chin’s in a thin white blanket.

Seeing this scene, Kayo-chin shivered a bit.

“If only the kittens… had a blanket to cover them.”

Hearing Kayo-chin’s mumbling, Rin suddenly had an idea.

“That’s it!”

Rin took off the sweater she was wearing, took the dustpan with a long handle used to clean up the snow in the yard, and rolled up the sweater into a ball, putting it at the front of the dustpan.

And then gently sent the dustpan into the gap under the flooring…

“Nya~ Nya~ I’m sending you kittens a warm blanket~”

“I hope they know that they can use the sweater for warmth…”

I’m not sure when Kayo-chin had crouched beside Rin; she also looked worriedly under the flooring.

“Nya~ Nya~ Don’t be scared, it’s warm; you guys can come into Rin’s brand of kitty blanket, rest assured. Hang in there—we’ll definitely find a way to get you all out, so you have to be good and get warmed up~“

Rin said in a singing tone, pushing the dustpan even further in—

“Mrow~”

An especially loud meow sounded from inside.

“Ah!”

“They responded!”

Rin and Kayo-chin both couldn’t help but to look at each other.

Rin temporarily put down the dustpan so as to not frighten them, and waited quietly with Kayo-chin. And so we waited— about fifteen minutes.

“I wonder if they took the sweater away already.”

Rin gently pulled out the dustpan.

And the blue sweater Rin put on the dustpan was still on it.

“Mew~ Mew~”

“Mrow~”

A very, very tiny meow sounded from inside of the sweater.

“Aaaaahhh! The kittens!”

Rin and Kayo-chin couldn’t help but to scream, and then quickly covered each other’s mouth afterwards.

At the same time, a cat dragged its heavy feet and walked out of the space under the flooring alone— it was the pure white stray cat that often appears around here, Kira-chan (named by Rin).

Kayo-chin softly said in surprise:

“So Kira-chan is their mom…“

Kira-chan looked into Rin’s eyes, and meowed:

“Mrrrooooow—“

Her voice was very clear.

This was the first time in her life that Rin felt like she understood what a cat was saying.

She said to save her children.

Rin thought she must be saying this. So…

“We need to bring them into the house for milk!”

The kittens squished inside the sweater were really light— they looked so tiny and fragile, and with their pure white fur, it felt like they could become transparent at any moment, and then disappear, just like that.

Even though they were so fragile that makes people scared to touch…

Rin and Kayo-chin looked at each other, determined.

Kira-chan willingly entrusted the cute and tiny animals to us, so for her, we have to help these kittens!

After entering the house, we didn’t take the kittens out from the sweater, but instead put them in a warm place right away to avoid scaring them. Taking a closer look now, there were five newborn kittens in total. Three of them kept opening and closing their little pink mouths, while the other two hadn’t even opened their eyes yet.

This is the first time in Rin’s life… that she’s seeing such a small life.

“Whoa…“

Rin was so touched that she couldn’t help but to gently poke out her finger, wanting to caress them.

Suddenly, one of the kittens who still hadn’t opened its eyes yet approached Rin’s finger with its tiny, tiny mouth.

“Ah! I got licked.”

Rin felt a pinch in her heart— and then, Rin decided.

Rin definitely, definitely…… definitely will save these small kittens!

After declaring that to Kayo-chin, Rin raised her fist high up to prove her determination, but then— achoo! Rin suddenly made a huge sneeze, surprising herself.

Kayo-chin said:

“Rin-chan, you took off your sweater, so that’s why you sneezed from the cold. Oh yeah, just so you don’t catch a fever, I’ll go make you a cup of hot milk now.”

Wow~ Hot milk♪

Hearing that Kayo-chin will make Rin a cup of hot milk, she got really happy.

“Kitties, that’s great— Kayo-chin said she’ll make hot milk for us.”

And then she said to the kittens:

“The sweet hot milk. Just from a little sip, it will definitely get your spirits up. Rin really likes it too. So you guys should drink more—“

Rin hadn’t finished.

Meow~

The little guy let out a meow.

It’s the kitty whose forehead Rin gently touched earlier.

“Whoa~ He responded to Rin!”

“That’s right, nya~! You guys should drink more, nya~! Rin will feed you all a looot of milk, nya~~!”

Rin quickly said, and they responded once again:

Meow~ Meow~ Meow~

The kittens let out a sharp meow with their almost nonexistent voice.

Wow~ Amazing! Amazing! Rin is talking with the kittens!

And then Rin snuggled in a blanket and drank the hot milk that Kayo-chin prepared with the kittens afterwards, and tried her best to chat with the kittens.

Every time Rin let out a “meow”, the kittens would respond. Using a straw to send the milk into the tiny, tiny mouths of the tiny kittens, they seem to be slowly recovering their strength too.

“Nya~ Nya~! Drink more, nya! Little kittens should drink more so you’ll have more energy, nya! Later, when you all grow up, you should play~ with~ Rin~♪ Rin is looking forward to that day too, nya!”

Seeing Rin meowing nonstop, Kayo-chin at the side couldn’t help but to giggle.

—achoo!

Rin sneezed again.

Ughh… seems like someone is badmouthing Rin~? As Rin thought about that, the telephone in Kayo-chin’s house rang.

“Ahhh, if it’s Mommy, help me tell Mommy that I’ll be staying at Kayo-chin’s place today~!”

Rin said, and quickly snuck back into the blanket to pet the kittens’ heads.

“Cute kitties, come be the children of Rin’s household when you grow up. And then Rin will be the kitties’ mom, nya~♥♥”

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

After that, even though Rin and Kayo-chin did everything they could to take care of the kittens— we’re not sure if it’s because they were born in the middle of a winter night that was unsuitable for them, or if it was due to low temperatures— in the end, only three out of the five of them survived.

The ones that didn’t make it were the two that licked Rin’s finger with their small mouths— their eyes hadn’t even opened.

Rin and Kayo-chin cried to hell and back, crying and weeping to no end. We dug two graves for the two kittens under the camellia tree later.

We even named them Momo and Nana.

The remaining three finally got through the danger period, and grew up safely.

But Rin discovered a very important reality, nya.

That is… “Achoo! Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!”

Ever since that snowy night in January, Rin had never stopped sneezing.

I thought it was a symptom before a cold.

But it wasn’t like that at all, nya.

Rin went to a nearby doctor to run an allergy test, and the result that came out that time…

Rin could never forget it, even now.

“No doubt, she’s allergic to cats.”

Dun dun DUUUUNN————————————!

That day was the first time that Rin experienced what it feels like to “black out”.

Since Kayo-chin’s grandma has been keeping java sparrows, they couldn’t take in cats in the first place, so we were almost certain that we’d bring them back to raise them in Rin’s house—but then this kind of thing happened… Sigh, what to do?

But as expected…

“It can’t be helped if you’re allergic, Rin-chan.”

Kayo-chin felt really bad when she said that, and it was only then that Rin finally came to accept this reality.

Because that time, Rin had been hanging out with the kittens for a while (every day of winter break of course, and Rin went to Kayo-chin’s place straight after school every day for two weeks straight after the school reopened), causing her eyes to redden and swell, and keep sneezing and having a runny nose as well.

“Yeah, Mommy told me it’s about time I give up, too……”

Actually, Rin has been telling Mommy that it wouldn’t be a problem, but in the end she had to stop resisting… That day, Kayo-chin said to the very disappointed Rin with a smile:

“Then, let’s go look for a new owner for the kitties? If someone nearby is willing to keep them, we can go and visit them again.”

She’s right— Kayo-chin is so smart!

Rin has only been thinking about what to do in her mind, so she didn’t think of this at all; she couldn’t help but hug Kayo-chin happily!

Kitties, Kayo-chin and Rin will take up the responsibilities of a mom and dad, and find a suitable new home for you!

Even if we don’t live in the same house, we have to be together forever and ever.

After all, you all are the kittens Rin and Kayo-chin saved on a snowy night.

Rin will always, always look over you guys— and visit you guys sometimes, nya.

And then, when Rin grows up and can live on her own, Rin will cure her allergy and live with the kitties, nya—!

Heh heh heh♪

In the end, the three kittens that we looked for a new owner for…

Even though we really wanted someone who lived nearby to take them in, the dream didn’t come through. In the end, Kayo-chin’s relative who lives in the outskirts took them.

I wonder— are they doing well now?

In cat’s age, they should now be adults; could they be moms now?

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Today was just like another day.

While Rin was so focused on chasing down the cat— the sun had already set silently.

The surroundings were already dark.

Looking up, you can see that in the still faint, deep blue sky at the beginning of autumn— there was a bright and thin new moon.

Just like a cat’s deep and mysterious pupil…

“Mrow~ Rin hopes one day she can become a cat, nya!”

Rin couldn’t help but yell loudly, and then she heard a meow responding to Rin from a distance.

“Ah, it’s a kitty, nya!”

Rin declared, and got down on the ground to find cats again…

The five kittens Rin saved that day taught her about the fragility of small life, and gave Rin a meowing verbal tic.

Comments ♥ 

Rin-chan, you can’t cure an allergy like you cure a fever… But, Hanayo couldn’t bring herself to say it at that time. It’s probably because Rin-chan is that kind of energetic person, who doesn’t put it on her mind when she sneezes or catches a cold, so she could still keep her optimism even when she heard she has an allergy. If that’s the case— let’s not pay it any heed!

Hanayo too believes Rin can become her favourite kitty in the future! Even if you can’t become a kitty, you can still cure your allergy! Good luck, Rin-chan~♥♥♥