With my parents agreeing to let me take a gap year, I finally have some time to take it easy. Having spent a majority of high school life just studying, I feel reinvigorated at the prospect of free time.

Well, I'm gonna take it easy for a month or so before—

DING!

Hearing the doorbell, I open my door to see Minami. She was wearing a purple summer dress.

"Dropping by again?"

Looking away, "Actually...I was hoping if I could stay the week here?"

I let out a giggle at her bashful tone.

"Why though? You bored?"

"No! I was just— I missed you..."

This girl, she really is adorable.

Moving out of the way, I let her into my room. She looked around, then she froze. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Wow, your room's clean."

Rubbing my nose, I give a smug grin.

"Yep, felt bad having to clean up with you all the time."

Stomping the ground, she pouted.

"How am I supposed to show off my feminine charms now?!"

Wrapping my arms around and spinning her around, we both land on the bed, facing each other.

Nuzzling my nose with hers, I tell her she's cute.

"And don't worry about your charms, your snoring has shown me more than enough."

Her blushing face from calling her cute turned sour. It was scary how fast she switched.

But with a quick kiss on the forehead, she changed her tune. Again, very scary how fast she switched.

Getting up and dusting her dress off, she spun around her heel.

It was almost princess-like, the way her dress's skirt circled around perfectly.

"Wanna go on a date?"

"Am I paying?"

"Of course!" she replied, playfully sticking out her tongue.

I didn't mind, of course. We've only been on one date prior and that was...something else.

Minami said for our first ACTUAL date, she didn't wanna do something clichè like a movie or a dinner. Instead, she wanted to relive some memories.

And so, after putting on a cleaner t-shirt and some pants, we left the apartment and headed for a park. With my apartment building being in a city, we weren't lacking them. A lot of parks were less than 5 minutes away too.

As we left the building, the first thing I realized was the number of eyes on us. More specifically, on Minami. Maybe it was cause of her cheery tone, or cause of her countryside fashion sense, but people stared.

It sorta made me jealous. She seemed rather oblivious to it though. Or maybe she was aware and just wanted to make me feel jealous. Both options seemed likely.

Trying my best to ignore them, we made our way to a nearby park where she keeled down onto the grass. Rolling around for a bit, she looked like a child.

Then she suddenly stopped.

Raising her head, "This is fake grass, isn't it?"

"You would be correct, yes."

Standing up, she slumped her shoulders as she scratched the back of her hair.

"Then why's it called a park?! Where's the dirt?!"

For someone saying something about her "feminine charms," this wasn't very feminine of her. Then again, calling Minami "conventional" was a stretch in itself.

"People just prefer it to be cleaner like this. Chill out, haha."

The way she reacted was like taking away the favorite toy of a child. Can't say I was surprised. Minami was the outdoorsy type when I first met her. Though she always specified it was cause she "wanted to get in touch with nature."

"You wanna be the princess Aurora or something?"

"How'd you know who my favorite princess is?"

"Ah," I was frankly dumbstruck. "Well, if you wanna get in touch with nature, Miss Aurora, I know just the place."

"You do?"

"Yeah, our hometown."

"Awww, come onnn! I already spent so much time commuting here."

Putting a finger up to my chin, I begin to think of places that could be considered nature-y in the middle of a city.

Then it hit me.

=-=-=-=-=

Sitting in the middle of a horde of cats, lied a girl whose face was anything but sad. She had a goofy grin on her while the cats circled her.

Thinking of nature, the second thing that came to mind was animals; so we made our way to a cat café. The moment we stepped in, Minami was already entranced by the sight.

Cats sleeping, playing on sets, and being pet.

I've never been much of an animal person but I could see the appeal.

I was in the other room where the food was served. There were fewer cats here. Supposedly, these cats were trained not to be tempted by the food. Hard to believe considering the things I've read about cats.

The food was meh, though. I've cooked better stuff than this. Pretty sure the main point of this place is the atmosphere though. Just looking at the other room, it looked like Minami was halfway through heaven.

One of the workers then approached me, "Seems like your girlfriend's enjoying herself."

"She's not really hiding it."

She giggled, "That's true. I'm here to ask if you two would be interested in adopting a cat?"

"I'll have to ask her about it. Why the sudden offer?"

"Well, it's a bit weird, actually. See that cat?" she pointed to a white cat with black spots. "She's a shy one. Your girlfriend's the first person she's approached."

"Really now...?" Maybe she really was Princess Aurora. "We'll talk about it. I'd also have to buy some stuff for a cat."

"Thank you so much for considering it!"

A few minutes go by and she leaves the room, a white cat with black spots in her arms.

"She uh, doesn't wanna leave me alone."

"Wanna adopt her?"

"What? No— I mean, maybe...?"

Holding her up, the cat meowed and Minami couldn't contain herself. She began relentlessly nuzzling the cat's face. Her on the fence reply immediately evaporated.

"Yes, yes, I want her! Please!"

Leaving the place, I first had to pry the cat away from Minami. We then began shopping for a cat's needs. I talked to the worker from earlier and she gave us a list.

A collar, a food and water bowl, a litter box, cat food, some toys, and a brush. Apparently, if we had these, we'd for sure adopt the cat.

And so began Minami's loving adventure and my sad descent into spending money. It wasn't too expensive, but as a person who still relies on his parents for income, I felt a bit ashamed spending it on things that aren't living expenses.

=-=-=-=-=

"Welcome to your new home, uh...Minori!"

Cautiously leaving her cage, the cat looked around before swiftly jumping onto my bed. Circling it for a moment, she started sleeping.

"Guess the little guy's tired."

"Well, she HAS been moved around a lot," Minami replied while stretching her arms out.

Adopting her took much less time than I expected. Only two days before they approved of our form. I wonder if the worker had anything to do with that?

Whatever the case, all the effort was worth it.

Looking at Minami resting her head close to Minori's, I imagined a scene of her looking at her firstborn child the same way. That scene's a good few years off and I'm not even sure it'll be my kid, but hey, let a man dream.

"Why Minori, by the way?" I ask as I sit beside her.

"It's the name I always wanted to name my daughter if I ever had one."

"You name cats like that?"

"Nahhh, just this one. She's part of our family now, you know? She's my—OUR—baby. Our Minori..." she said as she began to drift off.

She was sitting on the ground, her arms and head resting on the bed, only a few inches away from Minori.

"Hm, guess that wasn't a few years off at all."

With a kiss on the forehead to the both of them, the two girls happily slept through the night.

I guess learning how to take care of a cat is like practice for taking care of a baby, was my thought throughout the night.