My Cat Girl Neighbor Is Impossible to Understand

Chapter 18: Chapter 18 - Matching Keychains

Saturday was sunny with beautiful blue skies and a breeze of spring.

For once, neither Sui nor Yuiko had any homework.

Shortly after breakfast, Sui heard a familiar knocking on his door.

Knock. Knock.

When he opened the door, Haru was standing there with his cheerful smile.

Beside him, Aki was bouncy on her toes, ready to jump with joy.

"Hey, Sui!"

"Hi."

Aki held both her hands up.

"Big Brother Sui!"

Sui smiled.

"Hi, Aki."

She leaned closer and whispered loudly.

"Is Big Sis Yuiko awake?"

As if by chance, another neighboring door opened.

Yuiko stepped out in her light cream sweater and a blue denim skirt. Her long black hair danced in the wind, and her golden eyes widened a little seeing Haru and Aki.

"... Good morning."

Aki rushed towards her.

"Big Sis Yuiko!"

Before Yuiko could say anything, Aki hugged her.

Yuiko stiffened.

"... G-Good morning, Aki."

"I missed you!"

"... We saw each other yesterday."

"I know."

"I still missed you."

Yuiko helplessly smiled and patted Aki’s head.

Sui watched quietly.

"... She really likes you."

Yuiko looked embarrassed.

"... She’s easy to spoil."

"I heard that!"

Aki made an exaggerated face before bursting into laughter.

Haru lazily stretched.

"So!"

"I have an important mission today."

Sui looked doubtful.

"... Should I be worried?"

"Probably."

Yuiko looked between the siblings.

"... Where are we going?"

Haru grinned.

"There is a new bookstore which opened near the station."

"They are holding a grand opening sale."

Aki nodded excitedly.

"And they have many cute stationeries!"

Yuiko twitched her ears.

"... Stationeries?"

"Do you like notebooks?" Sui asked.

She nodded.

"... Very much."

"I noticed."

"You categorize your notebooks by colors."

She looked surprised.

"... You noticed?"

"You always carry corresponding pens."

Her cheeks became flushed.

"... You notice everything."

Sui shrugged.

"I guess."

Haru clapped his hands.

"Then it’s decided!"

"Everyone is joining!"

The bookstore turned out to be bigger than they expected.

Shelves made of wood stretched from one side to another.

The aroma of freshly printed books permeated the air.

Soft piano melody sounded quietly.

Yuiko halted near the entrance.

"... It’s amazing."

Her eyes sparkled.

Sui smiled.

"You really love bookstores."

"They’re quiet."

"And they smell great."

Haru sniffed dramatically.

"I smell paper."

"That’s the purpose."

"I was expecting coffee."

Aki giggled.

"You always think about food."

"I have priorities."

They naturally split.

Haru went towards manga section.

Aki vanished in the section with stationaries.

Sui went to novels.

Yuiko silently followed.

She silently touched the rows of books.

Fantasy.

Mystery.

Romance.

Travel.

She carefully took a novel off the shelf and read its cover.

Sui looked aside.

"Interesting?"

"... Maybe."

"You judge the books by their summaries?"

"I judge them by the first page."

"That’s fair."

She smiled.

"... And what about you?"

"By the title."

"By the title?"

"If it attracts me, then I read the summary."

Yuiko softly laughed.

"... We are completely different."

"Seems like it."

However, despite that...

She noted how they somehow chose books from the same shelf.

On the other hand...

Aki explored the stationery section with her big and curious eyes.

Colored pens.

Cute notebooks.

Animal-shaped erasers.

Bookmarks.

Decorative tapes.

All attracted her attention.

Suddenly...

She spotted a small stand near the cashier desk.

"Limited Pair Collection."

Tiny keychains made of acrylic hung from wooden stand.

Each was a pair.

Moon and star.

Sun and sunflower.

Rabbit and carrot.

Then...

Her eyes fell on one particular pair.

Fluffy white cloud.

And...

A tiny gray cat sitting on it.

Aki’s eyes widened.

"...!"

She immediately took them.

"They’re lovely..."

She looked at the novel section.

Sui quietly reading a book.

Nearby, Yuiko comparing two notebooks.

The little cat keychain...

The fluffy cloud...

A slow grin appeared on Aki’s lips.

"... Hehehe."

"I have an idea."

Haru approached her, holding three volumes of manga.

"... Why are you smiling like this?"

Aki showed the keychains.

"What do you think?"

Haru looked closely.

"... Cute."

"Right?"

"Yeah."

"They’re matching."

"They’re matching."

Aki nodded proudly.

"And I know who should have them."

Haru looked where her eyes were directed.

His eyes met Sui and Yuiko.

A huge grin appeared on his face.

"... You’re dangerous."

"I learned from the best."

"I’ve never been prouder."

The siblings quietly laughed.

Aki quietly hid the keychains behind her back.

"I’m buying them."

"For them."

"They’ll deny it."

"I know."

"They’ll blush."

"I know."

"They’ll say it’s unnecessary."

"I know."

"... And?"

Aki grinned confidently.

"They’ll keep them anyway."

Haru burst out laughing.

"I can’t wait to see their faces."

A few aisles away...

Entirely ignorant of conspiracy happening behind their backs...

Sui recommended Yuiko a mystery novel.

She recommended her book about gardening.

Neither noticed how Aki happily went to the cashier counter with two matching keychains.

Their quite afternoon in the bookstore was going to be remembered forever.

Aki came back from the checkout counter with her hands behind her back.

Sui grew suspicious when he saw the smile on her face.

"Why are you smiling like this?"

"I always smile."

"No."

"It is different this time."

Haru tried to conceal his laughter by covering his mouth.

"She is planning something."

"I heard that."

"You want me to."

"Yes."

Yuiko looked at all of them puzzled.

"What’s going on?"

Aki took a theatrical step forward.

"I have gifts for you two!"

"Presents?"

"Indeed!"

"For both of you!"

Sui blinked in surprise.

"For us?"

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to!"

Without waiting for any further questions, Aki put two small gift bags before them.

One was sky-blue color.

Another one was cream.

"Open them!"

Sui and Yuiko looked at each other and then accepted them.

"Thank you."

Yuiko carefully untied the ribbon.

Sui opened his faster.

Inside each bag were small acrylic keychains.

Sui showed his keychain to Yuiko.

Fluffy white cloud smiled brightly.

Yuiko slowly took her keychain out.

Small gray cat was resting on a cloud.

Two charms looked like parts of one thing.

"..."

"..."

Silentness fell into the aisle of the bookstore.

Aki folded her hands.

"They are adorable."

Golden eyes of Yuiko widened.

"...They’re...?"

"Cute."

"Yeah."

Yuiko nodded.

"I like mine."

Aki beamed.

"I knew it!"

And finally she said what she wanted to say all the time.

"They are matching."

Yuiko suddenly stopped.

"...Matching?"

"Yes."

"The cloud goes with the cat."

"..."

Yuiko slowly glanced at the keychain of Sui.

Then at hers.

And at Sui’s again.

Her ears started turning pink.

"...Aki..."

"Yes?"

"...Why?"

Aki smiled sweetly.

"Because you two always go together."

"And eat lunch together."

"And study together."

"And shop together."

So I thought..."

She pointed at the keychains.

"...These match you."

Yuiko shook her hands hurriedly.

"No!"

"...People can get a wrong idea!"

"Wrong idea about what?"

"...About... that..."

She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Haru grinned.

"That you two are close?"

"..."

Yuiko became even redder.

Sui scratched his cheek nervously.

"They are just keychains."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Aki joyfully.

"So there is no reason not to wear them."

"..."

"..."

Neither of them found an argument.

Aki managed to trap them.

Haru laughed.

"You’ve lost."

"I know." confessed Sui.

Yuiko sighed.

"...She is stronger than both of us."

"I’ve been telling you for years."

Aki put her hands on her hips proudly.

"So?"

"You’ll wear them?"

Sui looked at the little cloud.

It was cute and simple.

For some reason...

It reminded him of peaceful spring days.

"...Sure."

"I’ll wear it."

Aki immediately turned to Yuiko.

"And you?"

Yuiko looked at the tiny cat.

Its sleepy face somehow reminded her of her own.

"..."

"...Okay."

"I’ll wear mine too."

Aki jumped with joy.

"Victory!"

On Monday morning...

Sui clipped the cloud keychain on the zipper of his school bag.

"...Looks nice."

Smiled his mother.

"It suits you."

"It does?"

"It is simple."

"Like you."

He chuckled.

"I take it as a compliment."

In a house next door...

Yuiko looked at her school bag.

The tiny cat keychain rested in her palm.

"..."

"...It is just a keychain."

She carefully clipped it to her bag.

Tiny cat was swinging from side to side.

"...Cute."

Without noticing it...

She smiled.

As usual...

Sui and Yuiko were meeting outside of their neighboring houses.

"...Morning."

"Morning."

Neither noticed the keychain of the other right away.

Instead...

They started walking to school.

Half way there...

Yuiko’s bag shifted a bit.

The little cat charm caught the morning sunlight.

Sui looked down.

"...You wore it."

Yuiko looked at the bag of Sui.

The cloud keychain bounced with every step.

"...And you did it too."

"...Yeah."

A brief silence followed.

And then...

Almost simultaneously...

Both smiled.

"...It looks nice."

They said this together.

And then immediately looked away.

"..."

"..."

"...Sorry."

They laughed softly.

At school...

Keychains attracted attention right away.

Haru leaned over Sui’s desk.

"There it is."

"The cloud survived."

"It did."

He looked at Yuiko.

"The cat survived too."

Yuiko pulled her bag closer.

"...Don’t look at it."

"I certainly will."

Aki, who came by their classroom on the way to junior high school, gave them both a thumbs-up.

"My masterpiece."

Yuiko sighed.

"...You are impossible."

"I know."

All the day long...

Strange things kept happening.

During mathematics lesson...

Yuiko was looking at Sui for clarification of a problem.

Instead...

She found herself staring at the tiny cloud keychain hanging from his desk.

For some reason...

She smiled.

A few minutes later...

Sui looked up from his notebook.

The little gray cat charm was swinging against the school bag of Yuiko.

Without thinking...

He watched it for a moment.

She really wore it.

He couldn’t explain why this thought made him happy.

It simply did.

At lunch time...

Haru watched them carefully.

They did not mention the keychains.

They did not touch them.

They did not behave differently.

However...

From time to time...

Yuiko glanced at the little cloud.

From time to time...

Sui saw the tiny cat.

They did not notice that the other did exactly the same thing.

After school...

Four of them were walking home together until Aki and Haru went on the road to the junior high school.

Before separating...

Aki turned back with a bright smile.

"Take care of them!"

"We will." replied Sui.

Yuiko nodded.

"...Thank you."

Aki smiled knowingly.

"I was not talking about the keychains."

"..."

Yuiko’s face became immediately red.

"A-Aki!"

Young girl laughed and ran after her brother.

"See you tomorrow!"

The street became silent again.

Yuiko looked down at the little cat hanging from her bag.

"...She is making fun of us again."

Sui nodded.

"Probably."

"...They are just ordinary keychains."

"They are."

"...Right?"

"Right."

Both of them answered without a second thought.

But...

Walking side by side...

The tiny cat and little cloud were constantly touching their school bags with every step.

Neither of them was expensive.

Neither was rare.

Anybody else would call them just two cute matching charms.

But for Sui and Yuiko...

They became already something precious.

Not because they matched.

But because every time they caught a glimpse of them...

They thought of the other person wearing the other half of the keychain.