FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

After my lunch with Kyouji-san and Soutarou-kun, I went on an aimless walk to pass the time. Following the thin sidepath from Minasato's main road, I ended up arriving at a large Western-looking house that contrasted the traditional houses scattered around the village. Said house was quite large, and it even had a front lawn. There was no mistaking my memory; this was Shin-kun's house. Ringing the doorbell, someone opened the door and it turned out to be the cat himself.

"Good afternoon, Shin-kun," I said.

"Good afternoon," he said. "So, what brings you here all of a sudden?"

"Well... all my daily things are done and I thought that maybe I should pay a visit."

The cat looked like he was embarrassed. "You're really abrupt, you know that?"

"Ehehe, sorry."

"But since you're already here, would you like to come up?"

"Y-Yeah," I said, being escorted by the cat. "Pardon the intrusion."

Once inside, Shin-kun had me sit on the living room sofa while he went to the kitchen to get something. As expected of the cat's sensibilities, nothing inside the house was low-class. Floors were sparkling, carpet was soft to the touch, sofa was cushy, and even the living room table was shining. Everything looked so simple, yet elegant. The potted plants in the corners of the room added more the the cozy atmosphere it had. The best of it all was the cool air-conditioning of the place. After spending a day under the sun, I finally had a moment of cool relief! But while I got comfortable in the place, Shin-kun was already back with a tray.

"Well, you're certainly making yourself comfortable," he said. "And I'm sure your belly button would agree."

Realizing that I had been lying slovenly on the couch, I sat straight up again and pulled my shirt down. Maybe I got a bit too comfortable back there. That wasn't exactly the best impression I could give to a friend I haven't seen in a while.

"Yes- I'm sorry!" I said, still fixing myself.

"Is it that hot outside?" he asked, placing a glass of iced tea on the table.

"Yeah. I heard from the news that it was thirty degrees today."

"It always gets hot here every summer."

Setting a plate of cookies in the middle of the table, Shin-kun urged me to have some. About to grab a handful, I stopped myself upon remembering what happened just a moment ago. The cat's blank staring certainly added more to the guilt I felt. I resigned to taking just one for now and took a bite out of the cookie, downing it along with the iced tea.

"Hey. This cookie is awesome," I said without another thought. "Er..."

The cat smiled. "Really? Then, that's good."

"Uh, can I have another?"

"Go ahead. Just don't eat it all before I can even take one."

Hearing those words, I couldn't tell whether Shin-kun was joking or being serious. But what occupied my mind more was the cookies on the table. Taking another one, I took a bite and a sweet taste spread into my mouth followed by the aroma of cinnamon. Finishing that one, I went for another, wanting more. The cookies were that good. They weren't too heavy so I feel like I could finish the whole plate, which I had to restrain myself from doing. Come to think of it, where did he get them from, anyway? Did his butler make them like always?

"Did you order these?" I asked, pointing to the plate.

"Well..." he said, taking a cookie. "What do you think?"

"Wait! Did you make these?"

Shin-kun nodded.

"Really?"

"I baked them just this morning. It's Amaki's recipe."

"Amaki? You mean, your butler?"

"Do you remember him?"

"A little. Though I do remember coming here a lot for sweets back when we were kids."

The cat took a sip of the iced tea. "You weren't the only one. Kounosuke also did it."

"Oh I remember that! ? He always asked, 'When can I come over again?' 'Will there be sweets?' right?"

"Yeah."

Back then, Shin-kun was still the new kid and found it hard to fit in with the rest of us. He was a half-foreigner, so we didn't exactly know how to approach him. Then one day, Kounosuke decided to approach him and asked where he lived. When me, Tora, and Kounosuke first came to his house, the tanuki decided on having a "Mansion Exploration Tour", all three of us making a mess of whatever room we were in and causing much worry to the young cat.

And then I picked up an ornamental black cat from the end of the shelves there. When I asked Shin-kun what it was, he went into a panic and told me to not touch it. Curious, Tora came over and decided to take the ornament, the black cat jumping and begging the tiger to give it back. It was quite funny to see those reactions from someone who was usually stoic back then, but the mood turned for the worst when Tora threw the ornament to Kounosuke, it bouncing off of the tanuki's head and out the second story window.

Seeing Shin-kun's shoulders quake as he cried, we tried to calm him down but our words didn't reach him. Amaki-san brought us to the living room after that and offered us sweets. Shin-kun had stopped crying by then, but he said nothing as a cold silence filled the air. We partook of the sweets and, while it was good, everything still felt awkward between us four. Before we left, we tried to apologize to Shin-kun, but all that we could get from him was "I don't care anymore."

It took a long while after that incident, but once the invisible wall between us and Shin-kun slowly thinned, we managed to become friends again. We still didn't understand much about him, but at least we got along after all that.

"Do you remember that one time we went to the river?"

He frowned. "You mean the time Shun-kun got pulled by the stream?"

"Y-Yeah. That."

"I developed a fear of water because of that, you know?"

"Sorry..."

As we were reaching a good point in our conversation, we heard the clock ring, the time being five in the afternoon. We were all out of snacks and tea, and failed to notice that the sun was already setting. Stopping our conversation there, Shin-kun escorted me to the door.

"See you later, Shin kun," I said.

"Later."

"Can I come over again?"

"Of course... not."

"Huh? Why?"

The cat grinned. "I'm just kidding. I can't do any grand entertainments, but come over whenever you're free."

I chuckled. "Ah, alright."

"Well then, take care on your way back."

"See you later!"

Done for the day, I headed back to the main road on my way home. Shin-kun hadn't changed much in the five years I haven't seen him, it seems. Though he was more approachable now compared to our elementary school days. If only he could go easy on the snarkiness, it would be better. Ah, but what's Shin-kun without the snark?