Cats and the Camellia Train - Prologue

[bakemonoremy]

Location: Garden Space (Winter)

Souma: (Today is the day of the Marine Biology Club’s club activities, so I went to his classroom to pick Buchou-dono up…)

(But no matter how much I spoke to him, he wouldn’t move from the “stoobu” (stove), so I had no choice but to disperse.)

(Well, it is rather chilly today. Since it is Buchou-dono who’s weak to the cold we’re talking about, of course he doesn’t want to move away from the warm spot.)

(And just like that, my schedule opened up. I heard there’s no activities for Akatsuki today, so what should I do…)

....Mu?

(There’s something in the thicket. I’ve heard before that there’s a field around here. Maybe someone is doing field work?)

….Mumu?

Oh, so it’s a cat. Maybe you’re a stray cat that’s gotten lost?

(Fufu. It won’t reply anything but “Me~ow”. Well, that’s a given since it’s a cat.)

(Speaking of which, there’s been a lot of dogs and cats sighted on campus lately…)

(I remember hearing from Hasumi-dono that if it goes on like this, they won’t have a choice but to call in the health department for extermination.)

(If I leave this cat as is, someone might find it and call the health department…)

(I’ve heard from Hasumi-dono that if the health department gets involved, there’s a chance it will be euthanized.)

(That would be just too pitiful, so I have to protect this cat…!)

(...Oh? Now that I look closely, it’s wearing a collar. That means it’s not a stray, but a pet cat.)

(It’d help if there was an address, or some hint to find its owner written on it.)

Mu, it seems there’s something in English written on the collar. Is this “roomaji”*?  

This is… I suppose it’s read as “Hana”?

(Hrm~m. It’s probably his name. But who would name a tomcat “Hana”? What a strange owner.)

(Oh, well. There’s nothing else written on the collar, but at least I can be sure it’s a pet cat.)

(If I use all possible methods to search for him, I might be able to find his owner.)

(That said, I don’t want to be inefficient. Maybe I should stick a notice about the cat on the bulletin board...)

(No, maybe there student council already received a missing pet notice from the owner.)

(In that regard, I should ask Hasumi-dono about it without delay.)

(Here I go, towards the student council room…!)

Location: Student Council Room

Keito: Haa….

Kuro: Haha, you must be tired, Danna. Your neck’s makin’ this crackin’ sound.

Keito: Hmpf, it’s the usual… By which I mean I’m at the point of total exhaustion.

Kuro: ‘S what I thought. Are you sleepin’ properly? Your eyebags are insane, if you keep overdoing it like that your work efficiency will just go south.

Takin’ an appropriate amount of breaks is necessary, y’know?

Keito: You’re going to preach to me? I’m usually the one doing that, so being on the other side for once is rather fresh.

Kuro: It’s ‘cause there’s no one else who can preach to you that I’m doing it.

I mean hell, it’s you we’re talkin’ about so you’re probably doing the student council president’s work again, right? I do know his health is always on the brink of collapse around this season.

And that’s why you’re overdoing it to the point of your utter collapse.

You should leave whatever you can in the hands of your underclassmen. Keeping those guys under close scrutiny is just right for the boss.

Keito: The boss of the student council isn’t me, it’s Eichi.

Well, there’s some truth to what you’re saying, Kiryuu.

However, the “StarFes” we’ll be holding soon qualifies as an “S1”, and after that is going to be the “SS”, and while that’s subcontracted, I can’t leave all the work to them.

Besides, it’s somehow faster for me to do everything myself. It’s okay, I can still go on.

Kuro: Your words imply that you’re not okay at all.

Actually, are we going to be participatin’ in that “StarFes”, too?

Keito: Yes. Well, due to these circumstances we can’t go all out. I’m sorry for having you hold back.

Kuro: Don’t apologize. Just like Hasumi, I’m just as… Nah, saying that would go too far. But I’ve also got my hands full with jobs related to “StarFes”.

Keito: Aah… In “StarFes”, most of the students of Yumenosaki will be participating, so it’s turning into an event of unprecedented scale.

There’s a need for a huge amount of outfits, so it’s no wonder that Kiryuu of all people would be busy.

Is it really okay for you to come to the student council room when you’ve got your hands full like this? Or rather, didn’t you come here on some business?

Kuro: Yeah. Actually, a classmate of mine got chased around by a stray dog and got himself all injured.

We chased the dog off for now, but I thought I’d better report it anyway.

Keito: Hrm~m… No one’s gotten injured up to this point, so I’ve been procrastinating on the matter of the stray dogs, but I guess I should contact the health department and have them deal with it.

Souma: …………!?

(T-This is bad! If I bring out “Hana” in a situation like this, they’ll surely confiscate him!)

(Luckily, Hasumi-dono and Kiryuu-dono haven’t yet noticed me. I’ll take my leave swiftly!)

Keito: Hm...? Is someone there?

Souma: (D-Darn it! Hasumi-dono noticed me!?)

(This is a serious affair for “Hana”! Now that it’s come to this, I’ve got no choice but to prepare myself for the worst...!)

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*Romaji is the latin alphabet.