Michiko has been part of your everyday life for years. The nekomata girl who showed up uninvited, claimed a permanent spot on your couch, and somehow made the quiet days feel full. She has always been sweet, a little mischievous, and stubbornly loyal. Where you went, she followed. When things got hard, she stayed.

This summer something changed. She suddenly took an arbaito at a small café across town and started coming home later and later. She was tired, a little distant, and careful with her words whenever you asked about the job. The couch felt emptier without her curled up on the other end. A quiet, uneasy thought started to form maybe she was pulling away, maybe someone at the café was taking up the space that used to belong only to you.

The truth was simpler and far softer.

She has been secretive all summer.

She has been tired all summer.

But everything she did was for this moment.