The nameless cat and the four-eyed man

There once was a nameless cat. 

Tokurō, who saw the cat wandering up and down his street, thought it was a female because of the way she looked in his eyes, with depth and curiosity. He noticed the cat after they crossed paths a few times, as somehow she ended up in the weirdest places.

One time, he saw her in a hospital hallway, eyes wide open, staring at the white ceiling. The assistants kicked her out immediately, just a few minutes after she had slid through the auto doors.

The second time, he saw her on the roof of a church.

And the third time, she was sitting still in front of a man who had had dinner alone. The weirdness came from the fact that the man in question had two pairs of glasses on. Not one pair on its head and one on his eyes, but two pairs of glasses on his eyes. His nose was elongated, and after Tokurō came cautiously closer to the restaurant’s window, he saw the thing he couldn’t unsee. Nor forget that cat. He saw the man having two sets of eyes. He thought he was hallucinating, so he turned around fast and started walking a bit faster in the opposite direction, rubbing his eyes, rubbing his head, and shaking it in denial at the same time. Whoever passed near him probably thought he was mental. He sat on a moist wooden bench. The rain stopped two hours ago, but the humidity was high. Tokurō looked at his palms, and he noticed they were full of sweat. For the most peculiar reason of all, he licked the upper part of his palm, noticing it had the sweetest and most delicious taste of all. Now he was beyond intrigued. Why did he lick his palm? He has never done or seen such weird things in his life.

He went back for answers, while feeling the sweat going down his spine, rolling down his back in beads of sweat, until reaching the cotton fabric of his underwear.

The restaurant was extremely ordinary. Filthy ordinary, he dared to think. How could I have seen this here, in a mediocre restaurant free for anyone who has a couple of yen in their pockets?

Black stains at the edges of those dirty windows disturbed Tokurō’s vision. The long curtains were a light, faint blue, just like his face might look right now, he thought.

Tokurō stepped in cautiously, like he’d be casually walking by, from the direction opposite to where the man was sitting, so that he could catch his face again.

What he did notice first, though, was that the cat was sitting on the seat in front of him and had a plate of mochi on the table. Then there it was again, the man with two sets of eyes. No, he denied again and continued to walk. He decided he’d wait somewhere close by, so that when he went out, he would see where he was going and follow him. He felt strangely good, being enthralled in this riveting story. Just like taking a strong multivitamin pill, his focus was on point, the sweat had stopped, and a rush of happiness invaded his senses. He couldn’t understand what was happening for the life of him. He started thinking about the right time to take a medical exam. How much time had passed since he visited a doctor? How could he still see that, if it wasn’t real? He started analyzing the people who passed by, in an attempt to figure out if he noticed anything else. If he saw anything else, that meant he was clearly insane, and if he didn’t, that meant he had to follow that man or alert someone important about his existence. A man with two sets of eyes can’t exist in this universe, in this reality that he knows so well. There’s a sun and a moon in the sky, one comes at night, one comes at day. There’s pavement on the ground, wind, and humidity in the air. There are people, animals, plants, insects, and God knows what, but all these are known species that live on Earth. People with two sets of eyes don’t. And it can’t bring anything good.

At the beginning, his mind was cluttered, and he couldn’t focus on one person at a time, because people moved so fast and the traffic in that area was insane. After more than 20 minutes, he started noticing people, what they were wearing, picked up on their energy, and imagined what drove each and every one of them to be feeling the way they felt. He started to make assumptions and instantly had a hunch about what happened that morning, with each.

The fridge started to catch a smell, he didn’t know what to do, he didn’t have time to sit and clean it today, and not next week either. When will he have time? ..Preoccupied.

Why are birds shitting only on my car? That is not normal. I washed my car just the other day. I have to bring out some water and a cloth…Frustration.

I think he misinterpreted what I said. I sent the hahaha emoji, not the mild laugh emoji. Like the crazy one. He might think I don’t care that much…Blank face

And all these thoughts came flooding into his mind, beyond his comprehension. Tokurō was not a creative man; he definitely lacked imagination. He dealt with numbers and administrative work for a small printing company.

He was almost sure that all these assumptions were accurate. And besides the enormous pressure that he put on himself to figure out the people passing by, he felt at ease, being the observer.

He didn’t notice anyone with two sets of eyes or anything peculiar. Nothing at all. He decided to go back and take a peek inside the restaurant, because with all the looking around, the man might have gotten out and gone about his way.

And he was right. The man wasn’t there anymore. But the cat was. She was sitting out front, watching in the opposite direction from him. He turned in that direction as well and focused on seeing if anyone was dressed like the two-eyed man. He had a dirty brown hat and some kind of khaki blouse.

He couldn’t spot anything, just salarymen trudging back from their lunch breaks, tourists hopping in excitement, taking photos, and whatnot.

The cat stood still and kept on watching. He stood down to get to the cat’s level and touched her soft fur. She was white with brownish spots. 

– What were you doing with that man inside, huh? You can tell me. Who was that man?

The nameless cat kept looking into the distance and didn’t even care to notice that Tokurō was petting her. It was like he wasn’t there with her.

That’s such a strange behavior, he thought. He knew cats were curious, but they were curious about everything, and anything can distract them – usually. Not this one.

The cat started to walk in that direction, and Tokurō noodled around with the idea, but didn’t hesitate much to follow her.

They passed the wave of people, stores, and a beautiful cherry blossom park. He saw people lying on the grass, on picnic blankets, eating onigiri and drinking refreshing, colorful drinks.

He craved a mint lemonade so badly.

The cat did not stop one bit, nor did she look in any other direction than in front.

Tokurō was mesmerized.

They arrived in a not-so-populated neighbourhood, after about an hour’s walk, and the cat climbed the stairwell of an apartment building until reaching a red door. Did she belong to someone?

What if this is the apartment of the two-eyed man? Tokurō thought.

The cat just stood there, in front of the door, not looking at him, just staring at it.

Then he stood up too. Waiting for the cat’s next move. 

But the cat lay down, with her back to the door, looking sleepy. She kept pretending that he wasn’t there, though. Not even one look upwards.

Well, this is it, thought Tokurō. I can’t knock on someone’s door just like that. After all, this is just a cat, nothing strange about it except its behaviour.

In an attempt to normalize this incredibly weird day, he sat down on the third step, near the door. He craved a mint lemonade more than anything.

An old lady passed him, holding a brown paper grocery bag.

-Excuse me, she said. You must be Tokurō. I’ve been expecting you.

-Excuse you? he said. I don’t know you. How could you have been expecting me?

-The nameless cat led you here.

-How do you know about… the nameless cat?

-The nameless cat and the two-eyed man.

-What??? He said in a higher tone than before, standing up and leaning on his back, took three steps back, going down the stairs while facing her like prey faces its predator. He could feel the beads of sweat rolling from his neck down his spine again, hitting the cotton margin of his underwear.

-What we see, sometimes, is exactly what it is.

-How? How can it be and how do you know?? he gasped, outraged.

-Come now, let’s talk inside. I don’t want to cause a scene, and you’re clearly disturbed. You had an… interesting day. Not many people have this privilege, you know? Some of us have really ordinary lives.

The lady was talking slowly and pushing the words like piano keys.

-I don’t want or need an interesting day. I’m good. I was just fine before this. I…

As he continued his line, the old lady opened the red door and went inside.

He paused and had a mental block. Should he at least look at what’s inside? The lady left the door wide open.

The cat ran away, down the stairs, jumping five at a time.

Not a good sign, he thought.

He put one foot in front of the other, leaned back, cautious, and stretched his head toward the door’s margin. 

It was a dark railway tunnel in an apartment building, with nothing inside but a grey metal chair, holding the old lady’s brown grocery bag.

He ran away as fast as he could, until his muscles were sore, and didn’t stop afterward. His heart was pounding, and his throat was dry as a hot day in the desert.

When he got home, he took off all his clothes and jumped in the shower.

The cold water hit his shoulders, hoping it would wash the fear away. He was scared to the last bone in his body. He couldn’t utter one word. 

The microwave had ticked 3 times, signaling that he could take out his frugal dinner. But just before he got to open the microwave door, the door rang. His blood froze again. He stood there, like an empty tree branch, slightly inclined towards the microwave with one hand, his torso leaning forward. Then he looked right, towards the door, slowly rolling his eyes. One ring, that was it. He couldn’t hear anything else for a few good minutes. Time in which he stood exactly like that. Then he straightened his back, took his hand away from the microwave’s door, and put it on the chair near him. Then he put one foot in front of the other, while constantly muttering a short prayer he knew from when he was little. He was never a religious guy, only when it was absolutely necessary. He saw praying like a way of reaching divinity, but completely dissociated it from any form of religion. The door was cold; he put one hand on it. He wouldn’t open it for the life of him. He walked slowly to the window, just near the door, and peeked like a 10-year-old. No one was there. Was he losing his mind? Although anyone would’ve left after 5 minutes, no one waits this long at the door, he thought.

Alright, but still, who rings one short time and then nothing? No knock, no persistence? Maybe he was being paranoid, BUT for good reason.

He didn’t close an eye that night. He watched the most comforting TV show he could find, drank a lot of tap water, and ate a lot of cucumber and ginger pickles.

The next morning, an envelope awaited him in front of the door. He reached and opened it frenetically. An A4 folded white plain paper inside, saying: At some point, you’ll have to come back. 

He ripped it into small pieces and set it on fire in a small ashtray. This way, he thought it wouldn’t be real; it would never have existed—this damn letter. Whoever they were, they knew where he was staying. Whatever that world was, it knew about his existence here. 

He had to move out. It was clear as daylight. He picked up the phone, wanting to reach out to his telephone company to terminate the contract. All he could hear was a buzzing noise. He then tried another number, his friend Koko… The same buzzing noise. 

Tokurō put down the phone, froze again, and his feet froze. His eyes were the eyes of a lost man. All he ever planned or thought so far vanished in an instant. He no longer had a life. His life was being monitored by something far, far away from his human understanding.

What will their next move be? And will he just sit and wait for it in terror, or go back and find out?