[Little Magician Lumi Meetup Review]
[Photo of guys singing at a karaoke bar]
[We had so much fun together! Plus, something cute happened that only the meetup attendees know about lol]
– Lol for real
– Will you come to the next meetup? Hana was so cute.
– I thought this gallery was only for guys? What happened?
– Join the next meetup. Seriously, a kid as cute as Little Magician Lumi is coming.
Rumors spread that there was an elementary school girl at the Little Magician Lumi gallery meetup. Of course, only those who attended the meetup knew the truth.
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“So, I did this here…!”
I was walking home with Jiyu and Yumi. Since we moved buildings, we didn’t have to part ways at the school playground like before.
Previously, the building was far away, so we had to take a car from the playground. That’s why I never got to walk home with Jiyu and Yumi. But now it was different. My building and Jiyu and Yumi’s houses were close. That meant we could easily walk home together.
Sometimes we took the bus, but walking was more comfortable. On rainy days, we’d take the bus. The traffic was so bad and the routes were so tangled that walking and taking the bus didn’t make much of a difference.
We were chatting excitedly on our way home when my sharp ears caught a faint crying sound.
[Meow…]
It was a weak meow. Jiyu and Yumi didn’t seem to hear it. I asked them, “Jiyu, Yumi! Don’t you hear that crying sound?”
“What sound?”
“Hold on, be quiet for a sec…”
I perked up my ears and moved closer to the sound. Jiyu and Yumi followed me quietly. That’s when I found something.
[Please take me in.]
It was a kitten abandoned in a box. It looked like it was only about a month old. Its tiny body couldn’t even jump out of the box.
“Who left this here? What a terrible person.”
Yumi, who already has a cat, said that. Jiyu nodded in agreement.
“What should we do?”
If we leave it here, will someone take it? But there’s no guarantee. And there’s no way this little kitten could survive in the harsh wild. I looked at Yumi. She shook her head after reading my expression.
“I can’t take it. My mom said one cat is enough.”
I turned to Jiyu.
“Sorry, Hana. My family doesn’t keep pets!”
“Sniff…”
I looked down at the kitten with sad eyes. The kitten looked up at me and cried pitifully, as if begging me to take it. I made up my mind. I would take it in and raise it.
“I’ll take care of it!”
“Really?”
Jiyu and Yumi were surprised by my decision.
I decided to adopt the kitten today. And since I’m not alone—there are office staff too—we could easily take care of one kitten. If not, I was ready to spend money to raise it. I had plenty of money, after all.
I took the kitten out of the box. Strangely, the kitten, which had been crying like the world was ending, stopped crying. It was as if my arms were its mother’s. I stroked the kitten’s head. I definitely had to raise it.
—————————————————
I went straight into the building. The security guard saw me holding the kitten and said, “Pets aren’t allowed in this building…”
I looked up at the guard with teary eyes.
“Can’t I raise this little kitten?”
“Uh… just wait a sec, Hana.”
The guard seemed to go somewhere to make a call. I knew what to do in situations like this. I took out my phone and called the boss. When I hit a wall, there was no one more reliable than the boss.
After just a few rings, the boss picked up. Even though I knew he was busy, he always answered my calls.
[Hana?]
“Booooosss…”
[What’s wrong?]
Hearing the sadness in my voice, the boss asked with concern. I tried to sound as sad as possible. This way, the boss was more likely to grant my request.
It was because of the boss.
“Boss. Can I raise a cat?”
[A cat?]
“Yeah…”
[Of course you can! Was there any problem?]
“Um…”
If I said the security guard uncle stopped me, it seemed like the security guard uncle would get scolded by the boss. So I just brushed it off.
“No, it’s just that if something like this happens, I thought I should tell you, Boss…”
[Alright, alright! Can I come see the cat Hana is raising later?]
“Yep!”
I ended the call with the boss like that. The security guard uncle didn’t stop me either, maybe he got the heads-up. I petted the head of the kitten sleeping in my arms. Its fluffy fur felt really nice. The kitten was completely calm. It was just like a dog. It should have had some sense of caution, but this cat had none of that.
After taking the elevator up, I was able to return to my place. I went to the office first. I had to tell the employees that I had adopted a kitten now. If I didn’t say anything, who knows what kind of accident might happen.
I opened the office door. Since my school ended a bit after lunchtime, most of the employees were still working. I was an elementary school student, so I finished early, but the employees here worked until 6 PM.
Bora greeted me as I entered the office.
“Hana, are you done with class? What’s up today…”
Bora stopped mid-sentence when she saw the kitten in my arms. Then she said,
“Hana?”
A detailed explanation seemed necessary. I explained to Bora step by step while holding the kitten. On my way home, I found a stray cat on the street, and I thought it would die if I left it, so I brought it with me. After hearing my explanation, Bora nodded. Thankfully, she didn’t seem like she would kick the cat out.
“Can I keep it, Bora? I already told the boss…”
“Of course! But you absolutely can’t abandon it later, okay?”
“Yep! Nabi and I will be together forever until we die!”
“Uh… really? You already named it?”
“Yeah, I’ll call it Nabi. The cat seems to like it too.”
When I said “Nabi,” the cat made a happy sound. It was like a signal that it was grateful for the name. I smiled brightly and tried to take the cat to my room. Then Bora stopped me.
“Hana! Shouldn’t we wash the cat first? Leave it to me!”
“Huh?”
“It’s not that the cat is dirty, but just in case there are germs on the cat that could get to you…”
“Got it!”
I could understand that. I left the cat with Bora for a while. But as soon as the cat left my arms, it started crying like crazy. It was as if it thought my arms were its mother’s and Bora’s arms were a place of doom.
“Nabi, let’s get cleaned up and then see each other again, okay?”
I wanted to wash it myself, but it seemed better to leave it to someone experienced with raising cats. Nabi desperately looked for me.
——————————————————–
“Haru! Maru!”
Bora urgently called the “parenting squad.” Hearing Bora, Haru and Maru quickly came running. Maru, seeing the cat in Bora’s arms, said,
“It’s so cute! Is this the cat Hana brought?”
“Yeah. We decided to raise it from today.”
The cat had been crying since earlier, looking for Hana. We had to wash it quickly and return it to Hana’s arms.
“Maru, you go buy the necessary supplies for the cat! Haru, you go buy some food that kittens would like!”
With three people taking care of Hana, there was no problem. Normally, kindergarten teachers take care of ten or so kids alone, but with three adult women taking care of Hana, the burden was light.
Hana caused a lot of trouble, but it wasn’t hard. With three adult women, it was more than enough to take care of her.
