“evil?”

“Yes evil, although I don’t believe in all superstitions, our family doesn’t deal well with animals. Because a bad taste of cat meat broke up your grandfather’s family. Also, it looks like Mr. Ishii’s cat, so take it back tomorrow, okay?”

What does she mean by evil? And what the hell is this talk about cat meat? My grandfather ate cat meat and his family fell apart?

Soojin tilted her head in confusion, unable to understand her grandmother’s strange mumblings, and reluctantly replied: “Yes grandmother.”

After nagging her granddaughter, Soojin’s grandmother laid back down and closed her eyes, only to lurch up at the rising of a sudden thought.

“This won’t do. It might run away.”

Soojin’s grandmother said, as she tied a string loosely around the kitten, and placed it into a paper box.

“Okay, now go to sleep”

She said, as brushed the kitten's hair off her clothes, and laid back down.

Soojin put a couple of small blankets into the box, and watched the kitten for a while, before laying back down.

The kitten cried all through the night.

****

The next day, Soojin awoke to a clatter, it was the sound of her grandmother washing dishes.

“What are you doing grandma?”

“Oh, did you sleep well? I have to go to work now, so fix yourself something to eat.”

“Work?”

Soojin’s grandmother worked as a cleaning lady in a building near Tokyo Tower.

“Yeah, work. I’ll be back at around 6 o'clock. When I come back I'll bring some snacks for you. Oh, and make sure to return the kitten back to Mr. Ishii, he lives across the street.”

Soojin’s grandmother handed her a key to the house, and headed out the door. Once her grandmother had left, Soojin went back inside and opened the paper box. The kitten was curled up in the middle of the box, and as soon as Soojin opened the box the kitten got startled, it looked up at Soojin, meowed, and licked its paw to wipe its head. Soojin picked up the kitten and looked at its belly, the kitten was very skinny.

“Why are you so skinny? Did your owner not feed you properly? Mr. Ishii… *giggle* His name is funny.”

In no time, the morning sunshine came flowing into the Tatami room. Soojin opened the small window and looked outside. Because it had been the middle of the night when she first arrived, she hadn’t been able to properly see the neighborhood. But now that the sun had risen, she could see the surrounding neighborhood clearly. When she looked out the window, just 4 to 5 meters away, she saw a large, red-eyed, black crow walking like a duck. It was the first time she had seen a crow of that size.

“How hideous…” she thought

But It wasn’t just one or two crows. All around, crows were coming and going. Soojin watched numerous crows come and go, when she heard something. She turned her eyes to where the noise was coming from. A man and a young boy were sweeping the garden of a single-story gray house. The man was short, wearing traditional Japanese geta shoes with a towel wrapped around his head, clacking with each step as he swept. And the boy looked about 6 or 7 years old, showing his buck teeth through a laugh: the boy seemed like a character from a cartoon film. Soojin observed the two for a while. Suddenly the boy saw Soojin watching him from the window, and stared at her. The man, trying to sweep under the boy's feet, told him to move and pushed him slightly. When the boy didn’t move, the man followed the boy’s gaze to where Soojin was. The man stood still looking at Soojin; Soojin, noticing the two looking at her, became shy, closed the window and looked through the blinds at them. After a few seconds, the man bent down, and whispered something into the boy’s ear.

Soojin sat back down and resumed playing with the kitten. About an hour later, Soojin decided to take the kitten back to Mr. Ishii; his house was right across the street from her grandmother’s. Mr. Ishii’s house was a 2 story, tidy home, with a lush garden of bonsai trees. Soojin walked across the street and knocked on his door, but as soon as she did, a sudden realization caused her to become anxious: she didn’t know how to speak Japanese. She decided to just go home, but when she turned around a man opened the door. Soojin, startled, looked at him flushed. She felt guilty as if she had stolen something from him. Mr. Ishii had a V shaped beard, that contrasted comically with his face, which was plump as a steamed bun. He looked down at the strange girl on his front porch, and asked laconically: “Who are you?”

Soojin dithered, unsure how she should respond. Behind the man, Soojin caught a glimpse of a pale faced woman wearing a kimono.

Soojin knew that no matter what she said the man wouldnt understand her, so she just held the kitten out towards the man. The man, not knowing the reason for the girl’s actions, eyes widened.

“Eeeehhhh?”

The man gave an odd look, and shook his hand at Soojin.

But Soojin didn’t leave, instead, she pushed the kitten towards the man again.

The kitten squirmed in her hands, kicking the air. When the man looked at the kitten and shook his hand once again, Soojin tilted her head and thought: ‘Maybe this isn’t Ishii’s house.’

“Ishii… Ishii…”

Soojin repeated the only thing she knew. When she did, the man’s eyes widened with realization.

“You must be looking for my father. Wait just a minute.”

The man threw a few words Soojin couldn’t understand, and ran back into the house.

“Father! Father!”

The man called in Japanese, as Soojin waited on the porch. Soon the man came out accompanied by an old man wearing a yukata. The old man, differently from the young man, had a slender face; a red mark on his right cheek and a unique single strand, long white beard.

This time, Soojin held out the kitten towards the old man. The old man looked at the girl and the kitten in turn, then shook his head.

Soojin pouted her lips; she was at a loss. Her grandmother had clearly said this kitten was Mr. Ishii’s. And Mr. Ishii was right in front of her, but he was insisting it wasn’t his.

“Did you come from Ryoko’s house?”

Soojin, startled by the unexpected Korean, glared at the man.

“Oh, You must be Ryoko’s granddaughter. Am I right?”

“Yes…”

Because Mr. Ishii’s ancestors were Koreans, who had been hauled to Japan towards the end of the Japanese invasion of Korea, and because most of his time spent outside of studying history in university was spent in Korean, he had no trouble communicating.

“A few days ago, your grandmother said you were coming. My son planned to go with your grandmother, but because of urgent matters, she had to go alone. Anyway, come on in.”

Mr. Ishii’s house wasn’t particularly big, but the inside was tidy, and gave a neat feeling.

The rooms were mostly Tatami floors and, presumably because of the summer heat, they were all open, allowing Soojin to see inside.

As Soojin followed Mr. Ishii inside, she saw the woman from earlier, fixing her makeup at the vanity table, draped in a colorful kimono.

Mr. Ishii guided Soojin to the living room, Sat her on the sitting cushion, and brought the rest of the family out to greet her.

Mr. Ishii told Soojin that the man with the V-shaped beard was his son, and the woman in the kimono was his daughter-in-law; her name was Mia. Mia saw Soojin and, in an enthusiastic voice, admired her beauty: “Wow! She’s so beautiful.”

Mia was a woman with a gorgeous neckline, who looked as if the kimono had been invented just for her; however she also had a sneaking seductiveness.

She complimented Soojin, but her side-eyeing glance gave a different feeling. Mr. Ishii asked Mia to bring some tea for their guest. Mia, at her fathers request, went off to the kitchen returning with the tea.

Mia lifted the skirt of her kimono and sat on her knees, throwing a glance of curiosity Soojin’s way. Mia poured tea carefully into ceramic dishes she had sat aside.

Soojin wondered if this was really necessary: considering this was a fairly formal treatment. The glasses of tea were giving off a fragrant lemongrass smell.

Mr. Ishii spread his palm open towards Soojin, pressing her to have a drink. Mr. Ishii looked at the kitten and told Soojin to give it to his daughter-in-law.

Soojin hesitated, and attempted to hand the kitten over to Mia, but when she did the kitten clung onto Soojin’s clothes as if it didn’t want to leave.

Soon, however, Soojin handed over the kitten, with the sound of a few threads being ripped from her clothes. Mia, embracing the kitten, headed back into the kitchen.

Although this was Soojin’s first time meeting Mr. Ishii, for some unknown reason, she felt at ease.

“How’s the tea? Is it okay?”

The tea was so bland, one would struggle to even figure what flavor it was. But Soojin nodded, as a matter of courtesy.

“You’re still young so you may not like the taste, but you sure know how to be polite.”

Mr. Ishii said; he had a way of speaking that seemed as if he was reading Soojin’s mind. In fact, Soojin had no way of knowing what flavor the tea was, let alone the name.

It seemed a sort of tea only someone with much experience could savor. Although Soojin couldn’t properly taste the flavor of the tea, she found the subtle smell of it quite fragrant.

“It's Korean green tea. In Japan it's a courtesy to treat your precious guests to a glass of tea, and this tea was gifted to me by none other than your grandmother.”

Mr. Ishii explained as he lifted his glass of tea with care.

Judging from Mr. Ishii’s manner of speaking, Soojin assumed his relationship with her grandmother must be a very special one. Also when her grandmother spoke of Mr. Ishii, Soojin could feel that these two had been dating in secrecy for quite a while.

Soojin brought the glass of tea to her mouth, took a sip and looked at Mr. Ishii; he was looking back attentively. When their gazes met, Soojin quickly looked away.

“You sure look smart. But..”

Mr. Ishii didn't finish spitting out his words, ending his sentence equivocally.

Soojin looked at him. She felt there must have been something more coming after that “but”, but Mr. Ishii didn’t speak any further.

Soojin looked at Mr. Ishii with a gaze that couldn’t be pinpointed in a single word.

Soojin declined Mr. Ishii’s suggestion, that she eat breakfast with them, and came out of the house with the kitten in her arms.

She came back to grandmother’s house, and sat in the corner of the room with the kitten. Since it turned out this kitten wasn’t Mr. Ishii’s, Soojin decided to give it a name. Honestly, she was glad she could keep the kitten. ‘Now i can raise you, oh how well this turned out’ she thought.

“What should I name you? Hmmm.”

Soojin spent a while considering what name would best fit this kitten.

“Okay, Kiki, Kiki! That’s a nice name! What do you think? Do you like your new name Kiki?”

The kitten looked up at Soojin and meowed as if answering her.

“Haha, okay. From now on your name is Kiki, okay?”

The kitten meowed at Soojin once again.