Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat - Chapter 4 Cat And TV

It’s been a while since I picked up the cat. I’ve gotten used to living with Mashiro.

We haven’t completely gotten to know each other yet, but Mashiro has been approaching me more often.
However, that doesn’t mean that she let me touch her without hesitation. She seemed to dislike being petted and ran away as soon as I start.

There were a lot of things I didn’t understand about cats, but with the help of the internet and advice from the landlord and Sakakibara, I was able to live without any major incidents.

Today is a day off and the office is closed. I slept well through the morning and got up from bed before noon.
I looked around for Mashiro and found her lying down by the window, relaxing in the sunshine.

It was a minor thing, but I was quite happy to see her relax like that.
Sakakibara told me that it’s not good for cats if we give them too much attention.
I don’t know if it’s a common thing, but it’s true that she does seem to like to be left alone.

I managed to resist the urge to stroke her body, which looked so warm and soft in the sunshine.
I decided to eat breakfast with lunch and watched Mashiro while drinking hot cocoa.

I’m ashamed to admit that I don’t have much of a hobby, so I don’t have anything to do just because it’s my day off.
The only thing I can think of to do is to watch videos on the Internet.

I couldn’t disturb Mashiro’s sunbathing, so I started up the video site on my phone as usual.
Perhaps because I’ve been watching a lot of cat videos lately, there were a lot of cat-related videos picked up in the recommendation section.
I casually played the video that appeared at the top of the list and propped my phone up on my desk to watch it.

The contributor of this video said he is raising a kitten that had fallen in a rice field. I have been watching his videos a lot lately.
I was inspired by the similarity of my own situation, but the main reason was his knowledge of cats’ health and food.

I’ve been living for over twenty years and have never experienced owning a pet.
So, I have no choice but to go through videos and websites like this to gather information.

After that, I passed the time leisurely watching videos to relax and sometimes study.
Since I was in the house, I naturally didn’t put on any earphones, but halfway through, I realized that I had a roommate.

Mashiro, who had been lying down by the window until a few minutes ago, walked up to me.
The only time Mashiro comes up to me was when I’m eating, and I stiffen in confusion.

I pretended not to notice and looked at Mashiro at my side.
She walked up to my side, looked at me once, and then jumped up on the desk.

As I watched to see what the whim was, I noticed that Mashiro’s eyes were on my phone.
Perhaps she was distracted by the voices of strangers and cats coming from behind the screen?

Mashiro was still staring at my phone, but after a while, she sat down and started watching the video.
I was surprised to see her watching the video so naturally.

She remained sitting there, not looking any different, while I selected the next video.
When I played the video and put it on the desk, Mashiro stared at the screen again with her beautiful eyes.

After that, I continued to watch the video with Mashiro, and before I knew it, I heard the chime telling me it was noon.
It seemed that we had been watching for at least an hour.

Mashiro didn’t seem to be particularly bored and continued to stare at the screen, occasionally brushing her fur.
I felt a little sad to end this time, but even if the other party is a cat, I should make a decision.

“Do you want to eat, Mashiro?”

When I asked her that, she looked away from the screen and turned to me.
She didn’t get particularly grumpy, but got off the desk and sat back down in front of her usual plate.

…If you say I’m a foolish caretaker, that’s fine, but I think Mashiro is a very clever cat.
I won’t go as far as to say she understood my word, but I’m surprised at how smart and obedient she is.

It’s often said that cats are fickle, but when it comes to Mashiro, she listens to me just as well as a well-trained dog.

I wondered if she had been trained very strictly at her previous owner’s place.
But if that’s the case, it’s hard to imagine that someone who can train a cat so perfectly would abandon it so irresponsibly.

Vaguely wondering about this, I started to prepare lunch.

Since then, it has become a habit for me to watch videos with Mashiro whenever I spend time at home.
I just put my phone on my desk when I watch videos, but Mashiro always comes up to me.

Unable to resist the urge, I gently stroked her from behind, and Mashiro allowed me to do so, though only for a little while.
This was the most comfortable moment of my life, and I felt that it brought me a little closer to Mashiro.

One day, seeing Mashiro like that, I had an idea, and I was out on a day off.
I went to an electronics store. The purpose was to buy a TV, which I hadn’t bought since I moved into my current apartment.

I’ve never been a big TV fan since I was living back at home, and since I started living on my own, I didn’t feel the need to buy one.
This is a natural result of the fact that I don’t spend much time at home, and when I do, I either sleep or look at my phone, but things are different now.

While I’m out for work, Mashiro stayed home by herself.
I hadn’t thought about it before, but there was almost nothing for Mashiro to do while I wasn’t home.

But lately, we often watch videos together on my phone.
I’m a little skeptical about what I’m doing, but if it helps Mashiro pass time, there’s nothing wrong with that.

I can’t leave my phone behind while I’m at work, plus she can’t use it.
So I came up with the idea of a TV.

It was the first time in my life that I had ever bought a TV, so I had to rely on the clerk a lot, but I managed to complete the purchase successfully.
After returning to my house, I finished installing the TV, even bothering my landlord.

The hard work was done for now, and I proceeded with the connections and settings.
Mashiro was hiding in the corner of the room due to the loud noise I had just made, and she was still wary of the huge TV that had suddenly appeared.

“It’s just like a big phone. Don’t be afraid.”

As I was setting up, I said something like that to her, and she walked toward me cautiously.
She walked right up to my back to look at the equipment in my hand.
Mashiro’s fluffy body touched my back, and I couldn’t help but tense up.

While I was working on it, Mashiro was walking around me, sniffing me and giving me discreet cat punches.
Once she got used to it to a certain extent, she moved closer to the TV itself and start sniffing it again.

While Mashiro was doing this, the connection to the TV was finished, and all I had to do was to check if the channels were showing.
I took Mashiro in my arms and pulled her away from the TV. I didn’t want to startle her by suddenly turning on the screen.

She was still reluctant to be held, and resisted, albeit modestly, by flailing her arms and legs. Sometimes her nails hit my arm, but I put up with it.
I brighten up the room and sat down on the sofa, away from the TV, and put Mashiro down beside me.
She immediately got off the sofa, probably because she was upset about being held, but her eyes are fixed on the TV as if she was expecting something.

As soon as I turned on the power and quickly completed the settings, images began to play on the screen.
It was a lunchtime program that I had never seen before, but I recognized people were happily conversing with each other.

The image on the screen was incomparably larger than a smartphone.
Mashiro’s curious gaze never left the TV.

“I’m sorry I always bore you.”

I apologize to Mashiro as I watch the TV.
I don’t know if Mashiro will like this TV, but I’ll be happy if she can spend her alone time without getting bored.

Mashiro remained silent, but once she glanced at me, but she quickly returned her gaze to the TV.
The TV had been bought on the spur of the moment, but at least it had done its job to attract Mashiro’s interest.

I turned my gaze back to the TV, hoping that the TV would…bring me a little closer to Mashiro.

[TLN: Cat girl when?]