14
KIT
‘So, what’s next?’ I ask, still buzzed from wielding that incredible sword and eager to keep the joy alive as we walk up the steps from the dojo and back onto the bustling shopping street.
‘Cat café?’ Chloe says with an expectant lift of her eyebrow.
I try to work out if she’s serious and decide from the eagerness I see flickering in her expression that she is.
I frown. ‘That’s not exactly what I had in mind.’
‘It’s actually more of an animal café. So not just cats,’ she says, adopting a persuasive tone now.
‘Really? What, like a zoo?’ I ask, horrified by the idea. I didn’t come all the way to Japan to do things an eight-year-old me would have enjoyed. Not that my brother ever let me enjoy being eight. He was always so dismissive about anything age-appropriate that I liked.
She laughs. ‘I don’t think there’ll be anything dangerous to humans there, no. Just different types of fluffy pets.’
I laugh off my unease, but I can see from the look in her eyes that she really wants to do this. And I’m grateful to her for inviting me to come along today – the samurai training was a blast and not something I would have experienced if it wasn’t for her – so I say, ‘Okay then. I’ll come for the ride, but I’ll just sit in the corner and drink coffee, if it’s all the same to you. I’m not a massive fan of petting animals.’
‘Suit yourself,’ she says, shrugging one shoulder in a gesture that clearly says,if you want to pretend to be cool that’s fine by me, but I know you better than that.
I catch the corner of her mouth lift in a gratified smile and warmth pools in my chest.
* * *
‘Here it is,’ she says, fifteen minutes later, after we’ve dodged through the crowds heading towards one of the famous temples, which is set in beautiful parkland opposite the café. She points at a set of stairs that lead up to a small shopping mall. A lot of the shops here seem to be arranged on top of each other. I guess it makes economic sense, but it’s strange, as a Brit, to see them stacked so high so often.
I follow her up a couple of floors until we come to a sign showing a wide-eyed kitten with a pink bow tied around its neck, looking like the mother of all innocent internet thirst traps.
Pulling open the glass door next to it, she walks into the reception area where you’re expected to take off your shoes and stow them in a pigeonhole.
Once we’ve both done this, she goes to speak to the friendly receptionist who sets us up with treats for the animals as well as a space in a cabinet where we can safely stow any drinks we buy while we’re there.
Chloe makes a beeline for a small two-person sofa, and the moment she’s seated and has opened what looks like a small bowl of chocolate – which I’m pretty sure it isn’t – she’s swamped by about seven cats and kittens, all vying for a lick of the loaded spoon she’s holding out towards them.
I can’t help but laugh as they begin to climb all over her, rubbing their cheeks against her arms and body and gazing up at her with their wide adoring eyes, all competing for her attention and love.
Clever pusses.
I’m almost jealous of the rapt way she’s gazing back at them, her voice a low, seductive purr as she gently admonishes them for pushing each other out of the way.
Her smile is the widest I’ve seen it since I first bumped into her again, here in Kyoto.
I’ve definitely been a facilitator of intense pleasure for her here too, mostly when she’s been in bed with me, I’m satisfied to note. Though she’s seemed to enjoy my company out of bed too.
As I have hers.
In fact, I don’t think I’ve laughed so much with someone for quite some time. Life all got a bit serious there for a while and it’s such a balm to actually have some fun again for a change. I’ve definitely grown up a lot in the intervening years, but Chloe seems to have brought back the adventurous side in me.
I’m starting to realise how much I’ve missed it.
As if sensing I’m thinking about her, she looks up and catches my eye, grinning as a tiny and very furry grey kitten makes itself comfortable on her lap, seemingly sated now from the brown gloopy treat it’s been eating. It stretches out its entire length along the middle of her lap, its tiny chin propped on her right knee.
She puts down the bowl and spoon, which appear to have been licked clean now, and the rest of the cats wander off, spotting a new couple of people coming into the café with their own smorgasbord of treats clutched in their hands.
‘How’s your pussy?’ I ask with a grin, nodding down at the kitten in her lap.
She smirks back. ‘Purring.’
