Kei: Don’t do that, Obana-chan!
I squat down and lift him in my arms.
Without a single growl or grown, merely glaring in Tsudzura-chan’s direction, Obana-chan exudes an air of warning, maybe even blood thirst, at plain odds with his cute appearance.
Kei: Why against Tsudzura-chan? What happened?
Even as I tickle him under the chin, he doesn’t narrow his eyes or ease his mood in any way.
Instead, moving to leap from my arms, he struggles with a strength belied by his size.
Kei: Wah!
“Oh no, you don’t!” I grip him tightly as if squeezing a stuffed animal.
Kei: Hey, Tsudzura-chan. Did you do something mean to him?
Tsudzura: Fufufufufufufu!
In answer, she giggles like a child planning something devious.
Huh?…
—What is she doing? I ponder, with growing unease.
—: Stop it!
Before I arrive at the answer, a yell sounds from the garden, so loud as to drown out all else.
My thoughts freeze, and my eyes and thoughts turn in that direction—