Ryan rode home in a daze. He needed some rest. So when he got to his appartment, he immediately threw himself down on the couch. Kitty jumped on his lap and started meowing.

Food. Of course. But Ryan didn’t have any food. He’d completely forgotten about it, since his head was occupied with Japanese criminals and lost family members. His mom hadn’t replied to his text yet.

“I’m sorry Kitty”, he said, as he petted the cat. “I forgot to get us dinner. Seems like we’re going to have to order some take-out.”

Ryan looked at his phone, thinking about what to order. For some reason he suddenly got an intense craving for sushi. That settled it.

“Want some sashimi, Kitty?” He asked the cat.

He could swear the cat started to drool as he said it.

“Yeah you do, I know exactly what you like, my dear Kitty. This night is ours, we watch a movie, eat sushi on the couch and don’t do anything else. How’s that sound?”

“Mrew”, said the cat, purring happily.

***

After the sushi and the movie Ryan checked his phone again and saw blue checkmarks had appeared next to his question to his mum. She’d read it. No reply though. He thought about calling, but it was kind of late. Ryan decided he’d call his mother the following afternoon, and went to bed.

Kitty followed him into the bedroom and curled up on the blanket as usual. But Ryan couldn’t sleep, he tossed and turned until he felt a paw tapping on his forehead. He opened his eyes, and looked at Kitty.

“Ah little one, am I keeping you awake?” he sighed, picking up the cat from his pillow and pulling him close. The fur was soft against his skin, and the cat purred happily. This made Ryan relax a bit more.

“You know, Kitty… it’s weird. This guy walked in the shop today and asked me all these questions about my mother and my life. How strange is that? I keep thinking maybe he’s like an old family friend or something, but when I told him mum had died, he didn’t react like he was actually sad…”

He felt the cat stir in his arms, and stroked him to get him to relax again.

“Sorry Kitty, I’m talking too much... But please keep me company. I know I’m silly, but I keep thinking about it…. And then there’s the girl. She was so… Well, I don’t know... I keep seeing those green eyes. They’re a bit like yours I think…”

Ryan laughed.

“It’s so ironic! I’ve finally decided to try out having a serious relationship, and a few days in I’m already thinking about someone else… Stupid huh...”

The cat remained motionless and silent.

Of course he doesn't react, Ryan. He’s not your therapist. He’s a cat. He probably fell asleep.

Ryan hugged the cat to his chest, and thought a bit more about Narnia before he finally fell asleep.

***

Ryan woke up to the sound of his alarm at 7:30. Kitty was lying curled up against him, still under the blanket.

“Good morning Kitty” Ryan said cheerfully, as he got up from the bed. The cat looked at him with half opened eyes.

“How do you still look sleepy?” Ryan said as he threw the blanket back over the cat, and went to take a shower. Ryan only needed a couple of minutes to get ready to go. He took a banana with him for breakfast, and got out of the door.

He looked around for the black car. It wasn’t there.

Ryan decided he was being paranoid. So he just got on his bike, and rode off to college.

Ryan had never gotten a car. He wanted to save the money, so he could live in the ground floor apartment, instead of student housing, where they wouldn’t allow pets. Besides, the university, the coffeeshop and the city centre were all within a 10-mile radius from his home, so his life was doable by bike.

On his way to the university he spotted a couple of black cars, but none of them had big dents in their side. Ryan forced himself to stop worrying about it, and just focus on his lessons and his girlfriend.

But his peace of mind wouldn’t last long. As the school day reached its end, Ryan called his mother. He still hadn’t gotten a reply to his text. No one answered, but after 2 minutes Harry called back.

“Hey Ryan, it’s me… I’m so sorry, I gave you horrible advice.”

“What happened?”

“When I got home yesterday, I found Angela in the car hyperventilating.”

Ryan flinched. “Holy shit, was that my fault? Did she panic because of the text?”

“Yes, but it’s not your fault. After she read your text, she had panicked and had wanted to come and see you right away. She wanted to prevent you from going to Japan with your friend because it wasn’t safe. I tried to talk her out of it, but it took the whole night.

She kept saying she was afraid that they’d get you. And something about protecting your cat, or something like that. Well, you know how she gets when she panics." he added apologetically.

"But really, it’s okay now. I convinced her that you weren’t going anywhere, and she’s finally calmed down. I just, I wanted to tell you this before you spoke to her. The subject seems to be even more delicate than I expected, so sorry again for the bad advice.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad I didn’t text her what really happened. But what do I do now?”

Harry seemed to ponder this for a moment. “Well, be careful. Judging from Angela’s reaction, I don’t think you’ll want to meet more people from her Japanese past. If you do see the guy again, take a picture and I’ll see if I can find him in the database. And call me immediately if anything’s amiss. We’ll keep your mother in the dark for now, she obviously wouldn’t be able to handle this.”

“Sure, I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“Hey, be careful lad. We love you.”

“I will, thanks.”

Ryan sat down for a moment and took in the scene. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and warm for the time of year. He looked around. No black car. No out-of-place Japanese guys in suits. But still Ryan had a feeling of being watched.

He walked to the basketball court and met up with Allen and Jake. Playing around a bit in this weather would certainly take his mind off things.

As they played ball for some time, the crowd of spectators grew around them. Jake was on fire in the opposite team, as usual. But Allen and Ryan were on the same team, along with two other athletic guys, so the game was pretty even.

Ryan shot a glance at the crowd, and found two green eyes looking at him. He stopped in his tracks, missing a pass and getting hit in the head with the ball. Flustered he reached for the ball, but Jake already caught it and was scoring. That sucked.

Ryan looked at the crowd again, but the green eyes were nowhere to be found.