By the time I finished washing the dishes, it had grown dark outside.
Lights began coming on, one by one, in the houses visible through the window. The street, packed with people as I wandered around the shopping district during the day, had become eerily quiet at night. Through the open window, I could faintly hear cars passing in the distance and the sound of a TV playing somewhere.
I wiped my damp hands roughly on a towel and went back to the living room.
Then I stopped the moment I saw the sofa.
Hathor was there.
More precisely… she was still there.
“...Aren’t you leaving?”
“Where?”
“Your house.”
Hathor was sprawled facedown on the sofa, watching the drama I’d put on to teach her how ordinary people talked. She looked up at me.
“It’s more comfortable here.”
“Your house is right next door.”
“So?”
“No, I mean… shouldn’t you go back?”
“I don’t want to.”
She answered so casually that I had nothing to say.
At first, I thought she was just stopping by from next door for a little while. But at some point, Hathor being in my home had started to feel completely natural. Eating a meal, then flopping around on the sofa—this whole scene felt like something that had been going on for years. By this point, it was hard to tell whether she was really my neighbor next door or just mooching off me.
I sighed and headed for the kitchen.
“Want some cocoa?”
“What is that?”
“A sweet drink.”
“Then I’ll have some.”
Of course.
I mixed cocoa powder into milk. When I took two cups into the living room, Hathor accepted hers and peered inside.
“Is this cocoa?”
“Yeah.”
Hathor took a sip, and her eyebrows rose just slightly.
“...Not bad.”
“That means you like it, right?”
“It means exactly what I said. It is not bad.”
I let out a quiet laugh.
Then it suddenly occurred to me that if I didn’t ask now, I might never get another chance.
“Hathor.”
“What?”
“What’s your world like?”
Hathor set down her cup.
The playful expression she’d worn a moment ago hardened ever so slightly.
“You’re curious?”
“Of course I’m curious.”
I leaned back against the sofa and looked at her.
“You’re a dragon, and you said you came from another world. That alone gives me a mountain of questions.”
Hathor was silent for a while before slowly opening her mouth.
“The place where I lived is not inhabited only by dragons like me and humans.”
“There are other races too?”
“Yes.”
Hathor rolled the cup of cocoa between her fingertips.
“There are dragons, elves, and beastfolk. And many others besides.”
“But you didn’t get along with the humans?”
“...Not for a long time.”
It was a short answer.
I waited instead of needlessly pressing her to continue.
“It was partly because of territory and resources... and partly because we were afraid of one another.”
Hathor’s voice dropped a little.
“It was not that everyone hated one another from the beginning. Anxiety born of fear led to fighting, and as the fighting continued, humans rejected us, while we stopped trusting humans.”
“So it went as far as war?”
“It has gone on too long to call it a war.”
Hathor gave a bitter smile.
“Many have even forgotten why they are fighting.”
I wrapped both hands around my cup.
“Then why did you... come to this world?”
This time, Hathor stayed silent for quite a while.
“Because I wanted to understand humans.”
“...Understand?”
“Yes.”
She said it matter-of-factly.
“Nothing ends if we keep fighting. Fear ultimately comes from ignorance. If we could fully know and understand one another, would fear not disappear as well?”
I quietly studied Hathor’s face. Her reason was far more serious than I’d expected.
“So that’s why you came.”
Hathor looked at me.
“And somehow, you ended up next door.”
“That’s because you saw a cosplay event and mistook it for a country where humans and other races lived together.”
“That was a mistake.”
“A huge mistake. Still... it didn’t turn out badly, did it?”
Hathor laughed out loud. I laughed with her, and then another stretch of silence settled between us.
“Then...”
I cautiously broke the silence with a question.
“Can a human and a dragon... become friends?”
Hathor turned her eyes toward me. A brief silence followed.
“I don’t know.”
“Because I’ve never thought about it before.”
Her answer stayed with me in a strange way. Even now, and throughout all the time we’d spent together since our first meeting, had I only been a means for her to understand humans, rather than someone she felt like a friend toward? I didn’t ask anything else.
That was how the night passed.
The next morning.
I left the house with Hathor. The weather was nice, it felt dreary to stay cooped up at home, and more than anything, we’d run out of things to talk about, which was starting to feel awkward.
“You know, people ultimately work to make money.”
I explained it to Hathor as we walked.
“In human society here, people use money to buy food and things, pay rent, and cover transportation costs.”
“I know that.”
“You do?”
“There is currency in our world as well.”
“Oh.”
Thinking about it, that was only natural.
I felt a little embarrassed that I’d assumed Hathor wouldn’t understand the concept of money at all. Still, I had to explain things like Japan’s currency, banks, and bank accounts.
Today, instead of heading to the crowded shopping district, we made our way to a residential neighborhood a little farther away. It was a quiet area lined with low buildings. The streets were deserted, with only the occasional cyclist passing by.
“It’s quiet here.”
“Right?”
It had been quite a while since I’d walked somewhere like this too.
Going back and forth between the office and home every day, there were times I even forgot I lived in Japan. Back when I used to wander around like a tourist, even an alley like this had seemed fascinating.
“The bank is...”
That was when I was interrupted.
“Meow.”
“Huh?”
A small cry came from between the flowerpots along the roadside. I turned my head, and a cat sauntered out.
“Oh my gosh.”
I crouched down.
“Here, kitty kitty. Come here.”
The cat stayed a few steps away as if wary of me, then approached with its tail swaying gently. Hathor crouched beside me too.
“It’s small.”
“Cute, right?”
Hathor didn’t answer.
She simply stared at the cat. I gently scratched beneath its chin.
Then I noticed a sheet of paper posted on a nearby utility pole.
LOST CAT.
The cat in the picture was identical to the one in front of us.
“Hathor.”
“What?”
“Looks like its owner is searching for it.”
Hathor stared at the flyer for a long time.
Then she looked down at the cat.
“You mean this creature’s home?”
“Yeah. Let’s take it back.”
After checking the address, we walked along with the cat.
It was closer than I’d expected.
When I rang the doorbell, an elderly woman opened the door a short while later. The moment she saw the cat, her eyes went wide.
“Oh my!”
The grandmother immediately gathered the cat into her arms.
“My baby!”
The cat meowed, rubbing its face against her familiar embrace.
The grandmother repeatedly thanked us.
“Thank you so much. I’ve been looking everywhere for days...”
“Oh, it was nothing. We happened to run into it on our way by.”
“Even so, come inside and have some juice before you go. It’s hot out.”
It felt awkward to refuse, so we ended up sitting on the grandmother’s veranda.
“Is this young lady a foreigner? Her hair color is so unusual.”
“Ah, yes. She says she came from far away. Very far away...”
Cold juice was brought out, along with snacks and even some small rice cakes. At first, Hathor only watched the cat. Then the cat settled onto Hathor’s lap, curled itself into a ball, and stayed there. But when the grandmother offered her a snack, Hathor raised her hand, then stopped.
“I don’t have any money.”
“Huh?”
“Would I not have to pay for this?”
I couldn’t help laughing.
“No. She’s just giving it to you.”
The grandmother told us to make ourselves comfortable and stepped away, so I thanked her.
“...Why?”
“We found her cat for her.”
Hathor looked baffled.
“That is the reason?”
“Yeah.”
“Even so, is it not strange to give us food without receiving money?”
I thought for a moment about how to explain it, then said,
“This is called... kindness.”
“Kindness?”
“Yeah. You don’t have to get something in return. You just give it because you’re grateful.”
Hathor looked at the snack. Then she stroked the cat, which was purring peacefully in her lap.
“...Even without compensation?”
“Yeah.”
“Do humans here really behave that way?”
“Sometimes.”
I added with a smile,
“We help each other get by.”
Hathor said nothing.
After taking a breather over juice and snacks, I found myself noticing the peaceful surroundings. The morning glories blooming in the garden were beautiful.
By the time condensation from our cups had dampened the floor, we stood up. We said goodbye to the grandmother and headed back out. Hathor looked reluctant as she gave the cat one more stroke.
Even on the way home that day, Hathor remained lost in thought. Then she suddenly stopped in the middle of walking.
“Hae-na.”
“Yeah?”
Hathor pulled something from her pocket. A small, individually wrapped snack. It was one of the treats the grandmother had packed for us.
“This.”
“Huh? This is...”
“You eat it.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
Hathor placed the snack in my palm.
“This is the first kindness I have received from a human other than Hae-na.”
After hesitating for a moment, Hathor said,
“So... I want to give it to you.”
I looked down at the small snack in my palm. It was just an ordinary little treat. And yet, for some reason, it warmed my heart.
“...Thanks.”
Hathor stared ahead with an indifferent expression.
“It is nothing special.”
“Still, thank you.”
A smile slipped onto my face. And together, we slowly walked home.
Maybe understanding humans wasn’t some grand body of knowledge after all.
I believe humans are fundamentally kindhearted. Remembering a small kindness received from someone. And remembering it, then passing it on to someone else. I think this is how society exists today.
I had a feeling Hathor was gradually beginning to understand that.