Two weeks later...

"Nii-san," Jyushimatsu whispered, to Ichimatsu, shaking his brother awake.

The sun wasn't even up yet, and here Ichimatsu's obnoxious brother was, disturbing him from his peaceful slumber.

"What.." Ichimatsu whispered groggily, blinking open his eyes sleepily.

"Where's Claude?" Jyushimatsu asked, still whispering for once. "I haven't seen him since last night."

"He went to sleep on my futon last night..." Ichimatsu replied, when suddenly, his heart began to pound wildly in fear, all color draining from his face.

Ichimatsu jerked out of bed, quickly got himself dressed, then took off outside, desperately calling for his cat.

"This exact day...ten years in the past.." Ichimatsu thought, finding that he was running towards the alleyway. "I found him dead in the middle of the street around the alley..."

Ichimatsu stopped running and looked around, squinting his eyes, trying to find Claude.

"He's not at home," he thought, his heart beating faster and faster. "He never left me alone whenever I was around. Claude wouldn't just leave..."

There was such a think fog in the air that it made it impossible for Ichimatsu to even see the street. The time of day wasn't helping either, for the sun was about to begin to rise.

"I promised to myself that I would at least save you from dying, Claude. I've messed so many things up so far...this is the least I can do, right?" Ichimatsu thought, when suddenly, a tiny "mew" came from behind him.

Abruptly, Ichimatsu turned around and bent down, relief flooding his body as Claude sat down on the sidewalk, wrapping his tail around his paws.

"Don't scare me like that," Ichimatsu mumbled, petting Claude on the head. Claude just purred quietly, pushing his head even further into Ichimatsu's hand. "I was worried..."

Claude just stared up at Ichimatsu, his eyes showing nothing but love for his master. It was almost as if he were saying sorry to him, but for future incidents.

"Are you going to come home now then?" Ichimatsu asked, knowing how stupid his question was. Yet, as he began to walk away, Claude didn't follow him.

"Claude?" Ichimatsu called out, turning around, finding that the cat was still just sitting there. "Come on! I have to actually go to school today, you know..."

The fog slowly began to lift as the sun began to finally rise.

Claude gave Ichimatsu one last mew, a mew of farewell, as he arose to his paws, taking off across the street, getting hit by a passing car in just seconds.

Ichimatsu was utterly speechless as the car just kept on going, leaving Claude's flattened body in the street. But no tears came to his eyes. He always knew he was too pathetic to even save a single cat.

"I failed again, didn't I?" Ichimatsu thought, feeling completely emotionless. "No matter how hard I try, it'll never be enough. Never..."