Ichimatsu walked all the way back to the alleyway, Harvey's warm body still close to his chest, making him even warmer than it already was outside.

Before Ichimatsu sat down in between his two trash bins, he pulled the lid off of one of the bins and placed it on the ground. Pouring a little bit of the cat food in the lid, he fed Harvey, hoping and praying that he would be able to keep this cat healthy in such a bad environment.

"Shshsh..." Ichimatsu whispered, watching Harvey literally inhale the cat food. Harvey wasn't a thin cat, but he certainly wasn't fat. Yet the way he was acting was like he hadn't eaten in days! Was this even normal for house cats?

"Meroow," Harvey mewed, sitting down, wrapping his white fluffy tail around his paws like he was cold. The cat bowed his head, almost like he was thanking Ichimatsu for his meal.

"No problem..." Ichimatsu mumbled, smiling as he sat down in between the two trash bins. Harvey immediately lunged himself into Ichimatsu's lap, purring loudly as he butted his head on his chest.

Ichimatsu's smile grew as he stroked the cat, making Harvey purr even more loudly than he had been.

"You sure are an affectionate cat, aren't you?" Ichimatsu mumbled as Harvey stopped purring and just curled up on his lap, falling back asleep. His breathing was extremely calming. A slow rise, a slow fall, gentle as can be.

"You won't be able to do this...you won't be able to do this!" Ichimatsu thought as his heart began to beat quickly. "How long have you been struggling to just feed yourself? Weeks? Months?! How do you expect to take care of Harvey?! He's such a sweet cat to just lose! If he dies, it's all your fault! You know that, don't you? DON'T YOU?!"

Ichimatsu cringed and closed his eyes, hoping he would just fall asleep and forget his thoughts. But no, the thoughts lingered in his mind.

"You'll just fail again. You'll fail everyone. Harvey will die because of you, won't he? Harvey won't be able to survive in this heat or the winter cold! He's been a house cat, hasn't he? Where will he go all day while you're at work, huh? Just wander around until he gets hit by a car? And tying him to one of the trash bins wouldn't be a very wise option either! That's animal abuse.." Ichimatsu thought in vain. "You're just trash. You can't do anything right. You never will be able to. If Harvey even lasts a week, you'll be lucky, won't you, Ichimatsu?"

Ichimatsu looked up at the sky, sighed, then looked back down at Harvey. Just the slow pattern of his breathing gave Ichimatsu the confidence that he could do it.

"But who are you?" Ichimatsu thought, "People call you Ichimatsu, but who are you really? Surely this isn't meant to be. Surely my existence is just all one big lie. Surely...surely none of this is even real..."