Ichimatsu locked the door to the Cat Cafe as he held a small brown paper bag under his arm. Ever since he had started to work full time, Makono would give him a free sandwich for dinner. Despite the fact that Ichimatsu hated to eat, the sandwiches always tasted surprisingly great.

It was finally the last day he would most likely ever see Makono in his entire life. She had to start school on Monday, and since it was the end of the week, the Cat Cafe was closed until that day.

Sighing, Ichimatsu walked down the street, staring at the beautiful pinkish sky.

"I guess this is it, isn't it..?" Ichimatsu thought. "Now that stupid moron Jyushimatsu is gonna be 'helping' me...more like hindering me from doing the small jobs I have to do. Heck..."

Ichimatsu crept into the alleyway, looking both ways, making sure nobody saw him. For some reason, the longer he stayed in the alleyway, the more uncomfortable he felt. This place was supposed to be home, not a place of discomfort.

Harvey mewed softly and rubbed his face on Ichimatsu's pants leg. Purring, he continued to rub his head on them until his master bent down to acknowledge him.

Gently rubbing Harvey on the head, a small smile spread across Ichimatsu's face.

"It's going to be hard, Harvey. I don't know what I'm going to do anymore..." Ichimatsu muttered, and Harvey stared him in the eyes, his ears slightly twitching as if he really were listening. "But...at least you're still here. I don't know what I would do without you..."

Harvey purred and closed his eyes, pushing his head into Ichimatsu's hand even harder.

"Tch...how can such a pure cat even be around trash like me? You'll just dirty yourself, you know. That's how I am with people, Harvey. The more I'm around them, the farther away they get from me. One day, they'll pretend to care, but the next, it's like I'm a complete stranger to them. That's trash, right? Right..." Ichimatsu mumbled, sitting down. And for once, he wasn't sitting in between his two favorite trash bins.

Pulling his sandwich out of his bag, Ichimatsu sighed. It didn't look that appetizing. Especially since he felt a tight knot rising up in his throat.

Gingerly, Ichimatsu took a petite bite, chewed for a moment, then swallowed it.

Harvey mewed sweetly, curling up on the ground beside Ichimatsu, wrapping his white tail around his paws.

And after a few moments, Harvey was fast asleep, and Ichimatsu had finished his sandwich.

Only seconds later did Ichimatsu begin to feel worse. Then came the vomiting.

Retching, Ichimatsu leaned over one of the trash bins, trying to hold it back. But the urge was far too strong, and it all ended coming back up.

Despite the fact that he couldn't hold it in, Ichimatsu was extremely disappointed in himself for some reason. He felt as if he had just failed someone very important to him.

Angrily, Ichimatsu grabbed his small box of cigarettes and ran to the park, leaving Harvey still fast asleep in the middle of the alleyway.