114. Cohabitation: Little Things and Such (5)

Nearly 99%, no, simply 100%, but just in case, I asked for the shared recording file, so Aki could hear it too.

Via Bluetooth, I received the recording, which held a sound of unknown lament, and sent the downstairs woman back with a promise to inform her should I discover anything new. Immediately I went to the kitchen, helped Aki into her clothes, and sat her on a chair at the dining table.

“Darling, what is it? Who was that?”

Tilting her head, Aki asked with an utterly innocent face.

Judging by her question, she hadn’t heard my conversation with the woman below. No need to beat around the bush, I pulled out my phone.

Placing it on the table, I opened the recording app. Aki’s eyes widened as she looked back and forth between me and the phone.

“Oh? What’s this?”

“Remember this morning, when I said someone left a note on our door complaining about cat noises?”

“Uhm. I remember…?”

“That person who left the note lives downstairs. Apparently, the cat noises were so loud, she came up to complain.”

“Eh…? We don’t have a cat, though.”

“Yes. So I told her. I told her we don’t have a cat. If she didn’t believe me, she could come in and check for herself.”

“Oh, really? What did she say then?”

“She said she understood and was about to leave. But I stopped her. Something felt strange, right? We don’t have a cat, yet these cat sounds keep happening.”

Aki nodded slowly, as if urging me to continue. I tapped the recording files on the app with my finger.

“When I asked why she was so insistent, she said our cat cries all the time, without end. She could bear it if it was just a little, but it’s too loud, so she even recorded it. This… this is that recording. So, I listened to it.”

“Yes. You listened to it?”

“……”

For a moment, I was speechless.

The cat noises the downstairs woman had played for me… I couldn’t very well say, ‘It sounds awfully similar to the noises you and I make during, ahem, *intimate* moments…’

I was pondering how to explain all of this, when Aki leaned forward.

“Darling…?”

“…Want to hear it, for now?”

“Huh? Ah, should I?”

“Just a moment…”

I pressed the oldest file.

The recording, from a month ago, titled with the unknown lament, slowly began to play.

─…….

─…….

─…….

─Haa, haang, haeu, haa, haaa….

─Eut, euung, heueung, eu-eut, u-eu-eut…!

─Hat, at, at, haat, haat, haeu-eu…♡

─……silence.

Playback ended.

I rested my hand on the table, glancing sideways at Aki.

Aki was listening with an expression that seemed to say, “This is really… a cat’s meow?” Then, a faint understanding seemed to dawn on her, and her face flushed slightly.

“Husband, is this really… a cat sound?”

“It seems like it… but I’m not sure. Want to hear another one?”

“U-ung. Play it. I need to listen to know for sure….”

I pressed down firmly on the second oldest file.

As the recording file, dated about three weeks prior, began to play, a sound similar to the cries we’d just heard echoed through the kitchen.

─At, hee-geuk, heuk, heueu-geuk….

─At, at…. Eut, haat, haaat…♡

─Heueung, heu-eut, heueu-eut, hueu-eung…!

─……silence.

“……How about that?”

“…….”

Aki’s face flushed even more.

If she had looked dubious just a moment ago, now she looked about 70% sure.

“It’s… ambiguous…? I also….”

“……Really?”

“Y-yes. It’s somewhat ambiguous. It sounds like a cat sound. But also… like a person’s sound, maybe….”

“I see. Then…”

There was no other choice but to play the third file.

Beep-.

─…….

─…….

─Eut…. Haa…. At, heu-eut….

─ *Hueuung, hueung, hueueut, hueueueung…♡*

─ *Heueut, heugeueut, heueut, heueueueut…♡*

This one, though shorter, possessed an intense impact.

Could this truly be a sound a cat made? It was so suggestive, so frankly woman-like, that those were the only voices one could hear within the twenty-second recording.

Aki listened to the recorded sound, then, unable to bear it any longer, squeezed her eyes shut.

Her cheeks were flushed, making her subtly cute, but I didn’t let on. Instead, I cleared my throat with a dry “Ahem,” and asked, “What do you think?”

“…I, I don’t know. Cat…sound. …Or not?”

Aki couldn’t meet my gaze and kept looking down at the table.

Judging by her reaction, she seemed to already be convinced herself. But I didn’t bother pointing it out.

*Isn’t she cute?*

“There’s more left. Want to play them?”

“Huh? Ah, no….”

“Why?”

“Ah, um. Well, I, I think we can stop listening….”

“You want to stop…?”

I narrowed my eyes slightly and gazed at Aki.

There was no particular intent behind it, I was merely looking. But Aki, as if she were caught red-handed, flinched and shrank her shoulders.

“Ah, n-no. Let’s keep listening, then….”

“Mm. Understood. But this is the last one.”

“……Really?”

“Oops, my bad. There are still two more.”

“Eh, eh…?!”

*Beep.*

─ *Hek, hek, heet, hyahoong…. Heut, haueut…. *

─ *Hek, hek, hek, hek, heeeek…. *

─ *Heugeut, heut, heugeueut, heugeueueut…♡*

*Beep.*

─ *Hikyak…! Ah, Keo, keoeot…. Haat, aat, haaat…. *

─ *Heuk, heuk, heuk, aat, Sa, sal, saal, aat…♡*

—Hiccup, hic, sob, sob, hiccup….

*Beep-*

—Haaah, haaa, haaa…♡

—Ahn, hng, haaa, hgh, hiccup…!

—Haaah, ah, ah, ah, ah….

—……Silence.

Playback finished.

A total of six files, recorded roughly every three to four days.

Some of them sounded like genuine cat noises, maybe even a little strange. Others were pitched so high they sounded like someone else entirely… But a few, a precious few, were undeniably Aki.

How did I know? Aki has this peculiar sound she makes when her body trembles. I’m sure she’s aware of it too. It’s not like we’ve only done the deed once or twice.

“These days, cats… Their cries are a little peculiar, aren’t they?”

“…….”

“Almost like a person’s voice, no?”

“…….”

“Tsk. Or am I wrong…?”

“…….”

Aki’s face is flushed crimson.

Judging by her complexion alone, it’s clear she’s caught on. But I feigned ignorance and retracted my phone.

That was the moment.

*Thwack-*!

Aki seized my wrist, the one holding the phone.

“W-wait a second. Darling…”

“Eh? What’s wrong?”

“Give, give me the phone…”

“Why suddenly the phone?”

“……Just give it to me. …Now!”

Aki put strength into her grip, trying to snatch my phone away. If it comes down to a battle of strength, I have the upper hand. I held onto the phone in my hand, resisting her.

“Eek…! I said give it to me…!”

“No, why? You have to tell me the reason.”

“Why do I need a reason…?! A girlfriend, wanting to borrow her boyfriend’s phone…!”

“Akiya, even if we’re dating, we need to respect each other’s privacy… Uh, uh…?”

Her embarrassment must have crossed some threshold, because she’s exerting all her strength despite knowing it won’t work. At the same time, she’s wriggling, inching closer, but I’m holding onto my phone, focused on her condition. If she stumbles and falls, I need to be ready to catch her.

“Gimme, gimme! Hurry, gimmeee…!”

Akiya clung to my wrist with all the strength she could muster. And in that moment, it happened. Whether her hand slipped or not, Akiya, who was leaning forward, lost her balance.

I’d been watching, expecting this, so I immediately grabbed her. Or rather, instead of grabbing, I caught her body against my chest.

As a result, I felt a light impact. Luckily, neither of us was hurt. Akiya looked up at me with wide, surprised eyes.

“Ah…! S-sorry. Are you okay…?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. How about you, Akiya?”

“Ah, I-I’m okay too…”

“Really? Good, then,”

I chuckled softly, looking down at Akiya.

Akiya seemed to have fallen for me all over again, her lips fluttering as if slightly embarrassed before she pulled away from me.

“Y-you know, you could have just given me the phone…”

“What are you going to do with my phone?”

“…Because I need to delete the file.”

“Huh? What was that?”

“I-I need to, delete, the file…!”

“Delete the file? Why?”

“…….”

Akiya clamped her mouth shut.

She seemed to be debating whether or not to tell the truth. I didn’t press her, I waited patiently.

Then, she hesitantly began to speak.

“Darling, didn’t you notice…?”

“Notice? Notice what?”

“W-well. Th-that’s to say…”

“……?”

“……Well, that is!”

Akiya took a deep breath.

And exhaling heavily, as if having made a decision, she finally spoke.

“That, that cat meowing sound… …That’s my voice, you know.”

“Huh? What’s that sound?”

“Ah… Ata… Atashi, sound-uguu. Ata, shi….”

“Ah… That sound, it came from you, Aki?”

“Uht, uh-huh…”

Aki nods her head with difficulty.

I figured I’d teased her enough for now.

I said, my voice casual.

“I knew.”

“……Eh?”

“I knew. That the sound was coming from you, Aki.”

“…….”

Aki snapped her mouth shut.

Her words seemed to fail her in a different way than before, she stared up at me with dazed eyes.

“……Ah, you knew?”

“Yeah, I knew.”

“Uh, since when…?”

“Since when… it wasn’t even like that, I knew the instant I heard it, I guess? ……We’ve done a lot of, *you know*, naughty stuff.”

I whispered in Aki’s ear. She shuddered for a moment, as if tickled by it.

But that was only for a second, Aki’s face gradually reddened, as if anger was rising within her.

Her face like a blazing radish, she looked up at me and grabbed the hem of my clothes.

“So, you’re saying… you knew from the start, and you intentionally let me make the sounds…?”

“Yeah. I wanted to see your reaction.”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“…….”

“Yaa! You big dumb idiot!”