Peacock Blue Fei Fei pressed the man's face again.
Watching his face deform beneath its paw, it grinned.
It was rare to find a human who could see it.
It rather liked this human.
He was very kind to it.
Though sometimes he was a bit of a nuisance.
It had wanted to spend more time with him...
But this human had died.
Did humans really have such short lives?
The man's hair hadn't even turned completely white.
Peacock Blue Fei Fei was a little puzzled.
"I'm sick."
The words that suddenly rang out in its mind made it freeze.
Then a look of realization appeared on its face.
It remembered...
One afternoon, it had been looking through travel magazines with the man, deciding which place to dream about that night.
They had done this together many times.
The man would tell it about every picture and ask what it thought.
Even though he couldn't understand what it said.
But he had told it, "It feels like going on a trip with a friend."
A friend?
Were they... friends?
"Don't trust humans."
"Don't be friends with humans."
The same familiar voice, the same familiar words.
Yet it couldn't quite remember who had said them.
Peacock Blue Fei Fei shook its head.
If it couldn't remember, then it wouldn't think about it.
It could be friends with this human.
That inexplicable, presumptuous, self-righteous voice was just annoying. It could ignore it.
But that day was a little different from usual.
Because the man asked it a question.
"Little Guy, if I'm not here anymore, where will you go?"
It looked up at the man.
It didn't understand the question.
He wouldn't be here anymore?
Why wouldn't he be here anymore?
He was right here, just as