Hitorijime My Hero

Plus One

It was raining outside, in fact, it was pouring. Masahiro and I threw on our raincoats before getting Shigeo into her little yellow one. We didn't get far before Shigeo started jumping in every puddle she saw causing Masa and I to get mud all over us. Shigeo loves the rain, but we can never stay outside for too long because it would cause at least one of us to catch a cold. As we continued walking Shigeo stopped suddenly, we assumed that she just needed to do her business but she didn't move. She eventually started barking in the direction of the dumpsters. Masahiro handed me her leash and walked towards the rusty thing. He moves behind it and comes out with a small dirty kitten in his hands. The kitten was clearly in pain. We rushed home and got Shigeo inside before we got into my car and gunned it to the nearest vet.

The vet took the kitten into a room as Masahiro and I waited in the empty lobby. Turns out the cat had no tracking chip and was only a month old. She was also a girl who wasn't neutered and was partially blind. The poor girl had to be cleaned and get fleas removed. We were there for a while comforting the tiny creature.

"Who would do that for the poor thing?" Masahiro mumbled.

"I don't know, it's so cruel"

We sat in silence for some time until Masa spoke up.

"She reminds me a bit of myself"

"How so?"

"The poor girl was abandoned and left to live or die. She needed someone to save her, take care of her, and love her. That's what I needed, then I found you. You saved me. Kousuke...can we keep her? Can we save her?" He asked.

This took me by surprise, the amount of love he had for this small thing and how much he related to her was breathtaking. It made sense. The two of them are similar in that way. I put my arm around my husband.

"What'd you want to name her?" I said and his eyes lit up.

He thought for a bit before he came up with the name "Eclipse".

Once the vet finished what she was doing and asked us questions that we didn't have the answers to. We had to explain the story to her and she informed us that it was sadly a common thing that happens when a stray cat gives birth to kittens it is rare that these kittens survive and that the tiny animal was lucky we found it when we did. The vet handed us the flea medication and told us that it'd be best for us to keep her separate from the other pets until her fleas go away. We scheduled a follow-up appointment for two weeks from today.

By the time we got home, it was very late and the two of us were exhausted. We decided to keep Eclipse in my office until she was in the clear.

The following day Masahiro and I went to the pet store he works at to get material for our new kitten.

"Setagawa?! What're you doing here? Are you covering for someone?" a young girl behind the counter asked.

"No, I'm just picking up a few things" He explained.

The young woman moved from her station a held her hand out to me

"I'm Mae, you must be Setagawa's husband! He's told me so much about you," she said with a smile.

I chuckled and shook her hand as Masahiro begged her to stop talking. Mae and I talked for a bit while Masahiro went around the shop picking up things such as a new bed, food dish, and the works. We checked out and Masa got his employee discount. Once we got home I set up everything in the office.

Welcome to the family little Eclipse.

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Hi everyone!

I'm sorry for not posting for the past two months. I've been super busy with finishing my degree and wrapping up a show I was in. I'm also moving next month so I can't guarantee that I'll post next month. Anyways, I hope you all have an amazing holiday no matter what you celebrate and an excellent new year!!

(Also this is part 69...hehe)

~🐝