The Fourteen Years I Spent as a Cat

Chapter 8: My dear girly

Since then, the seasons have cycled once more.

After the girly started to attend college, she started to date a man and brought him back home in her second year of college.

Just like the man who was so surprised he was rendered speechless, the other youngster was also showing an undisguisable look of surprise. It seems like the girly’s boyfriend didn’t know that her father was a great author. This meant that the girly didn’t spread word about who her father was around the school.

I had been thinking, hoping that no good for nothing fame seeking person would approach her, but looks like you took care of that yourself, girly.

The other man was a salaryman called Noguchi, and was six years older than the girly.

He had an aura similar to that of the Itou family’s man, and his eyes, looking at both the girly and us, were warm and gentle.

Looking at this man who was both older and had tender mannerisms, I instinctively thought that he was a fine fit for the girly. Next to both the woman and I, who approved of him, it was only the man, the father, who looked rather troubled.

If I had to describe it though, it felt like he was confused, not knowing if he should be happy or cry.

However, after being with him for a little bit, we were able to once again determine that Noguchi was truly a very nice person. Furthermore, knowing that he was a very avid reader, the man and Noguchi started to open up to one another after a little while. Sometimes he would, of his own volition, invite Noguchi over to the house to discuss books, further blossoming their relationship.

Lying on the lap of the girly, who gazed upon that scene happily, I felt relieved, and shut my eyes in satisfaction.

The girly had grown up to be a very beautiful woman. Her long black hair flowed down to her back, and she was looking at me with her clear eyes. Brushing me with her long, slender fingers, she called out my name, “Kuro”, with a mature, womanly voice. It was a voice that sounded very similar to her own mother’s.

I could feel that the girly was about to go into the real world, hearing that calming voice that seemed to reverberate through my old body, one that was no longer capable of running around the place.

※※※

Graduating from college, the girly went ahead and married Noguchi just like that.

At the girly’s request, Noguchi gave me an invitation to the wedding reception as well. The reason being, “For some reason, when I look at you, I feel something similar to that of Itou-san.”

It’s probably because, just like the man, I love the girly just like a daughter.

Perhaps, this Noguchi fellow might be quite sharp indeed.

Leaning forward from the lap of the man, sitting in the seat of honour, I looked at the girly dressed in her wedding dress.

‘She’s the most beautiful bride in the whole world.’ Was what I thought.

Looking at the girly who was so happy she was moved to tears, I extended my whole-hearted blessings to her.

I felt something warm raising up from my chest, overwhelming me, and welling up my black eyes. This was my first time realising that raising a child was such a fulfilling matter.

Thus, the girly left our house and started her own life.

In the living room, the photos of the girly’s high school graduation, her coming of age ceremony, and finally her wedding ceremony were hung up. My body had already become incapable of even climbing up the cabinet and so the man, aware of this, put them up in places where I could see them. Even though I was sitting on the sofa, I could see them without a problem.