Noir is an intelligent black cat with amber eyes who lives in a warm, watercolor-like world. His favorite spot is the top of an old bookshelf in his owner's study, which serves as his private 'castle.' One afternoon, Noir's owner discovers a mysterious golden bookmark—a magical item that causes the story within a book to slightly overflow into reality. When a sudden wind carries the bookmark out the window, Noir embarks on his first adventure outside the house. Following clues through the town,
Noir the Cat and the Vanished Bookmark - "Episode 14: Gen"
The dawn of Edo breaks with a crisp and cheerful sound.
The bustle of morning preparations at the tenement houses, the calls of peddlers shouldering their carrying poles, and then——
"Ah, there's Gen! Gen's looking this way!"
A small girl's voice rang out in an alley near Kanda.
The one being called out to was a single black cat. Its glossy black short fur, not a speck of dirt upon it, glistened in the morning sun like fine velvet. But what drew the eye most of all were the amber eyes that shone brilliantly in the center of its face, beautiful as a full moon.
This black cat named Gen was the neighborhood's most famous "idol," known to one and all.
In those days of Edo, black cats were treasured almost religiously as "lucky cats" blessed with "night vision that could see through any darkness," believed capable of warding away all manner of evil spirits, calamities, thieves, and other misfortunes that might creep into one's home.
"Gen, please chase away any ill fortune from our house today."
"Come over here, I'll give you a nice sardine head."
With the self-interested pleas and affectionate voices of humans at his back, Gen let out a small "Hmph" through his nose, swished his graceful tail, and leaped up onto the rooftop. Humans were dramatic and noisy creatures. But the fish they gave him wasn't half bad. Gen lived contentedly in this carefree way throughout Edo.
But that summer, Gen's amber eyes would come to perceive a "true crisis" creeping toward the town of Edo.
*"The Lucky Cat of Edo Races Through the Night"*
One evening at dusk, Gen found himself at a weathered tenement house on the edge of Kanda.
In one corner of that building lived Souji, a skilled ornamental craftsman in dire poverty, and his seven-year-old daughter, Ochiyo.
Souji was now engaged in the work of a lifetime.
He had been commissioned by one of Edo's finest merchants to create an exquisitely detailed golden and silver hairpin for a daimyo's daughter to wear at her wedding ceremony. If he succeeded, he could escape the tenement life and buy Ochiyo a new kimono. Forgetting food and sleep, night after night Souji wielded his chisel by the light of a small lamp.
But several days ago, Ochiyo had begun to grow fearful when night fell.
"Father, when night comes, I can see so many 'black eyes' watching me from inside the ceiling and beneath the floorboards.... It seems like they're after your important hairpin. It frightens me."
"Ochiyo, that's just your imagination. You're simply sleep-deprived."
Souji smiled gently, but his hands trembled slightly from exhaustion.
From the roof above, watching the scene unfold, Gen's amber eyes could see clearly what Ochiyo called the "black eyes."
They were not mere rats invisible to human sight.
They were **"calamity beasts"**—tangible manifestations of the mud and moisture that had accumulated in the tenement's floor space for decades, mixed with the negative emotions of resentment and anxiety from the impoverished people of the neighborhood. Drawn to the breathtaking brilliance of the hairpin Souji was creating, they sharpened their claws in the darkness, ready to devour it.
That night, as Ochiyo sat alone at the back entrance of the tenement, Gen drifted down to her feet.
"Ah... the black cat with eyes like amber."
Tears began to roll down Ochiyo's cheeks. She gently stroked Gen's warm black fur with her small hand.
"The black cat chases away bad things in the night, doesn't it? Please, protect Father. Protect Father's precious hairpin...."
Gen gazed steadily at Ochiyo's face.
It was a pure and earnest wish—so different from the greed-filled veneration that the wealthy merchants usually directed at him.
Gen let out a short "Meow," then pressed his cold nose firmly against her palm.
*(Well, I suppose I'll collect tonight's fish payment in advance.)*
That night in Edo was a new moon.
Literally pitch black, unable to see even an inch ahead. The wind had stilled, and an eerie silence wrapped around the tenement.
Exhausted, Souji had gone to bed, and Ochiyo was already breathing softly in sleep.
At the Hour of the Ox, in the dead of night.
Finally, it began to move.
"Scratch... scritch-scratch..."
From beneath the tenement's floorboards, a murky shadow crawled upward. It bore the forms of hundreds of rats, yet its body undulated like smoke, and its eyes glowed with a murky red light—a horde of **calamity beasts**.
The creatures crept straight toward the nearly completed beautiful silver hairpin resting on Souji's work table.
But then, tearing through the darkness like a blade, two dazzling amber lights ignited.
"—Fssshhhhhhhhhh!!"
Standing astride the work table was Gen.
Transformed completely from his daytime leisurely demeanor, his entire short coat of fur stood on end like needles, his sharp claws gleaming.
Even in absolute darkness, Gen's amber eyes could see the movements of the calamity beasts with perfect clarity.
A thrilling hunting instinct coursed through Gen's body.
With a sharp sound, Gen raked the empty air, and a keen blade-like gust of spiritual power shot forth, obliterating the lead calamity beast. But the enemy's numbers were overwhelming. From the darkness beneath the floor, red eyes kept pouring forth endlessly.
*(Hmph, they've got numbers, I'll give them that!)*
Gen leaped down from the work table and raced across the narrow beams of the tenement at wind-like speed.
With loud clattering sounds, he deliberately knocked objects to the floor—a spectacular display of acrobatic combat. Gen kicked over wooden boxes on the shelves and hurled them down onto the heads of the calamity beasts.
In the midst of this intense feline action, Gen skillfully drove the beasts away from Souji's work table, herding them outside the tenement.
He would never let anyone soil this precious work that meant everything to Ochiyo's father.
In the narrow alley before the tenement, Gen was surrounded by countless red eyes.
The calamity beasts merged into one, transforming into a colossal black shadowed monstrosity that lunged at Gen. Cold winds howled, stirring up mud in the alley.
Gen pushed powerfully off the ground and leaped directly at the giant shadow's face.
In that moment, the voices of the humans he had met that day echoed through Gen's mind.
"Here, Gen, take this as a charm."
"Thank you so much for always protecting our town."
The faith in the "lucky cat" and gratitude that the people of Edo had poured into Gen daily now transformed into an explosive surge of light energy within his small body.
The instant Gen's amber eyes flew wide open in mid-air, a golden light so brilliant it completely banished the night's darkness poured forth, flooding the entire alley.
"Mrrrrrrrraaaaaaowwww!!!"
It was the roar of the great Edo lucky cat that rends asunder all evil.
The calamity monster, struck directly by the golden light, had no time even to scream before it dissolved like mist into that radiant glow.
When Gen's senses cleared, a gentle, warm morning light was already beginning to filter in from the eastern sky.
The peaceful morning of Edo town had returned.
"Wow...! It's so beautiful...!"
The next morning, a cry of wonder erupted from Souji's room.
The completed silver hairpin, bathed in the morning light, gleamed with an almost divine radiance, as if alive. Whether from the effects of the fierce battle the night before or from having been touched by Gen's spiritual light, the hairpin bore not a single blemish, transformed into a supreme masterpiece that would captivate all who beheld it.
"Father, it's amazing! The samurai lord will surely be delighted!"
Ochiyo jumped with joy, and then her gaze fell upon a corner of the room.
There sat Gen, his fur slightly disheveled from the fierce battle, calmly licking his front paw.
Gen's amber eyes met Ochiyo's.
"Ah, the black cat!"
Ochiyo ran over and gently held Gen in her embrace.
"Thank you. You kept your promise, didn't you? Last night, I saw such beautiful golden light. The black cat protected Father and me, didn't it?"
The warmth of small arms wrapped around him.
Souji too, as if understanding everything, bowed deeply before Gen.
"Gen... you chased away our ill fortune. Thank you, truly and sincerely."
Souji carefully prepared the freshest small fish he could afford to buy with what little coin he had, and placed it before Gen.
Compared to the luxury of salted grilled sea bream that the wealthy merchants gave him, it was truly humble and modest fare.
Yet Gen purred with evident delight, his throat producing a loud "Purr-purr, purr-purr"—louder than ever before.
As Ochiyo gently stroked his back while he ate, that small fish tasted far more exquisite than any dish from Edo's finest restaurants.
Days later, Souji's hairpin sold for an excellent price, and warmth and smiling faces returned to the father and daughter's lives.
Today too, the streets of Edo rang with the voices of delighted people: "I saw a black cat! How auspicious!"
Gen chased after the fluttering hem of the new, vividly colored kimono that had been bought for Ochiyo, and then leaped lightly up onto a tall rooftop.
Beneath Edo's clear blue sky, Gen's amber eyes continued to gaze lovingly over this bustling town where his beloved humans made their home.
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