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 16: Kuro"
Under the moonlight, atop the roof of an old shrine. Here stood what was simultaneously the supreme court, social hub, and tonight—the stage for "history's most fruitless grand debate" among the cats of this town.
"I am the fortune cat supreme!"
It had all begun a few hours earlier at dusk. A test-taker had come to the shrine, popped open the lid of premium tuna cat food, and offered it with these words:
"To the luckiest cat here, I beg you. Please help me pass my entrance exam!"
After the student left behind was a single can of premium tuna—and several cats.
"Hey, who gets to eat this?"
"Well, it should go to the luckiest one among us. The most fortune-blessed cat, obviously."
Thus began an unscrupulous battle of assertions, with pride and appetite on the line.
A black cat with short fur that melted into the night sky and amber eyes gleaming like jewels—this was Kuro, the somewhat reluctant protagonist of our tale. Standing proudly on the roof's ridge, he declared in a loud voice:
"Hear me, foolish brethren! This can is mine. Look across the world—the black cat is the true fortune cat. In England, we are messengers of the gods bearing wealth and prosperity! In Japan during the Edo period, we were charms against tuberculosis. In other words, the fortune of this entire town rests in my paws!"
Yet his words were met with a snort from Miken, a calico with perfectly groomed fur, commonly known as "Miken-guy."
"Oh please, Kuro. Spouting old superstitions like that. You should study genetics. I am a male calico cat. Born at odds of one in several thousand—this miracle of probability has made me, since ancient times, a 'treasure that saves sailors from shipwreck,' worshipped desperately by those who sail the seas. Don't lump me together with every black furball around. The can is mine."
At Miken-guy's smug expression, the rough-and-tumble stray cats around him cheered: "That's our Miken-guy!" "Overwhelmingly rare!"
"Hold on just a minute. If we're talking rarity, I'm no slouch either."
A sharp voice cut through the commotion—Luna, a beautiful white cat with heterochromatic eyes, one eye a mystical blue and the other a brilliant gold.
"These eyes of mine see through heaven and earth. In the Thai royal court, heterochromia is cherished as a 'guardian deity that brings happiness' within the palace itself. You boys are always going on about probabilities and history, but true fortune lies in beauty. It's a hundred years too early for your filthy mouths to eat premium cat food."
Kuro's tail stood on end.
"No, these amber eyes can precisely see the moment my owner opens a tube of treats! That's practical fortune!"
Then, with a curved tail held proudly, Sabachan suddenly appeared.
"Well, well, beauty doesn't fill an empty belly."
She waved her "hooked tail"—a tail bent like a fishing hook designed to catch luck itself.
"I have a lucky hook tail. In Europe, it's a 'cross that catches and holds fortune,' and in Japan, it's 'the key to a storehouse that accumulates wealth.' No matter how much fortune you all summon, it means nothing if I don't hook it with this tail and keep it. Therefore, I shall manage—or rather, completely consume—the can."
"Now hold on, you rusty old key, you can't just forget I exist!"
With heavy footsteps came Otome, a large, plump tabby cat.
"I'm called a 'Money Cat' overseas! This striped pattern looks like fish bones, so I bring fishermen great catches! Look at this magnificent frame—this is the perfected form of the fortune cat, the god of abundance! I alone have the right to eat this can!"
The shrine roof erupted into chaos.
"I'm the rarest!"
"I'm the most mystical!"
"I catch and keep fortune!"
"Worship me, the Money Cat!"
Kuro was irritated. His black fur was the perfect hunter's coat, invisible in any darkness, yet here he was, losing ground in this absurd competition over the concept of "fortune." The can was slipping further away.
Then it happened.
"Hey, you lot! Cut out the fighting!"
A voice far too loud for its source echoed from below the roof. Torashichi, the elderly boss cat from the neighborhood—nothing but an ordinary brown tabby with no particularly rare features.
"Fortune cat? Luck? You all don't get it."
With eyes sharp despite his gaunt frame, Torashichi looked up at the roof cats.
"I've never once been called 'fortunate.' But because I'm here, visitors to this shrine get excited—'Oh, there's a cat!'—and bring fresh food every day. While you lot are busy feeling proud of being rare and special... I already finished that can the test-taker left behind. Isn't that the real fortune?"
"Huh?!"
They all looked down at Torashichi's feet. There lay the licked-clean, empty premium cat food can.
Silence fell. The roof's so-called dignitaries exchanged glances.
"...It's gone..."
"What was our whole argument about...?"
Kuro froze. While he'd been busy flaunting his fortune cat credentials, the can right before him had vanished. An ordinary brown tabby with actual initiative had seized the ultimate prize—tuna.
"We were just... all talk, weren't we..."
As Kuro's amber eyes grew sad, the sound of a camera shutter echoed through the shrine grounds.
"Oh! Amazing! There's a black cat on the roof, and a male calico, and a white cat with heterochromatic eyes, and a hooked-tail cat, and a tabby! How rare! What a lucky day!"
The test-taker was back, phone in hand, absolutely thrilled. Apparently, the cats' fierce stare-down over the can had appeared to him as a miraculous "fortune cat gathering."
Kuro straightened his back immediately.
"...Did you see that, everyone? It seems our gathering itself brought this human the greatest fortune."
Miken-guy puffed out his chest.
"Hmph, just as I calculated."
Luna's beautiful eyes sparkled.
"They were drawn to my beauty."
Sabachan wagged her tail.
"My hook caught that human's luck."
Otome stepped forward with heavy steps.
"Bow before us! Bring money!"
Kuro rallied the group.
"Come on, everyone, strike a pose! As messengers of fortune!"
In the end, the cats' "fortune cat showdown" concluded by delighting the human. The excited student said, "Let me add a tip!" and left an entire pack of cat food—four cans, all opened.
"Alright, time to divide these up!"
"I'm taking two!"
"Since I'm rare, I deserve one-point-five!"
"Wait, you're gonna split half a can four ways?!"
"Finders keepers!"
(Munch munch, lick lick...)
In the midst of their heated negotiation, a sound of greedy eating echoed from somewhere.
Startled, they looked down. There was a brown shadow, already finishing the first can and moving onto the second.
"Torashichi!!!!!!"
The fortune cats' anguished cries echoed across the night sky above the shrine.
——The next day, social media overflowed with posts like "Miraculous fortune cat gathering on the shrine roof! I got an A-rating on my practice test after praying!" And the cats, it seemed, would continue spreading "fortune" at the shrine while conveniently accepting premium treats.
"...So, what's tomorrow's plan?"
"Tomorrow evening, another stare-down on that roof."
Kuro's amber eyes would, today and tomorrow and beyond, continue cleverly drawing real luck alongside his companions.
"Oh, one more thing... don't tell Torashichi about this."
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