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 9: Charcoal 2"
At the Shinsengumi barracks, a black cat named Sumi with short fur and amber-colored eyes would hide in the haori of Okita Toshizo, the commander of the first squad, stealing glances while sharing secret white dango with him under Hijikata Toshizo's stern gaze.
The gentle smile that Toshizo—feared as a genius swordsman—showed only before Sumi, and the sunny veranda where they sat together, were the warmest refuge in the turbulent streets of Kyoto.
Yet into this cherished daily life, a quiet "shadow" had begun to creep closer, inch by inch, but ever so surely.
*"The Amber Light ~ A Promise Between a Black Cat and a Genius Swordsman"*
The wind sweeping through the streets of Kyoto grew gradually colder.
As always, atop the roof of the Shinsengumi barracks, the black cat Sumi lay curled into a ball. Her short coat melted into the darkness like ink, with only her amber-colored eyes glowing softly in the twilight like a paper lantern.
Yet recently, the landscape those eyes watched over had begun to change, subtly but unmistakably.
"Cough, cough...!"
A violent fit of coughing pierced through the silence of the night.
Sumi stepped soundlessly across the roof tiles and leaped down to the familiar veranda. Sliding through a gap in the shoji screen, she entered the room to find Okita Toshizo lying on futon, pressing his chest as his shoulders heaved violently.
"...Ah, it's you, Sumi. Sorry, did I wake you?"
Toshizo smiled weakly and reached a pale hand from beneath the bedding. The fingers that once gripped a wooden sword, feared as those of a genius swordsman, were now surprisingly thin and trembled faintly.
Sumi approached quietly and laid her warm body against his chest.
She purred low in her throat—it was the best encouragement she could offer, her way of saying, "It will be alright."
"You're so warm... When I have your warmth and the smell of sunshine, somehow I still feel like I could fight..."
Toshizo gently stroked Sumi's back.
But his palm no longer held its former strength.
Sumi watched with her amber eyes as drops of red blood would seep onto the white paper handkerchief Toshizo occasionally held to his mouth. She was a beast. She could not speak. But precisely because she could not understand words, she sensed the scent of "death's shadow" creeping toward Toshizo's body far more keenly than anyone else.
Hijikata Toshizo's stern shouts and Kondou Isami's booming laughter gradually grew distant from this room.
Toshizo's condition worsened, and he was removed from squad duties, forced to rest in seclusion at the back of the barracks. The once-lively room was now governed by isolated silence.
One afternoon.
Warm spring sunlight streamed ironically beautifully through the veranda.
Toshizo opened a small paper package with trembling hands that had been placed at his pillow. Inside were two white dango that had grown somewhat hard.
"Sumi, come here..."
At the rustling sound, Sumi approached the futon.
"You know, one of the younger men at the barracks brought these to me in secret, saying 'for Toshizo-sensei.' If Hijikata-san finds out, he'll scold me again about 'discipline loosening!'"
Toshizo tried to wink mischievously as he once had, but his eyelids were heavy, his lashes trembling faintly.
He broke the dango into small pieces and brought one to Sumi's mouth.
"Here, eat up. Our secret sweet treat."
Sumi sniffed it carefully.
The dango carried the scent of Toshizo's sweat, a faint hint of blood, and an undeniable gentleness. She ate it affectionately, then gently licked his fingertips with her rough tongue.
"That tickles, Sumi..."
Toshizo laughed softly. But his laughter soon turned into a small cough.
"...Hey, Sumi. We promised once, didn't we? That I'd become a black cat and we'd walk together on the roofs."
Toshizo gazed at the ceiling, his eyes distant.
"If I could really be reborn, I'd want to become a black cat like you next time. Without carrying a sword, just walking beside you, wrapped in the smell of sunshine, napping peacefully in the afternoon. That alone would be more than enough..."
Sumi pressed her wet nose gently against Toshizo's cheek.
Her amber-colored eyes, like a lantern, wavered sadly.
Eventually, the Shinsengumi left Kyoto.
As the war situation deteriorated, Toshizo was sent to Edo, where he was forced to live in hiding in a cottage behind a plant nursery in Sendagaya.
Sumi followed him.
She did not stay at the now-empty barracks where the other Shinsengumi men had gone. She simply pursued that young man who emanated that "smell of sunshine," following him like a shadow across the distant road.
The cottage behind the nursery was quiet.
The garden was overgrown with early summer greenery, and the wind rustled the leaves gently.
Toshizo, lying on futon, could no longer lift himself up on his own.
"Sumi... are you there...?"
A hoarse voice, fading as if about to disappear.
Sumi walked silently beside the futon and rubbed her head against Toshizo's emaciated palm.
"Ah, you're here. My eyes... I can barely see anymore. But I can feel your warmth so clearly."
Toshizo's hand weakly stroked Sumi's head.
"I'm sorry. I don't think I can keep the promise... I wanted to walk on the roof with you..."
Toshizo's breathing grew shallower and shallower.
Sumi knew what she had to do now.
She jumped softly onto his chest and looked down at his face. Then, in the darkness where nothing else could shine, she turned her amber eyes—like a full moon that would never fade—toward his dimming gaze.
*—I am here, Toshizo.*
*—The light that illuminates your darkness is here.*
Sumi purred, louder and warmer than ever before. Purr, purr. It was like a final beacon for the departing young man.
"...How beautiful," Toshizo whispered faintly.
"Sumi's eyes... they're just like a lantern light. Even in a dark night... I feel... safe..."
With those words, strength drained from Toshizo's hand.
His thin fingers fell gently to the tatami, and Sumi licked them one last time with her rough tongue.
But the "smell of sunshine" no longer came from them.
It was not the streets of Kyoto. It was a quiet night in Edo.
When evening descended, a single black cat sat perched on the roof of the plant nursery cottage.
Sumi's short fur was the color of fine ink, pure black, disappearing completely into the night's darkness. Yet her large eyes alone reflected the full moon floating in the night sky, glowing gently in amber.
Sumi gazed up at the night sky.
Through a gap in the drifting clouds, a single star seemed to twinkle brightly.
Sumi gave a small, gentle cry: "Meow."
It was the same short, warm meow she had given in response to her beloved companion on the veranda long ago.
Sumi would continue to shine her amber eyes for all the days to come.
For the day when that young man, now free as a black cat, would find her and walk beside her on the roofs.
The promise between them still lives quietly on, carried by the night wind.
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