I tried to rest, but as soon as my mind drifted into deep sleep, the flashes of what happened came back all at once. The blood, the swords, the death, the anger, her body... I felt my body heat up, my heart race, and rage take over my being. My eyes burned.
I woke up gasping. Suddenly, my eyes burned as information came erupting in. When I woke up, my eyes wide open, I felt something wet trickle down my face. When I tried to wipe it away, tears of blood came out. I quickly closed my eyes again, grabbed a hoodie from the backpack, ripped it, and used it as a blindfold while trying to breathe more calmly. "Shit..."
When I looked to where the little cat was, she seemed scared and cowering in the corner of the tent. "Meow..."
"Ah... Do I look scary? Haha," I said jokingly. The kitten looked too frightened, constantly eyeing the tent exit. I looked at it, saw it was closed, and opened it. "You can go if you want. I only brought you because you were out cold. Didn't wanna leave you alone and vulnerable."
She looked at the exit and, with timid steps, headed towards it. When she got there, she looked outside, then back at me. "Mew?"
"What is it, squirt? Waiting for a goodbye or a hug? Not happening. If you wanna go, go. If you wanna stay, stay," I said, putting my arm over my eyes as I lay my head on the backpack. I then shoved my other hand inside it, pulling out a pack of candy. Just as I was about to put a piece in my mouth, the kitten jumped onto my chest.
"Meow!" She started scratching my chest with those little claws until she curled up into a ball, lying down on me.
"Brat, huh... Hmph. Feel lucky I'm all sore." I just ignored the feline's abuse and turned my attention to the candy. "What a shitty life."
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A Few Days Later...
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It's been a few days traveling through Japan. Ended up in Shibuya, but out of curiosity to see the city. As I walked, I felt the judgmental stares from most people around me. I guess having a blindfold on your face draws attention, huh.
"Meow!" I felt tiny paws tapping my head, as if hitting me, followed by a weak meow near my ear.
"What is it, squirt?" This kitten seems to like me or something. Since that day, she hasn't left my side. It's good to have company, though she's hiding something.
"Meow!" She looked towards an empty alley. When I opened my eyes, I felt something coming from that place.
Looking, I saw a small restaurant. I then looked at the kitten, who jumped off my head and started walking towards the restaurant. "Who said we're eating?"
She immediately stopped and looked at me, then ignored me and continued towards the restaurant.
"Annoying girl." I said that under my breath and started following the little cat until I caught up, picked her up, and put her inside my jacket. "Stay quiet. Not every place allows animals, so silence."
"Mewww~w~" she meowed softly and then snuggled into the hood of my clothes.
We entered the restaurant, which was in a small alley—seemed like one of those cult-favorite, hidden spots with great food. Upon entering, it was exactly what I was expecting: the kind of restaurant where you don't speak to order. I really wanted something like that.
I ordered a simple ramen dish. What came was a very complete bowl—I couldn't explain half the ingredients. I started tasting it.
"~It's pretty good," I said, more to myself, speaking very quietly.
The little kitten soon stuck her head out, sniffing the food. She looked hungry.
"~Pick something from here," I said quietly, bringing the menu close to where her face was poking out of my jacket.
She stared at the menu for a few seconds, pointing at a specific section with some grilled foods and a chicken fillet.
"~Figured I should expect something like that from you."
We spent a little time at the place eating, and when we finally finished, I decided to continue my little pilgrimage.
"Meow?" The kitten looked at me from my shoulder, touching my face with her paw.
"Where are we going?" I asked while continuing to walk, seeming somewhat aimless.
She didn't answer with words but touched her paw to my face again.
"...Maybe to the Kanto region... My master said it was a good place to live. Know it?"
"Mew?" She kinda looked at me with curiosity.
"Sometimes I forget that if you don't talk normally, I have to acquire meow interpretation skills now."
"Meow!!" She seemed kinda irritated by the joke and started hitting my head with her paw.
"The question is, how do we get there..." I stopped for a second, thinking about it.
'Can't leave traces, terrestrial or by name. Maybe ditching a public transport fare would be ideal...' I then looked at the little kitten.
"Do you think it's too long to walk from here to Kanto?"
"Meow?!" The kitten seemed genuinely surprised by this absurd question.
"Ah, come on, it's a good scouting trip, isn't it?" I said, smiling.
The kitten tried to jump away from me, and I grabbed her by the scruff.
"Come on, don't be shy. It'll be fun!"
"Meeeoowww!!!"
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1.5 days later...
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"What a shitty idea I had! We're only halfway there!!!!"
"Meow meow meow!" She seemed extremely tired even without walking, and frustrated—seemed like she was cussing me out too.
"You complain too much for a lazy cat," I said, poking her little head. "If you got up and walked for 30 minutes, it was a lot, you little furball."
"Meeeoooowwwwnnn" she opened her mouth and let out a long meow.
I was silent for a few seconds while walking until a doubt came to my mind, and I let it slip.
"You know, there's something that's been making me curious," I said, holding the little kitten in my hands, staring at her as always with my eyes closed.
"Mew?"
"Why don't you go back to your human form again? Or even talk?" My words were followed by silence.
A mood formed in the air with the question, and I got no usual response from the kitten. When she was about to open her mouth to make some sound, a small snowflake fell on her nose, making her sneeze.
"Achoo!" A very strong sneeze came from the little kitten. I could hear it.
"..." I held back my laugh for a few seconds until I let out a weak chuckle and put her back in my hood. "You don't have to explain now. After all, if you still have doubts about me, that's your choice. But I hope we can have a little trust in each other." I said, patting the little one's head. "After all, we're in this together, right?"
"Mew..." A soft meow could be heard as she snuggled into the hood.
I looked at the sky as I began to see the small snowflakes starting to fall, one by one.
"Seems like it's gonna get really cold," I said while continuing the relentless walk.
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The walk could have been more exciting if we'd been attacked by some kind of animal or something, but apparently, that wasn't the case.
We encountered a bear a little while after it started snowing, and as soon as it saw us, it looked like a cub scared of a predator and ran away... It was pretty anticlimactic.
Our journey continued peacefully. It took us a little over 3 days, counting breaks and sleep. About 5 days of walking until we reached a city. It was actually decently large. We were on a pretty big mountain where you could see the full panorama of the city.
I opened the map, trying to figure out exactly where we were.
"We passed Mount Fuji about 2 days ago... We must be... around here?" I pointed at the map while the kitten started staring at it with me.
"Meow, meow, mew!" She pointed a little ahead to what seemed like a city and then pointed to a landmark.
"Uhm.... ah, yeah, must be here... Kuoh? Strangely familiar. But if we're here, a little above should be Osaka... No, Nagoya. We're between Tokyo and Nagoya, in the mountains near here..." I pointed on the map to the green area above Toyohashi. "Thought we'd at least be in Nagoya by now." Seems like taking the mountain route wasn't a good idea.
"Meowhh" she meowed in a very tired way.
"And I think it's better we stay around here... Do you think we can find a place to get something to eat? We're running out of supplies." I looked down and saw we were pretty high up. "Fast or safe?"
The cat looked at me, jumped off my shoulder, and went to the edge, seeing the distance to the ground.
"Meow" she pointed down while looking at the abyss.
"You say that 'cause you always land on your feet, you brat!" I grabbed her and put her on my shoulder while looking down. "The gods have abandoned me!" I took a step forward, plummeting off the cliff.
The wind hitting my face and the speed of the fall were really invigorating. The ground approached rapidly. I held the little kitten firmly as the ground got closer. I spun my body to land on my feet.
...
A loud crash sound spread. The ground beneath me cracked with the force of the impact, deforming it a bit, and my legs... it looked like I'd jumped from a really high place, but nothing too serious, aside from the numbness that hit my body on impact.
"....Can't feel my legs." I sat on the ground. "That was a terrible idea. Why did I listen to you?"
The kitten seemed pleased. She got off my shoulder and stared at me with a clearly mocking face while punching my legs with those little paws.
"Next time, I'm walking. I still hear the lazy cat who just sleeps on my shoulder."
"Meow meow meow meow" she seemed to be trying to imitate me, shaking her head while constantly meowing.
"You little mocker." I tried to get up. My legs were normal, aside from the gigantic tingling. Even touching them to the ground or moving them felt like a shock running through my whole body. "Damn..." I got up somewhat slowly and started walking towards the city.
"Meow?" She started following me, walking while looking at me.
"Plan?" I looked at her while walking. "Don't have one. Feel free to suggest one."
"Meow" she said in a sad tone.
"In the worst case, we'll sleep in the tent again," I said, kinda downcast, thinking about the situation.
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A Few Weeks Later
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A few days passed, and we settled near that same city in a local temple, kinda secluded from the whole city, almost on the mountain. The temple itself seemed well-preserved, as if a family really lived there, though as the days passed, we didn't notice a single sign of life, aside from, of course, the insane amount of dust in the place. It was well-located—we had a great view of the city. We spent the days looking at the view, which was breathtaking, and the sunset was incredible. But aside from that, it was pretty quick to get to the city—logically, jumping from here took about 15 minutes, but if we use the normal route, almost an hour climbing the mountain.
"No matter how much I clean this crap," I said, holding the broom and then throwing it on the ground indignantly, "this crap doesn't get clean."
"Meow! Achoo!" The little kitten coming from the end of the hallway sneezed from the amount of dust.
"I sweep the whole place every 2 days, but the more I sweep..." I sighed and picked up the broom again. "At least this is the last hallway. Seems like it was abandoned years ago, but how is it so preserved?"
"Meow?" she said, looking at me.
"Cursed? Nah, it's more plausible someone comes once in a while to take care of the place... Though something might have happened to the temple's owner." I stopped, holding my chin, thinking. "It's also possible the place is only used for events and festivals."
"Meow..." She meowed and then went back to the room, closing the door with her back paw.
"I guess she's given up pretending, huh, little one? Haha." I stopped to open the doors, and from there at the top of the mountain, you could see the coast. When I opened my eyes, even from so far away, it seemed like I was there, at the touch of my fingers. "Ninomiya, a coastal city in the Chubu region. I think we strayed a bit from the destination. Now that we're here, seems like a great place to stay." I sat there and started looking at my fists.
I tried to feel the cursed energy, and a strong tightness in my chest started taking over my being, as if it wanted to break free but was chained by something else.
"Argh... This really hurts..." Trying to concentrate more, I got into a lotus position, trying to feel that other thing inside me.
A sensation of heat coming from my negative energy. It seemed to be suppressed by a feeling of constant explosion, as if the sensation itself was smothering my negative energy.
"Things were easier when the system gave me a direction," I thought to myself while trying to find a path. "Calm the mind and try to calm the turbulence."
With that thought, I stayed there sitting, with the sun setting on my face while feeling the sensation. The explosions became clearer as I tried to feel them. Little by little, the sensations calmed, and like drops falling into a lake, the explosions resembled...
Deep drops entering a gigantic lake, causing turbulence on its surface. The drops were constant, as if they were always trying to renew themselves, like a constant flow being sucked from a whirlwind in the sky, passing through a filter, and dripping into my soul.
When I tried to bring my negative energy out, the sensation of the lake and the drops seemed to try to swallow the small black flame in my mind, and a deep pain, like thousands of needles piercing me, was the feeling throughout my body.
"This is really hard." I gave up trying that while staring at the sunset. "Tell me what to do, Sensei..." I tried to think about what he would tell me to try to help.
I lay down on the wood, looking at the darkening orange sky.
"A lake... Seems like a dantian... Guess I've been reading too many manhuas. Searching for a path when that path is uniquely mine—that must be my mistake." I kept reflecting as night fell.
"Meow!" The little one let out a long, loud meow. She seemed really hungry.
"Yeah, after all, we haven't eaten anything in 2 days." I went to the room, and there she was with her face shoved in the backpack, trying to find something.
I pulled the backpack, and she immediately fell on her butt. I opened the backpack and saw there was only a little money and zero food.
"Let's stock up on food tomorrow. Now that the place is organized, we can settle down." I patted the little kitten's head. "Hold on a little. I'll go to the city quickly to buy some supplies."
Seems like we finally found a place to stay. This will be a new stage of my life from now on... I don't have anyone left to worry about. That frees me, but now I have a new goal. Think you'll escape what you did to me, Kokabiel?
'You can wait for me, you bastard. You and everyone who stole years of my life... I'll make you all pay.' I looked at my fists, clenching them tightly. 'A thousand times over.'
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END OF VOLUME 1