Ablackwing

My Black pushed the breaks within an instant and asked, "What happened?"

"I saw something there," I said and pointed my finger towards the milestone that was left behind. Although Black stopped the car as soon as he heard me. But due to inertia, we still stopped ahead of the milestone.

"What is that thing?"

"I... dunno." I shook my head.

"Let"s see what caught attention of my angel." My Black glanced at me in a curious manner. He got off the car without wasting any time and started walking towards that milestone. I too got off the car and walked after him.

Black stopped near that milestone and sat down on his knees. He was picking that white thing with both hands. I guess he was having trouble picking that thing up. I could see from behind that his hands were moving in a different position and he took considerable time picking that object.

He stood up but he didn"t turn back. I could see he was having a little trouble adjusting himself. I wondered what that thing could be.

"What"s it?" I asked. He turned to face me as I asked that.

And as he did, I saw the scariest thing in the world.

In his arms was a small, white, furry living thing. It didn"t take me long that there was not just one of it. Two of them were hiding behind the first one and as their colour was almost as same as his sweater, it took me a little while more to discern their existence. There were three of those small, white, furry beings. One of them moved its head towards me in a lazy manner. It blinked as if it had no life.

"Meow..."

I subconsciously took a small step back. I felt like freaking out as I looked at them. There were three cats in his arms!

"Th..." I was going to ask my Black to throw them away but as I looked towards him, I realized that I shouldn"t say such a thing.

My Black was looking at them with a tender and warm gaze. Normally or I should rather say instinctively, my Black"s gaze us sharp and kind of apathetic. Some might even think of his gaze as scary. Only when he looks at me, his gaze becomes affectionate. There was this rare brightness in his eyes and this special curl on his lips. The cats had stained his white sweater with dirt and mud but he didn"t say anything. That was really surprising to me.

By the way, he was looking at those little cats, I knew he loved cats.

That was the third thing that he liked. Black colour, strawberries and... cats.

Why cats!?

Couldn"t he like dogs or foxes or even wolves?

I"m ok with others. But he had to like those d.a.m.n scary felines of all things!

I couldn"t bring myself to ask him to give up on something he liked. That would be too cruel of me. And... I knew in my heart that he didn"t want to let those go.

"Kitty!" Black looked at me for a second and then turned his gaze back at those cats. He so looked like a child who found the toy he lost years ago and he couldn"t believe that he really found that lost toy.

After just a while, he held out his hand and looked at me silently, as if asking me to pet it. It was okay if he liked them but why was he asking me to touch them. Didn"t he know that I was afraid of cats?... No! He didn"t know! I never told him!

I wondered what he would do if I told him that I"m afraid of felines. Would he make fun of me for having this strange fear? Or perhaps he would keep those cats at home despite me saying no. I had a fast recollection of all the things he had done for me and I realized in a moment that he would stab his heart and kill his desire just to keep me happy.

I boldly decided that I won"t tell him anything.

His hand was still holding the cat in front of me. I was three steps away. Three little cats, three little steps. My heart was ready but my brain was shouting the commands of rejection. He had done so many things for me. I had to do something for him too. With that belief, I started the march to the mouth of h.e.l.l.

That was the bravest thing I"ve ever done in my life.

Even after deciding to fake my love for cats, those three steps looked like miles. The cat in his hand was staring at me as if warning me. The other two cats that were behind were leaning against my Black"s chest. Their eyes were closed but they appeared like minions that were ready for the kill on moment"s notice. I was so afraid that they were just acting and not really sleeping.

Somehow, I was successful in taking those three steps. The next part was harder than the last. I had to touch that cat.

As I was trying to pat it, that d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.d bared its fangs at me. That cat appeared like a demon at that moment, as if it was warning me not to come closer or it"ll bite my hand. I was frightened out of my wits. Black told me after a few days that the cat was just yawning.

I didn"t dare to stare at it more. I closed my eyes hoping that I won"t be afraid if I don"t see it. My mind showed me terrifying images of cats on the contrary. After a little moment of hesitation, I finally touched its head. It was very soft, like a cotton ball, but cold. I was going to open my eyes when I heard a faint "meow". After that, I didn"t dare to look at the cat.

I remembered my intention was to lie to Black and show him that I like cats too. I tilted my head upwards so that I would look at Black and not those cats. I opened my eyes and I saw that Black was staring at me. At that moment, I knew my Black has seen through me. I still dared to put on a brave front and hope for that little possibility that he hadn"t realized my fear of cats.

"So you like cats?"

"You"re afraid of cats?"

We both spoke together. Our eyes were locked and we were gazing at each other. He had a complicated expression on his face.

"Why did you do that?"

"I do what I wanna do. Do you ask me why I eat or sleep?" I said but my heart spoke -I did that for you, idiot. Of course, I only said that inside. After all, it was still embarra.s.sing for me to straight out say it.

He smiled faintly. His eyes gleamed with that unique warmth that only he possessed. I knew he had seen through me again. But I still wasn"t gonna accept it.

"I can"t find their mother nearby. It seems like they"re abandoned."

"You wanna take then home?" I asked but I knew the answer already.

"They"re already like half dead because of cold. They"ll really freeze to death if we leave them here."

"Okay. I allow it."

"You agree just like that?"

"You"re so dumb." I knew Black really would leave those cats if I wished so. But couldn"t he see that I wanted him to let him be himself? I didn"t want him to sacrifice anything for me. I"d rather sacrifice something myself. Having cats at home might be a little hard for me. I didn"t know if I could cope living with them under the same roof. At the worst, we"ll just have to find those cats new shelter. But it was better than having Black all sad because he left those cats to death.

"Meow..." I heard another meow from another cat and I pulled my hand back with a speed as fast as lightning. Now he knew of it, I didn"t have to continue acting. I withdrew my steps and walked back to the car.

He chuckled on my response.

* * * * *

I was worried about how I could teach him to not do reckless things but his retribution came on its own. In fact, came quicker than I imagined. How long has it been when he cut off the roof of the car? Ten minutes or perhaps twenty at most. He had to fix the roof on its original place so that the cats won"t feel cold.

While he was fixing the car he kept grunting in annoyance and kept complaining how tired he was. I could see he really was tired. But that"s what he gets for his impulsive reckless behaviour. His fix was seamless though. There was no way anyone could tell that the roof was first cut off and then rejoined. I saw no marks at the point where they were joint again. After that, I wouldn"t ever require to tell him to moderate his actions.

After fixing the car, Black asked me to drive and sat on the front seat with the cats in his hands. He was so tired that he had to keep the cats in a blanket, near the heater, instead of warming them with his usual "magic".

About those cats, all three of them had seriously suffered from cold outside. They were shivering continuously. The two of them weren"t moving because they were too cold. It appeared that those two had lost consciousness but I didn"t know for sure. Only one of them was awake and that one too looked around lazily. I felt pity for them but they still appeared scary to me.

The sun had already set by that time. I drove to the store because we needed to buy necessary stuff and food, both for ourselves and the cats.

We were supposed to go on a long drive but we ended up going to the store. I lamented on the fact that it was I who pointed towards those d.a.m.n cats.