A hundred years or a hundred minutes

Day turned to evening. Evening turned to night. And still, I was stuck inside. My wound had almost entirely healed, but Ryou was already out on a mission. I could hardly catch up and join half way through. Begrudgingly, I stayed in the apartment. Absolutely bored stiff.

Late into the night, however, my boredom was broken by the quiet entrance of a particular black cat, slipping gracefully in through the open window. She took a few cautious steps into the apartment, then caught my gaze. Her reflective eyes were the brightest spot in the apartment.

“...you’re still awake,” she said, nervously pawing at the ground.

“...yeah.” I hesitated before saying anything else. “...you been listening out for info?”

“Yes.”

“Hear anything important?”

“Not really. Few people wondering why the Ronin hasn’t appeared in a while. Not much else.”

Silence fell between us. Despite sharing a bed, we had hardly talked since I decided to go ahead with the mission. We weren’t fighting exactly, but there was still an awkwardness hanging in the air.

I hated it. One of us had to say something first. If she didn’t want to, it had to be me.

“I… can’t face them blind again.”

“I know.”

“And I can’t rely on just running away again either.”

“I know.”

“This is the only option we have.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you so against it?”

“Because knowing it’s the right option doesn’t make it scare me any less, Toki. You’re… all I have. The idea of losing you… it terrifies me.”

“This job is always gonna be scary, Time. We knew that when we started.”

“I know but-!” she stopped as she realised she was raising her voice. After a heavy breath, she started again with cooler nerves. “I know, Toki. That’s why I’m not stopping you. But I can’t pretend I’m on board with all of this. You only just woke after damn-near dying, now you wanna throw yourself back into it straight away? Of course I’m petrified.”

“Look, I get it, Time, I do. But every second we waste not acting is a second those monsters could be using to take us down. We can’t just sit around and wait for it to happen.”

Time didn’t respond, instead looking down at the ground. She turned away, seemingly about to trot off to Ryou’s room. I didn’t want the conversation to end that way.

“Time, wait…” I called out. She didn’t say anything, but she stopped walking away. “...there’s a chance for us to die every day, especially with a job like ours. I get why you’re scared. I’m scared too, but I don’t want us to be like this. We don’t know if we’ll live another hundred years or a hundred minutes, but I do know I’d like to spend it on good terms with you. Can we… put this behind us? At least for now?”

There was no response for a short while. Just a heavy silence, filled only by the occasional chirping of nearby crickets and the dull whirring of the shabby fridge-freezer.

Then, without a word, Time turned her bright eyes back towards me, slowly tiptoed over to the sofa-bed and curled up on my lap. Getting the message that I should also keep quiet, I silently stroked her smooth black fur. The only sound she made for the rest of the night was a light purr.

I guess I’ll take that as a yes.