Hello Vet! How are you?

Living on the streets, constantly hiding from life-threatening factors, looking for food and shelter, was incredibly tough.

Of course, there was the advantage of being able to move about freely.

In any case, the most crucial aspect of this lifestyle was health.

One could not afford to get sick.

If I fell ill and became weak, my companions would struggle.

Taking care of oneself was challenging enough without having to care for a sick companion.

Being well aware of this, street angels tried their best to hide their weaknesses.

To avoid burdening their companions and to keep their vulnerabilities hidden from enemies.

Shadow, a cat with a completely black body and white paws and snout, was the same.

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

Shadow sniffed the air, sharpening his senses.

An appetizing smell wafted in the breeze.

‘Where is that coming from?’

Shadow turned his head here and there, trying to figure out the direction of the smell.

『Over there!』

Shadow cautiously put down his white paw.

Tap, tap.

He stepped on the ground carefully, but a sound was made.

It was a very small sound, but it annoyed Shadow’s ears.

‘How pitiful to make a sound even when walking so cautiously.’

Until just recently, shadow had been the quietest and most stealthy of them all.

Thinking that such days would never return again sapped his strength.

‘Hoo…’

But it was not time to stay idle.

Shadow moved, pushing away past glories swirling in his mind.

One step, one step.

He moved with more caution than before.

His footprints were clearly imprinted on the ground he passed over, a result of the sweat from his tense paw pads.

Sniff, sniff.

The scent of the delicious aroma grew stronger.

Shadow abandoned his severely weakened sight and relied on his acute sense of smell and whiskers to search for food.

After a while, something caught on Shadow’s nose.

『Found it!』

Shadow caught his prey with his mouth.

A savory aroma spread inside his mouth, and a smile emerged on Shadow’s tense face.

『Delicious!』

Nom, nom, nom.

Starving, shadow devoured the food in haste.

As he took the first bite, then a second, and was about to take a third, a presence made itself known, accompanied by an unexpected voice.

“Oh? What’s wrong with your eyes? Are you hurt?”

Whoosh.

Shadow fled swiftly, unable to swallow the food in his mouth.

It was dangerous as his blurred vision impeded proper sight, but Shadow heightened his senses and ran.

‘I must not get caught.’

Shadow ran with all his might.

He ran and ran, aiming for a place void of human scents.

How long had he been running? The human scent dissipated at some point.

Only then did Shadow feel at ease, smelling and glancing around cautiously.

A familiar scent lingered at the tip of his nose.

Though he believed he had run erratically, it turned out he was near his hideout.

He instinctively sprinted back to his shelter.

Shadow walked carefully to his hideout.

‘Ow!’

Shadow, who was walking, stopped abruptly.

His eyes began to burn.

‘This isn’t good.’

Shadow tensed, knowing that a tremendous pain would follow the burning sensation in his eyes.

‘Before it hurts more, I need to reach my sanctuary.’

He could not let others notice his weakness.

Shadow quickened his steps.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

Leaves and twigs were crushed underfoot, but Shadow did not care and ran.

The familiar scent, unmistakably his own, grew stronger.

‘Just a little further.’

Swooosh!

Shadow made a final spurt.

Then, suddenly, an excruciating pain flared in his eyes.

‘Gah!’

Running, shadow crumpled to the ground.

The pain was so overwhelming that he couldn’t land properly and ended up rolling on the ground.

Suddenly, something sharp pierced his leg.

‘Argh!’

His eyes hurt, and now even his leg stung; Shadow was in agony.

Shadow struggled desperately.

However, it only worsened the pain in his leg.

The sharp objects relentlessly pierced his leg and body.

The more he moved, the deeper the sharp thorns embedded themselves into his leg and body.

‘This is a thornbush.’

The more he moved, the more the thorns dug in, and the vine wrapped tightly around him.

Shadow ceased struggling.

However, the thorns embedded in his body already pained him all over.

The agony of the thorns compounded his eye pain, and a groan slipped from his lips.

『Ugh!』

Hearing his moans, a whirlwind of emotions surged within Shadow.

‘How did I end up in this state?’

Not long ago, he had led over thirty cats under him.

Hadn’t he once had the confidence to fight any area leader, save for that dumb Evergreen Park leader?

After losing to that fellow, he had vowed vengeance.

『I should have sought revenge sooner.』

What use was regret after the fact?

『At least it’s a consolation that he hasn’t discovered me in this sorry state.』

Shadow tried to console himself with thoughts of his current plight.

Not that they made his pain any less.

Shadow’s pain was excruciatingly intense.

『These damn thornbushes.』

Shadow hurled curses at the thornbush that pierced and bound him.

But that was short-lived; suddenly, his eyes flared with unbearable heat.

Shadow gritted his teeth to endure the agony.

Like before, the pain would eventually subside.

In line with his intuition, the pain did cease.

Though the painful episodes lasted longer than before, the fact that the pain lessened was important.

Shadow exhaled deeply, letting out all the tension from his body.

『Hoo…』

His leg still ached, but compared to his eye pain, it was bearable.

Grumble.

His stomach growled.

Come to think of it, he had fled without finishing his meal.

It had been such a long time since he’d last eaten.

When could he eat and be full again?

Would he even be able to eat again?

In truth, shadow had grown accustomed to such hunger.

Since leaving his group, starvation had become a daily reality.

『Sigh, being hungry and in pain makes me miss my companions.』

He reminisced about times when they would chatter joyfully and roam the streets freely.

He remembered the old days when he defended his title as the area’s leader against challenging cats from other territories.

He was once able to jump the highest and run the fastest among his companions.

Then, one day, while attempting to jump onto a tree, his paw slipped, and he fell from the tree.

Thanks to his usual quick reflexes, none of his companions noticed anything amiss, but Shadow was shocked.

In that moment of jumping, his vision had suddenly blurred.

Afterward, his sight would blur several times a day.

His long, elegant whiskers allowed him to navigate the ground with some difficulty.

They analyzed speed, amplitude, and air flow to ensure he avoided bumping into objects.

However, jumping had become tough.

And then there was the sudden eye pain.

Shadow concealed his ailment to the best of his ability, gradually delegating area duties to his subordinate, Milo.

He delegated tasks among a few other subordinates too.

Initially, everyone was puzzled as the still-vigorous leader redistributed tasks.

Their area’s longest-reigning leader lasted four years, with an average reign of about three and a half years.

But Shadow had been leading for five and a half years.

Under the pretext of grooming a successor, shadow pushed forth his intention.

After handing over duties, he quietly disappeared.

Had he remained among his comrades, Milo, ranking second in command, would have insisted on abandoning the leadership to protect him.

That would not have been beneficial for his companions.

『I led for long enough. It’s just unfortunate that I didn’t get to avenge myself on him.』

While contemplating his revenge target, shadow felt as if something scorching had pierced his eye.

『Kaaah…』

Should it be this painful, he figured it was better to ascend to the feline star.

Shadow wished only to escape this immense agony.

『I want to pluck out my eyes… Gah…』

Please let this pain cease…

On the verge of losing consciousness due to the excruciating pain, shadow missed hearing someone calling him right beside him.

“Oh my god, what is happening here!”

Jang So-Ra lifted the limp Shadow and hurried off.

***

Tap, tap, tap.

A faint noise echoed.

Though he didn’t know what it was, it brought a cool sensation.

As if something embedded in his body had been cleanly extracted.

‘What is this?’

Why did he feel like this?

He distinctly recalled being in pain.

Pain close to death.

Yet now, not only was he not in pain, but he felt refreshed.

“This is too severe, director!”

“It is indeed.”

“Can it survive?”

“We must save it.”

Hearing human voices, shadow’s body tensed unconsciously.

『Run away.』

Instinctively, shadow tried to move his legs.

Squirming.

But no strength came to his body.

“Director, I think it woke up? Maybe the pain woke it. Has the pain relief worn off?”

“It doesn’t appear to be in pain from its expression. It’s probably trying to escape.”

“My goodness, poor thing. How scared it must have been…”

A gentle touch stroked his head, easing Shadow’s tense heart but only briefly.

‘I must escape.’

Shadow resolved to run away the moment a chance presented itself.

“It’s probably terrified, being visually impaired and having thorns embedded.”

How did they know so well?

“I agree. Director, thank you. You couldn’t even rest…”

“I was just at home when I came out. It’s you, manager Jang, who’s had it tough. You probably haven’t even had dinner.”

“Even so. What about Grey one? Didn’t he insist on tagging along?”

“No, he stays well at home now. When an emergency arises, he urges me to hurry off?”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. He taps his paws impatiently, urging me to hurry.”

“Since Grey one has experienced pain, it must be like his own ordeal when he sees others in pain.”

“Most likely. Plus, when he heard it was a cat in pain, he seemed worried it might be his friends.”

The word “cat” perked up Shadow’s ears.

‘So Grey one must have worried about me. A kind soul. Surely, he’s concerned for his kind. If I ever meet him, I should at least express my thanks.’

Shadow felt an affinity toward Grey one, whom he hadn’t met.

And if these humans were trusted by Grey one, they seemed less perilous as well.

“Probably. But how did you spot it at this hour? It’s so dark, I don’t think it would be visible.”

“If I had been walking by absentmindedly, I would have missed it. I wouldn’t even be there. It gets really eerie at night.”

“Yet you went there.”

“After seeing its eyes swollen and infected, I couldn’t ignore it, especially since it ran away because of me.”

“Well, considering you found it, everything turned out alright. Give it plenty of goodies once its surgery is over.”

Goodies?

Made happier by the absence of stinging pains, shadow cheered up even more hearing the talk of treats.

His eyes weren’t in pain.

They would be, eventually.

As he pondered this, he heard a ‘ding’.

“Ah? I think the test results are out. Director, I’ll get the report.”

Not long after, a voice spoke again.

“Director, here it is.”

“Oh, fortunately, there don’t seem to be significant problems. The thorns have been removed too, so let’s proceed with surgery.”

“Director, once we perform surgery on this little blackie, will it be able to regain its sight?”

“I think the right eye can be saved.”

“What about the left eye?”

“It looks challenging… but we have to perform the surgery and observe.”

“Ah, I see. Even being able to see from one eye is better than being entirely blind, isn’t it?”

“Much better, indeed.”

Clink.

His body was suddenly lifted, and a person spoke.

“Let’s go, blackie.”

『I’m not Blackie!』

Despite knowing they wouldn’t understand, shadow meowed out loud.

“Alright, you’re not Blackie.”

Huh? They understood me? Surely not.

While pondering that notion, he was gently laid down on a warm surface.

“Blackie, don’t worry. Our director will fix your eyes.”

“Right. Just sleep and wake up.”

『But I’m not sleepy.』

“I know. Your eyes will close soon.”

Nonsense.

How could he sleep in this unfamiliar space?

He wouldn’t dare let his guard down without feeling safe.

Though barely discernible; Shadow forced his eyes wide open, but his eyelids grew heavier.

Shadow gradually drifted off into slumber.

—