Chapter 73: Silver Soul (Earth Arc)

“Meow!”
“Alright! Let’s sleep together.” Gintoki Cat leapt forward in excitement.
“I was just kidding.” Take nodded and touched Gintoki Cat’s nose.
Gintoki Cat froze on the spot. Huh? What does that mean?
Since it was a stray she’d just picked up that day, Take was worried it might be noisy at night. She thought it best to leave it in the living room.
“No, please, let’s sleep together! I, Gin-san, am very well-behaved. I want to sleep on the big bed. Don’t leave me all alone!” Gintoki Cat protested.
“Meow, meow, meow!” That’s all Take heard as she glanced at the white cat in confusion.
Was it… sad?
Take sat on the sofa, holding Gintoki Cat. She gently stroked its head and said, “Kitty, is it scary to suddenly come to a strange place?”
“Yes, Gin-san is super scared. Don’t leave me on the sofa, take me to your bed to sleep,” Gintoki Cat meowed pitifully.
“Don’t be afraid. This will be your home from now on, and I’ll be your family.” Take looked into the cat’s eyes.
Family…? Gintoki Cat was stunned. Her family?
“Kitty, you know, I’m alone too…” Take placed Gintoki Cat on her lap and gently caressed it, confiding words she had kept in her heart for a long time.
“School, family, hometown, all gone. It’s so exhausting, this feeling of being alone. Even if I collapse, there’s no one to pick me up. I… have always been alone.”
Gintoki Cat quieted down, lying on Take’s lap, lightly tickling her palm with his tail.
He thought, Here she goes again, overthinking…
“But lately, Kitty, I think I’ve fallen for someone.”
What! Impossible. Godzilla actually likes someone? Who’s the unlucky guy she’s set her eyes on? Gintoki Cat snickered to himself.
But after his laugh faded, he felt a bit irked. Actually, being the one she likes might not be so bad…
“Love is such a mysterious thing. Kitty, do you know? The one I like isn’t handsome, his hair is messy and curly, he always looks tired, he picks his nose all the time, has no money, doesn’t take work seriously, and is always causing trouble… Why would I fall for someone like that?” Take lowered her head, sounding a little downcast.
“A madao like that—a total leech with no contribution to society. Tsk, tsk, so your taste is that bad? You really need to get your eyes checked.”
“Meow, meow, meow meow meow~” Gintoki Cat rolled over lazily.
Hmm… The more he listened, the more disgruntled he felt.
“Kitty, I don’t even dare tell people the name of who I like because… it’s just so embarrassing. He’s someone I see often, a familiar face. If he found out, I wouldn’t be able to face him.” At this, Take’s face flushed a little.
“Huh? What’s there to be embarrassed about? Don’t worry, the guy you like is such a hopeless otaku, probably reading dirty magazines at home every day. If you confessed, he’d be over the moon.”
“Meow, meow.” Gintoki Cat muttered listlessly.
“Kitty, I’ll tell you the name of the person I like… No, actually, I’m not even sure if I really like him.”
“Meow.”
“Come on, Gin-san wants to know. Who’s the poor guy unlucky enough to catch your fancy?”
“The one I like is called Gintoki Sakata…” Take blushed as she said Gintoki’s name. After keeping it bottled up for so long, she finally felt a sense of relief.
“Meow…” Gintoki Cat was stunned.
“Huh—? This girl… li-likes me, Gin-san?”
Suddenly, Gintoki Cat felt his face heat up. Even though his features were hidden by thick white curls, the warmth on his skin made him feel flustered. He quickly covered his face with his paws.
“Ah, this is, this is so embarrassing! Damn it, you confessed so suddenly! Wait, she thinks I’m just a cat right now, so she’s secretly in love with me?”
Gintoki Cat peeked at Take through his paws…
No, it’s still too embarrassing! Being confessed to by someone you know is too awkward, and his heart was pounding way too fast—please, calm down!
“That guy runs a Yorozuya—a place that claims to do everything, but most of the time, he just messes things up, haha.” Take couldn’t help but laugh.
“Meow!”

“The Yorozuya will be a chain business someday! Right now, Gin-san is just in the early stages. It will all pay off in the end,” Gintoki protested indignantly.
“But…” Take gently tapped Gintoki Cat’s forehead with her finger.
“That guy can be really silly. As long as someone asks for help, he’ll risk everything to protect what they value. He’s such a fool.”
“But sometimes, it makes him adorably foolish.”
Thump, thump, thump—Gintoki felt his heart racing.
Gintoki Cat pressed his paw to his chest. Stop beating so fast! Please, stop!
“But every time he leaves me behind to charge ahead alone, I feel a little sad. I want to ask him, why must he always bear everything by himself?” Take’s voice grew low.
“Meow…” Gintoki Cat lowered his head.
“Forget it, I’ll stop now. Kitty, the living room is yours tonight, but don’t make a mess. I’m going to bed. Good night.”
With that, Take set Gintoki Cat down and left.
Gintoki Cat lay quietly on the sofa, watching as Take entered her room, closed the door, and turned off the lights…
The living room fell silent at once.
But his heart would not calm down, still warm and fluttering.
“Meow!”
“Wait!” Gintoki Cat suddenly recalled the way Take had described him.
Not handsome, messy and curly hair, always looking listless, picks his nose, no money, doesn’t take work seriously…
Gintoki felt like he’d been riddled with bullets.
And what had he said at the time? He called that a madao!
Suddenly, Gintoki felt a wave of exhaustion. He never thought he’d end up being the one she meant.
Thinking of all these chaotic things, Gintoki Cat slowly drifted into sleep. In his dreams, he was chased all night by a fire-breathing Godzilla. It wasn’t until dawn, when Take’s footsteps and morning sounds woke him, that he was finally freed.
“Kitty, breakfast time.” Take placed milk and half a slice of toast before Gintoki Cat.
Gintoki pounced eagerly. The joy of having food in the morning was incomparable!
Watching the white cat eat so cheerfully, Take felt happy too. She planned to buy a few bags of cat food after work; proper cat food would be better for the cat’s health.
After feeding the cat, Take set out for work. Before leaving, she carefully locked the door, afraid that Gintoki Cat might run away.
Once she was gone, Gintoki Cat jumped onto the sofa and turned on the TV, stretching lazily and yawning.
This was the life—so leisurely, with nothing to do, food and drink provided…
No! He was a human, not a pet!
Gintoki shot upright on the sofa, shaking his head to clear it. But after two minutes of clarity, he curled back up.
Well, there was no way to turn back into a human right now, so he might as well go with the flow…
This was the classic madao mentality: if there’s no solution now, just wait till tomorrow.
And so, Gintoki Cat spent the whole day watching TV at home. When he heard Take’s footsteps at the door, he leapt up and hurriedly turned off the TV.
After making sure the TV was off, he curled up in the corner of the sofa, pretending to be fast asleep.
“Huh? So well-behaved! You didn’t mess up anything and are still sleeping peacefully.” Take said as she closed the door.
“Kitty, come here, I bought you something nice.” Take smiled and beckoned to the white cat on the sofa.
Something nice? Strawberry milk, maybe! Gintoki Cat leaped over eagerly, only to have a bag of cat food thrust in front of him.
“…” Gintoki.
“What’s this! Why is it cat food? Sure, when there was nothing to eat at home, Gin-san once ate Sadaharu’s dog food, but I really don’t want to eat cat food now!”
“Meow, meow, meow!” Gintoki Cat pawed at the bag of cat food.

But Take misunderstood his reaction…
“Kitty, are you hungry? I’ll pour you some right now.” With that, she went to the kitchen, found a bowl, and poured out a serving of cat food.
“Here, eat.”
“…” Gintoki.
Staring at the bowl of cat food, Gintoki walked away in disgust.
“Not eating?” Take was puzzled.
“I’ll just leave it. Maybe he’ll come back for it later.”
With the cat’s meal settled, Take turned to her own. She put the pizza she’d bought at the supermarket into the microwave to heat up.
A few minutes later, steaming hot pizza was on the table. Gintoki Cat jumped up and lunged for the pizza box.
Just as his paw was about a centimeter from the box, Take swiftly closed it. She looked at Gintoki Cat and shook her head: “No, this isn’t for kitties.”
“Meow, meow, meow!”
“No! Please, just let me have a piece! Gin-san is different, just one piece, that’s all I ask!” Gintoki Cat rubbed around Take’s hand, meowing incessantly.
“Well…” Take was conflicted. Should she give it some?
Just a tiny piece, she decided, and tore off a small bit, placing it in front of Gintoki Cat.
“Meow!” Gintoki Cat lunged excitedly, devouring the pizza.
Take turned on the TV, eating while watching. Halfway through, she felt something was off. She reached into the box but couldn’t feel any pizza.
Looking down, she saw the box was empty, and the white cat beside her was clutching his round belly, looking utterly satisfied.
“Ah! You ate it all! How could you, with such a small body, eat an entire pizza? What if you get sick?” Take poked Gintoki Cat’s round belly.
“Hic…” Gintoki Cat’s response was a long burp.
“….” Take.
Why did the cat she’d picked up seem so strange?
After dinner and some TV, Take decided to get some rest. Before bed, though, she wanted to take a bath.
With that in mind, she closed the living room window, drew the curtains, and began undressing.
Drowsy, Gintoki Cat opened his eyes to see Take dressed down to just her underwear…
“Huh? Why are you undressing? And why are you doing it in the living room? Stop… ah, actually, never mind, don’t stop.” Gintoki Cat stared as Take’s hand moved toward her bra strap.
Almost there…
At home, Take was used to stripping down whenever she wanted to bathe, heading straight for the bathroom afterward. Unconsciously, she’d gotten used to being naked when no one else was around.
But there was still a cat, wasn’t there?
But it wasn’t human, so Take didn’t care—it was just a cat, what could it possibly understand?
And so, Take ended up completely naked and walked straight into the bathroom to shower.
It wasn’t until the sound of running water came from the bathroom that Gintoki Cat snapped out of his daze.
Pfft! A tiny trickle of nosebleed shot from Gintoki Cat’s nostrils. He quickly pressed it with his paw, overwhelmed by a surge of emotion…
Dear god! Maybe being a cat isn’t so bad after all!

Author’s Note:
A word from the author: Does everyone remember Ham? Today I reread the Gintama manga and saw that Sorachi mentioned Ham’s boyfriend is the son of Mamushi! Okay, maybe “Mamushi” doesn’t ring a bell, let me put it this way: Ham’s boyfriend is the son of the Justwe Factory Manager!
What an amazing connection. But Sorachi said the two eventually broke up, and Ham has lost weight now, though even slimmed down she’s still not very pretty (Sorachi’s sharp tongue strikes again). Haha, let’s wish her all the best!