Epilogue: Kuro
“OH, she’s so pretty…”
The white-furred feline demi-human let out a soft sigh. Her white coat was wonderfully sleek, and her dreamy blue eyes shone with a gentle light.
A short distance away, a young male demi-human kept sneaking glances at her, his eyes drawn to the alluring curves of her body, wrapped snugly in a little black dress.
She pretended not to notice.
Her blue gaze, steady and composed, was fixed ahead, where a beautiful bride, her fur as dark as the summer night sky, walked solemnly down the antique red carpet laid out for the occasion, arm in arm with her father.
Demi-humans filled the venue, each one watching the pair with the same soft, touched expression.
They were in a small restaurant nestled in the forest, a little way out of town. Its owners were an elderly couple—a demi-human and a human. The place was modest but, all the homier for it, with warm light streaming through the old wooden structure, giving it a bright, welcoming air.
As the father-daughter procession made its way down the aisle, the daughter suddenly paused before a certain guest. Turning, she smiled brightly.
“Thank you so much for coming. You have no idea how much it means to me,” she said.
The one she smiled at was a young human girl, seemingly unfazed by the sea of demi-humans around her. She giggled, her springy red hair bouncing along with the sound.
“Of course! I mean, miss my favorite colleague’s wedding? Not a chance,” the human girl replied. “Oh, but don’t think I’m here purely out of friendship. Maybe your happiness’ll rub off on me, and I’ll snag a good man this year, too!”
Beside the bride, her father gave off a distinctly gruff air.
“You look so beautiful,” the human girl added, softening. “I mean, you’re always beautiful—but today, Miina, you’re positively radiant. Congratulations.”
The gruffness by Miina’s side gave way to something gentler.
Then—
“Oh?”
A soft sniffling sound.
It took the human girl a second to realize it wasn’t the bride sniffling but the father.
Blinking rapidly, she averted her gaze, pretending not to notice.
✦ ✦ ✦
✶✶✶
SHE’S a good girl, Kuro thought, holding Miina’s hand in his.
At the same time, the fact that she was the only human from her workplace to come sat in his throat like a lump of coal. If it had been about him, he could have swallowed it down easily. But because it was about his daughter, it stuck fast, scraping sharply against his chest and neck.
Kuro knew better than most what it meant to be a demi-human working among humans. He’d asked her more times than he could count how things were at work. Every time, she’d smiled and said, Everyone’s kind. They treat me very well.
Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. The day a daughter became a wife. A day worth celebrating.
She hadn’t been celebrated the day she was born, not given the circumstances. So today, more than any other, she ought to have been showered with blessings to make up for all that was lost.
“Daddy…” Miina looked up at him with upturned eyes.
He didn’t answer.
“It’s all right,” she went on. “I’m all right. I’m sure…there’s a good reason.”
A good reason? he wanted to snap. For everyone? Grown adults, all of them, who knew exactly how important this day was?
He swallowed the words, along with the rage, clenching his teeth beneath tightly pursed lips.
It couldn’t have been easy for Miina to decide to invite them at all.
She prepared special dishes to suit human tastes just for them. She set up their only little table, complete with smaller chairs to match—only for a single, sweet, innocent young girl to sit there and partake.
Kuro remembered it clearly. He would never forget it. The way Miina’s tail had flicked with worry that night as she looked over the finished invitations, torn over whether to send them or not.
Times were changing. Demi-humans could sit at the guild’s reception window now. By some stroke of luck—or perhaps grace—his very own daughter had managed to claim that seat.
And yet, Kuro knew that seat by the window was no seat at the table.
Still, he’d hoped they would come to celebrate. Even if it was only for appearances. Even if they faked smiles through clenched teeth.
He had wanted them to endure it, just for today.
Because today—of all days—was his and his wife’s beloved daughter’s happiest, most precious day.