Chapter 327: Tamed Cat
"Why?" I asked myself and then replied while looking at Nina's pretty face, which looked so delicate at the moment, and her figure, which was trembling like a stalk of bamboo in the wind. "Of course it's because it's your favourite drink, Nina, that you love to savour every day after a long day of work...It's the favourite drink of the girl that I couldn't help but fall in love with."
"...And just like every man out there in the world who's trying his absolute best to win over the heart he loved, this is my own childish way of trying to say that I love you with all my heart and would absolutely do anything for you, even if it's drinking the world's most bitter drink or trekking an entire mountain while carrying you on my back, if there ever comes a day where you say that you want to see the most beautiful sunset there is."
"I know the way I'm trying to express and show my love to you is rather petty and childish, and something that an experienced adult like you would simply scoff at...But at the end of the day, I am an actual child, and this is one of the only few ways I can show how much I love you, as my pockets aren't deep enough like the rest of the adults out there to buy you presents and jewellery in the name of courting you."
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I laughed at my own situation at not being able to do anything extravagant to impress Nina other than these simple actions, to which Nina frantically shook her head with tears in her head, like she strongly disagreed.
I don't exactly know when she started tearing up. But somewhere along the line, when she was hearing me speak about my desperate attempts to impress her in an embarrassed manner, her pretty green eyes started twinkle like fresh-cut emaralds.
My honest words and my futile attempt to win her over seemed to work in one way or another, seeing that Nina was on the verge of starting a waterfall on her face, and just like her lips that were quivering due to the storm of emotions that were flowing through her at the moment, her long ears also swept all the way down and were trembling, making her seem more pityful than she already looked.
"...I also thought that it would be nice if one day, after a long day's work for you and a tiring day of school for me, we could both clink our bottles today and say 'cheers' to a good day and have a refreshing drink of Safra juice together...I don't know about you, but that's the sort of stuff that I dream about doing with you, Nina, as embarrassing as it is to say."
I said with my cheeks a little red and while scratching my head in a shy manner, like I was embarrassed beyond relief for exposing my thoughts that were rather pure, compared to how perverted I usually acted.
Drip~ Flow~ Drip~
And that was finally the last straw that broke the camel's back. Nina had streams of tears flowing down her face as she couldn't bear not to cry after hearing my words.
The fierce image she had before had been completely destroyed, and she was currently sobbing like a poor girl who had her heart broken.
"W-What's wrong, Nina?...Why are you crying all of a sudden?" I said in a hurry as Nina used her hands to wipe the tears that were slowly pouring out of her eyes and then handed her my handkerchief.
"Sob~...I-I don't know~....I-It's just that it's the first time that someone has done so much f-for me, and I-I can't help but cry when I think about it." Nina stammered and struggled to speak while using my handkerchief to dampen her face. "I-I know I shouldn't be crying in front of a child like you...Sob~...B-But I just can't help but do so when I think about all the nice things you do for me~"
"But I didn't really do anything amazing...I just said that I'm going to get my tastebuds used to a bitter drink." I said as I took the handkerchief from her since she was too busy sobbing, like she was watching some sad drama, to wipe her own face and wipe her tears off myself. "How is that enough to make you cry?"
"Y-You don't understand, Kafka!~...Sob~....You will never understand how much that means to me!~" Nina exclaimed while looking up at me with teary eyes, and let me graciously wipe her tears at the same time.
"O-Only when you reach my age will you understand how many people in your life that truly care about you have you lost a-and how badly you want them to come back...Sob~...O-Only when you live a life like mine will you understand how desperate one can be for even the tiniest amount of attention from another!~"
Nina cried and told me her honest thoughts while bawling her heart out even more as she spoke. It seemed that speaking out her thoughts made her realise even more how true her words were and made her tear up even more aggressively, with even a little snot coming out of her nose.
"Okay, fine, Nina...I may not understand your situation right now or why exactly you're crying...But I do know that it's best to cry your heart out, then keep it all in like you have always done." I said in a consoling tone and sat down on the sofa next to me.
I then patted my lap as I looked at Nina, who looked so fragile at the moment, and said, "So, if you're going to cry as much as you want, I think it's better to take a seat somewhere comfortable, then simply stand up and do so...And if I remember correctly, you didn't really have any complaints when you sat on my lap earlier, so I'm wondering if you want to take up the offer once again."
I offered my lap once again, while making it seem like the perfect place to cry her heart out. Nina hesitated at first, thinking that it would be way too shameful to cry in the embrace of a little kid like me, but in the end she couldn't help but give into temptation.
She slowly made her way to me as she wiped the tears off her face so she didn't seem too unpresentable in front of me and graciously took her seat sideways on my lap.
Once she got into a much more comfortable position that felt like a safespot that wouldn't judge her no matter what, her tears started pouring out even more as she leaned on my shoulder and let out all her pent-up emotions that she had been keeping in all this time.
I also kept myself busy by rubbing her back from time to time and wiping the tears off her face, treating her like a little kitten that was bawling in my arms when she used to be such a feisty tiger before.
And even though most of my mind was occupied with thoughts of caring for her at the moment, I also couldn't help but think that the time had finally come to carry out the request at hand, seeing that the feral cat had finally been tamed and was currently purring at the top of my hand...