"Heow could I hyave done that nya?!"
| タタタタ |
"Heow kyan I run away like this nya?!" her conscious interrogating her ego like a detective as she sprints through the neighbourhood with a firm grip on her handbag gaining speed as time marches forward until passing several apartment complexes. A considerable enough gap must have been created between her & the area where the encounter with the Feline Gangsters took place, such an encounter now burnt into her memory acting as fuel for her escape.
But as the gap grows wider this Catgirl begins to impede until she is reduced to a slumbering noodle, letting her exhausted arms & tail hang. The familiar streets that once surrounded her became clouded as she straddled the West side of a canal, with the urban homes of Saitama to her right & a small overgrown grassy field on the other side of the water she stopped to think. "I knyow this area" confirming to herself with a simple adjustment of her sight, beyond this patch of tall grass is a large baseball court. Completely deserted.
Neko: "Omyagi Park"
She whispers, noting the familiarity of this greenspace being under the same jurisdiction as her neighbourhood despite being disconnected by Higashiurawa, hence they share the name. surrounding this empty court fields of tall messy grass & fluffy trees slowly rustling with the wind, "it is such a nice place to sleep nyah" she reminisces about the warm days she'd rest in the long grass under the shining Sun. The present contrasts those pleasant days as Neko stands on the edge of this green space & empty sports complexes all coated by a small tinge of nature reclaiming the manmade, the soft sounds of rustling trees & grass complementing the peaceful environment.
The reverse of this tranquillity persists behind the Catgirl, her radar-like Cat ears picking up the distant noises of car motors running & tires scraping against the tarmac roads. Though faint the volume is enough to pull her out of that trance, she turns to face the source of the noises. Blocking the horizon is a row of pale houses with ink-black iriomoya yane gambrel roofs with small patches of green in between coming from the trees successfully growing tall enough to be seen, protruding up like sticks are the utility poles securing the wires above the streets & distributing them intricately like a spider's web.
So there she finds herself, at the crossroads between a Natural World she finds comfort in & the World of man into which she tries desperately to conform. This creates an uneasy feeling that swells in her heavy heart already being weighed down her chest like a sack of a thousand potatoes by recent events. But even after that turmoil, Neko feels like she must choose
Whether to rest on a bed of grass for the night, guaranteed to be safe from Humans at least if the park remains empty. "Though I hyave to worry about Myonsters too" she thought before turning to her other option.
Going deeper into the Higashiurawa suburb in search of a friend's home to stay in for the night, "but the closest friend in this area is nyot a Myonster nyah" she makes this realisation while picturing the address of a Human girl she met at a highschool fundraiser just a year ago. "Nyo…nyo way will I seek refuge from a Hyuman when I'm in Kyat form" she finishes this thought with a swift jolt as she faces forward, this causes her regal pink hair to glide like a graceful brush. Her eyes solidified with sheer determination as she pivoted ahead, trying to forge a new plan of action.
She continues to walk slowly on the smooth tarmac road with the narrow canal on her left, the scenery remains the same until she reaches a footbridge with light electric blue barriers on each side. Her head turns, eyes fixed on this path that leads into the overgrown wilderness as if reinforcing the question, "neither of these are good options nyah" she frustratingly points out. Scoffing at the thought
| ブルブル | phone vibrates
Her Cat ears twitch the instant a faint rattling noise from her bag is heard, she dips her hand in to take out her phone.
The time is [02:23], these numerals being displayed on Neko's phone screen don't provide any sense of reassurance whatsoever. On the contrary, knowledge of the time only exacerbates the discord in her headspace, both prospects clashing like a pair of ferocious waves.
"I miss the feeling of warm cushions" she notes as she turns away from the grassy plain & into the town, picking up the pace with furrowed brows & a tense grasp of her bag. Her choice has been made, "I'll stay at a friend's hyouse".
--
| トントントン | faint tapping on glass
A little sequence of tapping on the window of a girl's bedroom travels into the ears of the occupant, peacefully sleeping with her head planted on her pillow & her dark chocolate brunette hair spreading across the sangria purple covers like black vines. This is Ōshima Ran (大島 欄), Neko's casual friend who she has met only a handful of times
| トントントン |
That sequence repeats itself gradually getting louder but the sleeping beauty remains locked in her dreams & immobile as she rests on the bed just next to the window
| トントントン |
The sound waves carry themselves through the room, passing the fancy display of bedside ornaments in the shape of cats between her & the maroon-coloured curtains concealing the glass.
Only now does the continues tapping register to this maiden, her eyelids open to reveal her lapis eyes. She takes out her arm to brush some of the black foliage that is her hair away from view to see the purple testers ordaining the sides of her four-poster bed, with one mighty yawn she inclines herself to get a better look at her room. Behind her sluggish blinks she sees room cluttered with a mix of archaic English & modern decorations with one central theme tying them together, cats. Her obsession with cats shines through her posters, down to the carpet & even a large black Bombay cat body pillow lying to her left. This youthful maiden sits on the bed with a drowsy expression attempting to search for the origin of that tapping noise only for her ears to lock onto its rhythm, her head turns to follow the noise towards the window. "What could be making that noise? A crow?" That thought causing discomfort & aches in her chest due to fear building up, "I'm 17 now, I can handle this. I won't wake my parents up" she made that decision with a series of deep breaths as she turns herself the other way to leave a little peck on the cheek of her body pillow before making her way to the window. She shimmies closer & reaches out her arm to pull a curtain back, her heart gradually picks up speed as she gets nearer. Her fingers brush the linen curtain before pulling.
On the other side of the glass, what looks to be a wild animal stares back at the girl with predatorial vertical slit eyes & large pointy ears sticking out from its head coated in long & thick pink fur seemingly drenched in frigid water. The beast's mouth opens to reveal its sharp fangs, its smooth hairless cheeks turn red as opens its mouth even wider as if awkwardly smiling with eyes now shut
Neko: "Nyaa…"
Ran: "Eeeeh"
The sight of such a creature clawing at her window caused her to eject to the other side of the bed & let out a high-pitched wail, her heart races into a frenzy as her limbs begin to shake
Neko: "Rannyan Rannyan"
This girl's pursuit to the door is delayed as her sharp movements slow to a halt once her heard a familiar calling, a name she knows only to come from one person in her life. Standing in front of the plain white wooden door she takes a deep breath before steadily turning to face the beast at the window, her mind slowly opens to the idea that this could be her mate. "Only Neko would call me that"
Ran: "Neko-chan?"
She mutters with a slightly lower voice as she drops her arms to her sides in disbelief, her lips freeze & eyebrows rise at this jaw dropping sight
Neko: "It's me, your Neko nyah"
In a calm tone, the pink beast responds causing the young girl's head to tilt & knees to shake. "Noo what if it is Neko?" She asks herself, angling her body away from the window but maintaining her gawk to inspect this creature.
Despite the backdrop being near pitch black with only a single dim lamp illuminating the street outside she tries to perceive as many details as she could, from the silhouette of an ordinary young woman with pink hair draped over her shoulders & a modest black skirt. The commonplace look ends once the girl inside concentrates on those pointy ears & thick tail casually waving behind this woman's back.
Her feet drift along the floor until reaching her bed, slowly mounts the mattress before putting herself upright with her knees planted on the teal sheets. The closer she crawls to the window the harder it becomes to deny the facts, "this is Neko!" She declares in her head after laying eyes on that droopy & yet nameknown face of a friend she hasn't seen since last December
Ran: "Neko-chan"
"This is Neko, for realsies!" This revelation causes a jolt in her system, she pivots to the window & unlocks it to let the Catgirl in. As the window opens like a door Neko barges in with the speed of a Cheetah only for her drenched clothing & hair to land on Ran's clean bed sheet, soaking the sheets like a squeezed sponge.
Counter to the any normal reaction one would have over a friend dirtying one's bed, Ran is stuck on her knees in the corner of the mattress with a look of astonishment. Stands utterly speechless at the sight before her, seeing those twitching cat ears & snake-like tail coated in a richer layer of fur than the false ones she wears at the café causes Ran to freeze. "I saw from the moment we met that Neko likes acting like a Cat but…I didn't think she really was one" she realises as the pieces start coming together, "Neko is a Catgirl"
Ran: "Neko is a…Catgirl"
She whispers while taking a moment to process this extraordinary discovery with her wide-open eyes & jaw dropping as low as it can, awestruck Ran is fixed in that position only watching the cat crawl off the bed & stretch her limbs. The wet sleeves of her white shirt begin to drip onto Ran's grey carpet, she shacks her head a tad sprinkling droplets of water off her cheeks as a result. Ran with her knees on the bed is unresponsive to wetness forming on her carpet, even a stream accumulates under her soaked tail which flicks even more drops off
Ran: "Neko…"
She calls the cat's name with a timid tone expressing her shyness on the matter, as if trying to avoid the matter even though both blue eyes remain fastened to Neko's feline features
Neko: "Nya"
The Catgirl responds with a tiny meow, turning to face her friend with dim eyes & pale cheeks. At this moment, Ran starts to see those vertical slit pupils staring back at her once more, she raises her right hand to pull out her cheek enough to cause a slight pain. "This is NOT a dream!"
Neko: "Nya you must be shocked"
Neko says with a tiny grin & a slow blink, she tilts her head down letting even more water gently drip off her hair
Ran: "This is for realsies?"
She shimmies herself to the edge of the bed & puts her feet to the floor, as she asks Ran lightly waves her fingers at Neko's ears & the tail casually hanging between the cat's legs
Neko: "Yes"
Neko states bluntly, bringing her arms close & tightly wrapping her left hand around her right. The Catgirl then proceeds to avoid eye contact, preferring to look towards the corner of the room with lowered eyebrows & quivering cheeks. Neko nervously anticipating a scream or faint from this young girl who's only interaction with Nekomimis save this one are from the works of fiction like anime or manga. Of course, seeing an actual, factual, real life Catgirl in her room would be a huge shock to her system. The girl gets off the bed & stumbles to Neko with the blue eyes of deep curiosity as she examines the details of her friend's furry pink ears, "that cat ear really is attached to her head" this thought recalls an image of Neko with in Human form with no Cat features whatsoever. Just her normal Human body with Human ears instead of these pointy ones protruding from the top of her head, with that a question springs to mind
Ran: "Neko. What about your…Human ears?"
Neko: "What are you…nya"
Desperate to ask she brings herself closer hoping to get a good look at Neko's normal ears under her thick hair, she uses her hand to brush away the hair. This level of intimacy causes Neko to tense up & flinch nevertheless she remains standing in the same position, letting the shorter Ran look under her hair only to be met with an unusual discovery. The smooth pale skin on the side of Neko's head is completely flat, there's no Human ear, only white skin that looks to have never seen the Sun. The longer she stares the more Neko's fur sticks up & her cheeks redden, seeing this she lets go & swiftly steps back from her Feline friend who seems to be acting more reserved than usual. Almost like a Cat.
"Normally I'm the nervous one out of the two of us" she thought as she makes this observation
--
Ran: "Have you always been a Catgirl?"
She poses this question with a gentle whisper onto the Catgirl sitting with legs crossed on the end of her bed, while the body pillow has been shoved to the side to make room for Neko who's been wrapped in a baby blue towel & wearing a white tshirt surely size or two smaller as it tightly accentuates her chest
Neko: "All my life nya"
This Feline beauty answers, shrugging her shoulders at the awkwardness of the situation. What feels to be an interview with an eager journalist on the life of a Catgirl. Ran may as well take notes just as her body pillow holds the camera up
Ran: "Nyoh?"
She attempts to mimic the cat-like sound Neko keeps making in almost every sentence, "I used to believe that it was some speech problem & not a genuine commitment to the cat-acting" she stares this cat down as she considers. "She probably can't help making those sounds since she is a cat IRL"
Neko: "Nyah?"
Ran: "You said it again"
She says with an accusatory tone, pointing her finger like a judge too. This only adds to the unpleasant situation for Neko who keeps her calm by gently tracing her claws along the blanket concealing her bare legs
Neko: "Said what nyah?"
Ran: "You keep nyaing in every sentence, I thought you were just committed to the kemono persona even IRL"
Neko went speechless for a moment after hearing those words, that is until she softly sighed & with fatigue in her eyes, she was able to answer
Neko: "This isn't an act, Rannyan"
She took her right arm up to lightly tug on her cat ear before continuing
Neko: "This is my real self, being Hyuman is the act & nyafter what you said…I don't think I've done a good job kyonvincing you I am one"
A forlorn expression appears on Neko's face changing the tone of their interaction, seeing this Ran gently brushes her brunette bangs away from her forehead & frowns too. "I must have hit one of her weak spots, I must change the subject" she considers changing tac to keep her friend from melting into the emotion while also getting more information about this astonishing phenomenon, in that moment she came to a realisation. "I remember now, Neko does not live alone"
Ran: "Does your landlady Haru-san know about this?"
This question from her causes Neko to avert her eyes even more only this time her miserable expression became one of turmoil with her lips tensing up & eyelids widening, this is short-lived however as the Catgirl brings herself to face her friend once more to come back with a robust response
Neko: "Haru-san is nyot aware of this side of me"
Ran: "Hah?"
Neko: "I'm syo good at hiding my Feline side that the other girls at home are kyompletely in the dark nya hya hya"
Ran puckered her bottom lip as she doubts Neko's rationale, "I suspect she's lying; her landlady could be in on this too" however this initial thought opens a slippery can of worms. "Could everyone living in that house be cats?" This question leads to some funny thoughts resulting in a small grin on her face which luckily wasn't detected by Neko.
Meanwhile the Catgirl twiddles her fingers in silence while facing the bedsheets, her thoughts seemingly absent from reality. This distance gets noticed by Ran who takes her mind back to the moment Neko tapped on her window & bypassing the shock of her friend coming to her as a Catgirl, "She came to me drenched & frozen which was worrying, she must have been in such a bad situation to come to me while in her true form"
Ran: "So what happened to you tonight?"
She pivots a little closer as she asks expressing her concern with a broad frown & furrowed eyebrow, "she must be in some kind of trouble, I want to help her" the compassion in her heart brings her to comfort Neko with a soft stroke of her long pink hair. "Her hair flows like a pink waterfall, it's so dazzling even in the dark" she added.
To this question, Neko tensed up like a student about to be berated by the teacher. Her eyes even left Ran & jumped around like a ball across the room, picking out every little, small detail she can spot all while twiddling her fingers once more but this time a tad more ferociously. "Whatever it was, it's gotten her quite worked up. For realsies" she thinks to herself as she begins to stick her hand out, "perhaps I shouldn't have asked"
Neko: "Anyo…"
But before she could put a stop to this the Catgirl proceeds to answer, she takes a deep breath to loosen her shoulders & supress her flickering fingers
Neko: "I ryan out of my Pyotion, that is what I use to appear Hyuman"
She starts hesitating, this causes her head to tilt left & her eyes to squint as she faces the window
Neko: "Syo I went to get myore from the…streets"
Ran: "Streets?"
Now it's her head that leans, intrigued by how Neko puts it she shimmies a little closer with wide curious eyes. "Could she have conducted a shady deal nya? Oh now I'm doing it!" She lets out a tiny burst of air from her nostrils along with a miniscule grin at that thought
She walks that fine tightrope between wanting to know more & wavering on it, "I'm worried for Neko but getting potion from the street sounds sus. However, she is my friend & I want to help her" Ran's uncertainty is made so by the clash of these thoughts
Neko: "Nyaha"
She sees the turmoil in her friend's eyes, the reluctance to go on. Neko meanwhile holds her tongue as she contemplates a way to answer without worrying Ran, her shifting eyes eventually drift to a blue beanbag chair in the corner of the room then above to a small display on the top of Ran's wardrobe. The display consists of a ceramic calico cat sculpture with two potted plants either side, from this distance she can see that the plants are fake however they paint a little picture of the flora of the park, which in turn harken back to that stream she walked along side of on her way to street Ran lives on. The snow-white cat sitting in between these trees has nothing but her coller & deadpan stare, Neko formulates her answer while looking at this oddly judgmental statue
Neko: "Some street kyatmen online said they hyave some extra Pyotion they kyan sell…but when I went to meet them, they weren't there"
Ran's eyes started to glow, radiating against the dark backdrop as she presents a look of astonishment. "There's more Nekomimis! This changes everything, this is just like in anime!"
Neko: "Nya?"
Ran: "There's more!?"
She asks loudly, perking up as her face beams like a headlight. The prospect of more Nekomimis like Neko existing excites her enough to break her hushed voice. Even Neko is shocked by the level of energy she is displaying, the tips of her ears gradually drop as she leans away from the expected incoming barrage of further questions. Creating distance from her eager friend who stares with stars in her blue eyes
Ran: "Is there a secret cat society then??"
Her excitement gets the better of her, within breathing distance of Neko's lips she presses the Catgirl for more answers the way a restless fan would to their favourite Idol, the cat's personal space is out the window along with the anonymity of her cat-form
Neko: "Anyo…kinda"
Neko pauses for a moment before deciding to let her friend indulge in a nice fantasy over the grim reality of living the Monster's life in the Modern World, seeing her friend get this energetic over that pocket of truth she hears causes comfort for Neko. In fact, her first moment of comfort in two days. She grins at Ran's candid reactions & fights the urge to ruffle her silky black hair
Neko: "Deep deown I knyew you'd be this hyappy to find out my true form"
The bubbly burst of excitement from Ran brings to Neko's face a greater smile & a wave of warmth as she realises why she came to this friend in the first place, this bubbly behaviour gradually subsides as Ran takes a deep breath & remembers where she is. "I shouldn't be so loud, it's a miracle my parents haven't woken up yet"
Ran: *yawns*
She opens wide for a hefty yawn, cupping her hand over her mouth & shutting her eyes hard enough to produce a few tears. "There is something that still bugs me though" despite tiredness starting to kick in she can't help but ask another question even if she ends up speaking drowsier from now on
Ran: "But um would you need to hide, for reals? I mean in modern times Catgirls are like worshipped. I bet a lot of customers adore your costume at the Caf…"
Before finishing her statement, she lets out a tiny chuckle, remembering that Neko works at a Maid Café posing as a Catgirl maid. "Is that just superb or what?" She asks herself
Neko: "Neow it's not as simple as that…"
Ran: "You just said neow, For realsies"
She casually drops to the bed & buries her face in the covers to conceal her laughter, Neko just sits there awkwardly grinning at her friend who frantically waves her legs in the air. This adorable sight causes much of the stresses that were built up over the past couple of days to ooze out, her shoulders can finally begin to relax as her grin becomes larger.
Ran eventually puts a stop to her laughter by taking a deep breath followed by a yawn as she rises back up with one question for her cat friend
Ran: "How did you get here in your cat-form?"
She asks as her heavy head dangles like a wrecking ball, she makes another yawn once she finishes talking. Contrasting her lousy posture, Neko sits with her back straight & wide eyes the way a nocturnal lynx would
Neko: "I'm very used to wyondering the streets at night, in the dark I kyan be myself when there's nyo kyars abeowt"
While Neko explains, Ran sits hunched back with her shoulders down as she tiredly stares & tries to comprehend what she said. "Sometimes her accent is difficult to understand"
But nevertheless, the conclusion to Neko's answer gave this girl an idea. "Does Neko even need this potion to survive?" She asks herself as she prepares to speak by softly clearing her throat
Ran: "But Neko-chan, you came all the way here without your potion. In your full cat-self"
Presenting this absoluteness Neko, she proceeds with her question
Ran: "Is all this trouble worth it for more potion? You shouldn't have to hide from us anymore. We adore Catgirls now"
This astonishing inquiry causes Neko to raise her left eyebrow & tilt her head
Neko: "Do you really think I would survive in Hyuman society gyoing out like this every day nya?"
Ran: "When I think about it, you'll get chased out of Saitama by a legion of anime otakus"
Neko responds shrugging her shoulders but to her sincerity, Ran comes back with a picture from her mind along with a small childish grin & slight glow of innocence surrounding her kawaii face.
Almost immediately after she gives another yawn, this time accompanies that a raised chest & outstretched arms
Ran: *sighs*
After that yawn she lets out a gentle sigh while shimmying forward using her knees, she comes closer to Neko with a timid gaze coming from her blue languid eyes
Ran: "I should get to sleep now"
Neko drops her bottom lip realising that it's approaching 4am & that her friend has school in the morning
Neko: "Nyah that's right, I'm syorry for keeping you up"
She whispers with a nervous chuckle; she places her hands onto Ran's shoulders & applies pressure onto them to get her down however her friend resists a little
Ran: "There's something you can do to help me sleep faster"
Neko: "What is it nya?"
The girl wakwardly twiddles her fingers & avoids eye contact before gaining the courage to ask, "who knows if I will get this opportunity again, it's now or never. For realsies" she concludes.
This subtle pause in her behaviour brings Neko's cat ears up with curiosity
Ran: "Could you umm…purr me to sleep? Please"
Neko: "Nyani!?"
She sincerely asks with reddened cheeks & a heart weighing down as the scene is taken over by untimeliness, nevertheless she doesn't falter. Puzzled, Neko furrows her pink eyebrows & reclines her back somewhat
Ran: "I listen to cat purring videos to help me sleep a lot & since you're like a real cat I wanted to get…"
After a short breath she elaborates further
Ran: "The IRL experience"
She tenses her lip as soon as those words exit her mouth, she holds the covers down with a tight grip & tensed shoulder. Her cheeks begin to glow red, as red as ripe cherries
Neko: "You want me to purr nya?"
With the message finally getting through, the Catgirl slumps her back as she considers what her friend is asking her to do. Her ears drop while her tail shifts across the soft bed cover from one side to the other
Ran: "If it's not any trouble, just thought if I hear you purring IRL I'd get to sleep faster. I really do have to go to school tomorrow"
Neko: "But I kyan't do it on kyommand, I need to be in a kyomfortable state. Do you even knyow what purring is…"
Before she could finish Ran swiftly moves in with open arms to wrap around the Catgirl warm tortilla bread, bringing her right arm up to gently stroke the cat's prominent pink hair
Ran: "Goro goro there there"
She lulls the cat to a state of serenity with her attempt to purr by slurring her syllables, she sits her head into Neko's chest & gradually nestle herself into a comfortable position. As a result of this Neko feels a tender sensation emanating from her chest, a heavy feeling that spreads towards all her joints causing a wave to fatigue. The kind of fatigue one would feel after a long run as the final ounces of stress oozes from her psyche, she wraps her arms around her compassionate friend.
That sensation spreading out of her chest finally reaches her lower throat, a familiar feeling she longs for after long & stressful days. This releases a soft buzzing sound from her voice box
| ゴロゴロ |
The smooth rattling of those rolled Rs emanate like little pitter-patters of rain drops into a small pond, the essence of relaxation entering Ran's ears & by extension healing her very soul as she sinks back into the bed along with her Feline friend whose weariness gets the better of her.
"Finally. The IRL experience" this is the final thought that runs through Ran's head before she enters a state of deep sleep.
Neko meanwhile has some little consciousness remaining, her eyes gradually shut but before she drifts away, she's able to let out a brief whisper
Neko: "I want Klaus to hold me this way"