Winter, cold, snow, which tries to stick all over your face (even sometimes get into your nose) — that's what accompanies every person who stayed in the forest while the blizzard swept everything in its path. Well, she's not really human (this is her peculiarity), but it doesn't change the essence. Does the cat's ears and tail make her less human? However, we don't have time to talk about what makes us more human and what doesn't.

A girl of about 5 years old was sitting under a tree, wrapping her yukata as tightly as possible and covering her face. Especially the nose, which was already stiff from the cold and was red-beautiful, like some kind of berry. Her ears were lowered down, and her eyes, the color of lilac, which blooms so beautifully in May, were covered, because it was hard to even look because of the heavy snowstorm — the snow immediately blinded her eyes. Her long and white hair, like everything else around her, fluttered in the direction of the wind. Sometimes some strands even got into her mouth, which the girl pulled out with her thin and elegant fingers (hair is not food after all, and who knows, maybe she, like a real cat, will not be able to just piss them off ...?)

I was passing by that day with a friend, we walked through this forest together every day to get home from school. Well, or sometimes we just ran around and walked there, as it turns out. But today we did not plan to stay there for a long time.... But I saw this lump and immediately ran up to her, pulled her by the hand, without saying anything. A friend ran up to me and... She started scolding me that I didn't have any manners. Then she looked at the girl.

— Hey, what are you doing here...? So also in such a strange outfit..

But there was no answer... the little girl just looked away, standing rooted to the spot. And now, instead of any words, you just took her to our house (well, don't leave her alone on the street..)

We brought her home (we were about 9 years old at that time, by the way), I gave her my clothes and now we are sitting at the table… My parents went to the city, so there were no misunderstandings. We look at her curiously, and she looks away, clearly uncomfortable with our gaze… Her ears were still down, and her tail was darting from one side to the other, as cats usually do when they are nervous. In the end, I couldn't help but ask her:

— And the ears and tail are real-..

But I didn't have time to finish, as I received a light slap on the head from a friend and her disapproving look.

— What?

— Nothing. Have a little manners.

I just chuckled and turned away, pouting and crossing my arms over my chest.

- yes. That's how I was born… Am I really a monster..?

Suddenly we heard from her. We turned to her, looking at her in complete disbelief.

— Who told you such a stupid thing?

I replied, still looking at her in complete disbelief and blinking. My friend had... about the same reaction to what was happening. The girl was also surprised by this reaction, and now she looks at us in the same perplexity. And so for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, I got tired of such tension, just silently got up and went to look for sweets. And what happened next, I don't even know anymore.....

The next day, I woke up to someone poking me in the side. I woke up, shifted a little and, barely opening my eyes, grumbled:

— Well, mom, today lessons were canceled....

— I'm hungry..

And then I abruptly got up from the bed and looked in the direction from where I heard the voice. There was the same cat-girl that we brought from the forest. She looked at me with plaintive and innocent eyes, clutching the edge of the blanket in her hands. I reluctantly got out of bed and together we went to the kitchen in search of food. 

And after about 5 minutes, I climb on the kitchen table with my bare feet to get to the upper cabinets, and the girl scours the bottom, climbing into every drawer. It doesn't take long, but we haven't found anything yet. But here… she pokes me sharply in the leg, which almost made me fall..

— I found it, I found it!!! 

The little girl looked at me with shining eyes, while showing me a pack of unopened marmalades. 

— There are many more like that.

I got down from the table (even jumped off..) and looked into that very cherished drawer. And there... all possible types of sweets.. We looked at each other... and it was as if we understood each other without words. We quickly grabbed everything that was there and quietly took off…

Now we were hiding from everyone in the closet, eating all the sweets we could steal. (yes, we didn't think that anyone would notice such a loss..) We sometimes looked at each other, smiling a little. But then the closet door opens and they find us.... my friend. She looked down at us, and we looked at her with guilty eyes, blinking sometimes. But she quickly climbs in with us and closes the door. Now we were hiding and hamming sweets together.. Although now there is no point in hiding, since no one was at home, but apparently we didn't really care....

And then an important question suddenly dawned on me: we don't even know what our new friend's name is.

— Listen... what's your name...?

The girl looked away and lowered her ears…

— Um... I don't know…

Both my friend and I looked at her in amazement.. And the girl looked away, for some reason feeling guilty for this...

- Hmm... So can we come up with a new name for you? — It came from me. In general, I quickly recovered from the shock and no longer seemed to even think about it, concentrating on the task.

— You can… Probably.. only what..?

And I got lost in thought... then I jumped up abruptly, got out of the closet and ran in a direction known only to me. 

As soon as I got into the computer, I quickly opened the translator from Japanese to Russian, after which I asked our friend a question.

— Listen, what two words do you associate with yourself?

The girl lowered her ears, looking at me with her lavender eyes in complete disbelief, but after a couple of seconds she looked away…

—Uh... I don't know... well... a demon.. And the cat…

A friend looked at the girl in disbelief, and I ignored her and just entered these words into the translator. And then she stood up and turned to her with a twinkle in her eyes and blurted out:

— Listen, what do you think of the name "kineko"?

A friend looked at us as if we were bad… And the girl was thinking…

Here I decided to check again whether it really translates that way, but this time the translator gave out "akumaneko". But after a couple of seconds, our friend quietly whispered:

— I like the way it sounds.... Maybe we'll leave it like that...?

My friend sighed with relief, and I looked at Kineko with complete delight and pride for my wonderful idea. 

And so she appeared ... "Kineko" ... a kind-hearted girl who had an extremely unusual appearance. I even often wondered where she got those fluffy ears and tail, which were so nice to stroke.… But maybe in the future she will finally stop hiding and tell me her story.