“A-Achoo! Uuuu…….” I put my face back down on the desk. Turns out, running home in the rain really does make you catch a cold. Either that or staying up all night trying to coax Yuki to eat a can of tuna. As expected, mum gave me an earful when she came home to me microwaving a water bottle to keep my new friend warm.

“Haru, sweetie… you know we can’t afford to keep a pet right now,” She’d said.

“I know, I know,” I pleaded. “But she was going to freeze out there, mum! I found her under one of the old bridges and-”

“Miyu!” Yuki added helpfully. She ran right up to mum and nuzzled against her legs. Then she sat down in front of her and looked up with those big kitten eyes of hers.

Mum sighed. “You have a heart of gold, Haru. We’ll keep her until I can drive you down to the shelter this weekend, okay?” She bent down to pet the kitten. “She’s really cute, but we just can’t afford to take care of her.” She then glared a judgementaly at me. “Especially when I have to worry about you, too! Why are you still soaking wet? Didn’t you change when you got home?”

“I… forgot.”

Mum sighed again. “Right, well, go change before you catch a cold! And try not to get too attached to the kitty before we have to give her away.”

“Miyu!”

Yeah, I failed that bit the moment I saved Yuki from the elements. The cheeky little thing even had the nerve to snuggle up with me under the covers this morning, and I overslept because of it! How was I not supposed to be attached?

“Miyu!”

Ahhh… she was so cute! I swear I could still hear her little mews now.

“Miyu!”

Wait no, I can actually hear her mews! I made a quick glance around the classroom before I opened up my bag.

“Oh you sneaky little…”

“Mew?”

“Shhh! Just, stay in there, okay?”

Yuki, of course, being a cat and thus a master of ignoring requests, jumped right out of my backpack and beelined it for the sunlit windowsill on my left. Typical cat.

“Ah, wait-!” I got out of my seat to chase after her. Since I was decidedly not a cat, that, unfortunately, meant I bumped into the guy that was trying to take his seat- the seat that Yuki just ran under. He looked just as tired as I felt. Pretty pale too, like he didn’t get out much, or didn’t have the brightest seat in History class.

“Yeah?” he asked me.

“Uh- Um- I- uh…” Dammit, social anxiety! Now was not the time!

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah-! I- No! Um…” I clamped my mouth shut, just pointing at the little kitten that had found herself a nice spot for a nap on the windowsill. He followed my gaze and nodded with… understanding?

“Don’t chase it- the bell’s about to ring. Let’s trade seats so you can keep an eye on your cat.”

“T-Thanks… S-sorry.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I proceeded to do the awkwardest shuffle of my life with… what was his name? Evan, right? Yeah. One awkward stuff-shuffling later, and I was back to trying to coax Yuki back into my bag as our history teacher walked in and began taking attendance. Drat! Okay, Yuki, you blend in well enough… just don’t get yourself caught…

“Haru?”

“H-Here!”

The teacher glanced up at me. “You’re in the wrong seat, Mr. Aoki.”

“Uh-”

“I asked to trade with him, sir.” Evan piped up. “The sun makes it really hard to see the board, but Haru said he’d be fine.”

“I see. Is this true, Haru?”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

The teacher cast a suspicious gaze over both of us. “Very well then. Let’s continue with attendance.”

I slumped back in my seat, sighing with relief. Evan gave me one of those bro nods before turning his attention back to the teacher. Yuki continued to have no cares in the world, sleeping peacefully on that windowsill. Must be nice… lucky cat.

***

“One final thing, class. Your homework for this week is a group project. Each of you will be partnered up with the student next to you. Your assignment is to research the founding of one of the towns on this list and present a short PowerPoint presentation on your results. It’ll be due on Halloween. As a reminder, anyone who comes to class in costume will receive a point of extra credit on their last test.” The bell rang, but the teacher wasn’t finished. “Wait. Does anybody have any preferences?”

Evan exchanged another awkward bro nod with me and raised his hand. “Haru and I would like to work together.”

The teacher nodded. “Got it. Anyone else?” The classroom was silent. “I’ll post the assignment on Canvas by the end of school today. Dismissed.”

Yuki yawned and stretched as everyone got up from their seats. She made a graceful yet somehow lazy dive from her spot on the windowsill into my bag, much to my surprise.

“Wha- oh you- you’re so lucky nobody saw you!” I whispered into my backpack.

Someone clapped a hand on my back, and it took all that I had to stop myself from shrieking. Thankfully, it was just my group partner and cat-hider in crime.

“Hey. Want to head to the Haven’s Cafe tomorrow after school and get started on the project?” Evan asked, looking pointedly at my backpack. “It’s pet friendly.”

“S-Sure.”

“Cool. See you there, then.”

“R-Right.” I let out a sigh as he walked away. Alright… only four more periods of hiding a kitten to go. How hard could it be?

***

“That was way too easy,” I said to nobody in particular as I headed home. By some miracle, Yuki managed to sneak in and out of my bag all day without getting caught, not to mention she always seemed to know exactly when it was time to get back in the bag. Either she’s incredibly smart, or I just happened to be incredibly lucky.

Yuki stuck her head out of my backpack. “Miyu!”

I reached behind my back to pat the little fluffball. “Yes, Yes, you’re a lucky cat. That’s why I named you Yuki, Yuki.” 

“Miyu!”

I sighed, pushing open the door to my house. “How am I going to give you up?”

“Mew?”

“I’m not, that’s how,” I sighed, opening my bag to let her out. “You’re an adorable little troublemaker, you are.”

Yuki scrambled up my arms and onto my shoulder, purring. “Miyuu~”

I couldn’t help but smile and pet her some more. “Want some tunya, little-” The hell? I did nyot- not!-  just say that.

Yuki was practically glowing with the attention I was giving her. “Miyuuuuu~” No, wait…

“Oh shit, you’re actually glowing!” I quickly picked up Yuki and set her on the floor, and just like that, the glow stopped. “Mew?”

I rubbed my eyes. Maybe I was just tired. I went to the bathroom to wash my face. Against some adorable kitty protesting, I locked her out of the bathroom to have a moment to myself, giving myself a once-over. Same brown eyes… same black hair… clean-shaven - which was weird because I didn’t remember shaving last night- yep, same old me.

“Thank god,” I said to the mirror. That’s when I noticed my canines seemed a little bigger than usual. I think, anyways. Ugh, I’d better get some good sleep tonight, now I’m seeing things. Maybe even hearing things.

“I’m nyot a catgirl,” I said to myself. “I’m nyot even a- Ack- dammit!”