“Miyu!” Something rough and slimy stirred me from consciousness. “Miyu!” Lick. “Miyu!”

“Nyehhh… I’m up, I’m upppp…!” I groaned, checking my phone. 7:31 A.M. Did I forget to set my alarm last night?

“Miyu!” Lick.

“Wah! Y-Yuki! Stop!”

“Miyu.” Content to relinquish me from her grooming session, the little cat hopped off my bed and onto my dresser, pawing at an unopened can of tuna.

“Oh, I see how it is, you bratty kitten,” I sat up and did a big stretch - which felt really good - before opening up the tuna can for her, which she dug into with glee. I really should get her some proper cat food, but you can buy twelve cans of tuna for the price of two cans of kitten food, so this would have to do until I got a job, at the least.

“I’d better get going, too. No sneaking into my backpack again, okay?”

Yuki didn’t respond, being too invested in this morning’s breakfast. Fair enough. I got started on my normal morning routine: a bowl of cereal, and a quick shower.

“So much hair…” I mumbled as I combed it in front of the foggy mirror. I’d have to ask mum to give me a haircut when she had the time. And then there were these two little knots of hair at the top of my head that just wouldn’t untangle, but felt really good to scratch, for some reason. When in doubt, cut it out, right? I quickly dressed, then wiped down the mirror with my towel.

“What the…”

The person in the mirror looked like me but was decidedly more… feline. My eye color had changed to green, and my pupils were more slit-like. And those little nubs of hair? Tiny little cat ears. Oh fuck. Ohhhhhh-

An angry little swat from the other side of the door caused me to jump. “Miyu!”

“Gah! Yuki! No! You’re not allowed in the bathroom!”

“Miyu…”

“I’m coming out!” I frantically searched for something to cover my head for school today. Didn’t want to look like one of those rich spoiled kids with fancy animatronic headbands, after all. At least there’s no tail to hide… yet. I’ll cross that bridge if I get to it.

“Miyu!!!”

“What are you, my mum? I’m coming!” I grabbed a beanie out of the hamper and rushed out, hurrying to get my backpack together. After one final check to make sure I had no stowaways this time, I rushed out the door for my brisk walk to school.

“Miyu!”

I stopped dead in my tracks, about halfway there already. “Again, Yuki?!”

The perpetrator poked her head out of my bag. “Miyu!”

I sighed. Well, I did it once… I can do it again, right? Worst case scenario, one of the teachers can try to keep this cat away from me for more than five minutes and see how impossible it is for themselves.

I couldn’t help but smile, though. Having gotten this close to her in a matter of two days definitely made me feel like I’d earned some good karma. “Time for round two, Yuki,”

“Miyu?”

***

Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly, I’m not sure which anymore), I was able to get through another day without being questioned for having- or looking- like a cat. One of the perks of being a quiet loner- nobody really pays you any mind. Except for Evan. Somehow, I managed to convince him I didn’t bring a cat to school again. Maybe. I might’ve said “tunya” again, and my backpack might’ve meowed a few times, but he didn’t question me any further after he convinced me to take the bus to the cafe after school. So, small victories.

“Hey, shitty day?” Evan asked as he joined me at the bus stop.

“Yeah, something like that,” I replied. Just because I didn’t get caught today doesn’t mean I wasn’t stressing out over it all day. It was exhausting. I could use a catnap- a nap, brain, a nap!

“Same. I need some major coffee therapy or something when we get to the cafe.”

“Coffee at a boba shop? I think you should go for some tea, personyally-” I coughed, hoping to mask my slip. It was getting worse, and I’m pretty sure I was being racist toward catgirls or something.

“…Sure, cool.”

I was relieved to see the bus roll up and save me from the awkwardness that was this conversation. Thank goodness for loud transport! Really loud transport. Was it always this loud?

“Miyu,” Yuki meowed quietly from inside my bag. Oh, right. Becoming a catgirl. Cat hearing. Makes sense. I spent the bus ride in silence, trying not to freak out. Maybe too silent, cause Evan had to nudge me when we got to our stop.

Cafe Pride was a non-profit shop owned by The Haven, the largest queer center in New Haven. All proceeds from here went straight back into the community, including a food drive once a month that me and my mum frequented. 

Actually going into the shop was a whole different beast, as I was immediately overwhelmed by the scent of pastries and tea and all kinds of other baked goods. Mmm…

My cat ears flicked at the sound of Evan’s stomach grumbling. Urk- I hope he didn’t nyotice. Notice! Augh!

“Uh, sorry. Hungry.” He mumbled as we went over to the counter, only to be greeted by a pink-haired catgirl about our age.

Wait. Catgirl?

“Hi, welcome to Cafe Pride!” she said cheerfully. Her ears and tail were so lively and realistic… Was she like me? Is that what I’m headed towards? Nah- she’s probably just a rich kid with those special animatronics that are popular in New Haven. Mostly with younger kids, though. So… maybe?

“Sorry, we need a sec,” Evan said. “It’s our first time here.”

“Hmmm…” the girl mused, her tail swishing back and forth. “How ‘bout we give surprise recs? Nyo charge!”

Did she just say “nyo?” Is her tail going swish, swish? Swish… swish……

“I appreciate it, but-” Evan began, saving me from my swish-swish trance.

“Nonsense,” said a white-haired girl with deep red eyes as she came out from behind the bar. “Sachi knows her customers. Take her offer, you won’t regret it.”

Sachi smiled at me. “Anything to eat?”

“Nyo tha-“ Arghhhhh! “N-No thank you.”

“No thanks, I’m good,” Evan added.

The catgirl rolled her eyes at my partner. “Of course not. Silly me.” Without another word, she stepped back to the bar to make our drinks. One awkward wait later, Evan and I found a table to sit down and discuss the project. After we both tried our drinks, of course.

The drink I’d been given was a milk tea with a bit of green jelly at the bottom. The tea itself was super creamy, almost like they’d added more milk than tea. And the jelly was this really tasty earthy flavor that left me wanting more. I savored the taste for as long as I could, embarrassment be damned. “Mmm…”

We enjoyed our drinks in quiet solidarity for a moment. What type of tea was this, anyway? I checked the label. Catgirl Cuppa… Dammit. Oh, wait- underneath the order there was a number and a message printed in neat handwriting. “Call me if you nyeed any help!” Next to the message was a cute little cat’s paw drawn onto it. Shit, was my cover blown? No, maybe she’s just… flirting! That other girl too, hopefully?

“Hey… did one of the girls give you their number?” I asked.

Evan checked his label quickly. “Yeah. ‘Ada’ wrote hers.”

“I got Sachi’s… Are they… flirting with us?”

Evan let out a laugh. “I think so, dude.”

Yuki decided this was a good time to escape the confines of my bag. “Miyu!” she mewed happily, doing a couple of laps around our table before settling next to my drink. “Miyu?”

I sighed and opened the lid to let her try some. The alternative would probably be dealing with an angry kitten that’d been stuck in a backpack all day. But damn if I’m letting her drink it all! I’m using a straw anyways, so it’s probably fine.

“So what’s with the cat?” Evan asked me.

“I… rescued her a few days ago. During the rain? I wasn’t going to leave her to freeze out there, you know?”

He gave me a warm smile. “Cool. I’d have done the same. Cats are cute.” Evan reached to pet Yuki, who flinched at first, but decided that the drink was more important than getting away from the stranger. Same, Yuki. Same.

“So, about the project…”

“Oh, yeah. We should do our report on New Haven. It’s on the list, and there’s something weird about this place.”

“Weird?” I asked. “You think so?” Nevermind the fact that I was slowly becoming a cat…boy and was sharing a drink made by a catgirl with my rescued kitten. That’s pretty par for the course, isn’t it?

“Well, yeah. Nothing ever seriously bad happens around here, and there’s no crime or unemployment or anything.”

“Aren’t those good things?” I countered.

“I mean yeah… but look, it beats doing a report on NYC or Washington D.C., right?”

Couldn’t deny that. “Yeah. Point taken.”

“Cool. So how do you want to do this? Google Powerpoint and divide and conquer?”

“I’m okay with that. Do you have discord?” Cue him thinking I’m a nerd for not using a more mainstream messaging system…

“Yeah, I use it all the time. Here, add me.”

Phew! Safe. I gladly traded contacts with him.

“How about I look up the stuff about the crime rate you mentioned? I’m kinda curious now. You can look up things about the founding of the city?”

“Sure, works for me. Let’s check back in tomorrow,” he said, finishing off his drink. The boba in his drink was a super dark red. I thought it was just the black tea at first. Huh. Wonder what it tasted like?

“Miyu!”

Ah, shit. Better finish the drink before Yuki knocks the cup over and finishes it for me.

***

I waved goodbye to Evan as he walked towards the bus stop, heading the other way on foot to get home.

“Miyu!” said my bag.

“This is what you get if you stow away in my bag every day,” I said.

“Miyu!” my bag screamed.

“I don’t feel sorry for you. This is called karma, kitty.”

“Nyu!” my bag said again, glowing. Uh oh.

“Alright alright! No more weird supernatural shit, though, okay?” I opened the bag, letting Yuki jump out and ride on my shoulder.

“Nyo,” Yuki mewed. 

I stopped in my tracks. Did I just understand that?

“Nyah… couldn’t be. I’m just tired, is all,” I said to myself. “That’s definitely it.”. 

“Nyeah!” Yuki mewed again.

I debated texting Sachi right then and there, hoping that it wasn’t flirting and she actually knew how to help me. But she was still working, and I was still shy as heck, so I decided against it. Maybe tomorrow. My subconscious might have some answers after I sleep. And I should do some research of my own, first. I sighed and put possibly the dumbest question I’ve ever thought of into the google search bar on my phone.

Are catgirls real?