Mewaru sifted through the dumpsters behind a local diner. From experience, usually there were a few burnt pieces of meat or discarded vegetables that didn’t quite make the cut that he could eat. Luckily, he managed to find something, and it was even one of his favorites. It was hard to recognize from the look, as it was nearly burnt into charcoal, but Mewaru’s keen sense of smell told him that it was actually a rare piece of beef. He did his best to scrape away the burnt bits, before immediately biting down, his ears wriggling in pleasure.

Mewaru was a thin and malnourished looking boy with grimy black hair, ears and a tail. He was a catkin. But all over his body were scars, criss-crossed over every single bit of his skin. They looked old, and were healed over, but from the variety of different scars seen on his body, one would shiver at how much pain he had gone through.

The boy had found himself in an alleyway a few years ago, devoid of any memories of how he got there, his name, or anything else. All he knew was that he was hurting, hungry, and needed help. He limped his way out of the alleyway, before seeing a lady on the street. His ears and tail perking up, he started running towards her.

At first he didn’t realize what happened. He was running towards the kind looking lady, and suddenly he was on his back. He didn’t understand.

A disgusted voice rang out, 

“What is this ugly thing doing here? It’s polluting my eyes! Ugh.”

Upon hearing those words, the boy realized. He was on his own. He had no one to rely on except himself. He quickly limped away back to the alley he woke up in and collapsed against the wall. He didn’t know what was wrong.

Although he didn’t remember a name for himself, he did remember that all people have a name assigned to themselves. The name gave them a sense of self and an identity to latch onto. Upon remembering the woman’s voice, he thought of what she said. Mewaru. Taking out the ni from me ni warui(disgusting for your eyes), the woman said, he thought the name was appropriate for him. Mewaru, a gross thing who was bad for your eyes.

—

Upon finishing his meal, Mewaru quickly got up and started searching for a place to sleep. If he didn’t change sleeping locations frequently, he knew that he would be caught and sold off. It had happened to a few others that Mewaru had known, and he didn’t want it to happen to him either.

He managed to find a safe looking place away from the eyes of society. He plopped down his little box that had a few rags and other things in it, before getting in and curling up to go to sleep. He fell asleep quickly, before being woken up by intense pain. He tried to scream, before realizing that his voice wouldn’t come out, robbing him of the only relief he could get. It was as if he had a million red hot needles being stabbed into every single surface of his body. Slowly, he started to black out as the pain overwhelmed his consciousness.

—

For any looking upon the boy, they would chance upon a mysterious phenomenon. His body seemed as if it was dissolving into light. Bit by bit, his body turned into a warm light, before disappearing into the sky. After the boy disappeared, the situation seemed to calm down, before the cardboard box he was sleeping in suddenly disappeared as well, as if it was an afterthought.