“Back where I originally came from, there weren’t just humans… there were elves, dwarves, beastkin – like me, I’m a catkin, or was, I don’t even know anymore…” (Shion)

 

“I mean, you still have cat ears and a tail, so I don’t think you’ve really changed at all” (Akira)

 

“But, I used to be a boy catkin, and there was no such thing as ‘omega, beta, and alpha’ genders…” (Shion)

 

“Your world is really weird, huh” (Yuuga)

 

“I mean, from my perspective, this world is weirder… but anyways, I went from being a boy catkin to this, a female catkin omega… it was kinda weird at first, but I didn’t really mind the changes, since I didn’t really care about anything besides surviving back then.” (Shion)

 

“Surviving?” (Arisa)

 

“Oh– back in my old world, I was homeless… the earliest memory I can remember is waking up in an alleyway adjacent to a little shopping street. I was hungry and in pain, so I tried to approach someone for help, but I just got kicked away, so I thought I just had to try to help myself” (Shion)

 

Arisa spoke up with an unusually spiteful tone,

 

“If that person was here… I’d make them regret what they’ve done, one way or another” (Arisa)

 

Shion giggled slightly at Arisa’s remark, before shaking her head.

“No… the reason she kicked me away was because I was dirty and ugly… I had a lot of scars all over my body, and I still don’t know why. Oh, I also had black hair and eyes then, same with my ears and tail, so I was even less desired… black was considered unlucky for catkin” (Shion)

 

“B-but, black cats are so cute… I still can’t believe that they would do that to you, especially since you were what, 7 or 8?” (Akira)

 

“I think so, I didn’t really have a way to keep track of time outside of occasional calendars and TV advertisements I saw…” (Shion)

 

“When did you come to our world?” (Yuuga)

 

“Mmm… Papa registered my birthday as the day I came over, so last year on March 31st?” (Shion)

 

“Ahhh… so that’s why you only popped into the middle school for testing…” (Yuuga)

 

“Mhmm, I spent most of my time before coming to Kisshoin High School studying with Takanashi-sensei privately so I could catch up with everyone…” (Shion)

 

“You spent several years on the street just trying to survive… wasn’t it hard?” (Akira)

 

“Mm… I didn’t really think much of it at the time, because it was all I knew, but yeah, it was a little bit hard… that’s why I’m so happy I have everyone here now… I can go to school, eat delicious food, I don’t have to run away from people, I have a Papa…” (Shion)

 

Shion’s voice slowly trailed off as her eyelids grew heavy. It wasn’t long until the other three could hear quiet breaths coming from Shion. Arisa sighed, and adjusted her arm slightly so that Shion would be more comfortable, before pulling the blanket up on the two of them.

 

“I know she mentioned that her Papa isn’t her real one… but I didn’t think her past would be that bad.” (Akira)

 

“There were a few signs though, but some of her triggers still don’t make sense… it probably has to do with her amnesia though” (Yuuga)

 

“Yeah, but all we can do is continue to care for her as we have been doing… but still, she’s too defenseless around me, I really hope she doesn’t act this way around other alphas.” (Arisa)

 

“It probably has to do with her growing up in that weird world, she doesn’t have any wariness against females at all… All alphas and even some betas would take any chance to snatch her up” (Yuuga)

 

“Well, at first I was kind of thinking the same way, that Shion was so cute and maybe I could take her for myself, but I don’t think I can think of her that way anymore… She's just like a little sister.” (Arisa)

 

“Mmm… yeah…” (Akira)

 

Everyone was starting to feel tired, so they slipped into their futons for the night. At some point during their conversation, Shion had started snuggling into Arisa’s chest, so she just sighed gently and hugged her, before falling asleep to her gentle warmth.

 

—

 

The next morning, Arisa woke up first, feeling slightly hot. Looking down, she was slightly speechless at the sight before her. Shion, at some point during the night, had managed to completely wrap herself around Arisa’s body, using her as a pillow. Arisa’s spine hurt just looking at her, and so she looked away and at the others, who were still sleeping deeply.

 

Yuuga seemed to have a very steady sleeping position, he didn’t move a single inch during his sleep, and was still breathing steadily, although when Arisa started shifting around, his long eyelashes fluttered slightly. Akira, on the other hand, was sleeping incredibly messily. At one point, she had managed to grab Shion’s blanket in addition to hers, and was splayed across both futons. It was a slightly hilarious sight, but it made her look incredibly defenseless.

 

‘No one here has any waryness against me…’, Arisa thought to herself as she looked around. It was a really nice feeling, one that she hadn’t had since before her differentiation. But once she had, she was immediately separated from her pre-existing friends, because alphas weren’t allowed to play with omegas or betas. She ended up losing those friends, who were also taught that they couldn’t hang out with alphas.

 

She didn’t know when it was exactly that omegas and betas started to look up to her as one of the “princes” of the school. But even though she put on a gentle mask, every time they looked up to her, rather than wanting to interact with her as before, she felt a little hurt inside. Differentiation led to a caste difference between Arisa and everyone around her, and she never liked it.

 

It wasn’t until the first day of high school, where she approached Shion’s group that she finally started to feel welcomed again. They treated her like a normal person, not an alpha ready to prey on omegas, and wanted her just as a friend and nothing else. Even more than that, they willingly slept around her. Imagine that, omegas sleeping right next to an alpha with nothing more than a pheromone blocker…

 

Arisa felt Shion start to stir at her movement again, as her eyelids sluggishly opened.

 

“Mmm… nya?” (Shion)

 

“No, it’s nothing, you can go back to sleep… I just woke up early on accident” (Arisa)

 

“Mmm…” (Shion)

 

Shion drifted back to dreamland as Arisa lay back down on the futon to join her. She hugged Shion close again, having cooled off sufficiently, before joining the others…