My Cat Girl Neighbor Is Impossible to Understand

Chapter 1: Chapter 1 - The Girl with Cat Ears

With the onset of April, the first warm wind brought a few petals of cherry blossoms over the schoolyard.

The children started chasing the flowers instinctively, smiling and giggling at the sight of the pink petals sticking to their school uniforms. The school yard was always the most beautiful in spring as though it had decided to grant each new academic year a brand new start.

Sui Aoyama did not pay any attention to the blossoms.

What he wanted most of all was to get to the assembly before the teachers had started nagging everybody to hurry up.

Not that he was afraid of being reprimanded.

He just disliked the idea of attracting unnecessary attention to himself.

As Sui passed through the school gates, familiar scenery surrounded him.

The wolf boys quarreled who of them made a better basket ball shot.

A rabbit girl rushed across the yard, holding so many books in her arms that she could hardly see in front of herself.

Beside the bicycle rack, a sleepy bear student yawned so loudly that three pigeons flew away.

It was yet another usual morning in the world of humans and beastmen who coexisted together for ages.

There was nothing strange about seeing tails and ears anymore.

This was just another part of daily life.

"Good morning, Sui!"

Sui heard the cheerful voice from behind.

Sui did not even have to turn around.

There was just one person in this whole neighborhood who could greet him as if he was an arriving celebrity.

"Morning, Haru."

Haru Inuzuka came jogging up, his golden retriever ears raised above his head and tail wagging so actively that it almost hit another student.

"Again you are early,"

"Yes,"

"And one day I am going to come to the assembly earlier than you,"

"Are you serious? You have been saying this for two years,"

"And one day it will happen."

"You should try."

The bell rang.

The children started running towards the gymnasium.

Inside, the children sat in lines, the teachers walking between the rows and making sure that no one talked loudly.

The principal ascended the stage.

Everything he said was just as predictable as always.

Welcome to the new semester.

Work hard.

Respect your classmates.

Take part in extra-curricular activities.

Study.

Somebody coughed behind his back.

Sui stared blankly towards the high window, the rays of sunlight streaming through and lighting the smooth wooden floor of the gymnasium.

Then the vice principal adjusted the microphone.

"Before we end our assembly today, we would like to ask all of you to greet a new student."

All of the sudden, the gymnasium became unexpectedly lively.

"Is she a transfer student?"

"Why is she coming now?"

"I’ve heard that she comes from the eastern part of the city."

"I’ve heard that she is a cat."

"Impossible."

The side door slowly opened.

A solitary girl stepped on the stage.

She was wearing the same school uniform as all of us, though somehow it seemed unusually elegant on her.

The long black hair fell down smoothly, reaching the shoulders. Two black cat ears peeped out from underneath the dark hair, behind which there appeared a swinging tail that immediately became absolutely still.

The golden eyes calmly examined the hundred faces which were looking at her for the first time.

The gymnasium became unusually quiet.

Even Haru ceased to whisper.

The principal smiled.

"Could you introduce yourself?"

The girl bowed politely.

"My name is Yuiko Nekozawa."

Her voice was soft and calm.

"I look forward to studying with you all."

She bowed again.

And that was all.

No smile.

No joke.

No attempt to impress anyone.

After some silence, whispers spread in the students like waves in water.

"She seems scary."

"She did not smile at all."

"She seems to dislike being here."

"Probably she is just a quiet girl."

"Maybe she thinks that she is better than all of us."

Yuiko remained immobile.

Her expression did not change even a little.

Just by looking at her face, one could easily believe in all these rumors.

But Sui, by chance, glanced below.

Her tail was tightly curled up behind her legs.

Not carelessly.

Not arrogantly.

Just like she was trying to hide it.

Another wave of curious looks fell upon her.

The end of the tail slightly moved and curled even more tightly.

Sui blinked.

She is scared.

Very scared.

Surprise was his feeling.

Her face gave away almost nothing.

But the tail was desperately trying to hide.

Quietly, he turned his look away.

There was something embarrassing in watching someone betraying his real feelings with something he could not control.

The whispers continued.

"She is definitely not going to make any friends."

"She seems to be impossible to talk to."

"I would never sit next to her."

The principal thanked Yuiko and invited her to join the class of the second-year students.

She walked off the stage and continued walking with a straight back.

The small curl of her nervous tail alone could indicate that she felt as heavy burden of all those looks directed at her.

Sui watched her disappearing through the side door.

For reasons unknown to him, he suddenly wished that somebody could look beyond the expression on her face.

Sometimes...

The most quiet people are not cold.

They are just trying very hard not to show their anxiety to the world.

The gossip didn’t stop as soon as the assembly did.

Class 2-B got back to their room and immediately began to discuss their new classmate, whom all were dying to know more about.

"I heard she comes from Minato city."

"That’s wrong. My cousin told me she transferred because of her family."

"Woah, have you seen those eyes? It seemed like she would kill you with her glare."

"But maybe she’s just shy?"

"And why doesn’t she smile then?"

Sui slid into his seat by the window and propped his head up with his hand.

People are surprisingly good at describing an unknown person.

Classroom’s door opened.

Ms. Shiba entered holding a bunch of paper.

She was followed silently by Yuiko.

Room was suddenly silent.

"Class," Ms. Shiba smiled, "meet Yuiko Nekozawa. She will be studying with us from now on."

Yuiko took a step forward.

Her posture was straight.

Golden eyes scanned the room before she bowed.

"My name is Yuiko Nekozawa."

"I hope we’ll be friends."

It was short.

Simple.

Polite.

Somehow...

Silence that followed was awkward.

One of the students whispered:

"She looks scary."

"Yeah, I could tell."

Yuiko went back and stood calmly by the teacher.

Her face was still calm.

But Sui saw it again.

Her tail.

It coiled up close to her legs, the tip twitching every now and then.

She’s trying to keep herself from panicking.

It was odd.

Her face and her tail seemed belonging to two different persons.

"Yuiko," said Ms. Shiba, "your seat is..."

She looked around the classroom.

"...Next to Aoyama."

Some of the students turned their heads towards Sui.

He raised one eyebrow.

Me?

Yuiko approached the empty desk beside him.

She carefully placed her bag on it.

"Hello," Sui said quietly.

Yuiko paused.

"...Hello."

Her voice sounded just above whisper.

And then she sat down.

The class started, and the classroom filled with usual chattering.

The first lesson was mathematics.

Teacher explained the formulas on the blackboard while the students took notes.

Sui was paying attention to his notebook.

Beside him...

Scratch.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Yuiko’s pencil scribbled fast and furious across the page.

She wrote in neat handwriting.

Too neat.

Every line was perfectly straight.

Every number was written correctly.

It seemed that she wanted to do everything right without making even smallest mistake.

Halfway through the lesson...

Clatter.

Yuiko’s eraser fell off her desk.

It tumbled down across the floor.

Instinctively, Sui bent down to pick it up.

"Here."

Yuiko took it with both hands.

"...Thank you."

Her ears twitched.

Her tail gave a quick flick.

And then she immediately curled it up behind her chair again.

For some reason...

It amused Sui somehow.

Not because she looked ridiculous.

Because she was trying so hard to keep it together.

After break, their classmates began surrounding her.

"So..."

"Where do you come from?"

"Do cat beastfolk really sleep sixteen hours a day?"

"Can you hear better than we can?"

"Do you hate dogs?"

Questions bombarded her from everywhere.

Yuiko seemed quite taken aback.

She replied politely.

"Yes."

"No."

"I’m... not sure."

"I don’t hate them."

Every answer was short.

Every pause was getting longer.

Soon enough, the questions stopped coming.

"Guess she doesn’t want to talk."

"She seems kinda cold."

"Maybe it’s her thing."

Yuiko stared at her desk in silence.

Sui glanced to her sideway.

Her tail was completely motionless now.

She’s tired already...

He wanted to say something.

Instead...

He closed his notebook.

Sometimes silence is kinder than unwanted conversation.

The rest of the day went uneventfully.

Lessons finished.

Students laughed filling the halls as various clubs gathered outside.

Sui put his stuff away and went to shoe lockers.

As he left the school through the gates, he adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder.

"Ah..."

A voice sounded from beside him.

Yuiko was standing there, looking at the folded map of the district.

She looked at the map...

At the road...

And then back to the map.

Her cat ears slightly lowered.

Sui stopped.

"You... lost?"

Yuiko froze.

For a moment, she looked embarrassed.

"...A little."

"I’ve moved yesterday."

"I don’t know this place yet."

Sui looked at the map.

And pointed towards the street.

"If you’re going to Sakura Hill..."

"...That’s my destination too."

Yuiko blinked.

"...Really?"

He nodded.

"We can walk together."

For a moment...

The corners of Yuiko’s lips almost lifted.

Almost.

"...Thank you."

They walked side by side.

Neither of them said anything.

The silence wasn’t awkward.

Just the silence of two people who still hadn’t learned to talk to each other.

Behind them, cherry blossom petals softly floated down on the road.

Neither Sui nor Yuiko noticed it.

But that simple walk home would turn out to be the beginning of their story.