Spring break has come. Cathy is waiting at the bus terminal. She asked her parents if she could stay in town for spring break as she was finally able to head out on her own without the Johnsons being with her and she could start looking for a summer job. They agreed if she does visit them before spring break is over.

But Cathy isn’t waiting to get on a bus, she is waiting for someone to get off a bus. A blonde human girl wearing a cat eared headband and a fake cat tail on the back of her pants steps off a bus and runs to Cathy yelling “Cathy!”

Cathy calls out her “Jessica!” as she runs to meet her old high school friend. They hugged. Jessica is the one person outside her family that Cathy felt accepted her for who she was and not just as a Kemonomimi. Jessica had wanted to see Cathy since she ran away. But couldn’t because of school and the cost.

Cathy quickly grabs the fake cat ears and tail off Jessica while saying “Don’t wear those! We find that offensive. You don’t see us wearing fake ears on the side of our heads, do you?”

Jessica says “Whoa, what’s this “we” and “us” business?”

Cathy says “Sorry, it’s just how we are taught to talk here in town.”

Jessica says “Sounds weird to me?”

Cathy says “It’s more of a philosophy. It helps us show we are part of this community and the larger Kemonomimi community now. Come on I’ll show you around.”

Cathy and Jessica pass through the tourist district and go deeper into town. They are soon walking along the shopping district that is only for the Kemonomimis. Jessica starts looking around at everyone. Jessica finally says to Cathy in a hushed volume “I feel like they are just staring at me.”

Cathy says “One moment.” She then hugs Jessica and says in a loud voice “She is my best friend from back home who loved me for who I was, not what I was!”

Many of the Kemonomimis nod and go back to what they were doing. Cathy says to Jessica “Sorry we don’t get too many humans in this area. I even think they advise tourist not to leave the tourist district because they aren’t really welcomed here.”

Jessica says “I think I known now how you felt when we hanged out together.”

Cathy meets up with her new friends at a park so they can meet Jessica. Cathy hugs Bob when she sees him and then hugs Amber and Taffy as well while Tammy just sits at the table. Cathy then introduces everyone to Jessica. Cathy says “these are my new friends Amber, Taffy, Bob and over there is Tammy. Everyone this is my friend Jessica from out of town of course.”

Jessica says “Hello.”

Bob says “So you’re the friend Cathy has be going on about for the last week” as Cathy moves next to him.

Jessica says “Are you all runaways like Cathy?”

Taffy says “We prefer the term Strays. But yes, everyone here left their home to come here.”

Amber says “Everyone except Ms. Naive here” as she motions to Tammy.

Jessica says “That’s mean!”

Tammy says “No, I was a little ignorant of what they were going through.”

Cathy says to Jessica “Tammy is what we call a third generation here. Her parents and her grandparents were Kemonomimis. We are what are known as first gens because we are first in our lines.”

Taffy says “She also probably stills feels bad about teasing us and is still trying to make it up to us.”

Jessica says “So a reformed bully” Jessica then immediately turns to Cathy and says “Oh! I didn’t tell you what happened to Lisa!”

Cathy rolls her eyes slightly at hearing that name. Lisa was one of the popular girls in school and one of the people who mercilessly teased and bullied Cathy all the time about her ears and tail. Lisa would even pull mean-spirited pranks on her, like hiding cat toys in her stuff and Cathy even once found a dead mouse in her locker thanks to Lisa. Jessica was one of the few people who had the guts to call Lisa and her friends out on her pranks and even helped Cathy dispose of the dead mouse.

Jessica says “Well, two people, a man and a woman, came to our class the day the teacher told us you had transfer to your new school. Lisa opened her mouth and said that you should be with your own freaky kind. Our teacher went silent and white as a ghost as the women next to her step up and removed her hat and dropped her shoulder bag to reveal she was a like you, a Ke-mo-no-mi-mi. She then wordlessly walked up to Lisa’s desk and stared her down as she leaned over it. She then said to Lisa that she was most likely one of the reasons that you didn’t feel welcomed here and that’s why you left us and that she hoped not all of students shared Lisa’s ignorant and bigoted views of her kind. The man in the room said no and ensured her that we all treated everyone respectfully. We later found out he was the superintendent of our school district. Lisa got in so-o-o-o much trouble that day. I even think her parents were pissed at her.”

All the strays let out a cheer at hearing a bully getting slammed karma. Tammy says “I hope I wasn’t that bad to you!”

Cathy says “You were cake walk and now that I think about it, Lisa was probably the reason I punched you in the first place.”

Tammy says “Well she sounds like someone who needed to get punched.”

Jessica says to Cathy “You punched her! You would have never done that to Lisa.”

Cathy says “Tammy was teasing Taffy at the time, and I was having a rough few days. Beside Lisa would have turn it around on me and got me into more trouble than she would have.” Cathy remembers how much Lisa got away with at school by batting her brown eyes at the teachers and acting all innocent.

Jessica says “and now she is your friend?” as she motions to Tammy

Cathy says “Well she apologized and has worked to prove she is sorry. Lisa would have just fake it and teachers would have believed her.”

Jessica then notices that Tammy is staring at her ears. Jessica says “Why do you keep staring at my ears?”

Tammy looks away and says “Sorry, It’s just I don’t get to see many humans up close. I mean I visit my mother from time to time when she is working in the tourist district. But I only see humans in passing.” The strays are a little surprised by what Tammy said.

Jessica then sits next to Tammy and turns so she can show Tammy her ears and says with a smile “You can touch them.” Tammy awkwardly reaches up and starts feeling Jessica’s ears. Jessica says Tammy “Not so hard” when Tammy pulls on them.

Tammy says “Sorry.”

Jessica says to Cathy “Is this how you felt when people wanted to touch your ears?”

All the strays say “yes” without thinking.

Amber says “I wish she could come to our school.”

Bob says “I think the other students would freak out if they saw a human at the school.”

Jessica says “I wouldn’t mind spending some time here. Ouch! Don’t pinch so hard.”

Tammy says “Sorry.”

Taffy says “Let’s ask Ms. Jones when we go back to school.”

Jessica says “I could also wear these if it helps?” as she pulls out the fake ears and puts them on. Almost everyone including Tammy gives her a dirty look and she quickly hides the fake ears again.

Cathy takes Jessica to her new home to meet the Johnsons. They had agreed to let Jessica sleep over for the night after Cathy’s parents filled them in on Cathy’s and Jessica’s history together.

Soon Cathy and Jessica are sitting in Cathy’s room talking. Cathy takes out a brush and says to Jessica “Hey, do mind brushing my tail for me?”

Jessica says “What?”

Cathy says “It’s something we Kemonomimis do to build bonds between each other and it’s hard to do by ourselves. We have been friends for some time now. So I’m happy if you’ll do it for me.”

Jessica says “Okay, truth be told, I have wanted to touch your tail for a while now. I just guessed it would be weird to ask.”

Cathy turns her back to Jessica and says “Well, you’re going to have to if you want to help me out here.”

Jessica starts brushing Cathy’s tail while Cathy tries to tell her how. Jessica has some trouble partly from inexperience and partly from the awkwardness of the whole thing. Cathy realizes that it’s not like brushing someone’s head hair. There are social norms that humans follow that she herself had to get over.

May comes in and says “What you doing big sis?” May has seen many humans before so she isn’t as weirded out by Jessica as Tammy was.

Cathy says to May “having my friend brush my tail. Hey, climb up here so I can demonstrate for her.” May climbs and sits in front of Cathy. Cathy takes the brush and shows Jessica how to brush the tail properly.

Jessica tries brushing Cathy’s tail again, but with May helping her this time.

May sits in Cathy’s lap after they are done brushing.

Jessica says to Cathy “You always wanted a sibling.”

May says “You did?” as she looks at Cathy.

Cathy says to May “Yes, It’s why I’m happy you think of me as a big sis.” Cathy says to Jessica “My parents had heard that families with both human and Kemonomimi children had a harder time because some siblings wouldn’t get along well, and the procedure would be expensive for each embryo.”

Jessica says “Well I think of you as a sister. By the way, I noticed you and Bob were close. Is there something between you two?”

May says “Is she talking about your study buddy?”

Cathy quickly covers May’s ears and says to Jessica in hushed tone “Don’t ruin a good thing for me. We aren’t an item yet. We are taking our time, and I don’t want little Ms. Ears here to say something to her mom and block him from coming over again.” Cathy release May’s ears and says “Yes, he is just a study bubby.” Jessica chuckles at Cathy trying to keep May quiet about Bob.

Jessica leaves the next day and Cathy prepares to visit her old home. She and Sarah go shopping to buy Cathy what Kemonomimis call a passing hat which hides her ears but still lets her hear and an over the shoulder tail bag so she can hide her tail in it. Cathy again wishes she had these things when was younger and feels she wouldn’t have been so miserable back home.

They then go to Sassy’s salon to get some styling tips on how to hide the fact Cathy doesn’t have ears on the side of her head.

The Johnsons see Cathy off at the bus station. Cathy feels weird leaving her new home, but she does miss seeing her parents in person.

Cathy finds that she isn’t gawked at as she walks through the bus terminal back home. She feels almost invisible, which is what she has wanted for such a long time.

She makes it to her old home and sees nothing has changed. Her mother greets her at the door with “You’re home!” and hugs her. She then says “Sorry we couldn’t pick you up at the bus depot.”

Cathy says “It’s okay. I got a chance to see if I could pass as human and it felt good not be stared at” as Cathy takes off her hat as she enters her old home. Cathy had started getting used to the fact that back at her new home nobody stared at her because everyone was like her, and she was like them. Cathy comes in and sets her bag down. She then sees something has changed. There is a chair for Kemonomimis at the dinner table. Cathy looks at her mother with surprise.

Cathy’s mother says “The Johnsons helped us pick it out and ordered it for us. It’s a small thing but Heather said it would help.” Cathy feels even better knowing that part of her new home is now at her old home, and she will be able to sit and eat dinner without worrying about her tail.

Cathy’s father walks in and says “I see you seen our surprise already. I had a hell of a time putting together.”

Cathy hugs him saying “It’s great.” She then goes and sits in it to try it out for them.

Her father says “oh, that’s why it’s missing the one side” when he sees Cathy slide her tail into the slot.

Cathy says “Yes, It’s a small thing that you humans don’t think about.”

Cathy’s mother says “You humans?”

Cathy says “Mom, I am a Kemonomimi. Calling you human doesn’t mean I don’t love any less. If anything, this chair shows me you do love me even if I only get to use it occasionally. I know you have one waiting for me when I visit. It’s a part of my new home at my old home.”

Cathy’s mother stands there for a second and Cathy can feel the question she wants to ask her. Cathy says “Mom, like I said when I asked to live with the Johnsons. They get me there. I can’t just come back home because of a chair. I need to be with…my own kind for now.”

Cathy then says to her parents “Do you mind if I rest up before dinner? I have had a long trip to get here and want to relax a little.”

Her parents nodded in approval.

Cathy heads up to her old bedroom. Her parents tried recreating it after they sent her stuff to her new home. They hadn’t replaced her old desk chair. But Cathy can’t fault them for that, getting one chair was probably a hassle to get let alone two and a dining chair shows they want her to sit with them when she comes home.

Cathy lays on her bed and decides to video chat with Bob. She got a headset for her ear so she can keep the chat semiprivate.

Bob answers the call saying “Hey Cathy, what’s up?”

Cathy says “Well, I’m back at my old home. I said I’ll call you when I got here.”

Bob says “How was the trip?”

Cathy says “I was able to pass as human for the first time, so nothing eventful happened on my way here. It was nice to not be notices or gawked at.”

Bob says “That’s good. Have they pushed?”

Cathy says “Not really, they did get a dining chair for me. I know they miss seeing me even though we video chat almost every day.”

Bob says “Ms. Jones did warn us that our parents might push us to come back home. But she reminded us about why we left in the first place. Our homes may feel safe now, but we do have to leave them and it’s better to be among people who aren’t going to treat us any differently or have to hide who we are.”

Cathy says “What about your parents?”

Bob says “They said they were too busy to spend time with me over spring break and that they would definitely make time for me over the summer. I know they are having a rough time without me. At least your parents made time for you.”

Cathy says “Tell Taffy and the others that I miss them.”

Cathy’s parents make a nice home cooked meal for dinner. Cathy has a feeling that Sarah has been influencing them a little. Cathy’s mother says “I saw you on your phone earlier. Were you talking to Bob?”

Cathy almost does a spit take at those words. Cathy says “How do you know about him?”

Cathy’s mother says with a smile “I talk with Sarah all the time. She told me you have male study buddy. She also says you have to keep your door open at all times while he is over.”

Cathy says “Well, yes, I told him I would call when I got here.” Cathy can feel her face get hot.

Cathy’s father says “It sounds like you like him. Should we have that talk?”

Cathy says “Dad! They talked about that in school and besides we aren’t a couple yet.”

Cathy’s mother says “Yet?”

Cathy says “We don’t want to move too fast. We are both vulnerable right now and know it. I mean even though we live with our kind now, we need to be careful with our attachments and how fast we make them. Bob learned that the hard way.”

Cathy’s mother says “Well he sounds like a nice man and cares about you.”

Cathy says “He is and does.” Cathy is actually happy to be talking about a boy to her parents. Cathy didn’t know if the guys at her old school liked her for who she was or so they can say they dated a Kemonomimi and the boys she did like thought she was weird looking. Bob on the other hand was a Nekos like her and he seemed to like her back.

Cathy decides to change the subject and talk about Jessica’s trip to her new home and how she was she was treated. Cathy admits Jessica is one of the few people who was open-minded about Cathy and is one of the few people who wanted to understand what Cathy was going through back home. Cathy’s parents even laugh when they hear that Tammy was curious about human ears and that she had never gotten to see them up close.

Cathy spends the night in her old room and leaves the next day.

Cathy removes her hat and pulls her tail out of her bag once she passes through the tourist district. She is happy to be home and able to walk around without needing to hide who she really is.