The sunlight slithered its way into the apartment, forcing the man to finally open his eyes after missing 3 different alarms. Smacking his lips, the first thing Noah did was look over at his counter. The pile of towels was missing, as was the girl. He really didn’t remember drinking yesterday, so the vivid nature of the memory puzzled him. 

This truly was bliss. It was like finding out that the professor had canceled an exam he wasn't prepared for. A heavy stone was dropped from his chest…but the feeling of something pressing against it remained. Lifting his bedsheet, Noah jerked back as he found the creature from yesterday currently sleeping on him, her drool-covered cheek plastered across his pecs as she continued snoring. It was a very quiet snore, the kind that most would find cute or at least a little endearing—like the snore of a cartoon character. 

“So she was real…” 

Having said that, the snoring stopped. Suddenly, the woman's eyelids flew open, her large blue eyes staring at him like two huge saucers. Unable to do much more, he stared back. Noah might have had no idea how to handle a Nekomimi, but this felt dangerous. Her carnivorous eyes with those thin black slits made him worry that the tiny girl was going to pounce at him if he broke eye contact. 

“Hello?” He finally broke the silence, trying to slowly look away just to find the woman’s eyes following his. She was like a machine designed to track an object—that object being his face. “Hi?” The man repeated after clearing his throat. Despite looking like they belonged to a hunter, her eyes sparked with this newly found intelligence. She wasn’t saying anything, but he had this feeling that she understood him. 

Gently lifting the cat girl by the armpits, Noah tried to get her off his chest. As soon as he did, he could see her arms flailing around widely, making him drop her back down. Despite her chubby little body and missing one leg, the woman moved with great grace, quickly managing to jump over to the carpeted floor while sticking out her tongue at him. 

“Ohayo!” She said, and this was about the extent of what Noah could understand as the woman continued speaking to him in Japanese and pacing around his apartment.

“Well, this is just great.” He groaned, making him think back to the offer Mike gave him. At least her pupils became round, making him less anxious about a possible assault. But at this rate, it didn’t look like the two were going to do much talking anyways. 

“Today’s supper…is a fish!” She spoke in English, making him a bit more confident. “Do fish?” Broken English, it seems.  

“Huh?” Tilting his head, Noah approached the fridge while maintaining eye contact. “You want…fish?”

“Yes, fish!”

“For breakfast?”

“Yes, fish!” 

He opened the fridge, just to be greeted by its cold white emptiness. The only thing inside was a can of energy drink, a single slice of cheese, two brown eggs, and a half-empty bottle of milk. “I don’t have fish- HEY!” Slamming the fridge, Noah turned towards Neko as she stretched, arching her back while turning her cheeks in his direction. He could not tell if the woman was intentionally trying to offend him.

“Wait wait wait, let’s start from the beginning.” He squatted down. “Who are you?”

“Tanji!” 

“Tanji? Is that right? Am I…am I saying it right?”

“Tanji!” 

“Alright then, Tanji.” He pulled up a stool, allowing her to climb on it. “Where are you from?”

“Osaka!”

“Osaka! We are getting somewhere. Listen, I want to get you to your owners. This isn't kidnapping or anything like that.” Noah coughed, looking away. “Eh…do you have somebody to call?” He took out his phone, a large crack across its black screen. “I don’t think I can afford a ticket to Japan.”

“Poor bastard.” She snickered, draining all the joy from the man’s face. 

“Very funny. Listen, I don’t know where that came from, but I would appreciate you being a bit nicer to me.”

“Please, say again!”

“Okay, now I think that you’re just fucking with me.” Annoyed, he took out a cigarette and a cheap neon green plastic lighter. Tanji pointed towards it, making a gesture of flame being lit with her fingers. “You…you smoke?” She nodded. 

While allowing the 2 ft-tall girl to play around with a cigarette and lighter against his better judgment, Noah jolted over to Mike’s door, giving it a sharp knock. 

“Coming! Coming!” The voice came from the other side, followed by the sound of something toppling over something else. A few seconds later, Mike appeared in a doorway, still combing away the mess on his head which passed as hair. “What’s going on, man? It’s Sunday, why are you all riled up?” 

“I will explain just…come on.”

A few minutes later, they both sat on Noah’s bed, with Mike gawking at the one-legged cat girl as she sat on the floor, finishing a cigarette. The air was filled with the silver-colored smoke, but both men were already used to the smell. 

“And you just…FOUND HER?” The man cried out, making Tanji look up in annoyance at the loud sound.

“Yeah. She’s called Tanji. Comes from Osaka. That’s—uh—Japan.”

Mike turned towards Noah, placing his hands on his shoulder as if he were a father explaining the value of money to a kid. “Do you understand how much a Nekomimi is worth?”

“...about 10’000 dollars?”

“About 10’000 dollars!” Mike echoed, clapping his hands together. “Of course, it depends on the physical and genetic quality. More exotic hair, skin, and eye color would bring a higher price.” He nodded while closing his eyes.

“What are you, a Kemonomimi expert?” 

“Are you kidding?” His eyes lit up. “I’ve always wanted to have one! I mean, having an adorable animal girl by your side? Doesn’t that sound great!” Looking down at Tanji, a grimace appeared on his face. “Although I expected them to be a bit cuter.” As Mike said that, Tanji gave him a middle finger while clenching her jaw. “Also, she’s missing a leg.”

“What’s wrong with her missing a leg?” Noah questioned, looking at the healed stump located just below the woman’s knee. “She’s able to move around alright.” As if to prove it, Tanji leaped up onto the bed, planting her fat ass on his knees.

“Lowers the value. Everyone knows that.” Mike said as if that was actually common knowledge. 

Noah rolled his eyes at the superficial assessment. "Look, we can't just think about the value here. This is a living being we're talking about." At least he had the decency of thinking about how much money they would get AFTER Tanji was returned to the proper owner instead of just selling here. 

Mike shrugged. "I get it, but it's not like we can just keep her here. You need all kinds of corporate permits and seals of approval to keep a Kemonomimi around. Plus, she probably has owners who are worried sick about her. We should try to find them and return her."

“That was my plan.” Noah said while instinctively reaching down to pet Tanji, just to find his hand bitten by the angry shortstack. “And let’s do that quickly.” Looking down at the fading red tooth mark, he winced. 

“Alright, here’s an idea.” Mike decided, standing up and picking up Tanji. Just as before, she began flailing around in his arms. “I will keep her in my room for the time being. I know a little Japanese, so I should be able to question her.” Cleaning his throat, he began relaying his plan in broken Japanese. 

She let out a laugh that would be cute if it were attached to a different face and leaped back to Noah, landing on his shoulder while pointing at Mike and saying “Bastard!”

Noah couldn't help but smile at the situation. It seemed that Tanji had taken a liking to him, or at least hated him less than somebody else. Regardless, she was now perched by his side, looking at Mike with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Looks like she’s your problem.” Mike said, giving a defeated sigh and a forcing a chuckle.

“Looks like she is.” Noah repeated, chuckling back.