It was a late Monday morning around early August, a young wheat-blond haired girl was searching through the trash can looking for any tin cans. It is a common practice for the homeless to collect cans so they can take it to the recycling center and get money for it. She has only been in the area for a little more than two weeks and she had already started this activity. She had some money when she left her home but she already ran out of it. Her story is not that much different from most of the young female runaways. She ran away from a broken house in Mahoroba trying to find her mother.
While she was looking through the trash can, a little kitten came up near her. One of the things she tossed aside in her rummaging was some sushi and that was what had attracted the attention of the kitten. The kitten nibbled at the sushi, testing it before deciding it was tasty enough to eat. When it was done, it looked up at the girl, curious by the blonde.
"Nya, nya."
At first, she didn't hear the kitten's meowing so she went on rummaging through the garbage can until the kitten meowed again, a little louder then the first time.
"Nya, nya."
Startled, the girl looked up finally, noticing the kitten for the first time. Relieved, she knelt down, smiling.
"Hey there little kitty!" The young girl said excitingly with a soft, high-pitched voice.
The kitten, excited by the girl's reaction, suddenly ran off. The girl chased after the cat, though the cat was a little bit faster than she was, she still managed to keep up with it. Eventually the cat ran into to a blue tent. By then girl was winded, having run from one end of the park to other. Seeing that the kitten had gone inside the tent, the girl knocked on the ‘door' of the tent, not wanting to intrude.
After a moment, an unusual looking small girl came out of the tent. She had cat ears, a tail, and even sharp, canine teeth. She looked like a hybrid between a cat and a human being. Actually, she was a cat girl.
"What are you looking for?" The cat-girl said to the wheat-blond haired girl. The other girl was surprised to see a lot of cats inside the tent. There were at least five adult cats and about twenty kittens.
"I just saw a small kitten run inside your tent."
The cat-girl knew which one she was talking about since she had saw the kitten run inside the tent, so she picked it up and showed it to the other girl. "Oh you mean this one, nya?" She said with a cute meow.
"You're not from around here, are you?" The cat-girl said sensing the other's girls shyness and noticing her accent.
"No I'm not. I'm Kurusugawa Himeko from Mahoroba."
"Well, ohayo Gawa-san. I'm Nekoko, nice to meet you."
Himeko tried her best to hold her laughter but she failed.
"Nekoko... Hehehe!" Himeko giggled.
All Nekoko did was shake her head. She didn't take it personally since she had long ago gotten used to the laughs, snickers and giggles when she told people her name. "Yes I know, the people who named me wasn't very imaginative," she said with a displease look on her face. "So what brings you here to Tokyo, nya?"
"I'm looking for my mother. I found out that she was living somewhere in Tokyo."
"But you don't know where she is exactly though? Tokyo is a big place and it will be very hard to find her."
"I know that. All I really know is that she is living here in Tokyo somewhere. Besides, I rather be here than back at my relative's home. I'd rather be anywhere but there!" She said as tears began to roll down her face.
Nekoko saw the pain in Himeko's face but felt the need to ask anyway. "Why you don't want to stay at your relative's place?" There were also many other questions Nekoko wanted to ask such as why her mother left her but she didn't want to get too deep in Himeko's life, sensing she was prying enough with the one question.
"I rather not talk about it." She said softly going back to her usual shy state.
"No problem. Just tell me whenever you are ready. Now, don't be shy, come on in!" Nekoko said cheerfully. Himeko stepped in and looked around inside Nekoko's tent. Inside there were many pictures of animals, including cats, dogs, birds, and several other animals. There were also many weird objects throughout the tent. Himeko had no idea what they were.
"Neko-san, what are these things?" She asked as she pointed to one of them in a group. It looked a hoop.
"Oh, it's one of my props I use for my cat tricks."
"Cat tricks?"
"Hai, nya! You can say that I'm a street performer. I perform my cat tricks all over Tokyo, making some good money. Not enough to move to an apartment here but at least enough to get food for me and my cats and to take a hot shower in the public bathroom."
As Nekoko finished talking, Himeko looked at one of the cats and noticed that the cat was missing an eye.
"Neko-san, what happened to this cat?"
"That one? Oh that one is Shizuka. I think she was physically abused by her former owner. I saw her like this when I first found her. In fact she was worse - she was very skinny and could barely move. She's such a sweet cat, I don't know what made her previous owner treat her badly."
Himeko picked up the cat and held her in her arms. She couldn't help but shed a tear for the cat knowing the pain she went through. The cat purred while Himeko was holding her close to her chest while petting her head. Nekoko smiled wide when she saw it but was worried about Himeko sensing that she went through physical abuse herself.
"You're such a sweet cat, why would they do such a thing to you?" She said to the cat while trying to hold her tears back.
"Some of these cats I have here were abused by someone. Hiro over there is missing his left front leg but he can still get around. Rina's neck has marks on it. When I found her the collar she was wearing was too tight around her neck. All these cats were abandoned and/or abused when I found them, so I take care of them the best that I can. I don't know why people do such bad things to these poor creatures." Nekoko said while trying to hold back her own tears. "The cats are very loyal and loving to me because of how I take care of them compared to their previous owners."
After Nekoko gain a little composure she then said to Himeko "I'm going to have one of my performances here at the park around 3:00 PM. Would you like to watch?"
"I sure would!" Himeko said as her face lighted up.
"Great! Right now I'm hungry, how about some lunch at the Salvation Army, nya?"
"Yes, I'm very hungry myself. So yes, let's go."
They left for the Salvation Army's Relief Center. It's where many of the homeless and low-income workers came to get food and any necessary items. When they got there, the line for food was nearly a block long, so they quickly got on the line and waited for thirty minutes before they got their food. All they got for their patience and trouble was a noodle soup with a ball of rice and some green tea. The two girls found a small table and sat. Himeko prayed before she ate, a custom she learned from her relative's house the hard way. While they were eating Nekoko asked a question, sensing Himeko had calmed down from earlier.
"So how did you find out that your mom was living in Tokyo? How long were you separated from your mom?"
"Well I found a letter from her one day. Ever since I was a baby I was separated from my mothers, in fact I didn't even know that my mom was still alive until I found that letter. My aunt and uncle once told me she overdosed on drugs and died."
"Why would they do such a thing, nya?"
"I don't know, probably to collect child support money from me." Himeko said, looking away, closing up again about the very sensitive topic. Nekoko knew that there was more to the story but she didn't press on, feeling that it shouldn't be discussed in a public area anyway. So she went back to the letter.
"But wouldn't there be an address on the envelope saying where she was staying?"
"I only saw the letter, not the envelope. I couldn't find the envelope. They probably were planning to throw away the letter but they forgot."
"Oh. Was that the first time your mother wrote to you?"
"I don't think so. In the letter she said that it was great that I was doing well in school. I think that my relatives pretended to be me when they wrote back to her because I wasn't doing well in school at all." Himeko said while holding her head down.
"Oh. What about your father?"
"He's been dead since I was four years old. I barely remember him."
"Oh I see. So you really don't have anybody?"
"No, not really, I'm all alone." Himeko said as tears started to well up in her eyes. Nekoko gave a napkin and Himeko used it to wipe off the tears.
"It will be ok. Besides the cats I have no one either." She said, trying to reassure and comfort her the best that she can. She then went back to eating after a few moments, however she forget one other thing.
"Thank you very much for the napkin Neko-san." Himeko finally said.
"Don't worry about it. You can call me Neko-chan. Just eat your food and enjoy the rest of the day, nya."
"Alright Neko-chan." Himeko replied with a smile on her face. They continued eating their food before going back to Nekoko's place. While they were there, Nekoko trained her cats for their performance. She always did it before she leaves for her street performance, Nekoko explains to the blonde. Himeko was amazed at how the cats were able to do their tricks without much assistance. The cat-girl had trained them so well that all she had to do was give them a command and they would do it. During that time Himeko saw a photo of a white Persian cat hanging in the tent, it gave her an idea.
"Neko-chan, do you have any pencils or pens and some paper?"
"I do, let me get you some."
Neko-chan got a pencil and a few papers from a small box. She gave them to Himeko and the blonde immediately started to draw the outlines of the white Persian cat.
Thirty minutes before 3:00, the girls and the cats left the tent and went to an area near the north entrance of the park. There was already an audience. Some had already seen her mini-circus performance but wanted to see more. Nekoko and Himeko set up the props for the act, it was quicker than usual thanks to Himeko's help. So the cat-girl decided to start the show earlier. Nekoko was wearing the usual worn-out clothes that homeless people wore, but she was also wearing a top hat, presenting herself as the ring leader. There was a small box on the ground, which was where the audience was expected to throw their money in.
"Welcome to the greatest show on earth! It's none other than the Amazing Cats Show!" Afterwards the audience laughed and clapped at the same time.
"For the first presentation, Morris here will jump through the hoop!" Morris, as you probably can guess is a big orange Tabby cat. The hoop was barely big enough for him to fit, but somehow he was able to jump through it. The audience clapped and some threw their money into the box.
Other acts included the cats meowing to an Ayumi Hamasaki song, a cat standing and spinning in a circle, another cat waving to the audience, and a cat doing a standing flip. Himeko loved every bit of it as she watched the cats' performances. For Nekoko's hard work, she got about 70,000 yen. She showed it to Himeko.
"That's all you got, Neko-chan? Why didn't they give you more money?"
Nekoko was very disappointed, but she knew the reason why she got so little.
"It's because of the recession. People don't have as much as they used to so they give out less, nya." She said with a disappointed look on her face.
"Well at least it gives you enough for some food for you and the cats."
"That's true Himeko-chan, but a little bit more wouldn't hurt either. Anyways, there's no need to be down today, let's head back to my place." Nekoko said with a smile. Himeko nodded in agreement and followed her back to her tent. When they got to the tent, Nekoko got some noodle soup and started cooking it on the shichirin. While they were enjoying their dinner, Nekoko asked Himeko about Mahoroba since she has never been there. Himeko started to talk about the places to visit in Mahoroba. Like where all the good foods in Mahoroba were and what's in the Mahoroba Zoo, since she knew that Nekoko loved animals just as much as she did. She never talked much about her friends because she didn't have any and she carefully avoided any discussions about her relatives. Nekoko was fascinated with what Himeko was telling her about Mahoroba, otherwise.
After they finished their meal, they went to bed early. There was hardly enough space in the tent for Nekoko, Himeko, five grown cats and twenty kittens but somehow they all managed.
While Himeko was in her sleep she started to have a dream... actually it was a nightmare.
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"Himeko, where the hell are you?" A middle-aged woman screamed out. Himeko was in her room shaking nervously, too scared to answer. She knew what her aunt was upset about, it was her report card and with the exception of Art, she didn't have any good grades.
Her aunt opened the door and saw Himeko covered in her covers with only her head sticking out. On top of the covers were papers of Himeko's drawings. There was nothing but total fear on Himeko's face. Her aunt ferociously pulled off the covers from the bed and grabbed Himeko by the shirt. She was holding Himeko's shirt in one hand and her report card in the other. She pinned Himeko to the wall and scolded her with all her fury.
"Are you mentally retarded or something?"
Himeko was crying and she timidly answered her question, "No oba-san, I'm not."
"Well it seems like it, since it shows in your report card that you got low grades on all the subjects besides that worthless subject Art. I mean how could you get a low grade on pre-Algebra?"
Himeko didn't answer.
"You stupid bitch, you're fifteen years old and you can't past Pre-Algebra? There are kids in America who can pass Pre-Algebra at your age!" She screamed to Himeko with all of her anger.
"I'm sorry oba-san, I will do better." Himeko said. She could barely see her aunt through all her tears.
"I'm sorry oba-san, I will do better." Her aunt said, mocking her soft high-pitched voice. "You will never do better because you're a dumb fuck! The only things you can do are drawing, which is a worthless skill that can't get you any type of decent job, and read crappy manga."
After that, she threw Himeko down on the floor and went into her closet. Himeko landed on her right shoulder and despite being in a lot of pain, she begged her aunt not to go into her closet, panicked-stricken. Her aunt ignored her and went into the closet anyway. Inside, she found a few pictures of naked girls Himeko had drew, most of them were from mangas and animes. It didn't make her aunt happy one bit, in fact it got her even more mad.
"I knew there was something wrong with you but I never thought that you were this sick. I'm gonna give you what you need, you sick rezu!" So she grabbed a wire hanger from the closet and came back to Himeko. The blonde girl was still lying on the floor crying as her aunt pulled her right arm back and hit Himeko in the back with all her strength.
"Please stop it oba-san!" Himeko begged while crying.
"Shut up you pathetic piece of shit!" She screamed back at Himeko.
"Aaahhh!" Himeko screamed when she got the hit.
With each lash Himeko got from the wire hanger her aunt screamed at her to shut up, but Himeko still screamed. She hit her at least five more times before Himeko started to scream in her sleep. "Please don't hit me anymore, I will be a good girl! I won't draw anymore naked girls! I'll get better grades in school I promise."
"Himeko wake up! Wake up!" Nekoko said while shaking Himeko to wake her up. With a jolt, she finally woke up and started to cry. Nekoko pulled Himeko's head into her shoulders comforted her while she was crying. Nekoko finally knew why she hadn't talked about her relatives so much.
***