Sunlight poured into my room and crept onto my face. I opened my eyes and forced myself to get up. It was a Monday, so I had school. I struggled as I got dressed, hoping that some miracle would happen and I wouldn't have to go to school at all. Unfortunately, that miracle didn't seem like it would ever come.

After I was dressed, I walked out of my room and saw that my brother and sister were already eating breakfast. I walked past the table and went ahead to get my things for school.

"Nemu," Aneko asked looking over at me. "Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

"I'm not hungry," I replied. "I'm just going to go to school."

Ringo leaned back in his chair. "You don't want me to walk you to school today?" he asked.

I turned around and forced a smile on my face. "I'm ten years old now; I don't need my big brother walking me to school every day anymore."

"If you say so," he said.

"Have a good day, Nemu." Aneko said as I left.

"Yeah…" I left our apartment and stood outside our door for a moment. Like that will ever happen…

My name is Nemu Aoyama and I'm ten years old. My brother, Ringo, is eighteen and my sister, Aneko, is sixteen. Aneko is the only one of us with a job to help pay for our apartment. Ringo was too busy with kendo practice to have a job, and I was too young for one.

When I reached my classroom, I took my seat at the back of the room by the window. Sora Sato walked in shortly after and sat at his desk next to mine.

"Good morning, Nemu-chan," Sora said.

"Good morning, Sora-kun." I replied automatically. "Where's Misha-chan?"

"She wanted to talk with someone before class." Sora replied. "Hey, did you study for the test today?"

"Of course I studied," I said. "It's not like I have things to do after school like you and Misha-chan."

Sora smiled as Misha walked in. "Sorry I'm late, I had to talk to an upperclassman about something for my mom." She said sitting down in front of me.

"My, my, Neko-chan,"

I froze. Fumio Takeshi had just walked into the room. She has always hated me and I don't know why. Her favorite thing to do was torment me.

"I didn't know they were still allowing stray cats to participate in our classes." She taunted.

"Shut up!" Sora said defensively. "Why're you always picking on Nemu-chan like that?"

"What's it to you, Sato-kun?" Fumio asked. "Is she your girlfriend or something?"

Sora opened his mouth to retaliate, but I stopped him.

"Leave it alone, Sora-kun." I said softly. Sora looked over at me and sighed. Fumio smirked, tossed her hair back, and went to her seat at the front of the class.

"I don't get it, Nemu-chan," Misha said. "Why do you just sit there and take that from her?"

"Because… if I fought back, I know it would only get worse." I said looking down at my desk. "I mean, I know she's only doing it to get me upset. Anyway, it's not like I wanted to be born this way… it just… happened…"

You see, unlike my brother and sister—who resembled our parents—I was born with light pink hair, golden cat-like eyes, and pink cat ears and tail. My sister, who resembles our mother, only has small pointed ears. My sister had long dark red hair and chocolate brown eyes that averted attention away from her pointed ears. Ringo, on the other hand, had nothing wrong with him. He had tan skin, black hair and brown eyes—just like our father. Nobody knows why I was born so different—but I hate it! People in town are always making fun of me, teasing me because of my ears and tail.

Sora and Misha were different from everyone else though. They stood up for me when nobody would. And even though they were my friends, I still felt all alone. Aneko has a lot of friends at her school and everyone admires her. Why couldn't I have been more like her? Why was I born this way?

Sora, Misha and I ate our lunch at our usual lunch spot in the courtyard. Usually nobody likes to eat outside, so we have the courtyard all to ourselves.

"Are you guys ready for gym class today?" Sora asked as we made our way to the gym.

"Don't remind me! I hate gym class!" Misha whined.

"Is that because you're not good at it, or because you know I like it?" Sora asked.

"You're so mean Sora!" Misha complained.

"Come on, Sora-kun, give Misha-chan a break," I nudged his arm. "You know Misha-chan's never been good at gym class."

"I guess," Sora laughed.

We were about to open the gym doors when one swung open and hit me square in the face, causing me to fall onto the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there Neko-chan." Fumio said in her not-so-sorry voice. "Maybe you should watch where you're going more often and then you wouldn't get into so many accidents."

Sora and Misha helped me up and I glared at Fumio. I was sick and tired of her bullying me, and even though I wouldn't retaliate, I still wanted her to know that I hated her.

"Oh my, Neko-chan's glaring at me." Fumio laughed. "I'm so scared."

"You'd better be!" I said angrily. Once I realized what I said I covered my mouth. What did I just… Why'd I say that just now?

"What did you just say to me?" Fumio took a step toward me. It was clear that I had definitely made things worse for myself.

"I-I-I…" I couldn't find words to say. For some reason, I couldn't control myself. All the anger that had been welling up inside me just started to come out. "I said that you'd better be scared of me!" I yelled.

"Nemu-chan…?" Misha gave me a worried look.

"You're… not acting like yourself…" Sora said equally worried.

Fumio laughed. "You really expect me to be afraid of you? Give me one reason I should be scared of you?"

I clenched my fists. What's going on? Why can't I control myself? I can't… I pounced onto Fumio, pinning her to the ground. My fingernails had turned into claws and were piercing Fumio's skin. I stared at her and hissed.

"Nemu-chan,"

Suddenly I felt myself turning back to normal and able to control myself again. I got off of Fumio and ran. I couldn't believe what I had just done. Tears flew from my eyes as I ran out of the school yard and through the streets. I didn't care where I was going; I just knew that I had to get away.

What's happening to me? I cried to myself. Why can't I control myself?

I ended up at a building that was under construction, but it was deserted now. I ran into it and stopped on the roof. I slumped next to one of the support beams and began to cry.

"Shouldn't you be in school or something?"

I looked up and saw a strange guy in front of me. He looked familiar, but I didn't know where I had seen him before. He took a step toward me, "What's your name?"

"W-Who are you?" I asked as I stood up.

"Don't be afraid," He took another step toward me and I took a step back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You might fall off."

"Don't come near me!" I shouted.

He held out his hand. "Come on, let's get you someplace safe. Okay?"

I didn't know what to do, but I had a bad feeling about this guy. I took another step back, but I was already on the edge of the roof. I fell backwards and screamed. Then… everything went black.