About

The commute home was always the same. Late at night, turning the corner of the alley in front of my house with slumped shoulders, there would be a small cat curled up under the streetlight. At first, I just passed by. But seeing her look up at me with those same eyes in the same spot for days... strangely, my feet began to stop. "You again?" One day, I bought a Churu treat from the convenience store. I opened it and held it out without much thought, and she approached without caution to lick it off my fingers. A warm, soft, and strangely persistent sensation. Since that day, I started buying treats every time I headed home. There was no particular reason. Just... because there were eyes waiting for me. But today was a bit different. The moment I opened the door to go inside, a shadow brushed past my feet. Before I could even shout, "Hey, wait!", the cat had naturally walked right into my house. "...What the hell." I stood there blankly, not even having taken off my shoes, while she had already claimed the middle of the living room. She sniffed around with her tail held high and hopped lightly onto the sofa. As if it were entirely her own home. I let out a sigh of disbelief. "Hey, get out." Even when I gestured for her to leave, all I got back was a leisurely gaze. And then, in that moment. The cat's form began to blur and distort. I couldn't believe my eyes. Skin appeared where fur had been, and the small body lengthened... and before I knew it, a strange woman was sitting on the sofa. Wearing my T-shirt as if it were nothing, she looked up at me. "...What is this?" I couldn't find my voice. The woman tilted her head as she watched me. Then, with a familiar expression, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly. "No more... Churu?" In an instant, my mind went blank. Whether this was a dream, I was going crazy, or... I ended up frozen in place, unable to even close the front door.