The first memories of Ruika were blurry. He saw the blue eyes of his mother, who left to hunt and then the warmth of his siblings, that disappeared gradually. He remembered that he moved a lot with his mother, that she almost as soon as they had settled in, would bite his neck and then carry the litter elsewhere.

  He didn't know back then why, and he did not care. As long as he was with his mother and was fed, everything was well. But suddenly it got very cold. He was the only one left and during one hunt of his mother, she didn't return. He remembered that at first he had been too timid to leave, but as his hunger grew stronger, he had to. However, what he remembered next were stiff limbs and the icy snow enveloping these, as he tried to move forward.

  Time was a weird concept for him then and he only wished for the pain and cold to stop.

  His memory got clearer afterward though, and his adoptive family filled in some blanks for him, when he was receptive enough to listen to them.

  They told him that presumably his mother had brought his siblings to other families and was about to do the same to him, but was stunted by the sudden snow and couldn't get him. She had only done so, because she had sensed that she had used up her 9 lifes and wouldn't be able to bring up these kitten.

  Vaguely Ruika had made sense of this.

  What was more stunning to him was that they told him that he could turn into a person. This he didn't believe. His mother had not told him this, so it was untrue, however at some point he met an older sibling that told him that his mother had preferred to stay in her cat form and only told her children, so that they could decide how to live, when they were a bit older.

  This helped him believe it and even though, he was never forced to turn and could still communicate with his adoptive parents and sister, at some point he tried out this other shape he could turn into.

  He visited his school and though he looked for his mother, sometimes, he still couldn't find her.

  Sometimes he found or met his other siblings in his human form, as they were at the same school or near the same district, but as he still preferred living as a cat, it took a lot of effort to get him to study.

  It was easy since his new family from the beginning had had a coffee shop, which allowed Kemonomimis to play around as much as they liked. He had to admit though that at the moment, especially now, that he visited university, to study nature and biology, his spare time got scarce.

  The range of his courses was broad and he decidedly was taking the less focused approach and enjoyed to dabble in each branch in detail.

  He had thought about studying medicine, but he was not interested. He cared a bit more about the environment than about other's well-being, if they weren't involved with him directly. He didn't hate them and maybe, if he had been a bit more open, he could've had more friends. But he didn't want to.

  This loneliness he felt could never be soothed.

  He was just glad that he hadn't frozen to death and had a little sister to annoy, and her friends to seldomly hang out with, if they forced him and or if he was in the mood. But that was enough and that was okay.

  When people noticed his disinterest they sometimes asked him why, or other, but that was it.

  In the rare cases that someone was patient enough to wait for him to open up, it mostly turned into irregular chat correspondence.

  But his life was about to be turned upside down.

  A month before he had had the courage to ask Yu for a reading, the loneliness, which had previously been his cloak or armour grew spikes pricking him.

  He had noticed that Tsubame had feelings for him, which had gotten him thinking. Not about her, but about the necessity for him to have someone and if there was a need at all. He had known since 16 that he was not into girls, but he had never been that much into a guy, still he knew whatever it was, it would never be directed towards a woman. So, how was she so into him?

  This made him aware that the outside world existed. It would've been weird to say that no one had ever fallen for him, this could not be true, statistically impossible, but he had never been receptive to it.

  He also didn't know what had changed, maybe he was ready now? Maybe something was bound to happen? This was why he asked Yu for a reading. Because he thought that there was something, he could, or should do. But according to her, he didn't want to and also he needn't do that.

  He knew that he should tell Tsubame, but she hadn't really confessed yet and so... He still felt a bit quilty.

  He had also asked Yu for the reading to maybe avoid it, but it seemed like, there was nothing he could do.

  Thus, he just lived his life as usual pondering what would happen. Especially, when it would happen.

  And then it did.

  It was the full moon of last month. Usually, he didn't like to roam the city at such a time, because of lupine shifters. But it had been too hectic at home and he wanted to be alone. He didn't know how far he had travelled but suddenly he was in a forest. It was unfamiliar to him, but there was a scent that wasn't, even though he had never smelled it before.

  It smelled like tangerines and patchouli. Ruika had never smelled something so tempting and was confused by it. Even more confused was he, when he saw a wolf sleeping beneath a bush. Or was he resting? He seemed to shiver even though it was not that cold in the first place...The black cat sneaked closer on his soft paws and saw whether he would wake or not.

  But he didn't and he still shivered. As he himself was very familiar with this feeling he got even closer and curled up next to the wolf's belly.

  The other had been very cold, but the shivering seized the moment the cat curled up next to him. The fur entangling with one another and the warmth bouncing back and forth.

  Somehow Ruika felt comfortable resting there, and as soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep.

  When he woke up a smooth tongue was licking over him. It was so wet and warm... He didn't hate it, which was strange, but to be covered in a stranger's saliva was still icky to him...

  He hissed and sprang up, as he aggressively arched his back and narrowed his eyes. But in front of him was a Samoyed in a wolf's costume, wagging his tail at him and looking at him expectantly, as if he had found his new owner.

  What?