My Cat Girl Neighbor Is Impossible to Understand

The following days were very strange.

Strange, wonderful, and incomprehensible.

Yuiko couldn’t stop thinking about Sui after their talk. About his leather jacket. About his smirk. About how he called her "princess" as if there were nothing unusual in it.

About how he called her "bitch" and made her heart flutter.

What is wrong with me? she asked herself, hiding her face in her pillow. Why do I like this?

She did.

She liked it so much.

It started from the smallest things.

How he grabbed her hand and pulled her close while they were walking. How he leaned closer to whisper to her some things which made her blush terribly.

"You are blushing again, princess."

"I’m not."

"Your ears are red."

"Those are my ears. And they are always red."

"Liar."

She tried to protest, but he just smirked and left her flustered and breathless.

And her tail kept wagging.

Each time.

In class, the situation became even worse.

Sui leaned back in his chair, his eyes half-closed, looking at her with a certain expression. At times, he was mouthing at her while their teacher wasn’t looking.

You’re cute.

Stop staring.

I own you.

She tried to pay attention to her notes, but her hand was trembling. Her ears twitched, her tail curled around her legs.

And he was smirking.

During lunch, everything happened as always, yet it was so different.

"Princess."

She looked at him. "What?"

"Feed me."

"What?"

He leaned against the tree and looked at her expectantly. "You heard me. Feed me."

Her face became hot. "I’m not—I can feed myself!"

"I can, but I want you to feed me."

She stared at him. There was no apology or shame in his calm and confident face.

"You’re insufferable," she said.

"Insufferably charming?"

"Insufferably ridiculous."

Yet she picked up a piece of onigiri and put it in front of him.

He took it from her hand, brushing his lips against her skin. Her ears went straight up.

"Good girl," he murmured.

Her tail wagged furiously.

After school, they walked home together. His hand was firmly around hers, and he was tracing circles on her palm.

"Sui," she said softly.

"Senpai."

She swallowed. "Senpai... why are you like this?"

"Like what?"

"Like... this." She made a vague gesture. "Confident. Dominant. As if you own the world."

He stopped walking and turned to look at her.

"Because I want to be what you need," he said simply.

Her heart clenched. "What I need?"

"You like this. I can tell." He approached her and tilted her head up by touching her chin. "Your tail wags each time I call you. You blush when I tell you to do things. You like it when I take control."

Her face was crimson now. "I—that’s—you’re—"

"Am I wrong?"

She opened and closed her mouth.

"You’re not wrong," she whispered.

He smiled—he was smiling not smirking.

"Then let me be like this for you. Let me be a confident version of me. One who takes charge." He brushed his thumb along her cheek. "But only if you want it."

"I do want it," she said, her voice almost inaudible. "I want it so much."

He leaned closer, putting his forehead against hers.

"Then I’ll be it for you. Be confident. Take charge. Only for you." He kissed her temple. "Always."

She closed her eyes, her heart beating fast.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too, princess."

She giggled and her tail wagged.

"You’re going to call me that forever, aren’t you?"

"Forever and ever."

That night, Yuiko was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling.

She was reliving all the moments of the day. Each smirk. Each command. Each time her heart was beating so fast.

I like it, she told herself. I really, really like it.

It was not that she wanted to be treated badly. She didn’t like to be abused or insulted. But it was such a feeling of safety she was getting from Sui who was taking control in the most confident way possible.

Of protection.

Of cherishing.

He is doing this for me, she realized. He changed for me.

Tears prickled in her eyes. But they were happy tears.

She hugged her pillow, her tail wagging.

I’m so lucky, she thought. So incredibly lucky.

The following morning, she was waiting for him at the school gate, her tail wagging already.

He came, wearing a leather jacket and a mess of hair, confidently striding.

"Morning, princess."

"Morning, senpai."

He raised his eyebrow. "You are getting used to it."

"Maybe." She smiled. "Maybe I like it."

He grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

"Good." He smirked. "Because I’m not stopping."

She laughed, her heart full.

"I wouldn’t want you to."

They were walking to school hand in hand.

And Yuiko knew now for sure that she had never been happier.

She liked this version of him.

She liked him entirely.

And she could not wait to see what happens next.

The act had become second nature to him.

Sui went through his days in confidence and ease, smirking and taunting Yuiko, using his dominance and commanding her to do things. And she always complied in perfect timing – blushing and wagging her tail, submitting to him.

It was good. Powerful. He was finally becoming the kind of guy she needed.

But somehow along the way, he had forgotten where the act ended and the real him began.

It had happened one Thursday afternoon.

They were walking through the hallway when surrounded by fellow students. Yuiko giggled at something that Sui said, wagging her tail and tilting her ears to listen to him.

He felt a rush of confidence.

"Princess," he took her wrist. "Let’s go somewhere private."

"Sui-senpai, where are we going?"

"Somewhere private. I want you to myself."

She giggled, blushing. "You’re so demanding."

"You love it."

"Maybe I do."

He pushed her lightly against the wall, caging her with his arms and feeling her breath hitch in surprise. Her tail wagged.

"Say it," he commanded.

"Say what?"

"Say you love it. Say you love it when I take control."

Her ears flattened a little bit. "Sui..."

"Say it."

She opened her mouth—

A few groups of students passed by them, their voices reaching him clearly.

"That’s the beastgirl and her human boyfriend."

"Strange. She’s such a slave for attention."

"Just look at her, willing to do anything just to please him."

"Pathetic."

Yuiko’s ears lowered even more. Her tail stopped wagging.

He tightened his jaw. Turning his head towards the voices, he realized that they had already passed them.

"Yuiko—"

"I’m fine," she said hurriedly. "It’s nothing. I’m used to it."

"Don’t say that."

"It’s the truth."

"No, it’s not—"

"It is, Sui." Her voice cracked a little bit. "I’ve been used to it all my life."

He reached for her, but she pulled away from him.

"Don’t," she said quietly. "Just... don’t."

The whispers continued.

They went everywhere they went, people staring and judging.

Sui felt his frustration rising.

Why couldn’t they leave her alone? How couldn’t they appreciate how amazing she was? Why did they have to make her feel so insignificant?

He tried to keep his cool, tried to stay confident and dominant as Yuiko’s boyfriend.

But the anger was growing below the surface.

It happened one lunch.

They were eating lunch under the cherry tree when surrounded by fellow students. One group close-by started whispering loudly.

"She’s so lucky that even he talks to her."

"Beastgirls are so desperate."

"Her tail wags every time he exhales. Embarrassing."

Yuiko’s ears lowered. Her tail coiled around her legs.

He saw red.

"Hey." He stood up and walked over to them. "You have something to say?"

The students fell silent.

"Well?" He asked sharply. "Say it to my face."

"Sui—" Yuiko called after him. "Don’t—"

"Stay out of this, princess." He didn’t turn back to look at her. "I’ll handle this."

The students exchanged glances, but a girl among them with an arrogant smile spoke up.

"We were only talking. It’s not our fault that she can’t stand the truth."

"The truth?" His voice sounded cold. "You don’t know anything about her."

"We know enough." She shrugged. "Beastgirls are the same. They are desperate and pathetic and willing to do anything to get some attention."

His fists tightened.

"You think that about her?" He growled. "That she is pathetic?"

"That’s what everybody thinks."

"Then everyone is wrong." He felt that his voice started to shake. "She’s worth more than all of you combined. She’s kind, clever and beautiful, while you—"

"You’re so dramatic," the girl interrupted. "She’s only a beastgirl. She’s nobody."

Sui exploded.

"She’s much more special than any of you—"

"Sui! Stop!"

He heard Yuiko’s voice.

Turning to her, he saw her standing behind him, with her eyes sparkling with tears.

"Don’t," she whispered. "Please, just... don’t."

"But they—"

"I know what they’re saying." She looked miserable. "But yelling at them won’t help. It will... it will only make it worse."

Looking at her, his heart began to beat rapidly.

"Yuiko, I was only trying to protect you."

"I know." She shed some tears. "But you’re not protecting me. You’re... you’re making it about yourself."

"What?"

Her tail was wrapped so tightly around her leg that it was almost painful to see.

"You’re so absorbed in pretending to be this... this bad boy. You’re so eager to defend me." She wiped her eyes. "I don’t need you to fight my battles. I need you."

He reached for her. "Yuiko—"

"I need to go."

She turned around and walked away.

"Yuiko! Wait!"

She didn’t stop.

He eventually found her at the river.

She was sitting on a bench with her knees pulled to her chest, her tail wrapped around her body. Her shoulders were shaking.

"Yuiko."

She didn’t look at him.

He sat down next to her, trying to keep the distance between them.

"I’m sorry," he said softly. "I’m so sorry."

Silence.

"Please," he whispered. "Talk to me."

Silence again.

Finally she said quietly: "You called me princess."

"I know."

"You told me ’stay out of this, princess’ as if I’m... as if I’m beneath you."

He felt as if his heart had broken into a million pieces. "I didn’t mean it like that. I was just—"

"Acting." She finally looked at him with her eyes red and swollen. "You were acting."

"Yuiko..."

"You know, I know that you were trying to be what I wanted." She cried. "This bad boy, confident, strong. But you forgot something."

"What?"

"You forgot that I loved you for who you really are." Her voice cracked. "Not for the person that you pretend to be."

Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I’m sorry," he sobbed. "I’m so sorry. I’ve got so carried away with the act that I forgot—"

"That I was hurting you?"

"No—yes—I don’t know." He ran his hands through his hair. "I only wanted to be what you needed. I wanted to protect you. I wanted to be enough."

"You are enough." She grabbed his hands. "You’ve always been enough. The real you. The one who holds my hand so tenderly. The one who notices when I’m sad. The one who listens to me."

"But you liked the bad boy—"

"I liked the confidence." She squeezed his hands. "I liked seeing you take charge. I liked feeling like I was yours. But I never wanted you to become somebody else."

He looked at her, shedding tears.

"Can you forgive me?"

She cupped his cheek with her hand.

"There’s nothing to forgive," she whispered. "You’ve made a mistake. We all do that sometimes. What’s important is that you understood your mistake."

"I did," he said. "I understood that I almost lost you."

"You didn’t lose me." She smiled through her tears. "I’m right here."

He pulled her in his embrace, holding her tightly.

"I love you," he murmured. "The true me. The one that is afraid and uncertain and often makes mistakes. I love you."

"And I love you," she replied. "Forever."

They were hugging each other with their hearts interlocked while the river flowed calmly by.

And then Sui made a promise to himself.

He would never act like another person ever again.

He would be himself—with all the flaws included.

That would be enough.

Because she loved him.

The true him.