Mio Akiyama had always been the odd one out. She tried to blend  in, at home, at school, but no matter how hard she tried, she always  stuck out. It wasn’t that she looked different, no. She looked nearly  identical to the other girls in her class. She had long, black hair, and  gray-brown eyes. That wasn’t it. And she wasn’t poor or rich either,  somewhere in between. It was that Mio was left-handed…and  because of her friend, the only friend she had that made her stick out  from the crowd.     Mio stood on the porch of her two-story house, clutching her  schoolbag. She watched carefully, hoping she wouldn’t be spotted  by any of the other kids at her school. ​No! ​Mio thought, seeing two  girls walking down the concrete street. One had short, brown hair,  laughing. The other had long black hair, and was gripping the other  girl by the arm. Mio, embarrassed at being seen, ducked back into  the house. ​I guess I’ll…wait. ​Mio decided. “Mio!” Mio heard a voice,  her friend Ritsu’s. ​Oh no, not now! ​Mio cracked open the door of her  house to see Ritsu.  “Hi.” Mio said shyly.  “Hi!” Ritsu grinned. She had short, brown hair; her bangs held up  with a yellow headband, “C’mon, hurry. We’ll be late for fifth  grade! Move it! Move it!” Ritsu grabbed Mio’s left hand and jerked  her down the street, chasing the two girls up ahead. Wham! Mio and  Ritsu crashed into the two girls up ahead, the two that Mio had  intended to avoid.   “Ow-meow!” one of them mewed. ​Cat? Are they cats? No way! ​Mio  thought. She opened her eyes from where she’d bumped the  laughing girl’s back. Instead of the uniformed girl she’d just seen less  than ten minutes ago, she saw a brown striped tabby. ​How could this  have happened? ​Mio thought.   “Ritsu! Come back!” Mio yelled, spotting Ritsu up ahead. But  when Mio squinted closer at her friend, she only saw another cat,  this time a black one. Mio shuddered, breaking into a panicked run.  She arrived at school, and leapt into her classroom, only to find the  the striped tabby and a black-and-white cat there. ​Those two girls!  They’re those cats! ​Mio realized.   “Oh, it’s you.” a voice sneered. Mio whirled around to find the  striped tabby.   “H-how c-can I u-understand y-you?” Mio stuttered nervously. She  glanced frightened around her classroom. It was normal, like the one  she’d had the year before. There was nothing out of the ordinary,  just desks and bookshelves.   The tabby didn’t answer Mio’s question, but continued, “Mio  Akiyama, what are you doing here without your ​protection​?” Mio  turned away shyly, but turned back. Ritsu wasn’t her protection!  “M-my p-protection?” Mio asked, quieter than she’d wanted.  “Haha, Ritsu. She’s a cat now!” the tabby laughed. The calico  jumped onto Mio, making her trip all of a sudden. Then she heard  cackling, evil cackling, and she bolted upright, her head banging  against the wall. That was when she realized that she was still in bed.  Her alarm clock read five a.m. The cackling still rang in her head,  but she knew it was all just a dream.  Mio fell back asleep in seconds. The next time she woke up was at  seven, on time. Her fingers were crossed that nothing weird would  happen. Holding her schoolbag, she nervously walked downstairs  and out the front door. There was no one. She sighed. ​Phew. ​Mio  thought, ​No one. ​She walked down the street as quickly as she could  to Ritsu’s house. Approaching her friend’s house, she knocked on  the door. But her friend’s voice didn’t reply. There was only a loud  meow from a cat.