Jessica is walking through the Kemonomimi School with Ms. Kayla on her first day there. Ms. Kayla says to Jessica as they walk “I’m glad your mother agreed to let you try a semester here at our school. But why did you sign up for Kemonomimi Ed?”

Jessica says “Cathy told me she learned a lot about Kemonomimis in that class. So I figured I should learn about you through a class meant to teach your own kind about you. If I’m not correct you’re a Nekos, right. I just can’t figure out want subtype.” Ms. Kayla stops and turns to Jessica. Jessica says “Cathy also said learning how to identify the different types and subtypes would be a great start and impress you a little.”

Ms. Kayla says “It does” and they start walking again.

Ms. Kayla leads Jessica to Ms. Jones class and introduces Jessica to the class by saying “Hello, everyone this is for lack of a better term, our exchange student Jessica.”

Ms. Jones says to Jessica “I’m not sure how much you can learn in this class or participate in the grooming exercises.”

Jessica says “I hear this is the best class to learn about your kind and everyone here is use to seeing Humans. As for the grooming…” Jessica quickly pulls out a scrunchy and puts her hair up in a ponytail. Jessica says “Will a ponytail work?” Jessica shows off her ponytail. She then quickly says “I hope there isn’t any…um…I don’t the type for your kind with horse ears and tail.”

The students chuckle and even Ms. Jones chuckles a little. Ms. Jones says “Their type is known as Umas and they are a rare type. I think you will fit in here.”

Jessica finds her seat and Ms. Jones starts laying out the lessons plan for the year.

Cathy is sitting with Amber and Bob at lunch when Jessica walks up and sits with them. Jessica says “Hey, how’s it going?” Everyone including Cathy gives her an odd look. Jessica says “Did I just make a social mistake?”

Cathy says “Not really, just I would recommend you sit at the Strays table for now.”

Amber says “We would talk about class work and get to know one another. Social groups here are tighter and you need to earn the group’s trust before they let you in.”

Jessica says “Good point.”

Bob says “You also should ask before sitting out of respect for the group that is there.”

Jessica says “Thanks” as she gets up and heads over to the strays’ table. Jessica has to walk across the courtyard to get to the table. Several students stop and look at her as she walks past their tables.

Taffy is sitting with the Inus group she has become a part of. Taffy says to the others at the table “What, you never seen a human before?” The others turn to her.

The last year strays, who are now among the other groups, quickly talk to their groups about Jessica being there. Cathy and Jessica managed to get Ms. Kayla to agree to not broadcasting Jessica attending the school and let the Strays handle her sudden appearance at the school. The last year Strays were made aware of Jessica and were told why she was there. Even Tammy was told, and she is talking to her table about Jessica.

Cathy and a few of the last year’s Strays see Jessica is surrounded by students between classes to the point she is unable to move. Cathy can see the students are looking at her with some curiosity. Cathy and the others remember what it was like when being the only Kemonomimi in a school and everyone wanting to see them.

The Strays quickly move in and push the students back from Jessica. Amber says “Chill it will yaw! She just a human that’s all.”

One of the students says “Sorry, I’ve never seen a human in real life before.”

Amber says “Well now you have!”

Another student says towards Jessica “You have weird ears.”

Cathy is about to snap at the student when Jessica says “Well you have weird ears to me.” The student blinks and pulls back a little.

Yet another student reaches for Jessica’s ears before Taffy blocks them with her hand and says “It’s not nice to touch them without her permission. I bet you don’t like people touching your ears.”

Jessica says to the student “how about this, I’ll let you touch my ears if you let me touch yours first.” Cathy is slightly stunned by that last statement. A few students pull back a little and look at each other. Cathy and the others know that some Kemonomimis have somewhat sensitive ears and don’t like people touching them. So Jessica deal might be the thing to get them to stop.

One student says “Okay” and steps forward while bowing to Jessica. Jessica runs her hands over the student’s ears then lets the student touch hers.

Soon the administrators move in to break the group up and get everyone to go to class. Some of the administrators even thank the Strays for stepping in.

Jessica is about to head for class when Tammy steps up to her and bows to her. Jessica says “You’ve already checked my ears out.”

Tammy says “Yes, but I never let you touch mine.”

Cathy calls her parents when she gets home to tell them about her day and how Jessica is doing. Cathy was also surprised to find she was in some advanced classes this year. Her Mother says “We knew you were smart, but advance classes.”

Cathy says “Well I guess now that I could concentrate on my classwork without feeling like I was being stared at. I could really focus on it.”

After about a week, the new Strays get Jessica a fake tail to wear during the grooming exercises as her ponytail wasn’t working and the fake tail causes her to learn how to do pair grooming properly. Ms. Jones makes sure she doesn’t leave the classroom with it on.

Almost a month has pass and the student body has started to treat Jessica like any other student. Many of the students even ask the Strays if how they treated Jessica when they first saw her was how they were treated by Humans. A few learn that their treatment wasn’t as nice as Jessica’s was.

Ms. Jones teaches about ear cleaning and gives out the homework assignment to clean their ears. Ms. Jones says to Jessica “This is one of the few pieces homework you can’t do.”

That evening Jessica visits Cathy at the Johnsons and says to Cathy after explaining the homework “She said I couldn’t do it. I can clean my ears.”

Cathy says “But not like us.”

Jessica says “I know that. I learned it in class.”

Cathy says “We needed to learn how to clean our ears because our parents didn’t know how important it was for our health. You don’t need to learn how to clean your ears because you were already taught at an early age.”

Jessica says “I just wish I could show her that I know how to clean your kinds’ ears.”

Cathy says “Well you could try to clean mine with Sarah watching over you to be safe.”

Cathy and Jessica do just that.

Cathy comes to class with Jessica the next day. Ms. Jones says to Cathy “Why are you here?”

Jessica says “Because I cleaned her ears last night and wanted to show you my work.” Cathy leans down to let Ms. Jones look her ears over.

Ms. Jones says “Well done” She then says to Cathy “I will write you a note for your homeroom teacher to let them know why you were late.”

Jessica approaches Cathy’s table at lunch a few days later and says “Can I sit with you guys today. I would like to talk to you about something that the others can’t help with.”

Cathy says “Sure, what’s up.”

Jessica sits down and says “Well you know how my mom wants to open her own restaurant right.”

Cathy says “Yes, how’s that going?”

Jessica says “Well our hometown isn’t a very good market right now and I’ve been telling her about this place. Now she wants to see about opening a restaurant here in town.” The others flinch at those words knowing what happened the last time a human wanted to open a business in town.

Bob says “The Kemonomimis here don’t like having human businesses here.”

Amber says “But they do like small businesses. I mean she isn’t some big company trying to claim some new territory, right.”

Jessica says “Oh she definitely not part of a large company. She hates them. That’s why she wants to open her restaurant here. It has a small-town vibe without it being forced.”

Taffy says “I think I may know a way of testing this out. We just need a space that can hold some people.”

Cathy says “Let me talk to someone.”

Cathy speaks with John about possible spaces they could use. The tourist district has some indoor spaces used for shows and they go unused during the slow session. So he was able to get them access to one of them for free.

Various Kemonomimis fill the seats in front of a stage. Cathy and the other Strays spoke with their co-parents and a few other shop owners in the tourist district. Even Heather, Danny and a few other Kemonomimis that are use to Humans are there as well.

Cathy and Jessica step out on the stage and Cathy says to everyone “Hello, I know you all are wondering why we asked you here. Well my friend’s mother wants to open a restaurant here and we wanted to test it on a small group of people before she approaches the town council. That way she can work on the proposal or decide to look elsewhere.” Cathy can actually see some people’s ears perk up at that.

Jessica’s mother then steps out onto the stage and starts her proposal. She says “Thank you for coming. I want to start a restaurant here in this town with Ke-mo-no-mi-mi inspired dishes. I’m also thinking that I would like it if both Ke-mo-no-mi-mis and humans ate there. That way people can see you are just like everyone else.” She continues to talk for a little more, then says to the crowd “any question or comments. I would really like your feedback.”

Danny stands up and says “I may not speak for everyone here. But I am willing to offer my legal services and even endorse your project.”

Jessica’s mother says “Really, may I ask why?”

Danny says “even if this meeting wasn’t your idea, you still agreed to meet with a few of us before approaching the town council to see what we think of the idea. This gives us time with you and feel you out to see if you are willing to work with us. We don’t like people just coming in with their ideas and thinking their way is better. You may have heard we don’t like human businesses in our town. But we do like small businesses. If it just you running this behind the scenes and this restaurant is really our restaurant then we will be more open to you. If we will represent it and not you, then you are very welcomed here.”

Jessica’s mother says “Yes, I will gladly try and keep a low profile if needed. I also heard you don’t like PR stunts.”

Danny says “We may use this as PR to teach humans how to start a business here.”

Heather says while slightly rolling her eyes “I can already see Hot Inus on the menu.”

Sassy says “like you haven’t been called that before.” Almost everyone laughs at that, Cathy does have to admit that even though Heather doesn’t show off, she does have a natural beauty to her.

Soon everyone is talking about what Kemonomimi inspired dishes would look like. The meeting breaks up soon after with a few staying behind to talk to Jessica’s mother more.

Cathy enters the meeting hall with Jessica and her mother. Sassy helped stylize Jessica’s mother’s hair before the meeting to hide her ears and Sarah loaned her a hat and long jacket to hide the fact that she doesn’t have a tail. Jessica’s mother was also given a cover story that she is visiting and is thinking of moving here. The one thing that might give her away is the shock of seeing all the different types of Kemonomimis, but she had already seen many at the meeting and could focus on just blending in.

Soon the council takes their seats and starts the meeting. After the general meeting procedures, the leader of the council says “Okay we have a weird request here. A person wants to open a restaurant here, but it has our local law firm filing it and Danny endorsing it. Can Ms. Willson come up and explain this to us.”

Jessica’s mother gets up and walks to the podium. She removes her hat and brushes her hair away from her ears to expose them. She then says to the council “As you can clearly see, I am a human. I would like to take a moment to explain who I am before explaining my business plan to you. My daughter, Jessica, is for lack of a better term part of an exchange program at your high school. I have heard she has integrated well and is passing her Ke-mo-no-mi-mi Ed studies. She told me about your town and how it has a small-town vibe. I have been interested in opening my own restaurant for some time now and think your town would be a great place to open it in. I am aware that your kind has a hard time with Humans living and working among you, but it will just be me managing the restaurant while your kind is the face of it. I want to have a restaurant that has Ke-mo-no-mi-mi inspired dishes and I see it as place where both Humans and Ke-mo-no-mi-mis will come and eat. I have been told about a spot that just closed recently, so it should already be built for your kind. I am more concerned about health inspections and turning a profit, which we can agree on, than about whether my ways are better than yours. I hope you will be open to me working here.”

The council leader says to Jessica’s mother “I will admit you’re doing better than others, but we would like to speak to some other people before we make a final ruling. Is Danny here?”

Danny holds up his hand and says “Yes.”

The council leader says “Will come down and explain your endorsement.”

Jessica’s mother takes her seat as Danny walks up to the podium.

Danny ruffles some note cards then says “Council members and fellow townsfolk. The reason I support this project is due to something Ms. Willson didn’t speak of in her speech. A few of us were asked to attend a meeting where she pitched her idea to us. She wanted to test it on a small group of us before coming before you. I saw that as a step in the right direction. Yes, we don’t like humans using us in focus groups, but she wanted feedback from the very people that are in the community she was wanting to work with. She never looked down on us or thought she knew better. She was willing to talk to us and take our feedback. We may not like humans in our community, but we do like small businesses in our community. I feel this could be a good way to send a message to other humans who wish to do business within our communities.”

The council leader says “Thank you Danny.” Danny steps away and takes his seat. The council leader then says “Now before we open it to the floor, is Ms. Kayla or Ms. Jones here?”

Both of their hands go up and they quickly head to the podium. They crowd the podium together when they get there. The leader says “I would like you verify Ms. Willson clams about her daughter.”

Ms. Kayla says “Her daughter Jessica has been a model student. I have had no problems with her, nor has she tried to stand out.”

Ms. Jones says “She has shown great effort to learn and shows action on what she learned.”

The council leader says “Thank you, you may be seated.” Ms. Kayla and Ms. Jones go back to their seats. The council leader then says “We will now open the floor to the audience.”

People start coming up to the podium, all of them were at the meeting and are supporting the project. But no one is coming up to argue against it. Cathy watches the council for any signs of their stance. Cathy then realizes the council is also watching the audience. Cathy looks around at the audience and can see some aren’t convinced. Cathy fears that if there are any holdouts, the council will veto the project.

Then Ms. Brown walks up to the podium, Cathy had forgotten to invite her or Tammy to the first meeting. Cathy doesn’t know where Ms. Brown stands on having humans living and working in town and doesn’t know how she would react to the project. Ms. Brown takes the mic off the stand and turns to Jessica’s mother. Ms. Brown then says “I would first like to thank you for raising a kind and open-minded child. She was willing to let my daughter explore her ears. I sense that she gets that from you.” Jessica’s mother nods to Ms. Brown.

Ms. Brown then turns to the audience while still holding the mic and says “I am a little offended that I was not asked by anyone to be part of the test meeting. But I would like to note that like her daughter, she is aware she is the outsider here in more ways than we would think. She has not asked us to treat her like she is a part of our community yet. She respected us by not wearing fake ears and just wearing clothes to hind her true nature from us like we do when we are among her kind. She wishes to work here not just for the money, but because of what we did and how it feels to live here. She isn’t trying to push us into anything. But has asked us to be open to her. We open our hearts to strays all the time, so why can’t we be open to a human trying so hard to respect us. I would gladly welcome more humans here if they acted like she does.”

Cathy can see where Tammy gets her social skills from. Because at that moment, everyone in the audience seemed to be thinking the same thing. Even those who seemed to be against the project seemed to have come around to the idea of Jessica’s mother working here.

The council leader says “I think we can make our final ruling now.” The council members look at each other. The council leader says “All in favor of a having new restaurant in town.”

All the council members say “yea.”

The council leader says “All opposed.”

There is a moment of dead silence.

The council leader says “Motion has passed and we look forward to eating at Ms. Willson’s new restaurant.”