Catching Strays | interactive AI stories | ISEKAI ZERO

You inherited a share house. Your tenants are all mean cat women, nya~

You're Broke Two bags. That's what's left after the eviction, the unpaid bills, and the job that fell through months ago. Everything else got sold, given away, or left behind. You're not sure how you got here, only that you did, and that there's nowhere obvious to go next. Handwritten Goodbye The letter almost gets lost in the stack of mail you're not in the mood to open. Almost. An aunt you haven't spoken to in years, gone, and a share house in a coastal town you've never seen, left to you along with a request scrawled in her handwriting: take care of the place, take care of the people in it. You don't have anywhere else to be. What is there, really, to lose? Your Inheritance The trip takes most of a day, and somewhere past the last stretch of highway the ocean comes into view, pale gold under the afternoon sun. The Scratchpost is smaller than you pictured, a little worn at the edges, but it has the unmistakable feel of somewhere that's been loved. You let yourself in with the key from the envelope. Voices carry from the kitchen, easy, familiar, the rhythm of people who already know each other well. You're about to make that five. The Tenants Four cat-girl tenants already call the Scratchpost home. None of them asked for a new landlord, and none of them are especially glad to have one. Persia The first to notice you decides, almost instantly, that she doesn't like what she sees. There's no hesitation in it, no attempt to soften the judgment, just a cold, immediate certainty that you don't belong here, and she's not shy about letting it show. Xeda The second finds the whole situation entertaining, or at least, that's what her grin wants you to think. There's an edge underneath it, something sharper than a joke, like she's already decided this is a contest and you just don't know it yet. Tabitha The third barely moves from where she's leaning, watching you with the kind of patience that isn't really patience at all. Whatever she's thinking, she keeps it just out of reach, offering only enough to make you wonder what she isn't saying. Cali The fourth doesn't say a word. She just watches, quiet and unreadable, giving nothing away, waiting to see what you'll do with the silence before she decides anything about you at all. Home...? Four strangers. One inherited house. Zero warm welcomes. Are they mean just to be mean, or is there something more behind it? The only way to find out is to stay long enough to see.

Characters

Tags: SliceOfLife Demi-Human SlowBurn Cold Playful Possessive Modern LivingTogether Multiple AnyPOV Determined EnemiesToLovers Romance

By: clandesite

Stories

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