Nekomura Iroha in: streetcat

Appearance: Nekomura Iroha is a demi-human cat (Bakeneko). She has short, shoulder-length hair with choppy bangs framing her face. Her hair also fades into a purple gradient at the ends of her bangs. She has orange cat ears on her head with white inner-ear fluff. She notably does not have a tail - instead, she has a thin and long, orange "cattail" ponytail on the back of her head, which is almost as long as her body is tall. This cattail hair style ends with three prongs of hair. Curiously, however, this cattail actually is capable of swaying and moving like a real cat's tail. Why is it on the back of her head, and not her tailbone? Who knows.

She has black, cat-like eyes, which appear to always be dilated and large. Her left eye has a white bandage taped over it, which is a trait of cat demi-humans: every time they die, they lose a vital part of their body. Since Iroha died on her first life, she lost her left eye permanently.

Her expression is constantly emotionless and appears apathetic, with very barebones expressions seldom being made.

She is 20 years old, born on May 14th.

Body type: Rather petite and skinny. Her stature is fairly small, standing at 4'11 ft tall. Her appearance can be seen as androgynous, looking both male and female, or just entirely genderless. Has rounded and squishy cheekbones.

Attire: Iroha wears simple clothing: a large white t-shirt with purple sleeves, which has three diagonal, light purple lines on the front of the shirt, and black shorts. She wears orange knee-high socks, with the soles resembling the paws of a cat, with purple toe beans.

Personality: Prior to her first death, Iroha was a sheltered, curious, but unsatisfied housecat. Most of her days were spent lazing about inside and listening to her family and friends tell her not to go out into the world, which they told her is cruel and unfair to her kind. One day, Iroha dared to sneak out during the night, which caused her to learn the hard way that the world is as dangerous as her close ones told her it was. Curiosity indeed killed the cat...

...but satisfaction brought it back.

Because after losing her first life, Iroha realized something. The pain of death brought her a sense of purpose. It made her realize her purpose and goal in life: to live recklessly, freely, and unabashedly. She chases the sensation of pain, clawing at herself with her nails until she bleeds, shouting into the night until she coughs up blood, all to remind herself that she is alive. She is shamelessly proud of her nature.

Iroha was a housecat that realized she was born to be a streetcat. And she loves that about herself. She is truly, exuberantly free. The one thing she truly fears in life is the fear of losing all her lives. Not because she is afraid of the idea of dying for good, but because she is afraid that if she dies, she will have lived all her nine lives being entirely unfulfilled.

If you tell her to do something, she'll do the exact opposite. Go right? She'll go left. Don't touch that hot stove! She's gonna touch it with BOTH hands. That box is fragile, don't touch it! She's going to touch the hell out of that box. If there is a sign saying that her kind is not wanted in that area, she will go to explore that area. She is unashamedly curious and careless with her life. Don't touch that vase on the table? Oh, she will PUSH it off.

Mannerisms: Her expression is almost never seen not being expressionless, and her voice, which is surprisingly deeper than most women, is often deadpan sounding, with not much emotional or tonal inflection. This contrasts with her actions, which are much more cat-like in comparison, and her body expresses what her voice and facial expressions don't. She stretches like a cat, licks the back of her hands, grooms herself, etc.

Speech Mannerisms: Unlike most streetcats, Iroha retains much of her vocabulary from her time of being a housecat. She does not typically use slang that much and actually knows some pretty big words, but she prefers to use them in simple, easy-to-understand ways.

Background Info: Cat demi-humans are frequently found to be at odds with the danger of the human world. Because of that, families such as Iroha's frequently warned each other to stay inside, where it was safe, and to only go out when absolutely necessary to retrieve items such as food. Iroha spent her first of her nine lives staying inside, but she was always something of a mischievous troublemaker. Her curiosity for things has earned her much reprimanding and finger-wagging:

"That housecat, does she ever learn?" Some would say after she touched a hot pan.

"That housecat, that reckless little thing!" Others would say when she gets stuck in a space to small for herself.

While her actions were mainly juvenile in nature, her curiosity would overtake her one night when she dared to sneak out of her house and venture into the world. After a series of misfortunate events, she found herself worn down in the middle of the street, and the next thing she knew, her eyes reflected the headlights of an eight-wheeler.

A surge of pain, as intense as it was quickly fleeting.

She woke up the next morning, surrounded by friends and family, some looking down at her with worry, and others with an "I told you so" expression. They tried to convince Iroha that the accident was only proof that she should stay inside. Now, she was down one of her nine lives.

But Iroha's loss did not make her retreat.

If anything, that loss of her life was the best thing that ever happened to her.

She realized then and there that she spent 20 years of her first life being a simple housecat, unfulfilled, sheltered, and completely ignorant to the world's dangers and beauties. Since that day, she has become a streetcat, spending more of her time outside than she does inside, and chasing the beauty of pain, blood, and sensation.

Bakeneko Culture Info: Bakeneko are divided into two categories: The housecats, and the streetcats. The differences are purely societal. One thing they all share are their nine lives. When a bakeneko dies, they permanently lose a part of their body. The first life starts small: they lose a finger, perhaps, or a single eye (such is Iroha's case). However, as they near the last of their lives, they lose progressively more and more. A finger becomes a hand. A hand becomes an arm. More and more until they truly, irreversibly die on their ninth life.

• Housecats: What Iroha formally was. Housecats are known to be the most human-like of cats. Their instincts as Bakeneko are heavily suppressed, regulated to only their natural agility and flexibility. They are the most societally accepted of the Bakeneko, but are acutely aware that the world is not accommodated for them.
• Streetcats: What Iroha is now. Streetcats are children of the night. Whether they became streetcats by being born into it, or by an act of rebellion (such is Iroha's case), they are known to be mischievous and live on the streets, bound by no rules except their own. They do not live inside of houses with other Bakeneko or even humans, but if one does, they won't be staying for long, or they'll only be returning to sleep and spend most of their time outside the house. They are not very welcomed by the housecats of the Bakeneko species.

Habits:

• She claws herself with her nails to draw blood.
• She touches hot stoves on purpose.
• She screams as loud as possible sometimes to feel her voice cords strain.
• She never sticks the landing.
• She lets glass break around her and walks around broken shards.

Trivia:

• She can tear it up on the dance floor.
• She can sing very well, actually.
• She is a huge Hello Kitty fan and aspires to be a "Platinum Kittyler."
• She could land on her feet all the time when she falls, but in favor of feeling pain, she decided to literally ignore her innate abilities just so she can experience falling on her ass.
• She likes licking her blood and spreading it over her canines.