human form, breaking character once to ask Maki and Eiko to save Taba. She is fiercely protective of Taba, and will sleep with him in kitten form. Maya likes "Genki Neko" ("happy cat", or "Lulu" in the U.S. version) brand cat food. She is last seen inside the containment system when Takami is forced to delete all the servers in volume 16. Also, possibly "Vashka". Vashuka is Kuro-Neko's right-hand woman, carrying out various tasks as required, such as slaughtering guards at the Shin-Nihon Avionics plant, or going to Russia to obtain a nuclear warhead. In human form she is a tall, thin, athletic woman with long wavy blond hair, usually wearing light-colored suits and dark sunglasses. She is a vicious unarmed fighter and cool under pressure. Her name was given to her by Hiroyuki Kagura, who said that it was a popular name for cats in the U.S.S.R. Socks is a tall, blonde, gentle woman in human form that cares for kittens abandoned at the shrine near Taba's old apartment, and seems to have helped raise for Maya at some point. She gets captured by Hound early on in the series, but is released after her memories have been wiped and attempts to kill both Maya and Taba. She is finally defeated by Taki. A scruffy guy with glasses in human form, Taki initially is one of KN's minions, carrying out various armed assaults against humans. He does switch over to the anti-KN faction after becoming disillusioned, but when one of the anti-KN assassins tries to kill Taba, he leaves them as well. Taki had been one of the abandoned cats that Socks had given Maya to care for, and he is bonded to Maya as a result, and to Taba by association. Yajima is the typical grizzled veteran combat leader with the buzz cut and lean, muscled body. Equally at home flying a helicopter as when launching a TOW. When not in the battlefield, he is shown living in the Hounds barracks. Yoda is a big, beefy guy with a scraggly mustache. He is often seen leading his men into various fights, or when arguing with Yuka Kikushima over who is getting into whose way. Like Yajima, Yoda apparently lives in the Hounds barracks and has no personal life outside it. Ayumi is the only woman shown within the otherwise all-male forces. She is medium height, trim, with long