We lived in a small town in Hokkaido at the time. Old Higuchi-san had recently passed away due to a heart attack, and no relatives came to help with his funeral arrangements or cleaning up the house for the wake.

To keep his house clean, he hired one of the local ladies, Morishita-san. So it wasn't dreadful to prepare for the community to visit. Though, I remember the maid mentioning that she thought something lived under the sink and refused to clean the house alone. She told quite a few tall tales, so I paid the story no mind as I brought the cleaning bucket and opened up the cupboard doors. 

Something black reached around the edge, slamming the door shut and held it tight.

I'd met quite a few beings that were considered monstrous, only to find out they were not. Maybe this one was the same? Just to be safe, I reported the discovery to my family. 

We formed a plan to find out. Our reasoning was that even evil creatures might take kindly to an offering. If it wasn't a safe being, we'd recommend holding the wake elsewhere. We'd dealt with worse before.

Unsure what to use as bait, we laid out several types of foods, a few plants, and a couple of bugs in front of the cupboard door. Turning out the lights and pretending to leave, we peeked around the stairwell. 

The door creaked open and a dark tentacle snatched up the plants and bugs. Then deposited them back on the floor before retreating.

Zipping back over, we investigated the lifeless remains of the offerings. We were dealing with a ki drainer. Dangerous, but they don't have the intelligence required to be malicious.

So I slipped a lettuce leaf under the door. Fwip! Accepted.

Another, then another until the head of leaves was gone.

"We have more cleaning to do, but we'll be back in the morning to have the house ready for the wake. If you're discovered during the event, it could be chaotic. And you won't have a good source of food after that. Is there anywhere else you can go?"

A tentacle timidly reached out and shook in a 'no' direction.

"I've met other unusual beings like yourself, and honestly, they're easier to get along with than my own kind. You could meet them."

This time, a nod.

Just then the front door opened. "Ohno-san, I've come with an exterminator and a Shinto priest to get rid of whatever is under that sink before the wake!"

Slam. The creature retreated. 

My parents tried to stop the trio but weren't fast enough. To pry at the door, the priest clung to the handle and propped his feet against the base. "Come out, demon!"

"Please Yamazaki-san, I think I can encourage the ooze to come out and we have a place for it to live safely. I've been talking to it, so I know it's intelligent."

"The cleaning woman said it was a dangerous demon. What makes you think otherwise."

"It didn't attack us, just accepted our offerings."

"It's a monster!" the housekeeper screamed.

Fwoom! The creature launched itself from the cupboard into my arms, trailing its jar, and pointed to the door. Complying, I booked it outside as the poor thing shook and clung to me.

Everyone followed, and the creature crept around to keep me between it and everyone else.

"Su-chan. It looks like you have a pet," my brother teased.

The blob nodded, still trembling. 

"Morishita-san. This creature is not a monster. Unusual, yes. But it's terrified."

When she came at the creature and me with her broom, the priest stepped in her way. "Morishita-san, think of what you are doing. It hasn't harmed anyone."

"It ate Higuchi-san's cat! Broke the old man's heart, it did!" Dodging the priest, she threatened us again.

Lightning fast, a tentacle snatched the broom from the air, proceeding to thwack the cleaning lady on the head.

"Enough!" My father and the priest bellowed in unison. Bowing, dad let the priest finish. "Leave the creature be. The Ohno clan will remove it from the premises. You're quite fortunate the ooze reacted, or you would have hurt young Ohno-chan in your anger against the thing. Let us leave now before the police need to be called for your attack."

So the blob came home with us. We gave her several choices of items to name herself after. She chose a butterfly, Chouchou, or Chou for short.