Three semesters later…
"How about now?"
"Nope, keep them closed!"
"Fine, only for just a little longer, but do you have to put your big, sweaty hands over my–"
SNK!
Here I am, walking…rather, being walked somewhere within this female dormitory completely blinded. Doing such in a place that I am not warmly welcomed in is a risk, but going by the sound of claws right next to my ears, there's an even greater risk to my health if I keep talking.
So I won't. A little quietness isn't so bad anyway; the sound of her breath doesn't even bother me.
"Aaaand open!"
"It's about time! I can finally see–"
Dumbbells, a bench press, jump ropes, and a couple of treadmills near a water fountain–these are the equipment that my eyes are drawn to. How could they not when that's all there is to this room? "Room"? More like a gym!
"Kay, this isn't a study room…"
"Obviously. That would have been a lame surprise even for you. Anyway, you wanna know what's even cooler? Listen to this!"
With smugness written on her face, Kay snaps her fingers and cuffs her right hand near her ear.
It only took a couple of seconds for my confusion to disappear; jazz music plays from the intercom speakers, gradually increasing in volume. Not just any jazz song, "Zero Cruise".
I must admit, I'm at a loss for words.
"No way you managed to get that approved."
"Oh yeah I did! Not only is it a playlist featuring the songs we like–mostly at least–but I made sure it began with the same song we both first listened to a year and a half ago. Pretty neat, huh?"
"I think your recent status as a dorm master has gotten to your head. I, and especially you, need to focus on studies. Besides, what use would I have for fitness? You know I'm not athletic in the slightest."
"And that's exactly the problem. Your body is so tender and soft–it's no wonder why you are often stressed. We can study and hone our muscles simultaneously without interference; there are no downsides! And don't worry about being sweaty; there's a small shower room in the back behind that sliding door. No excuses!"
Like the muscle-head she can be sometimes, Kay flexes, showing off her gains. There's no doubt in my mind that most of her muscle is genetic; demi-humans tend to be born with such physical advantages over humans. We're better off besting them in the intelligence compartment–that's a muscle I can flex.
"My stress doesn't have anything to do with a lack of fitness. That'd be the least contributing factor for any of the few humans remaining here."
"Speaking of, there are still more besides you?"
"...one as far as I know personally. Now that I'm thinking about it, I should probably check in with her soon."
"Okay, you can do that and whatever else later–right now is our time! I won't let you leave until I see your stress from today completely gone!"
"Then there will be no need for me to stay long…"
"Huh?"
"...because your very presence puts my mind at ease."
"...huh?!"
Those words didn't even come through my mind; they naturally flowed outward…but it feels right to my heart. Perhaps that could be a result of the spirit of the music "possessing" me.
Moreover, the way Kay is looking at me with widened eyes and her jaw unhinged gives the appearance that she is possessed.
"You slick bastard."
"?!"
A gruff voice slaps our backs, temporarily knocking the wind out of our lungs. With no other choice, Kay and I turn around to see the source.
Unsurprisingly, it came from a demi-human girl, a bear this time. Surprisingly, she is only one of the three demi-humans present; the other two stand staggered behind her, arms crossed. A bear, a wolf, and a feline–what a combination.
"Hey, why were you hiding in the shower room?! Not only is that creepy and disgusting, but none of you should have access without my key!"
"We don't need keys to open doors, silly. Anyway, what you should be worried about is reality–the reality you won't face."
"I didn't ask for your concern, and I certainly don't want to hear any MORE lectures from you guys. You are wasting my time–our time."
Whenever the tension rises like this when I'm with Kay, I have learned to be passive and let it work itself out; I've become numb to this. Well…mostly.
And right on cue, Kay reaches her hand towards me, presumably to take me away somewhere else, but just before I could feel her touch on my shoulder–
–her hand gets smacked away by the bear.
"Listen to me! As your friend…I want what's best for you. I still care about you deeply, and that will never change no matter what you do."
"You should try being like Risa–at least she respects my decisions and doesn't ambush me with a gang like a coward!"
"Sigh."
The two "grunts" (they might as well be) look at each other and then to their leader, communicating a nonverbal message that only they can truly understand. She shakes her head begrudgingly and motions her hand towards the exit. In obedience, the grunts take their leave, though not without a scowl shot at me as they pass by.
"Kay, for goodness sake, nobody respects your foolishness! Risa may be able to tolerate it, maybe even everyone else–but not me. I can't stand to see my dearest friend throw her life away for this human! You proved your point to us already, okay? You won the bet, so stop being stubborn!"
"I've managed to gain a true friend–my first human friend. He wouldn't be my friend if I just threw him away, thus failing the bet. As my friend, you should know that I would never do such a thing to my friends–demi-human or not!"
Unprompted, catching me completely off guard, Kay grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly, looking straight into the bear–her friend's–eyes as if daring her. Accompanying that, Kay lets out a low growl as her fangs protrude.
Her friend seemed to have received the message clearly seeing that she's putting more space between her and Kay, but despite that, she retains eye contact. There's no hatred, rage, or any emotion like that on her face, but rather, concerned disappointment.
"You may be able to disregard what your peers think, but we both know that your mother would especially never approve of your human friend."
"And? So what?"
"So what? So what?! Are you even sober?! Kay you were chosen to be a personal maternal nurse for the noble family after graduation–you are the first one in your family to ever earn such a position. It's not about your own image anymore–everything you do must not shame the nobles!"
"If I remember correctly, you are a candidate to be on Dander's elite force, right? I suggest you focus your energy on that instead of digging your claws into my life that has nothing to do with you. Love you–peace out. Sorry about that Zateon, come on, I know another private place…"
Holding hands, Kay leads me away with her. Keeping up with her pace when she's heated is a hassle, but for her sake, I won't make any moment of her life any more difficult than necessary.
Right as I approached the doorway, I could hear the whisper of a low voice below the gentle music. Instinctively, I turned around–
–a barrage of daggers in the form of claws approach my eyes.
The last sound I remembered hearing a ferocious growl…accompanied by a soprano sax.
_______________________________________________________________________
Even under the night sky, the college campus remains lively. More subdued, but still lively nonetheless. Though the lone human male who's trotting by himself is the antithesis of that; he's alone, walking with his hands in his pockets, his gaze remaining strictly on his path, and his mind is elsewhere in a completely different place.
He, Zateon, quietly hums a melody to himself.
"...?"
Do I hear…splashing? I know that I'm about to pass by the swimming area, but if the waters are going to be noisy, I would have avoided this path to my dorm.
Though I would much rather not; the tranquility of the still waters paired with the starry sky gives me a temporary sense of inner peace.
Splash! SPLASH!
"???"
There's no denying it anymore, there must be people at the pool even at this late hour. It should be closed right now, but that's none of my business. Those idiots will pay the penalty that they deserve…wait.
That splashing sounds too aggressive to be just casual playing.
"She can't be serious. There's absolutely no way."
Needing all the speed I can get, I take off my backpack and dash into the pool gates. I run the risk of exerting all of this effort based on a hutch, but it's a very strong hutch that I can't risk ignoring–I don't want to.
And sure enough, my hutch that something no good was occurring is correct; a group of girls, demi-humans of course, are so occupied in the middle of the pool. So occupied, they don't notice my presence, let alone my approach.
Or perhaps they are aware, I'm just of no importance compared to the person within their grasp. The only signs I can see of said person are the air bubbles that continually float to the surface.
"Okay girls, make sure she stays down; I have her head subdued, so make sure you both cover her arms and legs!"
"I've got her locked down!"
"Same. She'll learn her lesson this time!"
"Hey you all, stop this foolishness at once! You are taking this too far!"
I could feel my throat tighten with every word I uttered. It's been a while since I have ever needed to project my voice, so my vocal cords are a bit strained. Despite that set-back, it was enough to get the demi-humans to look at me, finally acknowledging my existence.
In just a few seconds, their faces shifted through various emotions: first came confusion, then it was quickly followed by disgust.
Now, their faces have settled on being wrinkled.
"Stay out of this, human. Your friend should've thought twice before doing the disgusting things she did to my brother!"
"She did it to our boyfriends!"
"She deserves every bit of this, so get lost or we'll take care of you next!"
I'm not here to debate whether or not Klia deserves whatever revenge they have planned for her–I wouldn't be surprised if she's not innocent in the slightest. But I cannot knowingly let my fellow human remain in the abusive hands of these demis, even if I knew without a doubt that she deserved every bit of it.
Therefore, in this dire situation, I'm left with no other choice…I must fight with my curse.
"I don't have time for these stupid games!"
Following my declaration, I got as close to the edge of the pool as I could reasonably, staring directly into the "leader's" face; I didn't blink, turn my head away from her mean glare, nor divide my attention in any way. Nothing is going to take my eyes away from hers–nothing.
The demi-human tenses up more and more, feeling pressured not to back down–that's precisely what I want.
She snarls and hisses…until her face begins to soften.
Splish.
"?!"
Without warning her cohorts, she lifts up the person's drowning body–confirmed to be Klia–above the surface. They are naturally perplexed, just as I expected.
I would be lying to myself if I denied feeling any pleasure from their reactions.
"What are you doing, Olly?!"
"Why are you ruining the plan so suddenly?!"
"...what plan are you two talking about? I just feel like partying! Come on, let's leave this boring pool and these boring humans and have some real fun tonight!"
"Huh?!"
"Are you just gonna stand there staring at me like that? Fine…"
Olly bends down between the girls…
"?!!"
–and picks them up over her shoulders, carrying them out of the pool with very little effort. Quite the feat considering that they are all roughly the same size.
"I wouldn't stay here if I were you, humans. You just might get into a lot of trouble…goodbye and good night!"
Olly waves her tail as she joyfully skips away from the pool and out the gate, her two friends in hand utterly speechless to protest.
Great, now that they're taken care of…
"...sigh"
Klia. What a mess.
"Geeze…come on, let's talk on the pavement. Can you meet me halfway? I'll stretch my arm as far as I can."
With a subtle nod, Klia steadily–albeit sluggishly–wades through the water towards my outstretched arm. Once she's close enough, we link hands and I pull her towards land at a faster pace.
I want to immediately unloose what's on my mind to her, but it's better that I wait while she's draining the "mop" on her head that's concealing her eyes.
"Hey Zateon…looks like some animal left a strand of hair in the pool. That's not very hygienic, you know…"
Zateon ignores the black hair strand in Klia's hand, instead smacking her hand to force her to release it.
"Klia, can you be serious for a moment? I don't care about silly banter right now. I've told you to not engage with them like that! It's not worth it."
"When was the last time you told me anything like that? Do you even remember?"
"How is that relevant?"
"..."
Klia's eyebrows are straight and…all traces of anything resembling a smirk vanished.
Oh…she's actually being serious. I don't think that was a rhetorical question, but no matter how much I rack my brain…
"It was…it was…maybe–"
"Six months, three weeks, four days and nine hours ago. Coincidentally, that was also the last time we actually met and talked normally rather than just occasionally bumping into each other by happenstance."
"Things got really hectic for me even more so than before after freshman year. It couldn't be helped."
"...you are so right. I couldn't be helped."
"No, that's not what I–"
"I thought our meetings were therapeutic, a way to ease our minds from the stress inflicted on us daily. But you must have realized that I was a lost case and ditched me…"
The air is getting tighter, I can hear Klia's breaths become heavier and heavier. Her words carry a lot of weight–a burden.
If not handled gracefully, everything pent up inside her will explode. I must do everything I can to remain a rational voice of reason.
Lower the temperature, Zateon. Keep it steady.
"That's not the situation at all."
"You didn't even bother to ask me for my side of the story. Those animals sabotaged me, causing me to fail. So I made sure to 'sabotage' something far more personal to them than academics. Thanks for asking. Though you obviously couldn't care less."
"Again, that is not the issue here–you are off base."
"Then why in hell would you ever team up with those animal freaks over me?!"
Stay composed. No matter the accusation.
"Team up? Hardly. I just go out of my way to avoid any trouble with them–the opposite of your approach."
"Don't play stupid! You are best friends with that wolf! That's who you've decided to spend time with instead, isn't it?"
"Who's 'that wolf'…oh, I see. You mean Kay? She's not really…we aren't really…"
Stay composed! Give straightforward responses!
"So all of our talks were for nothing? I thought we had a mutual understanding as humans. Those animals are not to be reasoned with, yet you–"
"Nothing that you and I have discussed–none of our experiences whatsoever–have been invalidated. But I would be a blind fool to deny that this particular demi-human has gone out of her way to be nothing but kind to me. That's an experience that can't be invalidated either, and it shouldn't be."
"That wolf of yours…I've finally figured out why you never introduced her to me."
Mine? Why is she framing it like I own Kay? It's borderline offensive–stay composed.
Focus on the main point.
Breathe.
"Given your mentality, could you blame me? It's not like I actively prevented it. In fact, you could have met her yourself if you really wanted to. That's not my job to manage."
"That wolf…Kay…she's friends with Yearn and the rest of them. How could you support someone who is friends with vile animals like them?! She's no better!"
At that moment, I wanted to lash out in defense of Kay; the tone of voice, the pure hatred in her speech being aimed at Kay of all people doesn't sit well with me.
I hate it.
…stay composed, remain rational. No matter what she says, do not stoop to her level.
As a compromise, I clench my fists tightly gripping my inner pockets.
"Whoever Kay is friends with is none of my business. Besides, even if her peers are the way that they are, that doesn't mean she agrees with them. I have never seen such a side to her. I didn't trust her initially either, but no ill will has ever come from her to me. In fact, she has defended me from them."
"Come on, do you really think she doesn't agree with them? What do you think they talk about when you're not around? I've overheard the kind of nasty conversations they have about humans! If she were any different, she would have stopped them. It doesn't take a genius to know that!"
That's it, I gave it my best. I'm mentally exhausted–it's best to end this before Klia inevitably escalates…and before I do the same.
"Sigh, we can talk more about this next week–I promise I will have some free time. Stay out of trouble in the meantime; I can't bail you out all of the time!"
"Where are you going?! Are you abandoning me again?!"
"I'm going home, Klia. And so should you. Good night."
Once I turned my body away and towards the gates, I did not dare look back at Klia.
Am I running away? Yes.
Am I a coward? Yes.
But above all, my peace of mind comes first.
I refuse to become a deranged hate sink; I will not lose myself.
Though I cannot take full credit as though I'm a strong person or have perfect morals. If it weren't for her, perhaps even I would have completely lost my mind.
…
"...thanks, Kay."