Rivera lay curled on her bed, her face buried deep in the pillow, the scent of lavender barely masking the salt of her tears. Her hands trembled as she clutched the bedsheet tighter, her breath shaky and uneven.
She wasn't crying because she'd summoned a prey beast - but because of what her dad had tried to do.
She could never have fathomed that her father would do something so cruel… to kill her very first beast.
She had understood that he'd meant well, that it was for her own good, but still-she couldn't forgive that moment.
The image of her father, Alvin Dalmenton, the great noble of the family, standing within the summoning circle, his blade - the Sword of Nullification - gleaming with lethal intent. And at the end of that blade… a small, trembling rabbit.
Her Rabbit.
********
Ethan lay quietly on the bed beside Rivera.
He stared blankly into his reflection, quite unbelieving.
Ethan wanted to console Rivera, but he couldn't say a thing. And besides, he didn't have any time to dwell on her tears, for he was experiencing his own crisis: somehow, impossibly, he was in another world.
He was living the famous isekai experience, minus the Truck-kun part.
Once more, he looked around the room, hardly believing his eyes at what was happening.
"So I Reincarnated as a Prey… and I Awakened the SSS-Rank System,
He thought, both stunned and oddly amused.
"Wow," he muttered under his breath, gazing at his soft, fluffy body.
Ethan started to hop clumsily around the bed, still trying to get used to this strange, light, flexible form.
This is what it feels like to be a rabbit.
His body felt faster, springier, more agile than before. In a way, it was kind of amazing - except for the part where he was basically hopping around naked.
"WHOA - OKAY - TOO MUCH SPRING!" he thought, fumbling to balance himself. His body felt light, agile, unnervingly flexible. Every movement felt like dancing through air.
> "No clothes, huh? Weird… but it's kinda freeing,
he thought.
Ethan was curious and he lifted a paw to his long velvety ears and stroked them softly; the feel was mesmerizing.
"Rabbit ears are amazing…" he thought, until a ridiculous realization hit him.
Ethan's paw brushed over the length of his ear again, tracing the smooth curve from base to tip. The sensation sent a strange shiver through him - warm, tingling, oddly pleasant.
He blinked in disbelief.
"So this… this is how my rabbit felt when I used to pet its ears,"
he thought, half in awe, half mortified.
The memory of his pet - soft fur, gentle eyes, and the way it always twitched its nose when he stroked it - flashed through his mind.
Back then, he'd never imagined the simple act could feel this good.
Now, living it from the other side, the experience was strangely humbling.
"Damn," he thought, shaking his head, ears flopping wildly. "I owe that little guy an apology."
"Wait, am I.... drooling over my own ears?"
FUCK - NO!
He violently shook his head, willing the thought to leave.
Then his gaze drifted back to Rivera, still lying there, his face pressed to the pillow, his shoulders trembling softly.
For a moment, he'd forgotten she was even there.
> "I'm alone in a room… with a girl,
He thought, his mind momentarily straying into less noble places. He caught himself.
> "No. I'm a twenty-four-year-old man. And besides… He looked down at himself."
> …I'm a rabbit now. It's not like I can do anything with this body."
********
Rivera had stopped sobbing; it was no longer loud, just these small, broken hiccups of sorrow.
Ethan watched her in silence. He wanted to cheer her up somehow-but how could he?
He couldn't speak, couldn't explain, couldn't even pat her on the shoulder. Then a thought struck him.
"Wait… I am a rabbit." I'm basically her pet now. He looked at her again.
"I don't need to talk to comfort her. Pets can do that… right? Some animals are like emotional therapists."