"Uh... Dad, Mom... look, it's a rabbit."
Kuchiha mustered her courage, shuffled two steps forward, her voice trembling slightly from nervousness.
Her mother, by the sink, paused her movements but didn't turn around.
Only then did her father slowly turn half his face, his bloodshot eyes sweeping over Kuchiha before finally landing on the white furball in her arms.
His brows furrowed as if he were looking at something dirty.
"Where did it come from? Stolen?" He sneered, his voice hoarse and reeking of alcohol.
"N-no!" Kuchiha quickly defended, her face flushed, "It... it was given by a magician! I guessed correctly..."
"I named it Little... Little Carrot..." Her voice grew smaller and smaller under her father's scrutinizing gaze.
"Hmph." Her father took a swig of alcohol, his eyes growing more impatient, "Filthy thing, why keep a rabbit? We can barely feed ourselves! Isn't it messy enough?" He ordered gruffly, "Throw it out! Now!"
Kuchiha's heart sank instantly, like plunging into an ice cave. The warmth in her arms now felt scalding.
"But... it's very well-behaved, and I... I can take care of it myself, without spending the family's money..."
She pleaded, her eyes instantly reddening.
"I said throw it out! Can't you understand? If you dare bring it into this house again--" Her father's voice suddenly rose, filled with the fury of being defied.
He abruptly sat up straighter, the empty liquor bottle thudding heavily on the coffee table, emitting a grating sound: "I'll stew it for a drink!"
She had no doubt her father would actually do that.
Her mother continued silently washing dishes, which was more despairing than any accusation.
Kuchiha bit her lower lip tightly, and tears finally rolled down uncontrollably, blurring her glasses.
She didn't dare to stay any longer, hugging the rabbit she turned sharply and rushed out of the house.
Outside, the narrow, cluttered alley was dimly lit by a faint streetlamp.
Kuchiha leaned against the cold, rough wall, her shoulders shaking violently, suppressed sobs escaping her throat.
Little Carrot in her arms seemed to sense her fear and sadness, stirring restlessly.
She looked around with tear-filled eyes, like a cornered rabbit herself.
Kuchiha carefully placed Little Carrot into a cardboard box, her fingers lingering as she stroked its warm head.
The rabbit's ruby-like eyes looked up at her in the dim light, filled with confusion.
She pulled out half a carrot and a few wilted lettuce leaves from somewhere.
"I'm... I'm sorry... Little Carrot..." She choked, gently placing the carrot and lettuce leaves beside the rabbit, "You... you stay here quietly... I'll come see you tomorrow... first thing in the morning..."
She didn't know if the rabbit could understand, but she futilely repeated her promise.
It was as if she was telling it, but even more so, telling herself, giving herself a faint glimmer of support.
As soon as dawn broke, Kuchiha practically rushed out of the house, carefully hiding the milk carton containing the rabbit in her school bag.
A night of worry had kept her from sleeping, fearing that stray cats or the wind and rain in the alley might harm it.
When she lifted the cardboard in the cool morning light and saw those clear, ruby-like eyes and the tiny nose gently twitching, a huge, poignant warmth instantly flooded over her.
She carefully picked up Little Carrot and rubbed her face against its still soft fur.
Behind the school was a small, wire-fenced corner, used by the biology club for temporarily keeping and observing small animals, usually left unattended.
Taking advantage of the sparse crowd in the early morning, Kuchiha secretly put the rabbit inside, then laid down some clean green grass she had picked by the roadside earlier that morning.
Watching the little rabbit curiously sniff the grass in its small enclosure, Kuchiha's heart was filled with an unprecedented joy.
During the morning break, someone, she didn't know who, first discovered the snow-white little rabbit.
"Hey, look! There's a rabbit in the biology corner!" The news spread among the girls like ripples.
Soon, a small group of girls gathered in front of the small wire fence.
They excitedly pointed and chattered noisily.
"Wow, how cute!"
"Who brought it?"
"It must be Kirishima Kuyo, I saw her yesterday..."
"Oh? Then she's quite amazing, isn't she..."
Kuchiha stood a few steps away, leaning against the wall of the school building, her fingers nervously twisting the hem of her clothes.
Not a single person turned to talk to her, not a single person truly looked at her beyond the rabbit.
Their laughter and exclamations were like an invisible membrane, enveloping the rabbit but still excluding her, yet even so, Kuchiha couldn't help but curve her lips slightly upward.
A strange sense of connection grew in her heart.
Because of this rabbit, she was no longer the completely ignored invisible girl.
Something she brought had become the focus of everyone's attention.
This feeling was unfamiliar yet precious, like a faint ray of sunshine illuminating her perpetually cold heart.
She even felt that Moshi and his group hadn't bothered her much today either.
However, Kuchiha didn't notice that at the other end of the corridor, Moshi was leaning against the windowsill, coldly watching the group of girls surrounding the rabbit, and Kirishima Kuyo in the corner, head bowed, yet with a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her lips.
That faint smile was like a thorn, making him particularly annoyed, and a hint of malice flashed in his eyes.
The dismissal bell sounded like an ominous premonition.
Kuchiha practically rushed out of the classroom, her only thought to quickly go to the biology corner to see the rabbit.
However, before she could get close, she heard an unusually noisy commotion and sharp jeering from that direction, even more chaotic than the magic show she had seen yesterday.
An ominous premonition arose.
She quickened her pace and ran over, pushing past several students who were also drawn by the noise, their faces filled with shock.
The sight before her instantly froze her blood, her mind a blank.
The gate of the wire fence had been violently opened.
Her snow-white little rabbit was being held high by Moshi, who, with a sinister grin, was throwing it like trash onto the cold, hard concrete ground!
"Squeak--!" The rabbit let out a short, shrill, distorted shriek.
And that wasn't all.
Another follower, as if to show off in front of Moshi, immediately raised his foot, clad in thick athletic shoes, and with cruel delight, aimed at the twitching white furball on the ground—
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Heavy, sickening thuds, one after another, stomping down with brutal force!
"Stop--!!!" A heart-wrenching, almost inhuman scream burst from Kuchiha's throat.
All reason, all fear, at that moment, were burned to ashes by overwhelming grief and indignation.
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