"Kunikida, you're fired."

"Z-Zura…?!"

Hanamaru jolted awake, her alarm clock blaring beside her. Sitting up in her bed, she ran a hand through her disheveled, caramel hair. She was exhausted, to say the least, her body heavy as she slid off the mattress. An unexpected turn of events had occurred the previous day - events which left her at a complete loss. She had spent hours lying awake, contemplating what could have possibly caused this drastic outcome, but to no avail. No matter which way she thought it out, there was no possible way it could have led to what now loomed over her.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by the sound of giggling coming from the living room. Yawning, she headed to the door, stepping out of her bedroom, only to be greeted with the sight of her roommate, Chika Takami, and Chika's girlfriend, You Watanabe, laying beside each other on the carpeted floor, adorned in full fursuits - minus the head.

"Morning, zura…" She mumbled, gaining rather skeptical glances from the two.

"-Woah, Hanamaru-chan, what happened to you…?" Chika questioned, gesturing to Hanamaru's appearance with her bulky paw.

"Ah… I was fired from my job, Chika-chan…" The girl admitted with a look of disappointment.

"Whaaaat?!" You howled, sitting up. "You - Hanamaru Kunikida - fired?!"

Hanamaru simply nodded, her sense of disdain washing over her.

"But why?" Chika pondered, "You of all people were perfect to be working at a place like McDonald's! You're so compassionate, and cheerful, and modest, and-"

Chika was interrupted by You's paw suddenly clamping over her mouth, causing her to reel back with an, "Oof!"

Hanamaru anxiously fidgeted around, glancing at the floor. After taking a deep breath, she stared the two directly in the eyes and stated, "I vored all the french fries, zura."

The two grew silent, Chika's mouth gaping open.

"Holy shit…" You uttered.

"Woah!" Chika marvelled, shooing away You's paw. "I didn't know you were into vore!"

"I-I'm not!" She retorted, stumbling back from the two. "I just… Was hungry, zura…"

"Hungry." The calm furry chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Hungry enough to vore an entire basket of fries?"

"I didn't vore the basket, zura! Only the fries!"

Hanamaru's embarrassment was clearly showing through, her face flushed red as the couple laughed away. The two were full-on furries - they were sitting in her living room in full fursuits, for christ's sake! - there was no reason why she couldn't like vore. Every single piece of vore fanart she had seen whilst browsing deviantART had utterly mesmerized her. The act of vore was beautiful to Hanamaru - it was eating, and yet so much more. The opportunity was before her, and she knew she had to take it. However, she would have never expected to be fired from her job - her only source of personal income - for fulfilling her own dream.

"Does Yoshiko-chan know?" Chika asked, tilting her head.

"N-... No."

"Ahah! She wouldn't, would she, what with being out vaping all the time." You recalled, shrugging her furry shoulders. "She's been so out of it lately."

Hanamaru nervously bit her lip, her nails digging into her thighs.

"You two are the first to know, zura… Please don't tell her."

"No promises!-"

You's paw impacted Chika once more, this time directly in the chest. The rambunctious furry sputtered, sitting herself back up.

"You haven't told anyone else we're into yiffing, so we won't tell your girlfriend you're into vore. You can count on us." You explained with a nod.

"Thank you, zura…"

A feeling of relief washed over Hanamaru. She may have lost her job, but her secret was luckily safe with her friends. If word were to get out to Yoshiko, she knew she'd never hear the end of it. It would be vore jokes for days.

For now, however, it was back to job searching. With a renewed sense of motivation, Hanamaru scurried back to her room. As she opened Google Chrome, she couldn't help but to smile at the sight of the vore folder on her desktop. Never again would she let her dreams just be dreams.