I do not own Blazblue.
Just a little idea I came up with a few months back. The idea might seem redundant considering how beastkin already exist in-game, but I tried making the story so that demi-humans were not so identical to that of what beastkin are. Rating of story is also subject to change.
Another repost, folks. Enjoy.
Ragna's hands fumbled with the wad of rolled up bills in his pockets as his legs quickly carried him to where he needed to be, the high schooler running down the sidewalk when he finally saw his local pet store come into view. He swiftly dodged pedestrians and carefully crossed the busy intersection that kept him away from his destination and only decided to finally slow down once he was in front of the facade of the humble little shop. He grinned when he noticed that the crystal clear windows of the store showed the humanoid-like beings inside on full display, and decided to peer through the glass to admire the creatures who leisured about in their cages. They were all quite young looking, the lot of them no older than fourteen years of age, and were all either playing with each other or eating the food that the pet store clerks brought them. All of them were cute in their own little way, each juvenile sporting furry characteristics typical of their respective species that were only accentuated by their round yet friendly, childish faces and nubile physiques.
These little guys were called "demi-humans", if Ragna could remember correctly—half-animal, half-human people who acted like the animal they were crossed with. They had everything from fluffy ears that stuck out from the sides of their heads, downy tails that wagged to and fro behind their backs, and furry claws or paws that made up either their hands, their feet, or both. Most lacked the ability to speak and only communicated with regular people through barks, chirps, howls and other noises, but they were typically much smarter than a regular animal and were capable of understanding speech and language quite well. Many of the kids Ragna knew in his school kept clamming about wanting to have a few of their own, but he never understood the appeal of getting one until now.
Before he just thought of the buggers as some weird freaks of nature that were better off in the wild rather than in human hands, but as he grew to understand more about them through the internet and a few side conversations he's overheard, he began to think that maybe they wouldn't make such bad company after all. It was awfully lonely in the apartment complex he lived in when his uncle Hakumen was off at his job, or when the few friends he had were busy with their own lives, so it would be nice to bring a pet home to liven up the place a bit.
Not to mention a lot of them were pretty cute to begin with, a voice in Ragna's head threatened to say. The delinquent frowned and shook the thought off as he walked to the entrance of the store and opened the door, cheerful pet related decorations lining the yellow and tan walls of the shop and welcoming Ragna with its jovial atmosphere. He looked around the building to admire the simple yet sunny ambience that it had before peering down at the little half breeds that crawled to the ends of their cages to see him better, their expressions happy and gleeful when they noticed Ragna's gaze fall on them. A couple of dog demis yipped at him and wagged their tails happily when they saw him while a few cats meowed his way and climbed on the bars of the extremely large cage to greet him, all of them eager to see if he would pick one of them to bring home today.
Ragna moved away a bit from the over-excited juveniles however, the teen mildly anxious when he saw the bars of their enclosure bend slightly from the force each adolescent was putting on. He was about ready to walk away and explore a different part of the store to avoid the possible attack he'd receive if he stayed any longer until he heard a stern yet gentle voice of a lady come from where he was heading to.
"Now, now, everyone, settle down..." It said. "Let the nice man come through,"
Ragna looked towards the direction of the sweet sounding voice and instantly moved out of the way when he saw a beautiful asian woman of about ten or fifteen years his senior zip by him in a blur of red and yellow, and quickly started to calm the rambunctious children down. He watched the lady gently admonish them for their attitude, the pups and kittens whining a little at her mild chastisement and began to whine even louder as she went on, but he could see their faces light up almost instantly when the lady promised them a reward if they behaved well for the rest of the day. The kids then nodded their heads feverishly at her promise and went back to whatever they were doing in hopes that they would be rewarded soon while the lady sighed in minor relief and turned around to face Ragna. A genial smile graced her oriental features as she bowed politely to him, the student averting his eyes a little in modesty when the older woman's gesture revealed a considerable amount of cleavage from her low-cut top.
"I do hope you excuse their behavior," She said. "Not many people have come by the shop today and they were all very happy to see a new face, them being so young and all."
"It's no problem." Ragna reassured. "I was just looking around."
"Oh?" The woman's magenta eyes brightened. "Is there a type of pet that you had in mind?"
"Nothing in particular." He responded truthfully. "It's kinda hard to decide, really since they're so many."
"That's something I can agree on." The woman giggled and held her hand out to him. "My name is Dr. Faye-Lin, though most just call me Miss Litchi." She uttered calmly. "I run the store and the local veterinary clinic across from here. I can show you around here if you'd like, and see if anything piques your interest."
Ragna smiled and took her hand to shake it. "Sure, I wouldn't mind."
Litchi let go of his hand and proceeded to walk ahead of him, her lab coat swishing with each step she made. "Then please follow me."
The delinquent did so and allowed the doctor to guide him through the deceptively large pet store and took the chance to look around some more. Decorative pens and humongous cages housed young demi-humans of differing species, breeds, and sizes, all of them beaming with listless amounts of energy and happiness that was infectious to the core.
Litchi noticed his ogling of the many juveniles that littered the interior of her store and asked him, "Do you see anything that you like?"
"Oh, um..." Ragna looked about the room and frowned. Nothing really caught his eye that much. The puppies and kittens were adorable and hyper as shit, yeah, but he was positive that that crotchety old uncle of his wouldn't put up with that much energy in the apartment.
Ragna thought about it for a moment and asked, "You got any docile ones? Like...something that's lively but not too energetic?"
"Hmm... Something docile, you say?" Litchi raised a finger to her lip and hummed. "I believe we have something like that in one of our sanctuaries... Come right this way." The older woman swiftly turned a corner and beckoned Ragna to follow. They walked through allies of toys and food supplies before arriving at a large, well ventilated room that revealed giant glass boxes of young male and female demi-humans with fluffy cotton-ball tails and big downy ears that sprouted upright from the sides of their heads. The creatures were clothed in white and lacy wool clothing, some dressed conservatively while others had on more revealing attire.
"This is our bunny sanctuary." Litchi said calmly, stepping inside the room. "This is where we keep most our rabbits since they dislike the noise the other demis make. If you want something of a placid nature, I can assure you that they're just right for you. They don't make much noise and keep to themselves, but are still very friendly and playful."
"I see..." The younger man walked ahead of Litchi to gaze upon the lazy little bodies that slept on their bellies and nibbled at the food on their plates. They all looked just a tad smaller compared to the others outside—the females here about five feet in height while the males were only marginally bigger.
The rabbits' reaction to his arrival was a complete 180 compared to the exuberant welcome that he got from the other pets outside—the scant amount of bunnies that were actually awake and not eating staring at him once he came close to their box, and hopping away from the glass soon after when he paid them any attention.
They were skittish like any regular rabbits would be, he guessed.
Litchi began to browse the selection of rabbits that were on sale herself and cooed at their behavior. "So cute..." She sighed. "They're not used to people coming here, so they're a little nervous." She looked at each individual pedigree of rabbit and started talking about specific breeds that would probably suit Ragna's needs, but was unknowing of the fact that he was only half listening to her. The delinquent was too busy searching for a pet that wouldn't run away from him on sight for nearly every rabbit that he came near either hid themselves away from him in a burrow or scurried off somewhere when he tapped on their glass. Ragna was almost ready to call it quits and was going to ask the ever so patient doctor if there were other rabbits around here that didn't act so timid until he spotted a bunny at the very end of the large room that was isolated from the rest of its kind by its own glass box.
It was a female who looked to be about his age if not a little younger, her big red doe eyes staring at him inquisitively as she chewed on a piece of what he supposed was a strip of barley. Her knees were pressed against her humble bosom while the big fuzzy paws that acted as her feet were spread apart and revealed the short but still rather large ivory white tail that sprouted from underneath her bottom. Ragna wandered over to the young rabbit to look at her better, a blush creeping on his pale face when he noticed the way her blonde hair cascaded down her neck and shoulders to frame her round face and voluptuous body. Her cute features and beautiful physique was different than most of her breed he could tell, she much plumper and fuller compared to the other rabbits in the sanctuary.
The bunny briefly stopped chewing on the little twig to peer up at him, her interest piqued and whiskers twitching as she crawled to the glass herself to scrutinize Ragna's robust form, he visibly surprised that she didn't run away from him like the others did. She didn't look the least bit frightened of him, merely curious to know of the man who so boldly came to her in such a confident manner.
Ragna heard Litchi stop her rambling once she finally realized that he wasn't paying attention anymore and saw her move near the rabbit's box from the corner of his eye. He observed however that the bunny wasn't very happy about that fact however, and scrunched up her face when she saw her stand next to the glass.
Litchi straightened up her hair unconsciously and asked Ragna, "Does she interest you?"
The delinquent gave her a curt nod. "Does she have a name?"
"Her name is Rachel," the doctor responded. "We've had her here at the sanctuary since she was born. She's a pretty thing, no?"
"Yeah..." Ragna laughed a little. "But why is she all by herself?"
"Well..." Litchi glanced at Rachel, the rabbit back to nibbling on her barley, but shot Litchi a glare when she noticed that she was still staring at her. "She's always been a little bit of a troublemaker to put it lightly... She never liked being around the other bunnies and would bully them if they ever tried playing or eating with her, so we decided to separate her from the rest of the litter until she grew out of it."
So she had spunk, Ragna thought. He liked that. "How much is she?" He asked.
Litchi gave him a skeptical look. "Huh?"
"How much is she?" Ragna repeated.
"I mean, she can be pretty sweet when she wants to be..." The doctor said, trying to correct herself. "But she's still rather rambunctious... She doesn't like listening to a lot—"
"I can probably straighten her out..." Ragna interrupted rudely. "Just tell me the price already, lady."
"Um, sure..." Litchi frowned as she picked up a clipboard that was attached to Rachel's enclosure and flipped through the pages to check the prices. "She's...$784 dollars."
Steep, was what he wanted to say, but it's not like she costed anymore than a regular puppy or kitten, so he'll take it. Ragna pulled out the cash that he had in his pockets and counted it all in his hands, noting how Litchi eyed the rather large wad of bills suspiciously while trying to be discreet as possible about it. He supposed that he couldn't really blame her for her curiosity—it was kind of odd for someone his age to be carrying around over a grand of cash on his person, but it wasn't like he got it all illegally...well, at least most of it anyway. Some of it he got from his job at the grocery store, some of it from a couple of thugs who tried to square up with him on the streets a few times, and some that he just got from his friend Kagura just because he liked giving him things anyway thanks to his wealth.
"This should be enough, right?" The teenager handed her the money and stuffed the rest back in his pocket.
"A-Already? Well... I guess there's no helping it then..." She took the cash from him hesitantly and bowed. "Thank you... I'll let her out shortly."
Ragna nodded and watched the buxom doctor tuck the clipboard under her arm and unlock the bolts and catches that kept Rachel's box closed. She opened the door slowly, being careful not to startle the small rabbit, and motioned for Ragna to stand out of the way so that she may come outside, the teenager stepping back a little in response.
Rachel sniffed the air from the outside tentatively as she eyed the man on the other side with slight suspicion, unsure whether or not if it was truly okay for her to leave or just to stay inside and wait for Litchi to close the door. She hesitated greatly for a few more moments before she heard her caretaker's voice beckon her to come outside.
"Oh, sweetie, don't be shy." She cooed. "It's okay for you to come out."
The rabbit's ears flattened behind the sides of her temples as she spat out the piece of barley and crawled a little ways out of the spacious cage to peer up at the young man who decided to pick her out. He looked pleased to see her, his lips curved in a gentle smile as he kneeled down to the floor to meet her height. Rachel made a chattering noise under her breath before hopping outside, her paws making an audible thump on the wood floor as she walked towards the other man. No human ever bothered to look at her whenever one of them visited the sanctuary for they were always too put off by her mannerisms and that blasted doctor's comments to really pay her any attention, but when she saw this particular lad, with bleached white hair, rugged looking clothes, and a consternated scowl, she could not help but express some form of interest towards him, as if her little brain was silently hoping for someone as blunt and dangerous looking as him to pick her instead of the rest of her littermates.
Rachel was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt his large hand cup her face and pinch her cheek, her face scrunching up in a mix of embarrassment and annoyance when he did so.
"Don't be so bashful... You're way cuter up close than from far away." He brushed her whiskers with his thumb and looked up a Litchi. "How old is she?"
"No older than fifteen or so, I believe. She's still just a kit as far as I know."
The teenager continued asking Litchi various questions about Rachel and general information about rabbit demi-humans as Rachel herself quietly watched, she extremely grateful when she saw Ragna stand up and let go of her face. They kept on talking and talking about items that the young man may need to take care of her—what food to give her, if she was high maintenance, what toys to buy her if she got bored, and a plethora of other things. Their conversation only lasted for a few more minutes before she and her new owner were ushered out of the room with Litchi following suit, and leaving Rachel with several questions of her own running rampant through her head.
What was this boy like and what was his homelife like? Did he own other pets of his own, or was she his first one? Would he treat her right and give her the attention she needed?
Or would he keep her in his house all day just to cook her in a pot with her name on it?
Rachel shuddered at the thought and moved away from Ragna uncomfortably. He didn't look like to be the type of person to do something so cruel, but her instincts were getting the best of her and her already overactive imagination. Making a noise that equated to a sigh, Rachel opted to distract herself from such macabre imagery by thinking of more happy thoughts. She supposed it would be rather exciting to finally come home with someone—she'd actually have a bed to sleep in, she would be given real food instead of the bland fruits, salads, and water she always got from the sanctuary, and she would have everything that she had ever dreamed of having just as long as she was good.
Or he could lull her into a false sense of security and fatten her up for the impending Winter.
When Ragna and Litchi stopped at the register to talk about whatever supplies the delinquent needed to take care of Rachel, the bunny took it upon herself to hop to a random part of the room and sulk quietly against a wall, a few demis staring at her awkwardly. Here she was, about to be let free from this accursed building, and her predator drive is already ruining everything for her! It was such a preposterous and absurd thought to think that a boy of high school age would drop nearly a grand on her person just to bring her home and cook her for dinner! He was just a child(even though he looked strong enough to incapacitate something as big as an elk), it was more than likely that all he wanted to do was pick out a pet to spend his time with—not eat, kill, or eviscerate her in some ghastly underground dungeon.
"What are you doing all the way over here?"
Rachel let out a frightened squeak when she heard the deep baritone of her new owner's voice and jumped in place. She quickly tried to regain her bearings soon after however, and regarded the delinquent as she tried keeping a straight face.
Ragna, she believed his name was, merely smiled down at her and stretched out his hand to her. "C'mon, it's time to go home now."
Rachel stared pensively at his hand for a few moments, wondering if she should accept his offer and walk out the door with him, but decided not to—she was old enough to walk outside without needing someone to hold her hand, goddammit. So with that in mind, the rabbit turned up her lip, crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air as she idly hopped past Ragna and darted towards the main entrance without him, her hands attempting to push open the doors that led to the outside once she was there. She kept pushing and pushing and pushing until she realized, that despite the many times she's witnessed Litchi and her employees work a door, she still didn't know how to operate one herself. How intelligent of her, she thought.
Ragna silently watched the other's struggle and casually strolled to the front of the door to let her out, but bid Litchi a farewell before doing so.
"I'll come back again if I have any questions." He said.
"Oh please, anytime is just fine!" She smiled. "Have a nice day, dear!"
He waved the doctor goodbye and finally opened the door, but laughed when he saw the young rabbit, unaware of his presence, trip up on herself and nearly fall face first into the concrete outside from pushing on the door so hard.
"Woah," Ragna caught Rachel by her arm in time and made her stand upright again. "For a rabbit you're pretty stuck up, aren't you?" He snickered.
Rachel hissed indignantly at him and pulled her arm away from his grasp.
"With a freakish attitude problem, too." He added. "Let's get you home before you go and start some trouble... For something so small, Litchi told me you like stirring up shit." Ragna led the way and made Rachel follow, she hopping alongside him and trying her hardest not to make eye contact.
Half of the walk home was relatively silent for the most part, mostly because of Rachel's inability to talk and Ragna not knowing what to talk to her about. Litchi had told him that Rachel had a rather excellent grasp of English unusual for a demi of her breed, so she made great "conversation" when she felt like actually listening to someone. Ragna thought it over if he should take up the idea of attempting to talk to Rachel considering how quiet it was, but turned his head to her when he noticed how the rabbit was starting to fall behind. She desperately tried keeping up with him by hopping a little bit faster to match his pace, but saw her run out of steam constantly and instead shuffle her feet across the pavement.
Ragna rubbed the back of his head and suggested to her, "You know, if you're tired..." He began. "I can carry you if you want..."
Rachel stopped moving and contemplated the offer. This had to be the longest that she's ever walked in her life, and she was pretty sure the more they went on, she was probably going to fall and pass out on the cold, rocky ground and be dragged home. She puffed out her cheeks and mulled over it a little while longer before eyeballing Ragna briefly and holding out both of her arms to him in the air so he could pick her up. It would probably be the only other nice thing he has done for her today besides buying her from the shop, so she might as well make the most of it.
The delinquent smirked and bent down to scoop Rachel in his arms, the bags of supplies still held firmly in his left hand as he brought the small Rabbit to his chest so she can latch on. "We're gonna have to boost your stamina a little if you're gonna live with me." He laughed. "I like to walk, so you gotta get used to doing it a lot if I ever take you out somewhere."
Rachel poked out her bottom lip as she wrapped her arms and legs around Ragna's shoulders and torso and stared at the moving ground. Get used to it, he says... What a riot—she still needs to get used to even being around this man and the potential slaughterhouse that'd be her new home than just a few silly walks around the block.
Oh would you look that, I actually had fun writing for once in my life. This is supposed to be a fun story that I can just work on whenever I feel like, so don't expect any consistent updating (like I even do that to begin with anyway).
That was the original AN. As usual, drop a review if you like.