Baby Bunnies: Part 2

"TAAKEEOOO!"

The scream rang throughout the house. It was reached at such a high pitch that everyone cringed at the volume. However, everyone was immediately on the alert as the startled shouts continued. Takeo was up from his seat in an instant, right as the back door burst open and Tao came stumbling in.

"Oh Lord, oh lord, oh lord," the hacker mumbled, his eyes wide with fright as he gripped the door, shaking.

"Tao?" Takeo started worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Tao flinched, shaking. "I...I…"

"Did you damage the kitchen?" M21 demanded. God help them all if the kitchen was destroyed once more.

Tao shook his head, breathing in deeply.

"Tao," Takeo started. "I am going to need you to take in a deep breath and answer my question as quickly as you can. Did you touch my guns?"

Tao shook his head quickly.

Takeo frowned. "Then wha-?"

"I KILLED THEM!" Tao shrieked.

"Killed what?" Regis exclaimed.

"Something! I killed something!" Tao wailed. "I was mowing the lawn and I...I mowed over a fluffy creature! I think it was a mole!"

The rest of the RK5 band looked at each other in confusion. Here was Tao, a modified human who had fought many battles and seen many horrors, sobbing over the death of vermin?

"How could you mow over an animal?" Regis asked, only to be elbowed sharply by M21.

"Tao," Takeo continued in an almost soothing tone as he knelt down next to his comrade. "Do you want me to go check on it?"

Tao nodded meekly.

"Okay," Takeo said, standing up. "We will have to tell Frankenstein about it when he gets back-"

"No!" Tao shrieked, latching onto Takeo's legs. "You can't tell Boss! Because he'll tell Raizel, and then poor Raizel will be devastated!"

M21 frowned. "Why would Raizel be devastated?"

Tao shot him a withering glare. "Because the Noblesse values life, especially the lives of innocent beings. How do you think he will react when he finds out that an innocent creature has been murdered in his own backyard?"

Everyone went still at the thought. They all knew how sensitive the Noblesse was to certain things.

Takeo swallowed uncomfortably. "O...okay. We will all go check on it."

M21 raised an eyebrow. "We?" he echoed.

Takeo glared at him. "Yes, 'we.' I'm not going in alone."

Minutes later, everyone was outside in the backyard, crouched around the small space that Tao said he mowed over.

Takeo frowned as he examined the ball of fluff. "Tao," he started. "These aren't moles that you mowed over."

Tao visibly relaxed. "Oh thank goodness."

"It's a bunny nest."

Tao's eyes widened, his face pale. "That's even worse!" he wailed. "Babies! I killed babies!"

"Calm down!" Regis exclaimed as Tao sunk to the ground, clinging to M21. "Takeo," the young Noble said. "Are they unharmed?"

Takeo looked once more at the nest before smiling. "Yeah, they're perfectly fine." He grinned at Tao. "You just gave them a funny haircut."

"But what's all that fur?" M21 questioned, pointing at the brown and white fluff scattered around the area.

Takeo shrugged. "I had read somewhere that the mother bunny will pull bits of her fur off to cover the nest. Tao just shredded the fur when he mowed over it. But, as you will notice," here, he glared at Tao. "There is no blood to show that he killed anything."

"Which is what happens when you kill something," M21 continued, glaring at Tao.

The hacker merely blinked. "Oh," he said, chuckling. "Right." He straightened up, releasing M21 go from his death grip. "Well, I suppose that I will have to finish mowing before the Boss gets back."

Regis frowned. "What about the bunnies? Won't they get scared from the noise?" He folded his arms. "You might need a covering to keep the bunnies from leaving the nest while you mow."

At that, Tao grinned. "What a wonderful idea, and thank you for volunteering, Regis."

Two minutes later, a scowling Regis found himself sitting on a wooden box that covered the bunny nest while a cheerful Tao completed his mowing.

"What are we going to do about that strange spot?" M21 asked as he and Takeo watch the scene with open curiosity.

Takeo shot him a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

M21 nodded to where Regis was positioned, the young Noble still scowling. "The Boss always likes everything to be perfect, including the yard. But, the grass where the bunnies are will be glaringly tall, and disrupt the perfect scenery."

At that, both men grew increasingly uncomfortable at the thought of explaining that to the Boss. Neither one wanted to be around when Frankenstein found out about the bunnies. What would he do about that?

Suddenly, M21 grinned. "Never mind," he said. "I think I have an idea."

The idea was sprung the moment when Raizel walked into the house with Frankenstein and Seira. The Noblesse sat at his usual spot on the couch, sipping the tea that Frankenstein had served him. It was in that moment that M21 slid into the chair beside Raizel, attempting to look casual.

"We had a very interesting day today," M21 noted.

Although Raizel did not look at him, he could tell that the Noblesse was listening intently.

"We discovered some new neighbors in our backyard," M21 continued.

"Cute, fluffy neighbors," Tao piped up, sitting on the Noblesse's right. At this point, Raizel was in the middle with M21 on his left and Tao at his right. It was all planned accordingly, so that the Noblesse was forced to give them his undivided attention. M21 inwardly winced at the thought of boxing him in like this, but at the moment, he feared Frankenstein's reaction to the unfinished yard more.

Raizel cocked his head, slightly curious. Both M21 and Tao perceived this as permission to continue.

"In fact," Tao said. "We could show you, if you would like." With that, both M21 and Tao arose from their seats, waiting patiently.

Raizel was still for several moments, not moving for a while. Just when M21 feared that they hadn't baited him enough, Raizel got up, nodding at them to lead the way.

Both M21 and Tao grinned at each other as they all stepped out into the backyard.

However, it was the Noblesse's reaction to the bunnies that they were not expecting.

"Um, sir Raizel?" M21 asked cautiously. They watched in a astonishment as Raizel got down on his knees, eyes wide as he stared down at the nest.

"Maybe he doesn't like bunnies?" Tao whispered to M21.

But the Noblesse's face softened as he stared at the slumbering creatures. "No," he said softly. "I like them."

"I knew you would," Tao said quickly with a smile. "That's why we wanted to show you the bunnies." He scratched his head nervously. "And that's why the grass looks so weird and-"

"Is that so?" a different voice interrupted.

Both Tao and M21 stiffened up at Frankenstein's voice, turning to look at the blonde human. "Boss!" Tao exclaimed cheerfully. "Look what took up residence in our backyard! I think Mr. Raizel likes them!"

"I can see that," Frankenstein stated. "And that explains why my vegetable garden has been decreasing immensely. Again," he muttered.

Raizel smiled knowingly.

"Anyway," Frankenstein continued. "This does not explain why the yard looks so shabby."

Both Tao and M21 blinked, confused. "Shabby?" they echoed.

"The grass is too long and looks like a forest where you failed to mow," Frankenstein said, looking at them pointedly.

Tao glanced behind them where Raizel was still observing the nest. "But the bunnies!" he protested.

"Will be fine when you put them in a basket," Frankenstein said simply. In that moment, both modified humans noticed the large laundry basket that was conveniently at Frankenstein's feet.

Tao's eyes narrowed. "You had this planned, didn't you?"

Frankenstein smirked. "This isn't my first rodeo." He nodded to them. "Oh, and you'll need Takeo to help you as well."

M21 frowned. "Why would we need Takeo? Tao and I can do this on our own."

"Trust me," Frankenstein said as passed the basket to a blinking M21. "You need Takeo." With that, he turned with a serene smile to address Raizel. "Master, why don't we go inside to have some tea?"

As it turned out, Raizel decided to sit on the back porch with his tea and watch as the three modified humans dealt with the bunny situation.

"There's got to be only three or four bunnies in the nest," M21 grumbled as he gently knelt down to pick up two wiggling bunnies. "I don't see why all three of us need to be out here."

Takeo frowned as he placed two more bunnies in the basket. "That's four," he stated.

"Five," Tao announced as he set his own bunny down in the basket.

M21's eyes widened as he took in the nest. "Um, I'm counting seven now."

"Eight," Takeo said.

"What the heck?" Tao demanded, aghast. "How deep is that nest!"

"A female bunny can have up to fourteen babies in a litter," Takeo stated. He sat back on his heels. "The good news is that that's the last of them."

M21 stood up, gently handling the basket that contained the bunnies. Both he had Takeo stepped back as Tao started up the lawn mower.

Takeo glanced at M21, amused. The werewolf was holding the basket at a safe distance with a wary look on his face. "They're not going to bite you," he said.

M21's eyes flickered over to him. "They're moving."

"I should hope so," Takeo stated. "As that means they're alive."

"Done!" Tao called out suddenly. "Bring back the babies!"

Both Takeo and M21 approached the small hole, kneeling down in the grass. "Okay," Tao said swiftly, clapping his hands. "We have to be gentle and place the bunnies in one at a time so that they don't move from the nest. They look a bit too small to be out on their own, and we don't need them running wild." He leveled a glare at his two companions. "We don't need to hurt Raizel's feelings if the bunnies are harmed, right?"

Both M21 and Takeo gulped, receiving the implied message loud and clear.

M21's hands shook slightly as he slowly placed the first bunny down in the nest. To everyone's immense relief, the bunny did not move. The second and third bunny also stayed put, cuddling up to their sibling.

Tao let out a breath as he picked up the fourth bunny, slowly but surely moving it towards the nest.

Chaos erupted in that moment. No one was sure how it happened, and they weren't even sure what happened! But some sort of code must have passed down between the bunnies. A code that meant, 'scatter.'

The bunny in Tao's hands began to kick its feet suddenly. "SQUEE! SQUEE!"

In that moment, the three bunnies in the nest sprung out, bouncing in different directions.

"Oh no!" Tao screamed, still holding the shrieking bunny. "GET THEM!"

Faster than anyone thought possible, M21 partially transformed into his werewolf form, leaping after the escaping bunnies. He sprung up, clawed hands outstretched as he pounced on the unfortunate baby. He rolled in the dirt, coming to a stop as he secured the bunny.

"Got one!" he shouted triumphantly, looking up with a fanged grin.

Takeo was racing after the two bunnies, leaning forward and snatching one up. "Gotcha!"

"There's one more!" Tao shouted, scrambling around, still holding the squeaking alarm bunny. "Get them! Get them!" In his panicked state, Tao did not watch where he was going and tripped over the basket, spilling out the remaining bunnies.

"Gah! Don't let them escape!"

"M21! Don't transform! You'll give them a heart attack! Can you just see yourself explaining to the Boss how you killed them!?"

"One's trying to get out of the yard!"

"CATCH THEM ALL!"

"RAWWRR!"

"I said don't transform!"

Frankenstein watched with growing horror as his trio of modified humans raced across the yard. Tao was still holding the alarm bunny, the one responsible for squeaking, while M21 and Takeo were chasing the remaining bunnies around. M21 was partially transformed, holding three bunnies in his arms while Takeo was moving with rapid speed to collect the rest.

Huh, Frankenstein didn't know Takeo could move that fast! Put a bunny in front of him, and the sniper was a whole different human. How fast could he be on the battlefield?

Movement to his left caught his attention, and he glanced over to see his Master's shoulders shaking. Frankenstein gasped, alarmed. Was his Master alright? Was he injured?

But he felt no pain through the bond. Only immense joy and amusement.

He blinked, cocking his head. Was his Master...laughing?

"Are you...alright?" Frankenstein asked, concerned.

Raizel lowered his hand with a small smile. "I am well, Frankenstein." His tone was considerably lighter, and the small smile seemed to grow as he watched the chaos unfold in the backyard.

"There should be eight of them! Where's the eighth one?!"

"I lost one!"

"Don't scare them! You'll give them a heart attack!"

"BOOOSSS!"


A/N: A chapter about the moles is next.