Sup, welcome to Perfect Black Rabbit.

Quick rant, am I the only one who was annoyed that, despite loving Yuya's character in the 'latter' half of Killing Bits, they should have given him an actual special trait so we could root for him more in the first, and even some of the second, parts of the story?

He's all of a sudden a master tactician? A little exaggerated but my point stands that he's supposed to have matched with a crow? Why?

Had he been, like, a high scorer in the international exams, a former military recruit, hell, someone who wanted to be a Zoo Keeper, I'd have been all for that shit. He does damn near JACK ALL for the first half and it's annoying to realize that he was blander than I remembered after re-reading the manga.

Inspirational Songs:

Follow Me by Daddyphatsnaps

Hibana cover by Araki

Remember OST from Jujutsu Kaisen

VIVID from Jujutsu Kaisen Op 2

~NRK~

He stared at the bloody mess of a group he'd left these gangsters in, red eyes peering down at them with a killer's intent.

There was the sound of two sets of panting behind him before he turned to see a woman and man.

The woman dressed like a prostitute while the man in question looked like he worked in a company.

"I-I see…" He swallowed before sitting upon his knees. "..."

Average black eyes locked onto red ones before a form rushed past the businessman.

"O-Obibaby?!" the prostitute said with a stuttered even as her swollen cheek flared. "Y-You alright?"

The boy's eyes lessened in intensity, his blood-red orbs locking onto lighter-in-color ones.

"I'm fine, mother," he said, his 13-year-old body covered in bruises but the ten men around them, all bearing some form of tattoos along their heads, lay beaten on the ground. "I was just protecting you."

Shinada Masanobu wilted slightly in the presence of this young boy.

"... You don't know me," Masanobu said as his eyes came up to lock with the boy's confused ones. "... Young man, do you wish for yourself and your mother to leave this dirty place?"

"Yes," the boy said. "... Do I… Know you?"

Masanobu grimaced as he gripped his knees, his head falling to allow his own black hair to cover his eyes. "Yes… Or, rather, your memory is just that amazing," he looked up, eyes visible. "I am your father… The man who got your mother pregnant."

The boy's eyes intensified and the area around Shinada felt like it'd constrict his neck before ending his painful life.

'W-What is this pressure?!' He couldn't believe that a young man like this could make him feel this. 'A-And he's only human?'

This cemented his next move.

He prostrated himself before the stronger individual, the boy's intensity lowering as his eyebrow rose.

His mother, her short, spiky, white hair shifted as she looked on in confusion.

"Please! Allow me to make up for my mistakes!" Masanobu said with complete and total honesty.

He'd come here to… Well, some might call it foolish, but he'd come to propose to this prostitute. This woman he'd met so many times before this boy's birth.

He'd not been able to handle it and had never returned for the past thirteen years even if he sent money for this woman to use.

He'd never truly understood how much babies needed even as he had people watch her live her life.

He'd been enamored once more and, shamefully, returned to try.

"I…" He grit his teeth as his head stayed towards the floor. "I ignored her after your birth and ran away like a pathetic dog!" Masanobu's head lifted, eyes narrowed with determination. "But, please, let me make things right! I… I'm currently in the middle of making some moves in the company I'm employed to, so I can't promise riches, but I can promise you that you'll never worry about either of you dying out here!"

The boy with the crimson eyes peered down at the man before he felt a nuzzle from his mother.

She held his cheeks, smiling for him in such a way that his eyes, which had seemingly glowed in the moonlight, lost all forms of hostility.

"I know how you feel, my sweet little Obito," she said softly as Masanobu finally heard his child's name. "I…" She looked at the man and Masanobu's heart nearly broke at her tired eyes.

"W-We can get you to a medical facility! My company has a personal one! P-Please…!"

She bit her lip as her head pressed against her child's before she blinked as he fell against her shoulder.

"..."

"... Obito?" she touched his face and her red eyes widened in horror at how cold he was. "Obito?! OBITO?!" She rapidly caressed his cheek, trying to warm him up.

No, no, no, no, no, no, oh god please no…

Watching the woman's eyes water, Masanobu was by them in seconds.

She blinked as he pulled out his phone.

"I need medical evac now!"

~NRK~

She watched through the windows along with Masanobu.

"W-What's wrong with him?" she asked with a drained tone, Masanobu grimacing as she did. "H-He can be healed, right?!"

He considered what he was about to tell her before his eyes widened.

… If… If she could keep it secret…

"There is a way to keep Obito alive," he said to her, eyes narrowed. "But… The method… Itomi, I need you to swear to secrecy," Shinada Masanobu spoke. "The only method to save him, at the moment… Is a method called Bestialization."

"Bestialization?" Itomi Uchiha said in confusion. "... What will happen to him?"

"We'll be finding an animal's DNA that he is compatible with and graph them onto him down to the cellular level. This will strengthen his body and boost his natural abilities due to the animal he'll be mixed with… But, I will not lie to you, should you do this… Obito may not be able to live a normal life."

"But he'll have a life, right?" she asked and he stared at her. "Obito is… He's a strong, kind, boy. I know that, no matter what he faces, he'll come through because that is the kind young man he is," Itomi's face shifted into an expression of determination. "Do it."

Shinada Masanobu finally realized just why he'd fallen for this woman.

That intelligence and willingness to believe in people like her son…

In people like Masanobu, himself.

He nodded.

They ran through the large computer by the surgery room, the details of the animals of all kinds going past the screen.

Next to the embedded keyboard, and mouse, was a vial of Obito's blood placed within the machine's 'collector' unit.

Going through the catalog of DNA, both parents blinked at the compatible animals.

"... Well, that's certainly ironic," the man said as he looked at the two animals. "A Gray Wolf and a Flemish Giant Rabbit?" Masanobu cupped his chin. "They're both, probably, some of the most powerful among their species."

Itomi noted both of the animals but her eyes landed on the black rodent.

"... The rabbit," she said, getting a raised brow out of Masanobu. "That one fits him the most," the Uchiha woman explained.

"Hm, I thought boys would prefer to be big, strong, wolves if given the chance."

She giggled. "Most might but Obito…" Itomi's eyes went soft. "He's kind, kind of like a rabbit, and he's fast. When it comes to speed, that reminds me of a rabbit."

Shinada raised a brow at that. "I suppose…" Her amused smile got a slight huff from the man. "Yes, yes, rabbit. First, let's see how his compatibility with both seem…?!"

Itomi blinked at the 'S' on the screen, tilting her head.

"That's good, right? It's not, like, going down the alphabet, right?"

"Y-Yes, it's a good mark… No, it's an outstanding mark," Masanobu said in disbelief.

There'd been previous records of people having high compatibility rates, he'd seen a few, of course… But none had hit the full 100% mark.

This boy… his blood son was an astounding creature, right now.

"... Sadly, it's higher with the rabbit than the wolf," Itomi giggled as he gave in. "So, we'll administer the surgery now."

~NRK~

He awoke with a groan, a warmth in his head and legs, and a hand coming around to rub his neck.

What had happened? Last thing that Obito remembered…?!

He jumped out of the bed he'd been on, eyes flicking every which way only for sounds to fill his head.

Obito grimaced before he growled and focused.

… Focus on all the sounds around you, separate, file away, and sort.

"I'm worried for when he'll wake up."

Red eyes widened, that'd been his mother's voice.

He lunged out of the medical bay with a burst of speed once his feet touched the floor, disappearing from sight.

She'd been given a pair of normal clothes, a pair of blue jeans and a black sweater, by Masanobu.

"And, I…" she blushed little as he coughed into his fist off to the side.

"I know this might be a little… ahem, forward," he said with a blush. "M-Maybe a… date?" Shinada asked quietly and nervously.

Oh, please, let this go well!

"I-I guess," she brushed aside some of her hair. "T-That sounds wonderful!"

He smiled like an idiot before a black form appeared between the two of them, a strong burst of wind blowing at their clothes.

The two blinked before looking down at a surprised-looking Obito.

'... What was that?' Obito, Imoto, and Masanobu thought in unison.

Masanobu crouched to Obito's level in awe.

"Did you run from your medical room to find us?" he asked. "O-Obito, that room is a least two blocks away! How did you find us?"

Obito noted the man before with a frown, Masanobu laughing nervously as he wilted under the teen's gaze.

"... I heard you both from my room," Obito said as he crossed his arms. "As for how I got here… I just ran," he said but the boy looked as confused by this speedy feat as they did.

Itomi kneeled and cupped her son's chin before smiling at him.

"We… I have something I need to tell you."

Back in his medical room, Obito's eyes widened as everything was explained to him.

He'd been that hurt? This damn child body wasn't doing him any favors, dammit!

So, had this man… Had his father not shown up…

Obito got off his bed before standing before Masanobu.

The man balked as the boy bowed completely, hands at his sides and his body at the perfect 90-degree angle.

"Thank you," Obito said simply as Itomi watched on in shock. "Were it not for you, mother may not have had any protection if I'd died," he said easily, getting a flinch from Itomi who came down to his level and gripped him for all he was worth. "Mother, I… I failed to stay alive, that's not-"

"Hush, young man," she nuzzled him further. "I… I would have been sad, so sad, but I could never not be proud of you! My baby is so strong… And I took your humanity from you."

"..." Obito looked at his hands before closing his eyes. "... It's better this way," he said to her, getting a shocked look from the woman and an impressed one from his father. "I can protect you better now."

Ever since he'd been reborn here, in this world, Obito had made a single promise.

He'd never lose his parents again, not if he could say anything about it. Obito would protect and cherish every little thing he had and focus on being the good person his name depicted of him.

So, logically and emotionally, he was fine with these changes.

Obito looked down at his hand before tensing it.

A quick change went down the limb before he was looking at a rabbit's paw.

"Impressive," Masanobu said to his son. "To be able to just call upon a partial transformation is no little feat, young man."

Obito looked confused. "Wouldn't going all the way be harder?"

"Hmm, well, I guess that makes sense in a way," Shinada considered it. "I guess you're using video game logic. In such things, you'd focus on getting to the big level and such but, no, for a hybrid like yourself, going fully transformed should be considerably easier."

"Are there levels to it?"

"Yes," Masanobu nodded. "Well, just because you can transform your entire body, that doesn't mean you've achieved your 'full'." he twitched his fingers. "Battle form, as we call it. That's the mode in which you capable of using your full potential as a hybrid."

Obito nodded and closed his eyes.

His entire form should be easier? So it was like a switch?

Obito breathed in before expelling the air within his lungs before flexing his body.

He felt the changes immediately as he rose a few inches as he looked at his feet, now paws.

He felt the shorts he'd been wearing stretch further than they should have, getting a wince from the boy.

Black fur overlaid his white complexion before Obito noted that, from mid-bicep down to his hands, the fur appeared and his paw hands grew bigger than before.

Finally… "Nothing on my head changed?" Obito wondered as Itomi giggled at him touching his rabbit ears. "... That seems like it's going to be a problem."

"You can train in these facilities to get it under control," Masanobu said with a nervous laugh. "If you want, that is."

"... I do, thank you, father," Obito said with another bow before lifting and looking at his right paw. "..."

A transformation like this reminded him of jinchuuriki but it was a cellular thing instead of a chakra network.

He tightened his fist.

And he'd master this skill all the same.

~NRK~

He was fifteen when he met the next hybrid patients.

The first one had been a woman who'd had blonde hair and yellow eyes who had white skin and full lips.

She'd been an odd victim of a casino scandal, having taken all the charges after being framed, the Yatsubishi Zabatsu paid off the debt before taking her in as, basically, an indentured servitude.

She'd been offered a form of freedom if she'd go through the Bestialization process and become a member of the Zaibatsu.

Needless to say, she'd jumped on that in a heartbeat, damn the possible fine print.

Obito grimaced as he went through his next set of push-ups.

"Well, hello there, young man," he heard, looking up from his position to see a tall, slender, woman in a pair of red short shorts and a white t-shirt. "How's it going?"

"Please don't tease him, he's just boy," Masanobu said from the side as Itomi's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Yes… Don't fuck my son."

"... I'll have you know, nothing of the sort was going to happen," is what the woman said but she pouted a bit. "Don't take the fun out of this, there's not much I get anymore."

"I'm onto you," Itomi said with a twitching. "Nobu-kun, I'm glad we helped her-"

"I think you're being a little… premature," Masanobu said with a frown before whispering something in his… well, they'd gone all the way by this point but he was wondering when to pop the question.

His lover, that sounded right.

"How so?" Itomi whispered as she glared at the 19-year-old woman talking to her 15-year-old son. "And, please, let it be a bad reason, I want to hurt her."

"Aheheheh," he laughed nervously. "She was in a casino scandal, made to take the fall for everything wrong," Masanobu grimaced. "The CEO decided to 'help' her. I don't like where this is going, I'm gonna be honest."

Itomi frowned before looking back up- "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFF HIM, YOU BITCH!" she ran at the two.

Masanobu blinked before turning to see- "Oh god, I forgot about the animal we mixed her with."

There Obito was, holding the woman to the wall with her hands caressing his cheeks.

Goddamn civet genes!

And that's how he met the Brute civet, Kaori Rikujou.

~NRK~

He'd done his best to ignore the woman until she'd been able to control her body.

Now, close to two years later, Obito Uchiha stood at the front of a classroom.

"Please welcome our newest student for the third year," the teacher said with a smile. "He's actually one of the highest-scoring individuals on the international exams."

Many of the students raised brows at that, Obito holding his hands behind his back before he bowed.

"Pleased to meet you, my name's Obito Uchiha," he said normally as he returned to a normal standing position. "Hope we can get along."

If they didn't and they left him alone? Oh well, no skin off his back.

~NRK~

Walking down a corridor of the school, his Gakuen uniform on, Obito turned a corner, took look at what was happening, and took a running jump at the nearest delinquent.

She sighed as her upperclassmen talked and talked and talked…

She'd stopped listening a while back and he seemed to have noticed, his hand roughly grabbing her forearm.

"Listen, ya damn bitch!" … Oh, she was starting to get pissed. "I said-Ahhh!"

She watched his fly past her, a foot revealed from behind him.

She'd nodded, grinning at him- "... You're not my brother," she said, brown eyes blinking as her brown hair, set in a pair of pigtails, shifted as she tilted her head. "... Wait, do you even go to this school?"

Obito eyed the girl in brown shoes, knee-high socks, a blue skirt, and a white dress shirt. That was his school's female uniform, alright.

"I'm sorry," he said with a shrug before moving past her. "Excuse me for a moment."

She blinked as the guy tore into the first bastard's three friends, knocking all three of them out in less than thirty seconds.

'Well ain't that something?' she thought with a smirk. "So, what, you a new top dog character?" She honestly wondered if he was.

Maybe he and her brother could have a good fight if he was worse than he looked.

"Hm?" Obito made a sound as he sat on the back of one of the delinquents, a slight crowd around him and her. "Why would you think that?"

"... Well, people don't just start things off with a dropkick," she said with a cheeky grin as he got up and brushed off his clothes before looking at her arm. "?"

"... No, just making sure you weren't injured," he said, getting a blink from the girl. "Take it easy, underclassman," Obito said before nodding to her and lifting up all four gangsters.

She blinked as he walked away, the student body moving as he went to the end of the hall and opened a door, the nurse's office.

She heard the sounds of running behind her and nervously chuckled as she turned around. "Hm, hey, Taiga."

"Eruza, what happened?" Came the call of a large student with a frown, his eyes narrowed as he looked around. "What the hell are you all watching?" he growled as the students jumped before rushing away. "Tsk! Fucking freshmen," Taiga said as he shook his head.

Taiga, her brother, was a tall dude and had fierce looks. Bearing most of her same features but on a male face, as well as his hair being unstyled and falling to his chin, he wore the Gakuen uniform of their school minus the blazer.

"Hey, I'm a freshman!" she pouted at him as he raised a brow before patting her head. "Oooooh! I'm not a kid, bro!" Eruza said with another pout.

"... Hm," he said before looking down the hall to see Obito exiting the nurse's office. "... Does he go here?"

"That's what I asked!" she said. "And… I don't know, hahahahaha," Eruza said with a laugh as Taiga huffed. "Though, he's pretty tough, Taiga-nii-san."

He perked up and she snickered. Her brother could be such a meathead at times.

"He's strong?"

"Well, I can't really say yeah or nah," she shrugged. "It was only four goons, after all, but he beat 'em in less than thirty seconds! So that's gotta count for something!"

Taking one last look at the guy going outside… "He's a third-year, I think," he said, eying the top button on the young man's uniform collar. "Wait, who the hell transfers in their third year?"

"I don't know," Eruza said. "But… If you're interested… Might as well get ta know our senpai!" she said with a raised arm.

Taiga raised a brow at that before grunting with a shrug. "Alright."

He opened his bento box before brandishing his metal chopsticks."

"Itadakima-"

"Whoa, that smells amazing!" Came an exclamation from Obito's right, getting the rabbit hybrid to turn his head to see a familiar girl. "What's up, senpai?!" she waved as she speed-walked over and sniffed the air. "O-Ohhh, i-is that… scrimp?" Eruza asked with a swallow as her sibling came in close.

He, too, sniffed the air before a pair of growls ripped their ways out of the two's stomachs.

…

…

…

"... Would you like-"

"Never thought you'd ask, senpai!" the girl was already sitting on the bench Obito was on, on his left, as Taiga took his right. "So, let me just grab that scrimp."

Obito rolled his eyes before picking out the chosen seafood and some rice.

Holding it, he made to hand it to her only to blink at the awaiting mouth.

"Ahhhh~"

Obito looked to the teen on his right and the guy just shook his head.

"Just feed her," Taiga said with a shake of the head. "She's kind of spoiled-"

"I am not!" Eruza said immediately.

"Then why'd you just try to get food from a stranger?"

"He's our senpai!" she countered. "Being nice to your underclassmen is just common sense!"

"Is she trying to manipulate me?" Obito asked as the girl began sweating bullets. "?"

"I-It's nothing, senpai!" she said loudly before opening her mouth. "Ahhh~"

Obito raised a brow before sighing and just feeding his supposed kouhai.

Chomping down, Eruza chewed only to start giggling like a loon, disturbing her sibling and senpai.

Both boys shot her looks of confusion before Obito turned to Taiga.

"Does she… Do this often?" he asked with a worried tone.

Taiga considered his sister's satisfied expression before grunting and opening his mouth.

Obito's face went flat before he sighed and did as he did with Eruza with a little bit more rice.

Placing it in Taiga's mouth, the young man chewed on his food for a bit before his eyes widened.

"... I see…"

"... Look, I don't know your name, but that wasn't an answer that barely a response."

That had been the time wherein he'd become friends with the Nakanishi siblings.

Having friends, as he was, had been… nice. It'd be interesting to have Eruza fill him in on the latest gossip and trends while he and Taiga sparred now and then.

Then, they'd come into an altercation with an actual gang.

~NRK~

Obito ran down the sidewalk, speed beyond compare.

'DAMMIT!' he wanted to transform and just start leaping but he knew he couldn't.

He remembered Eruza's call.

"S-senpai! Please, aniki's against people and I don't know if he can handle them!"

He ran faster, already zeroing in on the location.

Obito rounded a block before sliding into view to see Taiga's huffing form, an enormous amount of men laid unconscious on the floor and him above them… but he looked horrible.

Cuts all over his body, bruises on his face and arms, and his clothes were ripped and burned?

Behind him, frozen in horror, was Eruza, the teen shaking as she was held at knifepoint.

Like back when they'd first met, Obito didn't hesitate and jump kicked the knife-wielder, his form slamming into the man's head as the former ninja removed the knife from the man's hand.

"Wha-?!" Someone made to talk, one of these gangers, but he went silent as the knife that had previously had Eruza hostage found itself in his shoulder. "?! ?!" he shuddered at it before the guys around him looked as well.

Taiga's head snapped back to see Eruza only to have a blur run past him.

There was a wet crack before he and Eruza turned to see a gangster falling and Obito's fist in the stomach of another.

"You, son of-" the third of the six didn't get to finish his sentence before a palm slammed into his face and slammed him into the ground.

Obito's eyes landed on the last three, crimson orbs causing all three to freeze up as he stalked towards them.

They shook before one of them raised their gun… At Eruza?!

Obito moved, he'd already thrown the knife he'd retrieved from the first man he'd stabbed but had been too late as the man already pulled the trigger before receiving a stab through his hand.

A body fellow, its numerous injuries likely hitting all at once along with the bullet.

"TAIGA?!" Eruza's eyes widened and watered as she ran over.

Obito's hands found themselves around the neck of the other two gangsters before they could get any idea and slammed their heads together, the men collapsing as he did.

All that stood left was the gun-toting bastard whose eyes trembled as he stepped back only to find Obito's fist sending the back of his head into the dirt below.

The rabbit hybrid ran towards Taiga as a car came to a screeching halt outside the area, Masanobu and Itomi coming out of it.

"What happene-?!" he made to call only to grimace at the sight of Obito and Eruza crouching by a tall male, the latter crying as she did. "Obito!"

Obito frowned before he lifted Taiga. "Come, Eruza," he told her, the girl's eyes still wide in shock. "If we want to help your brother, we need to go now."

That got her moving as she and he ran towards Masanobu.

~NRK~

Obito frowned as he listened to his father's explanation.

"The CEO, Yashin Iwasaki, has been eying them already?" he asked in confusion, hands clenching.

"Yes," Masanobu, the new General Director, said with a grimace. "I… He told me he was looking for more brutes for the upcoming fights."

"Fights?"

"Obito, you didn't think that becoming a 'Brute' was just some new kind of healing system, did you?" Masanobu winced. "... It's something I don't want you to be a part of, I've already lied to Yashin about you being not a fight… To be a brute also puts you up for selection in the upcoming fights of the upper echelon of society."

"..." Obito frowned as the door to the halls opened to reveal… None other than the CEO of Yatsubushi Zaibatsu.

Iwasaki Yashin.

He was an average-height individual in a blue suit, with a white dress shirt, brown dress shoes, and yellow tie.

His skin was white and slightly wrinkled, likely from getting on with age, with high cheekbones and dark gray eyes.

His mouth was set in a large grin as he came up to the two outside of Taiga's medical room. "How are they?" Iwasaki asked, acting as if the two siblings weren't going through tough times.

Obito kept quiet as his father answered.

"The girl is fine for the most part," Masanobu said. "Her brother, for the most part, is in bad condition. He took a bullet to the left side of his chest and it only barely missed," the father said with a grimace. "That said, it still did some horrid damage. Had we'd not gotten here in time, I don't want to think of it."

"I see, I see!" the CEO grinned as he walked towards the empty surgery room. "Well, ya see, there are a few things that need to be said to those two."

Obito got up, Masanobu with him. "What?" The young adult asked as the CEO stopped and turned around with a grin. "What do you need to tell them?"

"Why, Shinada-kun, it's the fact that they've no money to pay for this little trip."

"I'll pay for it!" Masanobu said. "They're just kids, Yashin-san! Surely-"

"Ya see, that's the thing," he closed his eyes and raised a finger as Obito snarled. "Be that as it may, we can't just do operations on everyone that comes through, Shinada-san." Masanobu winced as Iwasaki looked at Obito. "Why, imagine the rumors that'd get out if these two talked?"

"They wouldn't," Obito said. "I've known them for a while, the Nakanishi siblings are far more tight-lipped than anyone outside."

"And, while that's nice, it doesn't solve the issues of payment," Yashin said with a sad shake of the head. "We're not a hospital."

Obito clenched his hands before the doors to the hall opened to reveal the determined stare of Taiga Nakanishi. Helping him move was Eruza who looked worried, his arm thrown over her shoulder.

"Taiga-kun…" Obito grimaced.

"I heard it all," Taiga said with a scoff. "What do you want? We don't have parents so you're gonna have to deal with what I can give you."

"Hm, hm?" Iwasaki grinned at that. "I see, you're far more upstanding than Obito could explain. What I want for you to do is fight," the CEO said, confusing the siblings. "The medical staff didn't tell you everything, any of you," Obito and Masanobu's eyes widened.

"WHAT?!" the teen said as the CEO tutted his finger.

"Yes, your friend's bullet wounds are more serious than you'd know. Those arteries it broke are permanently damaged," all of them balked. "Yes, even if he were to return to normal life, he'd never be able to live comfortably if he did something more strenuous than a little running. Why, I'd say," he turned to the siblings. "Fighting some gangsters who might want something with you is a bad idea."

"... Who the hell are you?" Eruza asked in disbelief. "W-We're kids, why?!"

"Because that's how the world works," he said seriously. "Kindness is a folly of the nature of humans," Iwasaki said with a shake of the head. "The world doesn't run on kindness and treating it like it does is a fallacy. That said, what I'm offering is a symbiotic relationship."

"..." Taiga looked to see Obito's clenched hands and sneer at the CEO's back. "... What do you want?"

"Bro?!" Eruza grimaced as he shook his head.

"What do you want?" Taiga repeated.

"I want you to undergo a specialized surgery we do here. It's secret and, I must say, not to go public."

"What else?"

"Well, as I said earlier, I'd want you to fight for my company," Iwasaki said. "With a few others of the bigger world, they, too, have people like Obito-kun who've undergone surgery to both save their lives and fight for them."

Obito kissed his teeth as the siblings looked at him.

"They don't have to, I'll-" Obito made to speak and take their place… But was beaten to the punch.

"I'll do it," Taiga said with a shake of the head at Obito's look of horror. "Don't. I bet your old man doesn't want you fighting. I'm not gonna backstab the guy that saved my life."

Masanobu grimaced as his head fell.

"I'll do it," Taiga said as Eruza bit her lip. "... What else do we get out of this?"

"Well, obviously, you'd live here," Iwasaki said with a grin. "Not just that but you'll get a weekly stipend as well as your quarters and training facilities. Shinada-kun could show you to both, he works out there enough."

Eruza frowned as she looked down in thought before making up her mind. "I'll go through it as well," she said, shocking the others. "I'm not going to let my brother possibly die for you if I can do anything about it."

"Eruza!" Obito grimaced as the girl smiled at him.

"Sorry, Obito-senpai," she grinned. "But I've gotta. I don't want what happened today to happen again."

Taiga and Obito winced.

"Marvelous!" Iwasaki Yashin grinned. "Then, I'll throw in an extra. Not only will you two be allowed to pick any school to go to but, no matter what you wish to pursue, I'll find a way to get you that job."

Both siblings blinked at the offer.

Obito grimaced, even if he didn't know how bad these 'fights' might be, he had to assume that they were deadly to an extent.

"... I'm sorry," Masanobu whispered to him. "I…"

"I understand, no one wants their children fighting in possible death matches."

"I knew you were always smart."

Obito sadly nodded.

Six hours later, Obito sat in the resting area he'd been in at one point.

Dressed in a pair of blue shorts, and a dark purple shirt, he looked at the teens as they looked at their bodies' transformed states, he sighed as Kaori made her way into the area.

"Kaori, please, don't." He asked as the woman scoffed a bit.

"What do you take me for?" she asked with a raised brow, wearing a sleeveless blue dress and a grey bucket hat. "Do I look like the type of person who picks on downed people?"

"Your former job says otherwise."

"Oh, ye of so little faith," Kaori shook her head before looking at the two in the beds. "I'm just here to greet my fellow fighters."

"Hm?" Taiga grunted as his tiger ears, paws, and feet, peered out of his sheets, sitting in some sweatpants Itomi had bought for him. "Who's this? She strong?" he asked Obito.

Eruza, sitting up in similar red sweats to her brother but also a white shirt, stared at the woman before them. Her extra set of ears were those of a cheetah's as she flexed her pawed feet.

"?"

"Pleased to meet you," Kaori said with a smile. "Brute civet, Kaori Rikujou, at your service. Nice ta meetcha, freshies."

"Freshies?" both siblings said before Obito sighed.

"Don't mind her, she's just too full of herself. She's more harmless than she lets on."

"Hey, you've been training me, how could you say about your favorite student?"

"Student?" Obito asked in confusion.

"You trained her?" Taiga asked with interest. "... Can you do the same for us with all this?" he asked, flexing his ears.

Obito blinked before nodding. "I can."

"Wait, were you a good fighter before all this?"

"Yes."

"Oh thank god," Taiga said with relief as Eruza giggled before grinning at her senpai.

"Hey, hey, Obito-senpai?" Obito raised a brow. "How long have you been a… It's a 'brute'?" Eruza asked Kaori.

"Hey, I didn't come up with these names. Blame that Yashin guy," she said with a frown. "He's certainly a… special case."

"Don't we know it," Eruza said with a frown. "He basically blackmailed us and Obito-senpai."

"Hm… So that guy can get lower," Kaori said with a shake of the head and a look of sympathy. "I'm guessing your reasons are far sadder compared to my own."

"Huh, why are you here?" Taiga asked. "Actually, you, too. Why are you here, Obito?"

"... Masanobu Shinada is my father…" Obito said before explaining his story to the three, getting shocked looks from even Kaori.

"Okay… Didn't know that," she said with a hand rubbing the back of her neck. "I… I want to say he's kind of a bastard but, even after thirteen years, he did help you live and came back for you and your mom so…" Kaori shrugged.

She'd known far more people who'd never do the same things. Hell, there were probably people who got off on shit like that that she knew.

"Hm… It's better than we are, at least," Taiga said as Eruza nodded.

"Yeah, for us, our parents kind of just… Didn't come back," the teen said with a wince. "We came home from school one day and bam, not there."

"I see…" Kaori rubbed the back of her head with her eyes closed. "Sounds rough. I just got into the wrong biz, as a kid, and my parents disowned me."

"What business?"

"Gambling," Taiga raised a brow as Eruza blinked. "Trust me, the rush, knowing you hold all the cards, winning, watching other people lose, it's a hoot," Kaori said with a grin before frowning. "As it turns out, I was in something a bit bigger than I was expecting and got made to take the fall. It sucked and that's how I ended up here. Yashin paid off my debt and I now have to work for him."

"Damn, sorry," Eruza said sincerely and the civet blushed a bit as she looked away.

"It's whatever," she said with embarrassment before grinning and gesturing to her younger, but senior, brute. "That said, Obiboy has been my best friend here and he's been a wicked help. If it weren't for him, I might not have ever won a single Killing Bites."

"Killing Bites?"

"It's a fight in which two or more hybrids fight one another," she explained. "Since Obito's considered 'Not a good fighter', I've only ever had to fight one animal every time," Kaori rubbed her arm as she rolled her shoulder. "Trust me, they get intense. You're gonna need all the training you can get but you two seemed to have lucked out in animals."

"I guess that's true," Eruza said as she looked at her feet. "I'm a cheetah, I think," she said towards Obito who nodded. "And bro's a tiger, those are some of the big cats. So he's got, just about everything, and I've got speed."

"Tigers are powerful," Taiga said before his face went flat. "... D-Did he choose this animal because of my name?"

The group blinked before Kaori started laughing.

"W-Wait, don't tell me," she bent over. "You're saying your name's literally Taiga?"

Obito snorted as Eruza snickered.

Taiga blushed a little. "Yeah, what of it?"

"Taiga, that's hilarious," Kaori wiped a tear from her eye. "At least, that bastard's got a sense of humor and it worked out in your favor. You must have had good compatibility with the animal, snrt," she snorted a bit, eyes full of mirth as the young man himself huffed.

"Hmph."

"Well, for now, I think the best bet is to get used to transforming," Obito said, getting the two's attention as Kaori took a seat on one of the other medical beds. "Yes, I've been told that doing full-body transformations are easier than partial ones," he demonstrated by changing one of his arms into a paw.

Kaori did the same with one of her legs as their eyes went to her.

Taiga threw off his sheets and looked at his legs, both bearing the orange, and black-striped, colors of a tiger.

"... Wait, I didn't ask," Taiga began. "What animal are you two?"

Kaori grinned. "I'm a civet," she said before seeing the siblings' confusion. "It's some kind of cat-otter-mongoose thing. It's an animal that has a… ahem," Kaori grinned with a blush as Obito ran his hand down his face. "Pheromone that can induce lust-driven actions."

Eruza blushed as Taiga's eyes narrowed.

"And, for your information, I can control it now," Kaori said with red on her cheeks. "Though, you'd be surprised by how bad I was when I was less experienced. Thankfully, it's not super-effective on normal people… But…" she coughed into her fist, not looking at the red-cheeked, annoyed, Obito.

"... W-Whoa, senpai! Y-You're telling me y-you two?!" Eruza blushed like crazy only for Obito to quickly shut that down before she ran with it.

"Nope!" He denied. "I was quarantined from her when we first met and this was the first thing she had to get control of, when she transformed, at least," Obito blushed. "Just know, for all sakes and purposes, she's got it and can control it."

"Though I question what use it is," Kaori said with closed eyes and a finger on her cheek. "Think about it, what the hell could making people horny do for anyone?"

"W-Well, it is a kind of s-specific power," Eruza said with inflamed cheeks. "I don't know!"

Taiga, though slightly blushing, considered the question seriously. "... Why not use it to confuse your enemies? Can you control how intense it gets?"

"Nope," the civit woman said with a sigh. "It's the same no matter how much you take in, Obito's been tested with that," the young man in question coughed. "It's like a 'one size fits all' kind of thing. Besides," Kaori shivered.

"You don't want some of these characters," she twitched her fingers with a look of disgust. "Horny for you. I'm seriously convinced that this animal biz makes it easier to fall into our desires and such. You can't imagine the number of guys, mid-fight, who'd try and get frisky with me. It's seriously disgusting and I'm worried if it'll come to pass."

"Then I'll step in, Yashin's greed be damned," Obito said with finality. "If it comes to that, I'll deal with whatever happens, fallout and all."

"Oh, Obiboy…" Kaori smiled at him, a tail wagging behind her. "You're too sweet," she said nervously. "I worry about you, sometimes."

"Huh?"

"Well, she's kind of got a point, Obito-senpai," Eruza said with a nervous laugh at Obito's alarmed look. "You seriously don't know the effect you have on some of the girls in my year."

Obito looked confused beyond words.

Taiga grunted with an amused smile. "Not so fun, is it?"

"I've no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course, you don't," the tall teen said with a shake of the head. "That aside, what animal are you?"

Obito shrugged before allowing a partial transformation on his head.

"... Wait, you're a-"

"Rabbit?!" Eruza finished for Taiga. "Wait, wait, wait," she crossed her arms. "That doesn't fit your image at all!"

"... Wait, isn't Tiger and Bunny some kind of anime?" Taiga wondered as Obito tilted his head.

"... It is? I mostly watch that kind of stuff for new ideas of how to move," Obito said as Eruza started giggling uncontrollably. "... You know what I'm gonna ask, Taiga."

"I do and, yes, she is usually like this."

~NRK~

Over his time with them, the one year together with them all, Obito could honestly say he'd grown fond of them all.

His mother was a given but he'd also come around to calling Masanobu 'father' already, Kaori was… nice, he guessed? He didn't hate her, she was smart, and he could have interesting discussions with her. So, yes, he was fond of her.

Taiga and Eruza had already been his acquaintances in high school, which neither of them continued going to to get their abilities under control, so he'd already held a place for them as his people. The people he wanted around and to protect.

~NRK~