Machi wandered around through the rather free area. It was kind of nice being outside. She rarely ever felt this happiness, so she savoured the pleasant feeling. At least until she saw Yuki walking through. She decided that this was a good time to leave, and set off towards home. However, as she walked away she heard a voice.
"Hello" Yuki said.
"Hey" Machi responded.
"Do you want to walk with me?" Yuki asked. Machi, feeling unable to reject him, murmured a half-hearted agreement. They walked about in near-silence for a short while.
"Is something wrong?" Yuki asked, sensing Machi's unease.
"No!" Machi exclaimed, "Just..". She stopped.
"Would you like to do something else?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah" Machi replied.
"Well, what would you like to do?" Yuki asked. Machi was silent, unable to answer.
"I'm hungry" Yuki said, breaking the silence, "Maybe we could get some food".
"Yes" Machi said. She did enjoy getting food.
"I know a good place" Yuki said. They silently walked towards the destination. This destination was a rather small, strange, ill-looking fast-food restaurant. They entered the barren structure, almost empty of either people or seating. There were only two small tables, one of which was occupied by a small parliament of rooks chattering over a plate of various odd meats. Yuki approached the counter, and a bizarre creature hopped up, startling Machi. Machi looked again, and saw that it seemed to be a humanoid dog of some sort. Its fur was ruddy, and it was rather short, needing to stand on some sort of raised shelf to peer over the counter. The head was quite murine, but with a few canine hints, such as the long, pointed ears. The back was slightly hunched, and the arms ended in rat's hands. Its bare tail was thick and whip-like, like that of a rat, but wagged like that of a happy dog. Machi immediately realized that it was likely one of the chimeric rat-dogs she had overheard several rumours about.
"Yuki!" the rat-dog declared in a bestial yet kind voice, "What are you having today?". Yuki gave his order, which the hybrid quickly noted down.
"And what will you be having?" the rat-dog asked Machi. Machi suddenly glanced around, and saw a menu written on the rear-most wall of the structure. She scanned the menu, her mind empty of all but the most enervated sparks of desire.
"How about the vegetable toastie?" Yuki suggested.
"Yes, that sounds good" Machi replied. The rat-dog noted this down. Machi and Yuki paid, and the rat-dog swiftly left down beneath the counter. After a short wait, during which the rooks had finished their meal and left, the rat-dog returned with their orders. They brought the food to the cleaner of the tables, and ate the meal. Machi's toastie was not bad, and actually was rather nice. She quickly consumed the sandwich.
"Did you like it?" Yuki asked.
"I guess so" Machi answered. The conversation continued. Machi rarely engaged in such conversation, but this time seemed different. It wasn't exactly enjoyable (or at least not any more than any other activity she could be doing), but it definitely was far better than her conversations usually were.
"I think I should head home now" Yuki said once he had finished his meal.
"Could I come over" Machi asked. Yuki hesitated.
"OK" he finally said. They left the building, and set off to Yuki's home. As they went along the pathway, Yuki suddenly stopped, seeing something odd. Machi looked up, and saw a strange creature in the air. It resembled a long, fern-green snake that hung in the air like a tethered balloon. It bore 4 fowlish talons and a coiled tail, each of which clutched onto various boughs of vegetation from which it ate. Its syngnathidous head was adorned with wenge-toned antlers and a hircine beard of mint fur. Beneath the serpent were a small gathering of feral dogs. Two of the dogs stood out. One of these was a large feral dog with a thick ochre coat, which seemed to almost be the leader of the dogs. The other eye-catching canine was a great creature, with a lurid brown coat divided with lines of taupe. Its head was domed, and its heavy jaws resembled a vice. The ochre dog looked at them, and seemed to issue an order, which ended in the taupe-line dog leaping at the serpent, driving it to the sky, and providing a safe passage through the place. They soon reached the house. It was a nice house. Too nice.
"Is something wrong?" Yuki asked.
"Well, uh.." Machi uttered, unable to say anything.
"Oh, is it the panel?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah" Machi replied, "But you can't d-". Machi was cut off by the sound of Yuki ripping a great hole through the panel, before opening it to allow them through.
"Is that better?" Yuki asked.
"Yeah" Machi said, "Thanks". They entered. Machi saw Tohru stood shuddering in the kitchen.
"Oh, Yuki!" Tohru said, overcoming her fear, "What happened?".
"I, uh, fell" Yuki lied.
"What?" Tohru exclaimed, "D-".
"I'm fine" Yuki quickly said. They sat down, and had a nice chat. But, while Tohru was nice, Machi didn't really want to talk to her. "Machi" Tohru asked, sensing Machi's coldness
"Is something wrong?".
"No, I'm fine" Machi said half-heartedly.
"Oh, OK" Tohru said. But, after a small pause, she spoke again: "I have to, uh, go do something!". She then quickly left. Machi felt a slight pleasant feeling at Tohru's exit, and continued the conversation with Yuki. Eventually, Machi decided to return home. She realized, as she walked, that this day was probably one of the best days she had ever had.