A/N: I had fun writing this chapter.
44 / Safari's Out
"Paddington, you see, is unique among my collection, yes, yes, he is….he's fearsome but other than that, truly unique..." Sora Akiyama, arms stretched out, smiles brightly as Kotaro tries his very best not to pass out from the stress of everything that's happened today.
(the bear, Sakura, the bear, the zombie-freaking bear!)
"He's what you might call...the living dead, I suppose," Sora's hands fell to his sides before he placed a hand on his chin, head tilted, in thought. "Although, he's not been quite what I expected."
"And what did you expect?" Genji said through gritted teeth. Behind him, his sister was telling Yugiri and Tae all about the shark that lay suspended by the wire and how she thought it was odd it wasn't moving but then reasoned that since there was no water in the tank, the shark obviously couldn't move. Mystery solved.
"I expected discipline, you see...I was told the carcass was from a working bear."
"W-working bear?" Renoir wondered, avoiding the dead animals that were held still by wires and death. "Wh-what's...what's that mean?"
"That bear was from a circus, you see," Sora explained, nodding. "I made absolutely sure I had credentials before I ordered poor Paddington's corpse online..." All three men stared at him.
"...are...are you being serious?" Renoir asked him and despite everything Genji let out a snort.
"It's the internet. Of course he's serious…"
Kotaro almost wanted to point out you couldn't order bodies online but then he shut up remembering how he had obtained the girls's ashes so long ago.
Meanwhile, Sakura was admiring the deers that lay upon a rock, both looking out to nowhere, as a monkey was glued to a bamboo pole and a rabbit hid behind the large rock, watching out for the birds that hung above.
"Paddington woke up rather quickly," Sora went on. "You see, you see...when he woke up, oh, when he woke up...he was grumpy like a bear, hungry like a...well, bear, too."
(Kotaro remembered Sakura, her rage, her death, her memory, her arm, the bear, the bear)
"I realized too late he was rather wild...I kept him in a cage for months until one day, Pop! Clank! Boom! And he broke the cage!" As he spoke, Sora made wild gestures with his hands, detailing how Paddington had gone about in his daring escape. "I've been looking for him ever since...smart bear, that Paddington. He evaded me once, and then, a month back, I finally had him inside a new cage once more...but nooope! He broke out again, clank, clank, pop! out he went into the world before tearing that little girl apart!" Genji, and Yugiri who had been attentive to the conversation, turned to glare at him. Sora was too busy nodding and smiling to notice the danger. Kotaro and Renoir were not.
"Wait...wait...so...you actually caught Pa-the bear, you caught the bear?"
"Yes, yes!" Sora still smiled. "A month ago! He's a smart bear, you see…"
"And yet, you were not surprised when that bear attacked my friend." Yugiri's suddenly near the men, a cheerful Sakura and a confused Tae by her side. "...Did you suspect something, sir?" Yugiri's voice drips with venom and Kotaro can't help but shiver at the deadly stare she's piercing Sora with. But Sora, ever joyful, smiles and nods.
"Suspect, no. Saw, yes!" Sora winked. "I saw her...weeks before that terrible storm last year, saw her in the mountains with, oh, those other girls, seven, yes?" Kotaro gulped. Yugiri froze. Genji and Renoir blinked. Sakura smiled. Tae groaned. "I saw her," Sora nodded at the cheerful Sakura who waved. Sora waved back. "Her head was bitten and her body thrown aside only for the body to come and reclaim it's head minutes later...I was hunting this boar, you see...to add to my collection. But imagine my surprise when I saw that mighty beast bite down onto the girl's head and then, well, everything that happened after…" Sora turned to Kotaro. "I do not mean to assume but the young lady did not seem to be too happy with you after that.
Genji turned to his sister and asked, "Your head falls off?"
Sakura nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! Wanna see?"
"No, it's fine! It's fine!" Renoir cried, shaking his head. "I believe you!" Yugiri, luckily, reacted fast enough and stopped her friend from actually pulling her head off. Sakura actually pouted a bit but she soon lost interest when she spotted the majestic lion, still sitting on his pillar, so very dead. Tae balances herself towards her, growling a bit, keeping an eye on her while Yugiri's busy with the adults. Well, the living ones, anyway.
"...what were you doing in the mountains?" Genji asks, staring at Kotaro, who's been silent all this time.
"Camping," Kotaro blurts out, and Sakura actually squeals and points at the lion, calling it cute and wishing she could touch the oh, so pretty kitten.
"But Sakura hates camping," Genji points out. Kotaro just wants to punch him for that remark but he stays quiet and doesn't respond.
"You have known for a while…" Yugiri says, eyes half closed. "You were not surprised the bear tore Sakura apart because you had already seen her get attacked by a wild animal before." Tae's growling a bit behind them but everyone else is too busy with Sora to notice Sakura and the lion's new position upon it's pillar.
"Yes, you see, you see," Sora said, nodding. "I knew she would be alright because she's quite dead too! See!" Yugiri frowned.
"...She was torn apart by your mistake," the courtesan said and Sora couldn't help but nod sadly.
"Yes, yes, that is true...I was too slow to catch Paddington. My dogs can only do so much before being torn apart as well…" Sora sighed. "My only wish is to open this menagerie to the masses, see, see…"
"Full of living dead animals, yeah?" Genji remarked and Sora was all smiles once again.
"Pretty much!"
Sakura's excitedly complementing the lion and patting it's head, that's somehow closer to her face. Tae's biting into her hand, unsure of what to do or who to call for help.
"Money makes the world go round, after all," Sora said, nodding. "My family's been trying to pull this off for years now! And lo and behold!" He suddenly pointed at the lion, and everyone turned towards the frozen animal. Yugiri gasped upon noticing the animal blinking at them while Sakura patted it's pretty mane. "Safari was in my family's circus in the fifties, lived like a king, died like a king, forever preserved in his former glory and years ago, brought back to his beautiful undead self!" Yugiri and Genji almost ran up to Sakura to get her away but she was hugging the lion, Safari, and he was hugging back, head bumping into her own, licking her cheeks, and being just as intimidating and adorable as an undead lion could be. "Oh, don't panic, don't panic! Safari's perfectly safe!"
"That's quite a claim when your freaking bear was not!" Genji shouted back as Yugiri moved quickly towards Sakura, trying to pry the girl and lion apart. She only got a lick from the lion for her efforts. Tae tried helping too, until all three of them plus the lion, fell to the floor, Sakura giggling all the while.
"What a pretty cat!" she said, as Safari continued to lick her face and makeup away.
"Safari is a good boy, though...if only that seller had told me about Paddington's temper I wouldn't dare try to revive him, you see." Sora suddenly snapped his fingers. "How about this!? You can have Safari as a gift as an apology!"
"No," Genji, Kotaro and Renoir said. Yugiri was too busy trying to pry the affectionate lion off of Sakura to respond and Tae just couldn't. Sakura gasped.
"Oh, I can keep him?"
"Sure you can!"
"Sakura, please…" Yugiri whispers, hair loose and messy from trying to get the lion away. Safari responds by licking the courtesan again.
"Great, just what Sakura needs...another animal to tear her apart…" Genji remarks darkly and Sora shakes his head.
"Oh, it's fine, it's fine! Safari's claws are all but gone...it's the teeth you have to worry about!"
"Oh god…" Renoir whimpered as he hid his face with his hands.
Kotaro just stared at the lion and the giggling Sakura and said nothing.
The lion ended up in the van somehow and despite Romero's barking and Tae's growling, the lion came with them to the mansion, all the while Sakura giggled and the lion let out a loud yawn.
When Sakura woke up the next day, she knew something was...off.
She couldn't quite remember what happened before she woke up but she could vaguely remember not being asleep before whatever happened happened. Sakura frowned a bit before letting out a yawn.
"How are you feeling?" Yugiri's familiar voice snapped Sakura from her yawning. Yugiri was up, sitting beside her in her pajamas, smiling affectionately at the girl. Tae growled from somewhere in the room.
"...Yugiri?"
"Are you well, Sakura?"
"I...I think so...I…" Suddenly, the head of a lion shows up out of nowhere, and Sakura can't help but stare at the beast that's leaning over her. "W-wha...wha...what!?" Safari responds by placing his head over Sakura's own.
Yugiri tries her absolute best to not laugh.
A/N: And that's a wrap!
Sakura's got a cat now, how about that?
Also, I kinda headcannon that Sakura hates camping because well...her bad luck just ruins the experience for her. (and it wasn't just because I came up with that headcannon while I was writing this story...nope)
Anyway, see you next update!
(I will be doing a bit more editing in some chapters because I keep noticing mistakes...ugh...so, just in case something changes in the future you'll know why)