I kept holding the female herbivore in my arms, feeling like time had frozen completely while I saw that she was a small white rabbit and the sound of a heart beating rapidly filled my ears.
'This sound of someone's heart racing...is it coming from me or you? It feels like we're becoming one...so warm and tiny, you're trying to struggle and your breath is making my arm moist.
God, your scent is driving me insane while your warm fur under those clothes feels...I wonder how delicious you'll taste once I rip your clothes off and eat your soft flesh and tender organs. Wait, what the fuck?! Get those sick thoughts out of your head, Connor!
It may have been okay to eat other animals back in the Wasteland, but that was when they didn't walk and talk like people! Jesus...my body, my hands, won't stop moving,' I thought in revulsion as my hand moved slowly across the rabbit and started gripping her arm.
"And that's how it should be," a demonic voice spoke suddenly in sadistic glee, causing me to quickly look around in alarm and my eyes widened in horror when I saw a black distorted humanoid male figure with a tail as it stood across the courtyard and stared at me.
'Oh my God, what the fuck is that thing?!' I thought incredulously and could see Legosi trembling as he spotted the figure.
"You've always been struggling with yourself for 13 years and now you can't take it anymore," the figure stated as it started walking to me and I flinched slightly at what it said.
"Stay the hell away from me," I warned weakly as I felt complete terror.
"I know who you are, Connor Monroe...you've been holding yourself back on the pretense of claiming to be a good person and living in the shadows but deep down, you enjoy the intoxicating sensation of taking a life and racking up quite an endless body count.
So much blood on your hands...I wonder, did you picture yourself becoming a sadistic killer and wiping out so many lives, or were you always this way and it took your father leaving the Vault and the Overseer going mad to bring it up to the surface? Are you ashamed or are you frustrated?" the figure whispered into my ear after he stopped in front of me.
"Fuck you, you don't know shit about me!" I exclaimed defensively and the figure laid its hands on one of my arms that were restraining the rabbit.
"Hey, leave him the hell alone!" Legosi shouted and the figure looked at him as he flew at it and went to take a swing.
"Don't interfere, pup," the figure warned before it waved a hand at him, and he suddenly disappeared to my horror.
"No!" I yelled in distress as the figure gripped my chin and forced me to look at him.
"Where were we? Oh yes, you're neither ashamed or frustrated...you're overjoyed from the bottom of your heart," the figure told me as it slowly moved its hands across my arm and panic set in as I started hyperventilating.
"Shut the fuck up! You're not real, you're not fucking real!" I screamed in fear as the figure backed up a few steps.
"Look at me and don't avert your eyes...see how I'm getting bigger and bigger, look!" the figure declared as it started growing larger and I shut my eyes while I was looking away in sheer denial of that thing's unholy existence.
"No, I won't look at you!" I refused as my eyes started welling up from the stress becoming too much.
"It looks like you're ready, now the fun begins so kill her and experience that incredible feeling again! You know you want too!" the figure demanded sadistically as I unwillingly opened my eyes to see that the figure had become a giant humanoid wolf with glowing red eyes.
'Oh God, this isn't happening...somebody help me, please!' I thought desperately as the giant wolf walked behind me, kneeled and held me in the same position I was holding the rabbit.
The figure sunk into me while I was begging and praying for somebody to save me, then I felt myself give in to this horrible monster and started snarling as my claws broke the flesh on the rabbit's arm and my eyes glowed red again.
"I'll kill you, I'll rip your fucking lungs out!" I snarled chaotically as I looked down and opened my mouth, just before I was about to rip out her throat and pictured her warm blood and meaty flesh going down my throat.
"Legosi!" the voice of Zoe called out and I snapped out of it with a startled expression as I turned my head to see him running towards us.
"It's an emergency!" Zoe notified me urgently, just as I realized what I was about to do to this rabbit and frantically let go of her but I tore her arm with my claws by accident and she got up to run for her life.
I watched the rabbit running away with my ears lowered and felt horrified of what I almost did while also feeling intense hatred of myself for nearly committing murder, just as Zoe rushed over and grabbed my arm.
"Why the hell aren't you keeping watch?! Nevermind, now come with me because it's Louis-senpai!" Zoe exclaimed and I looked at him with a dazed expression.
"What's wrong?" I questioned as I stood up and Zoe tugged on my arm.
"Just come with me!" Zoe urged and we took off running to the auditorium.
We rushed into the building and headed down the steps that led to the stage, then I spotted Louis kneeling on the floor with quiet gasps of pain and wondered what the hell happened.
"Louis-senpai, I got Legosi here with me!" Zoe announced and I saw that Louis was gripping his leg with one hand as I hurried over to check on him, my medical knowledge kicking in.
"Shit, are you okay? How's your leg?" I questioned as I reached down to move his hand out of the way and he pushed my hand away after sitting down fully.
"I'm fine, just give me a minute," Louis dismissed with a wave of his hand as Zoe timidly approached us.
"H-H tried to save me...it was very dark so I could barely see where I was going and I slipped before almost falling off the stage, but then senpai..." Zoe trailed off as his eyes welled up and Louis shot him a glare.
"Dammit, I said I'm fine so quit making a big deal out of it! I only pulled you out of the way so that I wouldn't have to hear you crying over a tiny injury!" Louis snapped as he grabbed the edge of the stage and slowly pulled himself up.
"B-But I made you fall and hurt yourself," Zoe whimpered and Louis sighed before wincing.
"This is nothing...I'm tough, unlike you," Louis groaned as I stayed close to him to make sure he didn't fall and hurt himself again.
"If Louis-senpai is unable to perform, then what'll I do?" Zoe wondered quietly as he looked down with an expression of guilt.
"Zoe, drop it or we're going to have a problem," Louis warned and Zoe flinched at the threat.
"S-Sorry," Zoe stuttered as Louis looked at me and held out his arm.
"Legosi, do me a favor and loan me your shoulder," Louis suggested and I nodded as I rested his arm on my shoulder to hold him up.
"Nice work keeping watch for us," Louis told me and I didn't know how to respond to that.
"Sure..." I trailed off and Louis looked at me.
"Did anything happen that I should know about?" Louis asked and I subtly wiped my bloody claws on my pants as I nearly grimaced.
"No, it was completely quiet," I lied as I made sure Louis didn't fall during our walk to the exit.
After that, I had made it back to the dorms with the others and tried to convince Louis to rest for a few days until he healed up from his nasty fall, but he was stubborn and I gave up after several tries since he wasn't listening to me and I wasn't in the mood to get into an argument with him. I had headed to the men's bathroom and was washing the blood off my claws and pants as I felt very worried for Legosi and hoped that he was alright.
"Are you okay?" I heard a familiar voice ask suddenly and I jumped before I spun around and saw Legosi hovering near the window.
"Legosi, thank God you're okay...I was terrified that monster wiped you from existence," I whispered in pure relief and went to pat his shoulder, only my hand went through him and I shivered from the freezing chill that ran through my body while Legosi looked uncomfortable.
"Please don't do that because it's very creepy seeing your hand go through me," Legosi pleaded with a disturbed expression and looking slightly blue in the face.
"Sorry about that..." I trailed off and looked down at my hands, remembering how much death and carnage I was responsible for back in my previous life before I died and wound up here.
"Connor, that thing said that you took God knows how many lives...is it true? Did you kill that many individuals?" Legosi asked hesitantly and recoiled when I shot him a glare.
"I don't want to fucking talk about it, now drop it," I warned coldly and Legosi held up his hands in surrender as his ears folded back.
I looked away from him and went to leave the bathroom, but I looked at one of the mirrors and tensed up when my reflection started looking black and distorted with its red glowing eyes staring back at me before it warped from its lupine figure and became my former human body that was wearing the old armored vault jumpsuit and duster but my human self was covered in blood and its eyes glowed red with a sadistic smile.
I trembled as horrifying memories of killing or torturing an unknown amount of monsters and psychopaths came rushing back and in a fit of self-loathing, I slammed my fist into the mirror and caused it to crack as Legosi flinched from the act of violence and stared at me warily.
I backed away from the broken mirror and quickly left the bathroom, trying to bury my hellish experiences in the Wastes and hoped that the monster inside me never comes back.
After I had headed back to Room 701 in the male carnivore dorm, I snuck in and made sure I didn't wake up Jack and the others by accident before I changed into my pajamas and got into bed but I couldn't get any sleep for the rest of the night because of the memory of almost killing the rabbit and I felt like shit while I was laying in bed.
'I don't want to wake up, not that I got any sleep to begin with...I don't want to be awake or asleep, I just want to lay down here as still as a shellfish. This bed is like a cage, something to confine a monster like me...' I thought in exhaustion as images of killing the rabbit in horrific ways kept running through my head until the curtains suddenly opened.
"Legosi!" Collot greeted cheerfully and my eyes snapped open before I saw him looking down with a grin.
"You shouldn't be laying in bed forever and your face looks so scary, now rise and shine," Collot told me after pulling my cheek, gripping my arms and he started dragging me out of bed, just as Durham left the bathroom and adjusted his pants while he saw me being dragged across the messy floor.
"Hey, Legosi, you didn't study for the Math II Quiz, huh?" Durham remarked and a tired groan from me made him add, "Yeah, I know that feeling."
"Go get a shower and get changed so you can join us, Legosi," Collot commented after he forced me to stand up and I stared into the mirror as my ears were lowered and my eyes were bloodshot with dark bags under the bottom lids.
While the others were chatting about what they wanted for breakfast, I saw my exhausted self in the mirror change into a distorted version with red eyes and a cold glare but I looked away and headed to the bathroom to take a shower. Once I was done, I got dressed in my uniform and we all left the room as other animals were walking down the hallway and chatting with each other.
"Legosi, your backpack's open," Jack informed me as he stared in concern and zipped up the backpack, but I wasn't in the mood to discuss what happened last night since it would most definitely scare the hell out of him.
"The cafeteria's probably crowded by now," Collot commented just as a raccoon and his roommates left the dorm room next to ours.
"Morning," our raccoon neighbor greeted as he and his roommates started heading down the same direction we were going.
"Morning," Durham replied and told Collot, "It should be fine. Look, the procyonids are also on their way there."
We kept walking as I was yawning and shaking my head to be more awake, then we arrived inside the cafeteria building and I stood next to the others as Miguno read through today's menu.
"Let's see, today's carnivore breakfast...is bread, scrambled eggs, and soy patties!" Miguno notified us excitingly and Collot perked up.
"Nice, I love that stuff," Collot stated with a smile and we went to get our breakfast for the day.
We got our breakfast and I sat down next to Jack, eating slowly while slouching and not having much of an appetite as a lynx student sat down at my left.
"Damn, I almost stepped on a chipmunk girl...I need to watch where I'm going or get some glasses. Hey, Legosi, you said that I'd look good in glasses, right?" the lynx asked and I looked at him while avoiding the bread roll.
"Yeah," I muttered and went back to eating until I saw the bread roll and tensed up slightly, recalling what I almost did last night and looking at my hand that injured the rabbit's arm.
At that moment, I haven't felt so scared of myself since I killed Mr. Burke after he shot and killed Sheriff Simms, remembering how terrifying it was and that it was so easy to take a life for the first time.
'I don't have the right to eat bread, I almost killed a small animal last night,' I thought guiltily as Jack was tapping my shoulder to get my attention.
"Legosi, are you okay?" Jack whispered in concern and I was about to reassure him that I was fine, only I was cut off when a fox and his friend started yelling at each other.
"What the fuck is your problem?! Can't you tell that you're stepping on my tail, or are you too much of a dumbass to notice?!" the carnivore shouted as he grabbed the fox's shoulders.
"Hey, I apologized, dammit!" the fox snapped irritably as animals were starting to stare at them.
"I'm only pissed off because you were grinning, you damn fox!" the carnivore snarled.
"Oh, so you're taking your frustrations out on me, is that it?!" the fox retorted venomously as the lynx sitting next to me and Jack leaned in close to us.
"That guy on the right looks like you guys," the lynx pointed out quietly.
"That's a fox...sure, he's a canine, but he's completely different from us," Jack explained just as the carnivore lunged at the fox and his teeth clamped onto the fox's arm while he screamed in agony and everyone else in the cafeteria clamored in horror at the sight.
I started trembling as the brutality I was witnessing brought back horrific memories of the Wasteland and before I knew it, the memory of my father's death came roaring back.
I fired several shots into the black-armored man with my assault rifle and he went down after his visor shattered and a few rounds destroyed his eyes and part of his face as Dogmeat was ripping out the throat of another soldier that tried to ambush me from behind.
I had no idea who these people were or why they wanted us dead, but my father called them the Enclave on the speakers in the giant pipe and his tone of voice told me that they weren't friendly at all and that we needed to prevent them from getting Project Purity. Once the area was clear, I rushed over to the door that led to the Rotunda and quickly headed inside with Dogmeat right behind me.
We moved up the stairs to the entrance of the project where Dr. Li and the other scientists were standing, the door closed with my father and another scientist being held at gunpoint by two armored Enclave soldiers while a man wearing a white duster coat was talking to him in a southern accent.
"By the authority of the President, this facility is now under the control of the United States government and the person in charge is to step forward immediately and turn over all materials related to this project," the man ordered while my father looked at the man calmly.
"I'm afraid that's quite impossible because this is a private project and the Enclave has no authority here, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave immediately," Dad refused stoically.
"Am I to assume, sir, that you're in charge?" the man questioned.
"Yes, I'm responsible for this project," Dad answered with a nod.
"Then I'm telling you, sir, that you are hereby instructed to hand over all materials related to the purifier," the man insisted and dad shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but that's-" Dad tried to say and was cut off.
"Furthermore, you are to assist Enclave researchers in assuming control of the administration and operation of this facility at once," the man interrupted and dad held up a hand in a placating gesture.
"Colonel...is it Colonel? I'm sorry, but the facility is not operational and has never been operational so I'm afraid you're wasting your time here," Dad told him and the man sighed irritably.
"Sir, this is the last time I'm going to repeat myself...stand down at once and turn over control of this facility," the man demanded sternly.
"Colonel, I assure you that this facility will not function because we have never been able to successfully replicate test results-" Dad tried to reason and was cut off again when the man pulled out his 10mm handgun and killed the scientist with a shot to the face, causing me to recoil in horror as my eyes widened in shock.
"Holy shit, we need to get in there right now!" I exclaimed at Dr. Li as I started to kick the door but she forced me back.
"There's nothing we can do, that door is thick enough to withstand a missile attack...trust your father because he'll get himself out of this," Dr. Li reassured and I looked at the situation while I clenched my rifle.
"I suggest you comply immediately, sir, to prevent any more incidents...are we clear?" the man threatened menacingly and dad raised his hands in surrender.
"Yes Colonel, there's no need for more bloodshed so I'll do whatever you want," Dad complied reluctantly.
"Then you will immediately hand over all materials related to this project and aid us in making it operational at once," the man said after he holstered his gun and dad nodded.
"Very well, give me a few moments to bring the system online," Dad stated as he turned around and headed to the console that would turn on the machine.
Dad started typing on it and the man urged him to hurry up, but dad reassured him that he was almost done and a small explosion happened in the room with the alarms going off but my Pipboy's Giger counter went off like crazy as everyone in the sealed room started choking from the deadly radiation and I was horrified to see the soldiers and the man collapsing while my dad was stumbling to the door.
I instantly panicked and banged my fists on the door after dropping my rifle in a frantic attempt to try and get it open, but the glass wouldn't budge and I kept trying to break it while my dad slumped against the door.
"Dad, don't you fucking do this to me! Open the door, open the fucking door!" I shouted as dad looked at me with his hands on the glass.
"Run...run!" Dad choked before he collapsed and that made me even more frantic as I kept trying to get in, just as Dr. Li grabbed me and pulled me back as she placed her hands on my shoulders.
"Connor, there's nothing you can do! He's gone and we're going to be next if we don't get out of here!" Dr. Li exclaimed while I was struggling to get past her, then she slapped me across the face and that's when the reality of what just happened hit me and something in me just completely broke while tears welled up and I sobbed uncontrollably as she held me close.
Dr. Li picked up my rife and she helped me down the stairs while I kept letting out my grief and broken despair, my mind shattering from losing the one thing that kept me going in this hell and I couldn't stop wailing due to my broken mind.
'So, this...is hell,' I thought as I took the rifle and just snapped as pure vengeful fury rose and I gripped the rifle tightly as I forced Dr. Li to let go of me started heading to the door.
"I'm going to kill them all," I muttered coldly with a dead expression as I checked my ammo and left the Rotunda to show no mercy to the Enclave.
After remembering that horrifying moment in my life, memories of what I tried to do to the rabbit last night flashed through my head and I started clenching my fists until I slammed my hands down onto the table and stood up.
"That's enough!" I roared stressfully and the entire building was rendered silent as the two carnivores that were fighting stopped and everyone looked at me in surprise.
I saw that all eyes were on me and I took a deep shaky breath to calm down while Legosi was looking shocked to see me lose my composure, then Jack tugged onto my sleeve to get my attention.
"Holy crap...what the hell was that all about, Legosi?" Jack whispered and I didn't reply as the fox started glaring at me and he stood up.
"What the fuck is your problem? You think you can beat the shit out of me because of your large build?" the fox challenged as he approached me and I put my hands in my pockets as I grimaced from losing my temper.
"I'm not interested in picking a fight with you but you two are causing a scene and scaring everyone in here, so how about you and your friend go outside to cool off," I suggested calmly and the fox scoffed.
"Don't give me that bullshit, just show me your neck so that I can bite it," the fox threatened and I started glaring at him coldly.
"I said that I don't want to fight you, now calm down," I warned as I prepared to dodge his attacks to tire him out and just before he could take a swing at me, a familiar voice spoke up.
"Good grief, carnivores sure love to cause mayhem," Louis announced and I looked behind me to see him approaching us.
"It's Louis-senpai!" all the girls in the cafeteria cheered as Louis stopped next to me.
"Especially when their bark is worse than their bite," Louis remarked as he rested a hand on my shoulder and the fox smirked as he did a mocking bow.
"My, my, it seems we're in the presence of the star actor, Louis the Great," the fox snarked but Louis wasn't falling for it.
"Baring your teeth in public is bad manners so if you're going to fight, do it in the carnivore dorm," Louis told him and the fox chuckled as he took a step forward.
"You don't have it so easy either since you're looking to become the next Beastar, so you must be pretty desperate if you have gotten all this attention for yourself," the fox taunted but Louis wasn't even fazed by that and I frowned slightly when I heard that title.
A few days after I wound up in this world, I heard the name Beastar being mentioned more than a few times and Legosi explained that someone with that title is held in pretty high esteem and they become very influential throughout society by being politicians or athletes, like a Vault Overseer but with more power and influence throughout the world. I still thought that title is a dangerous thing to have since anyone can be corrupted with that amount of influence and I've seen first-hand what happens to those with too much power and influence.
I watched Louis looking thoughtful at what the fox said and we all waited for his response when he stared right into his eyes and went to say what was on his mind.
"Have you ever thought about why we need the Beastar? Rather than begrudging everyone else, improve yourself first before doing anything else," Louis lectured and the fox widened his eyes at the response since it probably wasn't what he expected.
"Yeah, that's right!"
"Go to hell!"
"Screw you!"
"Hey, let's get the fuck out of here," the fox's friend suggested quietly after he approached him, then the fox looked irritated at all the insults being thrown at him by everyone in the cafeteria while he glared at Louis.
"Well, sure, having good grades is all that matters since anyone can be a Beastar!" the fox retorted with a tick mark as his friend grabbed his arm and forced him to move.
"Hey, just drop it and let's go before things get worse," his friend urged with a sweat-drop as he made the fox keep moving and Louis looked at everyone.
"Everyone, you may return to your breakfast now," Louis announced and everybody went back to eating as if nothing had happened before he turned to look at me.
"That was for yesterday," Louis told me and I knew that he was talking about me preventing Kai from attacking him.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that because I should be the one to thank you for stepping in, senpai. If you hadn't shown up when you did..." I trailed off as I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.
"You would've gone through with avoiding his attacks until he became tired enough for you to take him down with a single strike, right? I'd like to know how long you intend on confronting your problems that way...I had my suspicions that there was more to you than meets the eye and it appears I was right, so you're even more of a dangerous wolf than I thought," Louis stated with an amused grin as he patted my shoulder and passed me while he was walking away.
I watched Louis walk away and I frowned thoughtfully as I tried to figure out what his agenda was since he implied that the Legosi he had just talked to was far different than the one he interacted with before I showed up, then I started wondering if he knew about my true identity and quickly shut that down because it wasn't possible and nobody knows about my true self. While I was deep in thought, Jack decided to get my attention by nudging me and I snapped out of it before looking at him.
"Wow, Louis-senpai is so cool! So, did you do something for Louis-senpai?! What did you do?!" Jack questioned excitingly while his tail wagged and I knew that he wasn't going to leave me alone unless I told him about yesterday's altercation.
"It wasn't anything important," I evaded stoically as I sat down to finish my breakfast and took my tray to the trash.
"Oh, by the way, I ate the bread you were avoiding," Jack informed me and I nodded.
"Okay," I replied quietly as we waited for the others to finish up with their breakfast and then we went our separate ways while we headed to class.
After most of the day had passed by, I had removed my uniform vest, went to the Drama Club, and was now moving to the backstage with three boxes as Kibi was right behind me and I looked at the stage to see Louis and a few actors practicing until they stopped and Louis started lecturing at the three actors next to him until he was finished and headed to the bathroom to cool off from the physical activity but I spotted a slight pained grimace on his face and felt concerned that his injury was becoming worse.
"Hey, this is getting heavy so can you please stop staring off into space and keep moving?" Kibi groaned in exertion while struggling to hold his boxes up and I looked embarrassed as I snapped out of it.
"Oh, sorry about that," I apologized sheepishly and continued walking to the backstage with the boxes until we arrived and placed the boxes down, then we opened them and took the costumes out before working on knitting them so that they wouldn't tear during the performance.
"What, a break from rehearsal? We've never had a break before," Dom pointed out in confusion and I twitched my ear to show that I was listening.
"Well, I haven't heard the details, though," I said and Fudge frowned.
"Louis-san's always excited when the performance is approaching, so he must've been pissed or something," Fudge stated and Kai groaned irritably.
"Dammit, I was supposed to be rehearsing with all of them, not sewing up the costumes in this dark place!" Kai complained in frustration and Dom looked at him.
"Kai, you have a good sense of needlework so I'm happy that you're a part of the stage crew," Dom complimented and Kai appeared to be taken aback by hearing that.
"Oh, really?" Kai inquired in surprise and Dom nodded.
"Indeed," Dom agreed and Kai smiled bashfully from the compliment as I opened a box and paused when I took out a familiar costume.
"This is Tem's costume," I told them and the air became somber as everyone looked at the costume solemnly.
"W-What should we do with it?" Kibi asked hesitantly and I grimaced.
"Well, we can't just keep it here," Fudge pointed out with a frown and I tensed up, something Kai seemed to notice and he cleared his throat to get my attention.
"Hey, Legosi, I don't want to sound harsh but it would be pretty creepy if we still kept that outfit around and Tem's not going to need it anymore," Kai stated and Fudge shot him an offended expression.
"Hey, show some respect!" Fudge scolded and Kai held up his hands in surrender before everyone went back to knitting and changing the subject.
"Tem...any carnivore killing herbivores and eating them is the worst criminal act that anyone can do, which is why everyone is trying to avoid the subject. Connor, I think I'm starting to understand what Louis-senpai meant earlier...the reason of why he's starring as Adler the Reaper.
He must still be struggling to confront the reality of that horrible incident the most since he's aiming to be a Beastar, so he needs to take the center stage in the world of carnivores and herbivores.
God, I can't even imagine the stress he is going through right now," Legosi admitted quietly as he hovered near me and I became lost in thought while I recalled my status as Messiah of the Wasteland and how much of a burden it could be.
I kept remembering how people saw me as a hero for helping to clean up the Wastes and bring civilization back together again, but they truly had no idea of the horrors I had seen and how the constant tragedies broke me before I became a lifeless drifter and died in that fateful ambush 13 years after I fled the Vault.
"Legosi! Legosi, did you hear what I said?!" Dom suddenly shouted into my ear and I snapped out of it until I looked at him with a startled expression.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought," I spoke nervously and Dom nodded understandingly.
"You were spacing out again, weren't you? Well, we were talking about bringing in flowers from the Gardening Club so take a look," Dom explained as he took out a draft and opened it to show me.
"We want to use roses as the motif for the final act, then we should decorate the assembly hall and entrance too. There should be plenty of roses in the Gardening Club and I want you to go get them," Dom instructed and I made a face at that.
"That's an herbivore club, right? I'm not so sure that's a good idea since they probably wouldn't take too kindly to a large wolf asking for flowers," I pointed out and Kibi scooched over so that he could talk to me.
"I think you should go since you're a second-year now, so you should do it to improve your social skills," Kibi reasoned and I looked thoughtful for a few seconds until I came to a decision and looked at him.
"In that case, you're coming with me," I declared calmly and Kibi looked uncertain by what I said as I put down Tem's costume and gestured for Kibi to follow me after Dom gave me directions to the Gardening Club.
Pretty soon after that, we were heading up the stairs to the roof and Kibi looked awkward while we were walking.
"Um, do I have to come with you?" Kibi inquired with a nervous expression and I looked at him.
"To be honest, a large imposing wolf asking for flowers would scare the hell out of them so you being with me will relax them slightly," I explained as we arrived at the door that headed out to the roof and added, "You know, I had no idea that there was a garden on the roof."
"It's probably not well known among the carnivores but if you want my opinion, it's might be a pretty plain club so it would explain why carnivores have never heard about it," Kibi told me as I went to reach for the doorknob.
Just when I was about to open the door, the scent of flowers hit me along with one certain and very familiar scent that made me freeze up and I started to feel very alarmed as my ears perked up fully and the fur on the back of my neck rose as Legosi saw my reaction and looked nervous.
"Connor, what's wrong?" Legosi asked uneasily but I didn't respond since I recognized the scent far too well.
'Oh God, it's that rabbit girl from last night,' I thought just as Kibi opened the door and my eyes widened as I saw the girl I tried to kill last night watering the flowers, and she smiled at us while we walked through the door and stood near it.
"Hello, can I help you?" the girl inquired curiously and I felt a lump in my throat as I swallowed nervously.
'Oh, crap...I didn't think that she was so tiny. Okay, what the fuck do I do to get myself out of this situation? I know, I'll come up with an excuse and tell her that I remembered that need to take care of a few errands...yeah, that'll work,' I thought with a slight nod and opened my mouth to say something.
"Oh, I-" I was about to lie to her and get the hell out of here, but I was cut off when Kibi started clutching his head suddenly.
"Oh, I just remembered, I've got some errands to take care of so I need to get going!" Kibi exclaimed and my eyes bugged out as I kneeled and shot him a look of horror while I started to sweat and look blue in the face.
"Kibi, what the fuck are you doing?!" I hissed incredulously and Kibi flinched at my tone.
"Sorry, Legosi, I'll buy you an antshake later so good luck, I'll owe you one," Kibi whispered just as the girl cleared her throat.
"Excuse me, didn't you two come here to get flowers for the new student welcome event or am I wrong?" the girl asked and Kibi laughed as he quickly headed to the door.
"No, you're completely right but I need to run some errands so this friendly wolf knows everything you need to know!" Kibi lied as he rushed into the stairwell and I spun around while he was closing the door and I tried to force my way through.
'Unbelievable, this asshole is throwing me under the fucking bus!' I thought in disbelief as I struggled to push the door open fully.
"Look, I'm sorry about this but you need to do it for the Drama Club," Kibi apologized and managed to slam the door in my face, then I stared at the door with quiet whimpers and depression lines as I inwardly cursed up a storm at my shitty luck.
'Oh great, now we're alone...fucking Kibi, I swear I'm going to get him back for this,' I thought as I slowly turned around with Legosi looking pretty uncomfortable nearby and I cleared my throat awkwardly as I looked at the girl nervously.
"Well, looks like your friend is gone...the rumors sure spread fast so I probably scared him off, though all boys are scared of girls in some respects so it doesn't bother me. Aren't you scared of me?" the girl asked and I grimaced slightly as I looked away.
"No, not really," I muttered and felt like hitting myself at the stupid answer.
'What the hell am I saying?! I just tried to fucking kill you last night, so of course I'm terrified of talking to you! I don't have the right to talk to you after what I nearly did!' I thought in disbelief.
"Every club gets busy every year trying to do something for the big event, so what club are you in?" the girl asked as she headed to the shed that was nearby and I followed her hesitantly.
"The Drama Club...I'm a stagehand and I need flowers to decorate the assembly hall, preferably roses," I explained as we stopped next to the large shed that was the clubroom, then I handed her the draft and she looked through it.
"So, you want roses, huh? Well, you shouldn't decorate with pure red roses because they're very poisonous," the girl informed me and I nodded.
"I see..." I trailed off as I stood right behind her.
"I've got roses of many other colors so I'll show them to you," the girl offered.
"Thank you," I said as I watched her looking through the draft and couldn't help but notice how small she was.
'Shit, her head's so far away so I bet she sees the world much differently than I do...this might be the first time I've ever talked to a small animal ever since I wound up in this world,' I thought just as the girl looked up at me.
"Sure, I'll help you but on one condition," the girl stated and I flinched slightly.
"W-What condition?" I asked nervously while I thought, 'Damn, I can't even look at her in the eye.'
"I can't just give you my dear children for free, so could you take those plants over to the back?" the girl instructed as she pointed at a few potted plants that were sitting next to the side of the wooden building and she added, "I'll be perfectly honest, I really care about them but a girl can only do so much."
I stayed silent as I tried to figure out what to say to her because I haven't felt this awkward and nervous around a girl since I had a crush on Christine Kendall back in the Vault when I was a kid, then I opened my mouth to say something.
"Then it's settled!" the girl exclaimed cheerfully and I let out a startled yelp as I felt her grab my tail and quickly turned my head to look down at her as she moved my tail into one of the suspenders.
"Um, w-what?" I stuttered in shock as the girl looked up at me with a smile.
"I can't have you break my plants with that big monstrous tail you got so don't worry, I won't chop it off," the girl reassured while I was twitching slightly and Legosi looked struck stupid with his mouth open while he hovered near us.
'She...she touched me,' I thought in disbelief as I headed over to the potted plants and picked one up before walking alongside the girl.
"So, what year are you in?" the girl asked.
"Uh, I'm a second-year," I answered while we were heading to the back of the garden.
"I'm a third-year so it's nice to meet someone younger than I am since it's a nice breath of fresh air," the girl admitted as we arrived at the back of the garden.
"Are there any other members of this club, senpai?" I inquired as she directed me to where I should put the plants down.
"You don't need to be so formal with me because I'm the only member here. There were two other senpais but they graduated four years ago and no one else joined ever since," the girl explained as I headed over to where she pointed at.
I put down the potted plant and saw a clipboard, then I picked it up and looked through it while I felt impressed that she had been doing this by herself for four years.
"Must be pretty tough doing all of this by yourself," I commented as I started feeling more relaxed around her.
"Pretty much, but these little ones need me and I need them...maybe a wolf like you wouldn't understand, but we're all weak here and we have to support each other or petty stubbornness can lead to poor choices, which can end up in dangerous situations," the girl told me as she was hydrating the flowers and I saw her bandaged arm as memories of what I did made me feel stressed again.
'Okay, just don't say anything about her arm,' I thought uneasily as I put down the clipboard and stood up.
"Um...what happened to your arm if you don't mind me asking?" I asked and felt like whacking my head against a wall.
'You fucking dumbass, why the hell did you have to ask her that?!' I thought in disbelief as the girl looked at her arm and shrugged.
"This? That's a very good question because I don't remember what happened, though it hurts like hell if I have to be honest," the girl answered while my eyes widened.
"Huh? Nothing?" I questioned in surprise while I was wondering how she forgot about something so traumatic.
"Yeah, but I'm sure it must be uncomfortable seeing a small animal walk around here with a bandage on so don't worry, I probably had a bad dream," the girl reassured as she went back to spraying the plants while humming.
It was so strange, I didn't feel anything from what she said but I still couldn't stop watching her as she kept working with a smile and gestured for me to help her, then I planted seeds and watered the garden as I felt serene for the first time in so long.
"Well, I'm going to go wash my hands so let's head to the clubroom," the girl said after we were finished with tending to the garden.
"Sure..." I trailed off bashfully as we stood up and went to the building until we headed inside.
When we entered, I looked around and saw that the inside looked like a small home with gardening supplies, a bed, and a table as I took my tail out of one of the suspenders and watched the girl while she washed her hands in the sink and dried them off.
"Thank you so much for helping me, the plants haven't been feeling so well lately so I'm sure that they'll be better now that they are getting plenty of sunlight. I should repay you for your help, so what kind of food do you like?" the girl offered and I started feeling nervous as I adverted my eyes and looked at the wall on my left.
'I don't need to be thanked, especially from someone I almost killed last night but I can't help but want to keep talking to you,' I thought as I looked back at the girl with an awkward expression.
"Um...hold on for a second," I said and went right back to inwardly struggle with myself.
'Shit, what the hell do I say to this girl? For Christ's sake, Connor, you faced all manner of very nasty things in the Wasteland and now you're getting tongue-tied like some damn hormonal teenager that can't even talk to a girl!
God, I can't even look at her and this is becoming all manners of awkward, though I just can't find the courage to tell her even if I was a male rabbit...ugh, I'm stressing myself out over nothing so I need to suck it up and say something!' I thought irritably as I closed my eyes, gripped my head, and groaned while ignoring whatever the girl was saying.
"Is it your first time with a small animal?" the girl asked suddenly and I felt confused at first when I opened my eyes, then I froze up with my brain shutting down as I saw the girl only wearing her bra and underwear as she approached me.
"It's okay...I may be a bit rough, but I'll make this worth your while," the girl stated softly while my eyes were bulging at what she was doing and Legosi was staring with his mouth open in shock from the sight as my brain tried to reboot.
A/N Damn, it is just not Connor's day and unlike Legosi, he knows exactly what Haru is doing and is struck stupid by what is currently happening to him. Anyway, happy New Year so let me know what you think and stay tuned.
