A/N Hey guys, welcome to another chapter and I've decided that I'm going to try and work on this story for a while but if I have the urge to update my other stories, then I'll do it so don't be disappointed if I don't update for a bit since I'm most likely busy with my other stories or I'm taking a break from time to time.
Either way, this chapter will introduce Doug to Anima city's criminal underworld for the first time so without further ado, let's begin.
After Michiru kept glaring at the wolf, she eventually looked down at her pawed-hands while I was still trying to process everything that had happened to me and what I've witnessed as I was lost in thought about what Michiru said about how she used to be a human until I looked at her.
"Michiru, about you being a human, is that true?" I asked and Michiru nodded.
"That's right, I'm a human...at least I used to be," Michiru replied quietly and I found myself reading the micro-expressions in her face and her body language until I could somehow tell that she wasn't lying as the wolf walked over to study her from every angle.
"So, you're a tanuki," the wolf said before Michiru quickly sent him an irritated look.
"You're wrong, it's a raccoon," Michiru argued, only the wolf didn't look phased by it.
"A raccoon's tail has stripes on it, so you're a tanuki for sure," the wolf pointed out stoically, causing Michiru to start fuming.
"I don't want to be that!" Michiru snapped irritably until I picked up the sound of sirens getting closer just as the wolf's ears twitched and he looked in the direction of where they were coming from.
"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt or anything, but we should probably get the hell out of here before the police arrive," I suggested uneasily, then the wolf nodded.
"Agreed, now come with me," the wolf instructed before we tied up the terrorists with rope and the wolf left a note for the police before we made our way to the rooftops, running across them until the wolf jumped down into an alley with Michiru and I using a drainpipe to get down until we looked at the wolf.
"Hold on a second, where are we going anyway?" Michiru asked in exasperation, just as the wolf turned around and she let out a slight gasp as we saw that he was now a male human with pale skin, slightly disheveled white hair, and had the same ice-blue eyes while I noted that he looked to be around my age, maybe a year older as Michiru struggled to say something.
"Just how long are you both planning to stay like that? Hurry up and take on your human forms," the man ordered, then Michiru looked embarrassed as she looked down bashfully.
"About that, Doug has amnesia and as for me...well..." Michiru trailed off before the man's eyes furrowed in confusion.
"Don't tell me you two can't," the man replied with an arched brow as he stared at us weirdly before Michiru hesitantly nodded.
"Yeah, I woke up in the woods without any memory of who I am except for my name and I think I'm 24 years old, though I could try to change back into my human form again since I did wake up in my human form so I guess the muscle memory is still there," I said and started to concentrate.
I focused on a mental picture of what I looked like in my human form and thought about what it was like being human until the strange tingling sensation spread throughout my body again until it went away and I looked at my hands to see that they were human again with the silver fur completely gone while Michiru stared at me with widened eyes and the man didn't even react, then he looked at Michiru and opened his mouth in an attempt to say something until he simply scowled and started walking to the end of the alley ahead of us with his hands in his coat pockets.
"I thought he'd be older, Doug," Michiru whispered to me as we started to follow him.
"You do know that he can hear you even though you're whispering, right? Still, his attitude is getting on my nerves a little bit," I muttered back as the three of us exited the alley, then I saw that every beastman that was either nearby or walking past us was now human as well when it made me and Michiru paused at that.
"Hey, wait," Michiru said in confusion, causing the man to stop and look back at us as he sighed.
"What is it?" the man asked and I sent him a puzzled expression.
"Everyone looks human so we weren't expecting them to not be in their animal forms," I admitted before the man scoffed.
"No, of course not," the man said gruffly when Michiru quickly looked at him.
"But they weren't human a while ago," Michiru pointed out and the man frowned.
"That was only for the festival so this is normal," the man stated, then Michiru widened her eyes before she groaned in disbelief.
"Michiru, I'm sure it's not that bad so it's okay," I reassured and Michiru sent me a weary look.
"But Doug, I thought everyone that lives here would always be in their animal forms, and it's easy for you to say since you found a way to become human again while I'm stuck like this," Michiru whined as I started feeling awkward when the man scrunched his face up at what she said.
"That is really such a human thing to say," the man scoffed before he continued walking, then Michiru puffed up her cheeks at his words.
"Yeah, cause I am a human," Michiru grumbled before she looked at two women who were staring at us while one was talking, and I did not doubt that it was because Michiru was in her beast form while my clothes were torn.
Feeling a little self-conscious at the attention, I signaled Michiru to keep walking and we went after the man so that we wouldn't lose sight of him, then we continued following the man as we passed by buildings and other beastmen until we finally arrived at one building that had a sign on it saying 'B Co-op' on it.
The man led us inside and we were soon introduced to two beastmen by the names of Gem and Melissa, who seemed like nice people as Gem had us take a seat on the sofa and we sat down, then he put what appeared to be a band-aid on my nose and did the same on Michiru's snout before having us wait for a little bit until he ripped them off and that caused us to recoil when Gem studied the band-aids and I could see a blue color on the strips.
"Yep, they're beastmen alright," Gem told the man, and that surprised me.
"Seriously, those little things can tell?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, the beastman marker is a simple yet reliable verification so I can confirm without a doubt that you both are beastmen," Gem said before Michiru stood up with a glare.
"You're wrong, I'm a human so can't you tell?!" Michiru snapped irritably and I cleared my throat to get her attention.
"Michiru, they're not going to believe you no matter how many times you say it, and you look nothing like a human if you ask me so it's no surprise that nobody is going to believe you," I pointed out logically and Gem nodded.
"He has a point because even without the marker, there are no two ways about it," Gem agreed when Michiru gritted her teeth.
"I'm telling you that I'm a human!" Michiru shouted in frustration before I put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
"Michiru, calm down because shouting at him isn't going to help or convince anyone so don't worry, we'll figure this out and everything will turn out alright," I assured her gently before Michiru sighed.
"Thanks Doug, it's just that...I was a normal human until a year ago and one day, I woke up and suddenly took on this form," Michiru muttered solemnly while she looked depressed when the man spoke up.
"Impossible, it simply can't happen because a human is a human and a beastman is a beastman so you can't just change suddenly," the man pointed out stoically, causing us to look at him when Michiru scowled.
"I'm sure it's some kind of disease!" Michiru yelled while I sweatdropped at what she said.
"Such as what?" the man questioned dryly.
"Yeah, you know, something like beastman-itis!" Michiru shouted before she quickly looked at Gem, making him flinch.
"There are others in this town just like me, right?!" Michiru asked hopefully before I scratched the back of my head.
"Um, Michiru, if what happened to you is caused by a disease as you said, then wouldn't there be cases of humans becoming beastmen popping up everywhere? I'm just saying, it wouldn't be an isolated case and panic would break out everywhere with the whole thing being all over the news," I pointed out hesitantly before Michiru started to appear doubtful.
"There's no one else like you," the man said to Michiru bluntly while Gem hummed thoughtfully.
"Mr. Jackson is right, I think something like what you described wouldn't just happen to you but I have heard talk of human delusional syndrome catching on lately, so we could have you admitted to the-" Gem started to say and was cut off.
"It's not that kind of disease!" Michiru retorted as Gem leaned back in his seat and held his hands up in surrender.
"O-Okay," Gem stuttered meekly just as Melissa entered the room.
"Gem, there's really no need for you to talk to her like that so subtlety has never really been your strong point, has it?" Melissa commented in exasperation until she looked at us and added, "I'm so sorry, you two are miss Kagemori and Mr. Jackson, is that right?"
"Yes, I'm Douglas Jackson and that's Michiru Kagemori so it's good to meet you both," I greeted as Michiru bowed her head when Melissa smiled warmly.
"A pleasure to meet you two as well, you already know who we are so we're in charge of the beastman cooperative and part of our job is to look after all newcomers...anyway, you two are going to need to fill these out so that you both can register as residents at city hall," Melissa said as she handed me and Michiru two forms before we looked through them.
I could see that I needed to write down my name, age, date of birth, and more but I didn't remember when I was born or anything else other than my name and I think I was 24 years old since that sounded about right so I looked up at Melissa and Gem with a grimace.
"Yeah, about that...I don't remember who I am or where I came from other than my name and I think I'm 24 years old so I'm not going to be able to write down most of this," I admitted sheepishly before Gem and Melissa started looking concerned.
"Oh, you poor dear, I'm really sorry to hear that so I hope you'll be able to recover your memories soon," Melissa said sympathetically and I nodded.
"Thank you, but will I be able to remember everything?" I asked hopefully and Gem hummed thoughtfully.
"It's hard to say because I've heard of people suffering from amnesia before and each case is different so there's no telling when you'll recover from your memory loss, but I have heard that memories can be regained through certain things like a photo, certain smells, or places that you've been before so you could recover your memories through any of them," Gem explained but I was still uncertain.
"That's the thing, I woke up in a forest on the mainland with nothing on me other than a gun so I'm completely lost on what to do," I admitted solemnly.
"Don't worry, I'm sure it'll come back to you in time but I'm afraid that you won't be able to keep that gun since the weapon laws in this city are strict, so you might have to turn it over to the police once you get registered as a resident," Melissa pointed out before I sighed.
"Yeah, I expected that would happen so I'll be sure to do that," I said tiredly while Michiru was listening, then she looked at the form in her hands before she fumed.
"Seriously though, I told you guys that I'm not a beastman so I shouldn't have to fill this out," Michiru spoke up to get back to the matter and hand and we all looked at her.
"Don't worry, it's just standard procedure here," Melissa reassured and Michiru looked back at the form for a few moments until she perked up.
"Oh, I know, my student ID!" Michiru exclaimed excitedly.
"What good will that do?" the man asked, startling me slightly since I had almost forgotten he was still here because of how quiet he was being right now.
"My blood type and species are printed on my student ID, not to mention that humans and beastmen have different blood types while it's printed on the ID just in case I needed a transfusion," Michiru explained with a look of hope on her face when something occurred to me and I grimaced.
"Um, Michiru, wouldn't your student ID be in your wallet and didn't your wallet get stolen earlier tonight?" I questioned hesitantly, making Michiru freeze up at what I pointed out before she started twitching.
"Oh yeah...I forgot about that," Michiru whimpered and I winced since there was a good chance we'll never find her wallet now.
"Well, looks like you'll just have to accept it," Melissa stated and Michiru looked less than happy to hear that.
"I don't want to!" Michiru yelled, sounding like she was about to start crying as her ears flattened and she trembled.
"Unfortunately, things stolen in Anima city are generally lost forever," Gem explained while he and Melissa looked concerned.
"Why don't you and Mr. Jackson call it a day, dear? You both look pretty tired," Melissa suggested and I nodded.
"Yeah, getting some sleep sounds good right now," I agreed and the man looked at me.
"Before you do that, I want to speak to you in private for a moment," the man said, a tone in his voice telling me that it was not a request as he went to the hallway so I sighed and turned my attention to the others.
"Well, better get it over with," I muttered as I got up from my seat and followed him, entering the hallway and leaving everyone's sight before the man stopped to turn around and he sent me a look of suspicion.
"Listen carefully, I'm going to ask you some questions and don't even think about lying to me, understand?" the man told me and I nodded uneasily since his glare was a little scary.
"S-Sure, go ahead," I stuttered slightly.
"Is Douglas Jackson your real name? Are you 24 years old? And what is your reason for coming to Anima city?" the man questioned without pause, then I knew that I would have to answer as honestly as possible if I didn't want to irritate him since seeing him pissed earlier at the festival wasn't something I wanted to experience again.
"Honestly, I won't be able to tell you much since I don't remember anything but Douglas Jackson is my real name and I am 24 years old as far as I can recall, but as for the reason why I'm here in Anima city, I just figured that this place could be a fresh start for me since I don't have anywhere else to go and humans don't seem to be too fond of our species," I answered honestly as I scratched the back of my head.
After that, the man remained silent as he gazed into my eyes with an intense look and it made me shrink back slightly since his glare was intimidating as hell and a few minutes had gone by until he nodded, seemingly satisfied at my answers before he gestured for me to follow him.
I stayed behind him as he led me upstairs until we came to a stop in front of a door, then he opened it and I could see that it was a regular-sized bedroom that was a little bare, but it looked fine to me as I stepped inside and took a look around.
"This is where you'll be sleeping from now on, so understand that I'll be watching you and I will hurt you if you do anything that'll threaten this city," the man warned as he stared at me with a look that told me he wasn't joking.
"Don't worry, I won't cause any problems here," I reassured and the man stared at me skeptically for a few seconds until he nodded.
"Good, now get some sleep because we're going to have an early start tomorrow, and you'll need a change of clothes for tomorrow since your shirt and pants look like rags," the man pointed out bluntly before he started to leave.
"Wait, I didn't catch your name, mister..." I trailed off and the man looked back at me.
"Shirou, now get some sleep," Shirou said before he shut the door and he was gone.
"Well...he was friendly," I muttered sarcastically before I went over to the bed and saw a bedside table that had a drawer, then I opened the drawer and removed the gun from the back of my jeans before I removed the mag and racked the slide so the bullet can fly out.
I caught the bullet and loaded it into the mag until I put it and the empty gun into the drawer, then I closed the drawer and stripped down to my boxers before going to bed and I just stared at the ceiling as I was lost in thought about my situation and wondered how this happened to me.
'I'm sure I'll figure out eventually so I should get some sleep,' I thought as I closed my eyes, hoping that tomorrow would be better as I drifted off.
"No, no, no!"
"No, no, please!"
"RUUUUUNNNN!"
"Fuck!" I yelped as I was startled awake and shot up, panting and darting my eyes around as I was shaky all over and panicking until I soon realized that it was a nightmare and started clutching my head.
The dream was awful, just floating in a black void while I heard screams among the sounds of gunfire, children crying, and explosions as I struggled to regain myself until I eventually calmed down but I was still a bit shaken up from what I dreamt about.
"Jesus, talk about one hell of a nightmare...it felt so real," I muttered before I removed the blanket and swung my legs over to the edge of the bed.
I had gotten up and did a morning routine that consisted of push-ups and squats while it was like I had done them before and I finished up, hearing someone knock on the door and I walked over before opening it slightly and could see Shirou on the other side.
"I have some fresh clothes for you so take a shower and get dressed," Shirou told me and I blinked at that.
"Okay, so where's the bathroom?" I asked as a pair of clothes and a towel was handed to me.
"Down the hall and two doors on the right," Shirou said before he walked away and I frowned since the guy didn't appear to be the social type.
Either way, I left my new room and followed Shirou's directions until I found the bathroom, heading inside and locking the door behind me when I turned to look at the mirror and was shocked to see a few large scars that were across my athletic torso and stared for a moment until I shook my head and slipped out of my boxers until I placed the towel and clothes on the toilet before I stepped into the shower.
I turned on the shower and adjusted the water's temperature before proceeding to scrub myself so that I could get rid of the dirt and grime that was on me, showering quickly until I was done and stepped out of the shower.
I headed to the toilet and took the towel before drying myself off, then I put on the fresh pair of clothes that consisted of a black leather jacket, gray t-shirt, dark blue jeans with a belt, and brown work boots when I finished getting dressed and checked out my new wardrobe in the mirror's reflection.
I looked good and nodded in satisfaction, putting the dirty towel in the nearby laundry basket and exited the bathroom before heading back to my room and going inside when I went to where the form was on the desk and used a pen to fill out my name, age, and my reasons for being in Anima city but I left the rest of it blank since I don't remember anything else so this will have to do.
After that, I gathered up my old clothes and shoes before making my way downstairs where Shirou and Michiru were waiting, just before Shirou had me dump my torn clothes and shoes in the trash until we left the building and started to make our way to city hall.
We walked for a while until we arrived at city hall, which was a skyscraper and I let out a whistle since it was impressive when Shirou led me and Michiru to the resident section where beastmen can register as citizens of Anima city, then I saw that it was packed with people and my eyes widened.
"Wow, it's packed," Michiru commented and I nodded.
"Yeah, that is a lot of people," I agreed just before Shirou started walking out of the building.
"See you later," Shirou said and we quickly looked at him.
"Wait, you're leaving us?!" Michiru exclaimed in shock, making Shirou stop and look back at us.
"I have a few errands I need to run here, too. Do the rest on your own," Shirou told us a little rudely and I narrowed my eyes at that.
"Hey, you don't need to be such an ass about it," I retorted just before I heard someone shouting at somebody to move out of the way.
I turned around to see a large man with scars on his face as he was in the front of the line and pushed people out of the way, making them back up nervously as the man went to talk to the woman at the desk, then someone else walked up to him and growled that he was supposed to be at the front of the line before the two large men shifted into their beast forms while people backed away from the fight that was about to break out.
"Hey, uh, what's going on?" Michiru questioned uneasily.
"The young ones always want to assert their dominance on the others," Shirou replied as the two beastmen started brawling, and in a public place no less.
"Um, that's not what she meant so aren't there any laws in this city?" I asked with a grimace.
"There are, the strong survive," Shirou said as I winced from one of the two beastmen headbutting the other while the other one retaliated by sending his head into the first one's abdomen to knock him down.
"It's the only rule," Shirou added when I sweatdropped at what he said while Michiru didn't look any better as one of the beastmen won the fight, the bull pinning his opponent to the ground with his foot while other beastmen were cheering him on as a couple of them were in their beast forms with one of them recording the whole thing with his smartphone.
"That...is just so ridiculous," Michiru groaned in disbelief while I nodded.
"Yeah, now I'm starting to have second thoughts about living here if it's like this all the time," I agreed uneasily before Shirou started to leave.
"If you both just stand there, then your turns will never come," Shirou told us as he walked away, then Michiru and I went to the back of the line with me right behind her as she let out an exasperated groan.
"I didn't think it was going to be like this here," Michiru admitted and I sent her a sympathetic smile.
"I know, I feel the same way but on the bright side, at least we won't have to run or hide anymore," I pointed out and Michiru didn't argue with that as we waited for the line to move when I looked to my left and paused when I saw a man in a hoodie acting suspiciously.
I narrowed my eyes slightly since the guy seemed familiar and tapped on Michiru's shoulder to get her attention, then I subtly gestured at the suspicious man and she looked at him while he was walking over to a bench where someone was having a nap.
"Now where have I seen him before?" Michiru muttered thoughtfully as we watched the man head over to the bench and he suddenly swiped a wallet from the sleeping guy's bag, sparking a sense of familiarity in me as Michiru widened her eyes and gasped.
"Doug, could that possibly be..." Michiru trailed off before I nodded.
"Only one way to find out," I suggested before we left the back of the line and started following the thief.
We left the building and stayed behind the guy at a safe distance as I wondered how he was familiar to me since he reminded me of somebody that Michiru and I encountered last night, then the man looked back with an expression of suspicion and took out all the money in the wallet before he turned into his beast form and I finally recognized him as the monkey beastman who stole Michiru's wallet until he suddenly bolted.
"I knew it!" Michiru shouted with a determined glare before we chased after him.
"Okay, I'll go cut him off so stay behind him!" I exclaimed before ducking down another street and running down the sidewalk when I went around the next corner and came to a stop next to an alley that I was sure the thief would come out of.
I waited until I heard running footsteps getting closer to the exit and just as the thief was about to run out of the alley, I quickly turned into view and sent my fist right into the thief's face as the hit knocked him to the ground when I grabbed him by the arm and forced him back into the alley, where I pinned him against the wall with my arm against the back of his neck while I was keeping his arm behind his back as Michiru caught up with us.
"W-What the hell are you doing?!" the thief shouted as he struggled to get loose, only I put pressure on his arm and he yelped in pain.
"Keep struggling and I'll break your arm, so give back her wallet and I'll let you go," I said sternly as the thief stopped struggling and looked back with gritted teeth.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" the thief yelled before Michiru scowled.
"Yes you do because you stole my wallet yesterday, so admit it," Michiru demanded irritably.
"For god sake's, that's ancient history!" the thief shouted and I glared at him.
"Do you really think we were born yesterday? It just happened last night so unless you have a short-term memory problem, you're lying so quit screwing around and give Michiru's wallet back to her," I snapped with a look of annoyance until I heard someone coming to a stop at the entrance of the alley.
"It's no use talking about what happened yesterday in this town," a familiar voice spoke up, making me look and I saw Marie standing at the entrance of the alley.
"You're Marie, right? From yesterday?" I questioned and Marie nodded.
"Yep, that's right," Marie replied just before the monkey beastman suddenly swung his elbow into my abdomen.
I let out a pained grunt as I was forced to let go and the monkey tried to run, then my eyes turned cold and focused before I grabbed the monkey and yanked him back until I proceeded to knock him senseless with a few strikes to the face, then I threw him to the ground and sent my foot into his leg when a loud snap occurred.
The monkey started screaming in pure agony as he rolled around and instinctively clutched his leg, snapping me out of it and my eyes widened in horror as I quickly backed away from him while Marie and Michiru looked utterly paralyzed by what just happened.
"You bastard, you broke my fucking leg!" the monkey yelled in pain and started sobbing from the agony he was no doubt feeling right now as Michiru snapped out of it and quickly shot me a look of disbelief.
"Doug, what the hell is wrong with you?! There's no need to break his leg!" Michiru shouted incredulously while I was trembling and looking at my hands.
"I-I don't know what happened, I-I just reacted without thinking about it," I stuttered as I was freaking out and breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating when Marie snapped out of it.
"Damn, uh, I wasn't expecting that so try not to at least kill people in this city since it causes problems for you and for me," Marie told me until I managed to calm down.
"Look, I know he's your accomplice so just tell us where the wallet is and try to get him medical attention," I pleaded as Marie walked over to where the monkey was currently at and went to help him up.
"Not to worry, I'll give you some advice for free as a gesture of goodwill so listen carefully, all lost belongings can be found in Rabbit Town," Marie said and Michiru started looking confused.
"You said...rabbit town?" Michiru asked and Marie nodded.
"Uh-huh, go there and pay Gram Grandma a visit," Marie replied before she helped the monkey out of the alley, then they were gone and I let out a shaky sigh after that as we started to leave the alley as well.
It took some time asking around, but we soon arrived at rabbit town but before that happened, Michiru and I didn't speak to one another and it was like we were back on the boat last night so I felt guilty and hated myself for scaring her again as I looked up at the sign that was supposed to show that we were in rabbit town, only the sign was rusted over with several words missing while the neighborhood looked rundown.
"Doug, nothing about this place says rabbit," Michiru commented, finally speaking up after what felt like forever and I nodded.
"Yeah, I have a bad feeling about this so we should be careful," I stated as I felt a sense of danger flaring up, making me look forward and I saw a group of women approach us as they scowled at us and especially at me in particular.
"Huh, who the hell are you two?" one of the women questioned with a hard glare as I noticed a few of them surrounding us from the sides as well while most of them had their arms crossed and Michiru appeared uneasy.
"Uh, do you know where we can find someone called Gram Grandma?" Michiru asked nervously, only the group of women shifted into their beast forms and started growling when Michiru and I flinched as the female tanuki held up her hand to placate them and I frantically shook my hands.
"W-Whoa, we're not here to cause trouble so take it easy because we heard from someone that Gram Grandma is the person to go to for lost belongings and she might have something we're looking for!" I reasoned frantically, causing the women to stop growling but they still glared at us.
One of the women approached us while the others took out a bunch of handguns to cover her, then Michiru and I were patted down for any weapons we might have on us until the woman was finished when she gestured for us to start walking.
Michiru and I were escorted through the district while the women kept an eye on us and made sure to keep their guns out during our trip to where Gram Grandma was possibly at until we arrived at a building, then we were forced inside and led upstairs when we found ourselves in an office with a female rabbit beastman sitting at her desk while a few others were watching us for any sudden moves as they were armed with rifles.
"One of you sure has a lot of guts walking in here all morphed up like that," a lioness beastman said with a glare and it made Michiru flinch.
"Um, I don't-" Michiru tried to say and was cut off.
"Don't play dumb with us because when it comes to gangs, morphing is a signal for a fight so one of you marching in here all morphed up already tells us that you two are looking for a fight, is that it?!" the lioness growled and I noticed that Michiru was going to say something stupid so I quickly shook my head.
"Wait, we didn't come here to fight or anything like that because the reason why she's like that is that she prefers being in that form, not because she's looking for a fight! Look, the reason why we're here is that her wallet got stolen and Marie Itami told us that Gram Grandma was the person to point us in the right direction when it comes to stolen goods," I reasoned and the rabbit arched a brow.
"So, Marie Itami told you to come here? In that case, I am Gram Grandma and I assume this is hers?" Gram questioned as she held up a familiar wallet and Michiru perked up.
"Yeah, that's it! That's my wallet so if you just look at the student ID, then it'll prove that it's mine!" Michiru exclaimed happily, then Gram looked thoughtful.
"So, you're actually a student then?" Gram asked and that made me wonder what she was up to since I could just tell in her voice.
"Huh?" Michiru questioned in confusion.
"She just asked you if you're a student, now answer the damn question!" the lioness snapped irritably.
"Uh, yeah, that's right...I am," Michiru replied hesitantly.
"And if you are a student, then that must mean you can read and write," Gram said while Michiru looked a little meek now.
"Yes, I can," Michiru said weakly when Gram nodded.
"Okay, then I'm going to give this back to you but in return, I'm going to need a little favor," Gram told us before my eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"If it's to kill somebody, then we won't do that because we won't shed blood to get that wallet," I stated firmly before Gram chuckled.
"Oh, it's nothing like that so we'll show you," Gram assured before she stood up from her seat and gestured for me and Michiru to follow her until we all left the office with the lioness right behind us.
We walked through a few hallways as the lioness introduced herself as Elsa and I didn't know what this favor was exactly, but I still had to be cautious since these people were criminals from what I could tell so their word wasn't exactly something to be trusted with as we soon arrived at a door and Elsa opened it, then I was taken by surprise at the sight of children that were either human or in their beast forms while we entered until a few kids stopped what they were doing and looked curious as they saw me and Michiru with Gram and Elsa.
"I just want you both to teach these kids to read and write," Gram said while I looked at the kids and didn't know how to feel about this.
"I had no idea that there were kids here," Michiru admitted with a look of surprise.
"The fact of the matter is that this city district is where all those betrayed by men eventually end up, and for female beastmen with no clear path to take in life, they are forced to choose one that is more or less a dead end.
The pain and struggles of a beastman life are all these children have ever known," Gram explained while it sparked a sense of familiarity within me and my eyes softened.
"If they can read and write, then at least they'll be able to have some sort of future in this world," Elsa added while an odd sadness rose up in me as I stared at these kids who reminded me of something, but I wasn't sure what exactly.
"If you two can do this for us, then I'll return the wallet," Gram offered, just before Michiru and I shared a look of determination and we turned our attention to Gram.
"We understand, so we'll do it," Michiru said and I nodded in agreement.
After that, we were introduced to the kids and Gram told them that we would help them with their education, now Michiru and I were standing in front of a chalkboard when we wrote our names down and the kids watched us as they all sat next to each other.
"Now, what do they say? Can anyone here read it?" Michiru asked as she tapped her chalk at our names and the kids stared at us for a few moments until one of them raised his hand.
"Yes, go ahead," I encouraged with a calm smile.
"It's poop," the kid answered, then I chuckled slightly.
"Good guess, but no because they say Mi...chi...ru and Do..ug..las, Michiru and Douglas so that's our names and does anyone here know how to write out their own name?" I asked before Michiru and I waited for an answer, then Michiru knelt down in front of another kid.
"Why don't you tell us your name," Michiru said kindly.
"It's Youta," Youta replied.
"So, you're Youta," I said as Michiru stood up and went over to the chalkboard to write down Youta's name before she gestured at it.
"This is Youta, Y...ou...ta so try writing it," Michiru offered as she held out the chalk for the kid to take.
Youta took the chalk and stood up before looking at the chalk and the board a few times until he started writing his name on the chalkboard, then he was done and I could see that it was a little awkward but it wasn't bad for his first try as I smiled and leaned down next to him.
"There you go, you've written your name so good job," I complimented and Youta started smiling, looking happier while Michiru and I turned to face the rest of the class.
"Is there anyone else who wants to give it a try?" Michiru asked before everyone else raised their hands eagerly.
The class continued after that as most of the day went by and I was having fun teaching these kids, but what surprised me was how good I was at math or other things even if I didn't remember them, telling me that I still had the knowledge locked away and that I was able to recite it subconsciously when I noticed that the sun was starting to set so we would have to finish up soon.
"First, you've got to memorize all the hiragana and then..." Michiru trailed off when she noticed that one of the kids was drawing something on a piece of paper, catching my attention as well so I walked over and kneeled down next to him as I could see that he was drawing what appeared to be a wolf with bright fur.
"Wow, that looks pretty good so is that a wolf?" I asked and the kid stopped so that he could look at me.
"No, it's not because it's the silver wolf," the kid replied and Michiru started looking interested.
"What's the silver wolf?" Michiru inquired curiously.
"Wait a minute, Michiru, you and Doug don't know about the silver wolf?" Youta questioned with a smile and I shook my head.
"Sorry, I'm afraid we don't," I said with a shrug when the kid who was drawing had quickly looked up in surprise.
"He's like the god of beastmen because when a beastman is in some kind of trouble, a silver wolf comes to save them so everyone knows that since like forever," Youta explained, then my eyes widened as I recalled the glowing blue wolf Michiru and I had spotted on that rooftop last night during the festival so I wonder if that was what Youta is talking about as Michiru and I shared a look.
"Michiru, you don't think that..." I trailed off and the female tanuki nodded.
"Yeah, maybe that's what that thing was," Michiru agreed before Youta perked up as he stood up.
"Michiru, Doug, have you two seen him?" Youta gasped as the rest of the kids started crowding us.
"No way, are you serious?!" a girl exclaimed in excitement while Michiru started looking uncomfortable and held up her hands.
"No, we can't say for sure-" Michiru tried to say, then she stopped suddenly as she looked to her left and that made me do the same when I saw what appeared to be a familiar person on a rooftop that was across the building we were in.
'Wait, is that...Shirou?' I thought in confusion as I blinked once, then Shirou was gone and I frowned since I had no idea while he would be here until I noticed a little girl that was sitting all alone nearby and started to make my way to her until I sat down next to her.
"Hey there, why aren't you with the others?" I asked and the girl shrugged.
"I didn't feel like it," the girl said quietly and I hummed at that.
"You don't have any friends here or anything like that?" I inquired with a look of concern and the girl shook her head.
"No, the others don't want to play with me," the girl admitted and I frowned at that before I started smiling gently.
"You know, I could be your friend if you want," I offered and the girl quickly looked up at me with wide eyes.
"Really?" the girl asked, appearing more hopeful and my heart ached for this poor kid as I nodded.
"Sure, so what's your name?" I inquired.
"Yuki," Yuki replied.
"Well, it's nice to meet you so if you don't mind me asking, how did you get here and where are your parents?" I questioned gently, then Yuki started looking sad as she returned her focus to the floor again.
"They're...gone," Yuki answered hesitantly, and at that moment, what appeared to be a memory of a man and a woman had appeared in my mind while they were smiling at me warmly and looked similar to me when I felt nothing but anguish and grief rise up as my eyes welled up and I struggled to keep my composure.
"Mister, are you crying?" Yuki asked and I sniffled slightly as I sent her a weak smile.
"I'm fine, just remembering something is all," I reassured as I realized that I was remembering my parents, but I didn't understand why it hurt so much since it was like I was about to start crying as I stood up and sent Yuki a reassuring smile when I started to head back to where Michiru was.
Suddenly, a sharp pain hit me as something went into my neck, making me grunt in pain as I instinctively went to pull out whatever was in my neck when I saw that it was a dart of some kind, just before I felt woozy and I swayed as I realized that I was shot with a tranquilizer dart and I thought I heard Michiru calling out for me when I fell to my knees and collapsed completely as I heard a commotion breaking out until I passed out after that.
"Doug, can you hear me?! You need to wake up!" Michiru shouted after an unknown amount of time had passed by, making me groan as I stirred and opened my eyes wearily.
"Ugh...Michiru? What happened?" I questioned woozily as I sat up and clutched my head while looking around to see that Michiru and the kids were with me, only I saw that we were in a confined space with only bars that led outside as I noticed that the environment looked like a shipping area of some kind while it was currently night.
"You were knocked out and Gram Grandma had us all brought here before we were put into this cage," Michiru explained as she looked frantic, waking me up fully as the tranquilizer quickly wore off and I suddenly stood up.
"Oh no, not good," I said uneasily as I went over to the bars and narrowed my eyes when I saw Gram and Elsa on the other side.
"Oh, you're awake so that's good," Gram said while I scowled as Michiru went over to grip the bars next to me.
"What is this?" I demanded with a dangerous tone in my voice.
"I just thought I have you all take a little trip together," Gram said with a smile when Michiru started showing an expression of disgust.
"I get it, you plan to sell us off, don't you?!" Michiru interrogated, horrifying me as my eyes bugged out.
"I could've gotten a higher price for them if they had learned to read and write a little bit but, unfortunately, it turned into a bit of a rush order," Gram told us while I felt sick as I understood why Michiru and I were to teach them how to read and write.
"So that's why you had us teach them? They're your children, aren't they?! Are you serious?!" Michiru shouted in horror and disbelief as I was still trying to comprehend that this was really happening.
"I don't recall ever saying that they were our children," Gram pointed out and I froze as I recalled Yuki telling me that she lost her parents while Michiru and I looked back at the kids.
"So, when Yuki said that her parents are gone, that means..." I trailed off since I was afraid of finishing my sentence.
"That's right, they're brats who got separated from their parents or lost them after coming to Anima city," Elsa spoke up uncaringly and that caused nothing but pure rage and fury to flare up as I sent Gram and Elsa a look of murder in my eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with you people?! They're just kids and you're just going to treat them like objects?!" I shouted as I shifted into my beast form and started snarling while I gripped the bars.
"The weak live on by trampling on the weaker, something that's a matter of survival and that's the kind of place this is," Gram stated coldly while Michiru looked just as livid as I was.
"You better pray I don't get out of here because I'm going to make you wish you were dead once I'm done with you," I threatened menacingly just before an engine started and the cage shook as Michiru gasped once the cage started lifting in the air and the kids whimpered.
"Please save us, silver wolf," Youta said distressfully and I quickly turned around to kneel down in front of him as he shifted into his beast form.
"Youta, we will get out of here and so Michiru and I will make sure that happens," I assured him just as Michiru went to look out of the cage and went to look back.
"Everybody hold on!" Michiru warned as she jumped up and planted her feet on the bars, then she let out a strained groan while her tail started glowing and I knew what would happen next as I quickly gestured for the kids to grab onto me.
The kids grabbed onto me just as Michiru's tail enlarged into a huge size as the cage swayed from the excess weight when the cage started rising quickly to the crane and the cage stopped swinging after that as we all fell to the floor before Michiru's tail shrunk back to normal size and I got up.
"This isn't going to work," another girl pointed out, making me frown as I studied the bars and recalled that I was as fast as Shirou and had advanced regeneration, so I wonder if I was just as strong as him so I went over to the bars and grabbed onto two of them.
"Okay, I'm going to try something so just bear with me for a sec," I said as I started tugging on the bars and growled as I gritted my teeth with veins appearing.
"Doug, I don't think that's going to..." Michiru started to say, only to trail off as I started roaring and everyone's mouths dropped open at seeing the bars bending to the sides as I made an exit big enough for everyone to get out until I let go of the bars.
"Doug, that was amazing!" Yuki cried out in astonishment as I stared at my hands in shock and disbelief until I shook it off and looked at Michiru.
"Okay, now we can get out but we have to get to the controls of the crane first," I said just as Michiru hurried over to the hole I made and looked up at where the cab was.
"Alright, the driver seat is closer now so we can't give up yet...no one helps you because you came to this city, so you have to...reach out with your own two hands and...take it!" Michiru groaned as she reached up at where the cab was but that wasn't working and I was about to tell her that when something happened that took me completely off guard.
My eyes bugged out when I saw Michiru's arms beginning to grow longer as they stretched like elastic, making my mouth drop open as I was speechless by what I was witnessing when her arms made it to the cab with her hands smacking the glass and no doubt freaking the driver out as her hands went inside the cab and reached around for something.
"Oh, it feels like I reached it!" Michiru shouted in surprise when I cleared my throat.
"Michiru, I think you need to look at your arms," I said while still looking shocked, causing Michiru to look at her arms and her eyes bulged out.
"What the- my arms just grew really long!" Michiru exclaimed in disbelief.
"You think?!" I yelled as my eyes were still bugging out.
"That's incredible, miss!" one of the kids shouted in amazement.
"Your arms are gross," another kid commented and Michiru glared at him.
"No one asked you!" Michiru retorted irritably before an idea came to me and I calmed down.
"Michiru, do you think you can use whatever this is to stop the driver?" I questioned, then Michiru's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, I see what you mean and I think I grabbed a lever," Michiru said as she started pulling at whatever she grabbed and the cage was being moved back and forth uncontrollably.
The kids grabbed onto me and I wrapped my arms around some of them as the crane was moving out of control when I heard the cab being smashed to pieces and the cage came to a sudden stop, then the cage began falling when Michiru's arms retracted and her tail expanded to cover all of us while the cage impacted the ground loudly and we were flung out, just before we bounced across the pavement and came to a stop when Michiru's tail shrunk back to normal.
"Everyone, start running!" I shouted urgently before we all started to bolt from the area when Elsa suddenly landed in front of us while she was in her beast form.
"Hold it, you have an interesting technique and your friend's unnaturally strong, so it's obvious that you two are no ordinary beastmen," Elsa said with a look of interest when I turned my attention to Michiru.
"Michiru, get the kids out of here while I deal with Gram Grandma and her group of thugs," I instructed as my eyes turned cold and focused, then Michiru gulped at the familiar look on my face before she ran and had the kids follow after her.
"You wouldn't hurt a lady, would you?" Elsa mocked as I went into a combat stance.
I didn't say anything a gestured for her to come at me, then she gladly took the invitation by charging at me and started doing fast and vicious swipes with her claws or tried to use expert punches and kicks, only I fluidly dodged her attacks and grabbed Elsa's arm before twisting it and I struck her in the stomach, causing her to start choking when I landed a nasty punch to the face and sent her to the ground with a leg sweep, then she got up with a pained grimace as she clutched her abdomen.
"You're certainly well trained, and I have to admit that did hurt like hell, but now I'm going to kill you since it's clear that you're too dangerous to be left alive," Elsa growled as she managed to recover and went at me again, only I dodged her attacks again and savagely beat her a few times until I sent her to the ground again.
I could sense danger and started dodging attacks being carried out by more of Gram Grandma's thugs as they were coming at me from all sides with an injured Elsa joining in, only I was faster and stronger than them as I dodged and sent a few women flying after beating them senseless and I noticed Elsa trying to ambush me when someone did a flying kick to her face and that sent her bouncing across the pavement when I recognized the person as Shirou as he was in his beast form.
"You certainly took your time, now help me deal with these bastards," I said coldly as Elsa struggled to stand up, her face bloody and bruised while her nose looked broken and she had a nasty black eye.
"And who the fuck are you?!" Elsa shouted as she clutched her ribs with one hand and was breathing heavily.
"We'll show no mercy for those who sell beastmen to humans, even if you're a woman," Shirou stated darkly.
"Is that right?!" Elsa roared as she and the other injured women came at us from all sides, then Shirou and I went back to back before effortlessly fending them off and I made sure to make them suffer by breaking a few bones until I was about to be attacked by Elsa, knocking away her attempted punch and brutally slammed my fist into her face when that launched her into the air and she bounced across the pavement until she came rolling to a stop in front of Gram completely unconscious.
"Fine, I surrender so you have to show respect to your elders," Gram said with her hands up as Shirou and I shifted back to our human forms and I snapped out of it, but I wasn't bothered by what I did since those monsters had it coming as I looked to see Michiru and the kids staring at us in awe and I scratched the back of my head sheepishly.
After that, the police soon arrived before Gram and her gang was being taken into custody and loaded up into ambulances as I watched with no sympathy for them at all since they deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison just as Shirou approached me and it seemed like he was trying to figure me out.
"Why did you help those kids?" Shirou asked, then I sent him an offended look.
"What the hell kind of question is that? I did it because it was the right thing to do and anyone who thinks they can sell kids like they're objects deserves an ass-kicking," I replied irritably as I looked at where the kids were at, seeing them being checked out by paramedics when I started walking away from Shirou and went to see how Yuki was doing.
I approached the ambulance where Yuki was being looked after when she saw me and started beaming, then I sent her a warm smile as I walked up to her and she suddenly hugged me when I froze at the sudden contact.
"Thank you...you would be a good daddy," Yuki muttered, and hearing that touched me as I teared up and slowly wrapped my arms around her before she started crying and I comforted her while she let out everything she had bottled up.
I held her for a short while but reluctantly let her go since I needed to check on Michiru and the other kids to see how they were doing, then I proceeded to check on Youta and the other kids as I could see that they were fine, just a bit shaken up by what happened so I met up with Michiru after that.
"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked and Michiru looked at me.
"I'm fine," Michiru replied quietly, only I frowned since it was clear that she wasn't fine judging from the micro-expressions on her face but I didn't push it as Michiru started to head to where Shirou was, who was speaking to a police detective that was wearing a suit, trench coat, and a brown hat as I followed the female tanuki and we came to a stop a few feet in front of them.
"What about the kids?" Michiru spoke up, catching Shirou and the detective's attention as they looked at us.
"And who are they?" the detective asked Shirou, who looked as stoic as ever.
"They're newcomers so we're looking after them," Shirou replied before the detective turned his attention to me and Michiru.
"Not exactly a great welcome to the city for you both, huh? The kids will be under our protection so there's no need to worry, and there's an institution for children with no living relatives," the detective told us, and I felt relieved that those poor kids would be able to live in a much safer place now as I saw Michiru run over to where Gram was being escorted onto a prison bus.
I sighed as I watched Michiru rip Gram a new one as I felt worried for the teenaged girl since she's seen so much already, then Gram appeared to chuckle at something Michiru said before she took out the tanuki's wallet and tossed it to her until Gram was escorted onto the prison bus with other female beastmen that had minor injuries when the bus drove away, then Shirou started to approach Michiru and I followed him as we showed up next to her.
"Tell me, just what were you and Doug doing there?" Shirou questioned as Michiru stared at the bus that was driving away.
"You were up on that building, weren't you?" Michiru asked and Shirou paused at that before he frowned.
"Yeah," Shirou confirmed and I sent him a stern look.
"Answer me this, why didn't you do anything when you knew something like this was about to happen?" I questioned irritably.
"I didn't have the proof I needed so I had to be able to catch them in the act," Shirou answered and that caused Michiru to quickly turn around while she looked distressed.
"And what if you didn't make it in time, huh?! What if the ship had left?! We could've been sold so don't you see that?! Did you even think about those kids at all?!" Michiru shouted, looking like she had finally hit her breaking point as tears started running down her cheeks.
"I don't ever make mistakes because I protect beastmen, women, and the children," Shirou said bluntly and I sent him a glare for being insensitive as Michiru's teary eyes widened like she couldn't believe what she just heard.
"All the women and children? So then, are you trying to tell me that men are the great ones?!" Michiru yelled with a look of rage as she searched through her wallet and threw something at Shirou, who caught it and I could see that it was Michiru's student ID.
"Look at this, I'm a human!" Michiru shouted as Shirou turned the student ID around and went to look through it, then I did the same until I saw the picture of who I assume to be Michiru's human appearance and my eyes widened when I saw that the species classification said that she was also human.
"Holy shit," I said in shock as I looked up at Michiru, not knowing how to react to the knowledge that she used to be human while Shirou's hard exterior cracked and he also looked shocked.
"How can you say you don't make mistakes when you see that you're wrong about that?! I hate the damn town and I hate beastmen, so I'm going to cure this condition of mine and leave this town as soon as I can!" Michiru screamed in frustration, then she turned around and stormed off before I could say anything and sighed as I rubbed the back of my head.
"Christ...what a fucking mess and I still don't remember who I am," I said with a sour expression since I was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed already when Shirou nodded.
"Let's wait for her to cool off and then head back because tomorrow, I'm taking you to the medical center to get you checked out so that we'll find files on you in the international database," Shirou told me and I perked up.
"Yeah, that does sound nice," I agreed and stared out at the water, feeling hopeful since I was that much closer to finding out who I am.
A/N Hey guys, I'm finally done with this chapter so as you can see, Doug isn't someone you want to piss off so that gang certainly got what was coming for them and I don't blame Michiru for lashing out like that since a person can only take so much until they hit their breaking point.
Well, Doug and Shirou are going to be heading to the medical center to see if they can locate a file of Doug on the international database and only time will tell if Doug finds out who he is so let me know what you think and stay tuned.