Human among Beastmen
Hey everyone, here's another BNA story for you. I do not own any characters of the anime or the anime itself. Only the characters that me and my writing friend, gabeherndon308, had created within our heads. I hope you all enjoy it and leave a comment on what you think of it. Sorry for the long wait.
Chapter one: The end of normal days part 1
It was a bright sunny day within the town of Otaru as a boy of seventeen walked down the road that will take him to Reiwa High School. He was wearing his usual school uniform, which was a white short sleeved collared shirt, a light blue necktie, dark teal pants and black shoes. He had short black hair with long bangs covering most of his forehead, brown eyes and light skin. On his back was a black backpack with a white line going across the front.
This boy was Shawn Joseph, a young American teenager that had been living in Japan for nine years and had grown to love his new home. Shawn continued his way down the road when he heard the sound of feet running up behind him, along with someone shouting out his name.
"Hey, Shawn!" shouted a female voice from behind him.
Shawn stopped and turned to look behind him to see a sixteen year old girl running up to him. Shawn smiled when he saw her before calling out the girl's name.
"Hey, Michiru!" exclaimed Shawn.
Michiru Kagemori was a year younger than Shawn and was also one inch shorter than him. She had black hair that was styled in a bob cut with a long strand of hair hanging down the right side of her face and a tuft sticking upwards on the side, brown eyes and fair skin. She was wearing the school uniform for girls, which was a short sleeved collared shirt, a baby blue bowtie, high waist dark teal short skirt, knee high white socks and black shoes. On her back was an orange backpack and hanging from her right shoulder was her yellow basketball carrier. Michiru soon caught up to Shawn before the two of them started walking together.
"I'm glad that I caught up with you," said Michiru as the two of them made their way towards school. "I was hoping to get a chance to talk with you before we get to school."
"Oh...and why's that?" questioned Shawn with a smile as he raised a curious eyebrow at his friend.
Michiru smiled sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head nervously: "I was wondering if you could help me with my homework after school."
"What subject?"
"Math," answered Michiru with a frown.
Shawn chuckled at Michiru's expression: "That's gotta be tough."
"You don't know the half of it," grumbled Michiru as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Math and I do not get along."
"Don't worry. I'll help you out with fighting that dreaded demon called 'math'."
Michiru laughed as she smiled at Shawn in appreciation: "Thanks Shawn. You're the best."
"That's what friends do for each other, Chi," said Shawn as he lightly bumped Michiru's shoulder with his fist. "We help each other out no matter what."
Michiru smiled at Shawn as a light blush appeared on her face when he used her nickname. Shawn had came up with the nickname a few years ago and it soon became a regular thing whenever they met up with each other.
"So what do you think we'll be doing in gym today?" asked Michiru with a curious smile.
Shawn was about to open his mouth and answer with a guess when the two of them heard the sound of someone falling. The two friends quickly looked ahead of them and saw a seven year old girl lying on the ground. Shawn and Michiru quickly ran to where the girl had fallen before coming to a stop as they knelt down on the ground beside her.
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Shawn in concern.
The little girl slowly lifted her head up from the ground before looking up at Shawn. The girl had long black hair that grew down to her shoulders, soft blue eyes and fair skin with a six freckles on both of her cheeks. The girl wore a white short sleeved shirt underneath blue jean jumper shorts, white shoes with pink flowers on the outside and a pink hairclip on the left side of her head. The girl stared up at Shawn with tears welling up within the corners of her eyes. The young teen smiled down at the young child before he helped her to stand up on her feet again. Once she was standing, Shawn saw that the girl's knees were scratched and bleeding slightly. Shawn looked up at the girl's face again before giving her a comforting smile.
"Now, now, its just a scrape," said Shawn as he pulled out his water bottle and a handkerchief. "Nothing that old Shawn can't fix."
Shawn unscrewed the lid of his water bottle before pressing the handkerchief over top of the open lip. He tipped the water bottle over to let the water soaked into the handkerchief before flipping it right-side up again. Shawn then began to use the damp handkerchief to clean the blood off from the girl's scraped knees. The little girl flinched slightly in pain, but stayed perfectly still as she let Shawn clean her wounds. Michiru, who had been quiet as she watched, looked around before noticing a small ball sitting off to the side. It was around the size of a volleyball and was covered in decorative patterns. She quickly walked over to the ball and picked it up from the ground before heading back over to Shawn and the girl. Once Shawn finished cleaning the girl's knees, he dug through the pockets of his backpack and brought out a couple of bandages. He then quickly stuck them onto the girl's knees before pulling back to inspect his work.
"There you go," said Shawn as he stood up to his full height again. "Make sure you keep those bandages on until you get back home, okay?"
"O-okay," voiced the little girl in a shy voice.
Michiru then crouched down to the girl's level and handed the child her ball: "Here you go."
The little girl blinked in surprise before slowly grabbing the ball from Michiru's hands. The girl then looked up at Michiru as a shy smile appeared on her face.
"T-thank you," said the little girl.
"You're welcome," said Michiru with a smile as she stood up to her full height again. "Just make sure you be more careful next time when playing, okay?"
The little girl nodded before Shawn spoke up when he check the time on his smartphone: "We'd better get going Michiru. School's about to start in about half-an-hour."
"You're right," said Michiru when she check her own phone to see the time as well. "Let's book it!"
But just as the two were about to start running the girl suddenly spoke up again: "A...Excuse me, but...what are your names?"
Shawn and Michiru paused as they turned to look down at the little girl with smiles spread out on their faces. Shawn decided to introduce himself and Michiru to the little girl they had helped.
"I'm Shawn, and this is my best friend Michiru."
The little girl smiled up at them before speaking in a soft voice: "My name is Roxie."
"Roxie, huh?" voiced Michiru with a gentle smile on her face. "That's a cute name."
A blush formed on the young girl's face at the complement before Shawn gently patted her on the head: "It was nice to meet you, Roxie. Make sure you get home safely, okay?"
Roxie smiled up at Shawn before nodding her head at him. With that, Shawn and Michiru quickly started running in hopes of getting to school on time. Roxie smiled after them before she started to make her way back home with her ball held tightly against her chest.
Luckily the two friends were able to get to school on time before the bell rung. Throughout the day, school went by normally until around lunch time. Shawn and Michiru were sitting at their usual lunch spot, which was a bench that stood underneath a large tree, as they waited for their two other friends to join them. They were just unpacking their lunches when a female voice called out to them.
"Hey, Shawn! Michiru!"
The two friends turned to see a young girl around Michiru's age and a boy around Shawn's age walking towards them. The girl had long orange hair that grew down to the middle of her back with a red bang hanging down her forehead, red eyes and fair skin. She was wearing the same uniform as Michiru, and was carrying a brown school briefcase bookbag in her hands.
This girl was Nazuna Hiwatashi, Michiru's and Shawn's childhood friend. Nazuna was a girl with a kind heart and was the exact opposite of Michiru. Nazuna was more girly than Michiru and dreams of being an idol one day so that people will adore her. Over the years, Shawn had grown to see Nazuna as a sister and in return, Nazuna had come to see Shawn as an older brother.
The boy that was following behind Nazuna was Blake Dexter, another friend that Shawn had made when he was younger. Blake had short black spikey hair, dark brown eyes and fair skin. He wore the same uniform as Shawn, but instead of his shirt being tucked into his pants, Blake's shirt was untucked and his necktie hung loosely around his neck. Blake also carried a briefcase bookbag, which he slung over his right shoulder. Blake was a bit of a delinquent at school, but he was a good guy to hang around with once in a while.
"Hey guys!" called Michiru with a smile.
"How's it going?" asked Shawn as Blake took a seat beside him.
"Bored...as usual," replied Blake as he place his bookbag on the ground beside the bench.
"You're always bored when it comes to being in school," quipped Michiru with a smirk.
Blake only reply with a yawn while Nazuna, who had sat down at Michiru's side, gave him an unimpressed expression before speaking.
"You know, you should go to bed early. That way you won't be so tired in the morning."
"That coming from a girl who's obsessed with being an idol," muttered Blake as he gave Nazuna a flat look.
Nazuna glared at Blake in annoyance before flipping a strand of her hair over her shoulder: "I'll have you know that being an idol takes a lot of work, and I want to look my best when I finally do become one."
Blake snorted as he gave Nazuna a deadpanned look before speaking: "Yeah right. The day you look beautiful is the day I'll swallow my pride and say you're beautiful."
"You're such a jerk," said Nazuna as she looked away from Blake with her nose turned up into the air.
"Now, now, let's not argue with each other," spoke Shawn as he tried to keep his two friends from fighting.
This had been a bit of a problem between Nazuna and Blake when they had first met each other two years ago. The two constantly clashed with each other over the silliest things sometime, and whenever that happens, Shawn and Michiru have to step in to make sure that their arguments didn't get out of hand. They would try to be the peace keepers between Blake and Nazuna, while making sure that they didn't get caught in the crossfire. Nazuna and Blake both let out a huff as they turned to look away from each other.
Shawn and Michiru sighed as they looked at each other with the same thought going through their heads: 'Those two will never change'.
Shawn then cleared his throat to gain Blake's and Nazuna's attention before speaking: "So...um...what did you guys do last weekend?"
"I just mostly went shopping for new dresses," replied Nazuna with a carefree smile.
"Just hung out with some of my street friends," answered Blake with a shrug of his shoulders.
"What about you and Michiru?" questioned Nazuna as she turned to look at Shawn and Michiru with a smirk on her face. "What did you two do during your weekend?"
Shawn and Michiru didn't notice Nazuna's smirk as they only smiled, while shrugging their shoulders as they answered her question.
"Nothing much, really," answered Michiru as she picked up a fried shrimp with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.
"We basically just hung out and played basketball with each other," added Shawn before smirking playfully at Michiru. "And I gotta say. I'm getting better at the sport every time I play it. Maybe I might wind up being better than Michiru someday."
Michiru snorted in amusement after she swallowed her food before pointing her chopsticks at Shawn: "Fat chance of that, Shawn. You've still got a long way to go before you reach my level of skills."
Shawn brandish his own chopsticks as he pointed them mockingly at Michiru: "You're words will be your down fall, Michiru."
"Oh-ho! You wanna fight?" questioned Michiru with a smirk as she clicked her chopsticks together.
The two glared playfully at each other before Shawn shot his chopsticks forward to try and grab one of Michiru's spring rolls. But she quickly intercepted him by blocking his chopsticks with her own. They soon got into a playful fight as they tried to grab one another's bento lunches. Nazuna and Blake stared at them blankly for a moment before sighing in unison.
"Honestly, those two act so childish around each other," muttered Nazuna as she unpack her lunch and started to eat.
"They're hopeless," grumbled Blake as he began to eat a rice ball.
Shawn and Michiru continued to go at it for a few minutes before they each snatched a piece of food from one another's bento lunchbox. Shawn grabbed a fried shrimp from Michiru's lunch box, while Michiru grabbed an egg roll omelet from Shawn's lunch box. They soon settled down and began to eat their own lunches, while chatting with their friends about random stuff. Lunch time soon ended and the foursome group of friends headed back inside to finish off the rest of their school day. It wasn't long before the day finally ended and the students were let out of school. The foursome met up outside the gates of their school to say goodbye to each other.
"We'll see you tomorrow," said Shawn to Nazuna and Blake.
"And where exactly are you two going?" questioned Blake with a raised eyebrow.
"Shawn's going to be coming over to my house later to help me with something," answered Michiru.
"Oh...and what would that be?" questioned Nazuna with an impish smile on her face.
"Homework," answered Shawn simply.
An anime sweat drop appeared on the side of Nazuna's head as she stared at the two disbelief: "Is that all you're doing?"
"Yeah," replied Shawn as he and Michiru looked at Nazuna in confusion. "That's pretty much all that we're doing."
Nazuna let out a huff as she turned away from Michiru and Shawn in annoyance: "Man, you two are the dullest couple I've ever met."
Blake looked at Nazuna with a deadpanned expression upon his face before sighing in exasperation: 'This girl really is dumb to think that those two are going to become a couple. The likelihood of Shawn and Michiru showing any romantic feelings toward each other are slim.'
Michiru and Shawn stared at Nazuna in befuddlement before looking at one another with curious expressions upon their faces. Shawn then turned too glance back at Nazuna again with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay...well, we'll see you guys tomorrow," said Shawn as he turned and began to walk away with Michiru following right beside him.
When they were far enough away from Nazuna and Blake, Shawn began to talk to Michiru with a confused expression upon his face.
"Nazuna sure has been acting strange lately," said Shawn with a raised eyebrow.
"You're telling me," spoke Michiru as she glanced at Shawn with a light frown. "Why does she think that we would be doing something else other than homework?"
"Beats me," replied Shawn with a shrug of his shoulders. "I don't really know what goes through Nazuna's head sometimes."
"Yeah, me too," muttered Michiru as she lightly scratched her right cheek with her finger.
"Anyways, how about I meet you at your house in about an hour?"
"Sure," replied Michiru with a smile and a nod of her head.
"Great, see you later," said Shawn as he turned down a street and started to run home.
Michiru waved after him while calling out to him: "See you!"
Shawn turned to look ahead of him as he ran back home to change into his usual clothes before heading to Michiru's house. It took about an hour until he finally made it back home. The house was a two story building that was painted in a beautiful sky blue, while the roof was a dark brown. The roof slanted so that rain water or snow can slide down from it. Shawn ran up to the front door and opened it before calling out his presence to his mother.
"I'm home!" shouted Shawn with a smile.
As soon as he called out, a woman appeared from out of the kitchen. The woman was Shawn's mother, Nancy Joseph, a beautiful woman in her early to mid thirties. She had long blonde hair that grew to her shoulders, light Caucasian skin and brown eyes that sparkled with kindness and love. She wore a white smock and a golden chain with a heart shaped locket that sat above her breasts. Nancy Joseph was a loving mother who would sometimes worry about her son, but would make sure not to be too fussy over him. She is also patient and smart when facing difficult situations. She works as a cashier at a grocery story to help provide for both herself, and her son so that they could have a roof over their heads. Nancy also has a habit of keeping some of her son's drawings that he had done as a child in her memento box, which she kept hidden within her bedroom. It was something that made Shawn embarrassed, but despite his mother's habit, he stilled loved her no matter what.
"Welcome home, Shawn," greeted Nancy as she dried her hands on a kitchen towel. "Did you have a good day at school with your friends?"
"Yeah," replied Shawn with a nod of his head as he slipped off his school shoes. "I'm just stopping by to change into my regular clothing before I head over to Michiru's place to help her with her math homework."
"I see," said Nancy as she watched her son go up the stairs. "Then I'll make sure to pack a few of my special cookies for you and Michiru to share while you work."
Shawn paused to look back at his mother with a smile: "Thanks mom. I'm sure Michiru would love your cinnamon swirled cookies."
Nancy chuckled before she walked back into the kitchen. Shawn continued on his way towards his room, while making sure that he didn't trip going up the stairs. He soon came to the door off his bedroom, which was located on the right side of the hall, and opened it. Shawn's room was like most boys' rooms, except that it was cleaner and more organized. The walls of his bedroom were a light green with posters of super heroes hanging on the walls. In the left corner of his room, right next to the window that looked out into the backyard, was a dark brown wooden desk with a laptop sitting on top of it. Accompanying the laptop was a lamp, a few action figures, a small box and a picture frame. On the right side of the room was Shawn's bed with a wooden bedroom table standing near the the left side of the bed. Sitting on top of the bedroom table was a dark blue alarm clock and another lamp. The bed covers were a light blueish grey color with thin dark blue lines crisscrossing over each other upon the surface. Standing near the desk was an oak door closet, which held all of Shawn's clothing inside it.
Shawn quickly placed his backpack down on the end of his bed before he walked over to the closet. He slid it open and picked out his casual day clothing that he would wear. Once he was done choosing what to wear, Shawn began to change out of his school clothes and into his casual clothes. It took about a minute until he finally finished. Shawn now wore a short sleeved grey shirt with a black zip up hoodie (with the zipper open) over top, blue jeans and white socks. After getting on his clothes, Shawn turned and started to head towards the door of his bedroom. Then, as if remembering something, Shawn turned and walked over to his desk. Once he was in front of it, Shawn opened the lid of the small box to reveal a silver bullet pendant inside it. The bullet was attached to a silver chain and etched on the surface of the pendant was a golden cross. Shawn smiled as he gazed down at the pendant before he lifted it out from the box. He then attached the pendant around his neck, where the bullet hung just above his heart. Once the clasp of the chain was in place, Shawn lifted his right hand up and gently touched the pendant. After a moment, Shawn turned to look at the picture frame, which held a picture of his father. In the picture, Shawn's father wore a formal marine uniform and stood in a salute position. Shawn's father had the same skin and hair color as his son, except his eyes were a hazel blue. Shawn smiled fondly at the picture of his father as he remembered what his mother always told him. She would always say that he was the spitting image of his father, but had gotten her eye color instead of his father's. Shawn chuckled before he gently touched the picture of his father with the tip of his fingers.
"I'm off to visit Michiru, dad," said Shawn in a soft voice. "I'll be back before dinner and I promise not to make mom worry about me."
Shawn then pulled back his hand and took on the same salute position. He then relaxed and turned as he made his way out the bedroom door, while picking up his backpack along the way. Shawn made his way down the stairs before pausing in front of the kitchen door, where his mother waited for him with a small bag of cookies in her hand.
"Here you go," said Nancy with a smile.
"Thanks mom," said Shawn as he took the bag of cookies and placed them inside his backpack.
"Make sure that you come back home before dark," spoked Nancy.
"Don't worry. I'll be back before supper even comes around," reassured Shawn as he slung his backpack over his shoulders.
Shawn quickly grabbed his black Nikes and began to slip his feet into them. Once he got them on, Shawn turned and waved goodbye to his mother.
"See you later, mom," said Shawn with a smile.
"Be careful when traveling to Michiru's house!" called Nancy as she watched her son run out the front door.
Shawn glanced over his shoulder before shouting back to his mom: "I will!"
With that, Shawn began to run down the street towards Michiru's house. After taking a short cut, Shawn was able to make it to Michiru's house on time. He came to a halt in front of the door before ringing the door bell to announce his presence. He waited a few minutes before the door opened to reveal Michiru, who now wore a white short sleeved t-shirt and blue jean shorts.
"Hey, you made it," said Michiru with a smile when she saw Shawn.
"Well you know me, Michiru. I never break a promise," said Shawn as he gave Michiru a playful wink.
Michiru chuckled before inviting Shawn into her house. After he took off his shoes and said hello to Michiru's parents, Shawn followed Michiru upstairs to her room where they could work on their math homework together. The two of them quietly worked as they help each other solve the math questions that they would have trouble with. They would also have a bit of friendly bickering between themselves sometimes, but they mostly worked on trying to finish their homework before supper came around. They also shared two cinnamon swirl cookies while they concentrated on their task. They worked for about an hour until they finally finished, much to Michiru's relief.
"Man...what a pain!" exclaimed Michiru in an exhausted voice as she sat upon her bed. "I wouldn't be surprised if I start seeing math equations in my sleep for the next two weeks."
Shawn, who sat on the ground, let out a relieved sigh, while chuckling at what Michiru had just said: "That would be a nightmare."
Michiru responded by playfully sticking her tongue out at Shawn before the two of them laughed. Once they've settled down, Michiru looked at Shawn with a smile of gratitude on her face.
"Thanks for helping me, Shawn."
"No problem, Chi. I've always got your back whenever you're in trouble."
"And I've got yours whenever you need my help too."
Shawn smiled as he felt glad that he had such a great friend to count on through tough situations. He was also glad that he had Blake and Nazuna as his friends as well, otherwise life here within his new hometown would have been boring.
Shawn leaned back on his hands as he stared up at the ceiling of Michiru's room before he spoke: "It's been nine years now since we first became friends, hasn't it?"
Michiru looked at Shawn in confusion for a moment before realizing what he was talking about. A smile once again appeared on her face while her eyes grew soft as she reminisced about when they had first met.
"It sure has. I'm glad that we got to be friends when you helped me with those bullies."
"Me too," said Shawn as he turned to look at Michiru.
'And I hope things will stay the way they are,' thought Shawn quietly to himself.
Unfortunately for Shawn, his wish for things to stay the way they were would not be so simple. As he left the Kagemori house hold and headed home, Shawn's normal life would come to an end. Along with the lives of the three people who he held close to his heart.
To be continued
Okay, so here's the first chapter of the story. Since the town that Michiru and Nazuna lived in before they became beastmen didn't have a name I decided to give it one. I looked up a few towns that were close to the country side of Japan and decided to stick with the town 'Otaru'. It looked like a good place that was close to the countryside (as Michiru put it within episode 4). I hope you all enjoy the chapter and leave a comment of what you think of it.
