AN: What I said last time about the voice of Sebun being either Erica Mendez or Brina Palencia, forget about it. I've got a different voice that I can imagine for her now. My new choice is Luci Christian. She's the voice of Nami in One Piece, Reg in Made in Abyss, and Uraraka in My Hero Academia. Again, I'm not certain if she's even associated with the company that dubs Beastars, but that voice is who I currently imagine as Sebun. Anyway, many of you probably see the title of the chapter and are wondering what the point of bringing in chess is. Read and you'll find out it's significance in story. However, the reason I put it in is because it's a game I used to play with my parents (mostly my father) before time and other factors kept us all from playing this and other board games we liked. Ah, memories. Now, the next chapter awaits.

Ch 4: Chess Changes Everything

Melon and Sebun are once again across from each other in the visitor's room.

"And then Goshen gripped a couple of my fingers with his little hand," the Merino sheep says with a big smile.

The leopard-gazelle hybrid rolls his eyes. "Cutesy shit. How very entertaining."

Sebun gives Melon an annoyed glare. "So it's not your thing. I still love Goshen."

"For now. When enough time passes and things get real, you and everyone else will bail and leave the kid to get swallowed up by the horrors of the real world."

"You're wrong."

"You're trying to live in a fairytale where everything's sunshine and rainbows. Wake up. Fantasy is fantasy. Reality is reality. Trying to pretend nothing is wrong is only going to screw a lot of shit up."

Sebun is looking at Melon's left hand, which has put claw marks on his counter.

When the hybrid realizes what happened, he takes his hand and hides it under the counter.

'Melon seems to have issues with fantasies and fairytales. I should change the subject. It looks like now's the perfect time to set my plan in motion.' "Do you want to play a game?"

"What?"

"A game. You know, something people play?"

"I know what a game is. My question is why?"

"It's something to entertain you with while you're here for who knows how long."

"Fine. What is it?"

Sebun pulls out a booklet. "Chess. You ever played it?"

Melon scoffs. "Do you really think that I have ever played any games with anyone in my life?"

The sheep chooses to focus on one aspect of that response. "So, your answer's no. I'll be leaving this booklet with you so you can read it over. I've already set things up with the staff for us to dedicate tomorrow to playing chess. Saturdays have the longest visiting hours after all."

"Quick question. Why do this?"

Sebun smirks. "Win a game and I'll tell you."

Melon is surprised by this playful confidence. He finds that he really likes that. "You're on."

The next morning…

Melon is sitting in a chair at a table in a private visiting room. 'Let's see. Muzzle over my mouth, my legs strapped to the chair, my wrists cuffed so that my hands can only reach…not even halfway across the table, and a guard nearby. They've really done everything to make sure there is no way things could go to hell here.' The hybrid glances over at the guard. 'Of course, it's the damn leopard guy again.'

The door opens, letting in Sebun and a bull guard who takes his post right across from the leopard guard.

'Two guards, making the amount of precautions ridiculous.'

Sebun sits in the chair across from Melon and places a box on the table. "Good morning. Did you read up on the rules?"

"Yeah. Let's just get this over with."

The bull guard steps forward. "Here's how this will work. When one of you makes your move, push the board over to your opponent. We don't want any trouble here."

"Of course," Sebun says while setting up the board.

Melon rolls his eyes. "I get it. Can we play now?"

The bull guard nods and returns to his post.

Sebun finishes with setting up. "I'll be white." She takes one of her pawns and moves it forward. She then pushes the board over to the hybrid.

Melon takes a moment to think before choosing to bring out one of his black knights.

"You know something that has always weirded me out?"

"Yourself?" the hybrid asks while pushing the board towards his opponent.

"Ha ha. No." Sebun moves another pawn. "The knight piece is a horse." She gives the board back to Melon.

"So?"

"All of the other pieces are basically just shapes. Why's the knight a horse and the others aren't any kind of animal? Sure, modern boards have made all the other pieces different animals. Still, the knight has almost always been a horse."

Melon pushes the board back to Sebun after moving his other knight. "It makes sense to me. The majority of knights in medieval times were horses."

"Really? How do you know that?" The answer comes to the sheep right after asking. "I forgot. Your PhD in History."

"Carnivores weren't usually trusted to be knights. Their instincts and all that. A majority of herbivores weren't strong enough to be knights. Horses were the perfect candidates since they were strong while also being fairly agile, unlike rhinos and elephants."

"That's really interesting."

The game goes on for the two. Eventually, Melon has lost half of his pieces while Sebun has only lost three.

"What made you choose chess?" the hybrid asks to avoid his growing frustration.

"I didn't think you'd be amused by a game aimed towards a younger audience," the sheep says with a shrug. "I also thought you'd enjoy the strategic thinking involved with chess."

"Okay. You play this a lot?"

"Not recently, but I did play chess many times when I was younger with my mom before she died."

"Predation?"

"Illness. Not every herbivore gets eaten."

"That's where I think you're wrong. While the Back Alley Market was still going strong, they used legal loopholes to take bodies from funeral homes and hospital morgues for carnivores to get their meat fix."

Sebun thinks over his. "That sounds reasonable to me."

Both guards (leopard and bull) stare in shock at the sheep's words.

Melon studies his opponent. "Seriously?"

"Yes, I'm being serious," Sebun says with a nod. "Our planet only has so much room for graves and not everyone wants to be cremated or buried at sea. If fish weren't made an option, I honestly believe another way to go would've been an open discussion for herbivores to choose if they'd want to donate their bodies once they passed on."

"You mean…for carnivores to eat?"

"Yes." Realizing everyone is staring like she's a psycho, Sebun rolls her eyes. "Why are you all acting so disturbed by this? It's not murder if they're already passed on. Plus, if they've donated their bodies for the purpose of being eaten, they've consented to it."

Melon blinks. "You're weird."

"I can live with that label. By the way, it's your move."

The game goes on until Melon literally only has his king left backed into a corner.

Sebun moves one last piece before looking her opponent in the eyes. "Checkmate."

The leopard-gazelle hybrid glares down at his king. 'How did I let myself get backed into a corner?! She has a pawn, a rook, and her queen able to pounce!' Melon shifts his glare to the sheep. "Again."

"I've got time for one more game. Let's get started."

Melon does…better. He loses, but not in nearly as embarrassing of a manner. His king is surrounded on all sides near the center of the board. He has other pieces, but trying to use any of them would still leave his king open to attack.

"Checkmate."

The hybrid feels rage building up inside him. The urge to attack, kill, and shred the sheep is growing strong.

Sebun starts collecting pieces to put them back in the box. "I do have errands today, so I have to leave now . We can play again next Saturday." The sheep finally takes notice of Melon's anger. She can hear the faint beginnings of a growl. While aware Melon won't be able to get her due to being essentially stuck to the chair, seeing the guards with their hands on their guns makes Sebun realize they'll likely put him down for just lunging. So, she comes up with a way to keep the hybrid alive on the fly. "Unless…you think yourself incapable of improving."

Melon freezes, his mind trying to comprehend what he just heard the sheep say. Then, he cackles. "Is that a challenge?!"

Sebun smirks at the hybrid, mentally congratulating herself on avoiding a crisis. "Yes. It is."

"Very well. I accept. We make this a regular thing until I achieve victory."

"Is just one win enough for you?"

"Fair point. We keep going until I have more wins than you."

"I look forward to that."

"I'll beat you in no time."

Five years later…

Melon's twitching in his usual chair waiting for Sebun to show up. 'Come on! I'm ready to play! Hurry up!'

The sheep enters the room "Hey, Melon."

The hybrid smirks behind his muzzle. "About time. Today, I finally pull ahead."

Sebun takes her usual seat across from Melon. "Considering I've got three hundred wins and you have two hundred ninety six, I don't think that's likely."

In the five years that these two have been interacting, Melon's behavior has improved by leaps and bounds (for him). He's no longer putting on a threatening air around any visitors. The hybrid, while still a snarky shit, has been a lot more pleasant towards others (not with the leopard guard though). He hasn't revealed any sort of personal history for Gouhin to analyze, but Melon has been more open when it comes to Sebun. He has admitted to the panda doctor that the sheep is his favorite visitor (something Gouhin scribbled some serious notes on).

Sebun moves a pawn. "Check."

Melon smirks and uses one of his knights to take the sheep's pawn. "Not this time." The game continues as the hybrid thinks over what he wants to ask Sebun. "So? How'd that date go last night?" Frankly, just thinking about Sebun being on yet another of her dates annoys the hell out of Melon. 'Every time she goes out with some guy, it means another night of me bored in my cell.'

The sheep moves a bishop. "It started out nice, but then something made it all go south."

"Really? What was it?" Melon moves a pawn into the path of Sebun's bishop.

'Why did he have to ask?' The sheep's bishop takes the hybrid's pawn. "You came up in our talks somehow and I ended up telling the guy I frequently visit you."

"Did he bail right away or just act distant the rest of the date?"

"He bailed."

Melon uses his queen to take Sebun's bishop. He smirks over at his opponent. "Well, I'd say that's unfortunate."

"Honestly, I'm not that upset about it. He turned out to be pretty boring. Made me regret not visiting you instead. I always get entertained during our talks."

The hybrid feels a lot of satisfaction from what Sebun said. It only grows after he moves his rook. "Checkmate."

Sebun blinks. She looks over the board. "Huh. So it is. Want to go again? I've got time for at least one more game."

"Of course."

The second game goes on with the two making mundane conversation and enjoying it.

Sebun eventually clears her throat and looks at her opponent. "Melon, I wanted to let you know I'm leaving on a business trip tomorrow."

The hybrid's clawed hand freezes above his queen. "Oh? How long will you be gone?"

"A week."

Melon's hand twitches before moving the queen. "Okay." 'THE HELL?!'

"Really? You're fine with this?"

"Yeah. You're not the only one who visits me after all." 'No one's as entertaining as you are!'

"Alright. Even though I'll be back next Saturday for our usual chess matches, I'm going to miss our weekday talks."

"How could you not? I'm quite special." 'If you're going to miss them, then don't go!'

Five days later…

Melon is almost bouncing off of the walls of his cell. He's twitchy, restless, and groaning constantly. 'Fuck! I can't stand this! She has never stayed away this long before! Two days has been the max! Five days is just way too much! To think there's still two more days! Legoshi and Haru's visits haven't helped at all! Same with Old Man Yafya! It's not the same as Sebun!' The hybrid sits down on the floor of his cell. 'Something about her makes things different. Even the kind of topics that would usually bore the hell out of me, that sheep talks about them in ways that always make me pay attention!'

"Melon!" a guard suddenly shouts. "Breakfast!" He slips the tray into the cell.

The hybrid sets the tray on his lap and frowns down at it. While he always eats whenever the guards give him the trays filled with food, Melon gets no enjoyment out of it since his mixed up biology prevents him from tasting anything. Doesn't matter if it's carnivore food or herbivore food, he gets nothing. 'I wish Sebun was around to make things interesting.' The hybrid grabs a plastic spoon and absentmindedly uses it to pick up some scrambled eggs from the tray. 'I…miss her.' Melon allows a new feeling he can't identify to wash over him as he spoons the scrambled eggs into his mouth. He freezes up. 'What?! What's this?!' He takes the spoon from his mouth, leaving the scrambled eggs on his tongue. The hybrid rolls them around, shudders, and swallows them up. 'What is this sensation?! Could it be?!' He drops the spoon and grabs at all the rest of the scrambled eggs with his hands. Melon starts running his tongue over them, moaning with the highest of pleasure the whole time.

The rhino guard across from the cell is creeped out by the prisoner's display.

Melon is now drooling. He can no longer resist the urge and shovels the scrambled eggs into his mouth. After swallowing, he then switches to the little bowl of fruit salad and shoves his tongue inside.

The rhino guard clicks on his walkie talkie. "Get Yafya and Doctor Gouhin. I think they would want to be informed of this."

The hybrid tears open the mini carton of milk and cackles. "I CAN TASTE!" He chugs it down.

Later that day…

Yafya and Gouhin are walking down the hall to Melon's cell. Hearing about the hybrid's sudden change makes them eager to investigate. Both of them end up being unsettled when they reach his cell and find him grinning at them.

"Hi there!" Melon greets the two older men with a wave.

The horse and the panda give uncertain glances to each other before they turn back to the hybrid.

"You seem upbeat today," says Yafya.

"What brought this on?" asks Gouhin.

Melon wags a finger at the pair. "Don't you go treating me like I'm some naive fool. I'm aware of the reason you're here. You heard the good news." He throws his fists up in the air. "I CAN TASTE NOW!" The hybrid falls to the floor flat on his back with a smile.

"Good for you," says Yafya. "Now you can experience what most others have known all their lives."

Melon sits up. "That reminds me. Lunch should be here any second."

On cue, a dalmatian guard shows up with Melon's lunch tray.

"That's it! Lunch time! Over here! GIMME!"

The guard holds the tray by the edges out of fear the hybrid might go for his fingers in his excitement. Once Melon takes the tray, the dalmatian leaves immediately.

The leopard-gazelle hybrid grabs the fish sandwich and runs his tongue all over it.

Despite all of the violence they have experienced in their lives, Yafya and Gouhin have to put effort into not showing disgust.

The horse is the first one to recover enough to say something to the hybrid. "You seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Immensely," Melon says without even looking at the older man. "I don't even mind Mr Leopard Vic standing guard right now."

While the leopard would usually get angry at the hybrid for messing up his name, having the former Sublime Beastar and Doctor Gouhin there keeps it at bay. "My name is actually Rick, Sirs."

Gouhin glances at the guard. 'Melon has some problem with this guard? Is it him or his species he doesn't like?' He looks back at the hybrid. "What do you think finally got your sense of taste to wake up after almost thirty years? Anything unusual happen today?"

Melon shrugs. "Not really. I was just sitting around, bored and wishing Sebun would get back from that dumb business trip. Suddenly…" He snaps his fingers. "Food has taste for me."

Yafya smirks. "You don't enjoy Sebun not being here, do you?"

"Of course not. She's the most consistently entertaining of all my visitors. I miss her."

Gouhin chuckles. "So, that's it."

"What?"

"You may only be half carnivore, but you operate a lot like one. When a carnivore feels a really strong emotion, their instincts can act up and all that shit."

"Meaning?"

"You like Sebun."

Melon pauses in his eating to stare at Gouhin. Then, he turns around so his back is facing the others. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

Gouhin lets out a chuckle, knowing exactly what the hybrid's snappy response means. "I am witnessing classic denial here."

Yafya's smirk gets bigger. "I always thought Sebun would be a helpful individual for you getting rehabilitated, but I never thought you'd become romantically interested in her."

"Shut up!" Melon shouts before stuffing his face with food. 'They're all idiots! Saying I caught feelings or whatever! In front of that leopard and his bugs too! Don't think about it. Just enjoy the taste of your food.' The hybrid pauses as an idea pops up in his head. 'Taste. That's it. I can eat Sebun and enjoy the taste of it now. That'll show them. Monsters don't have feelings. I am a monster.'

AN: Uh oh. Melon's mind is in a dark place right now. Those of you readers who have read Kingdom Fall know how this turns out. I chose to create that history concerning horses being knights because it just made sense to me. Readers had better prepare themselves, because the next batch of chapters are going to ramp up the intensity and leave little time to relax. It all starts on Saturday!