A Human among Beastmen

Here is the next chapter of my BNA story. I hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 8: The end of normal days part 8

Shawn ran down the street that Michiru had taken a moment ago. He had tried to keep up with his friend, but found out that she was able to out run him now that she had become a beastman. Yet that didn't deter him when it came to chasing after Michiru. But that didn't stop the thoughts that rushed through his head.

'How could this be happening?' thought Shawn inside his head. 'First Nazuna became a beastman and now Michiru too? Why didn't she tell me? Was she afraid that I would see her as a freak? Or was she afraid of people coming after me if I knew?'

Shawn stopped when he came to a three-way fork within the street. He panted as he glanced at each street that stood before him.

'I have to find her,' thought Shawn desperately to himself. 'I have to make sure that nobody else finds Michiru and takes her away like those men did with Nazuna. Or worse...kill her.'

The thought of someone killing his last remaining friend sent a cold chill down Shawn's body. That thought was also accompanied by the image of Michiru's dead body laying on the ground, covered in blood by those who had stabbed and beaten her to death.

'Stop it!' Shawn fiercely told himself. 'Don't think about that right now. Just stay focused on finding Michiru.'

Shawn stared at each of the roads that stood before him. He was about to choose one of them when a loud scream was heard from the road on his right. Shawn quickly turned in that direction and headed towards where he had heard the scream. He ran for about an hour before he saw a group of older teenage boys ahead of him. There were about three of them. They held either a baseball bat, a wooden katana or a metal pipe. They were surrounding a figure that was curled into a tight ball upon the ground. Shawn quickly recognized that the figure was actually Michiru. As he grew closer to the group of boys surrounding his friend, images of what had happened to Roxie, the little skunk beast-girl, appeared within his head. That image made something snap within Shawn as anger rose up inside him.

'No! I won't let that happen again!' thought Shawn angrily.


Michiru curled herself into a tight ball as she shivered in fear. It had been a few hours ago that she had run away from home after her mother came into her room unexpectedly. When Kia first saw Michiru as a beastman, she let out a startled scream which caused Michiru to bolt out of her room, through the window. After that, the worst thing that she never thought would happen had happened. Shawn had seen her. The sight of him seeing her as a beastman now caused Michiru's fear to grow inside of her. She then turned and ran without really thinking of where she was going. Now here she was, laying on the ground, with a group of older teenage boys standing over her. Michiru let out a whimper of pain when one of the boys gave her a sharp kick in the back.

"You freak," mocked the boy who kicked her. "Your kind isn't welcome here in our town."

"Yeah," spoke another boy with a smirk as he raised his baseball bat up above his head. "Why don't you do us all a favor and die!"

Michiru curled up into a tighter ball as she awaited the pain that was about to come. But luckily it never came. Instead, the boy with the bat was met with a hard punch to the face. The other two teens let out gasps of confusion before turning to face the attacker of their friend. Michiru, who had her eyes closed, quickly opened them when a familiar voice suddenly spoke from above her.

"What do you three think you're doing to her?"

Michiru looked up as a surprised expression appeared on her face. Standing in front of the tanuki girl, with his back facing towards her, was Shawn in a defensive stance.

"S-Shawn..." voiced Michiru in amazement.

"Mind your own business kid!" shouted the boy with the wooden katana. "That beastman is a plague to our town and should be killed off!"

"Yeah, so beat it!" yelled the boy with the metal pipe.

Michiru looked back and forth between Shawn and older teens with a worried expression upon her face. Shawn's expression turned dangerous as he glared at the two teens in front of him.

"You're the ones who should leave," said Shawn in a voice that held a hard edge to it. "If you don't. Well...let's just say that you three are going to be sorry afterwards."

The boy, who Shawn had punched a moment ago, stood up from the ground and glared at him in anger.

"You're the one who's going to be sorry," said the older teen before shouting an order to his two friends. "Let's beat this guy to a pulp!"

The other two boys yelled in agreement before they all rushed forward. Shawn remained in his defensive stance for a moment before he jumped into action. He quickly dodged the boy who swung the baseball bat at him. Shawn then threw his right fist forward and punched his attacker in the stomach. He followed it up with a round-house kick. The heel of his foot collided with the side of his attacker's face. The force that Shawn put into his attack sent the older teen flying off to the side. Shawn then dodged around the teen who wielded the wooden katana, then preformed a sweep kick to knock the older teen off his feet. The last teen, who held the metal pipe, tried to sneak up on Shawn from behind. Shawn quickly saw this and quickly rolled out of the way. He then leapt back up onto his feet and did a drop kick on his attacker. Yet the older teens didn't give up as they continued on with their attacks. But every time they tried to attack, Shawn would easily dodge around them, while performing different fighting techniques on them. Michiru watched from the sidelines in both awe and worry. She was amazed at how fast Shawn was able to dodge, while delivering a strike to his attackers without getting hit. But she was also worried about her friend getting hurt in the process. Yet her worries were brought to an end when Shawn knocked down the older teen with the baseball bat. The three older teens groaned as they laid or sat on the ground in pain. They then looked up at Shawn in fear and frustration. Shawn glared back at them in anger as he stood in a fighting stance.

"Do you guys want more?" questioned Shawn in a hard-edged voice. "If not, then hurry up and get out of my sight!"

The older teens hesitated, but after a moment they quickly picked themselves up from the ground, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Shawn watched them go before relaxing into a normal stance. He let out a deep sigh before he turned and walked over to Michiru. The tanuki girl sat up as Shawn came over to her before he knelt down. Michiru tensed slightly as Shawn brought his right hand up to her face. But relaxed when he gently placed it on her cheek.

"Are you alright?" asked Shawn, his voice filled with concern.

Michiru hesitated before nodding her head 'yes' to his question. Shawn sighed in relief before he quickly helped Michiru up onto her feet.

"Come on. Let's get out of here before those three come back with reinforcements."

Shawn then started to run while holding tightly to Michiru's hand in the process. Michiru ran behind him with a confused expression upon her face. Many questions rushed through the tanuki girl's head as she followed Shawn down the street. But one question was at the forefront of Michiru's thoughts. Why wasn't he freaking out about her being a beastman?

Shawn and Michiru continued to run down the street until they came to Shawn's house. Michiru's eyes widened in fear at seeing her best friend's home. Yet she didn't have time to stop Shawn from leading her up to the front door of the house. Nor when he quickly opens the door and dragged her inside. Shawn quickly closed the door behind him, which resulted in the door letting out a loud bang in the process. The noise alerted Shawn's mother, who had been in the kitchen, to the two teens' presence.

"Shawn, what's all the noise about?" asked Nancy curiously.

Her curiosity turned into surprise when she saw her son with a beastman. But it quickly turned to shock when Shawn revealed who the beastman is.

"Mom...I need your help. I think Michiru might be hurt."

Michiru got ready to hear Nancy shout out questions about how she became a beastman. But she was taken by surprise at what Shawn's mother said next.

"Bring her into the kitchen," spoke Nancy in a serious voice. "I'll go get the medical kit."

Shawn nodded before he began to lead Michiru to the kitchen, while Nancy quickly rushed to the storage closet. He set Michiru in one of the kitchen chairs before going over to the kitchen window and pulled the drapes closed. Once that was done, Shawn walked back over to Michiru and took a seat in one of the chairs across from her.

"Okay, we should be safe now," said Shawn with a smile.

Michiru only nodded as she sat silently in the chair. The smile on Shawn's face turned into a soft frown as he stared at his friend in confusion. He was about to ask what was wrong before his mother walked into the kitchen. In her hands, she held a white box with a red cross on the lid.

"Alright," spoke Nancy with a smile as she gazed down at Michiru. "Let's take a look at what kind of injuries you have."

Michiru responded by nodding again. Shawn took that as his que to leave the room and let his mother treat Michiru's injuries. He heads up to his bedroom to change into his normal clothes. It took about a minute to change before he came back down to the kitchen. He entered after asking if it was okay. Nancy just finished placing the items back into the medical kit before Shawn spoke.

"How is she?"

"She's alright," answered Nancy with a smile. "Luckily she only has a few bruises and scrapes. But other than that, Michiru will make a full recovery."

Shawn let out a sigh of relief. He then turned his attention back onto Michiru. The tanuki girl continued to sit quietly within the kitchen chair. Shawn frowned slightly before he walked up to his friend. He gently placed a hand on Michiru's shoulder, which caused her to look up at him. Shawn saw in Michiru's eyes a look of confusion before he turned to look at his mother.

"I'm going to take her up to my room," said Shawn.

Nancy, who had a knowing look upon her face, nodded her head at him. Shawn then helped Michiru stand up from the chair, and began to lead her upstairs to his bedroom. Once there, Shawn quietly closed the door before he turned to face Michiru, who had sat herself down on his bed. Shawn frowned before he started scratching the back of his head.

He decided to start up the conversation: "So...Michiru. Can you..."

"Why?"

Shawn blinked as he stared at his friend in confusion. Michiru was looking at him with a frown upon her face.

"Why aren't you freaking out?" questioned Michiru.

Shawn blinked as he stared at Michiru in confusion before she continued.

"I mean. I've pretty much turned into something people hate. A beastman that every person in the world wants dead. So why aren't you firing off questions on how I became a beastman?"

Understanding soon dawned over Shawn's face. He let out a sigh before he walked over to the bed and sat down next to his friend.

"The reason I'm not freaking out is because 1: Freaking out will do nothing in this situation. And 2: I didn't want to start firing off questions until we were both somewhere safe and out of danger."

Michiru blinked in astonishment before looking down in embarrassment. Shawn smiled before he decided to get down to business.

"So...you think you can tell me how all this happened? With you turning into a beastman I mean."

Michiru let out a sigh before she replied to Shawn's question: "To be honest with you...I'm not exactly sure how it happened."

Michiru turned her gaze downwards as she lifted her hands up from her lap to stare at them.

"One minute; I was at school in the gym getting ready for basketball practice. Then the next thing I knew, fur began to grow on my hands.

"So... it just kind of happened?"

Michiru nodded with a sad expression upon her face. Shawn frowned before he spoke again.

"I see. So that's why you were hiding in your room."

"Yeah," replied Michiru in a soft voice. "I'm thinking that it might be some kind of disease."

Shawn's eyes widened slightly at what his friend had just said.

"A disease?"

Michiru nodded her head once again before she continued.

"I was hoping that by isolating myself that it would go away. You know like when you have the flu or something like that. Then, before I knew it, a whole month had passed, and my condition didn't get any better. Then today, just as you were coming to my house, my mom came into my bedroom to check on me. When she did, my mom took one look at me and...screamed. When she did, I got scared and that's when..."

"That was when you jumped out of your bedroom window," finished Shawn with a light frown.

"Yeah," said Michiru as she turned to look at her friend. "But I didn't expect to find you standing outside in front of my house."

"I was kind of surprised by our encounter too," said Shawn as he gave her a sad smile.

"And that's another thing. How did you know it was me?"

Shawn blinked before his face took on a soft expression. "How could I not?"

The tanuki girl frowned as she stared at her friend in confusion. Shawn turned to look up at his bedroom ceiling before he spoke again.

"Michiru, we've known each other since we were ten years old. Your face is pretty much unique amongst our classmates. So even though you've changed into a beastman, the features of your face haven't change in the slightest. Especially your eyes."

"What do you mean by my eyes? They've pretty much changed like the rest of me."

Shawn chuckled before he turned to look at her again. "I mean that there's something in your eyes that makes you stand out from people."

"Stand out? What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. But I will say this. Your eyes, along with your friendly personality, makes people feel like they can trust you."

Michiru stared at Shawn in surprise before smiling as she shyly glanced away from him. But not before Shawn caught a light blush appearing just underneath Michiru's fur. He smiled before turning his gaze towards his bedroom wall. For a while, the two friends sat in comfortable silence. It wasn't until a minute later that Michiru spoke again.

"Hey Shawn."

Shawn glanced at Michiru as the young tanuki girl gazed at him with a curious expression upon her face.

"Why didn't your mother freak out when she saw me?" asked Michiru with a light frown. "I mean...Does she..."

"No," replied Shawn with a shake of his head. "She isn't like all the other adults that hate beastmen."

Michiru looked at Shawn in surprise. "Really? She doesn't hate beastmen?"

Shawn nodded his head 'yes' in answering Michiru's question.

"But...why not?"

Shawn stared at Michiru for a moment before looking up at the ceiling of his room again. As he did, a far-off expression appeared on his face.

"Because...a long time ago. Two beastmen saved us from drowning."

Flashback back to eleven years ago

We soon find ourselves in the city of California. It was in this city that we find a silver-grey mini van driving down the road. It was in this van that we see a six-and-a-half-year-old Shawn sitting in the front passenger's seat next to his mother. He was wearing a dark blue short sleeved shirt, brown shorts and brown sandals.

Shawn and his mother were driving back home after visiting the Book Fair in their town. Shawn was looking through a book that had information on animals. Nancy glanced at her son with a smile on her face. She was wearing a pink short sleeved shirt, a white jean skirt and light brown flip-flops.

"You enjoying your new book?" asked Nancy.

"Yeah," replied Shawn with a nod as he looked up at his mother. "I never knew that there were so many animals."

"Well, the world if full of life and mysteries," said Nancy with a chuckle. "So there's bound to be a lot of animals on our planet as well."

"Really?"

"Yep."

Shawn smiled excitedly at the thought of there been a lot of animals on Earth. He then went back to reading his book again. Nancy smiled at her son before looking forward again. They were driving past a large lake before they came to a traffic light, which was shining a red light as they approached it. It was at this point that Shawn showed his mother a picture of an animal that he really liked in his new book. As this was happening, a large cement truck was driving down the road. The man was watching the road before him when his cellphone started to ring. He picked up the phone to answer the person that was calling him. As he did, the driver's attention turned away from the road that he was on. When he did, the cement truck began to drift into the lane that was opposite of it. Back with the mini van, Nancy was smiling at her son after seeing the picture that he wanted to show her.

"Who knew that that would be your favorite animal within the book," said Nancy with a chuckle.

"Second favorite," corrected Shawn with a smile.

Nancy let out a hum before turning her attention onto the traffic light. The red light soon turned green and Nancy began to drive forward. But as she did, the cement truck from earlier appeared as it drove down the lane that the mini van was on. The driver of the truck was still in the middle of chatting, and continued to not pay attention to where he was going. Nancy had only driven down ten lengths on the road before her face took on a look of terror, while letting out a gasp of fright. Shawn quickly looked up from his book to see what had scared his mother. When he did, the child's eyes widened in shock when he saw the cement truck heading towards them. It was only near the last minute that the driver of the truck turned his attention back onto the road. When he did, the driver let out a gasp of surprise when he saw the mini van heading towards him. The driver quickly turned the wheel to drive back onto the lane that he had been on before. Nancy also did the same, but turned the wheel of her car to make a hard left. Her action of doing that caused the mini van to drive off the road. As it did, the mini van rolled down a steep hill, before speeding across a long dock, which surprisingly was able to hold the car's weight. Shawn clutched his book tightly against his chest in fear as the van sped towards the end of the dock. Then with the momentum of the vehicle's speed, the mini van flew off from the end of the dock and fell into the deepest part of the lake.

Not far from the lake's edge a man, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, paused in midstride of his walking. He wore a buttoned up Hawaiian short sleeved shirt, brown pants and tennis shoes. He had short dark brown hair, light brown eyes and dark tanned skin.

He had been walking along the path that circled around the lake when he heard the loud splash. The man blinked and turned his attention towards the lake. He gasped when he saw the mini van sinking. The man didn't hesitate as he quickly ran towards the edge of the lake. As he did, the man's humanoid form changed into a humanoid sea turtle. Once he changed his form, he quickly jumped into the lake. Yet as he did, the turtle beastman was unaware that another had also witnessed what had happened.

Back within the mini van, water began to fill up the inside of the vehicle. Nancy and Shawn were franticly trying to unclip their seatbelts. Shawn was successful in unbuckling his belt, but Nancy was having problems with her own seatbelt. It wouldn't come out. It was completely jammed tight within its buckle. Nancy tugged and pulled as hard as she could, but no matter what she did, Nancy wasn't able to pull out the belt buckle. She then turned her attention on the water that was filling up inside the van. Shawn also notices this as he gripped his book tightly to his chest.

"M-mom..." spoke Shawn in a fearful voice. "Are...are we going to...drown?"

Nancy turned to look at Shawn in fear before a determined expression appeared on her face. Without hesitation, Nancy quickly pressed one of the buttons on the driver's door. It was the button that would open Shawn's window. Once the window was open on the passenger's side, more water began to pour into the vehicle. Shawn blinked and stared at his mother in confusion. Nancy sadly smiled at her son before she spoke.

"Shawn...You have to survive."

"Mom?" asked Shawn.

Nancy pulled Shawn into a tight hug and quietly whispered into his ear.

"I love you."

Then, with one hard shove, Nancy was able to push Shawn out through the open window. As she did, a pair of arms wrapped around Shawn's waist. The owner of the arms was none other than the turtle beastman himself. The turtle beastman began to pull Shawn away from the sinking car. Shawn struggled within the turtle's grasp while calling out for his mother.

"Mom! Mom!"

"Stop struggling!" exclaimed the turtle beastman.

"Let me go!" yelled Shawn as he tried to break out of the turtle's grip. "Let me go! I need to save my mom!"

"There's nothing you can do to help her kid! Right now I need to get you to shore. After that I'll go back for your mother."

Shawn turned to look at the turtle beastman. When he did, Shawn was surprised to see the beastman. He had heard of beastmen from the people within his hometown. But he had never seen one in real life before.

Shawn stared at the turtle beastman in bewilderment before he spoke. "Y-you're a..."

"I know. A beastman," said the turtle as he began to swim towards the lake's shores. "Now stay still and let me get you to safety. After that I'll come back for your mother."

Shawn did what the turtle beastman had said, but he still wasn't all that eased by the turtle's promise to save his mother. It wasn't because he didn't trust the beastman. But because his mother didn't have the ability to hold her breath for very long underwater. Shawn knew this because he remembered the one time that he and his mother had went to the pool together. They had played a game in who could hold their breath the longest underwater, and it had always been Shawn who won the contests. Shawn turned to look back at where the van had been. When he did, Shawn thought he saw someone diving under the surface of the water.


Back with Nancy. The inside of the mini van had completely filled up with water and Nancy was forced to hold her breath. She was trying to rip her seatbelt out of its buckle. Yet it stuck firm within the buckle and wouldn't budge. Nancy grimaced in fear as she began to lose hope of escaping. Nancy then started to feel her lungs burn as they pleaded for air. She brought her hands up to her mouth and tries not to take a breath in. But it was futile and Nancy knew this. She slowly opened her eyes as one thought when through her head.

'Fred...Shawn...I'm so sorry.'

Just as she was about to open her mouth and take her last breath, she heard the sound of metal being torn apart. Nancy turned to see the door for the driver's seat being ripped off. Once it came off, it was pushed away by a figure that appeared in front of Nancy. Nancy blinked in surprise before the figure reached forward and slashed through the leather straps of the seatbelt. When she was freed, the figure pulled Nancy out of her seat, and began to help her swim up towards the surface.


Back with Shawn, the turtle beastman had just set him down on the shores of the lake, and was about to turn to go back and help Shawn's mother. But just as he did, the turtle beastman was surprised to see Nancy surfacing from the water. Along with another who appeared beside her. Shawn also noticed this and joy began to fill up inside his heart.

"Mom!"

Nancy slowly swam towards the lake's shore with the person that saved her swimming close behind her. It took about a minute before Nancy finally came ashore. She collapsed onto the bank in exhaustion as Shawn quickly ran towards her. He dropped his book on the ground before wrapping his arms around his mother.

"Mom!" sobbed Shawn as he hugged his mother. "I thought I lost you!"

Nancy smiled as she hugged her son back. "I'm sorry for scaring you Shawn, but I'm alright."

"Thank goodness," sighed the turtle beastman in relief.

Nancy, after hearing the beastman's voice, looked up at him in surprise. Her surprise then turned to curiosity before she spoke.

"Were you the one who saved my son?"

The turtle beastman blinked before answering shyly. "Um...yes ma'am I did."

Shawn let go of his mother as she stood up to be at eye level with the beastman with a smile on her face.

"Thank you," said Nancy as she held her hand out to the beastman. "I'm glad that you were around to help my son."

The beastman was stupefied by Nancy's actions before he smiled and grasped her hand with his flippered hand.

"Happy to help," said the turtle beastman. "I'm just glad that I was in the area at the right time."

"Yes it was," said Nancy with a chuckle.

Shawn smiled as he watched his mother and the beastman talk to each other. He then remembered the other person that had saved his mother. Shawn turned to look and saw the person walking away. Shawn wasn't able to get a good look at who the figure was for they were already to far away. But what he could make out was that the person had white hair. He also wore a tan trench coat. Shawn gazed at the man for a moment before shouting out to him.

"Hey mister!"

The white-haired man stopped in his tracks at Shawn's shout. He then half turned his head to look back at Shawn. Once he did, Shawn shouted out to him once again.

"Thank you for saving my mom!"

The man stood motionless for a moment before he turned to look forward and started walking again. Shawn watched him go as Nancy placed a hand on her son's shoulder. After that Shawn went to pick up his book again. The book's cover was brought into view of the screen to show various animals on it.

End of flashback

We see the very same book, though much older now, being held in Shawn's hands as he gazed down at it with a smile.

"It was thanks to those two that my mother and I are still alive today," finished Shawn.

"Whoa..." voiced Michiru as she gazed at her friend in amazement. "But how did your mother know that the man who saved her was a beastman?"

Shawn glanced up from the book that he was holding to look at Michiru.

"My mother said that the man had taken on his beast form to free her from the mini van. Even though she wasn't able to get a clear view of him. My mom was able to tell me that the beastman who saved her looked to be canine. She also told me that the beastman had white fur that seemed to shine silver underneath the light that shone through the water's surface."

Michiru let out a hum before a smile appeared on her face. "Well, whoever saved your mother, I'm glad that she's here with you."

"Yeah," said Shawn with a nod of his head before he frowned. "And speaking of parents. What are we going to do about yours?"

Michiru tensed as she gave Shawn an uneasy look before looking down at her lap.

"I'm...not really sure to be honest with you," replied Michiru.

Shawn frowned as he sadly stared at his friend. The two sat in silence for a while. Then, after placing his book down on top of the bed, Shawn finally spoke.

"Well...until you figure things out, you're welcomed to stay at my house for a bit."

Michiru blinked before she turned to look at Shawn in surprise. Shawn smiled at her before he continued.

"There's an extra bedroom within our house that you can use. And I'm sure mom has some extra clothing that you can borrow."

Michiru's eyes widened slightly before she spoke. "You mean...you'll actually let me stay with you and your mother?"

"Yeah," replied Shawn as he scratched the back of his head. "After all. You're my best friend and I can't really leave you alone. Also..."

Shawn wasn't able to finish his last sentence as Michiru suddenly wrapped her arms around him, and buried her face into the side of his neck. Shawn felt hot tears land on his neck as Michiru held him.

"Shawn...thank you," sobbed Michiru as she nuzzled into his neck. "You're the greatest friend I could ever have."

Shawn smiled as he wrapped his arms around Michiru and hugged her back. He gently rubbed her back as he let her cry, while quietly thinking to himself.

'Michiru...I promise that I'll protect you no matter what. I won't let anything bad happen to you, or let anyone take you away from me...I swear.'

The two friends sat within the bedroom as Shawn held Michiru tightly within his arms, while the tanuki girl continued to cry out tears of joy and relief. But after a while of hugging, Shawn decided to lighten the mood as a playful smile appeared on his face.

"So...you're a tanuki beastman now, huh?"

Michiru stiffened within Shawn's arms before she pulled back to glare at him.

"No! I'm a raccoon!" exclaimed Michiru.

"Really?" questioned Shawn as he looked at Michiru's tail. "Well from where I'm sitting, your tail looks exactly like a tanuki's tail to me."

Michiru pulled down the back of her hoodie as she tried to hide her tail from view while pouting at Shawn in anger.

"I don't like tanuki's and you know it," grumbled the girl.

"Yeah, I do," said Shawn before giving her a wink. "But despite that, you look pretty cute as a tanuki."

At his complement, a blush appeared on Michiru's face. But she quickly shook it off before she started shouting at Shawn.

"Mou! You can be so immature sometimes Shawn!"

Shawn chuckled before Michiru hit him with a pillow. Thus began their pillow fight together. Downstairs in the family room, Nancy, who was sitting on a sofa reading a book, heard the commotion and couldn't help but chuckle. Despite Michiru turning into a beast-girl, Shawn's friendship with her hadn't changed.

"Those two," said Nancy with a smile.

She then turned to a picture that sat on the left side of the sofa. In the picture was her and Fred in their teenage years. She was on Fred's back as they both smiled at the camera that was taking their picture.

"It wasn't that much different from when we first started out," said Nancy as she gazed at the picture fondly. "And I get the feeling that those two will wind up being more than friends as time goes by."

She then went back to reading her book, while the pillow fight continued upstairs within Shawn's room.

To be continued

And there you have it folks. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Now for a bit of Japanese translation.

'Mou'-it mean's jeez in Japanese.

I hope you all continued to follow the story and leave a comment behind as well.

White Hunter, howling out to you and creativity!