Finally finished this chapter, i've been tossing up whether or not to start doing original plots that tie into the manga, or to follow the manga like every chapter upto Reflection and Pain, either way, updates for the story past this point will be few and far in between as a result
'many questions float through my mind, why was I born? What is my purpose? What will my future hold? Does anything I do matter? These questions cloud my thoughts and no matter how hard I try, I'm unable to clear them from my mind, try as I might, these questions always return, to haunt my waking hours'
JC put down the pen he had and sighed gently, he stared at the transcript he was writing for a follow-up of his Beetron series, the thoughts of the main character after the cliff-hanger ending he gave the series before his hospitalisation, all based on the thoughts he currently had, he put down the notepad and laid back, staring at the slightly grimy ceiling of his new apartment, Beast Apartments room 303, he'd only been there a week and he had made an effort not to interact with any of the others, partially out of respect for their privacy, but mainly to limit his contact with them, still bitter over what had happened in Cherryton, but that didn't stop him with being curious about his neighbours, so far only finding out a merino sheep, and a spotted seal, he really wanted to find out more about them, but his mood was preventing all of that, he slowly got up, grabbed his walking stick and his satchel bag and left the building, making sure not to run into any of his neighbours, headed towards a nearby park, he sighed as he sat down, staring up at the clouds
"nice to see a young one like yourself enjoying the sun"
JC glanced towards the source of the voice, seeing an older looking monitor lizard standing there, he stared blankly at him before looking upwards again,
"just needed to get away from life" he replied, feeling the lizard sitting by him "and reflecting on some recent events that seem surreal"
"ah, I know what that's like, for me, it's seeing your future being laid out before you, only to toss it away for the woman of your dreams"
"for me, it was having a dream before it was torn away by political BS" the lizard chuckled,
"mm, it can't be that bad, can it?" he asked,
"can't it? Cherryton academy, the only school in the area where both carnivores and herbivores exist in harmony, being forced to now segregate due to a chain of unfortunate events starting last year?" JC leaned forward, putting his head into his hands "and because I wanted to protect someone out of the school, I was forced to the sidelines while it happened without my knowledge" he sighed gently, only looking up feeling the lizard's hand on his shoulder, noticing that he was doing his best to keep his scales from touching his skin,
"36 years ago, me and my best friend were candidates to become the next Beastar, but we vowed to become it together, not any of this "either of us" spiel, but the night we vowed this, we ran into a fur mugging, we killed the mugger and saved the wolf, she became the love of my life from then, she had found beauty in my appearance, she soon became pregnant with our daughter, a miracle child, considering who we were, because of that, I had to give up the Beastar candidacy as a result, my friend wasn't too pleased, for lack of a better term, but regardless, our daughter was born without issue, but soon after, my dear wife died" JC stared at him, they barely knew each other, but they were swapping stories as if they were old friends,
"how did she die?" he asked,
"she kissed me, intimately" JC's eyes widened, he knew that monitor lizard saliva was poisonous, but he didn't realise that anyone who wasn't immune would willingly do that,
"but why though?"
"it was her birthday, and she did it to show her love for me, since then, I've made a massive effort to make sure no others share her fate by my venom, directly or otherwise" JC glanced at the hand on his shoulder,
"it must've been hard when that happened"
"extremely, but it wasn't the last time I felt such sadness" he looked at JC before continuing "growing up, my daughter was like every other wolf, but because she was a hybrid, I was worried about any side effects from my DNA, lucky for her, none ever surfaced, until she was 19, that's when her scales started showing, on her back, mainly, and because she was desperate, she birthed a son, my only living relative, she kept her condition from him, so much so, she started hiding from him while they spread over her, and then, one night, when he was only 12, she committed suicide, I guess because she hated how she looked, she was so independent in life, even making the decision not to tell everyone that her father was a monitor lizard" JC sat in silent as he spoke, absorbing the details of what he was told,
"i guess my problems are just a drop in the bucket compared to what you had to live through"
"everyone's problems are as important to them just as they might be unimportant to others" he replied, the 2 sat in silence for a moment longer "you remind me of my grandson, he recently left Cherryton recently as well, often spoke of his friends there, maybe you've met him, if not, I could introduce you"
"thanks but no thanks" JC said, slowly standing "companionship like those that Canidae are famous for is the last thing I currently need, but I'll keep it in mind for the future, what is your grandson's name?" the lizard stood in response to this
"his name is Legoshi" his eyes widened a bit, a few things suddenly making sense to him,
"Legoshi, one of my good friends"
"that must make you JC then, the name is Gosha, in case we meet again"
"a pleasure meeting you Gosha" JC said, Gosha leaving him there, JC sat on the bench a while longer before getting up and leaving the park, JC returned to the apartments, and headed up to the roof to have a quiet think, looking down at the streets, he pulled out his phone and earbuds, silently putting them in and putting on a song at random, how it went sounded appropriate, so he silently sang along to it, unaware that he had an audience
Here I stand, head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she's gone I can't go on
Feeling two inch small
Everywhere people stare
Each and ev'ryday
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
How can I even try
I can never win
Hearing them, seeing them
In the state I'm in
How could she said to me
Love will find a way
Gather 'round all you clowns
Let me hear you say
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
JC inhaled and sighed as the song slowly winded down, removing the earbuds, feeling even more depressed then before
"didn't expect you to be a Beagles fan" JC looked towards the speaker, it was the merino sheep he had seen on occasion "forgive me, but I saw you come up here and I thought I'd introduce myself"
"I'm sorry, but I'm not really in the mood to make new friends" he told her
"oh, I apologise, I'll leave you alone then" she turned and started to leave,
"wait" she paused and looked back at him "i guess I could use someone to talk to while I'm living here, what's your name miss?" her eyes widened a bit, having not expected this
"uh…...i-it's Seven" she stuttered gently, JC lifted an eyebrow,
"interesting name Seven, a pleasure to meet you" he said, turning back to look at the streets, Seven stared, wanting to ask for his name, but felt that he didn't want to tell her at that time,
"i….i'll leave you alone" she said as she went back inside, JC not even registering her leaving, being too deep in thought, he also felt as if he was being rude to Seven, he sighed gently
'looks like I'm back to square one again, not having many as friends, living an isolated existence, same how it was at the beginning of last year, could be much, much worse I guess'
he took one last sweeping glance over the street and headed back to his apartment, going into a box containing pages of work he did for the original Beetron series that never made it in, looking for new ideas.
JC silently walked the quiet night streets as he headed home, his doctor recently had recommended for him to take a long walk without the use of the stick in order to strengthen it, but to keep it on him as a precaution, he rounded the corner for home when he saw someone familiar walking towards him, looking concerned,
"Haru, what are you doing here at this time?" she looked up in stunned shock, seeing JC there, without saying a word, she ran up and hugged him,
"I'm glad to see that you're OK JC" she said, JC moving her so that he could hug her properly "i was so worried for you, I came to see you, but the hospital staff told me that you were discharged, I called Juno to ask what happened, she told me that you left Cherryton because of what happened, but you didn't leave a forwarding address so that anyone could-" JC gently placed a finger on her lips,
"breath Haru, you'll go blue" JC teased, she gave a weak smile, hugging him tighter
"i just missed you terribly" she explained, adding that her university life was extremely hectic which evolved into her going into an exposition to JC about what she had been doing "so, what have you been doing?" she managed to ask, the two of them going to the park with JC getting a soda for them,
"isolating myself from the world" JC said "I'm guessing Juno told you why?"
"yeah, she did" Haru replied "i don't know how, or why the school would do that to you, but I guess it's part of life"
"yeah" JC took a sip of his drink "so, what were you doing out in a dangerous area like where I saw you?"
"i was going to visit Legoshi, his friend, Jack I think his name was, the Labrador" JC nodded gently "he told me that it'd make Legoshi happy if I saw him, that I'm the only female for him" JC could tell that she had more to say but couldn't say it, so he didn't press her further
"that's Jack for you, always trying his best to make his oldest friend happy" JC drank more of his soda "even at the expense of his own happiness" Haru looked up at him
"really wish I had a friend like that" she said, looking at her can "apart from Louis, I didn't have any long time friends because of my promiscuity" she gently gulped down more of her drink,
"until Legoshi and myself entered the picture" JC said, Haru smiled gently,
"yeah, that's true" she acknowledged, finishing her soda "thanks for listening to me vent, but I really need to get home"
"ok, it was nice seeing you" JC said, finishing his soda "and be careful on the way home, I've been hearing about attacks being sparked by carnivores consuming a drug known as BB"
"i've heard, and I'll be careful"
"i mean it, I don't want another Shishigumi incident with you or Legoshi again"
"i understand, and I will be careful" she smiled and hugged him "but thanks for looking out for me" JC slowly hugged her back before she left, he sat there in silence as she walked off, he sighed and looked towards the buildings, frowning as he thought he saw a dark shape moving amongst the skyscrapers, he chuckled gently,
'i guess my recent work with Beetron Neo has gotten to me, combined with those recent sleepless nights, it's making hallucinate, hopefully I can get a good night sleep tonight'
he stood up and walked home, upon arriving, he heard Seven chatting with someone, not wanting to eavesdrop, he passed the room, pausing when he recognised the voice, he silently listened a bit longer before heading to his room, passing out on the mattress he had set up, finally getting the right amount of proper sleep he needed in 3 days.