As I crossed the playground I glanced around at the humans and kemonomimi intermingling. At a rough estimate I’d have put the kemonomimi at about a third of the students, and as far as I could tell they were all mammals when it came to their animal parts. As I looked about I spotted Mike ‘The Moose’ Matthews and wasn’t sure whether or not to be disappointed that he was human rather than a moose kemonomimi. Shaking my head at the thought of him with big antlers sticking out of his head, I headed into one of the school buildings, taking a short cut to where Karyn and I usually hung out before school.
As I cut through the building I entered a stairwell and paused at the sound of someone crying. Curious, I turned an approached the stairs. The crying was coming from under them an I poked my head around to see who was hiding in the alcove below them.
Sensing my presence, the figure sitting curled up on the floor with his knees tucked under his chin looked up at me and his ears twitched, drooping in fear. I stared for a second, before realising who it was. “Damian?”
Damian Lettman was the only emo in the school, if not the whole town and was something of a social outcast, which I thought was unfair. I considered him a casual friend and he always seemed like a sweet sensitive guy, something backed up by what my sister, who was in the same class as him and who often partnered with him for labs and study buddy, had told me. Of course this just made him an even bigger target for bullies.
“What’s wrong mate?” I asked approaching him and taking a seat next to him. Without thinking about it, I put my arm around him and pulled him closer.
Wiping his eyes he said “S-same old crap.”
“Wanna talk about it?” I asked “Or do you just want a shoulder to cry on.”
“I-I couldn’t,” he stammered, turning red. I knew he’d had a crush on me since he’d started here after his family moved here from Britain, so guessed his hesitation was down to being scared of being allowed such intimacy. I smiled at him and gently pulled his head down, patting his fox ears.
“What are friends for?”
He sniffed and dried his eyes and gave in, resting his head on my shoulder. I heard him sniff a couple more times but wasn’t sure if that was just him getting the tears out of his system, or if he too was picking up on my mysterious scent.
Before I could ask him, I felt him perk up and tense. I followed his gaze and saw...
