Thursday

Aurora Borealis

He wakes up to an alarm. Wait. An alarm? Something moves next to him. Then it all comes rushing back. Yuki is next to him. He woke up to Auri’s alarm. Oh. He realizes that him falling asleep must have broken his nocturnal cycle. There’s no way he can switch now, his mind is completely awake. Dang. This is not what he had meant to happen. He’s going to have to live a day of Auri’s life after all. So soon, too. He had wished to keep his fursonality secret for longer.

They really have a messed up sleep cycle. A week ago, they were sharing an even 12 hours each. Then school came and cut his time short. Now they aren’t even on the diurnal and nocturnal cycle.

“Good morning,” a sleepy voice interrupted his thoughts. His emotions about her came rushing back. Holy molybdenum she is cute.

“Good morning, my love.” He didn’t mean to add the endearing phrase, but it felt so good to say. Her bright blue eyes met his. They were shiny from just waking up. Her expression was hard to gauge. She just looked cute to him. Well, she always does. Suddenly he started to remember parts of Auri’s memories. He remembers when they were walking with Yuki-Chan after school, the wind blowing the leaves, admiring their dear friend.

Her face slowly brightens, then she giggles.

“I really do love you, Auri-Chan.” Bo’s heart sinks. He’s going to have to tell Yuki. He doesn’t want to pretend to be someone he isn’t. How am I going to explain it to her? He has no idea how she will take that her friend has two fursonalities. He has messed up their cycle they had, and now will be faced with many hard things. Is he going to show up to school in a girl’s uniform? He already has his claws painted. And dulled. But if the diary told him anything, it’s that he can trust Yuki with everything. He knows exactly how much this friend means to Auri. If his other fursonality was to learn about him, telling her through Yuki would be a great option.

She notices his mind turning, “What are you thinking about?”

He sits up and looks her seriously in the eyes, “There’s some things you need to know about me. I’ll explain them as best I can.”

He can tell that Yuki is uneasy. She was probably expecting a response from Auri when she said those words. Instead, her friend got serious. She sat up as well, with her legs tucked underneath her, “What is it that you need to tell me?”

He saw her ears perk up, her face grow serious. He knew that this was someone he could trust with his greatest secret. He told her everything. From the scientists, to the multiple fursonalities. He said it all very logical, very factual. He didn’t miss a single explanation. “You don’t have to keep it a secret from Auri. I see that our lives will be intertwined from now on, and there is no avoiding that. I am able to pinpoint the feelings she has for you, if I focus. And she loves you dearly, Yuki-San.”

Yuki cringes at his last word, “Please, treat me like she would. I can’t bear to have a different friendship with you, just because you aren’t her. I wish to treat you both the same. Besides, you said you know her emotion for me. That must have an impact on how you view me.”

She was such a smart girl. And she was so right. Borealis felt love for this girl rise to the surface again. Auri’s emotions were so strong. He can’t avoid being caught up in them. But it might be a good thing, after all. If he has the same feelings about furries that Auri does, and can recall vague memories, that makes the switching a lot easier. The left brain and the right brain aren’t completely separate, after all. There was a membrane in between them that connects the hemispheres.

“You are right, Yuki-Chan. I won’t treat you like a stranger. You are our friend, after all. And an amazing, cute, wonderful one. One I would gladly spend time with.” Borealis watches as the small white wolf puts paws to cover her face as silent tears threaten to escape her eyes and tumble down her cheeks.

“Th- thank you. I don’t know how it is to be in a situation like you two are in, but I will be the best friend I can, to both of you. No matter what.” She sniffles and then flings herself forward to hug him. This is the second time he hugged her. He got a rush of emotion, especially after seeing her on the brink of tears. He feels an urge to be nice to this girl, for she is so precious and loving towards him. He wants her to be able to run into his protecting arms if she ever gets scared. He yearns to assure her there isn’t anything that can harm her as long as he is around. He wishes to give her anything she would want. He loves to see her happy.

He then realized he had been thinking aloud. She heard it all. Her grip tightened. He felt her wet cheeks press into his fur. Tears streamed down her face. She looked up at him. Her eyes, they rocked him to his core. She was so genuine, so kind, so loving. He meant everything he said about her. More and more about her came to his mind. He knew her as well as Auri did. He never thought he had the ability, but he had fallen in love with this girl.

“I love you too, Yuki-Chan.” He finally said it. He needed to let her know.

✶ ✶ ✶

Suda, Hideto

Suda was early to school. He made it out of his house in time for the early bus. It’s nicer to not deal with the crowds. He also hoped to bump into Chiharu again. Maybe not like last time. Actually bumping into her kinda hurt. He had high hopes for seeing her again, but when he realized he didn’t know her schedule, he will have to rely on chance or it would seem too forced. Kimiko was at school early too. He waved, as they were walking toward the classroom at the same time. She walked next to him. She was one of the few girls that was close to his height, but she was still shorter than him. Her curly hair bounced with each step. She put it in pigtails today, almost like a vocaloid that was popular in Japan. She adjusted her trajectory to walk next to him.

“How was yesterday?” He asked, forgetting that his curiosity might reveal he was eavesdropping at school yesterday.

“Yesterday was a total blast! Me, Yuki, and Auri went to the spa. It was sooo relaxing.” Kimiko was her usual chatty self, very expressive. She suddenly changes her peppy mood to a more serious one. She looks around to see if anyone is listening in. Suda inwardly groans. She’s such a drama queen. She puts a paw up to one side of her mouth, trying to tell him a secret. The overacting always meant she was going to drop some “drama bomb”. Suda knew her for long enough to figure that out. He went along with it, because he knows she’s going to tell furries one way or another. He leaned in to hear whatever recent “scoop” she needed to reveal.

“Auri and Yuki are gay. And they are dating each other!” She doesn’t even make it to the second sentence in a whisper voice. She ended up announcing it even after all her secrecy. Typical Kimiko.

Suda got an instant headache. Of course Kimiko would tell that to everyone. Suda already suspected they were gay when he saw them having coffee together, but he wasn’t going to announce his suspicions to everyone who walked through the classroom door.

“I know, Kimiko-San. Just… Try to keep it on the down-low until they are ready to tell furries. Yuki’s a shy girl, remember? We don’t want to say anything to out them before they are ready.” Suda looked seriously at Kimiko, his eyebrows knitted together.

Her face fell. She was always so excited to talk about drama, but never thought about the repercussions of it. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t even think of it.”

He looked her in the eye, “How many furries have you told?” He really wanted her to say ‘just you’ but he assumed he wasn’t on the top of the list to share drama with, and if she was already telling him, it was too late.

She got awkward and somber, simply saying, “I’m sorry.” His fears were confirmed. he just hoped poor Yuki would be ready for it. I don’t think anyone can be ready for something like that. He wouldn’t blame Kimiko. It was her nature, years of being in the same class with her told him that.

“We will support Yuki and Auri. We can’t reverse it to let them tell furries on their own accord, but we can be there for them. I just don’t want Yuki to be scared, we both know how she is.” Suda lightens up. He will make sure it works out ok. They enter the classroom and Suda takes his seat next to Ishido. He guesses that Ishido doesn’t know yet, so Suda informs him of Kimiko’s gossiping. Ishido voices his agreement with wanting to protect Yuki.

Yuki enters the class and a murmur spread throughout the class. Maybe Suda is just being oversensitive. He could have imagined it. Auri follows her, but something is totally different. She has a boy’s school uniform on. And her hair is up in a hat. Suda was very confused. If he didn’t know she was a girl, he would have easily been convinced that Auri was male. It makes sense now that he thinks about it. If they really are lesbians, one being more of a dike is quite common. Besides, no one in the class knows Auri too well, so maybe she was trying to fit in for the first few days. Maybe this is her more comfortable expression. Suda just really hopes this doesn’t bring even more attention to the couple, although he pretty much can guarantee it will. He breathes out in nervousness for his friends.

“Hey Yuki, Auri,” He tilts his head as he acknowledges each furry. Yuki shyly waves, per usual. Auri says, “Hey, bro.”

Suda can already tell Auri is acting different. Her posture, her inflection, even her choice of words was more masculine. She is over-doing it if she is trying to act masculine on purpose. Suda glances around the room, trying to gauge other student’s reactions. Should he be this concerned? Seeing nothing too inflammatory, just some curious looks, Suda focuses back on the classroom. The teacher enters the room and starts writing the tasks for today on the board. Class hasn’t started yet, but Suda decides to start the entry task already. He’s going to have to get it done sometime, and he would rather get his mind off the irrational anxiety he is feeling for his friends. He shouldn’t get defensive before anything happens. Auri might not even need protecting. If she can handle it herself, he shouldn’t get involved. If she really does need help, of course he will be a good friend and be there for her. Worrying about it isn’t solving anything though. He finishes the first entry problem. See, I was able to solve something, He thinks to himself with an inward smile. Completing tasks was gratifying for Suda.

Kimiko talked to him more throughout the day. He told him his concerns about Auri and Yuki. He made sure to let her know that he didn’t blame her one bit. He just explained his stance on a lot of things. He is has a solid resolve to let furries be how they truly are. He knows all about how the world can really just tear furries up and spit them out. He holds a lot of compassion for the ones that desperately want to be themselves. Surprisingly, Kimiko was a better listener than he originally thought. She wasn’t the airhead he suspected. She was able to provide some views about it as well. She didn’t agree with homosexuality or transgenderism, but didn’t hate the furries. She kind of just felt it was sad that furries got caught up in the deviancy.

Halfway through the conversation, Suda realized that Yuki’s ears had swiveled to them. He cringed because Kimiko was explaining her view of homosexuality. His shoulders sagged when he realized that not much would change all the opinions furries have about homosexuality. It was controversial, even in a time where so many things were accepted. Kimiko was a classmate that wanted the best for Yuki, so there was no hard feelings there. He still hoped that Yuki wouldn’t be too harshly impacted by classmate’s views. It’s good to have conversation about it, he isn’t upset that Kimiko is talking to him about it. He rather enjoys discussing things with her. This way, she can learn more about his side. He certainly has learned a lot about her. She is very convicted about her morals, and Suda really loves that. She isn’t wishy-washy and gets straight to the point. She may be a little abrasive at times, especially when it’s controversial. That’s just how she shows her conviction. He takes her edge off when he voices his side, makes her think about it more than just one way.

He smiles as she listens to him. She isn’t one of those furries that devalues the other. She is respectful and treats him as an equal. Even though he sees it from a totally different view, she doesn’t cast out his opinion. Some furries will call the opposing sides crazy or insult their intelligence. That is no way to have a conversation, and it sure isn’t winning an argument. Suda sees debate as a learning experience. Each furry learns more about the other’s side, even if they don’t convince the other. They both win if they are open to seeing things from a different perspective. This exercise of open-mindedness prevents baseless biases and preconceived notions.

Both say their fill and fall silent for a bit. The classroom continues and they do what they can to stay caught up. Suda felt like he just never really noticed Kimiko. She is kind of cute, actually. She has an alluring figure, but even more so than that, she has a gorgeous face. He must have never had any in-depth conversations with her, because this is the first time he really sees her for who she is. He wouldn’t mind seeking out friendship with this girl.

He refuses to compare her to Chiharu. Both girls are different furries, and that’s that. He doesn’t want to hold one over the other in his mind. Suda really believes in treating everyone equally. He hasn’t had any in-depth conversations with Chiharu, but really enjoyed the conversation he had with Kimiko. He wonders if he could bring important stuff up to Chiharu. He certainly knows he can with Kimiko, and Suda really sees that as something important in a friend.

“You’re a really genuine girl, Kimiko-San. Would you like to be my friend, so we can have great conversations more often?” Suda whispers in an intermission of the lesson. She looks up from her paper at him in surprise. He hopes he said everything correctly. Hair fell in her face so she lifted it with a paw to look him in the eye.

“Y- yeah,” Her face betrays a slight smile, partially hidden, “Yeah I would love that.” Her paw lingered at the side of her head, still holding her curly hair back. They were the bundle of bangs that didn’t make it into the voluminous pigtails. Her paw slowly fell back to her desk and the bangs returned back to partially cover the right side of her face. She turned her head back to her classwork as the teacher made an instruction to follow. Suda lingered, watching her. She was smiling more now. That felt really good. Why was it hard to say nice things like that sometimes? He should be more expressive to furries. His emotions have been noticeably more distinct recently.

It was Japanese and English class next. Murake-Sensei walked in and organized his things. Suda decided to talk to Auri and Yuki during the break. He was glad nothing came up so far.

“How are you both doing?” He smiles at them considerately. They give a customary response, which doesn’t tell him much. He just goes out and asks about Auri’s new look, complimenting it before asking why the change.

“Well, to be honest with you, it’s a long story. I’ve already decided to tell Yuki everything, so I guess I’ll just make it known to everyone. I have Multiple Fursonality Disorder. I call myself Borealis, or Bo for short. It took awhile to figure out another furry was living half my life. You would know her as Auri.” The curious blue furry explained. That was a very interesting response that Suda wouldn’t have guessed. Students around them perked their ears up at the conversation, and the news spread like wildfire. Soon the whole class knew that Aurora Borealis was a peculiar furry with MFD. Suda had a lot of questions, of course. He will let Bo tell him later, when things settle down.

“In that case, Bo, I’m excited to get to know you as well as I know Auri.” Suda shakes his paw, still a little surprised by the whole thing but will just go with it. The teacher clears his throat after a while, and the murmuring class settles down. Students make their way back to their assigned seats or turn around to face the front. The class curriculum chugs along, material getting covered for the day and student’s classwork finished up and turned in.

The lunch bell rings. Suda wants to hang out with Bo, Yuki, and Kimiko. He asks them if they are free. They all nod and pick up their things. They are going out to the courtyard to eat. Yuki and Suda pick up school lunches while Bo and Kimiko find a spot to sit. They didn’t have to pick up a school lunch because they both brought food. Bo stands in line with Yuki, and he takes this alone time to ask what he wanted to confirm.

“Do you like Aurora Borealis? More than a friend, I mean.” If he didn’t know Yuki as well as he did, there was no way she would answer a question like that from anybody. It’s almost a little too hopeful to expect a response even though it’s me asking. He thinks after he asked it. But he had to know. His expectations dwindled as Yuki paused. The longer she took to respond, the less likely the response was going to come. He started to feel a little anxiety for asking such a fursonal question. Should I have been as direct as that? Maybe asked in a better setting? Waited a bit? The questions buzzed through his mind. Luckily, something interrupted them. She started to answer!

“I- … I think so. But everything is so… complicated!” She bursts out. She puts her paws in front of her face, hiding her expression and pushing her bangs over her eyes.

“No no, it’s ok. You don’t have to know for sure,” Suda instantly starts comforting her. He knows that he can put an arm over her to help calm her down. He does so compassionately. She nods and looks a little less upset. Suda glances over his shoulder, wondering if Kimiko or Borealis saw Yuki’s outburst. It didn’t look like it, so he turned his attention back to his friend. He has known her since primary school. She always was this shy. She only became comfortable with a select few group of furries.

“If you want to talk to me about the complications, I’m open to listening and providing a my perspective.” Suda rubs her shoulder with his paw. She nods silently and slowly.

“Thanks for being here for me,” she says very quietly afterwards. She hugs him back. The line moves forward and the pleasant moment is lost when they go up to order their food. They receive the usual Thursday meal and make their way back to the group. There is a silence between Suda and Yuki as Aurora Borealis comes into sight.

“Heyyy,” Kimiko says awkwardly, most likely feeling the social tension. She’s a very perceptive girl, really good at reading furries. Bo, on the other paw, doesn’t seem to be affected, even if he did notice. Suda smiles to put everyone at ease. Something still lingers, and they have a hard time breaking the ice.

“Did you all have a good day at school?” Suda offers into the conversation. It’s met with basic remarks about the school day, everyone generally said it was alright. Borealis unpacks his lunch, taking off the lid to the box.

“Aw cute, who made your lunch?” Kimiko leans over and looks at the packed lunch, food neatly contained in the orderly sections.

“Uh, Auri made this and put it in the fridge.” Bo has a funny look on his face. Suda couldn’t tell if it was embarrassment or uncomfortability when talking about Auri.

They all start to eat, and a sense of normality returns to the group. Suda notices that Kimiko sat next to him. Rather, more next to him than usual, if that makes sense. She turns her head to him and tells him about her day. She apparently hasn’t been doing good on the homework, but recently she is starting to study harder and get back into it. Suda tries to relate, but the worst grade he has gotten was a B in the quiz category and still had an A overall. Once Yuki and Bo start up a conversation amongst themselves, the awkwardness completely leaves. Suda tells Kimiko about his day, and makes sure to mentioned he loved their conversation early in the morning. He liked to see how convicted she was about her morals, and how she was easy to talk to, even if they differed in perspectives. She felt similarly about their exchange. It was good for her to hear other views as well. She sounds like she would want to know more about his views, and talk to him more. She gives him her number, and he plugs that into his device. Maybe she would be open to a voice call tonight, so they could talk about more.

Lunch starts wrapping up. They pack up their lunches and lift their bags. Time to go to class, where their Math/Science teacher will be getting ready. They walk in to Tsubaki-San setting up a lab. Looks like they will be spending more class time on science today. These labs usually take up some time they would have been spending on math. It’s early in on the school year, so it’s only a safety lab. They do a few easy experiments after they are able to show they can follow directions and use proper procedure. Suda is used to seeing Auri on her laptop during this period, but the teacher asked Bo to participate in case he wanted to do any future labs. Suda noticed her use the name “Bo”. Information travels fast and far in this school. It’s nice that Tsubaki-San understands the situation and adjusts to it.

The lab was really easy and finishes up in time for math. Bo goes on the computer to learn, since he already knows the math being taught. Suda had a good school day today. There is baseball practice after school, and he also has work. At least he got some relaxation time at school.

✶ ✶ ✶

Nakagawa, Kimiko

Kimiko puts her math work in her binder. She only finished half, she will have to complete it tonight. The bell is going to ring soon. She wants to walk home with Suda-Kun, at least to the bus. Ever since he has talked to her, she’s wanted to know more about him. He was a very genuine furry. She has been in his class for a long time now and hasn’t really talked to him much. I guess you never know someone until you have a deep conversation with them. She thought about how their relationship used to be shallow and only surface level until they talked about their beliefs with each other. They were both open and even though they disagreed, they found common ground. That is the type of person she wants to continue talking to. Someone that can truly listen, care, and respond from the heart.

The bell rings and the students start to leave. She catches up to walk beside him. She must have been trying too hard to catch up because she bumped up next to him, way closer than what she was going for. She plays it off with a giggle, and readjusts her bags. I hope that didn’t make things awkward, her mind instantly fears. Externally she plays it cool and he doesn’t seem to notice. She realizes that he didn’t back away either, so she keeps walking close to him. Looking at his paw so close to hers makes her heart thump. She doesn’t really talk to boys all too much, she only tells girls that she does. He doesn’t look like he recognized how she suddenly lost all rational thought after she came in close proximity with him. She fumbles with her words when she tries to spark conversation. What a complete ditz I’ve become, look at me. She laughs internally at herself.

He looks at her with patient eyes. Either patient or clueless. Most likely a little bit of both.

“What do you mean?” He tilts his head. She was trying to ask him what he does after school, but somehow made it sound like she was interested in where he was going after school.

“Oh, I just meant to ask you what you’re doing after school, and what you usually do after school.” There she goes again, a wordsmith that just keeps talking. She didn’t need to ask that much in one question, she could have kept it simple.

He is patient enough to answer regardless of her blabbering, “Yeah today I’ve got both baseball practice and work today. They don’t usually overlap too much, but both things keep me pretty busy.”

“Oh you work? What do you do?” At least she managed to keep her question simple this time.

“I work at a grocery store,” He answers reasonably. Yeah, that makes sense. It’s a good first job. Kimiko tells him what she usually does after school. She plays piano and sings. Suda didn’t react too strongly to it. She is used to furries being surprised when she says she is a musician.

“I could show you the piece I’m working on sometime,” She offers, then sputters, “Not today, because you’re so busy and all…” and cringes at her lack of eloquence. She really lets the words fly, doesn’t she? He ends up telling her that he would like to hear it. She gets a pang of nervousness at someone hearing her original works, especially a boy. Outwardly she gets excited and hugs him, her bust accidently connecting with his arm. She must have tried too hard to hide her nervousness. She refuses to be embarrassed about her voluptuous breasts, though, so she pretends as if she doesn’t notice her boobs pressing up against his arm.

“I’d just LOVE to have you listen to it. I wrote the whole song, I’m very proud of it!” He raises his eyebrow at this statement. He looks over at her hugging his arm. He is met with Kimiko’s face intently staring at him.

“That sounds awesome. I’m pretty free on Fridays, so maybe tomorrow?” His eyes connect with hers. She beams, smiling ear to ear. Her heart starts thumping again, so she backs off his arm so he won’t feel it. She keeps walking next to him. Suda-Kun is pretty relaxed, nothing like her. She wonders if he ever gets passionate playing baseball. Probably not. I think he must be the cool-headed one on the team that always knows what to do. She infers from his personality type.

I guess opposites really do attract. Her thoughts betray what her heart has already been trying to tell her. Her, of all furries, needs someone stable and calm to root her boisterous emotions down to earth. Maybe Suda-Kun is the one.

They get to the bus stop, and Kimiko finds out she is waiting for a bus that goes the opposite way that Suda-Kun is headed. As she dreads the arrival of the bus he needs to get on, they manage to have one last conversation.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Suda-Kun. And please plan on coming to my house after school, to see my song.” She says happily.

Suda nods with an almost irritating amount of tranquility. Not that his calm attitude is bad, but she seriously can’t tell if he is the least bit interested or excited about it. I am usually able to tell furries emotions! She thought in exasperation.

His bus arrives far sooner than she wished it to. Anyway, she refused to let him leave without a hug. She was so glad she didn’t let him get away without hugging her. His hug was so comforting. His big, protective arms wrapped around her. His strength was frightening, but he was so gentle with her. She pressed her chest up against him brazenly, loving the closeness of the hug. It was more brief than what she would have wanted, but she will take what she can get for now. I certainly like him, she thinks as he gets on the bus and waves as it departs. She sighs.

✶ ✶ ✶

Asuna, Yuki

They were going to a karaoke diner after school. Obviously they were too young for saké, but it would be a fun place to have dinner anyway, wouldn’t it? She planned on going with Auri, but Bo was in control. He still agreed to going, so that made Yuki happy.

This was not in walking distance. They had to even go to a different bus stop. Yuki knew the way, however, so she guided Bo the right way. She was pretty thrown off with the whole Bo/Auri thing. He explained it well in the morning, but it threw her emotions back into a stormy, foggy confusion. Do I like Bo, too? Does Bo like me just as much as Auri does? It’s at least a good thing that he told me he can remember how Auri feels about me. Then I won’t be a complete stranger.

All this thought poured through her head while she was walking on the sidewalk with Borealis-Kun. She wanted to bring it up, but didn’t feel comfortable yet. Perhaps she will bring it up over dinner. She couldn’t even make herself hold Bo’s paw. They usually walk paw-in-paw, but Yuki still felt as though Borealis was too different for her to act the same around. She didn’t know how Bo would feel about holding her paw, and she was too scared to ask.

They made it to the karaoke diner without any problems. She remembered which stop to get off of and they didn’t have to walk too far after that. It had a light up neon sign outside, declaring that it was “Wakabayashi Diner”. They walked up a flight of stairs to get to the second floor. The entrance was undecorated, but upon entering, they soon found out the decor was rather rampant. Inside, there were lights strung just about everywhere. They didn’t have any normal lighting, the random jumble of colours was sufficient to light up the interior. A waiter saw them to a seat. Their waiter was an adult red fox with a buxom figure. Yuki rolled her eyes at the outfit they made her wear. No wonder she got the job, any japanese man after drinking their fill of saké couldn’t help themselves from tipping the pretty lady very generously, Yuki mused. Her breasts were barely contained within the colourful diner outfit. The colours were very nice, Yuki admitted. Especially with all the neon lights. She could have sworn they had a fog machine, but she blinked her eyes a couple times and the fairy lights went back to their normal shape. She must be adjusting to the strange lighting. The diner didn’t smell bad, it was a pretty clean place. They were seated in their own room, complete with a sound system, TV, and mic. They had some time to browse the menu. They weren’t given an “adult beverage” menu for obvious reasons, but the selection was pretty good. They had a lot of choices. Yuki decided she would try something specific to the diner.

“What did you have in mind?” Borealis asked. Yuki showed him the category that was the diner’s original creations. He perused it, reading the descriptions.

“Yeah these sound nice… Especially this one,” He points with a claw to one of the items, “I think I might get it.”

They both order once the waiter comes in with refreshments. He goes out to ring them up. While they wait for their food, Yuki choses a song. These karaoke diners are the few places that Yuki feels like she is able to open up. She never is concerned to sing in front of furries when it’s a karaoke bar. That’s what they are for, anyway!

“Would you like to join me?” She asks, before choosing duet or single.

“I’ll watch for this one. I haven’t been to a Karaoke bar before.” Borealis sat up to listen to her. He paused, looked at the sound system, and started to look through his pockets, “Sorry, I need to put in hearing protection first. I have really sensitive ears.”

He nests them in his cat ears, that are always standing up. They swivel and then flick, becoming accustomed to the new arrangement.

She selects the song “Shunjou Romantic” from “Love Live! School Idol Project” and it starts up with a fast piano and quickly drops into a guitar riff.

Is this a beginning?

Nobody, nobody has noticed

I've been reborn for the sake of love

I'm now becoming a butterfly and shivering

The scent of flowers scares me

So numbingly sweet

My heart is melting... I can't explain it

Yuki sings quickly with the pace and hits all the notes the best she can. It breaks into the chorus and she smiles as she passionately throws her usual shyness to the wind.
      

Dreaming and fluttering

The romantic inside of me

The wonder of an awakening just begun

isn't too bad

Dreaming and fluttering

I can't do anything but act shy

That won't do

I have to take flight

She belts out the lyrics, her heart racing. What a wonderful song. The quick pace and fast beats never fail to make her heart thump to the music. She just lets out her emotion with no regard to what anyone sees if they look at her.

And the song. The song. It means so much more to her now. The song ends and she feels so much lighter on her feet. Her head is slightly dizzy from the exertion. She really went all out. She smiles giddily as Bo applauds her. Her heart flutters like the butterfly the songwriter wrote about. She sits down next to Bo, still breathing hard. She drinks some water that the waiter had brought in.

“That was pretty great, I’m not going to lie.” Bo admitted. Yuki felt the blood rise to her cheeks. She wasn’t embarrassed by singing karaoke, but getting compliments about it, especially from Bo, made her blush.

Their food they ordered arrived. Yuki tried Bo’s. It was the Wakabayashi Burger, named after the family that owned the diner. It has special sauce on it that was amazing. Yuki watched as Bo picked up a fry with his retractable claws. They were still painted, she noticed. He probably didn’t like that, considering he didn’t want to go to school in a girl’s outfit. She put his burger back down on his plate, telling him how good it was. She wasn’t going to wait for him to try her food, so she picked up a piece of curried chicken from her noodles and put it in front of his face.

“Have some of mine,” she said simply. He obliged, and she had a hard time reading his facial features. Hopefully he wasn’t thrown off by her feeding him. In any case, he enjoyed it.

“It’s definitely a custom dish, I haven’t had chicken with quite that combination of spices before,” He acknowledged.

They finished their food and Yuki wanted to sing a song with him. She picked a duet, “Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C”, from the anime “Nichijou”. She pulled his paw to make him come up with her. He was reluctant, and Yuki barely could move him an inch. He only moved because he compiled after a little bit. He was quiet and she was a little thrown off by it.

The first line started. Bo was supposed to sing the blue parts. The only sound that came out was a faint acapella recording and the fast paced music. She sang the second line, and yet again the blue line had to sing itself softly.

I realized just now

I fell in love, didn't I?

24 hours a day just you, you, you

I can't get my mind off you!

A full chorus went by that was supposed to be just him with occasional interjections from her, but she didn’t sing her parts either. It would have been weird to sing the single word interjections without the male lead. She did pick it up one more time because the next chorus was all pink.

What is this!? Why is my heart pounding!?

My train of thought is all off-track...

This has never happened to me before

Maybe I have a fever?

The next section was blue and pink again, and she correctly suspected she would be the only one singing it.

My love has taken a sudden turn

In no time my face turned burning red

N-no way! My paws are shaking

Is this this so-called "love"?

She sighed once she realized he wouldn’t sing. She wondered if Auri would have sang with her, but instantly felt guilty for thinking that. It’s not fair to Bo if Yuki compares the two fursonalities. She threw in the towel and turned up the male lead to a reasonable volume with the remote. She had fun for the rest of the song, regardless. The awkwardness faded away as she got into the song.

After the song ended, she spoke to Bo, “Did you know that musician sings both parts? He just bends the pitch of the recording to make female vocals.”

Bo smiles shyly at this. Yuki guesses he still feels awkward for not singing. She feels the need to make sure he knows that it didn’t bother her. She clumsily brought it up. She fumbled on her words and after she finished, she couldn’t tell if she made things any better.

“I wouldn’t mind hearing you sing a solo, however.” Bo admitted. That made Yuki’s heart soar. That, she can do. It excites her that he wants to hear her sing more.

They spend the rest of the time with Yuki singing songs and sometimes just listening to the songs play with pre-recorded vocals. The night ended on a good note after all. Yuki went home with a raspy voice, but a smile was on her face. She doubted that she would be able to speak in the morning, but it all was worth it. What a release.

✶ ✶ ✶

Aurora

Aurora woke with a jolt and a throbbing headache. What time was it? With blurry eyes and a foggy mind, she looked out the window. It was dark. Dark because it was early, or dark because it was late? A glance at a clock, once her eyes adjusted, informed her that it was late. It’s 11 at night, and there is just no way she got a headache from 30 minutes of sleep. She knows what 30 minutes of sleep feels like. Besides, Yuki is nowhere to be found. Her bed was deathly cold without Yuki. A tear of confusion welled up in her eye. The last thing she remembered was holding Yuki, the most wonderful night she could have asked for. What happened, between then and now? She started to panic. Her thoughts went everywhere. She felt disconnected from her body. She launched herself out of her bed, not caring that she toppled into a shelf and knocked some trinkets over. She scrambled around the house, on all fours. Her claws fought to gain traction, but she recently dulled them. Lights were out around the house. Yuki wasn’t in the bathroom. All Auri’s hopes of where her friend could be fell apart. She couldn’t tell if she was screaming in her mind or yowling out loud, but her mind had shattered into fragments of confusion and fear. Her heart beat rapidly. It was uneven, frantic. It gave her swells of apprehension and there was a tightness in her chest.

Before she knew it, there were the familiar white gloves. They gently held her still. She was conditioned to relax her muscles in their comfort. She was still breathing hard and her heart took twists and turns that gave her a plight of dread. She started up at the scientists. She couldn’t see clearly, or focus on any of their faces. Looking up at a ring of scientists surrounding her, her mind was sent to the past.

“There, there.” Her mother-figure cooed. To the side of her, a faceless scientist said in a low tone to the rest, “The experiment is unstable, this is a critical time to build and reinforce social connections, lest all of them be lost. If it was left like this unattended, it would become completely feral.”

Her mom’s face filled her vision as she picked her up. Auri was frightened, but the smile was something to cling on to. Her heart raced, spastic convulsions that didn’t keep a steady tempo. It caused her face to contort, it made her cry.

A friendly paw pet her head. Her father-figure was also there. He stood protectively over her, watching his little bundle with deep concern and care. He extended a paw and rubbed her head, soothing her flaring headache. She lay in her mother’s arms, her small body gently cuddled. The concerned mom rocked Auri back and forth gently, letting her heart slow down to the steady rhythm. Auri’s heart soon matched the pace of her mother. The fear drained out, leaving her body aching, but stable once more.

Auri saw the familiar face. Her mother-figure, Perlah, knelt beside her. She reached her arms up to her mom. Mom helped her get up and hugged her warmly. Her dad, Toshiro, pet her back. She could feel his paws through her long hair that draped over her back. She started to calm down, to take deeper breaths. Her breathing sounded less laboured and her heart returned to a regular pace.

Many emotions assaulted her mind. She felt so many, she couldn’t name one. They didn’t stay still enough for her to understand what it was, before it was replaced by another powerful emotion.

“Wh- Where’s Yuki?” She managed to stammer.

“She’s at her home, sweetie. I think there is something in your diary you should read.” Her mom’s statement brought confusion to Auri, but another emotion outweighed even that. Curiosity. What would she find in her diary? Could it explain all this? She nodded slowly and collected herself enough to sit down on the bed. A helpful white glove gave her the book. It opened to a page she left off on. But there was more scrawled beneath it. She didn’t write this…

Dear Diary,

Dear Auri, too.

I am Borealis. You are an intelligent girl, so I’m certain you will catch on quickly. I am one of your fursonalities. I inhabit our body during the night. I am so sorry that I threw off our schedule. I waited to tell you about this at the right time, but what happened forced me to tell you right away. I kept sleeping when Yuki was sleeping in our bed. I awoke that morning and could not sleep during the day, like I usually would. I’m sure you already pieced together that when I “sleep”, that is when you take over, and vice-versa. The only exception is when Yuki was there. And I can only imagine the blaring headache you have. I know because I got one too, when I woke up after sleeping for too long.

I meant to tell you about me in your diary entries anyway. That is why I requested Musake-Sama to send you this book. I will inform you about my day, because it is your day, too. You will find, that if you concentrate, you can remember the day as I had it. There is a connection between us, but it takes a lot of effort and a queue to remember across the fursonality divide.

He went on to write about how the school knows, what he did during the day, and his emotions. Auri really got a sense of who this furry is. She was thrilled at the part when he talked about how much he liked Yuki. There is something they can certainly agree on. Auri wonders how their schedule is going to work. Is it going to be random now? Or should they make an attempt to restore the 12 hour cycle? She writes her response in the diary. The scientists linger, to make sure she is doing fine. She enjoys the company, especially after her mental breakdown. She gets comfort from social interaction and even just being in the presence of someone else. She writes more about herself, her questions, and suggests possible action they can take. She is glad that furries at school understand, and hopes to keep up a good line of communication between them. She does remember a lot about her day yesterday, even if it is fuzzy and sometimes unclear. She writes about Yuki, and questions why he didn’t sing with her. She makes it very polite and tries to keep everything cheery. But a looming burden weighs on her shoulder. Everything she thought was her, that is only half the story. She is just as much herself as she is a completely different furry. Luckily there is some overlap, and she can remember some things and emotions he had. But there is so much mystery. Have they been this way the whole time? Why was she unable to tell? He seems like he knows everything, and she is completely in the dark. She really hopes he will be open about everything. All these feelings start making their way into her response.

Her response spanned 3 pages before the white gloves left. Her mom and dad stayed, offering occasional questions and conversation as she wrote back. They never admitted to her that they knew the whole time, but she greatly suspected it. It would have been different if they let her know when she was young, but she isn’t sure it would have been better. In any case, they aren’t to blame about any of this. They are just being helpful to their daughter, and son, in any way they can. They sat next to her and watched her as she wrote. This was an important time for her in her life. Her life will never be the same again. Nor will it ever be her own life again. That is the scariest proposition of it all. Now that she knows her own life is only 50% hers, it’s a little hard to swallow. She is just as much in control of her life as a coin flip would land on tails. She feels like she should share the house with him. She takes a glance around to see that everything, absolutely everything, is her style, her taste, her things. She should tell him that he can put stuff that he likes in the house, and decorate how he wants. She writes all that and more into the journal. Things are going to be different from now on. Very, very different.

✶ ✶ ✶

Suda, Hideto

Suda got home late from work. He was walking towards his house when he saw his mom already at the door. She was getting out her keys to either lock it or unlock it. He never knew if she was headed out or just coming back. She had a long coat on that slipped down as she was going for the keys. He saw that she had mature attire underneath, and his face flushed. He told himself to keep it inside. He won’t tell his mom how to live her life, nor is he in the position to judge her. He stepped to the side and hid among some foliage. Immature of him, yes. But he couldn’t bear to see his mom like that, even in passing. She was either going to go inside and get decent, or she was headed out for… funds. His breathing grew quiet. He realized she was headed out when she stopped messing with the door and turned around. She was locking up after all. She walked down the few porch stairs, being careful in her heels. She had stilettos on. He could hear the plastic heels strike the floor as she walked past him. She was heading to the bus station. He kept to the shadows and didn’t move a muscle. His mom passed and he let out the breath he was holding.

Suddenly, a twig snapped and paws grabbed him. He whipped around, breaking free of the weak grip. His head turned to see…

Ears. Large ears. And a cute, harmless face peeking out from between them.

“Just what are you doing here at this time of night?” Chiharu said with a huge smile. She must be laughing at him for how scared he looked.

“Wh- What am I doing? I could ask the same for you, Missus. I just happen to be a big guy that can defend himself,” He gets quirky when he gets flustered.

“You looked scared enough to say the opposite!” Her laugh would be insulting if it didn’t sound like an angel. “Besides, I’m surely not a damsel in distress. I can take down males twice my size!” She flexes to add to the utter hilarity. Suda gets caught up in the laughter, and his laugher booms. Any passer-bys must be really confused as to why and where the laughter is coming from. Luckily there weren’t many furries on the streets at this dreadful hour.

“If you have to know, I was hiding from my mom,” Suda admits after they settle down. Her face fell, becoming serious. She must have saw her as well, and had an idea what she was going to.

“I’m sorry…” he could tell she felt uncomfortable. He tried to smile it off.

“What brings you here, then?” He wanted to change the focus off of him.

“Well, I’m really into nature. Like, far too much for my own good. I’m also more nocturnal than other furries.” She pushed one of her large, floppy ears out of her face. Of course, Suda thought to himself, the fennec liked being out at night. That made sense. He looked about him. This was a nice area, after all. The foliage wasn’t constraining, but it really made it feel like they weren’t in the neighbourhood anymore. Nature was pretty cool, after all.

“Would you mind if I explored with you? I can’t say that I’ve been out in nature all too often, and it really sounds nice.” He crouched down and inspected some interesting undergrowth.

“Yeah, I don’t mind one bit,” the short fennec, now at eye level, said, “Are you sure you aren’t tired though?”

He was, but he wasn’t going to admit that. He really wanted to have more time with her, and this was an opportunity he didn’t want to miss.

“I’m nocturnal too,” he explained, but he failed to mention it’s been years since he kept that schedule. She tilted her head, not fully believing him. She must know that gray wolves are nocturnal, but she might wonder why she doesn’t see him around the neighbourhood more often. That’s why their paths haven’t crossed until now.

“Chiharu, what do you think of me?” He isn’t normally a self-conscious guy, but he really felt like he needed some verification. Some sort of knowledge that he was at least in the consideration of being her friend.

“Well, you’re well built, calm, and I assume that you’re also reliable. But I don’t have much to go off of, because of how little we have seen each other.” Her answer was reasonable and logical. He smiled because she noticed that he was fit. That’s something they could connect over.

“I’d like to spend more time with you, so we can find out more about each other…” Now why’d I go and say that? He kept a cool face as he bubbled and frothed underneath the surface. He was nervous at how she would take that. She giggled, but he couldn't tell if it was a patronizing way or genuine laughter. He hoped it was the latter.

“You’re cute, have I ever told you that?” She said, making a shy face. His brows furrowed. He didn’t think she’s told him that before.

“If I’m cute, you’re a gosh darn goddess,” he quipped in friendly retort. She blushed and his mind melted from how adorable she looked. Her blush even made her ears turn red. They continued some light conversation while they went farther into the flora.

Suda sniffed the air. He could tell where he came from, so he wouldn’t get lost. He also couldn’t help but notice her feminine musk. That’s what he missed the first time he met her. Both of them were sopping wet at that time because of the rain, so he wasn’t able to memorize her scent. He focused on her aroma, connecting it to her identity. Now he can tell she is actually backtracking. She is taking him somewhere she has already been.

“Are you showing me to a cool spot you found?” He guessed from his new musings. She just smiled mischievously at him. Instantly he became intrigued. His mind was filled with possibilities of what she was going to show him. Some were more… mature… than the others, embarrassingly so. He was left with these guesses for a few more minutes as they traveled. He followed the small fox through the bushes, sometimes she would slink through smaller areas that he would have to squeeze his shoulders together to get through. They finally came to a clearing and she turned around and gestured at the sight with one of her tiny paws.

He stepped out of the brush and scanned the area in awe.

It was an archaic facility. On the right, there was a beaten up water tank, precariously leaning over on its stilts. Multiple tubes ran from the unstable-looking structure to massive utility boxes. They had large sheet metal sides covering the intricacies contained within them. Wires and tubes ran to and from them, looking like an operating table with heavy amounts of life support. The dark gray metal was weathered to no end, looking like it hasn’t been touched in hundreds of years. In the middle, the run-down facility looked the most structurally safe. Its concrete walls were monoliths, thick enough to withstand tsunamis. Moss grew up the northern side of the building. Cracks spiderwebbed their way up the corners of the concrete slabs. Bits of concrete outlined the perimeter of the building, chunks had broken free. To the left, there were large stacks of generators and transformers, with tall structures meant to splice the wires. One had fallen over, and broke many of the wires that it used to hold up. Thin, beaten wires hung off of the remaining protrudances. They dangled like split ends on uncut, wild hair. Dust coated the metal, making what used to be shiny a dull, morose gray. Fog rolled in from the trees, a breeze bringing in an onslaught of dense gloom. Suda shuddered, a chill running up his spine.

“Got cold paws?” Chiharu teased lightly. He could tell that it was half-hearted and her hairs were standing on end as well. They both felt a silence descend like no other, one that almost had a physical presence. It was suffocating, Suda’s muscles were rent useless. He was entranced as he watched the fog. She was fixated on the same eerie event unfolding. The tendrils of fog swirled and stretched across the clearing. They climbed through the building, wrapping around the columns of concrete. Suda could tell from her reaction that she didn’t see anything like this when she was here previously. Suda subconsciously inhaled, to see what scents there were. Other than her, he was shocked to find out that nothing smelled. Nothing at all. First their vision, then their hearing, and now even their perception of smell. Something was desperately trying to stay hidden. Suda’s mouth went dry with the dull fear seeping into his bones. It attacked his heart, making each beat bring a wave of dread to his mind. He couldn’t lift a claw. He felt something brush up against his paw. He tensed instantly, petrified. He looked down slowly.

Chiharu had grabbed his paw. Her face was deathly pale. She squeezed it feebly, in an attempt to make either of them feel better. The slower his heart pounded, the farther away his mind drifted from his body. He could barely feel her grip anymore. His heart made soundless, booming thumps. His blood felt like cold sludge moving through his body. Something was hidden in the fog, something they weren’t supposed to see. Something had entered the facility. Or had come out of it.

His tiredness was catching up with him. His consciousness was waning. He didn’t know where his eyes were looking anymore. He tried to move his head, but nothing moved. Everything was impossibly still. He breathed in the fog, the wafts of thick smoke filling him, falling into the blackness of his body. It coated his interior, invasive in every way, taking him over. He was pushed outside of his body. He tumbled into the vastness of space. He could see a ghost of his body, standing completely alone.

Suddenly, his body got pulled by the arm, and he snapped back into it again.

“We have to leave.” A shaky voice desperately told him. Chiharu pulled him back into the cover from which they came. Suda came through after she kept tugging on him. He still wasn’t able to smell where they came from, nor could he see. He could barely feel her grip, but it was enough to guide him. They got to the street and tumbled over the last few bushes. Suda was flat on his back, Chiharu landed on his chest. His sight slowly started to reveal where he was. He looked up at her. She was so terrified, curled up into a ball. She was clinging to his chest. His sense of touch started coming back, and he felt a drop of wet. She was crying. Only one tear escaped before Suda put the back of his paw to her face in a comforting manner.

“We are safe now. Don’t worry.” He tried to keep his voice as stable as possible. She clutched his chest, not ready to respond. He looped his arms around her and stood up, easily carrying her light body. He started walking her to her house. With each step, his body got warmer. He didn’t even realize how cold he was. He held the precious bundle gently, warmth emanating from her closeness. He got to her door and slowly set her on her hind paws. She stood with her own strength and got out the keys to unlock the door. She was still a little quiet.

“Do you want me to stay around?” He only meant it in a protective way. He wanted to make sure she would be fine. She nodded slowly and gestured him in. They both entered through the door. She locked it behind them and flipped close the shutters. He gazed around her house. It was quite like his, and she seemed to live alone. He assumes that if her parents live here, they are out at work. She doesn’t turn on any lights, because they are both nocturnal and see just fine in the dark. She does plug in a cute night light, however. It is a childlike night light and gives away how colourful her wallpaper is. Now that he notices, all of her decor is as if she never grew up. Or had siblings.

“So,” he clears his throat, trying to distract her from thinking about what they witnessed, “Tell me more about yourself, Chiharu.” She relaxes, and sits down on the couch. He sits next to her.

“I’m a single child, both my parents work nights.” She already answered his thoughts, almost directly. “I go to Sanyo High School, the all-girls school. It starts early morning and ends before noon.” Of course the private school accommodates nocturnal students. He didn’t know too much about the high school, but he heard about it once or twice.

“You must have small classes, then.” He says in response. She nods, her voice returning back to her normal cadence, “It is surprisingly nice. And the hours don’t mess up my schedule.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t as fortunate and got stuck in a public school. I don’t see my mom much because she works…” He trailed off and got awkward. He didn’t want to finish that she works nights, because both of them know what she really does.

“So, your house is pretty cute.” He starts off, wanting to ask about the style. She gives a slight smile, so he can tell they are off to a good start. They are shaking off the weird vibes.

“Yeah, my parents haven’t changed it in so many years. I don’t think they want to, because I’m their only baby.” She says with a humorous voice. He can tell she is feeling better, and that really soothes Suda’s anxiety. It broke his heart to see her cry.

A sweet tune played. The clock struck the hour with a low, single note. It must be one in the morning. Suda’s brain played a note, too. A painful headache of tiredness. She must have seen his cringe. She connected the dots.

“Oh my, you must be extremely tired. You need to get some rest for school tomorrow.” She said, with a concerned voice. Her concern made him feel a million times better. It felt so nice to be cared about like that. And he wanted to look after her as well.

“Are you going to be ok here?” He rubbed his eyes. She nodded affirmatively and ushered him home.

“Get some rest, Suda-Kun. Our schedules don’t really match up, but I would like to see you more somehow.” Those words left Suda in awe. He was so happy she wanted to talk more to him. He would do anything to make it work. Even if that meant napping right when he got home and waking up at midnight. Work would get in the way occasionally, but he will sort something out.

She walked him out, and crossed the road with him. A cold breeze blew past them and she looped her arm around his. The streetlights were a neutral shade of colour and intensity, so the nocturnal animals wouldn’t hurt their night vision, but also so the diurnal animals could see adequately.

All too quickly, he was at his front door. He unlocked it and turned back to Chiharu before entering. He opened his arms for a hug and was delighted to have her quite literally jump into his arms. Her hind paws dangled off the ground as he embraced her. Her chin rested on his shoulder as he lifted her to his height. He couldn’t resist drawing in her scent once more. He meticulously recalled every slight detail about her aroma, committing it to memory. After an eternity that didn’t last long enough, he set her down. He could tell she was chipper. She had the rest of the night and school in the morning. He, on the other paw, had to catch up on whatever sleep he could get. They said goodnight, and Suda entered his house to instantly pass out flat on his bed.

✶ ✶ ✶

Takagi, Chiharu

The door closed to Suda-Kun’s house. She let out a big sigh. She wavered there for a bit before turning around. She couldn’t help looking to the left nervously. The fog didn’t come out of the forest like her imagination feared it would. She started jogging away from that section of the forest and made her way around the block. She started feeling better again.

What a night. She tried to think about all that went on. There were so many questions. She forced herself to think about the good things first, before she got lost in the terror.

Suda is really great. He is such a dependable guy. She loved randomly finding him. At least she didn’t literally run into him this time. They laughed so much while talking. It makes her want to talk to him more. It was also nice to have him over, even if he was starting to fall asleep. She giggled at the memory.

Slowly the good memories were used up, and the only thing remaining was the mystery they saw. She looked at the abandoned facility before she showed Suda. She found it today and wanted to show someone right away. Now, she’s not so sure she should tell anybody, for their safety.

The mist. Her fur on the back of her neck stood on end just thinking about it. It was meant to drive them off. She suspected it must have been some sort of narcotic gas. It attacked their senses and dulled their reasoning. She unconsciously put a paw over her side. She had scratched herself to stay awake. Bad enough to draw blood. Her fur was matted in that area, she could feel the clot starting to scab. She was certain if she hadn’t done that, they would have fallen asleep, and possibly forever.

So what should we do now? Stay away from it? Or do we investigate at a different time? Her thoughts flew by, just as the houses did so while she jogged. She wondered if there was anything behind the fog. Or in it. Whatever it was, it didn’t want to be seen. And it certainly didn’t want them there. Maybe its goal was to put them to sleep? She shuddered at the idea. Whatever the entity would do after that couldn't be good. She safely got her and Suda out of there though, so it shouldn’t matter too much. Any of that morbid thought isn’t productive.

She kept running, avoiding negative thoughts. Then she saw something curious, off in the distance. A light blue furry, getting out of a car at the bottom of a hill. Whoever they were, she wouldn’t have guessed that they were nocturnal. Their hair was stunning, very vibrant and beautiful. They walked to wait for the night bus. Chiharu hasn’t seen them yet, so why not go say hi? She jogged to the other side of the street. Coming up closer, she could tell it was a school-age girl. Chiharu stopped and stretched, using the bus stop’s bench to put a hind paw on.

“Hello there!” She greeted the blue furry pleasantly. She waved a small paw, and was delighted to see the girl was friendly too, and waved back.

“Hello!” Her face came into view as she got closer. She was perfect. Chiharu couldn’t tell if she was feline or canine, but whatever it was, her face was angelic. It was hard to believe someone like this was real. Her figure wasn’t obviously womanly, which was sort of surprising. She was old enough to have grown into that, but in contrast to her gorgeous face, her body type was plain.

“What’s your name?” Chiharu asks politely. The girl responds that her name is Auri. An interesting name for an interesting girl, Chiharu thought. She introduces herself as well, informing her that she may call her Chiharu.

“So where are you off to, Auri?” Chiharu wonder which bus she is waiting for.

“I’m going to the library tonight,” she responded, and sat down on the bench. Chiharu sat as well, still facing Auri.

“Looking to read anything specific there?” She kept the light conversation up. She was a little shy, however. Chiharu’s personality was a little loud for shy furries. She loved talking. Even if she was asking about them, she would still end up talking more than them. Auri was warming up to her, but the bus came too soon, it felt. She stood up and waved to Chiharu as she boarded. Chiharu stood up too and waved. Oh, that was pleasant. Too bad she couldn’t have talked to her longer.

She started jogging back home, feeling much better than when she set out. Her thoughts started to focus on the approaching school morning. She had a feeling there would be a pop quiz. They were on their second week of school and were halfway through their first lesson for most classes.

✶ ✶ ✶

Aurora

Auri boards the bus. It’s different to be out at night. There aren’t too many nocturnal animals in their area, and most conform to the diurnal cycle. This is pretty neat, she thinks as she looks out the window. The night bus lights were the same muted colour, so she could see outside with her night vision. Even the headlights were made to accomodate nocturnals.

She sighed. She would get some studying in, also some fun reading too. Maybe she would explore older literature.

The bus didn’t stop at many places to pick up furries. Only one or two more hopped on the public transport. Auri pulled the stop chord when she got near her stop. The light in the front winked on, denoting that a passenger wanted off. The bus driver pulled up to the stop and Auri slinked out. She said thanks to the driver quietly as she was stepping down the stairs.

A hiss sounded off and the doors closed behind her. The muffled engine rumbled as it accelerated off to its next destination. Auri walked across the empty street. The old structure loomed above the surrounding trees. The symmetrical architecture was impressive, inspired from Europe design, from the columns all the way down to the gargoyles.

The large wooden doors were cracked open, soft light escaping through the gap. She slipped through the door, her jaw dropping at the exquisite interior. Old-looking bulb lights lined the walls, supported by intricate black metal hooks. To the right and the left of the entrance are hallways that stretched to each side. In the middle, it opened up to rows of bookshelves, each labeled categorically by genre and sequentially by alphabet of author’s last name. She breathed in, and the wonderful scent of old books and dusty library filled her consciousness and delighted her. She had many good memories connected to this aroma. Her scientists would ship her books that she requested, and some were old and difficult to get a hold of. The awesome sense of discovery and knowledge.

The warm lighting evenly lit the whole library, and the second floor was able to be seen from the center of the first. The railings trailed around in a circle and came down in spiral staircases, which were also pleasingly symmetrical. The grandiose library had a dias in the center, with a marble statue erected proudly towering over. The statue was an owl, supposedly to represent knowledge and wisdom. Its magnificent wings were extended outwards, showing off outrageously detailed feathers. Surrounding the dias, there was a counter to check out books. The librarian walked over to face Auri. He was a old, leathery bat. Bats were nocturnal, of course he would work this shift. But if Auri knew anything about bat eyes, she was surprised he chose to work at a library. She was surprised to see a bat at all, actually. Bats were mamillian, but it still was a rare sight. Possibly because she was used to being awake during the day and didn’t go out at night with the nocturnal animals.

As she walked closer, her thoughts were confirmed when he pulled glasses down from his forehead. His awkwardly long phalanges were a little off-putting for a girl who hasn’t seen a bat in public before. She finally crossed the long distance separating her from the counter. His unfamiliar facial features came into view. He had high cheekbones, small squinty eyes, and a funny nose that curled upwards. His glasses were very thick, hilariously so. It makes sense, to correct for his bad sight. His glasses rested perfectly into the upwards curve of his interesting nose. His glasses almost became apart of his face, the black rims matching with his black fuzzy fur that laid low on his face. The glasses made his small eyes enlarged from Auri’s perspective.

“What brings an interesting youngling as yourself in here?” The voice matched the look of the old bat, leathery and aged. Auri leaned up against the counter, it being low enough to put her elbows on it.

“I was looking for something older, maybe good classic literature.” As she said this, he raised his eyebrows. Auri didn’t even notice that he had eyebrows when she first saw him. He waddled to the swinging exit, to step out from behind the counter.

“I know of a section you would love,” His voice rasped. Auri followed him, his small steps made her adjust her pace to an awkwardly short step. When they made it to a section in the corner, he spread his paws and fanned out his leathery wings that were webbed in between his impossibly long tactile extremities. She could tell he was gesturing around. She went to the nearest shelf and randomly tilted a book, sliding it off the rack. She looked at the cover.

“Ah, you need to know quite a bit of English to read that one. The front of the book is actually on the other side.” Right, Auri remembered, English books were backwards. She flipped it over, and sure enough, the title was awkwardly displayed on the wrong side of the book. It felt weird to flip books like this. She went through some pages, and recognized some of the things they talked about in English class. The pictures were neat, scrawled directly on the page as if this was the original.

“Is this a copy?” She asked, now unsure. He responded that it was one of the first line of copies, transferred by paw.

He explained more about the book. It illustrated the changes of genetics when gene implementation started. That explained the drawings of furries with little or no fur. It must of been how it used to be. He said mamilliam DNA exploded in use when America found out how powerful CRISPR was, to edit DNA. Too many gene changes with animals that aren’t mammalian lead to some very grotesque results. Auri flipped to a page showing a human that had a thorax and shiny beetle skin. These mutants were used in war, starting an era of genetic warfare, overcoming and outwitting nations by techniques that weren’t exactly moral. The use of genetic changes rose regardless of that, but resistance sprung up purist communities, even purist rebellions.

He explained how this author was from a purist community, fully human. Even still, he wrote from an unbiased perspective and was very neutral. The librarian chuckled and said if it wasn’t as neutral, they probably wouldn’t have it on the easily accessible shelves.

“If you are interested in studying purists, we have a sectioned-off room for them. We are intelligent enough to know that we can’t hide these things, but learn from them.” He didn’t look awkward at the topic of purists. She, however, felt very strange about it. Those purists would hate everything about her. She wasn’t a product of altered genes. She was made from genes, in a lab.

This was stuff she didn’t encounter much. The books she were interested never told of this history. She knew logically that things were different back then, but she didn’t know it had an entire rebellion waiting to judge her. She has a bias when she thinks that gene altering isn’t bad. She wouldn’t be here without it. But from what the librarian explains, they make it their goal to get rid of this immoral science.

“Does purist communities and furries ever get along?” Hopefully there isn’t complete isolation and hatred between groups. But her hopes are dashed as the bat shakes his head solemnly. The divide has only grown wider. The changes are irrevocable. The DNA of furries will be passed down. Someday, science predicts, furries will become an entirely different species, unable to mate. Auri freezes at this. Her head is filled with questions.

“There has been instances of purists and furry marriage?” She wonders outloud, the first of many questions she wants to ask. He begins to answer it, telling of how purists allow their coming-of-age offspring to see the world of furries. If they wish to stay, they may. But if they choose to be a purist, they have to denounce that part of the world. Furries have no place in a purist community, to keep it pure. However, purists may live comfortably in a furry world, even practice genetic changes. It is hard for the family, because they won’t get to see their children if they choose to leave.

“Does that make their numbers dwindle at all?” Auri doesn’t know how many of these purists are out there.

The librarian furrows his thin brows, “Their lives are very different. They grow up slower and live shorter than us. We have minimized genetic clipping, the phenomenon that causes old age. So our lives are much longer. They also have kids more often than we do. It’s hard to say, but I believe that they are growing, changing, and living faster than us. So, to answer your question, it’s not enough to hinder their population growth.” Auri was intrigued at how different the purists were from furries. There was a lot to find out about this history.

“So how old ago was this whole thing?” She had a scope on history, but purists didn’t come up much, possibly from her scientists’ bias.

“Purists cropped up shortly after CRISPR took off. That would place it around the Twenty-One Hundreds.” More than 200 years ago. Wow. She thought incredulously.

“This book is around 150 years old, in the beginning age of mammalian genetic assimilation.” He further explained. Mammals were the most compatible in the long run, genetically. A crazy idea popped into her head.

“Are there any purist communities nearby?” She wondered aloud. His small eyes grew large, his face a little taken aback from the sudden question.

“You weren’t thinking of visiting one, were you?” He spoke slowly and carefully, with an inquisitive look on his face. His leather-webbed digits lightly rested on her shoulder in concern.

Auri instantly flushed with embarrassment, “Uhm, no I was just curious,” She wondered why he reacted so strongly to the questions.

His wing dropped to his side again, his countenance returning to normal. He took a breath and said gently, “Don’t try to visit. They don’t consider furries as friendly. There are communities in rural Japan. More than you would think, actually. They specialize in organic farming. Furries pay a lot of money for true organic food, farm raised. But they certainly don’t let furries come close. Legally, they have to allow for furries to have transport through the town. The town is guarded, howerever. So no stopping.”

Auri’s mind instantly went to how she had a car. Maybe when the government allows for the self-driving vehicle to drive on county roads, the scientists would allow her to have a field trip of sorts. That way, she could drive past these communities and see what they are like.

He looked at her for a little bit longer, studying her face with his bad eyesight, “The purists are a very interesting group, I can see you are intrigued. If you want, I can show you the way back.”

Her ears perked up, “The way back? What do you mean?”

✶ ✶ ✶

O’Dwyer, Pryderi

Pryderi shuffled past the light blue furry. She was short, but he was hunched over. He gestured to her to follow him. She walked respectfully behind him, but also watched him inquisitively.

“The wayback is a place in the library. It is full of old tomes, much older than what you hold in your paw.”

The girl realized she was still holding it and put it back on the shelf. He turned slightly and looked over his shoulder, his neck creaking. Ah, the aches and pains as you get old, he thought to himself. She was back at his side before he knew it. The agility of the young, he smiled to himself. It would always astound him that he used to be like that. The book she put away was 25 years older than him. He used to fly everywhere, erratically without second thought. He loved the maneuverability of flying. It has been a long time since he flew. The furries born nowadays will most likely live twice as long as me, he pondered speculatively.

He showed her the very old tomes and inventory that was kept for centuries. He loved watching her explore the volumes, and she always asked very intelligent questions.