Friday

Aurora Borealis

Borealis gets off the transport and walks towards the school. The humidity is starting early this morning. Dew drips off the leaves hanging over the sidewalk and splashes him on the nose. The April weather has finally decided to come out of hibernation. It is going to get warmer.

He didn’t expect to see Yuki waiting at the gate for him, but there she was. Her short, white hair was pinned out of her face with a cute bow-clip. Her bright blue eyes caught his already. Her wide smile pulled him in and he hugged her.

“Hey Bo,” She said sweetly. Her forwardness surprised him. He wondered why she was so comfortable with the public display of affection. He loved it, of course, but knew that there was something up. Scanning around without her knowing, he checked the surroundings. As he thought, it was sparse. She felt comfortable because they both were so early to school. That begs the question, how early was she, so that she was able to see him in the morning? Her going out of her way to see him before school warmed his heart. Such a nice gesture, specifically for him and no one else.

She must still feel happy from yesterday’s karaoke night. That certainly was fun. Does that put them in a romantic position, though? He didn’t exactly think of it at the time, but that certainly was reminiscent of a date. A boy and a girl, going after school to a karaoke bar. Just them alone. Yeah, he surmises that Yuki is feeling more romantically inclined toward him because of it. He didn’t know how she treated Auri, but he assumes that she is more comfortable with her romantic feelings since he looks and sounds like a male. Socially, it is more acceptable, and she may not even be conscious of it. Realistically, he hopes this doesn’t create complications. If she treated his male side more romantically and didn’t feel as comfortable to with Auri, there could be some tension there. It is a rather confusing conundrum to encounter. It is rather unavoidable, however, because he wouldn’t want to be confined in a science laboratory for the rest of his life. These are just the things he and Auri are going to have to learn to cope with.

The day progresses normally, the only difference being that Yuki held his paw for a large part of the day. He couldn’t resist nuzzling her or hugging her upon occasion. This always brought Yuki into flames of embarrassment, her cheeks blushing. He loved the response she never failed to give. How the heck he fell into a relationship with this furry, he still has no idea. But he loves every part of it.

At the end of his english class, Suda turned around and said something peculiar to them. That he found something strange, and he couldn’t get it out of his mind. Kimiko was nearby and dropped in as well. Suda looked a little taken aback, as she was asking questions much faster than Borealis. Bo listened to Suda’s explanation, and chuckled as it just wrought more questions from Kimiko.

“Where is this laboratory? Did you see if anyone was in it?” She got closer and closer to him as she talked, her face inquiring. Bo figures this is how she always seems to know everything about gossip. Her interrogation tactics were scarily good at getting information. Bo could tell that Suda got flustered, and he was no longer able to look her directly in the eye. Bo rolled his eyes as he saw her push her arms together to accentuate her cleavage even more. As if her low-cut shirt didn’t do that enough. Suda gave off a nervous chuckle.

“It’s behind my house, hidden by the trees there.” He put an arm behind his head and ran his claws through his hair.

Bo could tell by the look in Kimiko’s eye that she wanted to go check it out. Suda noticed as well and his eyes widened.

“Wait, you don’t know how dangerous it was! We almost died, or at least that’s what it felt like.” Kimiko put her excitement on pause at this words.

“Who’s we?” She asked a question about the wrong part of the statement, completely overlooking the whole death part.

“Uh, my neighbour and I,” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh. Maybe they can come with us too.” Kimiko sounds like she is already set on going to check it out, “You two should come as well,” She gestures to Bo and Yuki. Yuki looks up in surprise as she just got included in something that she wasn’t paying much attention to. Bo rationalizes that if there is any danger, he would be the most equipped to deal with it. His claws slide out without him thinking about it, catching in Yuki’s skirt. They must have been sitting closer than he thought. She feels the tug and sees his claws.

“Oh you don’t have them painted anymore,” She notices. He managed to take off the nail polish with acetone in the morning. If he was going to get the body during the day, why not. Since Auri knows about his existence, no reason to hide the signs that he inhabited the body.

Bo just smiled at Yuki. The other two faded to the back of his mind when he locked eyes with her.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kimiko began to get excited again. She asked more about the death part, and Suda went into the explanation about what happened with the fog. Bo tuned in halfway through, after Yuki turned her face away from Bo in embarrassment.

“I think in a bigger group, we should be fine. And if we go right after school, that would be a lot safer in daylight.” Bo said, feeling like if this happened, he should be there to protect his friends.

✶ ✶ ✶

Takagi, Chiharu

Chiharu woke up to a knocking at her door. Who is knocking on a nocturnal’s door at this dreadful hour of day? She puts her paw on the alarm to turn it toward her. It’s 2 in the blasted afternoon! She gets up, not even caring to put anything on. Whoever it may be will just have to deal with her being in her pajamas and messy hair. It’s their fault, anyway.

She walks down the stairs and approaches the door. She creaks it open, squinting at the blinding light leaking in. It takes a minute for her eyes to adjust. When they do, she realizes that a group of 4 furries are standing there, staring at her in her pjs. She instantly feels a wave of embarrassment, and it coats her mind so thick she can’t even form words. Her face must be petrified, for they are still just waiting there, looking at her. Somehow she manages to contort her muscles and force them to shut the door. The instant the door is closed, she is able to function again. She turns around and throws on a tee-shirt and literally anything but her way-too short pj bottoms. She ends up with skinny jeans. She was meaning to give them away, that’s why she put them out in the living room. She gives a half-hearted attempt at running her claws through her hair. It fails miserably and she submits to opening the door again.

“I’m nocturnal, what are you doing at this blasted hour?” Her accusations start out powerful, but die as she recognizes Suda. He probably wants to check out the secret they saw. Why didn’t he warn her? Daytime will be the best, but she needs to prepare for that. What the heck, Suda? She is grumpy to have her sleep disrupted. She recognizes another face. Auri, was it? She pleasantly smiles and says hi to Auri, not blaming her one bit for waking her up. It’s all Suda’s fault. She turns back to him and frowns. She crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows, still waiting for her question to get an answer.

“Would you like to check out the abandoned lab again?” He dumbly says, not even answering her question directly.

She huffs, “Some warning would have been nice, say, when I was awake.” She got home from school 4 hours ago and pretty much went right to sleep, just like usual. He was just like any other guy and didn’t get the clue. He eventually pieced it together and apologized. She suppose it makes it even, for she kept him up when they explored yesterday night. She remembered how nice it was to talk to him after that event. Because of his public school, they are cursed to be on different schedules. So some sacrifices must be made if she wants to spend time with him. Last night was pretty crazy, but she certainly knows that he is someone she wants to at least make the attempt to get to know him.

“What’s your friend’s names?” She asks politely, rebalancing her mood.

The busty red fox speaks up first, “Good afternoon, my name is Kimiko.” Her attire would never pass at Chiharu’s school. The school must be lax on their uniform policy.

The small white wolf, dressed as humbly as the school uniform would allow, introduced herself gently, “I’m Yuki.”

To Chiharu’s surprise, Auri was dressed in a boy’s uniform, and had her hair up. Maybe her memory was playing tricks, but her voice almost sounded deeper when she spoke. “You may have met me as Auri, but I’m actually Borealis.”

Chiharu grew curious, “So wait, you’re a twin brother?”

But this was not the case, as he went on to explain that he was actually a unique fursonality, separate from Auri but residing within the same body.

Chiharu is as ready as she can be, so she exits her house and follows the group of furries. The daylight eventually grows bearable, but she can feel the hints of a headache coming on. They come up to the bushes by the side of Suda’s house. They exchange glances, then plunge into the bristle. It’s not long until they reach the clearing. Chiharu’s heart starts pumping as she sees the familiar sight. To everyone’s dismay, a cloud passes over the sun, and gloom sets on the surroundings.

“Ok, this seriously can not be a coincidence,” Chiharu says, her mixed feelings about this becoming uncomfortable. She starts to back away, but she also fears being separated from the others.

Her indecisiveness prevents her from trying to get them out of there. Fear creeps into her muscles. What control she had over herself before quickly vanishes. The others start to realize something is up as well. They glance at each other, astounded. The ones who can still talk soon realize that the others can’t hear. Chiharu’s sight goes fuzzy but she is able to see that Borealis is still able to move. Yuki pitches backwards and starts to fall, her muscles going limp. Borealis catches her and picks her up protectively. He starts doing everything he can to wake them up. Chiharu feels a falling sensation, her body separate from her mind.

She jerks awake as she feels cold water splash her face. Borealis was waking them up by pouring out his water bottle on them. His concern is alleviated as he sees them waking up. Chiharu has the sense to look behind him, where the science laboratory is. Her suspicions were confirmed as she sees the mist, spreading out across the field.

“Behind you,” she warns, her voice still recovering. It was soft, but he was able to hear it and whipped around. The mist didn’t get any closer to them, but everyone who looked at it knew deep down that it was hiding something.

Yuki, now curled up in a ball, started crying. Kimiko jumped to her side as soon as she regained full control of her body. She soothed the fragile girl, telling her sweet nothings about how everything was going to be ok. The hopes and reassurances spilled out of the fox’s mouth, letting even Chiharu feel better.

Suda was distressed, repeating over and over, “Why did I lead them here? I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

His claws tore into his hair and he rocked back and forth. Chiharu looked around at the distressing situation. Her and Borealis kept a watchful eye on the mist for any signs of aggression or danger as their friends were having breakdowns. Something needs to happen soon. This isn’t sustainable. We are losing our grip on reality the longer we stay here, Chiharu thought frantically.

Borealis’s claws slid out of their sheaths. He turned back to look at Chiharu. The furry she saw now was not the same furry she walked here with. The look he gave her. He looked feral. He bared his teeth, and turned his head back to the mist. His muscles rippled, tensing up. Suddenly he launched himself forward, plunging deep into the mist.

Stunned at Borealis’s complete transformation, Chiharu stood there for a few seconds, but it felt much longer than that. When her mind returned to the shocking situation they were still in, she leapt into action. She went over to Suda and tried comforting him. She pulled at his arms, making him release his hair. Then she hugged him to stop his uncontrollable rocking.

“Hey, we’re still alive, alright? We need you now. It isn’t over.” She kept pestering him until his rambling turned to mumbling and eventually fell silent.

Yuki sniffled, she had been calmed down by Kimiko. They collected themselves, and came to the realization that Borealis was not there.

“He. He ran into the mist.” Chiharu had the hardest time saying that. The friends who were on the verge of returning back to normal were sent on a death spiral of emotion yet again.

“Yuki!” Kimiko grabbed at Yuki, but the wolf broke past her grip and sprinted towards where Borealis went. Suda was quick to follow. Chiharu’s mind reeled at the turn of events, but she found herself following Suda anyway. Kimiko attempted to follow both of them, but she was much slower than any of the furries and soon the mist separated them from seeing each other at all.

Chiharu’s sprint became a jog as she realized that she could no longer pinpoint where Suda was. How could she know she was even following them? And she was too far in to turn back for Kimiko. They were all on their own now. How the heck did it get this bad? Her tired mind was fumbling for answers.

That’s when she heard a sound that set her on high alert. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins, alighting her nervous system on fire.

Click-clack. The sound skittered to the left of her. It kept moving, going behind her and then off to her right. She paused and stood completely still. Her large fennec ears were perked up, listening very carefully.

The sound sped up and slowed down at the rate it moved around Chiharu. It sounded like a pool ball hitting another. Cl-cla-clack. It made her very nervous. Something was alive out there in the mist. Luckily the sound wasn’t moving any closer to her, as far as she could tell. In fact, it was moving away from her. She decided it might be ok to follow at a distance. It not like she knew where she was going anyway. Slowly, she walked towards the fading sound. It continued at a varying rate of repetition. Soon it died out altogether. With no better ideas, she continued in her direction.

Chiharu sees the laboratory looming over her from the mist. She approaches it, the doorway growing larger. A bad feeling started choking her, her airway was restricted with nerves. What was inside the laboratory? It was so secretive, so mysterious. Her heart beat fast. It was like a shot of adrenaline. She was fully awake, there wasn’t any hope of getting good rest now. She approached the door, her hind paws now landed on concrete. She walked as quietly as possible. Did she really need to investigate this, when Suda and the others could be out there? She couldn’t really think of how going in the lab could help them, but she also couldn’t imagine wandering in the fog until she finds them either. More likely than not, she would find whatever made that bone chilling noise before she found the furries. The idea strikes her with panic. What if that creature had already found some of the group? She starts to open the door, it’s surprisingly unlocked. Before she enters, she gets an idea. A stupid, terrible idea. She will call for them, and if the creature hears, she will escape to inside the lab. This location is the safest to yell. Out there in the fog, she would be a sitting duck. But over here, they might actually have a chance at grouping up again.

“Hey! Over here! I found the lab!” Chiharu yells as loud as she can. She can hear the blood pumping in her ears. She swivels them towards the fog, listening for any movement. She hears pawsteps, luckily it’s not the clicking noise.

A disheveled red fox comes out of the mist. Kimiko approaches Chiharu, breathing heavy.

“Where are the others?” She catches her breath, bending over. She looks out towards the fog.

“Not here,” Chiharu shakes her head. She puts a paw on Kimiko’s back in reassurance, “but they will find there way over here. If anything happens, we can run into the lab.” Kimiko nods wordlessly at this, still too winded to speak.

“Hey Suda! Yuki!” Chiharu yells for them, hoping they can hear. When only her echo is returned, she starts to speak to Kimiko, “Did you… hear something out there?” At Kimiko’s pondering look, Chiharu continues, “Something that wasn’t us?”

Her face falls to a shocked expression, “No, did you?” She is able to stand all the way up again and moves closer to Chiharu, still keeping a watchful eye on the fog.

“Yeah…” Her voice trembles. She can’t bring herself to describe it. It was like something out of a nightmare. They both fall silent, scared out of their wits. The apprehension builds. A shadowy figure looms, a large silhouette comes from the fog. They tense up.

“Hey it’s me,” Suda says as he approaches. They temporarily breathe a sigh of relief. But Yuki is still out there, chasing Borealis, so the happiness doesn’t last for long.

Chiharu embraces Suda, her tears, which were once held back, now flow unabated. Suda held her tight, Chiharu once again comforted by those strong arms. She wished to be wrapped up in them forever, protected from anything that could hurt her. She never wants him to let go. She tucked her head into his chest, wetting his shirt with her tears. He pet her head, his paw brushing against her sensitive ears.

“I’m so, so sorry. I’m such an idiot.” He blames himself, “We never should have tried to come back.”

A dainty paw was placed on Chiharu’s back. Kimiko comforted her, gently reassuring her. A girl so tender, so caring. And she didn’t even know Chiharu. She was much more composed than her as well. Chiharu felt like dirt compared to her, and it only worsened her sobs. Her helplessness spiraled out of control, and now she was being a burden by crying so much. They should be focusing on finding the rest of the group, not on Chiharu.

But she was so scared. She had never done anything like this, never went somewhere she shouldn’t be. She was the good girl that didn’t get up to any mischief. Her parents always would congratulate her, saying they never got any trouble from her. That just encouraged her to keep everything in line even more. So being in situation like this frightened her to her core.

Her sobs let up after a while. Kimiko was also comforting Suda, telling him it wasn’t his fault. But she doesn’t truly know. She wasn’t there with him the first time. Chiharu should be the one telling him it isn’t his fault. But she, for whatever reason, can’t bring herself to. Maybe she thinks that Kimiko is better telling him, since she’s a closer friend to him. Chiharu barely knows him, really. Kimiko probably plays a bigger role in his life than her. And something about that thought saddens Chiharu. She wished that she knew Suda better. Knew more so she could comfort him as well as Kimiko does. Kimiko is clearly a great friend for Suda. Which is good of course, everybody needs a good friend. But she couldn't help feeling something else. Is this… jealousy? At a time like this? She shakes off the bad vibes. She needs to focus on getting everyone back safe and sound. There is no time for drama.

Her breathing evens out and they collect themselves again. Her nerves are wrecked. It’s so hard to feel what she’s thinking because of how the stress has bent her emotions of out wack. She’s still tense as ever. But being tense means she is prepared, and it’s very possible that she needs to be prepared for whatever lurks in that mist. Her mind plays that sound. She almost can hear it in real life. The bone-chilling click-clack of the unknown. She can only fear the worst. The ominous sound makes a cacophony in her head. She’s fixated on it, recalling the odd tempo it would move around in.

Her paws tremble. Suda notices and holds her paw with his. Her heart races, but not out of fear this time. She grips on to it like a lifeline. Everything will be fine, she tells herself. She puts on a brave face, and is able to somehow summon up a smile for Suda. He smiles back. Chiharu reaches out to Kimiko and gestures to hold her paw. She accepts willingly and together they call for the remaining members again. The echo falls flat, stifled by the thick fog.

Silence. It weighs heavily on the group. They grit their teeth as they wait.

Chiharu starts to hear the infernal sound again. First, she thinks it’s her mind making it up. But she sees Kimiko’s face go blanche white and Suda tense and swivel his ears forward, she realizes this may mean the worst.

“That’s the noise,” she whispers, “Do you hear that?” A nod of their heads sends ice through her veins. She freezes, panic destroying her common sense. Holding hands of friends turn into chains that shackle her to the ground, preventing her from moving. She can’t believe how close the sound is getting. Her heightened sense of hearing gets assaulted as every click strikes her soul, and every clack pierces through to her heart. She hears the pattern again. This time, it’s the irregular pacing of thuds. Pawsteps. But way too many pawsteps. Then the worst sound of them all. A fast series of clicks, wet clicks that the imagination could only encounter in nightmares. The very second they stopped, so did the rest. It was much too quiet. The others were similarly petrified. All of them, focused entirely on what the fog concealed. Their imaginations running rampant, their mental states going haywire.

“I think,” Kimiko whispered with a massive pause between words, “We should go inside now.”

This was able to uproot them from their fear and they tore inside, slamming the metal door. It boomed, but the cinderblock and concrete structure didn’t care one bit.

“What. The heck. Was that?” Suda puffed, shaken.

“Not good,” Chiharu replied. It was all she could say about it. They were all silent in shock, none of their ideas about what it was were good.

Lights flickered, the lab must still be connected to the power grid. The old fluorescent tubes were humming, electricity flowing through them and trapped gases emitting an off-white light.

“Do you think,” Kimiko starts saying quietly, “that there’s any chance the two of them are in here already?”

It’s an optimistic hope, but it gave them something to do. They searched around, but this time they didn’t yell to attract any unwanted attention. They just walked silently through the chalk-white corridors. The lab used to be sanitary looking, but various plants decided to spring up from nowhere, especially by the large windows. The fog was as thick as ever, blocking them from looking outside for their friends.

They passed tables full of notes, instruments, and sometimes things they didn’t even recognize. There were warning labels on doors, and they steered clear of the more dangerous sounding ones. The farther they went, the more they saw things like “containment cell” or “radiation room” boldly printed in large red letters across industrial-looking doors. Even if they wanted to get in, the doors looked like they needed some sort of access key to unlock. Too much was locked down, and soon they ran out of places to go.

Some motion caught Kimiko’s attention. At the corner of her eye, she saw a dark object flash by. It was outside and she stared out the window. As soon as she started looking, the motion was lost to the fog. Her fur stood on end and her ears perked up.

“Kimiko, are you good?” Suda asked, noticing that she was on edge. She wasn’t moving, too caught up in trying to look outside. He followed her line of sight and looked out, too. Neither of them were able to see anything but fog.

“Let’s keep moving, shall we?” He said with a worried look on his face. Her senses were on high alert, but she shook off the feeling that was trying to latch on to her. She must just be imagining things. At least that’s what she tried to tell herself. In reality, she knew that it had to be the beast she heard. It had to be the cause of her terror. It was still out there, lurking. Borealis and Yuki could be out there, too. Her body shivers and she crosses her arms. She follows the group as they backtrack through the facility.

They arrived at the main room again. It’s certain that Yuki and Borealis are still out there. Their attitudes fall as they approach the front door. Going back out there… returning to the nightmare. They had to find the lost members of the group. This time they would stay together in their search, be more prepared. Suda lifted an instrument off the table, testing it with his paw. Probably a very technical and precise tool. Now it’s his bludgeon to defend us. Chiharu thought, smiling despite the circumstances.

The metal door takes some effort to open, the brisk air rushes in. They didn’t realize how stuffy the air was inside the lab. They all shuffled out, uncertain if they should stay quiet. They ended up staying quiet, only adding on to the tension they were all feeling. Chiharu bit her lip in anxiousness. She didn’t want to meet that monster, but a new fear replaced that one. She didn’t want to have them arrive too late to save Yuki or Borealis. She might lose it if she discovered…

She shakes her head to rid the idea. What a morbid thought. She really hopes it doesn’t come to that. She draws in a deep breath as the mist approaches. She reaches out and holds Suda’s paw. Kimiko holds hers and Suda’s remaining paw clutches on to the metal instrument.

They walk like this for a short while, the pressing concern never letting up. Their worst nightmares come bubbling forth, they can almost hear and see the invisible tormentors that try to come at them from across the dream realm. It’s hard to distinguish what is real and what is just their unconscious summoning forth. That is, until they see something real. Something that all of them know isn’t made up. The reason they know it is real is because it instills a fear so instinctual, so primitive, it has to be a certain danger to them.

As tall as their waist, with far too many legs, hunches over a beast. Hair follicles protrude from the creature, evenly spaced and very coarse, straight strands. It’s hair stands on end, it’s back pulsates. It detects them, and a shuffle of legs turns it to face them. There, multiple red eyes stare at them. The figure is far larger than they could have ever feared. The large spider clicks its jaw, making the wet series of face paced clicks that Chiharu could never forget. All of them stand still, breathing heavy in fear and awe. Unbelieving at the sight, Suda slowly raises the only weapon they have.

They stay poised. It doesn’t seem to be immediately aggressive. Slowly, it moves forward. The thump of its claws are undeniable. This was the creature that chased them into the laboratory. The girls hide behind Suda. He bravely lunges forward.

“Stop! Don’t hurt her!” A voice rings out.

Her? Who said… The internal question is answered as Borealis comes into view. Except, it sounds like Auri, from the inflection of her higher pitched voice.

Mystified, Suda obeys as he hears his friend. “Her” must mean the tarantula, Chiharu supposes. To their complete surprise, Auri approaches the spider. The group remains baffled as she bends down to pet it. To put the icing on the cake, she clicks her tongue at the creature, as someone would a pet.

“She’s harmless, don’t worry.” She looks up, as if her words will put them at ease. It’s almost as if she expects them to come pet the spider, too.

The spider leans into the petting, almost like a dog. Chiharu needs an explanation for all of this. She almost had a heart attack!

“Why are you petting a deadly creature? She was chasing us the whole time!” Chiharu huffs, finally getting her wits about her.

“Oh, I think she’s a guard dog of sorts. I just woke up, so I don’t know where we are. But obviously it’s a genetic facility, and they created her to protect it.” Auri stood up, the spider circling around her legs.

“Obviously?” Chiharu began to think. How does Auri know what a genetic facility looks like?

“Oh, yeah I grew up in one,” She says awkwardly, using a paw to move her vibrant hair out of her face.

“Have you seen Yuki?” Suda asks, still eyeing the creature, paw still gripped tightly onto the bludgeon.

Auri freezes, “I didn’t know she was gone. No, I haven’t seen her. I woke up to this friendly tarantula, and that’s about it.” Auri takes her hairband out. She puts it in front of the spider’s face. Chiharu is very confused until the tarantula uses her little front legs to touch it, and then immediately begins feeling around on the ground.

“Did you just tell the spider to find her? Is that her hair band?” Chiharu says incredulously, this day getting more and more surprising. She’s so tired she could be dreaming, but no, she pinched herself and she is definitely awake.

“You’re perceptive, Chiharu!” Auri pauses, “Wait, why are you here with Suda and Kimiko, anyway? Didn’t I just meet you last night?”

They all slowly follow the spider as she does her work and catch Auri up on the situation. Borealis must have fell asleep or became unconscious for Auri to wake up in his absence. They explained Suda and Kimiko’s run-in, how they discovered the lab, and their close encounter with the sense-inhibiting gas.

“Whatever the researchers found here, they must not want anyone figuring it out. If you would have fell asleep from that gas, I suspect the tarantula is supposed to retrieve you. She clearly is mixed with dog genes, both with retrieval and loyalty.” Auri explains, most knowledgeable in the subject of gene-mixing.

The tarantula speeds up, finding a path. The group grows excited, even if it does entail following a massive spider. Yuki is going to be alright. We’re coming to get you, Chiharu thinks cheerfully.

✶ ✶ ✶

Nakagawa, Kimiko

Kimiko follows the group. Today has been crazy. Even past all the things that happened, there is one conclusion she is sure of. Suda likes Chiharu. It’s extremely clear to Kimiko, and it hurts so bad. She was supposed to show Suda-Kun her song today. But everyone started talking about the laboratory, and it all just got forgotten. Initially, she was relieved. She was so nervous to show him her song. Thursday night, she went home and played it for 2 hours straight, over and over. But when they opened the door to have Chiharu come along, all she could feel was jealousy. He had forgotten all about his plans with her today, and not only that, but wanted to see another girl. She thought at least he let her come along. But watching how he responded to her, how he comforted her, how she clung to him. She can’t help to feel so deeply hurt. It almost would have been better if she wasn’t invited, so she didn’t have to sit and watch him fall in love with another girl. Where did she come from? Was she cuter than her? Why did he completely forget her, the second some other girl came into his life?

All of this brewed within her as she followed the spider. She couldn’t let any out. But now that things were settling down, and they almost were all back together, her emotions could fixate on this issue. Oh Suda, why are boys so thick-skulled. Can’t he tell she likes him? Maybe he is too nice to turn her down. That doesn’t make it ok for him to just throw her aside for another girl. Ugh. She needs to calm down. She uses the back of her paw to wipe her damp face. She didn’t know it until her paw came away wet, but she was crying bitter tears. Everyone was busy following the tarantula, so they had no idea. She sighed. She should just focus on getting Yuki back. She can be selfish any other time. She’d better make sure this situation isn’t serious or bad first.

The spider charged ahead, then came back just as quickly. They followed it as it set out a second time. It was ushering them forward. She found something.

On the ground, a ball of white fur lay still. Yuki.

Her heart pounded shards of ice through her veins. Auri rushed over, already kneeling at Yuki’s side. The mist was extremely thick here. Yuki’s small body turned over limply as Auri gently moved her. She put her ear to her mouth.

“She’s breathing,” Auri said with a sigh of relief. Her heartbeat was strong too, after some evaluation. Auri tried to wake her up, but Yuki was unconscious, not reacting one bit. An all too familiar fuzziness reached Kimiko’s paws.

“Hey let’s get out of here. There might be that gas.” She figures, it may be the reason Yuki passed out. Auri picks up the little girl, cradling her. They all head back the way they came. They end up reaching the laboratory entrance. Who knows, maybe there is something inside that can help. They enter, letting the spider follow them in. Yuki is placed on a table, and Chiharu fetches some water. She dabs Yuki’s face with it, hoping to wake her up. The fragile furry is unresponsive.

“Yuki…” Aurora says, her voice trembling. She hugs the prone furry.