Never Again

by Gym_Mouse

Summary:

[ON PAUSE]

Tao suffers great emotional distress after hurting Kibi. When Kibi tries to extend a helping hand, Tao refuses it at first. Tao spirals bad. Eventually, Tao finally talks to him. Things are a little less downhill from there.

Chapter 1: Aftermath

Notes:

This is my first fanfic, and is probably not going to be amazing. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! I’ve loved Beastars for a while, and the story ‘Scar Tissue’ by Corvides was a major inspiration for wanting to make this. Happy reading!

He slammed the door to his dorm room shut.  His roommates weren’t there. Good.  He didn’t want them seeing him like this.  He had run straight here after Legoshi left with Kibi for the nurse’s office.  Bill tried to yell after him, and was even about to chase him before Aoba stopped him.  He kept running.

 

     Drama club had really helped him through high school so far.  Somewhere he could go to just not be afraid.  Not of his grades, of bullies, of his dipshit older brothers, or himself.  Apparently he still should have been afraid of at least one of those.

 

     ‘Shit’, he had the realization that his days of drama club were over, let alone even just attending his dream school. And if he were to be expelled, he would have to go back to his old school district back home, with his old, and much worse, bullies.  And his brother. ‘Great’.

 

     What a waste he was.  Took up a scholarship someone else probably needed and still took away couple thousand from his parents, made them stressed out, barely even got ‘good’ grades once he got into this school, and still ruined whatever good he might have done.

 

     How was he going to tell his parents? Would he tell them, or would the school?  He wasn’t sure which was worse honestly.

 

     Only now did he notice that he’s been digging his claws into his upper arms.  He was nauseous too, the sinking feeling hadn’t left him when he made it to his dorm.

 

     Actually, it had gotten worse .  He realized that he was still stabbing into his arms, so he released them. A little bit of blood seeped through his white T-shirt’s sleeves once it rolled back down.

 

—

 

     After around fifteen minutes, there was a knock on the dorm room’s door.  “One second!” He shouted, throwing on his school jacket to cover his sleeves.  It was probably the police.  They were probably going to lock him up and throw away the key.  Not like he didn’t deserve it anyway.  Wait, aren’t police required to announce themselves or something? That’s what they did in the movies.  Does a knock count as that?  Maybe it was the staff coming to get him before the police arrived.  Maybe it was th—

 

     “Hello?” A voice beckoned.  “Are you gonna open the door?”  Thank Rex it was just Aoba.  He understood now that he had just been standing there for a solid half-minute thinking quietly.

 

     He moved for the doorway, turning the handle and pulling it open.  Aoba’s gaze softened from an anxious look to a more concerned one.

 

     “Hey man, you doing okay?” Aoba tentatively asked. 

“Gee, what d’ya think?” He said frustratedly, before quickly revising after seeing Aoba’s soured expression,

“Sorry, just freaking the fuck out.” 

“I get that, it’s okay man” Aoba said with a sympathetic smile.

“Do you want to come in?” 

“Yeah thanks.”  Aoba shuts the door behind him and asks “I didn’t really get an answer before. 

Like, I can clearly tell you’re not okay, but I want to know to what degree n’ stuff.” 

“I…”  He what?  He hadn’t really processed it properly yet, didn’t know really.  “Just kinda…guilty I guess.  Also worried cause I’ll probably go to juvie.”

 

     Aoba laughed at that.  “You won’t go to juvie dude.”  He pouted a bit at that.  “I get why you feel guilty, but it’s as much his fault as yours.  He chose to go to an integrated school, he chose to talk with you; a carnivore, he asked to try that stretch, he wasn’t vocal about it hurting—“ 

“But—“ 

“He didn’t say anything did he?” 

“Well no, but he looked a little—“

“Did you suddenly yank his arm?”

“…no” 

Aoba sighed.  “Then in what way are you guilty for this?”

 

     “I…I shouldn’t have enrolled at this school.  I’m a danger to herbivores” 

Aoba looked at him sternly and said, ”Are you kidding me?  The herbivores here signed up to be near carnivores, that’s their decision.  They made the choice to take that risk.  Don’t blame that on yourself.” 

He looked at the ground.

 

     “Look, you’re not responsible for this, stuff like this is unfortunately bound to happen, that’s why they have procedures.  They can almost definitely reattach Kibi’s arm. He will be fine. ”

He looked up at that.  “Really?” 

“Yes.”

 

     Aoba spoke after a little while, “I have to go, but talk to me later dude.” 

He turned around after opening the door.  “Also maybe text Bill, yes he was a little aggressive in trying to help you, but he was trying to help.  He cares, as much he doesn’t want to admit it.  So don’t leave him worrying.”  And with that Aoba left.

 

—

 

     An hour later, he was sitting in his bunk.  He would be called to the principal’s, probably to be arrested, at any time now. 

 

     He was breathing shallow again.  His chest kinda hurt, too, and his nausea was back.  He curled into a ball and stared at his feet. 

 

     After a little while his face fell into his knees, his hands gripped his legs harder, and he started crying.

 

     No tears falling, just welling up, and ugly sobbing.  For the first time in a while, Tao wished his mom was able to be here.

Notes:

If you don’t want to read this massive block of text (which is fair) skip to the end of it for a tldr
First of all, thank you for reading. I’m gonna be writing this fanfic for a couple of reasons, firstly is the fact that there are criminally few Kibi/Tao fics, and secondly is that I need some writing practice. There aren’t a ton of Kibi/Tao fics, and most of the ones that there are (that aren’t just smut), are on hiatus or canceled. (To be clear there is nothing wrong with a writer needing to take a break or not wanting to continue a story). I’m writing out the framework for a couple of very organized fanfics, but I will probably start writing rough drafts of chapters for those YEARS from now. My goal for this fic is just to A: have a creative outlet where I’m not concerned about perfection or a complex plot, and B: improve my writing skills so that when I do make those planned stories, they will actually be really good. My plan is to upload once a week, but at minimum every two weeks (I will update if that changes). If you read all of this note, then you’re a trooper.

TLDR: Planning on uploading at least every two weeks, typically weekly though. Making this to improve writing skills so that I can make some good fics down the line and because there are too few Kibi/Tao fix’s imo. Thanks for reading :).

Chapter 2: Talk

Notes:

I was kind of unhappy with how short the first chapter was so this one is way longer. This is probably the length I’m gonna go for from now on. Because of that, chapters are more likely to be every two weeks more often, as working on this chapter was a bit of a slog. I also realized I should probably make clear what some formatting stuff is:

Speech is full quotation marks, thoughts are single apostrophes and italics. Anything else such as just apostrophes or just italics is not something a character directly says. Two spaces between paragraphs along with indentation. One space between change in what character is speaking within the same paragraph, no indentation. Three spaces with a line in the middle when a significant amount of time passes.

     It was a couple of hours before Tao was back in a somewhat grounded state.  His mind still raced a little, but he wasn’t on the verge of another panic attack, which was about the most he could ask for right now.

 

 

     He kept reminding himself that Kibi would be fine.  Supposedly.  That sure as hell wasn’t taking Kibi’s feelings into account.  Kibi would never talk to Tao again.  And he still didn’t think that would be such a bad thing.

 

 

     If he could manage to, Tao promised himself that he will never lay a finger on an herbivore again.  He had done nothing good for the world by interacting with herbivores, and Kibi had firsthand experience as to why that was true.

 

     Tao’s roommates would likely be back soon, and it would be a good idea to look at least somewhat presentable.  He got up out of his bed, his body groaning in protest to his first major movement in hours.

 

    He made his way into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.  He was certainly a bit worse for ware, he had some bags under his eyes, and his fur was noticeably roughed up.  He stared for a moment, lost in the mirror.

 

 

    He rubbed his eyes and remembered that he hadn’t showered since the previous night and had done a fair amount of physical activity since then.  Including warmups and…that.  He went and grabbed some clean clothes and a towel.  He got undressed and turned the shower on.

 

 

     He stepped in, and soaked in the warmth as the water slowly seeped into his fur and through to his skin.  He closed his eyes and took in this moment of solace with gratitude.

 

 

     Then he smelled it.  Blood.  And not his own.  It was Kibi’s.  There had been some on his arm, and it had dried there.  He stared down at the pale red water as it went down the drain.

 

 

     He hadn’t tried to hurt Kibi.  But he did.  Did it matter what he did or didn’t mean?

 

 

     This is why he won’t ever touch another herbivore.  Even if he tries not to hurt them, he can’t even guarantee anything.

 

 

     The water ran clear by now.  there hadn’t been much blood.  He composed himself.  After a solid ten minutes of scrubbing his arm, he felt clean enough to step out of the shower.

 

—

 

     After drying himself off and getting dressed, Tao looked in the mirror again.  This time he looked noticeably less disheveled.  However his face still wasn’t looking so hot, so he washed and dried it with a towel.  Barely better.

 

 

     As he went to turn the faucet back on, his phone buzzed on the counter.  He picked up his phone and unlocked it as he walked out of the bathroom.  It was a text from Bill.  Tao sat down in his bed and read it.

 

 

     ‘Aoba said you would be texting me, I didn’t get one, you good?’

 

He texted back, ‘define good’

 

‘Like okay-ish’

 

He thought for a minute ‘I guess, yeah’

 

‘That’s good’

 

There was a pause for a bit, Tao wondered if that was all.  Bill was a pretty direct guy after all.

 

 

     Then three dots came up again and after a short while, another text.  ‘Gon called me and a couple of other drama club members down to ask us what happened.  You’ll probably get called down at some point soon.’  He said ‘probably’ Tao rolled his eyes at that.  ‘No shit.’

 

 

     Tao responded, ‘To be expected I guess.  What did you tell him?’

 

‘Just what happened, that he asked you to help him with a stretch and then the accident happened’

 

 

     Why was everyone using such relaxed language about this?  It wasn’t just some little mishap.  He did something horrid.

 

 

     He replied again, ‘OK, thanks for the check-up, man’

 

‘Any time’  Tao put the phone down.  He had known he would have to go see Gon already, so that wasn’t really news, but now it was set in stone.

 

 

     Then his dorm’s door opened, and he heard talking.  Azuka and Hoshi, the cheetah and dogla (leopard/tiger hybrid) respectively, came in the room.

 

 

     Tao slid open his curtain, greeting his dorm mates.  Hoshi’s large frame was almost a head taller than the lithe cheetah beside him.  They had both just gotten back from their clubs. Tennis for Azuka and Rugby for Hoshi.

 

 

     “‘Sup man.”  Hoshi greeted before clapping Tao on the shoulder a little too hard.  “My coach had us do a lactic exercise day today, so I’m beat.  Well, anyway I’m gonna need to hop in the shower.”

 

“M’kay.” Tao replied as Hoshi shut the bathroom door behind him.

 

 

     Tao looked back at Azuka, who was now getting his stuff out of his bag.  He noticed Tao staring at him, or rather through him if his blank expression was anything to go by.

 

 

     His voice asking, “You okay?” Snapped Tao out of his little trance, he’d been having a lot of those today.  ‘Wonder why’.

 

 

     Tao responded to Azuka’s question.  “I n-…Yeah.”

 

Azuka raised an eyebrow at that.  “Okay, what’s wrong dude?”

 

“Oh…I uh…failed a test today.”

 

“A test?”  Azuka let out a sigh.  “First of all, we share almost all of our classes and we didn’t have tests in any of those today.  Secondly there is no way that you failed a test in English.  We are doing our Hamlet unit and you are literally in drama club.”

 

 

     Tao didn’t anticipate being caught in his lie so easily.  “Well I-“

 

“Let me cut you off there.  I don’t appreciate when people I know lie blatantly to my face.  If you don’t want to talk about whatever it is, that’s fine, but don’t bullshit me.”

 

 

     Tao was feeling very called out with that.

 

“But if you want to talk about what’s actually wrong, I’m always open.”

 

“O-okay.”  Tao weakly replied.  “I’m sorry for lying.”

 

“Appreciate that, just show me by not doing it again.”  Azuka pondered for a moment.  “Also, do you want to talk about it?”

 

 

     Should he?  Yes.  But does he want to…not really.  “I uh…no, thanks man.”

 

“Well-“ Azuka started.  “-at the very least I know what guilty looks like on you after what happened at the dance last year.”  Tao’s expression greatly soured at that memory.  “So cut yourself a break about whatever it is.  People fuck up, life moves on.  Just do what you can.”

 

 

     Tao looked away.  “I…thanks again, man.”

 

Azuka set his hand on Tao’s shoulder as he went to go climb into his bunk, above Tao’s, and said, “You got it.  Anyway I gotta get some homework done, holler if you need somethin’.”

 

“Okay.”

 

 

     Tao sat back in his bunk and thought.  Should he talk to Azuka about today?  No, he’d probably be telling Tao some bullshit like Aoba did about how it ‘wasn’t his fault.’  He frowned.  What if it isn’t?  No.  He tore off his goddamned arm, of course it was his fault.  Things were usually his fault anyway.

 

—

 

     He sat for a bit longer before Hoshi came out of the shower in a fresh set of clothes.  Only then did Tao notice the scuffs on Hoshi’s knuckles.  “Did you get in another fight?”  He asked, gesturing at his hand.

 

“Yeah, didn’t start it, other guy took a potshot.  I got a nasty bruise on my back now, and a less bad one on my stomach.  I’m surprised I haven’t been called to the office yet.”

 

“Who was it?”

 

“Some guy from the tennis team.”  Hoshi recalled for a second.  “He kinda got evasive after I swung back, then a teacher sent us both back to our dorms.  That’s why I hadn’t showered by the way.  Guy didn’t like being near a spooky, scary hybrid I guess.”

 

 

     Tao chuckled at that.  Hoshi was quite literally a total sweetheart to just about everyone.  “Sounds like a piece of shit, serves him right.”

 

Hoshi’s smile from regaling the day’s events faltered slightly.  “I kinda feel bad for the guy.  It’s probably his parents tellin’im to be disgusted by folks like me and shit.  And, from what I can see, his friends are kind of assholes to him.”

 

“Maybe a little less cool then.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

 

     “Luís?”  Azuka asked from his bunk.  “The guy who hit you?”

 

“Yeah, I think so, sounds familiar.  Lanky maned wolf right?”

 

“Yeah, based on how much I know him I’d guess it was a dare to try and fit in with his gaggle of dipshits.”

 

 

     Tao continued to let them talk.  He made some sorry excuse about being tired (not that he was lying anyway) to go into his bunk and close the curtain.

 

—

 

     He had sat for while, didn’t know how long, just staring at the bottom of Azuka’s bunk and thinking.  Earlier, his roommates had gone to bed.  Tao eventually checked the time and it was well past midnight.  He couldn’t sleep at all.  The anxiety of his immediate future left the pit in his stomach to grow throughout the night.

 

—

 

Eventually, his phone buzzed.  It was an email from the school.  He was to go to the principal’s office at seven.  He checked the time.  It was currently around five in the morning.  Hoshi would get up for his Saturday morning practice soon.

 

 

     Tao could feel his breaths getting shallower.  His nausea got worse, and so did the tightness in his chest.  ‘So this is it.’  Tao thought.  It was happening right now.  He would be punished, and his parents would know.

 

—

 

     He got up around six, when he was sure Hoshi had gone.  He showered.  As he got dressed, he heard Azuka getting ready outside.  He greeted him as he left, explaining that he had to go to the office, and shutting the door behind himself before he could ask any questions.

 

 

     He got there a couple minutes later at six-fifty.  The secretary acted nice, but he could see him side eyeing him as he sat down.  His heart was pounding, and his body ached.  His leg bounced as he sat, which earned him another glare from him.

 

 

     When he was told Gon was ready to see him, he practically leapt out of his chair.  He walked to the door, the faux-gold sign staring him in the face.  His mind raced at a million miles an hour.  He reached out his trembling hand.  He turned the handle, and the door slowly swung open.

 

 

     Gon’s office was sterile, pristine.

 

 

     Pictures and a couple of art pieces dotted the wall.  There were some picture frames on his desk.

 

 

     The tiger himself sat at said imposing desk, across from the chair he was currently gesturing towards.

 

 

     Tao closed the door behind him, and sat down.

 

 

     His hands were between his knees, his shoulders were hung low, and he stared at the floor, perfectly still.

 

 

     The silence, however short, was deafening.

 

 

     “I assume you know why you’re here?”

 

 

     “Yes.”  Tao feebly answered.  If he could make himself any smaller he would.

 

 

     “What happened yesterday was horrible.  However, fortunately, Kibi will make a full recovery.”

 

 

     Tao finally looked up at that.  “Really?”

 

 

     “Yes.  I was on the phone with his parents this morning.  Just before I asked you in, in fact.”

 

 

     The tiger shifted.  “Kibi was adamant to his parents about not pressing charges before he was put under.”

 

 

     Tao was puzzled.  “What?”

 

 

     “From the times I’ve talked to Kibi, he’s been nothing but a kind soul.  I’m not that surprised.”  Gon’s expression hardened.  “However, we will still be suspending you until further notice while we are investigating this and talking with the police.  We have to take matters like this very seriously.”

 

 

     Tao sat up a little bit.  “That’s hardly enough punishment for what I did.”

 

 

     Gon raised an eyebrow.  “Well, we haven’t deemed you an immediate danger to those around you.  Unless you think we should?  Are you having thoughts of hurting others?”

 

 

    Tao sunk right back into his seat.  “Well…no.”

 

 

     “Then that seems excessive and unfair.”  He leaned over and reached for his drawer.  “Also, would you be willing to tell me what happened from your point of view?”  He set his notepad on the desk.

 

 

     “I uh…sure.”  Tao took a second to mentally prepare himself.  “Well first we were doing stretches, and I was stretching my shoulder.”

 

Gon had the notepad open and open il moving by the point as he nodded along.

 

“Then Kibi asked if I could show him the stretch I was doing.” Tao’s throat felt tight at this point, the nausea was coming back too.

 

     “Then we started doing it and…”  He was afraid to relive it.  “It was my fault, really, he was grimacing a little, I thought it was just because he was stretching…”  He took a sharp inhale.  “Then there was this…horrible noise, and a second later he was on the ground and I was just…holding his arm.”

 

 

     Tao was looking somewhat shell-shocked at this point, so Gon spoke.  “I know that was hard, but this was incredibly helpful, thank you.  And don’t blame yourself too much, this is, unfortunately, hardly the first time that something like this has happened.  It just has an ever present chance of happening unfortunately.”

 

 

     “I-okay.”  Tao slumped farther into his chair.

 

“I will be calling your parents and informing them about this shortly.”

 

Tao tensed at that.

 

“I appreciate you coming here, but I think it’s time for you to head back to your dorm.”

 

 

     As Tao got up, Gon called his parents.  While Tao walked out he heard Gon saying, “Hello?  Yes, this is principal Gon calling about Tao.  From what I gather from him and other students, there was an accide—“

 

 

     Tao shut the door behind him.  He felt sick to his stomach.  His mom would know.  And his dad.  Tao walked back to his dorm.  Hoshi was at practice still, and Azuka had left for work by now.

 

 

     Tao got back to his dorm and rushed for the bathroom.  He threw up in the toilet almost immediately.  It burned his throat and didn’t make him feel any better.  He continued until he was dry heaving.  Finally, he cleaned himself up and headed back out of the bathroom.

 

 

     He lied in bed, and saw his mom had texted him.  She hadn’t told his father yet.  Thank Rex.  But she did want to call and talk at some point.  He wasn’t feeling any less anxious, but he was so exhausted that he just drifted into sleep.

Notes:

I had to redo like all of the dialogue between Tao and Azuka to make him a bit more snippy, but still nice, because before I accidentally made it so that they just had way too much romantic energy going on lol.

Chapter 3: Trapped

     The early evening sunlight poured in from the window, and over his lidded eyes.  As he began to drift back into consciousness, he could feel the cold sheets enveloping him.  He heard noises outside the door, and he opened his eyes.

 

 

     He didn’t know where he was.  The room was of anything of interest.  Bland tan walls and ceiling, and white bedding.  All that there was to see of interest was a couple of chairs and his a-.  ’ Oh .’

 

 

     His arm.  Currently slung up.  That’s where he was.  The hospital.  He was rushed here after what had happened…yesterday probably?  They had put him under for emergency surgery.  That’s why he felt so drowsy and achy, yet felt no pain.

 

 

     He heard footsteps approaching the door.  It swung open, and through it came a very tired looking Gazelle.  She started writing on her clipboard as she walked over.

 

 

     She spoke.  “Hey, Kibi right?  Good to see that you’re awake.  The surgery went well, you’ll make a full recovery.  I think that your parents are in the hospital cafeteria, I’ll have someone go tell them that you’re awake shortly.  In the meantime I’m just gonna take some vitals and ask you a couple of questions, okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

“So first, are you in any pain right now?  And also do you need me to get you anything?”

 

“No to both, just really drowsy and a little achy.”

 

“The severe drowsiness to be expected as you come out of anesthesia, the achiness will probably continue with the painkillers though, along with possibly a little drowsiness.”

 

“Okay, also now that I’m thinking about it, I think I could use a water.”

 

“Sure thing, I’ll also have someone go tell your parents that you’re awake while I’m out.  I’ll just be a minute.”

 

“Thank you so much.”

 

 

     Once she left, Kibi took the opportunity to look at his arm.  Not that there was much to look at.  He could see his hand sticking out of the sling he was in, but other than that it was just white fabric and the supporting bands.  He couldn’t look at his shoulder either, his neck was too sore to turn that much.

 

 

     His arm was entirely pins and needles.  He couldn’t actually feel anything at all.  It was the type of numbness that his brain told him should go away in a couple of seconds but it just… didn’t .

 

 

     The door opened, and miss… Kibi realized that he didn’t know her name.  Whoever she was, she came back in with the water cup.  Kibi accepted it and drank it gratefully.  “Thank you.  Also, I kind of realized I forgot to ask you before, but what’s your name?”

 

“Oh, I’m Hope.  Nice to meet you properly.  I’m going to be your nurse while you recover.”

 

“Nice to meet you too.  Do you know how long it will be until my parents get here?”

 

“Well, they’ve been called for, so I’m sure they’ll be here any minute now.  While we’re waiting on them, how about I ask you the rest of my questions?”

 

 

     And so she did, and he answered them.  They were just some more standard post operation questions.  Kibi asked a couple of questions too, and most were answered relatively easily.

 

—

 

     Kibi’s mother threw the door open.  Her son lied in his hospital bed, arm suspended in front of him.  His father followed just behind her.

 

 

     Relief flooded over his parents’ faces upon seeing him.  “I’m so glad the surgery went well.”  His father said with a soft smile.  He brushed over Kibi’s good shoulder with his hand as he moved to the side to make room for his wife.

 

 

     She gently embraced Kibi.  “I’m so sorry you had something like that happen to you, honey.”

 

Kibi weakly returned the gesture.  “Thanks, Mom.”

 

“I love you so much.”  She whispered, leaning in close.  To Kibi, it sounded like she was on the verge of sobbing.  Kibi himself wasn’t faring too much better.

 

 

     She leaned back away and looked over at Hope.  She got the hint and quietly left, shutting the door gently behind her.

 

 

     Kibi’s mother looked back at him and said, “I know things between us have been a little… distant… after you came home with that friend last year.  But…”  She sobbed before composing herself.  His father was tearing up.  “I’m so sorry it… it took this -“ she said gesturing to his injured arm “- to make me- us realize how ignorant we’ve been of you.”

 

 

     Kibi was crying now too.  “I…”  he couldn’t think of what to say.

 

“Let me finish, dear.”  She said, laying her hands on Kibi’s.  “While we don’t approve of that part of the way you live, I think we understand that we aren’t going to change your mind on the matter.  Am I communicating how you feel too, hun?”  She asked, looking at her husband.

 

“I’d say we have the same opinion on it, yes.”

 

 

     Kibi’s mother prepared herself for a brief moment.  “I’m so sorry that we’ve been so distant.  We’ve been practically absent for so much of such a pivotal period of your life.  Y-you…”  she started choking up on her words.  “You couldn’t confide in your parents when it mattered the most.  I… I just wish I could redo my decisions. I am never going to leave my son out to dry like that again.”

 

 

     Kibi didn’t say anything.  He couldn’t.  He choked up any time he tried to speak.

 

 

     His father spoke first.  “I… I’m sorry , Kibi.  There’s so much I should’ve… been there for, been proud of you for.  I just want you to know that we didn’t start acting like this to… to spite you or anything.  We love you just as much as we ever did.  We just… didn’t know what to say.  How to say it.  I don’t know if you’ll ever forgive us for that, I at least know that I won’t ever be able to.”

 

 

     His father had tears falling down his face at this point, this sight was a first for Kibi.  “Look, I’m just so sorry that I haven’t been there to see the wonderful young man you’re becoming.”  His father leant in and hugged him, he gripped him as if that if he were to let go he would never get to hold him again.  It was a gentle vice, though.  But certainly not a weak grip.

 

 

     There were another fifteen minutes or so of waterworks and back and forth ‘I love you’s between Kibi and his parents.  Eventually, a good while after emotions had subsided, Hope came back into the room.  She briefed the family on some recovery information.

 

 

     Kibi would have to stay in the hospital for one to three weeks, depending on how fast he recovered.  After that, he would have to do physical therapy for several months.  After asking Kibi if he needed anything, to which he answered ’no’, Hope left.

 

 

     “So Kibi, “ his father started, “what are we going to do about that panther ?”

 

 

     Kibi sighed.  “I already told you, we are not pressing charges on him.  I don’t care what you want, because I , the person who was actually harmed , don’t want to.  And could you just call him by his name, Tao ?  And not ‘panther’, you sound like the carni-herbi war ended last year or something.”

 

 

     Kibi’s mother interjected before her husband could retort.  “Kibi’s clearly not open to debating this right now, and visitation hours are almost over, so let’s have this conversation at a later date, okay?”  She put her hand on her husband’s shoulder.

 

He grumbled out, “ Fine .”

 

 

     She looked back at Kibi.  “Love you honey, see you tomorrow, okay?”  With that she hugged him again and planted a kiss on his forehead.

 

“Love you, bud.”  His father hugged Kibi and ruffled his head fur.  “See ya tomorrow.”  And with some waves, the two of them left.

 

—

 

     Later on, Kibi was brought a late dinner by Hope. It was hospital food, so it wasn’t amazing, but it wasn’t half bad.  He made sure to thank her as she left.

 

 

     After he had finished his food and Hope had grabbed his tray (for which he thanked her again), he realized that he had forgotten to ask his parents if he could have the members of drama club visit him.

 

 

     He grabbed his phone from where his parents had placed it on the side table earlier, and sent his father the text: ‘Hey, could I have friends from Cherryton visit me tomorrow?’

 

 

     He waited for a response.  While he did, he texted Dom.  ‘Surgery went well, should be back in school within a month’

 

Dom read and responded to his message quickly.  ‘Glad you’re okay!  Everyone in the club was worried.  Want me to tell them?’

 

As Kibi was responding with, ‘Sure, thanks!’  He got a response from his father.

 

 

     ‘That’s fine.  Your mom and I are going to be coming later in the afternoon, so just have them visit before then.  Love, Dad.’

 

 

     Kibi texted Dom again.  ‘If any of the drama club wants to visit tomorrow morning they can, will you be coming?’

 

‘Definitely, and I’ll be sure to pass that along to everyone else, too’

 

—

 

     A couple of hours later, he stared at his now unlit ceiling.  He wasn’t sure if he could ever look at a carnivore the same way again after what happened yesterday.  He would certainly have to figure that out tomorrow morning.

 

 

     What about Tao ?  Would he be there?  He decided to text Dom, even if it was a little late.  Dom was a bit of a night-peafowl, so he was probably still up.

 

 

     He sent a text to him.  ‘Do you know if Tao will be there tomorrow?’

 

Dom texted back soon after.  ‘No, he said he was really busy this weekend.  Why do you ask?”

 

‘I just wanted to know if I should be ready to talk to him about what happened tomorrow’

 

‘Okay, now GO TO SLEEP.  You need rest to recover’

 

‘Fine, goodnight’

 

‘Goodnight’

 

 

     With that, Kibi set his phone back down on the side table, and tried his best to get a good nights rest despite the apparatus his arm was in.

Notes:

Trying to write another distinct character was not easy for this one. I had a lot of free time this week, but I have no idea how busy I’ll be the next few weeks so chapters are probably gonna be flip-flopping between weekly and biweekly.

Chapter 4: Update (will delete at a much later date)

So it’s been slightly longer than “mid to late June”.  Sorry about that.

I foolishly made something that was going to be intentionally low effort be about some really heavy themes, and ones that are personally quite difficult for me.  I’ve had a hard time with motivation, but especially had a hard time trying to figure out how to write the suicidal ideations that Tao needed to have for the story to progress.

I had gotten a little bit caught up on chapter 4, and so had decided to write some short plans for the general events of future chapters in the meantime.  This is when I realized that I couldn’t comfortably write such a personal thing right now, especially not one that I want to try to make in less than amazing quality.

I am gonna leave this work as it is for now, but I PROMISE that eventually I’ll come back and rewrite the first few chapters and continue the story.  Right now I don’t have the skill to cover such a sensitive topic, nor am I over the personal experiences I have with it.

Right now, I’ve started working on a different story in which I am constraining myself to the range of 30k-40k words and ten chapters to hopefully prevent myself getting stuck after I start posting.  (the fandom is Zelda:BotW btw).  I have planned about a third of it so far, and the first chapter will probably be done in a few months (but we now know how bad I am at guessing dates so don’t count on it too much).

I’m really sorry to anyone who was enjoying this so far, but I promise that I will come back to this someday.