I Picked Up a Beastkin (Who Claims to Be a Lady)

Before I knew it, class had ended and the final bell had come and gone. I'd go so far as to say the Academy's first actual lesson had been fairly enjoyable.

"See you tomorrow, Shiota!"

"Yeah. Tomorrow, then…."

Honestly speaking, the whole concept of "classmates" still felt a little distant to me.

My phone buzzed with a message from Yuzuru: the teachers had a staff dinner scheduled, so I was on my own for dinner tonight.

"There's nothing at home to eat, though…."

One look at my wallet confirmed it held just enough assets for a modest convenience store meal. I'd have to ask my sister for an allowance later, I suppose….

Sitting around like this was worse than moving. I grabbed my bag and headed out.

Come to think of it, our house was big enough that leaving it empty invited burglars. Maybe I should get home early.

"Hm? What flower is this?"

I'd been scanning the usual scenery on my walk home in the name of living an ordinary life, yet somehow I found myself drawn to a flower that was anything but ordinary.

The closer I got, the fresher the air felt, and there inside the pretty flowerbed sat an animal.

"Huh? What an unusual-colored cat. No, wait…? A dog…? Or a fox…? It's pretty big for an animal, though… could it be a beastkin? But at this point it's basically a straight-up beast…."

"Who are you calling a beast?!"

Grrrrrowl!

"Ah…."

"So you were a hungry 'person'…."

Apparently embarrassed at being overheard, its fur puffed out all bristly, just like a fox's. This is supposed to be a person?

If she really were one, then this poor soul was a homeless drifter with nowhere to go.

"If you don't mind, would you like to come with me? I was just heading home from school anyway. Ah—do you have somewhere to go back to?"

"…Do you trust strangers that easily?"

"Trust isn't really the word. Is it so wrong to reach out a hand to someone who needs help?"

At that, the beastkin considered it for a moment, then took my hand and rose to her feet. Her gestures were unmistakably larger than a beast's.

"First of all, I apologize for calling you a beast. Though you do look every inch the part…."

Grrrrrowl!

"My apologies. Let's hurry."

As we walked, I realized I knew nothing about my companion, so I asked.

"So what should I call you?"

"Should one not introduce oneself before asking for another's name?"

"Ah… right… sorry. Ahem. I'm Shiota Otonashi."

"Shiota… Otonashi…? Shall I call you Otonashi, then?"

"Shiota, Otonashi, whatever works."

"Very well. Otonashi. Might I ask what we're having for dinner?"

"Two mouths to feed means we go where we can eat efficiently."

"Efficiently, is it… Fine, let's go there. Oh, and call me Peace, by the way."

"Peace…? Like a piece of something…? Or… like this—flashing a V sign—peace?"

"Graaah! You ignorant fool! Peace as in tranquility!"

And so I brought a beastkin along to get dinner. But the moment she laid eyes on the venue, Peace fell into despair.

"Otonashi…? This is dinner…?"

She was staring at the public water fountain in the park, so I answered honestly.

"Of course! Fun fact: the five major nutrients for humans are salt, sugar, tap water, rainwater, and spring water! And beastkin need hydration too!"

"Are you even human?! The five major nutrients are carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, fat, and minerals!!"

And so I got scolded by Peace just as I had been scolded by Lucia before. No threat to my survival this time, but she was somehow even more imposing about it.

"Haah… So this is what they call cup ramen?"

"Yes… It's more nutritious than tap water…."

"Hmph. Then relax already. I'm the one freeloading here. Speak casually if you like."

"Uh… so, Peace? Can I just call you that?"

"Truly, I have never met a human like you in all my life."

Peace said it with an air of utter resignation.

"?! Is cup ramen supposed to taste like this? I've never eaten anything this delicious in my entire existence!"

"…Peace? Where did that stern, dignified, serious tone of yours go?"

"Ah—ahem. Regardless. 'Tis my first time tasting such a flavor, that is all."

I set down my chopsticks and stared at her. No matter how I looked, she seemed like either a rare exotic pet or some kind of beastkin.

She'd apparently been lost and starving, yet with that much swagger on display, she had to have a pretty nasty temper to match.

"Do you have a home to go back to?"

"……"

Peace's eyes wavered, just for a moment. So she really was lost. For all that haughty (read: fake) dignity, the fact that she had nowhere to go seemed more bitter than the ramen broth itself.

"I see. Then why don't you come stay at our place?"

"Your home…?"

"Yeah. It's plenty big, and it feels wasteful for just my sister and me. She likes animals, too."

"Um… you're not adopting me as a stray, are you?"

Peace was so flustered that her speech slipped back into that of an ordinary girl (?). Going by voice alone, though, she sounded like a man… no way. Could it be androgyno—….

"Hey! I can hear your thoughts! I'll have you know, despite appearances, I am a LADY!!"

"WHAT?!"

And thus, my common sense as Shiota Otonashi ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠collapsed. In exchange, I recovered two emotions I'd long misplaced: bewilderment and disbelief.

Peace is a lady? No wait, before that—what did she mean, "I can hear your thoughts"? Did she just read my mind?

I stared blankly at the pink-and-russet fur. There was a tail, pointed ears, and—decisively—even jelly-soft paw pads. And this was a lady?

I could practically hear my common sense creaking as it crumbled all over again.

"W-why are you staring like that? Do the humans of this era judge a species' sex by visual information alone? Utterly sacrilegious!"

"No, it's not that, it's just… the fur, as you can see…."

"This is a disguise!"

Peace huffed and whipped her tail back and forth. Even that looked so much like an excited puppy that the lingering doubt—is she really a lady?—refused to fade entirely. But pressing the issue any further ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seemed likely to end with a bowl of ramen broth in my lap, so I quietly resolved to keep my mouth shut.

Whatever Peace really was, at least she didn't seem likely to hurt anyone on the spot.

"Anyway, shall we head home? If we linger out here, people are going to stare."

"Hmph. The ones being strange are these ignorant humans, not I. But… very well. Experiencing the taste of this mystical food called cup ramen once more would not be unwelcome."

Peace rose to her feet with her tail held high and proud. Yet the moment she started walking, her tail kept smacking into the streetlamps of the narrow sidewalk, looking every inch the animal.

"Um, Peace? Wouldn't it be more efficient to, you know… tuck the tail in?"

"Silence! This is a symbol of my dignity!"

We walked through the night streets. On any other day, the stretch between school and home was a monotonous commute, but thanks to the strutting beastkin (disguised) at my side, the road brimmed with a strange liveliness.

Peace kept up a running commentary at the streetlights—the humans' magic engineering is primitive, but their use of light is rather creative—never once pausing for breath.

"Otonashi, what is that? Those stone pillars that turn red to stop and green to go?"

"Traffic lights. They exist to enforce the traffic laws…."

"Traffic laws? You mean that isn't merely a signal to 'make way'? Humans of this era impose such elaborate restrictions just to cross a single road. How profoundly inefficient."

"Inefficient isn't quite it. It's the bare minimum of promises people keep so no one gets hurt."

At my words, Peace stopped walking. And then she looked at me with a strange expression.

"Promises, is it… So humans protect one another with nothing more than promises like these traffic lights?"

For the briefest instant, Peace's voice turned grave, as though echoing up from somewhere very deep. I stopped and looked at her.

Under the moonlight, the pink and russet fur rippled in the wind. For a fleeting moment, in that beast-like profile, I thought I glimpsed not a beastkin, but the silhouette of a woman.

"Peace."

"W-what is it?"

"When we get to my place, my sister is probably going to be pretty shocked. So, um… I'll explain the whole 'lady' thing to her properly."

"Hmph. No explanation needed. I shall simply prove my own nobility myself."

Watching her march on ahead, I thought to myself: there was something oddly un-hateful about the way she'd rejoiced over a single cup of ramen as if she'd been handed the whole world.

"Ah, but knowing my sister, she's definitely going to shout 'It's a cat!' the second she sees you."

"Why can't you keep that mouth of yours shut!!!"

Peace's shrill shriek rang out into the quiet night.

Before I met Otonashi, I had endured much in this place called the modern world. First, some power had seemed to call out to me, and I opened my eyes.

"This is… neither the work of the Celestials, nor of the Demons… Could it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be… an Eldritch existence? No—the resonance is different from theirs…."

A power that no one could define, yet which most certainly existed: the power of the Void.

I—no, we—had been guarding the world against the encroachment of the Eldritch ones… but this, what in the world was this…?

"I must restore the flow of spacetime to its proper course."

When I struck the ground lightly, the churning flow of spacetime settled into stillness as if it had all been a lie.

"I must inform the other Kings of this situation as well."

To trace the power of the Void, I resolved to involve myself in the brightly shining modern world.

But the modern world was terribly cold.

"First… I must gather information on this era. Unable to use the power of spirits as I am, I shall need the humans' assistance."

Because I needed information, I approached people as politely as I could. The responses I received were… unexpected.

"Eeek?! A beast! Get away from me!"

…A beast. Why on earth did my appearance register as "beast" in their eyes?

Swallowing the injustice of it, I approached an elf next—pointed ears, a race well-versed in magic. Surely they would understand.

"E-excuse me, might I ask you something…?"

"I—I'm not into that sort of thing!! You pervert!"

…Just how does this world even work?

Grrrrrowl….

This feeling… the hunger symptom known as starvation. For the most part, spirits absorb the energy of nature and have no need to feel hunger at all.

But high-ranked spirits take forms close to that of humans, and so their energy consumption is correspondingly enormous. Hence, I was starving.

"Hungry… This era shines brilliantly and beautifully, and yet, paradoxically, here I am tasting its cold reality…."

The Celestial King, the Dragon King, the Demon King… where on earth were they all? The races of this era had no concept of courtesy whatsoever.

And then—

"Huh? What an unusual-colored cat. No, wait…? A dog…? Or a fox…? It's pretty big for an animal, though… could it be a beastkin? But at this point it's basically a straight-up beast…."

That was when I met you. I looked into your eyes, and I knew. The one who had called out to me was you.