{"sf1_id":1682478,"sf2_id":"B1Qb4jge","title":" The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 9)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":1611,"posted_at":"2021-02-08T20:34:37.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Alternate Reality","Anon","Boy","Brother","Bunny","Classroom","Couple","Emo","Fight","Girl","Green text","Greentext","HMOFA","Halloween","Heterosexual","High School","Hmofa/","Human","Kissing","Plot Development","Rabbit","Siblings","Slow burn","Young Romance","anthro/human"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1682478-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-9","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/B1Qb4jge","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/af/e7/afe78135-879a-4cb4-a31e-4dcb0df4885f","description":"You've never really 'fit in' with the heavily divided Ranchview High School crowd. Jock, Goth, Prep, Cheerleader, Nerd... you were never any of these. But as Halloween approaches, strange things start happening, and a dark ritual begins with the finding of a curious red book. It's a race against time for you and your friends to stop a group of students from ushering in an age of darkness, and to also figure out just what the hell is wrong with that rabbit.  \n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  \n  \nAbout this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.  \n  \nCover: [https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q](https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q)  \nSam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) [https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT](https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT)  \nFan art collection: [https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv](https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv)  \nAccompanying playlist (WIP): [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J)  \nAlternative link: [https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078](https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078)  \nTotal word count: 147,552 words","content":"\\\u003eThe minute you retreat back into yourself, you feel the immense weight of guilt and shame\n\n\\\u003eShoulda done it when you had the chance\n\n\\\u003eCoward\n\n\\\u003eNo\n\n\\\u003eNot now\n\n\\\u003eNot here\n\n\\\u003eThis isn't the time, nor the place\n\n\\\u003eYou're glad you didn't\n\n\\\u003eSam's eyes flutter open, and you see her flash a look of confusion\n\n\\\u003eAnd then the shame comes\n\n\\\u003eShe throws her head downwards, her shoulders sloping with her gaze\n\n\\\u003e\"I-I-\" she starts, but you're not going to allow her to do this to herself\n\n\\\u003eShe's too good of a person, drowning there in her hand-me-down hoodie and sweats, ears lopping carelessly behind her crop of hair that you've come to find beautiful on her\n\n“Your secret is safe with me,\" you say, trying to cut the tension\n\n\\\u003e\"It…\" she stops herself, uncertain in her next fumbling words\n\n\\\u003e\"I-It doesn't have t-t-to be a s-s-secret anymore.\"\n\n\\\u003eWat?“… Are you sure? You want people to know?\"\n\n\\\u003eShe hesitates for a moment\n\n\\\u003eAnd then, drawing herself up with a deep breath, she fixes you with a determined stare\n\n\\\u003e\"Yes,\" she says, her voice as steady as steel\n\n\\\u003eYou gather a sharp-dressed Alex, a Jenna dressed like a bumblebee, and Mike, who has done little more than acquire a slick leather jacket that's slightly too big for his frame, outside the costume shop\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eYou're dressed up in your white priest vestments, which are a loose cut of pale-yellow cloth with cheap gold thread running down the center\n\n\\\u003eBeneath that, you have a white robe, and Gloria's crucifix dangling around your neck\n\n\\\u003eYou look like a priest, if the Catholic Church were in a severe budget crisis\n\n\\\u003e\"You two done making out yet?\" Mike groans. “It's getting dark and I'm getting hungry.\"\n\n\\\u003eIndeed, the sunlight was dissolving away into the blue dusk\n\n\\\u003ePeople were inside having dinner by now with their families, so the clean-swept sidewalks were barren\n\n\\\u003eMeaning the party was going to be soon\n\n\\\u003eThe one you were all crashing\n\n\\\u003eThat harvest moon was rising, huge like another earth looming overhead\n\n“Quit yer' bitchin', my son.\" You waggle a finger at Mike, who playfully bites the air around it\n\n\\\u003eJenna giggles\n\n“I helped Sam with HER costume, so it took awhile,\" you say, taking care to really draw out the 'HER'\n\n\\\u003eYou sweep the group with your eyes, looking expectantly from face to face\n\n“I said, I helped Sam with HER costume, so it took awhile.\"\n\n\\\u003eThis silence tastes like need-smarter-friend-juice\n\n\\\u003eThey don't seem to understand\n\n\\\u003eExcept Jenna, who cocks her head\n\n\\\u003eThe sharp ears on top of her head twitch with curiosity, like a live wire jumping with current\n\n\\\u003eYou lean forward\n\n\\\u003eHere it comes\n\n\\\u003eThe big moment\n\n\\\u003e\n\n\\\u003e\"It took you THAT LONG to get him his costume? What is he going as anyway?\" She says\n\n\\\u003e\"I bet his costume is really elaborate. Lots of moving parts. Did you cop a five-finger-discount on it?\" Alex says\n\n\\\u003e…\n\n“Actually,\" you start, “you're not even wrong. The costume was almost free. We just had to buy a little rope for HER\u0026nbsp;bat.\"\n\n\\\u003eMike, that pale motherfucker, shivers, and says: “why do you keep saying it like that?\"\n\n\\\u003eBingo\n\n“Like what?\"\n\n\\\u003eThe vampire fledgling folds his arms across his chest\n\n\\\u003e\"'Her.' You keep saying that instead of 'him.' Say it right, man. I'm too cold to deal with this.\"\n\n“Ah, you stupid bitch. Maybe there's a reason for that?\" You prod\n\n\\\u003eJenna's face lights up with a sudden alarm\n\n\\\u003e\"You're not messing with us, right?\" She says, eyes going wide. “Are you saying what I'm thinking you're saying?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou fight to keep the smile growing on your face from betraying your pointless ruse\n\n\\\u003eThe fox shakes her head. “You're just messing with us. Right?\"\n\n\\\u003eHer pleading expression and Mike/Alex's cluelessness is the straw that breaks the camel's back\n\n“Okay Sam, you can come out now!\" You call\n\n\\\u003eThe bunny totters around the corner of the building, trying her best to keep her hands away from her ears and to keep the blush from overpowering her 'costume'\n\n“I give you: Samurai Outlaw.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou gesture towards Sam like she were a new car on a game show\n\n\\\u003eShe stands before you all, as short and as self conscious always\n\n\\\u003eHer hood is thrown over her head, with two holes sliced out of the top so her ears can dangle down behind her\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eAnd a red bandanna obscures every feature of her face except the amber glow of her eyes\n\n\\\u003eHer brother's baseball bat is strapped to her back with a bit of rope and cord\n\n\\\u003eOther than that, not much has changed about her\n\n\\\u003eIt's a simple costume, but dead close to her idealized drawing of Samurai Outlaw\n\n\\\u003e\"Is that it?\" Mike says\n\n\\\u003eYou scowl\n\n“Don't you think it's cool?\" You say, ignoring his jab\n\n\\\u003e\"I mean, it's pretty simple, is all. I don't know why it took you guys so long.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"I think it's really fucking cool,\" Alex says, encircling the rabbit, who is frozen in the metaphorical spotlight\n\n\\\u003eToo much attention on her all at once, you muse\n\n\\\u003eJenna is dead-frozen, staring fixedly at Sam\n\n\\\u003e\"She really does look… good…\" she says, stiff and distant, her mind trying to reconnect its crossed wires\n\n\\\u003e\"Awww not you too,\" Mike says, now encircling Sam with Alex, like two sharks honing in on a bleeding whale\n\n\\\u003eHe's a little more interested than he lets on, you think\n\n\\\u003eThe simplicity of Sam's design is its main strength\n\n\\\u003eYou could see Samurai Outlaw as some kind of urban antihero or something in a comic book\n\n\\\u003eSam flinches and shrinks away from the prying eyes of Mike and Alex as they comment on how cool the baseball bat prop is\n\n\\\u003eJenna loudly clears her throat, drawing everyone's attention from Sam's bare-bones costume\n\n\\\u003e\"Sam,\" she says, a cautious warmth tinting her words. “Is what Anon says true?\" She threads her fingers together and folds her hands down at her waist\n\n\\\u003eThe bunny points her eyes down at her feet in response to the sudden question\n\n\\\u003eYou open your mouth to spill the metaphorical beans for her-\n\n\\\u003e\"Y-Yes. It's true. I-I-I-I'm a girl,\" she says suddenly\n\n\\\u003eThe boys come to a sudden halt\n\n\\\u003e\"You're fucking with us,\" Mike says, glancing between both her and you. “Actually, you're both fucking with us.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"I KNEW I SMELLED A FEMALE'S SCENT,\" Jenna says, and the joy of being right gleams in her eyes, brighter than her polished fangs\n\n\\\u003eInstinct takes over, and Sam shrinks back away from the fangs and the claws, holding her bat out in front of her like an aluminum shield\n\n\\\u003eJenna recoils quickly and mutters an apology\n\n\\\u003e\"A-Anyway,\" she continues, looking incredibly harmless, dressed as a bumblebee. “I thought I smelled something… strange. But I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. This explains so much.\"\n\n\\\u003eAlex looks dismayed\n\n\\\u003e\"So wait, Sam, you're really a girl?\"\n\n\\\u003eOverwhelmed, Sam shoves her bandanna back over her face to hide her blush\n\n\\\u003e\"Yes,\" she says, behind the cloth. “I-I'm not lying-\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Wait, if you're a girl…\" He looks at you, and then back to Sam, steam practically pouring out of his ears\n\n\\\u003eGuess his mind is really cranking\n\n\\\u003e\"If you're a girl… And Anon is a boy… And you two…\"\n\n\\\u003eYou feel a steady knot of anxiety and embarrassment settle in on your chest\n\n\\\u003eIt spreads quickly to your face\n\n“Alex… Don't…\" you caution him\n\n\\\u003e…Okay, maybe there's a little rage there too\n\n\\\u003eHis mouth drops open, his smile almost as wide as his face\n\n\\\u003e\"ANON ISN'T GAY!\"\n\n\\\u003eStrangely enough, he looks to Mike for confirmation\n\n\\\u003eAnd that fuckass is smiling, nodding, as the realization slowly dawns on him with all the speed of a turtle and the grace of a rhino\n\n\\\u003e\"Anon's not gay,\" Mike repeats, more to himself than to the rest of you\n\n“I've been saying that from the very fucking start; I'm not gay, you goddamn idiots,\" you counter, face pulsing red\n\n\\\u003eYou almost hate that they care more about you being not-gay than they do about Sam's true identity\n\n\\\u003e\"Sam, you're really a chick? Like, pussy and everything?\" Mike leans forward, smiling like a total shithead\n\n\\\u003eThe bunny flinches backwards, and you know Mike's just doing it to fuck with Sam, but you can't help but internally cringe on her behalf\n\n\\\u003eYou imagine her blush must be the same color as her bandanna\n\n\\\u003e\"MIKE!\" Jenna cries. “What the hell is wrong with you?\"\n\n\\\u003eHe spins around with a wounded look on his face\n\n\\\u003eGod you really are glad Jenna can keep him under control\n\n\\\u003eMike mutters an apology while Alex claps you on the shoulder\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm seldom wrong,\" he says, “but you played the long-con with me. Good work.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou smile at him — a warm smile that you hope communicates how fucking done you are with this whole joke\n\n\\\u003eHe smiles back, and deep down, you still don't think he understands\n\n\\\u003e\"Hey,\" Mike holds an open palm out to Alex. “You owe me 30 bucks.\"\n\n\\\u003eAlex looks down at the pale palm, spiderwebbed with blue veins, and then back up at Mike\n\n\\\u003e\"You idiot,\" he shakes his head slowly, that smile still warming his face. “You actually think I have any money?\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Nah,\" Mike says, all too casually. “I just like knowing I was right.\"\n\n“Wait,\" you turn to the vampire. “So you thought I was straight the whole time?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou still feel that warm pulse of shame and blood in your face\n\n\\\u003e\"Nah, I thought you were bi. That's why he only owes me 30 and not 60. You're not bi, right?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou answer him with a raised middle finger, while Sam stares holes into the sidewalk","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1679565-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-8.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1684784-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-10.json"}}