Training and Testing

As soon as their toes touched the sidewalk at the end of the drive, Oro immediately seemed more relaxed. His foster-sister, on the other hand... "Okay, now what's this about 'demands'? And it had better not involve blood, I don't care why," she warned, mostly to Oro.

The Rabbit just shrugged his shoulders and jerked his thumb at the girl on her other side. "Talk to her. I'm just giving her what she asked for."

"Yeeeaah," Sarahi admitted sheepishly, "I kind of...told him I want to fight him. Totally my choice. I guess a hit in the nose isn't unthinkable, so..."

Nayeli's chin went slack. "You want to fight? Why?" The Sha'khari explained how she'd gotten the letter for Oro, what she'd told him she wanted over lunch that day, and her reasons for wanting it. Nayeli listened quietly throughout, and more sympathetically than Sarahi would have expected, but clearly was still not approving. "I...see," the Lioness nodded slowly after Sarahi had finished. "You know they hold self-defense classes and stuff for that, right?"

Sarahi nodded, not quite looking her in the eye. "Yeah, but like everything else, they never quite seem to know what to do with all this," she hooked her thumb over her shoulder at her tail, "And besides...," she let that one trail off, as if not quite sure how to word what she wanted to say.

Nayeli gave her a sideways look, then the same to Oro, who had been strolling along silently on her other side. "...Uh-huh," she mused, as if she'd figured something out, "So...you're going to start with some rough-housing in the yard like a couple of boys and take it from there." She gave the Rabbit a dubious frown. "Just you remember she is not a boy. So you mind your hands, or I'll--"

"Fuck off," he snapped instantly, "She's more boy than you, for sure. Hell, she's more boy than me in at least one petty way. If my hands go where she doesn't like 'em, she'd better deck me for it."

It wasn't just his language that took her aback this time. It was the way Sarahi blushed, looking at the ground ahead of them, and didn't argue. "So...he didn't tell you?" the Sha'khari asked at Nayeli's confused expression, "I'm kind of...both. Got all the junk, at least. Doctors say it'll work and everything."

"Whoa whoa whoa! TMI!" Nayeli waved, covering first her eyes and then her mouth as various things shot through her imagination. "I mean...not that you...I didn't mean..."

"You didn't notice?" Oro gave her a disbelieving scowl, "When she was pulling off that little present she threw at me?"

"I wasn't staring any more than you were," the Lioness snapped back, covering her mouth again as she realized her tone was more defensive than she'd intended. Oro just smirked. "Oh...gosh...I was not ready for that," Nayeli sighed at last, rubbing her forehead.

"No one ever is," Sarahi shrugged, patting her back, "It's the other big reason I get bullied so often, so I kind of feel like everyone knows it by now. Sorry we sprang it on you."

"If you've gotta apologize for being born," the Rabbit growled without looking at either of them, "Make it for being fucking greedy. The rest of us just get two legs, and one bit or the other."

Nayeli frowned at him. "When we get home," she told Sarahi sincerely then, "Kick his tail for me, too."

"That's my goal," the Sha'khari chuckled, still blushing a little, but smiling appreciatively. "To be honest...and I don't mind him hearing this...it's been nice having someone around who doesn't just ignore it or make fun of it. No one's ever treated me like 'normal' before...normal for a girl, maybe, but that just leads to a lot of shocked outbursts like you just had. And most of them don't take it as well as you did."

Nayeli winced a little. "Eh...sorry about freaking out on you, actually. That was pretty rude."

But the Sha'khari just shook her head. After a few more minutes of walking in awkward silence, she looked around. "So, not complaining, but...is it much farther? We passed the school a while ago, it seems."

"'Bout forty-five minutes from your place, on foot," Oro informed her.

Sarahi's eyes widened. "You walk that far every day to take me home?!"

"Well I haven't put in for a learner's permit," he rolled his eyes, "So I sure as hell don't drive it. So what?"

"I just didn't realize it was so out of your way," she answered honestly, looking at Nayeli with a new appreciation for coming down to her house that morning, too. "Thank you."

"Don't sweat it," the Lioness put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a brief side-hug...partly to reassure her, and partly as apology for her behavior earlier. "It's a short walk for a new friend," the Lioness beamed.

The girls fell into talking about track, and running, and walking, and movement in general. Oro spent most of the time quietly listening, walking either with his arms behind his head (Sarahi couldn't begin to understand how he found that comfortable) or with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his hoodie. Soon they were winding through a little neighborhood of small houses, and Oro took a sharp left down the drive of the next-to-last one.

"Wow," Sarahi said, tilting her head as she and Nayeli followed suit, "You fit three bedrooms in this? That's amazing." The footprint was small, but that wasn't uncommon for houses in this town, especially among the foothills like they were. Sarahi's family was lucky to have a lot well in the valley, where there was room for wider house-plans.

"Nope," the Lioness beside her corrected good-naturedly, "Just two. Mom and I started sharing so Oro could have my old room when he moved in."

Sarahi gave her a surprised look, a little shocked by the sacrifice these two had made for the Rabbit's sake. "That's...really generous of you. I'm impressed."

"Well, needless to say, we were both way more comfortable with that than him sharing a room with me," Nayeli winked.

"The couch would've been fine," Oro huffed, marching through the front door without waiting and simply leaving it open for them.

Nayeli shook her head at him. "That's what you do for guests, not family."

"We're not--" he started to growl, but she talked over him as they entered the house.

"Mom, we're home," the Lioness didn't so much shout as speak up, listening for any tell-tale signs that her mother was awake already. A faint shuffling could just be heard through the door off to their right, suggesting that someone was indeed stirring in the room.

Oro had already moved right on through the living-room and out the sliding door on the other side, into a yard sparse with grass and not much bigger than Sarahi imagined professional wrestling rings to be. It was clear of anything except dirt, grass, and a handful of hardy flowers growing along the fence, but the faded wood planks made for better privacy than the sturdy iron railing around her house at least. The living-room was likewise small, barely bigger than the Sha'khari's dining room, but managed not to feel cramped thanks to having just one couch and a small coffee table occupying the center. It was uncluttered and clean, and Sarahi thought it smelled faintly like new towels.

"Good morning, kids," a slightly sleepy voice greeted from the door to her right as it opened, drawing Sarahi's attention back. For half a second, her eyes met Mrs. Hope's...just long enough for the tall, busty Lioness' to widen in surprise. "Oh! A g--" The door slammed between them.

"Mom!" Nayeli groaned, shaking her head as she released the knob. Sarahi had barely had a chance to notice, but Nayeli's mother had almost come out in nothing but a thin nightgown. Unbelted and lacking any kind of underwear, at that.

"Sorry, dear," her voice drifted through the door, "I didn't know we had company."

"We have an Oro," her daughter reminded her, rolling her teenage eyes, "Whether there's company or not. I keep telling you to get some proper pajamas."

"I know, dear, but I see him so rarely it hardly matters." The door opened again. A short, fluffy bathrobe had been added over the nightgown. Whether anything else had been pulled on underneath was hard to tell, but that alone meant it was doing the job for now. Mrs. Hope was just tying the belt firmly on her hip as she stepped out, smiling a sleepy but dazzling smile at their guest. "You must be Sarahi. I'm sorry this is your first impression, but it really is wonderful to meet you!"

"Likewise, Mrs. Hope," the Sha'khari answered sincerely, politely shaking the older woman's hand, and just as politely ignoring her state of undress, "Oro tells me lots of nice things about you, and I wanted to come say thank you for letting him walk me home every day. Sorry for the intrusion."

The Lioness giggled behind her hand at the suggestion. "Well, I don't know how nice it could be coming from that one's mouth, but you don't seem very wary, so I guess he wasn't too harsh." She hid a yawn behind the same hand. "Oh! Forgive me. I work late, so this is just the start of my day. Would you like coffee, or anything?"

"No, thank you," Sarahi shook her head, "Actually...I was just wondering if I could stay for a little while? Oro and I were going to mess around in the back yard, if that's okay."

"Oh, absolutely!" the Lioness beamed, apparently delighted that the Rabbit had brought home such a nice young lady as a friend, "Make yourself at--."

"Ah-ah," Nayeli called from the kitchen around the corner, where she'd been setting up coffee to brew while her mother got dressed, "Tell her what you're really going to do."

"Oh my," her mother leaned against the door-frame, crossing her arms under her breasts with a sly grin, "Now it sounds exciting. By 'mess around', did you mean 'fool around'?"

The Sha'khari blushed, and quickly raised her hands in denial. "No! Nothing like that. We were actually going to...fight," she confessed with a slight cringe, hating how weird it sounded every time she said it, "Just play-fight, honest! I kind of have a problem with bullies, and he was going to..."

Mrs. Hope just kept on smiling and nodding sagely as she explained, as if there was nothing surprising or unusual about anything that was said. "Hmm...you should brace yourself," the Lioness suggested as the younger girl waited, slightly embarrassed now, for permission to continue, "I don't know that Oro understands the concept of 'play-fight'. At the very least, this definitely calls for some adult supervision. I'll agree to it, if you don't mind us watching. Thank you, dear," she smiled gratefully as Nayeli handed her a steaming cup, and took a deep, appreciative sip.

Not exactly the reaction she'd been expecting...but then again, Sarahi wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Somehow her imagination had always just glossed over the part where she explained any of this to an adult, and assumed she and Oro could find some time and place away from prying eyes...though that wasn't really practical. Figuring this was about as favorable a situation as she would get, the Sha'khari was quick to nod her agreement. Nayeli looked a little disappointed in her mother, but kept it to herself.

"About fucking time," Oro grumbled, stretching out his legs against the fence, "I was starting to think you got cold feet."

"You wish," the Sha'khari chuckled, trying to sound confident as she trotted out into the yard, "I just wanted to be sure your...Mrs. Hope was alright with this. I don't want her thinking we don't like each other the minute I walk through your door."

"Oro, dear," the Lioness in question waved as she and Nayeli followed Sarahi out and made themselves cozy in a couple of patio chairs by the door, "A girl's face is precious. You know that, right?"

The Rabbit rolled his eyes, grumbling something unintelligible as he turned his focus on Sarahi, stepping weirdly to flex his toes as she approached him. "Priorities are all fucked here," she caught him muttering, "Face is exactly what you should be going for..."

She slowed her trot to a careful walk and turned to circle to a position with a little more room at her back, if she had to retreat. "You sure that's what you want?" she quirked a brow, raising her fists like she'd seen boxers do on television. Oro responded with a disdainful sneer, backing closer to the fence and giving himself less room to maneuver, with his hands low and wide.

"I don't know what you're expecting here," he told her plainly, "I don't do martial arts, and I don't have concrete strategies for you. Only thing I can tell you for sure is how you should be thinking about your fight."

"That sounds useful," she nodded, "Let's start there. What do I need to be thinking about?"

"Your dick," he answered bluntly. She was so shocked that she dropped her guard. Worst move possible, obviously, and Oro was quick to make her regret it, hopping forward with a quick smack to her cheek. Sarahi flinched, and Oro scoffed...but seemed satisfied that she didn't complain, or shy further away. "Any guy that takes a swing at you is a dick to girls," he growled, taking a very obvious swing that she was pretty sure he was deliberately inviting her to block. Sarahi pushed her front feet back in a quick hop, letting her hind legs worry about the balance, and didn't take the bait. "Any guy that takes your purse is a dick in general," the Rabbit continued, kicking at her front legs this time as he stepped closer, forcing her to make another little hop, and popping her lifted stomach with his knuckles when she did.

The Sha'khari grunted, but held her ground, not much hurt by such a soft blow. She did glance over at the pair of Lionesses sitting by the door, though, to see how Mrs. Hope was reacting to his repeated use of that particular word. Nayeli was visibly cringing, and holding her ears closed, but her mother was just watching with an amused smile as she sipped her coffee. "She really just lets you talk like that, huh?" Sarahi growled, hopping back and then lunging forward into a swing of her own, trying to take the offensive. Oro batted it aside with the back of his arm.

"Oh no," Mrs. Hope spoke up, apparently having heard the remark, "I think he knows what's coming to him later. He's just decided it's worth it, I'm sure," she smiled, resting her chin on her hand as she watched.

"Not your problem!" Oro growled at the Sha'khari, kicking her front leg out from under her as she tried to dash by. She still had three others, so it was easy not to fall, but the loss did cause a momentary stumble, during which he smacked her rump. That made her angry, just a little, as it was a favorite target of her bullies through the years. Oro was still lecturing, "Any guy that tries to take you," he emphasized with a brief, suggestive chop between his own legs, "Is nothing except his dick, and that's all he's thinking with, too."

"Would you stop talking about--" Sarahi saw him take the first step, and then suddenly they were practically touching noses, like he'd just skipped the part about passing through the few feet of space between them. "--dicks?" she squeaked in surprise, eyes wide.

He scowled at her, apparently disappointed she was more concerned about finishing her sentence than busting his lip. "What you have to remember," he poked an accusing finger right between her eyes, pushing her back a step, "Is that yours is bigger. Always tell yourself that. And prove it."

It occurred to her that he might be speaking metaphorically, in his own very crass way. She needed to be the bigger person...the more confident person...going into the fight. Maybe. But no sooner had that thought crossed her mind than she remembered who was doing the talking, and decided that, no, he was literally referring to her anatomy. "Shut up!" She lunged at him, leading with her front paws spaced to pin him down, and her arms ready to take a swing if he managed to step aside.

Quick as his species was famous for, Oro went under her left front paw instead, bringing his heel up behind him as she fell onto it. "Everyone goes for the ribs," he grunted as she hopped away, rubbing her side, "They fucking evolved to take a hit. Don't waste your time."

He rushed her again. This time she didn't back off, and she didn't flinch. She did sock him right in the cheek. For a moment, she was proud of the first blow she'd ever landed on him...or on anyone, for that matter...right up until he grabbed her hair, right at the back of her head. "Same for the cheeks," he growled, "The bruise'll look ugly, but it's shit for winning. You want the rest of the face: the eyes, the nose, the chin, the bridge of the muzzle. They hurt. They disori--AGH, FUCK!" he yelled as she seized his ear in a tight grip, pulling it in much the same way as he was pulling her hair.

"Ears, too, for some folks," she managed a defiant grin.

Mrs. Hope was trying not to choke on her coffee, laughing at the comical dead-lock that looked more fitting for an elementary-school playground. "Okay, ref is making a call!" she told them in a loud voice, "Both of you back to your corners on three! One, two, three!"

They both let go at the same time, but kept their eyes locked fiercely, and took two steps back each. "Oookaay," Oro growled through grit teeth, low and soft as if to himself, "No more kid gloves." His ear was twitching, flapping almost all the way down to his shoulder as it tried to shake the sting out...but the rest of him was stone still, just waiting for her next move.

Sarahi thought he might have forgotten why they were here. She almost had, too. Mrs. Hope had been right: he didn't understand 'play-fight'...but that was okay. She hadn't come here to play. This time, when she charged in, she had a more detailed plan: grab his shirt (and try not to take the hit he'd give her in return, no doubt), drag him around between her and the fence, then pin him against it with the full weight of her back half. She'd like to see him move that.

The Sha'khari didn't get her chance. She'd barely taken a step when he did that thing again, and she couldn't follow him after the first step. For a second he disappeared entirely...and then she felt the pull on her side. He'd grabbed the hem of her skirt. She wheeled toward him, and the denim was nearly dragged completely off her back. He planted one foot on it, digging his toes in to pin her in place while his hands were free to defend and counter-attack. Oro wasn't pulling his punches now, although he was still avoiding her face. She twisted to grab his arm, and he punched her in her bestial side. She punched him in the eye with her free hand. He punched her ribs again. He wasn't letting her go, and he wasn't even trying to defend...but for every hit she drove home, he answered in kind, and her side felt like it would turn into a blanket of bruises if she kept it up.

"Good," he growled as her front paw took a swipe at his knee, forcing him to move his foot. Quick as a snake, he twisted his hips to plant the other one on her skirt, before she could get away. "Go for those joints. They're nice and soft. Fold 'em the wrong way if you don't want the dick to chase you ever again."

There he went again, and it was pissing her off now. She hefted her whole body sideways, to yank the trapped cloth out from under him like a magic trick with a table-cloth. He let her take it, but snatched the hem again as it came off the ground, and this time hopped back and a little to the side, pulling it like a blanket over her head.

"Oro!" Nayeli barked from the sidelines as he crouched down with the end of the cloth wadded up in his hands, exposing everything behind her leonine shoulders and trapping her upper half in a denim tube.

"Oh my," giggled her mother, "How bold!" She was referring, no doubt, to the fact that Sarahi had not replaced her panties when she changed for this little trip, opting to go commando. Nayeli couldn't begin to imagine why, knowing what they were going to do. Maybe she had trusted Oro not to play dirty. Maybe she just wanted the extra freedom of movement. Whatever the case, Nayeli could practically feel the heat radiating from Sarahi's cheeks all the way across the yard.

"Grrr!" came a furious growl from under the skirt...and hidden beneath it, the subtle sound of a zipper opening. With a lurch, the skirt whipped up her body and over her head, nearly bringing her shirt with it (her tucked arms managed to save that much). Sarahi's entire body followed close behind it, all four paws in the air in a full pounce with Oro's face as the landing zone. "You tail-hole!" she roared.

He lunged right back at her, catching her bestial ribs on his shoulder and wrapping his arms as far around as he could. Her front paws hooked under the backs of his arms as his legs strained against her weight. He couldn't push her back...but he didn't buckle, either. She couldn't lift him, but she didn't fall. They were caught in another stalemate...until he tucked his knees to drop down again, then stood straight back up under her as her weight shifted forward. Pulling instead of pushing this time, the comparatively small Rabbit hoisted all four of her paws into the air, falling onto his back in a slow-motion arc.

"Whoawhoawoa--OOOWW!" Sarahi screamed as her upper half came down flat on her belly and the much heavier animal half came scrunching down almost straight onto that. Mrs. Hope was already halfway to her when she managed to twist her hips, off-centering the second torso and flopping hard on her side in the dirt.

"Check him!" the older Lioness pointed to Oro, directing Nayeli to her foster-brother as she crouched next to the Sha'khari. "Sarahi, sweetie, tell me where it hurts," Mrs. Hope urged her softly, gently wiping the dirt from the girl's face and relieved to find no blood. Behind her, Nayeli gave a soft, surprised gasp, but whatever she saw was her own concern at the moment.

Sarahi carefully rolled to the side, flattening out the entirety of both of her backs on the ground, not even concerned by the way the position exposed the underside of her back half to the sky. "Erg...my back a little," she sighed, "My pride a lot."

"Heh...I got a cure for that," Oro promised, staggering over beside her and dropping his tail down in the dirt. He was smiling. Not the smug smirk he usually showed. Not the daring grin or condescending sneer. A genuine, white-toothed smile. Sarahi hadn't thought him capable of it. "I don't know if you can count it as a win, but you gave the dick something to remember you by," he chuckled, lifting one of his arms. Through the shredded sleeve underneath, she could clearly see four wide gashes marring his white fur, soaking the side of his hoodie in blood. "Even I don't want to keep going after that," he admitted, lowering his arm tenderly and continuing to smile. "How does it feel, having your first fight?"

Sarahi exhaled slowly, forcing her back to relax where it wanted to tense up. Nayeli was already returning from the house with a first-aid kit, while Mrs. Hope held the hand Sarahi wasn't using to shield her eyes from the sun. "You are a dick," the Sha'khari sighed at last.

Oro chuckled, ignoring Nayeli for another minute when she asked him to take his top off, "Yeah, and...?"

"...Good," the girl on the ground couldn't suppress a grin, "It felt good...to fight back."

"Okay, you two," Mrs. Hope sighed, although she was smiling again, "You can talk more inside, after we get you cleaned up. Toss that jacket and the shirt," she told Oro, "They're a total loss. Let Nayeli see how bad the rest is. Sarahi, can you stand up?"

"Yes, ma'am," she nodded, rolling onto her side and then her paws. She straightened out her shirt as she stood, and collected her skirt from the ground as she walked back into the house with Mrs. Hope at her side...but she didn't put it back on.

Oro was back to his usual, grumpy self within minutes, spitting curses every other second or so as Nayeli tried to treat and wrap his wounded arms. "Fucking disinfectant's worse--gah!--than the cuts!" he hissed through clenched teeth as his foster-sister did her best to be gentle while cleaning out the gashes in the back of his arms.

"And you're lucky it is," she reminded him, putting the soaked cotton aside and unwinding a roll of gauze between her hands, "Now keep holding still."

Sarahi, stretched out across their whole couch with several small bags of ice on her side and back, felt just a little bit guilty. The eye she'd managed to sock had already swelled into a squint. He was lucky they weren't on their way to the hospital right now...but then, she supposed they both were lucky in that regard.

"How does that feel, sweetie?" Mrs. Hope asked, changing out one of the bags of ice lining the Sha'khari's side and the spot where her upper torso transitioned into her bestial shoulders.

"Much better, thank you," Sarahi answered honestly, hugging one of the decorative pillows as she lay on her tummy. All in all, she felt achy, but was pretty sure she hadn't pulled or popped anything serious. She'd just be a little sore tomorrow. Oro, by her estimate, had definitely come out of it the worse of the two.

"That's good," the Lioness nodded, leaning over the back of the couch to rub her shoulders, more as a reassuring touch than for any health benefit. "So...still friends?"

The Sha'khari nodded quickly. "Oh yeah. I just want to be mad at him for going easy on me....but honestly, I probably couldn't have taken much more than that, so I'll forgive him in a minute."

"And what the fuck makes you think I was going easy?" the Rabbit grimaced, converting the mild burning sensation in his arms into raw vitriol and spewing it all over the place.

Nayeli and Sarahi both frowned at him, one because she knew he had, and the other because she thought he hadn't. "You weren't taking your own advice," she remarked, "You never went for my face except that one time you tapped my cheek. It's not even red. You told me not to waste time on the ribs, then attacked basically nothing but my ribs. My bigger, stronger ribs, no less. Aside from that suplex, the only thing you really attacked was my modesty," she concluded, swatting her tail against her bare back legs. Huddled up like she was, it was impossible to see anything inappropriate at the moment anyway.

"Eh, modesty's overrated," he hissed, as Nayeli applied a little pressure to the tape she was using to hold the bandage in place.

Sarahi winced at the sound, genuinely regretful even though she'd only bared her claws in her desperation to catch herself. "I'm--"

"So help me," he cut her off with a cold look and a hot tone, "If you apologize for using those knives like you fucking should, I will kick you in the face! It was a good move, and a good fight. Remember it next time anyone tries to grab your tail."

She tried to frown. She really did. But she just couldn't help but smile, so she hid it in the pillow, hoping at least her eyes could look pissed. He was so stubborn, so proud, and so outwardly misanthropic...yet he just couldn't seem to hide that he cared about some people, at least. And she seemed to be included in that. Given her own mixed emotions about slashing him, he was probably berating himself inside for some of what he'd resorted to, too...which was only pissing him off more. "I will," she promised at last.

Mrs. Hope smiled, giving one of her shoulders a gentle pat. "Looks like you two have gotten quite close. I'm glad," she remarked absently, turning the girl's cheeks pink even though she couldn't see it. "Now, you've had your tussle, so let's try some snacks and television for the rest of the visit. I'll drive you home before I go to work, Sarahi, so you take it easy. Heh...I'll feel better explaining what happened myself than letting Oro try, anyway."

The Sha'khari's ears flattened, and she turned a pleading look to the older Lioness. "Uh...do we have to tell them? I'm sure I'll be fine by the time I leave...and I really don't want them mad at him...again." Oro rolled his eyes at the extra emphasis, as if to say he'd never cared about whether they liked him or not.

But Mrs. Hope shook her head with a sympathetic smile. "How will they ever discover what sturdy stuff you're made of if they never hear about how you face adversity?" she asked, making Sarahi quirk a surprised brow...and Nayeli, for that matter. "Besides, I can hardly scold him about acting more responsible if I shirk my responsibilities. And that shouldn't be put on you, either. I'll talk to them. You just relax, and don't worry about it."

She went into the kitchen to put together some snacks and sodas, and Nayeli put away the first-aid kit and sat herself in the floor with her back against the couch around Sarahi's tummy. "Your mom...is super nice," the Sha'khari told her sincerely. "Kind of weirdly casual, but nice."

"You're putting it mildly," the young Lioness nodded, but smiled at her gratefully. "I kind of want to laugh when she talks about being responsible, given how she tends to be...but she's always been there when it counted, so I really can't."

Sarahi giggled. "I can imagine. Mm...I can see why you like it here so much," she remarked, turning her attention to Oro along with the remark.

He was huddled up in the corner with his chin on his knees and his bandaged arms wrapped around them. No one had turned on the television yet, but his eyes were fixed on it in an unblinking stare, wide and small like a child watching a horror show he hadn't quite been ready for. There was a storm gathering in them, gathering around his entire person, that seemed to reach out and devour her sense of comfort the moment she laid eyes on him.

Following her suddenly anxious look, Nayeli felt it, too. "Oro," she called to him, firmly but gently, and his eyes snapped to hers like colliding magnets, "...It's okay." He blinked. And exhaled. Sarahi hadn't even realized he hadn't been breathing. "You're not in trouble," Nayeli continued, keeping a calm, even tone...even if that was close to a lie, and at least should have had the word "much" appended to it. "We'll still be here in the morning. Including you."

His pupils expanded. The lids of his eyes lowered to a more natural level...then down to the level of bored, or tired. "Who the fuck asked?" he grumbled softly, shuffling his arms into a more comfortable position for sitting.

"Oh, I am so looking forward to how spotless the bathroom is going to be when I get home from work tomorrow!" Mrs. Hope beamed, walking back into the room with a small tray of sliced fruits and veggies and a handful of bottled sodas.

Oro hid his face behind his knees with a huff, and Sarahi guessed that was the gist of his punishment for having a potty-mouth. Nayeli gratefully took a can and a slice of apple. Sarahi was content to accept a cold drink, having worked up quite a thirst outside. Mrs. Hope joined them, reclining on the floor next to her daughter while they picked out a light-hearted, family-friendly movie to watch.

It wasn't quite finished before Mrs. Hope had to excuse herself to go get changed and ready for work. Oro hadn't spoken since his punishment had been announced, and now appeared to be quite asleep in the corner. Sarahi carefully nudged Nayeli's shoulder to draw her attention, pointed to the sleeping Rabbit, then mouthed the words, "What was that?!"

The young Lioness shook her head with a finger over her lips, then fished her phone from her pocket and typed out a quick text, where Sarahi could see it over her shoulder: Sharp ears, false sleeper. Talk about it later.

That worried the Sha'khari a little, but she nodded silently and they finished watching the movie quietly. "Alright, Sarahi. It's about time we get moving, I'm afraid," Mrs. Hope emerged from the bedroom as the ending credits rolled. She was dressed in a crisp white button-down top over snug black slacks, with a subtly stripped tie and vest to match. Her long hair had been twisted up into a neatly spiraled bun between and a little behind her ears.

"Wow, Mrs. Hope!" the Sha'khari blinked, "You..." she cut herself off, realizing what she intended as a compliment might actually come across a little back-handed to her previous appearance. Maybe Oro really was rubbing off on her.

She hesitated too long before filling in the blank, though, so the older Lioness did it for her. "Clean up well? Thank you. You should have seen me ten years ago," she winked, gathering up her purse and fishing her keys out of it.

"Thanks for coming to visit," Nayeli smiled, taking Sarahi's hand, "Really. I look forward to seeing you in the cafeteria on Monday."

"Me, too!" the Sha'khari smiled back, shrugging off the ice packs to give her new friend a hug. She considered one for Oro, but he still seemed fast asleep, so she settled for a quiet, "Bye, Oro. Thank you."

His scoff made her jump. Nayeli had been right... "Whatever," the grumpy Rabbit huffed, lifting his head just enough to look at her, "See you Monday. No apologies."

Mrs. Hope giggled as the Sha'khari padded over to her, intending to follow her out the door. "Not to embarrass you, but I think you're forgetting something," the Lioness prompted, pointing to her posterior.

Sarahi blinked for a second...then went red in the cheeks as she quickly turned back to fetch her skirt from the back of the couch. "Oh, thank you!" she nodded as she pulled the denim blanket over her back and got the hem aligned around her waist, "Um...any chance we could at least leave that part out of what you tell my parents? I was really comfortable here, but I don't think they're going to feel the same way," she admitted, snugging up the zipper and turning down the seam that hid it.

"Oh, I imagine not," Mrs. Hope agreed as she closed the front door behind them, "Not many grown-ups are as immodest as me, especially not parents. Hmhm...well, I'm more concerned about explaining your injuries. As long as lying around in just a shirt for an hour didn't hurt you, I don't see why I need to bring it up."

"Oh, thank you," the Sha'khari sighed in genuine relief, being more afraid of trying to explain that than the ache in her back...

Oro got to the cafeteria ahead of her on Monday, which was unusual. She found him skulking in the corner behind the door, the hood of a new jacket pulled low over his ears. It was still black, but a better fit than his old one, and sporting stylish white stripes down the backs of the sleeves and around the rim of the hood. Sarahi smiled, tugging his sleeve to coax him into the food line, but waited until they were seated to try actually talking.

"Soooo," she started with an amused grin, "Is the bathroom spotless?"

"You could eat off the fucking toilet seat," he growled, "And drink from the bowl. Mrs. Hope is merciless." He left out that it took him almost until she got home Sunday morning to finish bringing the porcelain and tile up to his foster-mother's standards. She was about the opposite of a neat-freak, but when she decided to clean (or assigned the chore as punishment), she did not relent until every surface looked as new as the day it was molded.

Sarahi laughed. "Ooo, I will remember that the next time you slip-up at my house! Mom and Dad will be thrilled!"

"Fuck you!" he snapped with half a cookie in his mouth.

"Well, that's hardly the note I'd hoped to come in on." Nayeli sat her tray on Sarahi's other side, sliding onto the stool opposite Oro with a big smile. "Hi."

"Hi," Sarahi answered, more quietly, "Um...this might sound bad, but...I was a little worried you'd change your mind before you got here. I'm really glad to see you."

"Mm, I wish it was always this easy to make someone's day," the Lioness winked before swirling up a forkful of spaghetti and proving once and for all that Oro's manners did not stem from a lack of good examples. "So...how did it go with your parents?" she asked after the main entrée had disappeared.

"Oh my gosh, I owe your mom a fruit basket, or something!" the Sha'khari answered excitedly, "I couldn't really hear most of what she said...I kind of ran up the stairs as soon as I got through the door and pretended to be in my room," she cringed, a little ashamed at her cowardice. "I got a lot of it second-hand when Mom talked to me afterward...but it was less a scolding and more a wellness-check. Your mom definitely told her we had a fight, though I guess she didn't elaborate on why, and that we'd both gotten our fair share of roughed up."

"Ha!" Oro mock-laughed, "The day you can give me 'my fair share', I'm taking home a trophy to remember you by."

Ignoring him (and trying not to let the implication frighten her), Sarahi continued, "Mom...actually told me she was proud that I stood my ground. Especially against him," she nodded at the Rabbit to her right, "You know, the old 'it takes real strength to stand up to your friends' trope."

"Oh, I'd say she's not wrong, especially where this jerk's concerned," Nayeli stabbed an accusing fork in Oro's direction, but smiled.

Sarahi snickered, and Oro ignored them both in favor of his third dessert. "Maybe," the Sha'khari agreed, "But I think...I don't think they'll be so worried about me now. Both around Oro and around school."

"That's all well and good for them," the Rabbit sighed, tossing down an empty carton of chocolate milk, "But I won't let up until you actually put someone in their place. A little planned fight between classmates is one thing..."

"Speaking of putting things in their place," Nayeli interrupted before he could break the moment (and Sarahi's confidence), "Where did you put all that?" she waved the end of her fork at his empty tray, "And where did you get it? Do you only plan to eat three days this week?"

"Oh, I covered it for him," Sarahi smiled, plucking her own lunch-card from her pocket with a friendly wave, "I've been buying his lunches since he started walking me home, as thanks."

"You what?" Nayeli looked stunned, "I mean, that's nice and all, but..." A suspicion was clearly growing in her eyes, looking from the self-satisfied Rabbit to the friendly Sha'khari and back. "What did he tell you, exactly?"

"I said--" Oro started to grumble, but Nayeli cut him off with a hand over his mouth.

"Uh-uh. Sarahi, what did he say?" the Lioness insisted, and her new friend suddenly wondered if she'd been taken for more of a ride than she realized.

Thinking back to that first day, she tried hard to remember exactly how the conversation had gone, so as not to do him any disservices at least. "First, just let me say that I really don't mind, even if it was never necessary. We've got the money to spare, and I already explained to Mom and Dad what I was using the extra charges for. But...I'm pretty sure he just said your mom is single and trying to make ends meet with two kids. Ah, 'not rolling in cash' was how he put it...so I figured..."

Nayeli sighed, taking her hand away from Oro's mouth and covering her face instead. "Technically honest, but loaded with implications, and you know it," she complained to her foster-brother.

"Fuck off," he growled, "I didn't know she was going to offer me lunch afterward. I didn't even ask. I'm just smart enough not to turn down a good thing."

"So...your mom actually makes pretty good money?" Sarahi ventured, knowing only that she was a bartender without any real idea how much a job like that brought it. Their house was small, but comfortable, and they clearly hadn't been short on food.

"Well...I don't know about 'good'," Nayeli admitted, "But better than most in her position. Gramps and Gran have the real money, though, and give Mom a stipend every month. So no, we're not 'rolling in cash', but we're not poor. Comfortably middle-class. So my next question is...," she gave a narrow look to Oro, "What did you plan to do about all the weekly deposits piling up on that lunch card of yours? They're only good in the cafeteria and vending machines here, you know."

Oro made a dismissive gesture. "There's an option to get the balance returned as a check at the end of the school-year, if you don't want to roll it over to the following year and it's above, like, a hundred dollars. I just made sure it was checked. Mrs. Hope's going to get a nice little summer bonus, that's all."

Nayeli did not look impressed. Probably because the only way he could "make sure it was checked" was to log into the parental account...meaning he had gotten Mrs. Hope's login somehow, and had access to quite a few other options he shouldn't. "I'm telling Mom to change her password when we get home."

"Knock yourself out," the Rabbit sighed.

Sarahi looked back and forth between her two friends, feeling like this wasn't quite how she envisioned their first lunch turning out. "Is it really so bad for him to return the money? I mean...I do trust that's what he intends to do," Sarahi pointed out. She might have been more suspicious when this all began, before she'd known him like she did now. But knowing him at least as well as she did now, she felt Nayeli should know him even better, and that he wasn't...well, no, he was a thief, but not that kind of thief.

Nayeli sighed, seeming to agree, at least in part. "No. I get wanting to be independent...I really get that, and Mom appreciates it, too...but it's how you decide to go about it that keeps getting you in trouble," she pointed out, clearly still talking to Oro more than Sarahi, "It's okay to lean on us a little, at least. Even well established adults do that. Please, for Mom's sake, no more stealing. Or conning. We can absolutely afford necessities, and even some niceties, okay?"

He looked like he'd become so bored with the lecture that he'd fallen asleep. "Fine," the Rabbit grunted anyway, ear twitching in annoyance, "I haven't taken anything from anyone in weeks anyway. Only busted up a couple of punks who thought I was turning coward. I'm warm and well-fed these days, so I won't make trouble." The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and sparing him from any further questions or lectures.

"I'm a little disappointed," Sarahi confessed to him as they walked that afternoon, on their way to her home and his mentoring, "Your...Nayeli's really nice. I can't believe she's so suspicious of you."

Oro quirked a brow at her. "No? Care to tell me what I've done to make you trust me so much? Let's see...I helped you more because I hate a bully and love a fight than out of any concern for you, I started walking you home thinking there were sure to be at least one or two more jerks willing to entertain me some afternoon, I lead you on about my needs and let you buy the most expensive lunches I could put together...any other girl would have spat in my face by now, and even I'd call it fair. Nayeli is nice...but she's not stupid."

"You, on the other hand," Sarahi huffed, as he'd utterly ruined both her attempt and desire to be sympathetic, "Are a jerk and an idiot, and make it really hard for a girl to be sweet."

He punched her in the shoulder for mouthing off. She punched him in the kidney. They locked eyes in challenge...until the sneers cracked into grins, and the growls into giggles. Things were never going to be quite the same, Sarahi suspected...and she looked forward to that.

Sarahi stopped avoiding him during his mentoring with her dad (though she was careful not to distract from whatever task they were working on). They started doing homework together in the living-room when the mentoring was done for the day...always under the watchful eye of her parents, of course...or the babysitters they would call if he was over on the one Friday each month that they went out on the town to "keep the flame alive". It was still a rare day for him to sound happy, much less look it, but Sarahi couldn't imagine he'd be spending the extra time if he didn't enjoy her company, at least a little.

A little less pleasantly, he also got increasingly into the habit of being rough with her. It started subtly...a foot in front of her paws as she passed, or a rough bump against her shoulder or elbow. Her father would have had words with him, probably, except that she answered in kind. She stepped on his foot when she saw the trip coming. She met him shoulder-against-shoulder, and she was bigger, so she usually won that exchange. Her lower shoulders could knock his hips around almost without a thought, so he learned to be wary of them. It escalated from there, slowly over weeks, becoming fist-bumps in the school hall that turned into shoulder-punches if one of them missed the set-up, or attempts to catch each other's tails or ears. (Oh, he got so pissed whenever she pinched his ears...they were apparently the most sensitive, vulnerable part of him.) And every once in a while she would come over to the Hope house on a Saturday and they'd have another full-on go at each other. Those tended to be a lot more one-sided than their "flirty violence", as something deeply engrained in Oro demanded that he still "win", even if it was supposed to be practice.

He kept coming over even during the summer break, and on days he didn't have mentoring, just to play video games and roll his eyes at her boy-band karaoke. That was when she finally became genuinely convinced that they were friends. And Nayeli wasn't far behind. The pair had taken to a regular routine of jogging on Saturdays while Oro was busy mentoring with Mr. Swordbright. They talked about music, and boys, and girls that were worse than boys sometimes, and what kind of trouble Oro was in now...

School started back. Autumn rolled in. This had become so much the norm in Sarahi's life that she had almost forgotten that first year, and most of the years before, and absolutely looked forward to schooldays now where once she dreaded them.

"Hey!" she greeted him as soon as he came out the front entrance one mildly chilly afternoon, ready to begin their walk to her street, "Look at this." She slid an oversized sheet of paper out of an oversized, spiral-bound book in her arms, handing it to him. On the page was a design in colored pencil, of a deep black jacket with a white emblem on the back, vaguely resembling a stylized rabbit head...if you replaced the ears with flames and the teeth with fangs. Sarahi giggled as he stared at it. "Maybe a bit over the top, but I'm trying to think of a few designs. Mr. Petalpaw says my line-control is really good."

Oro quirked a brow at the drawing, tempted to be flattered that she was apparently considering a design for a jacket he might like. Then his eye caught something down near the bottom of the page. His amused smirk turned flat and distant. "The fuck is this?" the Rabbit scoffed, confusing Sarahi as she glanced at the page to see what on earth he might have found distasteful. Before she could do more than lay eyes on the design again...he tore the whole page in two. The Sha'khari thought her heart would stop.

"If it's your dream to be a fashion designer," he sneered, snatching the book from her arms while she was still stunned with shock, "You might want to find a...'fallback career'," he suggested, flipping open the book and tearing out the first page without even looking at it. "Let's see what else you've got here..."

"S-stop it," Sarahi whispered, more a plea than a demand, "Oro, what's got into--?!"

"Junk," he groaned, ripping out the next page and crumpling it up all in the same motion, tossing it over his shoulder, "More junk...trash...ugh, what even..." Each callous remark was accompanied by the hiss of tearing paper, and another page (or two halves of it) fluttered onto the sidewalk, to be swept away by the breeze.

Sarahi recovered herself enough to try to take the book back, tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to make sense of this sudden betrayal, a living flashback to days she had thought well over. He danced and circled with her, keeping the book just out of reach, shredding another page with each failed grab. "Stop it! Oro!"

He paused with the next page pinched in his fingers, and she managed to grab the spine of the book. This one wasn't a design. It was a still-life of him, sitting at the lunch table where they always were, looking annoyed with her while he stuffed an entire sandwich in his mouth. He remembered the afternoon she'd asked him to hold still, so she could get the gesture sketch of the moment.

She had the spine. She didn't dare pull. Her eyes begged him not to, either. With a cold stare, Oro tore the picture neatly in two. Sarahi wrenched what was left of her sketches back from his hand, now openly sobbing, and turned her back to flee with the book clutched in her arms.

He caught the back of her skirt before she got two strides away. "Hey, I'm not--!"

"STOP!" she roared, wheeling on him on just her hind legs. Her front paw twisted over as she came around, clapping the side of his head so hard it spun him around and dropped him on the pavement. Her other paw landed on his chest, pinning him down as her weight settled. "KNOCK IT OFF!" she roared again, this time directly into his face, "What the fuck's got into...you...?!"

Sarahi dropped the book, covering her mouth with her hands. Four long gashes laced the side of his face. Although the central pad had been flat against his cheek, her paw was wide enough that one of her claws had raked dangerously close to his eye. His whole face was red with blood, and his teeth were grit against the pain, unable to loosen enough to make any kind of retort. He was hurt. Badly. She had hurt him.

From somewhere nearby, someone whistled, impressed. A couple more clapped, adding to her shame with the realization that there were witnesses.

Mind reeling, Sarahi fled the scene, blind with panic and tears. She didn't stop running until she was in her room, startling her parents as she tore through the house and slammed all the doors behind her. She didn't even bother aiming for the bed, just threw herself in the floor and cried. Her parents knocked, and asked what had happened. She told them to leave her alone...a sure sign of heartache, by their estimate, and they decided to give her a few minutes to settle down before pressing harder for an explanation.

She had just about finished, at least enough for her breathing to get back under control, when the house phone rang. One of her parents answered...and then, a minute later, knocked on her door again. "Sarahi, Mrs. Hope is on the phone," her mother said softly through the door, "She's at the hospital with Oro...I think you should take this."

A fresh wave of shock and horror ripped through her mind. It took her a minute to work up the nerve to crack open her door, just enough to stick her hand out and accept the receiver. She closed it again quickly, and crawled up onto her bed and took a deep, tearful breath before putting the receiver to her ear, telling herself she fully deserved whatever Mrs. Hope was about to say to her. "H-hello," she spoke, letting Oro's foster-mother know she was listening now.

"Hello, Sarahi," Mrs. Hope's calm, pleasant voice came through the receiver, sounding sleepy as ever but no less happy than usual, "I know you probably don't want to hear it, but Oro has something he needs to say to you. Would you consider it a personal favor to me to just listen to it?"

Gritting her teeth, Sarahi nodded...but of course Mrs. Hope couldn't see that over the line, so she carefully answered, "Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you," the older Lioness said, followed by the shuffling sound of the phone being passed off to someone else.

"Good work today," Oro's typically grumpy voice came through, not even bothering with a greeting. She resisted the urge to snap at him. She's agreed to listen, and figured he had a little more to say than just that, but she was under no obligation to speak to him. He seemed to understand that as well. "I mean it," the Rabbit continued, "You stood up today, and put down the...jerk," she could hear him self-censoring in real-time again, "That was picking on you. Hard. And half the school saw what happened. The other half will know it before classes start tomorrow. No one is ever going to fuck with you--Ow! Hey! Injured here!" Sarahi couldn't suppress a chuckle as either Nayeli or Mrs. Hope reprimanded him for his language in public. "Mess with you ever again," the Rabbit finished, and added sincerely, "You did good."

He cleared his throat, and she sniffled a little, settling in more comfortably on her bed to hear the rest. "So I wanted to call," the Rabbit continued, a little more hesitantly now, "To tell you that...and to tell you I'm okay, since I know you're nice like that and probably worried even though it was totally the right move. And to apologize. Really. I wish it had been something else, but I saw the opportunity and...took it by the throat. I'll buy you a new book, obviously...but I can't replace the work that was in it. And it was pretty amazing, actually. Don't believe the shit I was vomiting. I. Am. Sorry," he said each word slowly and clearly, so there could be no mistake in her hearing it, and no one could ever accuse him of never letting the words pass his lips. An unfamiliar voice said something muted in the background. "Hey, they're about to sew me up, so I gotta go. I'll...see you around."

He was bracing to lose her...to lose his only friend. He'd done it to put a stop to her bullies once and for all. He'd erased even their shadow. If anyone did try to pick on her from now on...she could take care of it herself. She knew that now. She'd proven it. And he'd done it knowing she might not forgive him, and he might not get to see her again.

"Oro," Sarahi caught him before the receiver got away from his ear, "...See you at lunch."

"...Yeah. See you at lunch." The relief was subtle, but she could hear it. Then the receiver clicked and went silent.

Sarahi laid down with the phone still in her hand, taking slow, deep breaths. She felt shot through and tired. And she was still mad at him. Good intentions weren't going to erase that in one night. But she wanted to see him again, to tell him off to his face, and make him eat the lunch she bought for him. "That tail-hole...," she muttered, curling up and pulling the blanket over her back half, "...I'm glad he's okay."