Hybrid

~Chaper 3~ "To protect the ones I love..."

Himiko wakes up the next morning, she feels a bit off but isn't quite sure why. She thinks back to yesterday and her encounter with that boy,
"Did that... actually happen yesterday? I don't even remember that happening at all... I just hope something like that won't happen again today."
She looks at the clock next to her bed, it's 5 o'clock. She decides to lay back down a little longer. She holds her cat plushie close to her and wraps herself back into the blankets. Her bed feels so warm and comfortable, the tension in her body eases. She starts to feel more relaxed before she falls back asleep.
A few minutes later, both of her parents wake up. After getting dressed they make their way to the kitchen, her dad starting up the coffee maker and her mom preparing breakfast.
Her dad starts thinking about something,
"How long has she been with us now, it's been 3 weeks... right?"
"It's been a whole month I think."
"You know, it's only now I look back and realize how weird everything was that day. Jade brings home a wolf girl from the forest, and the next day we end up adopting her."
Her mom pauses,
"Yeah, you're right... I guess I haven't thought about it that much either. I don't regret adopting her at all, I love her so much, but it feels weird to think how quickly I made my decision after getting her results."
"We were very desperate at the time..."
"Yeah..."
"And ever since we adopted Himiko, Jade's been more talkative than she's ever been in a long time. It's as if she brought back the life in her..." tears begin to run down both of their cheeks.
"I wonder what even happened that made her so quiet and distant from us. Were we not there for her enough...? Did we not love her enough...?"
"She's been bullied at school before, maybe she's still being bullied and just doesn't tell us... I don't know, but I'm happy she's doing a lot better now. And I'm happy that we're able to have our little game nights again. It feels like it's been forever since we last done something together like that."
"She's really changed a lot for us. I'm happy to have her with us but, I still feel kinda guilty..."
"Ash... it's been a month and no one's come looking for her. And there weren't even any missing persons reports or anything either. Not like she was even documented to begin with... Think about it, something caused Himiko to end up here all by herself. Maybe she ran away, or she was just abandoned... I don't know..."
"Maybe... It's kind of rude of me but I've been wondering, what is she exactly?"
"She's just a girl, but with wolf ears and a bushy tail" he shrugs.
"But why? I've never seen or heard of anyone else like that before."
"I don't know, it seemed like the doctors had no idea either. She was probably just born that way as far as we know."
"You're probably right... I just hope the other kids in school don't bully her for being different."
"I hope so too, but it looked like she had a good day yesterday, and so did Jade."
"That's good, I suppose having them go to school together helps."

Himiko wakes up again, feeling a bit more refreshed. She smells toast being made from outside her room, she puts on her pants and shirt and goes to Jade's room to wake her up.
"Hey Jade, it's morning sleepyhead."
She opens her eyes and stretches,
"Well good morning Himiko..." Jade says to her smiling.
"Huh, that was easy. You must have gotten some really good sleep last night" Himiko giggles.
"You know, I think you're right actually."
"Really?" Himiko tilts her head.
"Yeah, I haven't slept this good in a long time"
"That's good to hear, I kinda woke up feeling weird earlier."
"Weird? Like how?"
"I dunno, something just felt weird. When I fell back asleep it went away."
"You were probably just tired still, yesterday was quite a lot for you."
"I guess so. Oh, it smells like Mom's making us eggs and toast today."
"Cool, I'll be out there once I get my clothes on."
Himiko and Jade sit in the living room eating breakfast together, Himiko wags her tail happily as always.
"Hey Jade, last night you mentioned something about "homework", what's that?"
"They're assignments we have to complete after school by a certain day."
"Huh... and we'll have to do those starting today right?"
"Yeah probably... they shouldn't be that bad, at least for now..." Jade says unenthusiastically.
"I see... Also..." Himiko pauses and looks at Jade,
"I hope things will be a little better today than yesterday..."
"What do you---" Jade immediately realizes what she's talking about, "I hope so too... I know that Brad won't be bothering us anymore at least."
"That's good, I guess..."