( XXVIII )

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SOME BITCH WAS throwing obvious glances at the next Heteromorph Legacy Society meeting you attended. She seemed to be a deer hybrid with her little brown ears matching her brunette head. Her doe eyes curved as she snickered with her friends, the harmony of their false laughter made your teeth grit.

Ignoring that momentarily, you noticed when you showed up early to investigate that there were a lot of small cliques in the HLS. Everybody circled up in their own groups to occupy time, either genuinely bonding with each other or trying not to appear lonely before the meeting started.

You looked over briefly to see if the deer girl was still looking at you. She was. You kept your head down, cat ears pinned back, as you heard more laughter.

"Is she gonna say something or just stare?" you hissed, putting down a four of hearts aggressively.

"You know you've been going viral since the weekend," Sayako rationalized as she chewed gum. "Everybody reads The Daily Hero."

"Doesn't look like she wants an autograph," you muttered, holding back an eye roll.

She put her card down before asking politely, "Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

"But don't react when I say it, okay?"

"Okay?"

"Some of the herbivore girls have been saying you smell like non-mutant."

She said it like you were supposed to be offended. Instead, your ear only flicked curiously when she called them 'herbivore girls.' It wasn't incorrect—they were hybrids of herbivore animals—you just hadn't heard that distinction before. Did it matter? Probably. You didn't ask. You couldn't afford to stick out any worse as a pro hero who reeked of non-mutants. But, there was no changing the fact that you hung around three of them almost daily, even if the smell did make it hard to blend in with the other members.

"What about it?" you asked, making an effort to not come across as defensive.

"It doesn't help that half of everyone already thinks you're an undercover," she shrugged, confirming your thoughts, before laying down the winning card.

"I'm not undercover."

"I know."

She picked up the deck and reshuffled as Shion came over. He slid down to take a seat next to her.

𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐓 | 𝐬. 𝐚𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐰𝐚Where stories live. Discover now