WILD [Shirou Ogami x OC]

Chapter Eleven- Finding a place in the world, Fight for peace!

The sterile hum of the medical center made me feel uneasy. It wasn't the place itself—I'd been in hospitals before—but the reason we were here. Alan Sylvasta, the head of one of the most powerful pharmaceutical companies in Anima City, wanted to meet with Michiru. Ever since her transformation, she'd caught the attention of more than a few people, but Sylvasta's interest was different. It felt calculated, like he already knew more than he was letting on.

I watched Michiru out of the corner of my eye as we waited. She always seemed so sure of herself, or at least more confident than I'd ever been in her situation. She wasn't just another Beastman. She had been human once, something I could never really understand. I'd been born into this world, into this fight, while she was thrust into it against her will. Yet here she was, holding her ground, trying to figure out where she fit in all of this chaos.

As if to lighten the mood, Nina, a dolphin Beastman Michiru had befriended, showed up with her usual burst of energy. Nina was bright-eyed, full of dreams about a world beyond Anima City—a world I'd never cared to see. She wanted to experience the human world, to swim freely in the open ocean. Her enthusiasm was contagious, but as I listened to her talk, I couldn't shake the feeling that her dream was... naive.

We sat in a quiet corner of the medical center while Nina told Michiru about her longing to live among humans. "I just want to know what it's like, you know? To live out there... as one of them."

Michiru listened closely, nodding, her eyes reflecting the same curiosity I had seen in her ever since we started working together. But for me, Nina's words stirred something else—a discomfort I couldn't quite place.

"I get it," Michiru finally said, her voice soft. "I was human once... and now, I'm not sure where I belong."

That hit harder than I expected. I'd always known Michiru had been human, but hearing her say it so plainly... it reminded me of just how different our worlds were. She could remember a time when she wasn't a Beastman, when she lived without the constant tension between species. For me, there was no "before." This was all I'd ever known.

Nina leaned forward, her voice hopeful. "But you could go back, right? If you could change back?"

Go back. That's the thing—there's always a choice for someone like Michiru, someone who had a foot in both worlds. I didn't resent her for it, but it made me realize just how far apart our lives had been. Could she really leave all of this behind if she had the chance?

Before Michiru could answer, I found myself speaking. "Why would you want to go back?" I asked, my voice coming out more sharply than I intended. "Humans and Beastmen... we've been fighting for so long. There's so much pain on both sides."

It wasn't that I didn't understand Nina's dream or Michiru's confusion—it was that I couldn't see the appeal. The human world had never been kind to us. Even in Anima City, a supposed haven, the cracks were everywhere. Humans feared us, hated us. And Beastmen... we had been fighting for survival for too long to just forget that. Peace felt like a distant dream, something that would take more than just hope to achieve.

Michiru looked at me, her eyes searching mine for something I couldn't give her. "I don't want to go back to how things were," she said slowly, like she was still figuring it out herself. "But I do want to understand. I want to know why this happened to me and if there's a way for humans and Beastmen to live together without fear."

I watched her closely, feeling a strange mix of admiration and frustration. She always wanted to fix things, to make them better, but some things couldn't be fixed so easily. Humans and Beastmen had been at odds for so long, and whatever was happening now in Anima City—it was only making things worse.

"That day seems far off," I muttered, more to myself than to her. "Humans fear what they don't understand. And Beastmen... we've been hurt too many times."

Nina's hopeful expression dimmed a little, her dreams of the outside world clashing with the reality we faced here. "But can't things change? Isn't that what you're fighting for, Michiru?"

I stayed silent, letting Michiru respond. I wasn't sure what I was fighting for anymore. Peace? Survival? Maybe they were one and the same.

Michiru nodded, but there was hesitation in her voice. "I want things to change, but... I don't even know where to start."

Her words mirrored my own thoughts. We both wanted things to be different, but neither of us knew how to make that happen. The wedge between humans and Beastmen was deep, and I feared that whatever was happening in Anima City was driving it even further apart.

I let out a slow breath, my gaze drifting to the sterile walls of the medical center. "I want peace too," I said quietly, finally breaking the silence. "But it's going to take more than just words to fix what's broken. We have to figure out what's really happening in this city before it's too late."

Michiru looked at me with renewed determination, and for a moment, I felt a flicker of hope. Whatever Sylvasta knew, whatever secrets he was hiding—they were part of the answer. But we would need more than just answers to change the world. We would need to fight for it.

As we sat there, surrounded by the quiet hum of the medical center, I felt my resolve harden. This wasn't just about Michiru or me anymore. It was about the future of Anima City, about whether humans and Beastmen could ever truly find peace.

And I wasn't sure we had much time left to figure it out.