Reincarnated In An Otome Game As A Beast

**Special: Tatsuo**

My heart beated frantically as I looked at Tatsuo. His demeanour seemed calm and relaxed whereas, I on the other hand am nervous to the bone. "Would you relax a little?" He smiled as he looked at my shaking body.

"How am I meant to relax when the tournament is minutes away. I've never been in a tournament" I reasoned, searching his eyes that held no worries in life. I groaned in frustration as I looked straight before me, waiting for somebody to call us.

Tatsuo began humming in joy as he twiddled his fingers together. What was he, a kid?! He looked at me with a smile on his face, "you'll be fine, don't worry." Before I had anything to say, he swept me into a hug.

It was surprising and caught me off guard as my body tensed. Strangely it felt soothing and my body began to relax instantly by his warm touch. "There we go! Now you're not shaking" he grinned.

I stood there dumbfounded, why was he in a good mood? It made no sense to me. The door creeped open catching our attention as Masako stepped in, "its time. All the contestants are there waiting. You're both the last" he said.

I took steady, deep breaths before nodding and following them. As we walked, the bright hallways began dimming when travelling deeper till we found ourselves in a large area. The crowd was cheering at our arrival as the other contestants waited for us to join them.

We stood at the starting line along with three other pairs, awaiting for the signal when the race was going to start. A few held cocky looks (including Tatsuo) but some seemed nervous like me. I looked around searching for Aihara and spotted her with Kuro on her shoulder, watching us in curiosity. Watching everyone near me transform, I quickly did the same.

"We're starting" Tatsuo said before changing himself as I looked up at a large screen counting down from five. My palms were already clammy and I could feel beads of sweat form on my forehead before we've even done anything for me to even sweat. 

The screen reached zero followed by a large horn before we all went running at full speed. They all raced ahead while I remained at a steady pace; it was not easy to manoeuvre around with such a large body as they blocked every entry I could manage to go for. 

Loud popping sounds resonated through the arena as balls flew towards us. Luckily for my height, I was able to peer over them and dodge in time; if I was smaller, I would've most likely not seen it and be hit by it instantly as the others dodged it. A few wolves fell back by the impact of the ball as I managed to pass a through while Tatsuo remained at the front in line with another; both aggressively nudging each other.

The next obstacle was the tower and beyond that, the finish line. I stopped dead on my tracks as wolves struggled to climb up themselves. With each second passing, fear spread through me. Close your eyes, close your eyes I thought and I did so. And that's when it hit me.

I took a deep breath before using other wolves as a launch pad for myself and coming down, though the last wolf I used to come down fell as it was crushed against my weight. Poor wolf! The crowd jolted in cheers as I made it down and ran as fast as I could go.

Finally, I made it to the finish line and I looked up at the screen, I came third place. First had been Tatsuo, second had been a random upper year class-men and third was...me.

We were led to the back as we awaited for the end of the game, other contestants entering the room seconds later. I transformed back and headed to Tatsuo who was sitting on a couch, panting heavily. "I came third Tatsuo...I-"

"We came first as a duo. Not to mention, you did great! Better than I imagined..." he drifted off watching a quickly-made montage of the match on the screen provided in the room. "You pounced from one wolf to another?" He snickered, holding his laughter as much as possible though I didn't answer his question. "And why are you so tired?" I asked in a sour mood.

 "I used all my energy to show off."

"Well...showing off is an act of self-confidence you know?" He looked at me before letting out a huge sigh, "Not showing off to the crowd, trying to get attention from someone" he replied as his cheeks blossomed a dark crimson; probably from all the running or something.

"To who? Do you have a secret admirer or something?" I teased playfully before he took a deep breath and grabbed a bottle of water from a table near him before drinking a bit of its content. "Perhaps. Perhaps not." 

"I feel as if you're trying to lead me to a goose chase now but we can talk about this later, how about we celebrate with a Aihara and Kuro later?" I suggested, taking the bottle of water of his hand and having a long drink from it.

"Well, can I get a hug? After all I did win first place and I deserve to be praised."

"You're acting strange lat..." I said before being cut off by a tight embrace. He seemed overly joyed, perhaps he does admire someone to make him in a good mood. I slowly wrap my arms around him, accepting the hug; after all, what's the worse a hug can do?

(Sorry for such a late update, been so busy and still am. Updates will be slow but hopefully I'll manage)