Hare of Misfortune

Zoe’s heart began to settle as Rachel distracted her frantic mind.

”Right about what?”

”Your monster gateway theory turned out to be true,” she whispered, working around her jaw while continuing to follow the discussions between military leaders as they coordinated on the radios, giving her information across Florida and the rest of the world. ”This isn’t isolated; the entire world was affected... It’s going to be an arms race to see who can maintain order.”

”Okay... I’m getting a little scared,” Zoe whimpered, visibly doing her best not to let her claws out again. ”What can we do? If dragons pop out of these gateways, can we even fight them? Probably not—I’m just saying—we’ve only just got our powers.”

Rachel decided not to tell her about the sea dragon in the pool as she continued her rambles.

”Maybe, umm...are you like an S-tier roll, and I got an F-tier one? This sucks! Oh, maybe it will be the weak waves or invasion kind of start! Let’s hope, anyway... Am I talking too much?” she asked, seeing the look on Rachel’s face.

”Heh. A little. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Okay?”

Her fingers tightened, and her voice settled. ”Thank you... You’re so in control—and I’m a total mess...” She let out a big sigh, visibly trying to de-stress. ”Heh. I guess I really am a helpless cat, huh?”

Rachel took a deep breath and stopped just outside the door to the library, squeezing Zoe’s hand to get her to look up at her. ”It’s okay to panic a little... It’s normal. I’ve been in a lot of Muay Thai competitions, so this isn’t all that frightening to me. Until you feel safe, you can stay with me, okay?”

Shameful tears showed in the girl’s eyes, but she smiled and nodded. ”Hehe. You’re more the heroine than me... I know, what if I’m like...your apprentice? Can you teach me to fight—be, heh, like my wise and powerful mentor? I don’t want to feel pathetic,” she whimpered again, trying to restrain her tears and sniffles.

Sucking in air through her teeth, Rachel let it go through her nose in a slow stream. ”Hmm. I can’t promise you anything like that, Zoe—I’m a fighter, not an instructor—but I will teach you what I can. Good enough?”

”Good enough. I know I’ve said it a few times, but...thank you. Uh... What’s your name? I can’t believe I haven’t asked.”

”Rachel.”

Reigning in her emotions, Zoe withdrew her hand as a sign of strength and tightened them into a fist at her side. ”Okay, Rachel-sensei, I’ll listen to everything you say... Eh, too much?”

”Eeh,” Rachel chuckled with a weak shrug. ”Whatever helps you.”

”Sweet. Umm. So, what’s in here?”

Rachel gave her a sly smirk. ”A legendkin. Interested?”

The cat-girl’s big eyes opened wider. ”Ooh. Very! What do you gotta do to get a fancy title like that?”

”Let’s find out.”

Opening the door and letting Zoe shut it behind them, Rachel took in the room; inside was a man who had escaped notice for being changed since legendkin didn’t have any striking features—at least, that was Rachel’s initial opinion since no one had bothered him—but one look told Rachel he should have been under severe suspicion.

The muscular, tall—and, might she add, handsome—fire-haired man was sitting at a table, examining a short sword in front of him, his illuminated jade-green eyes shifting to her with interest; a spear leaned nearby in the back corner.

”Hello,” Rachel cheerily greeted, holding her hands behind her back while proceeding, casting her gaze so as not to appear like she was judging him head to toe, but she most certainly was, with her entire vision in perfect focus. ”This is an interesting place to be exploring your new abilities. Oh? Isn’t that something?” she whispered, feeling power unlock within her.

[Level Up - Level 2]

[1 Stat Point Added; 1 Available]

She hadn’t caught his name since he hadn’t given it to anyone in the last few hours, but she had heard him mumbling to himself while writing down various things he’d discovered on a sheet of paper.

Zoe remained behind her, ears lying flat against her head and tail going stiff, making Rachel’s furrowed brow turn to her as the cat-girl mumbled, ”He’s...so pretty...”

A sharp hiss came from the man as he covered a beauty mark under his left eye, causing the girl to stumble and blink as if charmed. ”Ugh... Hmm? You weren’t affected?” he asked, a confused smile turning to her. ”Care to share how you resisted the curse? I’d like a cure.”

”Huh?!” Zoe blinked, face turning beet-red. ”I, uh...I don’t know what came over me—it’s just...he was like...a total god! No-ho-ho... I’m so weak!” she cried, covering her eyes and dropping into a crouching position. ”Stupid! Stupid! Stop thinking about it!”

I’m resistant to his charm; my Control Resistances are only Average, and without any points, but maybe [Lunar Pride] is doing the work?

Rachel moved in front of the crying and embarrassed girl, yet the man kept his hand over the beauty mark, which apparently was his curse. ”I can’t say why, myself, but maybe we can figure that out together. Care to chat? I’m intrigued by these ’quests’ you’ve been mumbling about.”

His gaze went straight to her slightly forward ears. ”Guess those long things aren’t just for show. Two heads are better than one. Umm... You don’t have any foundation or...whatever women have to cover up their face?”

”No, but I’m sure we can find something around here,” Rachel returned. ”Want to get rid of that mark under your eye—can you?”

”I don’t know,” he laughed, showing he was more than willing to experiment. ”I learned about the power it has over women—which is totally creepy and unwanted when I already have a fiancé... Wow, that just kind of came out,” he said, rubbing his hairless chin and leaning against his chair. ”What would she think of me asking a random girl to use her makeup? She’d probably laugh.”

”I’ll do it for her,” Rachel snickered, pulling Zoe up and turning her back to the man. ”You okay?”

”Embarrassed for life, but...I guess. Why is he so pretty—seriously?” she hissed so low that only Rachel could hear. ”It’s not even fair—he’s like...straight out of a dating sim, I swear.”

The man got up, taking the paper with him as he moved behind a shelf. ”I’m game. Uh... I’ll stay out of sight until you have something—ink or gum even; I’m not picky.”

Glancing at the man’s toned back as he hid himself, Rachel hummed, pulling the girl to the librarian’s desk to see if there were any products stored in the drawers that they could use.

”I mean, sure, he’s super hot—the muscles are the real deal; perfect, and not too bulky—ten out of ten, but I’m not going to trip on my face... Mmm. Poor choice of words,” she realized a second too late, even with [Mental Acceleration].

”I’ll never live this down in my own head,” the embarrassed girl sniffled. ”No, just...forget about it, which is totally impossible, and why do I want to look again? Curiosity killed the cat, but for real...”

Rachel couldn’t help but feel a bit amused by how animated and awkward Zoe was. ”You’ll be okay. No one has to talk about it, and he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to make fun of you; in fact, he sounds sincere and like he doesn’t want to do that to women, which...is surprising, right?”

”Actually...totally surprising,” Zoe whispered, mind pulled away from the incident. ”If Adam had that power, he’d totally gather a harem.”

”Haha. Let’s find something to, heh, seal his curse.”

Zoe’s ears rose again. ”Now you’re speaking my language; our first quest: search for makeup!”

”By the way,” he called out to them, ”my name’s Anthony. Can I get a name, bunny-girl?”

Jaw tightening and tail stiffening, Rachel eased up and kept a playful note in her voice to throw him off-guard. ”Maybe I’ll tell you if you can guess what I am, Anthony; oh, and a hint—I’m not a bunny.”

Zoe giggled at her twitching smile and ears; it was the first time she’d seen her frustrated, which seemed to ease her tension.

”A game? Well, I’m sorry if I offended you! I’m up for a guessing game, though! Way to make this fun, not a bunny.”

The comment made her smirk as she found a container of foundation; he wasn’t without humor, at least.

”Success!’ Zoe cheered. ”Quest complete.”