Ōkami Kurai
(Kurai)
My name is Ōkami, Kurai. Some people call me Ms. Ōkami. Others call me Kurai. I don’t really mind whatever you wish to call me, just don’t call me a kid.
Wolves, as you may or may not know, grow up pretty fast. In just a year, we become adults. Now, I’m an adult; officially an adult. Today, I’m gonna be attending my very first school.
I live in a little den house with my mother. Her name is Ōkami Suisen. I admire her; I wish I was my mother. She’s probably the prettiest wolf around with her golden fur and I…well, I guess I’m just a plain black wolf.
I want to tell you a little about my world, but I don’t wish to bore you. In brief, everyone is an animal. There’s a fragile balance between prey and predator…and some predators even eat each other. The world is scary, especially for such a tiny wolf like me.
You may be wondering, what does a predator typically eat for lunch? Well, those who follow the rules have a special diet. We all must eat fake meat. In particular, there’s these protein balls artificially flavored like various prey animals. It’s…not the best…but it works alright. The taste of meat is ALMOST enough to stave our wild sides…ALMOST.
“Kurai! You’re gonna be late for school!” my mother yells up the stairs.
“I’m coming! I’m getting dressed!” I lie.
“Kurai! We don’t wear clothes!” my mom yells.
“I bet YOU’RE wearing clothes!” I yell back.
That shut her up. You see, clothes aren’t necessary aside from work uniforms. We’re animals. Wearing clothes is weird.
I reluctantly pad down the stairs, on all fours, of course. As a quadruped, walking on all fours is only natural. Though, I must admit, I have caught myself mimicking a few poses that you humans do frequently. If I can balance on my haunches, I could stand up and shrug my shoulders, or, perhaps, grab something with my fluffy paws. I’m clumsy, however, and should not be trusted to use my paws for any grabbing.
“Kurai, why must you linger? School is literally about to start and you haven’t arrived yet, much less, consumed your breakfast,” my mother says
She’s dressed up. As I suspected. She’s got on a police cap and a bullet proof vest. My mother, the law enforcer…enforcing that I never have any sort of fun… grumble grumble…
“Sweetheart, your hair is in your face…how can you see like that?” my mother asks.
I struggle, trying to get away. She pushes the hair away from my right eye. AH! THE BRIGHT SUN! MY EYES ARE BURNING! I scream and squeal and squiggle with all my might, but she has successfully secured my hair back with her slobbery tongue. Yuck!
“There. You look beautiful now. Take some breakfast, and get to school! Mr. Reeds won’t be happy if you’re late on your first day!” my mom says.
She hands me some protein balls. I am tempted to ask what flavor they are, but I decide to go for the mystery. I take a bite, tasting it thoroughly. Mouse flavored. Interesting…
“Thamkz,” I mumble through a mouthful of breakfast.
“GO! GET TO SCHOOL!” my mom snaps, snarling at me.
I take off running. After all, Reeds Academy is not THAT far away. Lots of animals of various species are also heading to school at the moment. I’m glad I’m not the only late student.
I follow the crowd and in the doors we go! I have never, ever, stepped foot in this building until now. First thing I notice, there’s a LOT of geeky tech stuff EVERYWHERE! There appears to be drones flying around with mini TV screens.
The classrooms are large blocks with see through front panels, but the rest is brick. You can look inside and see what is being taught. As I walk the halls, however, I get this sinking feeling. I’m one of the smallest predators in the whole school.
“Watch out, pipsqueak!” a voice calls out.
Suddenly, an entire lion runs past me. He’s HUGE! I let out a yelp, tumbling over until I hit something and roll to a stop. The something is a pair of long iron bar like legs.
“Ms. Ōkami, I presume,” the owner of the legs says in a smooth deep voice.
“M-Mr. Reeds!” I exclaim, sitting up suddenly.
“I’ve been expecting you…though, uh…I didn’t quite expect you to be so…small…” Mr. Reeds says.
He leans his long, sharp-billed face down to me. I can feel his breath on me. He could EASILY gobble me up; I know he could. He probably can also sense my fear!
“You look troubled. Perhaps a grand tour of the academy would help?” Mr. Reeds offers.
“Wait, you want to waste YOUR TIME giving ME a tour?!” I ask, staring up in wonder.
“Sure, why not?” Mr. Reeds asks.
He flaps his large white, black tipped, wings. Then, casually, he begins wading through the students with his long noodly legs. I follow, trying my best to keep up. The students part, making way for the headmaster.
“At this academy of mine, I believe every student has the right to pick which lessons they attend. As long as everyone is attending at least 5 classes daily, it doesn’t bother me. Everyone’s report cards are generated individually based on species, age, and which classes they attended most. Having trouble with mathematics? Why not try some art? There are tons of different classes with different subjects,” Mr. Reeds says, waving his right wing at various classroom boxes.
“So I can just pick whatever I feel like?” I ask.
“You sure can! What interests you most?” Mr. Reeds asks.
I don’t even know. What are my interests? I- I just like having fun… I guess art? Maybe art. Yeah…but what kind of art?!
“I- Art is fun,” I say.
“We have PLENTY of that here. And for the students who wish to participate in private lessons, we have an entire computer room. Each student can summon their own screen and listening device,” Mr. Reeds says. “That would be down this hall here.”
Mr. Reeds turns. I nearly stomp on a rat on my way. We then reach a dark cube where many small lights are glowing. The drones carrying TV’s are flowing in and out of this room.
“Whoa…” I whisper.
“Ah, but there still is my favorite wing of the academy…” Mr. Reeds says. “The forums!”
“The forums???” I wonder out loud.
“Yes, yes! A very constructive learning environment!” Mr. Reeds says. “That would be all the way on this other end…”
After another bout of wandering the crowded hallways, we reach what is known as the forums. It’s a huge collection of whiteboards, bulletin-boards, chalkboards, and even digital logs. Littered on every surface are notes and replies. Some looks like actual school stuff and others appear to be random observations or gossip.
“I could spend hours here reading everyone’s scholarly observations. You never know what you will find!” Mr. Reeds muses.
“Can you post literally whatever you are thinking?” I wonder.
“Within reason! It is heavily moderated! We also have a report button handy and ready to go,” Mr. Reeds explains.
“What about that stuff over there?” I ask.
There’s a section that’s separate from everything else. A little bit of red rope separates it. Even from here, I can see some…interesting…stuff posted there. Mr. Reeds stands up straight and extends his wings, trying to block my view.
“THAT! That’s where all the darker thoughts are posted. Every one of them is properly labeled, however, noting WHY they are there and what kind of content they contain. I would NOT recommend looking through that if you are faint of heart,” Mr. Reeds warns.
“Oh… I- I see…” I reply.
“Very well, then, I suppose I should also show you where the cafeteria is…” Mr. Reeds says.
Mr. Reeds flaps his wings and twirls as though he is wearing a cape. Then, as casually as before, he strolls out of the forums room. I follow along. Cafeteria? Well! I certainly love to eat.
“As you know, this school is a welcoming environment. We accept everyone for who they are. Each and every student is important to me… That is why we allow individuals of ANY diet to attend. You and I, we are carnivores,” Mr. Reeds says.
“I do love me some meat!” I exclaim.
“Hah hah hah… We serve only the finest protein balls to our beloved carnivores!” Mr. Reeds says.
Dang it. Protein balls. I was kind of hoping he was going to say fresh meat. I can just picture it now…my fangs sinking into a hot juicy piece of meat… As I am daydreaming, a bit of drool drips from my mouth.
“And we’ve got fruits, vegetables, grains, even insects, for our other beloved students,” Mr. Reeds says.
I enter the cafeteria. Although school has just begun, some students are already seated. My stomach grumbles hungrily even though I ate breakfast. Foooooood…
Promptly, I sit next to a mouse. She’s eating a cheese sandwich. Typical. She’s so small…so fragile…and, for once, I don’t feel so insignificant anymore.
“I know what you taste like,” I blurt out and then I quickly cover my mouth with my paws.
“W-what…?” the mouse asks, staring up at me with her tiny beady eyes.
“I, uh… Sorry. I’m new here… I don’t typically talk to herbivores…” I say.
“Oh… I’m not a herbivore. I’m an omnivore,” the mouse says. “While I do eat a lot of plants, I eat whatever I can find.”
“Oh? I never knew that,” I say.
“You look hungry. Here, I’m done eating anyhow,” the mouse says, handing me the rest of her sandwich.
“N-no, I can’t take that from you!” I exclaim.
“I insist! Welcome, new friend!” the mouse says.
Ah gosh dang it. I made friends with a mouse… How does that even happen?! I sigh and accept the sandwich. Mr. Reeds smiles.
(Suisen)
I can’t believe my daughter has finally gone to school! I’m really proud of her. It wasn’t easy convincing Reeds Academy to accept her into the program, but it’ll be well worth it, I’m sure. I’m Ōkami Suisen, proud mother of Kurai.
Raising my daughter was very hard. First of all, I wasn’t allowed to do my duty as an active duty police officer while pregnant, so I was out of the job for about 2 months. Then, she went and was born early, and too small. The doctors told me she wasn’t going to make it, but I refused to believe them.
Kurai was always a feisty one growing up. She was always biting and scratching the other children. She even got kicked out of a daycare because she attempted to eat the other children. That’s part of the reason why they were so reluctant to allow her into Reeds Academy, because of her record of bad behavior.
She’s all grown up, now. While I constantly have to scold her, at the very least, she isn’t eating her peers anymore. Like the rest of us predators, she has been trained to eat the special protein balls which are made from beans, whey, and insects. Now, I’m mostly concerned that the lawbreakers might harm her. It is MY duty to protect my fellow animals from harm. ESPECIALLY my daughter.
“Suisen! Stop daydreaming!” a voice nearby speaks up.
It’s Valerie. She’s one of our youngest police officers. She’s an ice bat. Also, I have gotten into arguments with her multiple times. I fear one of these days she’s going to do something terrible…
“I’m just worried…” I reply.
“About what? We’re police officers! We’re literally above all else! Except the President, of course…” Valerie says. “Here, have a donut.”
Valerie shoves a donut into my mouth using her clawed wings. It’s a delicious strawberry donut with rainbow sprinkles. I eat the donut and, all of a sudden, I am summoned! Another crime is actively occurring and it is my duty to ensure nobody gets hurt and the criminal is brought to justice.
