Surrender

Chapter 1:

It took more than a beast to win a fight. The roar of the massive cat that bore down on her drew no reaction. Virtue one: Focus. For the third time, the ra’lai, a cream-furred, brown-maned ra’monaar, charged after climbing back up to his paws. His massive hand rocketed toward her face, claws outstretched, but she halted the strike with a swift grab of his wrist. Virtue two: Awareness. Without missing a beat, she flowed underneath his arm, his elbow to her shoulder. So easy to snap. Instead, she lashed out with one paw and swept his own from under him with the encouragement of her raking claws. Virtue three: Control. Her free hand grabbed his bicep. As the ra’lai collapsed under his own weight, she heaved her larger opponent over her shoulder and slammed him face first into the practice mat. With his arm still in her grip, she surged forward to restrain him, but the cat moved with her. He rolled over before she could lock him down, and his unrestrained arm shot toward her face. On reflex, she yanked her head back and away, but the feint allowed him to grab her bicep instead. He held her tight, but it was the pricking bite of his claws that forced her grip on his own arm to loosen. The ra’lai had just enough leeway to pull it free and grab hold of hers, hands clamping together over her forearm. With a roar, he dragged her onto her back beside him. She didn’t fight it, falling lax. Virtue four: Flexibility.

Her muscles weren’t tense when she hit the mat. She wasn’t stunned, like her opponent probably expected when he clambered on top of her. His hands crashed down on the insides of her elbows, robbing her of the ability to bend her limbs. His neck hovered close to her jaws, tempting her teeth to dig in like nature intended. She, however, took no cheap shots. Virtue five: Discipline. Her legs pulled back, and her paws pressed up into his pelvis. The ra’lai yelped, as the sharp barbs that tipped her toes dug into his inner thighs. His grip loosened in pain, a damning mistake. He’d forgotten virtue six: Resolve. With a strained yell, she lifted the ra’monaar up with her legs, and all but launched him over her once more. The cat yelled, and his body kissed the wood floor with a meaty slam. A whistle blew, piercing her ears and briefly forcing them to fold. “Fee’rassen Karnos is out of bounds! The winner is Rufu Arkessen!”

Rufu’s black muzzle slipped into a grin. She ached. She panted. Her red-spotted fur matted. But even still, she always found herself refreshed when she heard those words. The yellow-brown asishi rolled over onto her arms and pushed herself back up onto her black paws. Her dark mohawk of a mane was ruffled and wilted from the sparring match, and her tight gym clothes stunk enough to make her nostrils flatten. God, she needed a shower! However, one unfortunate ra’lai was still left grumbling and stirring on the hard wood floor. Poor Fee’rassen. She had no idea she would overshoot the mat like that. Rufu strode over and held out a hand for him. Undue animosity was the last thing she needed. Fee’rassen’s immense mitt met hers, and the stiff cat pulled himself back to his paws with her help, her corded muscles swelling from the effort. The ra’lai offered no thanks. Rather, he only grumbled some half-hearted congratulations before he skulked away. Typical.

She kept a stoic face on, but as she turned back around she spied something that sent her tail wagging. With a soft smile, she started to walk over to the tiny walkway mounted on the wall, and to the person no bigger than her hand who diligently waited at its edge. “Kenny!” she shouted as she neared the human, grinning wide with all her teeth in the open air.

The moment she reached him, she slumped her weight forward onto the walkway, bouncing the little alien, and crossed her arms around him. “How long were you watching?” she teased.

“I, uhh,” the lean human stammered, a lightly-tanned hand rubbing his forearm. “I sorta, w-well, when you did the uhh, the thing with your…”

“When I chucked him out the ring?”

He nodded frantically in response, his neat black hair a blur. “Y-yeah, that,” he paused and took a breath. “Did you see your, uhh, your grades?”

Rufu’s grin only grew wider, and she welled up with pride. “All ninety-plus!”

“R-really?” Ken gasped as his gaping mouth stretched into a smile. The little human looked so excited for her, Rufu thought he was just about ready to jump out of his clothes. Definitely a funny thought for her. “Rufu, that’s, oh my goodn-”

Ken didn’t have the chance to finish. A tongue, longer than he was tall, snaked out of Rufu’s mouth and engulfed most of the tiny human’s body. Before he could blink, she slurped him up towards her lips, and all but pressed him between them and her tongue’s tip. Ken didn’t fret, or stir, or panic. He knew the sensation well, and he melted into it like he always did. Rufu’s tail wagged like nothing else. It was for moments like these that she practiced kissing as much like a human as she could. Feeling him relax, or sometimes squirm, against her was wonderful. A pleased trill rumbled up her throat, stifled only by Ken’s presence on her lips. Whatever. If he didn’t hear it, he sure as hell felt it! After a while, Rufu felt a timid tap at her nostril, urging her to slide him along her tongue and back onto the walkway. He needed his air.

The young man sputtered, as thick strands of saliva rolled off of him. He stumbled a bit and nearly slipped, but Rufu’s finger was quick to sweep in behind him and catch his back, supporting him with the soft pad. Ken was drenched. Even the rather large glasses on his face were thoroughly coated, a sight that certainly pulled a loud laugh from her. Thankfully, he always carried another pair for these occasions. When Ken finally regained his bearings, he was quick to pull the watertight case he carried his spares in out of his pocket. He took a moment to swap the glasses out and wait for his eyes to adjust. All the better for it. Once again, those bright green pinpricks were amplified to a size where she could properly appreciate them. A soft whoop rolled out of her throat. She loved those little things.

“We uh...w-we should celebrate!” Ken broke the silence, running a hand through the fur of the finger that supported him.

Rufu’s ears swiveled forward and down, focused purely on her tiny boyfriend. “What’s in your head, Kenny?” she wondered.

“Well,” he rubbed his neck, “you know, P-p-p… Providence? W-we should eat there tonight!”

“Eat? At Providence?” the suggestion had Rufu reeling. “With what cash?”

“I’ve uh...I’ve…been saving up...f...f-for this actually.” Ken answered.

Rufu’s mane stood on end, thoroughly baffled. Everyone knew about Providence’s ridiculous admission fees. Was that why he took that part-time job? How long had he been planning this? Did he really have so much faith in her, that he worked himself to the bone all semester to take her out? The asishi didn’t bother sweating over the details. Instead, Rufu leaned in until her face took up his whole field of view.

“You clever runt… C’mere you!” Her tongue slipped back out. An imminent threat to his continued cleanliness that had Ken waving his arms in a panic.

“W-w-w-WAIT, I only have one spare!”

She didn’t wait.

~~

Providence was worlds away from Rufu’s usual dining spots. This was an eatery for the elite, and the wealthy owners flaunted that fact without a shred of shame. Red rugs decorated the floor. Fine art and bleeding edge visual displays lined the walls. The staff uniforms alone were probably worth a whole year of Ken’s pay. It boggled her mind and isolated her from all angles, not helped by the kind of clientele she and Ken had to stand in line with. Many different species, well-groomed and dressed in sharp suits, fine dresses, and glimmering jewelry. A shower and black T-shirt were damn near alien in comparison, and yet here she was. Most of the others lent her only the briefest shreds of attention, thank the stars. However, some looked a little longer, listened in just a tiny bit more, and hardly masked their disgust. Rufu had some good guesses as to why, and none of them did her mood any favors. Regardless, she still had her Kenny. She couldn’t hold him physically just yet, but as long as she could hold his mech’s hand she’d be smiling all the while.

“Table for one ‘Mister Drummond’?” droned the voice of the maître d'hôtel, a rabbit-like viliti.

They were first in line? The wait had stretched on for so long that she didn’t even notice. Ken froze on the spot. He ended up stammering out a long line of ‘uhhs’ and ‘y-y-hs.’ Really? He had to call and make the reservations. She would have thought it would have made this easier for him. Then again, a call didn’t require staring rich snots down in the flesh. The mech’s head creaked towards her. Its face was blank, but Rufu just knew he wanted to scream, ‘Help me!’ at her. She could almost smell it. Damnit. Was he turning her into a lupari? She couldn’t tell, but she knew for a fact that Ken hadn’t been this bad in a long while. Not since starting his delivery job out in the human city. Well, it was nothing some encouragement wouldn’t fix.

“Tell him, Kenny!” she demanded with a jolting smack on his shoulder, as any good girlfriend would.

“That’s me!” he yipped, at long last, to the maître d's relief.

The well-dressed viliti nodded and unpinned the rope that barred them from entry. He handed a pair of menus to a towering neishor waiter who, in turn, gestured for Ken and Rufu to follow him. Finally, movement! Ken’s mech soon found Rufu’s arm under its own, and she leaned in close, beaming with pride for her little man.

“Lead the way,” she whispered.

Her ears twitched. She could have sworn she heard a sputter from inside the machine. Yet the plain white mech tugged on her arm, and lead her along behind the neishor. It must have been pretty comical to anyone watching. Its head didn’t reach her armpits. She could have strung it along without a second thought. None of that nonsense entered her mind, though. Moments like these were great for helping her boyfriend with his confidence, if her enjoyment alone didn’t warrant it. However, some passersby didn’t agree. The glares she caught from an avian jahkatian couple didn’t escape her attention. Their conversation was none too quiet either; “Look at the brute, dragging that poor little human around.”

“Surely there are some rules against that?”

“I don’t know, but it can’t be safe for a human with the likes of her.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be done about it. I’m surprised they let her in here, dressed like that. Providence really has hit a new low if some stinking, muscle-headed asishi from off the streets can pay its way in!”

“We can’t be too sure the human’s any better off if he’s in her company. Such a plain mech…”

Rufu clenched her fingers. Could she really not go one day without this? The urge and growl and snarl burned inside her, and it took a hell of a lot of willpower to push it down. No. She wouldn’t prove them right. She was better than that. Fortunately, the couple didn’t test her for long. They arrived at a solitary white table, a pre-prepped human table in its center, tiny silverware and all. She had to wonder if they needed human employees for that. As she took her seat, she noticed a human walkway molded into the wall, running just beneath the windows. Ramps bridged it to certain tables. Her own included. Ken’s mech tried to take a seat, until a hand on its shoulder stopped it in its tracks.

“Sir,” the equine waiter warned in a deep, sonorous voice. “I am afraid we do not allow mechs to sit on the furniture in here, lest they scratch and damage it. There is a proper docking port for mechs further in if you will follow the walkway, please. Then you may return to your table.”

“O-o-oh,” Ken blurted out. “R...right. I’ll be right back, Rufu.”

Rufu had her doubts. Part of her would have loved to follow him and carry him back to the table. This was supposed to be a date, after all. She steeled herself in the end. Rufu knew she couldn’t do everything for him, and Providence’s elaborate set-up made sense to her after the waiter explained it. So she gave him a toothy smile, and reached over to squeeze his mech’s hand. “See you in a bit, Kenny,” she answered, and then she let him go.

As the mech stomped off further into the restaurant, the waiter excused himself, “I’ll be back to take your orders in a moment.”

Thus, they left, and Rufu was alone with the menus. She gave hers a quick skim, but what lay in wait on Ken’s menu interested her far, far more. Besides, she didn’t exactly know his budget, and she didn’t want to decide on anything too expensive. Indeed, one quick glance at this place, and she was certain they’d charge fifty credits for something as simple as a faloofa. God, the thought of that meal being here made her retch. If it wasn’t, then maybe the lack of other asishi in this place was a blessing in disguise. Maybe.

The floor was beautiful granite tile arranged in a checkerboard style, and the walls were a vibrant gold. Great chandeliers hung from the ceiling. She swore she heard an in-house band off in the corner, playing something vaguely romantic. Unfortunately, a bevy of noise drowned them out. Sound assaulted her from all sides, be it the chatting patrons, the video screen on her right blaring the evening news, or that same jahkatian couple squawking away like they owned the place. Maybe they wouldn’t have grated on her so much if they were seated further away, but god, why wouldn’t they just shut up? It wasn’t until she felt tiny hands on one of her fingers that she finally pried her attention away from them.

She didn’t so much as flinch at their touch. The gentle, almost desperate, stroking was intimately familiar. The asishi craned her long neck back around to smile at Ken. He wasn’t dressed any fancier than her, but why would he need to? He was handsome enough as is, and she wouldn’t dare have him hide the lean body their shared exercise sculpted behind some rented monkey suit. “D-don’t worry about them,” Ken assured her, like he knew exactly what was on her mind.

“Aw, Kenny,” Rufu cooed. She leaned her head down to kiss him, as if on instinct. Then, however, she thought better of it. Soaking him in spit in a place like this was a one way ticket to the blacklist. Instead, she settled on nudging him with her nose. Ken barely kept his footing. “The mech dock wasn’t too far?”

“No. No it wasn’t,” Ken answered, moving to his miniature table with a smile.

Rufu slowly pulled her finger away, and they each cracked open their menus. Her fears rang true. She’d never even heard of some of this crap before. ‘Narkton Fillet?’ ‘Alltala Souffle?’ ‘Spaghetti?’ She couldn’t stand looking at that gibberish for too long, so her gaze ended up darting about the room much more than she’d have liked. She still couldn’t pick out any other asishi. She knew her kind were rare on this world, but surely she couldn’t have been the only asishi here? She did pick out a few humans, though. Or, at least, she assumed the faint specks the waiters spoke to were humans. These ones kept to themselves. No non-humans sat at their tables, so the faint hope of seeing another mixed-size couple here was dead on arrival. They were alone. Lucky them.

“What were your grades?” Rufu asked him, eager to divert her train of thought. “You never did tell me, Kenny.”

“I passed?”

Rufu’s ears flexed back, and she lightly jabbed him with a finger. “Yeah. No shit. Details?”

“Uhh, t-top five in the region. Is that-”

“Top five?!”

She nearly jumped out of her seat upon hearing it. All of a sudden, giving him another sloppy kiss was much harder to resist. Thankfully, the neishor waiter arrived not long after, even if he managed to see her mouth agape. “May I take your orders?” he huffed, somehow still composed.

“Ubh--jh-uh-y-yes!” Ken tried to say. “I would uh...I would like a Siliash Steak, well done please.”

Shit. She didn’t pick anything! Rufu skimmed the menu like she’d never skimmed before. Desperate, she ended up picking something at complete random that wasn’t absurdly expensive. “And I want the Seafood Sampler,” she answered.

The waiter jotted down their orders on a tablet she assumed to be his yutri interface, seemingly oblivious to her little fit of panic. “What would you like to drink?”

“Water, please,” Ken was quick to answer.

Water? Was there nothing he liked, or was he just strapped for cash? Rufu decided to play it safe. “Water’s fine for me, too.”

Finishing his notes, the enormous waiter bowed his head. “I will have your order out momentarily,” He promised before he left the pair to their prior conversation. Her mind raced, and her heart soared. She’d expected him to do well, but top five in the region? No wonder the school faculty made him tutor her.

“Anyway, Kenny,” she refocused herself, “that’s huge. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Well…” he took a moment to adjust his glasses. “It’s...I’m a bit c-confused?”

“Confused? Why?”

He sighed, “Confused bec-because...”

Ken paused. The quiet dragged on, but she knew to wait for him. She could practically see the gears turn in his noggin. Eventually, he started again with a groan, “I don’t know where I can, well, go?”

Rufu’s ears flicked back in disbelief. “Where you can go? Where can’t you go?”

“Uhh-”

“You quit your shitty job. Then you go to one of those super good universities. Then you’re rich. It’s not a hard choice.”

Ken only became cagier. He rubbed the back of his neck, and suddenly he had trouble meeting her eyes. “But...what about you?”

“Me?”

“Y-you can’t follow me if I do that,” he whimpered, “You’ll be busy with martial arts stuff.”

She frowned. Martial arts were hardly what kept her from going to the same uni as him. If she even wanted to attend college at all, she’d have to hope for incredible grades from here on out. Her grades had improved a lot, but earning her way into the same kinds of universities Kenny could go to was almost impossible for her at this point. Almost. “Kenny… You shouldn’t worry about that. I couldn’t go to the same kind of college as you, anyway. My grades just aren’t there,” she pointed out, a bit softer than usual.

Ken shot up in his seat, wide-eyed behind his glasses. “D-d-don’t say that! Your grades have improved so much!”

He was so desperate. It killed her to see him like this. Rufu fought back a groan to keep from worsening her boyfriend’s mood, but she couldn’t stop herself from rubbing her temple. “They aren’t ‘top five in the region,’ Kenny, and don’t pretend they are.”

“Th-th-they aren’t so bad y-you can’t go to a college, Rufu!” Ken stuttered back, juxtaposed by the bang of a tiny fist on his table. “And then...th-then I can just go to whatever school you do!”

Maybe he was right about that, but there was still the matter of actually affording a university. Would her parents pay for that? She doubted it. Was she just going to be another run-of-the-mill, uneducated asishi? The very thought nearly made her scowl, but she couldn’t let it distract her. Ken needed her to focus. “Kenny, no. You need to go to the best uni you can. You can’t settle to just follow me around.”

“N-No, Rufu-”

“-What about your dreams? Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know!”

Ken grew quiet. He stared at his table, and Rufu’s brow fell low. Did he not--

All thoughts were interrupted by the return of their waiter. The enormous neishor carried a tray with seemingly only one dish and drink, but when its edge met the table, Rufu saw a pleasant surprise sitting on it: a human waiter with his own tray for her boyfriend’s orders. They did exist! The neishor lifted Rufu’s plate and glass of water over in front of her. His human counterpart walked out onto the table and delivered Ken his own food and drink. Once all was served, the neishor offered his hand and lifted his tiny coworker high. Then they asked with perfect, in-sync professionalism, “Is there anything else we can get for you?”

“N...no. I’m fine,” Ken answered.

The neishor smiled at him, no teeth out, and visibly concerned. “Are you sure?”

“He said he was fine,” Rufu butted in.

The neishor knickered, but bowed his head. “Very well. Enjoy your meal.”

The waiters finally left, and Rufu studied her plate. Even after the hoops she ran through to order it, the platter seemed surprisingly delicious. All her favorite kinds of fish battered and fried to a fluffy golden brown finish. Shame about the small portions, though. Ken already started cutting into his Siliash. The steak smelled great. Faint, due to its size, but great. Though, more to her concern, he’d gone quiet. Was he locking up? No, he didn’t lock up around her. Was he just sad, then? Either way, she tried to think of a way to cheer him up. “You know, you’re really brave, Kenny.”

Ken nearly choked on his food, beating his chest, and scaring her half to death. Still, he managed to swallow. “H-huh?” he coughed, “w-what do you mean?”

“Well… You don’t really use your mech when you don’t have to. You don’t hide in it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in it when you had the option,” she leaned forward, covered the side of her snout with her hand and whispered, “even in stuffy, snobby crowds like this.”

Despite her attempt at humor, Ken grimaced and shook his head. “C-crowds and...non-humans a-aren’t the problem. It’s…”

“Shh. I know. But you’re still brave, or you would never have asked me out to that dance. ‘Cowering little hukars,’ my paw!” She insisted.

There it was! That smile of his. It was small, but she always loved it. “I don’t think I’d call most humans cowards, anyway.”

Ken’s smile wavered, just a tad. He still disagreed. Rufu snorted and leaned back, but allowed him that. It did bring another thought to mind. “It’s been...what, fourteen, fifteen years? Do you think things are improving? For humans, I mean,” she wondered.

Ken lowered his fork. “I don’t… I don’t know… We’re still kind of the oddballs, I think. I-I-I mean… the Union’s done so much for us, but… b-but things like the ‘toy cities...’ They’re a problem,” he answered, “just keeps us… separated.”

Rufu frowned. “But they’re that way for your protection, right?”

“Sh...should we need protecting from other citizens?” Ken found some confidence and never let it slip. “Y-you aren’t a G-Guardian, and I don’t need protection from you.”

Rufu grinned, teeth out for all to see. “Good point!” she praised.

The average citizen wouldn’t hurt a human, even chatty snobs like these. Wait. They were quiet. Why had they gone quiet? She scanned the room for answers, only to find that the news was finally airing its much touted exclusive. Serial killings. Estimated to be nearly a hundred, spread across the stars with victims of numerous species. The most recent of which being… humans. Dozens of them, plucked away and murdered because they couldn’t defend themselves. The final blow came when the murderer’s name and face was emblazoned across the screen. He was unmistakable. A generous benefactor proudly displayed on the walls of their school. Em’hrar Nashurr, the famous ra’lai philanthropist.

Rufu wanted to throw up. After all the progress they made with humanity, something like this came to light and shed doubt on the whole thing. She didn’t know if she could bare seeing their school anymore, knowing that a monster like him bankrolled it. She could barely imagine how Ken must have felt.

“Kenny?” her voice was a whisper, but amongst the silence, she’d might as well have screamed. Ken didn’t move. He couldn’t move. His mouth hung open, and not a stutter escaped his lips. Her Kenny was paralyzed, and so was she.

“What is this slop?” cawed a maddeningly posh voice. Half the room’s attention fell towards the offending party: the pair of haughty jahkatians from before. One coiled a fork around some unknowable meal, beady eyes fixed on the creamy mixture as if it committed a crime by existing.

“And they call this a proper fillet?” his partner scoffed, equally transfixed and about as oblivious. “I’ve had better Narkton at home! The nerve of them!”

Rufu should have turned away and let them fester. She knew that. But she couldn’t, especially not after realizing they’d been playing with their food this entire time. Did they somehow miss the news, or did they just not care? Both options disgusted her too much for her not to shoot them a well-deserved glare.

“Ugh, the beast is staring,” scoffed the male, momentarily distracted from his overpriced meal. She must have struck a nerve. The jahkatian’s wife peered over her shoulder towards Rufu, and a scowl took over her face.

“Hmph! No manners at all! Not out of character, for some vagrant from the streets.”

Rufu trembled, lips peeled back in a snarl. A growl built in her throat. “R-Rufu! Calm down! L-look at me!” The small, seemingly distant, voice of Ken trying and failing to divert her attention.

“Gugh, look at her. Just like an animal. Someone had best leash her, before she does something to that human.”

That did it. Before she could even think, Rufu snatched up her plate, and chucked it into the rich wife’s face. The bloated old bird screeched and flailed, unable to save her pristine formalwear from the greasy, crumbling seafood that slopped onto her. She fell back out of her seat and hit the floor. Her appalled husband opened his beak, but he sat down and shut up when Rufu stood up to her full height. She thought she heard someone call her name. She didn’t care. She was too angry to care. “You… You heartless, selfish, bird-brained, holier-than-thou, blue-blooded,” she only shouted louder the longer she went on. “Bloated, SPINELESS, FROZEN-FACED, SNIVELING, HEAD-UP-ASS, CLUELESS... CHICKENS!”

Rufu then stomped over to the frightened couple, panting, drooling, and ready to strike. Ruining her date. Insulting her and her Kenny. Playing with their food like overgrown cubs. One of the worst tragedies since the Rynar invaded Earth happened under their beaks, and they didn’t give a shit! It all made her just want to wring their useless, fatty necks, right then and there! Yet at the last second, just before she reached their table, she hesitated. She wanted to make them pay, dearly, but she knew she would hate herself for the rest of her days if she lashed out like that. Even now, part of her hated herself for even considering it. Every eye in the restaurant was on her now. She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t be here anymore. Gripping her head in aggravation, she all but roared, and fled towards the lobby. Ken cried out for her, but it was too late.

She was gone.

~~

Rufu’s face rested in her hands as she sat on a street-side bench. She thought running out and feeling the cold night air would let her clear her head, but it did no such thing. Everything went to shit. All the effort Ken put into preparing it, wasted, all thanks to those stupid jahkatians! No, she knew that wasn’t true. It was her fault. She did this. She already knew how her parents would react. They’d give her a real kicking when she got home, or, worse yet, praise her for it. Stars forbid they praised her for it.

“H...h-hey...R-Rufu? You okay?” a young man’s voice intruded.

Her ears twitched at attention. She’d know it from the stutter, if not the tone. Slowly, Rufu pulled her head from her hands to see the familiar white mech. The thing was already deactivated and halfway through opening its deck without a word from her. Ken was out, almost eye-level with her thanks to the way she sat. Worry was etched on that tiny face, and she forced herself to smile. She couldn’t convince him, but she always tried for him. “Just...aggravated…” she mumbled.

Ken sat down on the deck. “You...You don’t need to worry. N-nothing was broken, so...so I was still able to pay for everything!” he tried to reassure her.

Rufu winced. She hadn’t even thought of that. It just made everything all the worse. She shook her head and stared at the ground. “I just...I just wanted one good day with you. Without any studying. Without any stares or rude comments. Just...a nice date,” she gave a half-hearted laugh. “But I guess I’m the one who ruined it.”

“Th-th-that’s not true!” Ken insisted, loud enough for her to focus on him again. “Th...those two...were...were assholes! They were horrible! I...I was mad too, I just…”

“I’m the one who lost it,” Rufu reminded him with a grimace.

Ken didn’t relent. “We have all summer. We can have plenty of nice days. Tomorrow’s your last day of practice, and then we’re both free.”

Free? Hardly. She was anything but ‘free’ when school was out. The asishi shook her head. “No. My parents, ah…” she paused to think of how to phrase things without worrying him. He couldn’t know. Never. “We’re gonna be busy all summer. I won’t have the time to head out.”

Ken was quiet, worryingly so. His didn’t stop staring. “Will you be okay? Really?”

“I- Will you?” her voice cracked, “Kenny, if- if anything happened to you...”

What began as a simple diversion ended up cutting her heart in two. Truth was, anybody could just up and grab Ken if they wanted. Take him away forever. Do whatever sick thing they pleased. What if she wasn’t around to protect him, and he ended up like the people in the news story?

“Nothing will!” he barked, “wh-what’s this about? That news story? They killed the guy! He won’t- He’ll never take me. I’m safe! C-Can we p-please not talk about it? Rufu?”

Yes, Nashurr was dead as dirt. But he wasn’t the first to mistreat a human, and he wouldn’t be the last. Ken must have known that, too, and yet he never let the knowledge keep him locked away in his mech. The least she could do was try to believe him.

“Alright,” she nodded, “we’re dropping it.”

In turn, Rufu slid off the bench and onto her knees, closing the distance between them. Fingertips bordered him on the deck, chin between them. A sigh escaped her. “I’ll miss you.”

Tiny footsteps pattered up to her, and soon Ken’s hand met her upper lip. The rest of him was sure to join it, soon enough.

“You can still use your yutri, right, Rufu?”

She hummed an affirmative, not about to speak at full volume with him right next to her mouth. “Th-then we can still message each other,” Her little boyfriend pointed out before, for once, he initiated a kiss.

As he pressed his face and lips to hers, Rufu parted her mouth just enough to let the tip of her tongue slip out. He didn’t stop. Ken’s best clothes only became damper and damper, but he kept on kissing. When they broke off, she looked at Ken with the utmost adoration. This might have been the last time she saw him before graduation. Better make it count.

“I love you.”

…

“I-I love you too.”