It was getting close to noon, Wendy and her younger sister Cassidy were feeling peckish. They looked back and forth between their choices in the food court. They could have Chinese food from Panda Express, pizza from Sbarro, chicken nuggets from Chik-Fil-A, a cheesesteak from Charley’s, or a cinnamon roll from Cinnabon. They had been walking around the mall since at least nine in the morning, visiting stores that catered to their hobbies. Stores like Barnes & Noble, GameStop, and that little anime shop near the JCPenney, among others.
Wendy held her Barnes & Noble bag full of manga in her left hand, and her phone in her right. It was 11:55, a little over an hour before they had to rendezvous with their sister Melinda at the movies. She was having some coffee with her boyfriend at Starbucks, while Wendy and Cassidy went off and did their own shopping. After that, they would join them for a movie of Mel’s choosing. Wendy felt awkward knowing she and Cass would be third and fourth wheels, so they agreed to sit a couple seats down to give Mel and her boyfriend some room to themselves.
“So, what do you feel like having?”, Wendy asked Cass. Cass looked at Wendy, then back at Panda Express.
“I can get some Panda Express,” Cass said, “I still got some cash on me.”
“Okay,” said Wendy, “Then I’ll get some pizza.”
The two split up and got in line for their intended meals. Wendy still had enough leftover from her purchase at Barnes & Noble. She got two manga volumes and an extra for free. All that money she saved from doing art commissions last year had added up. The manga in question were the latest Beastars volumes. She had wanted to look at the source material after watching the anime on Netflix. She absolutely adored the art and characters, especially Legoshi. She couldn’t wait to read more.
The Food Court is the Teens’ Watering Hole
Open
Lorenzo stared at the girl from behind the automatic glass doors. They hadn't seen her from outside of school before.
In one hand clutched an old, cracked phone, blasting their Caroline Polachek playlist into overstimulated eardrums, headphones failing to drown out the noise of the crowd.
In the other, a medium-sized, less ice, less sugar matcha bubble tea with 50 cents worth of extra vanilla pudding dumped into it. Which tasted kinda bad, by the way, like, because Lorenzo obviously had actually tasted actual matcha tea before and it does not taste like this powder based monstrocity.
Whatever.
In one hand clutched an old, cracked phone, blasting their Caroline Polachek playlist into overstimulated eardrums, headphones failing to drown out the noise of the crowd.
In the other, a medium-sized, less ice, less sugar matcha bubble tea with 50 cents worth of extra vanilla pudding dumped into it. Which tasted kinda bad, by the way, like, because Lorenzo obviously had actually tasted actual matcha tea before and it does not taste like this powder based monstrocity.
Whatever.
Blood Tongue Nails Teeth
The body was found, beheaded from the jaw up. It was hardly recognizable at this point that this had been the living body of Chloe Wellers, a young student at the CSUS. She had been last seen at a department store, shopping for tissues and and cold medicine for her brother before disappearing when she entered the woman restroom, but never exiting.
The investigators were swiftly pointed in the direction of Jea-
[[Zhijuan: Chapter 1]]
She lapped at the cream of her iced cappuccino. It was highly questionable behavior to commit in front of an audience, but the frosting tasted good and there was no way that the whipped cream would stay fit when it went through her reusable straw. When no-one was looking, she took a bite out of her whipped cream.
Zhijuan, smiling, took a sip. Tasted like coffee. She used the back hand of her running/walking shirt to wipe off the cream off her nose. She moved to her bagel, and raised her eyes. Kids from her schools. Didn't that technically make her a kid too since they were in her grade?
She took a bite.
(The bagels at home suddenly tasted better.)
The investigators were swiftly pointed in the direction of Jea-
[[Zhijuan: Chapter 1]]
She lapped at the cream of her iced cappuccino. It was highly questionable behavior to commit in front of an audience, but the frosting tasted good and there was no way that the whipped cream would stay fit when it went through her reusable straw. When no-one was looking, she took a bite out of her whipped cream.
Zhijuan, smiling, took a sip. Tasted like coffee. She used the back hand of her running/walking shirt to wipe off the cream off her nose. She moved to her bagel, and raised her eyes. Kids from her schools. Didn't that technically make her a kid too since they were in her grade?
She took a bite.
(The bagels at home suddenly tasted better.)
After Wendy got a slice of pizza and a small Sprite, she scouted for a table she and Cass could share. She looked over at a table near a long haired girl, biting into a bagel. There were two empty chairs for the taking. She made her way towards the table, set her belongings and food down, and sat.
Wendy looked over at the line for Panda Express. Cass was still waiting near the back. That place was pretty popular given the dozen of people waiting in line with her. Personally, Wendy didn't care much for Panda Express. She preferred the take-out Chinese, because it was more flavorful.
She took a bite of her big pizza slice. After wiping the grease off her hands, she reached into her Barnes & Noble shopping bag and pulled out her new volume of the Beastars manga.
Wendy looked over at the line for Panda Express. Cass was still waiting near the back. That place was pretty popular given the dozen of people waiting in line with her. Personally, Wendy didn't care much for Panda Express. She preferred the take-out Chinese, because it was more flavorful.
She took a bite of her big pizza slice. After wiping the grease off her hands, she reached into her Barnes & Noble shopping bag and pulled out her new volume of the Beastars manga.
Was it weird for them to stare? Could they really call Wendy a friend, or do they just act vaguely friendly to everybody in school and hope that their classmates pitied them enough to show them some love back?
'Renzo never liked comics, even as a kid. Never liked furries either. They used to hang around the weird girls, like, yeah, those weird girls that were a little over or underweight and read Warrior Cats and drew little anime puppies on their notebooks and talked about their crushes, which were always men that are either fictional or like in their mid thirties. Sometimes they couldn't help but wonder how they ended up. Maybe Wendy was one of those kids. What about Zhijuan?
It had suddenly occurred to Lorenzo with the force of a speeding train that they never really knew people, like, actually knew them on a deeper-than-superficial level, which was honestly an occurrence that slams into them about once a week, hurting a bit more every time.
It's not about them, though.
They took a breath and took a step, towards the girls, taking a casual sip of their bubble tea. A particularly large pearl was stuck in their straw. They frowned.
'Renzo never liked comics, even as a kid. Never liked furries either. They used to hang around the weird girls, like, yeah, those weird girls that were a little over or underweight and read Warrior Cats and drew little anime puppies on their notebooks and talked about their crushes, which were always men that are either fictional or like in their mid thirties. Sometimes they couldn't help but wonder how they ended up. Maybe Wendy was one of those kids. What about Zhijuan?
It had suddenly occurred to Lorenzo with the force of a speeding train that they never really knew people, like, actually knew them on a deeper-than-superficial level, which was honestly an occurrence that slams into them about once a week, hurting a bit more every time.
It's not about them, though.
They took a breath and took a step, towards the girls, taking a casual sip of their bubble tea. A particularly large pearl was stuck in their straw. They frowned.
Blood Tongue Nails Teeth
Zhijuan looked at Lorenzo. A they-them of some sort. Sometimes Lorenza. Zhijuan took another bite out of the whipped cream. Skateboard and music and video games, they all compounded together in the shape of Araya. Zhijuan spun the metal straw, poking at the ice at the bottom. She had never been good with video games, they were always too loud and too quick. Even when it was the type she should technically be liking, Zhijuan still never managed to get into it.
Zhijuan's eyes trailed to the other classmates.
Wendy was... Wendy, or rather Gwendolyn. Zhijuan preferred to call her Gwendolyn. Wendy felt too personal, and Zhijuan had never been near or close or even on a middle ground with Gwendolyn. Kennedy was interesting.
(Openly into her nerdy interests: the anime club was a big mark on her record alongside the fact that she sputtered things about video games, again a topic that was out of reach for Zhijuan.)
Little sister was a blank spot. Zhijuan had never bothered to look at her than as Kennedy's little sister. It wasn't much, but it was better than a background character, or an extra. Zhijuan took another bite of her bagel, looking at the incoming interaction.
Zhijuan's eyes trailed to the other classmates.
Wendy was... Wendy, or rather Gwendolyn. Zhijuan preferred to call her Gwendolyn. Wendy felt too personal, and Zhijuan had never been near or close or even on a middle ground with Gwendolyn. Kennedy was interesting.
(Openly into her nerdy interests: the anime club was a big mark on her record alongside the fact that she sputtered things about video games, again a topic that was out of reach for Zhijuan.)
Little sister was a blank spot. Zhijuan had never bothered to look at her than as Kennedy's little sister. It wasn't much, but it was better than a background character, or an extra. Zhijuan took another bite of her bagel, looking at the incoming interaction.
As Wendy sipped her Sprite, she noticed someone approach her table. It was Ren Araya. She (Ren is a girl, right?) wasn’t the most social person at school, so Wendy didn’t know her very well. Still, they didn’t seem all that bad.
Ren had a boba tea in her hand. That looked pretty good. Wendy waved to Ren, trying to make a friendly first impress.
“Hey,” said Wendy, “How’s it going?”
Ren had a boba tea in her hand. That looked pretty good. Wendy waved to Ren, trying to make a friendly first impress.
“Hey,” said Wendy, “How’s it going?”
"Oh! uh, it's been going pretty well. How 'bout you?" They asked, preparing to engage in the most scripted conversation in history. It's weird how people use "how are you doing" or something like that as a greeting. Like, what if they aren't doing well? How would one respond to this? Social norms are weird. Not that they don't follow them, well, alright maybe half of their entire identity isn't really the norm but that's not here nor there, the point is that conversations these days seemed to be some kind of scripted video game event where there are exactly three dialogue choices and one of them gives you more friendship points or whatever.
And Ren was a noob looking up guides online.
They looked at Zhijuan. And they looked back at Wendy!
Oh, oh, here's another question to add to the pile- what are you supposed to do when you recognize your classmates in public? Because, well, small world and all that. Awkward meet-ups were bound to happen, unless one is some kind of shut in that never got out, but that's not Ren nor Zhi nor Wendy, so, like, throw that thought out.
Do they talk to Zhijuan? Do they initiate the convo? Or should they just wait and see if she's, like, "Oh hey these peeps are talking about something cool, I should join" or something like that even though Ren and Wendy's interests probably don't really mash together with Zhijuan's all that much? Like, OK, if you gave a rich old white man a description of what they all are like they'll all be shoved into 'nerd' for entirely different reasons (Well, Ren sure hope they aren't a nerd but like you know how D&D's got kind of a weird rep and like even though a singular trait should never put a person under a category that's defined by a lot of vaguely connected but different traits sometimes one thing has more weight that the other thing so like playing D&D kind of slapped a label of 'unfuckable nerd' unto them as Rosa would call it except Rosa's perception of the world and teenaged social 'castes' are all influenced by teenaged girls being fed BS media that dictated what men wanted them to be like so like it doesn't count but whatever but still like it also kind of depends on which rich old white man was doing the selecting of course because rich old white men kind of popularized and created large chunks of D&D even though those chunks are kind of like vaguely racist stuff taken from other cultures but hey that's kind of modern entertainment for ya and honestly Ren would rather just play it and not think about it because thinking about it means thinking about a lot of other stuff and the world's kind of way too problematic y'know like everybody would be judged by their hobbies by one person or another 'cause people are like that and like Wendy probably got a lot of wack shit for being a furry and Zhijuan probably got a lot of wack shit for i dunno reading a lot which was kind of weird because reading is a cool thing and all but like anti-intellectualism or whatever its called is still alive and well and like the point is that people probably thought that Ren, Wendy, and Zhi were all weird nerds and all weird nerds should be lumped together so therefore they all should talk and run around in the same social circles and stuff which is totally wrong and stupid like how do people even reach that conclusion and yeah I'm looking at you mom???)
So yeah they just kind of looked at Zhi like 'I know you're here but I'm not gonna call you out or anything just know that if you wanna join in you can totally feel free to do so but also if you don't that's cool too.'
"So, uh, what are you reading?"
Which was apparently kind of a way people ask, like, "can you explain it for me" like how when playing video games some people would ask "what are you playing" as kind of a nicer substitute for "can I play with you?"
But that's just a thing they saw on tumblr, so...
And Ren was a noob looking up guides online.
They looked at Zhijuan. And they looked back at Wendy!
Oh, oh, here's another question to add to the pile- what are you supposed to do when you recognize your classmates in public? Because, well, small world and all that. Awkward meet-ups were bound to happen, unless one is some kind of shut in that never got out, but that's not Ren nor Zhi nor Wendy, so, like, throw that thought out.
Do they talk to Zhijuan? Do they initiate the convo? Or should they just wait and see if she's, like, "Oh hey these peeps are talking about something cool, I should join" or something like that even though Ren and Wendy's interests probably don't really mash together with Zhijuan's all that much? Like, OK, if you gave a rich old white man a description of what they all are like they'll all be shoved into 'nerd' for entirely different reasons (Well, Ren sure hope they aren't a nerd but like you know how D&D's got kind of a weird rep and like even though a singular trait should never put a person under a category that's defined by a lot of vaguely connected but different traits sometimes one thing has more weight that the other thing so like playing D&D kind of slapped a label of 'unfuckable nerd' unto them as Rosa would call it except Rosa's perception of the world and teenaged social 'castes' are all influenced by teenaged girls being fed BS media that dictated what men wanted them to be like so like it doesn't count but whatever but still like it also kind of depends on which rich old white man was doing the selecting of course because rich old white men kind of popularized and created large chunks of D&D even though those chunks are kind of like vaguely racist stuff taken from other cultures but hey that's kind of modern entertainment for ya and honestly Ren would rather just play it and not think about it because thinking about it means thinking about a lot of other stuff and the world's kind of way too problematic y'know like everybody would be judged by their hobbies by one person or another 'cause people are like that and like Wendy probably got a lot of wack shit for being a furry and Zhijuan probably got a lot of wack shit for i dunno reading a lot which was kind of weird because reading is a cool thing and all but like anti-intellectualism or whatever its called is still alive and well and like the point is that people probably thought that Ren, Wendy, and Zhi were all weird nerds and all weird nerds should be lumped together so therefore they all should talk and run around in the same social circles and stuff which is totally wrong and stupid like how do people even reach that conclusion and yeah I'm looking at you mom???)
So yeah they just kind of looked at Zhi like 'I know you're here but I'm not gonna call you out or anything just know that if you wanna join in you can totally feel free to do so but also if you don't that's cool too.'
"So, uh, what are you reading?"
Which was apparently kind of a way people ask, like, "can you explain it for me" like how when playing video games some people would ask "what are you playing" as kind of a nicer substitute for "can I play with you?"
But that's just a thing they saw on tumblr, so...
Blood Tongue Nails Teeth
Zhijuan was going to leave because, no offense, she wasn't interested in petty talks. She never enjoyed talking about the weather, or the time of the year, or the news. Small talk was boring talk, and she preferred a bit more than that.
She got up with her food, and started to head out.
And she was going to leave until she looked over her shoulder. Something in her body must have messed up, because now? She was leaning forward way too much. Some of her drink spilled on the side, and she fell forward. Zhijuan tried to catch herself, but instead, she caught her flying drink, squeezing with too much force.
It exploded, spilling on her, and on her classmate.
(She said nothing.
Looked down.
She looked up.
Looked down.)
"Oh wow. That's embarrassing."
She got up with her food, and started to head out.
And she was going to leave until she looked over her shoulder. Something in her body must have messed up, because now? She was leaning forward way too much. Some of her drink spilled on the side, and she fell forward. Zhijuan tried to catch herself, but instead, she caught her flying drink, squeezing with too much force.
It exploded, spilling on her, and on her classmate.
(She said nothing.
Looked down.
She looked up.
Looked down.)
"Oh wow. That's embarrassing."
“Oh! It’s called Beastars,” Wendy said.
That question perked her right up. She loved talking about her favorite series, and she was happy to educate someone who probably hasn’t seen much anime. However, she needed to stay calm, otherwise she’ll come off as an insufferable web. And she could NOT give off the fact that she found the anthropomorphic animal characters attractive.
“It’s about this wolf guy,” she began, “and he’s fallen in love with this rabbit girl, and he’s trying to overcome his instinct to eat her. Also, there was a murder at the school they attend, and Legoshi, the wolf guy, is trying to solve it. And there’s this deer guy who—“
Before she could continue rambling, the girl that sat at the next table spilled her drink on Wendy. Fortunately, her new manga wasn’t ruined, but her shirt certainly was. It was a white t-shirt, with Sailor Moon on the front. Now it was stained with coffee. She didn’t say anything. All she could respond with was a gasp and a surprised expression.
That question perked her right up. She loved talking about her favorite series, and she was happy to educate someone who probably hasn’t seen much anime. However, she needed to stay calm, otherwise she’ll come off as an insufferable web. And she could NOT give off the fact that she found the anthropomorphic animal characters attractive.
“It’s about this wolf guy,” she began, “and he’s fallen in love with this rabbit girl, and he’s trying to overcome his instinct to eat her. Also, there was a murder at the school they attend, and Legoshi, the wolf guy, is trying to solve it. And there’s this deer guy who—“
Before she could continue rambling, the girl that sat at the next table spilled her drink on Wendy. Fortunately, her new manga wasn’t ruined, but her shirt certainly was. It was a white t-shirt, with Sailor Moon on the front. Now it was stained with coffee. She didn’t say anything. All she could respond with was a gasp and a surprised expression.
"Oh," Ren said.
"Oh, yeah, I've heard of it. The furry anime!"
A smile stretched on their face, faltering as the coffee spilled on the girl.
"Oh, yikes, um, lemme grab a napkin!"
It's always been like this, whenever something mildly inconveniences somebody, Ren would instinctually offer to take time out of their day to help. Sometimes, even when they don't want to. Especially when they don't want to. Like they have something to prove.
So even when they dreaded every extra step they took to the napkin dispenser, it felt good, because, well, it was good to be good, you get it? Like, let homeboy be nice to everybody.
"Oh, yeah, I've heard of it. The furry anime!"
A smile stretched on their face, faltering as the coffee spilled on the girl.
"Oh, yikes, um, lemme grab a napkin!"
It's always been like this, whenever something mildly inconveniences somebody, Ren would instinctually offer to take time out of their day to help. Sometimes, even when they don't want to. Especially when they don't want to. Like they have something to prove.
So even when they dreaded every extra step they took to the napkin dispenser, it felt good, because, well, it was good to be good, you get it? Like, let homeboy be nice to everybody.
Blood Tongue Nails Teeth
Zhijuan blubbering and blathering.
She was losing face. She wanted to press rewind. She wanted to scream. Zhijuan fucking hated going out in public. She wanted nobody to see her half the time, and the other half, when she wanted to be seen, she wanted to push people down into a chair and tell them how to act. Right now? She wanted to tell herself how to act.
"God fucking dammit," she said to herself, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry-"
(It was a pretty shirt too. It was of a TV-show she watched as a kid, maybe. She wasn't entirely sure. All that art usually looked the same to Zhijuan.)
"Please tell me this wasn't expensive," she blurted out without thinking. Her hands reached out for brown napkin as the other kid went to get more of them. "I'm so so sorry."
She prayed to become see through.
She was losing face. She wanted to press rewind. She wanted to scream. Zhijuan fucking hated going out in public. She wanted nobody to see her half the time, and the other half, when she wanted to be seen, she wanted to push people down into a chair and tell them how to act. Right now? She wanted to tell herself how to act.
"God fucking dammit," she said to herself, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry-"
(It was a pretty shirt too. It was of a TV-show she watched as a kid, maybe. She wasn't entirely sure. All that art usually looked the same to Zhijuan.)
"Please tell me this wasn't expensive," she blurted out without thinking. Her hands reached out for brown napkin as the other kid went to get more of them. "I'm so so sorry."
She prayed to become see through.
“Uh, it was a gift, actually,” Wendy said, in the calmest voice she could muster, “I’m not sure how much it cost.”
Wendy looked at the girl who had spilled their drink on her. Wendy was shocked and annoyed, but she didn’t want to cause a scene bigger than it should be. The only attention she enjoyed was the attention she got from her art posts.
“It’s-it’s alright,” Wendy said to the girl, trying to calm her, “It was an accident, right? No biggie.”
Wendy grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the table, and wiped on her arm and torso. The stain on her shirt probably needed some bleach to fix. Her main priority was to get dry. Ren had gone to get some napkins. That was kind of her.
Wendy looked at the girl who had spilled their drink on her. Wendy was shocked and annoyed, but she didn’t want to cause a scene bigger than it should be. The only attention she enjoyed was the attention she got from her art posts.
“It’s-it’s alright,” Wendy said to the girl, trying to calm her, “It was an accident, right? No biggie.”
Wendy grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the table, and wiped on her arm and torso. The stain on her shirt probably needed some bleach to fix. Her main priority was to get dry. Ren had gone to get some napkins. That was kind of her.
Shit, what do you mean they just ran out?
Blood Tongue Nails Teeth
WHAT THE FUCK YOU YOU MEAN MOM'S CALLING THEM HOME???
((LORENZO ARAYA CONTINUED BACK OH GOD OH FUCK IT BETTER NOT BE AN EMERGENCY SWEAR TO GOD THEY CAN'T RISK LOOKING LIKE A DICK WHO AMANDONED THEIR FRIENDS OH GOD OH FUCK)
((LORENZO ARAYA CONTINUED BACK OH GOD OH FUCK IT BETTER NOT BE AN EMERGENCY SWEAR TO GOD THEY CAN'T RISK LOOKING LIKE A DICK WHO AMANDONED THEIR FRIENDS OH GOD OH FUCK)
Blood Tongue Nails Teeth