he's mine.

Prey

"I'm offended. I barely even talk to her."

"Sure you are," he smirked. "But. Carnivores are the same in nature. That shouldn't be news to you. That's why the black market exists.

He looked at me, standing up, "Black Market meat... is secretly provided by hospitals, sometimes funeral homes. So it may not be legal, but atleast you're not killing the animal yourself." By the time he was finished talking, he was facing a wall with a blue curtain draped down towards the floor. There was a wire which the panda held.

"See..." he said as he pulled down the wire, "this is the fate of carnivores who surrender to their instincts and kill the herbivores themselves...

"Some can't forget the flavor of meat..." he said as I was shocked by the millions of pictures posted onto the wall; photos of carnivores with limbs ripped off, bones showing, hair being pulled out, some with rotting flesh, others with an unstoppable drool of saliva; all adorning the cracked moss-colored wall, "and end off chewing their own limb. Some lose their fur cause of stress. Others loathe themselves and resort to self-destructive behavior.

"One carnivore ate another carnivore only because she smelled similar to the herbivore."

"Okay so..." I said, staring meaninglessly into the couch in front of me. "Who are you exactly?"

He took a whiff of his cigarette, and slowly breathed it out of his nose.

"Me?" he said calmly. "I practice psychosomatic medicine, just outside the Black Market. One of those respectable doctors... here to keep these cases happening again. Whether I'm your foe or your ally, that's for you to decide.

—

"Sooo! you're a student at Cherryton High," he scanned me. "Alright, what's with the 'I'm so miserable' look? You're a pain in the ass!"

I looked down towards the book he lent me about carnivore species. A giant panda like him was regularly huge, with strength greater than most carnivores. He was no different to a brown bear, another species capable of great strength. One difference was that, despite being a carnivore, pandas had the ability to survive on grass.

"So... I was wondering, when you're practicing, what do you consider yourself to be?" He hummed in confusion. "Do you consider yourself as a... panda with a strong body or a panda who never eats meat?"

He laughed, "Now that question deserves an A! I put my beast self to rest, and realized this town needed a doctor. I focused all my energy into that for over ten years. I've been nearly killed several times and could only save a handful of carnivores. In order to break this cycle, I continued to eat only bamboo grass and work out a lot," he flexed a giant muscle which surprised me. "I'm just... a doctor who's a little bit strong. Nothing more than that."

Sounds like this man's telling the truth.

I looked down towards my book again, but instead I grabbed a hold of the beverage the panda had given me and took a sip from the cup. The distinct taste of greenery fled into my tongue, which tasted horrible to me. I gulped in disgust.

The panda laughed, "Good, huh? It's tea made from bamboo grass."

"So then... how do you usually treat those carnivores? The ones you consider to be at risk?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Treat? What do you exactly think I'm doing now?

"Carrot sticks and counselling."

Wait.

"I'm not a patient!" I said spitefully.

"That's the first thing they all say," the panda groaned.

"I'm different! I'm trying to overcome it myself!" I spat, much louder than before.

"Aaand that's the second thing..."

"What do you know about it anyway?! Listen! I'm never gonna be near her again!—"

"Enough!" he screamed, banging the table with his large fist and making everything jump, including me. "Shut up you bastard! Screeching at me like you're some chihuahua," he had me in his grip, holding me over the floor with only the top of my t-shirt, "I'll teach you...

"I'm sure deep down you genuinely do wanna believe you're never going to harm her again, but as I said all carnivores... they're the same. You may never want to see her again, but you're going to worsen up and eventually... you may even injure another. It's the hard truth, Legoshi.

"Remember the tiger I told you about? The one who had eaten another carnivore? The carnivore was a pure-white wolf, which I assumed under the blood-bleached fur and ripped off limbs. According to the tiger... he had devoured a rabbit just before, which smelled exactly like her. Of course, his hunting instincts forced her to get closer to the wolf before.

"Whether or not was it coincidental that she looked similar, he should've cut ties before."

"But I've never... devoured the rabbit. Why are you telling me this?"

He looked at me, walked towards me and placed a hand on my shoulder, saying worryingly, "Look, Legoshi, I can tell you memorized her scent, and by how long you've known that, and you claim you never saw her again, how else would you memorize it? If this ever happens, Legoshi, it change your life in the worst way imaginable. If you could, don't make this any worse. Sever all communications with them, or suffer in your own instincts."

How'd he know... all that?

I'm not going to. I never will.

He let go of me, making me stumble awkwardly after being held above the ground for a while. He chuckled, "It's a bit late now, you should be heading home, or school if I'm mistaken."

"Y-yeah, I will. Sorry for the trouble."

"Ah, well," he smiled as he watched me snatch my bag out of spite. "The young generation's just asking for trouble. They get all worked up and label everything as normal."

"Is it not? The predatory instinct of carnivores is normal, isn't it?"

"Don't get too comfortable with the label. You'll end up becoming some psychopath," he said, scooting me out of the apartment. "Cut them off Legoshi, you have to."

I won't. I can't.

I fucking can't.

Gohin shut the door. My face reddened. Stupid panda. Stupid carnivores. Stupid life. What good was it to be born of a carnivore, a beast who's job is to depopulate other living animals? Not even a good word, what I meant was to murder the entire population of living animals.

Fuck my life.

The rain was drizzling, but I felt my face pour with tears as I paced myself faster to get to school as quick as I can. I am going to forget everything, all this. I'm never going to forgive myself if I ever kill him, but how am I gonna live if... he's the only thing making me feel good about, well, me?

All I wanted to do is run forward. I don't care about tripping. I don't care about falling. I'm running straight to him... his arms, his body. I want his comfort... but would he ever give me that?

I stopped.

Would he?

How could I be so selfish that I forgot he wasn't... what I am? He obviously doesn't have feelings for me. Obviously it struck my heart, that I realized he may not even like me as mad as I do for him, and obviously it tore me apart inside out.

"Legoshi?" I heard call.

"Aoba. Why are you here?"

"I... had to get out of there. I couldn't actually bring myself to eat that old man's finger. When I thought about the president, Louis, and all the herbivore friends that I have. I just... started feeling nauseous."

Oh, Aoba...

The tears all came back to me. I hated being a carnivore. I deserve to rot. Everything's falling apart. I hated being whatever a carnivore was meant to be... I would never hurt [Y/N]. I would never.