Brand New Animal: Beyond Human

Chapter 7: The Feast

Nazuna

I...

Uh....

Wha...

I was thinking it was going to be something along the lines of a faceless, almost eyeless alien that you'd see out of a space soap opera!

But...

The face...

It's so...

HUMAN!

Not 'the' face...

HIS...face.

The one named...

Cato

The name reminds me of a character from a book, I think, I just can't remember...

Me, and my friends, witness him smile, for real this time as he chuckles, revealing normal pearly white human teeth.

"Surprised?"

"Y-Yeah..." Michiru utters.

"Wasn't expecting this..." I nod.

Shirou only walks up to our human-alien-friend, standing face to face with him.

We get in a position where we can properly see them both.

Only slightly taller, and Shirou letting an open mouth slip through his poker face, he looks on at the one who could easily classify as his brother or his son (if we're stretching that).

It's, uncanny to say the least with how similar they look...

Seriously! Out of everything, that was the thing that took me aback the most.

I guess with just about noticeable differences all around, the one that stands out is that Shirou's hair is longer.

I'm still processing this even after a day of him being here...

Also, I've never seen Shirou laugh before, which was why it was so strange to see someone with a similar face smile like that.

"Are we..." Shirou starts.

"No, no we're not, unfortunately." He shakes his head.

"You didn't even hear what I was going to-"

"Counterparts? No, there's a whole baggage to unpack there."

"So..." I interject, he turns to me. "You really are human?"

He shakes his head.

"In shape, so to say."

"What's that mean?" Michiru asks, confused.

"I may have roots there, but I guess you would say...I'm beyond it."

"Still not getting the cryptic messages, man." She replies.

"Then I'd use Shirou as an example. He may appear human, but the cover is only part of the book." He gestures to his doppelganger.

"So, you're not entirely human." Michiru suggests.

"I don't want to blow your mind too many times in a row without at least giving you a chance to cool down. Especially with what we've recently been through..." He looks to the ground, and then us, gesturing to our clothing.

I look down and sure enough, my blood has soaked my grey hoodie.

Michiru does the same to her red jacket, as well as Shirou with his trench coat.

This is giving me mini-PTSD I didn't think I had already, as well as a sense of 'now I know how it feels'...

I still remember the inescapable excruciating pain of when I was cut by that accursed blade...