Chapter 3

Mizuchi was fuming with anger.

How dared that freak of a bat just stepped on her foot without looking! He was creepy enough with ears too big for his head, those wings that were sewed to his fingers and those eyes...

Those eyes are just like voids without an end.

If it weren't for that wolf, she would have clobber that bat up! She saw that the other students were creeped out by him but she would be the first one to hit him if he ever comes close to her again.

The harlequin rabbit decided to maker her way towards her history class. A boring subject where she would just record what the teacher is saying on her phone or she could ask her friends to lend her their homework to copy.

She would rather be watching her favourite show on her laptop or check out some online stores for new clothe designs.

'Can't the class be anymore boring?' Mizuchi thought with a small yawn, trying to let her long ears listen to her teacher's droning. But then something caught her attention.

"- Now, we will dive into the war between the Birds, Beasts and Bats," announced the teacher. Mizuchi was convinced that the other students in the auditorium was now stirring from their boredom. This was new and she was sure it had something to do with that freak's arrival.

All of the class' sleepy demeanour was roused by the mention of the bat. Some students took out their notepads and laptop, ready to write down notes. Others were whispering in excitement, which meant that all the students will now know what to expect with the only Chiroptera on campus.

Clearing his throat, the teacher began. "Long ago, millions and millions of years ago during the Cretaceous period, the world was an empty place..."

'Empty place? I thought that's where out ancestors once roamed?' Mizuchi thought to herself. She may not like studying but she's not ignorant about the subjects the school taught her.

"Dinosaurs, our ancestors ruled both the land and skies which will later became our very own herbivores and carnivores," the teacher continued. "Bats were different however because they have the qualities of both to survive. Before their evolution, they were allowed to roam during the day and see the sun."

Mizuchi would lie if she said that the story behind the bats bored her. But that big-eared rat with wings was seen walking around campus before sunset. Hell, she wondered why she is thinking about him!

"Since the birds and beasts were dangerous, the bats stayed out of every conflict until they were surrounded. Because they won't choose a side, they were banished to be in eternal darkness. The Chiropteras were deemed as cowards and traitors among animals. From there, their fate has led them to uncertain lives..."

The auditorium was silent until a hand was raised up.

"Wait a minute, Teacher!" a lemur student protested. "They were banished to mix with us just because their ancestors were neutral about the war?!"

"Hey, sometimes you have to choose a side!" a leopard classmate argued. "We can't always be neutral and expect things to die down so quickly!"

"I wouldn't blame them," a rhinoceros student huffed. "Have you seen those wings and teeth? They made all of the carnivores in this room tame in comparison!"

The whole class became a sea of murmuring until the teacher decided to silenced them again. Mizuchi rolled her eyes and stopped her phone from recording. The other parts of the lesson is useless anyways. She took out a pencil to doodle a bit on a new design for either a handbag or a blouse until the class is over.

For now, she would forget about that bat with his soulless stare...

...

The next morning, Arthur woke up to the alarm from his phone. Before bed, he received a voice message from Haru, saying that he should meet her at the rooftop before breakfast. Arthur was curious to know what she wanted but decided not to question it.

Questioning a lot of things doesn't get you anywhere.

Arthur had three brushes after his morning shower: One for the bath, one for his fur and the last one for the membrane from his wings.

He was glad that no one was up yet when he left the carnivore dorm to go to the school building. Like other students, he wore the school uniform but had to cut out the sleeves of the shirt and vest since his wings were too large to fit into the sleeves.

He had his student card with him. To others, they could see what was written but could not fathom why there were little dots inscribed below each letter. To Arthur, it's how he had to read. The morning had a wonderful breeze and his ears picked up a few butterflies fluttering about.

He made his way to the rooftop with just his clicks. Since not many animals were awake, he could allow himself to make the clicks louder which helped him a lot. He heard humming and the whooshing sound of water loud enough to be a waterfall coming from the watering can.

When Arthur gently knocked on the door, the whooshing stopped. "Come in!" a feminine voice called out.

Arthur entered and was hit with the pleasant fragrance of the flowers. He was happy to hear their little chatters without breaking into a fight like yesterday. He brought his music with him if he needed to sooth those botanic souls.

"Good morning, Arthur," Haru greeted him politely. "How are you settling in?"

"It was rowdy," he answered, still a bit dazed at all voices from the rabbit and the flowers coming from all sides. He lowered his disc-like ears down to block some of the sounds.

"Ah, you'll be fine!" Haru assured him. "You're a bat so I don't know, tell them you would suck their blood and will haunt them."

Arthur was tad annoyed that most of the animals assumed all bats are as vicious as their Vampyrum relatives from the same family. Majority of Chiropteras are omnivores where they eat both carnivore and herbivore diets.

Arthur was told to help Haru water some of the flowers, plant some new seeds and adding special nutrients into the soil. Haru was impressed that he could manage without his sight. She would be scared if she can't see anymore.

Also, she wondered how his hands worked since the thumb and pointer finger looked normal but the last three were so long and fused with the wings. She can't imagine how he could type or write with hands like those.

Needless to say, his silent company was nice, even if she caught him talking among the flowers. Now that's an ability she would want!

Once they were finished, Haru and Arthur decided to take a break in the shed. The dwarf rabbit almost screamed when the bat suddenly leaped up to hang himself upside down on the ceiling. Oh yeah, that's a bat's thing...

"Thank you for letting me be part of your club," said Arthur, whose cloudy eyes seemed to stare far away. Haru watched him in awe.

"Hey, it's my job as the president of this club!" she huffed. "No one here takes care of the flowers but me. But hey, you looked like you enjoyed yourself."

"I know. When I was back home with my dad and Nana, we used to play music to the garden. You'll be surprised to know that they enjoy it just like us."

Haru was speechless again. She was even more surprised when he took out a tiny harmonica from his bag and played a tune. It sounded a bit rusty but cheery which is something to wake up to in the morning.

Haru leaned back to listen, seeing that Arthur may be different than most of the male students. She wondered if Legosi knows that he could play music.

"I bet he'll love to see this," she murmured.

Little did they both know that the tune from Arthur's Harmonica can be heard throughout campus, making every herbivore and carnivore pause in their daily routine just to listen. Teachers stopped writing their paperwork, cooks in cafeteria halted their preparation of meals and the morning chatter became silent.

Even the president of the drama club.