Like a Hyena

Ravel and Fantasia are watching speechlessly the grand finale of the dolphin show while holding hands.

This is it. This makes me so happy. Her hand is so warm and smooth. I like her long girly fingers.

As he is swirls up in all kinds of emotions, he gently caresses the back of her hand with his thumb, savoring the connection between them.

Come to think of it, we have been on our feet from early morning and she still smells so nice.

I can’t believe she just let me hold her hand like this. Is it because she doesn’t know how a girl should react in a situation like this?

Fantasia keeps staring at the grandiose finishing move of the dolphins but Ravel can’t help but to look at her sparkled up face, illuminated with awe and wonder. He was the one who was looking forward to the show more but in the end, her almost childish and innocent reaction was what stole his attention.

Holding hands can seem like an innocent gesture but in fact, it yells something to the world. It says: ‘This girl belongs to me. And I belong to her.’

“Fantasia and Ravel bid you farewell! We hope to see you all again soon! Goodbye!”

Their reverie was interrupted by the MC who has officially ended the show with his speech.

“Let’s get something to drink!”

Fantasia still holding Ravel’s hand just blurts all of a sudden and pulls him away towards the buffet.

Once they reach the buffet, they are pleasantly surprised to see no waiting line. Fantasia buys two bottles of water, one for her and the other one for Ravel. She hands it to him but he just stares at the bottle without taking it.

“What’s wrong? Did you want anything else?”

“No, it’s fine, I just…”

Ravel sighs, this feels like a normal relationship.

“I hope you enjoyed the show.”

Suddenly, a male voice from behind Ravel speaks out to them in a chilling tone. Fantasia, recognizing that voice and face, isn’t surprised in the slightest. Ravel turns around only to find a familiar face.

“Hey, I know you!” Ravel swiftly points with his finger, surprised to see him.

It was the red-haired student who he locked his eyes with in his class the other day.

“N-nice to see you, Ares,” Fantasia politely bows her head.

“Ares? You know him?”

“Of course she knows me! I am surprised you don’t know me, Ravel. I’m her classmate from 1.B!”

“Oh, I didn’t know that!”

“What did you think of our main stars, the dolphin duo Fantasia and Ravel?” Spreading his arms, he speaks in a provocative tone.

“What do you mean?”

Ravel frowns at him, realizing something is not right.

“Y-you know, his father owns this Zoo…”

“He does?? Then that means…! I knew it! Those names of the dolphins were no coincidence at all!”

“Don’t be so suspicious of me~, there are a lot of coincidences in this world!” he laughs playfully but his gaze turns sinister, glaring at Ravel as if he was trying to cut him with his sight. “But this is no coincidence indeed. I deliberately chose the names for them myself. The strong hero dolphin Ravel taking care of the unusually small and injured dolphin Fantasia. The names couldn’t have been more perfect.”

“What are you trying to say?!”

Ravel's anger rises, though he knew there was no reason for it yet. Something about Ares just rubs him the wrong way.

“Oh nothing~. Just enjoy your date, lovebirds. We love to see another monkey at our Zoo.”

Ares turns on his heel and takes his leave, not waiting for their reaction or looking back.

“Why you…!!” Ravel is tempted to chase after him, but Fantasia places her hand on his chest, halting his advance.

“I knew he would be here and I really didn’t want to run into any of my classmates during the weekend… I didn’t want to ruin our time together by any provocations…But it’s fine! We shouldn’t worry!” She tugs Ravel’s t-shirt as if asking for his attention.

“Damn! I hope he slips on that water I spilled! Ruining our date like this…”

“Huh? Is this a date?”

“W-well! I just said it because he mentioned it and it got stuck in my head and I didn’t-“

“Hahahah!” She interrupts his panic attack with a loud laughter. “You’re so funny! Don’t worry! I am not that stupid, I know what a date is even if I never went on one. And this definitely feels like a proper date, so why not?”

Ravel’s eyes widened and his face turned a little red, completely forgetting the recent interaction.

“So you accepted this invitation knowing this would be a normal date…?”

“Let’s go! After Dolphins, Emus are next on the list, right?”

She grabs him and takes him away from the buffet to get back on the track.

“Emus, emus… I can’t understand this map at all, where are they?”

“Hmm, let me see.”

Ravel takes the guide map from her hand and starts studying it.

“OH LOOK!!! They’re here!!!”

Fantasia lets go of his hand and runs towards a metal cage.

“What, the emus? No, emus wouldn’t be held in such a place… Oh.”

As Ravel cut distance between him and Fantasia, he started to recognize the animals walking around the cage.

“Hyenas?”

“Hyenas…!”

Fantasia rapidly sat on the ground in the safe distance between her and the cage to watch the hyenas up-close.

“So these are your favorite animals?”

“Hyenas are so cute~! I don’t think I’ve ever seen prettier animals!”

“What are you saying, hyenas aren’t as cute as cheetahs or tigers, in fact, they are pretty ug-“

Ravel stopped himself in the middle of a word he was about to say. He understood. He finally understood.

Fantasia is able to see beauty in things most of the people can’t. Her favorite animals are these terrifying creatures with a fur that doesn’t seem as smooth as other cat beasts’, bigger ears than normal, weird body structure and irregular face.

Fantasia loved the beauty in the plain. Fantasia loved the beauty in the ugly.

“Did you know that hyenas work in clans? They can even calculate. If an enemy clan has more members than theirs, they are able to come up with a different strategy in order to gain advantage with less numbers. On top of that, their leaders are strong females. Hyena society is build in a matriarch way.”

She sat idly and just kept talking as Ravel continued to stare at the calm beasts.

“Wow.”

He couldn’t say anything else.

“Yeah.”

“This is the first time I am seeing a hyena with my own eyes. I only saw them on the photos or videos before. When I look at them up-close… I can see it. They are very cute.” He averts his eyes towards Fantasia. “And beautiful.”

“I wish I was also as strong as a hyena. Maybe I could even command you airheads. And by you, I mean men, heheh.”

“You are strong.” Ravel asserts in a serious tone.

“No, I’m not.” Fantasia mirrors his seriousness.

“Yes, you are.”

He crouches down to her, facing her and blocking her view on the hyenas.

“You’re blocking my view.” Fantasia keeps her voice calm.

“I know.” Ravel gazes deeply into her eyes.

“Don’t do that.”

“I will.”

Their breathing becomes heavier as tension filled the air.

“Why are you like this.”

“I’m about to do something.”

“Then do it already.”

“Are you sure?”

“I know what happens next.”

“Then I’m about to do that.”

“I’m still waiting.”

“Then here I go.”

“Okay.”

“You ready?”

“Always.”

“Then let’s-“

Fantasia couldn’t wait any longer and so she decides to make a stop to his nonsensical babbling by making the first move. She gently presses her soft, moist lips against his. Ravel is so surprised he doesn’t close his eyes for the first few seconds. When he realizes what’s happening, he closes them, savoring the moment.

Their first kiss.

They felt like time is frozen in place.

They didn’t mind that the position in which they were kissing was not the most comfortable one.

When Fantasia finally pulled away, she slowly moved her head back, her gaze fixed on Ravel's blue eyes.

Ravel was taken aback. As a man, he had believed it was his role to initiate such a moment.

“Y-you… disrupted my World Order…”

“The females really are more competent at leadership. So I took what’s mine. Just like that ‘ugly’ beast. Like a hyena.”

CHAPTER 6: END