Chapter 10 The Pack

In the yard of the Etsudo residence, the obsidian Tyrannosaurus Rex had appeared once again. Everyone in the yard could not take their eyes off the most infamous dinosaur on the planet. Narumi had lost her rock paper scissors match to Kohaku and had to change into the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Etsudo tried to keep her cool, the sight of all those razor teeth and those terrifying eyes was chilling her spine. Her laptop began running her photogrammetry program. The Tyrannosaurus Rex had such a presence.

“Hahaha!” Matabei whooped. “T-Rex!”

Even Daichi was floored by such a monstrous beast. As data was being collected for Etsudo’s outfits, the Tyrannosaurus Rex constantly set her eyes on Kohaku, staring right down at him.

Narumi was still not pleased that she lost to Kohaku in that game of rock paper scissors and had to change for Etsudo’s measuring, but fair was fair. Kohaku noticed her stare but decided to let her have it given the circumstances.

Matabei’s elation over all the dinosaurs did not let up, the silly grin on his face could not be hidden. “You guys think if we don’t move she cannot see us?” He snickered.

The response he got was the T-Rex leaning forward. She took a step forward and her head peered down on him. Narumi growled and bared her teeth right in front of Matabei’s face, her green eyes fixed right on him. All Matabei could do was stand there, white and frozen.

“Yeah. She can see you.” Kohaku remarked on the side. Narumi pulled her head back away from Matabei finally giving breathing room.

Despite the unorthodox situation they were in, Narumi could not help the sensation she had. Being a Tyrannosaurus Rex felt powerful.

Upon completing the measurements for Narumi, Etsudo called out to her, “Okay, Uchida-san I’m done.”

Hearing Etsudo, Narumi brought her tail over to her side, the tail pointed right at Kohaku. Narumi growled, she wanted Kohaku’s turn really badly. Kohaku could only sigh at that.

Moments later, yet another creature was in the courtyard.

Kohaku Taiyo, as the Spinosaurus.

Everyone stared at him, and Narumi was the first to voice out, “What the hell is he?”

“Whatever he is,” Daichi said, “He’s bigger than you.”

“Hah? Bigger?” Narumi raised an eyebrow.

“Slightly.”

Narumi gave Kohaku a scrutinizing look, examining him. She could not deny that the giant sail or fin on Kohaku’s back made him look larger.

She wondered. “Maybe without that fin, then he won’t look bigger?”

“Hmm.” Matabei hummed. “Spinosaurus?”

“What?” They turned to him. Matabei was already searching for the image of the animal on his phone. They all gathered as Matabei showed the image, a Spinosaurus eerily cruising in the sea, with a fish in its mouth.

“So, he is like a water dragon or something?” Narumi remarked, looking back at Kohaku.

Matabei chuckled, “Well close enough.”

Etsudo continued running her photogrammetry measuring program from her laptop, only to discover a new problem. Kohaku was too tall, particularly with his sail.

“Uh, Taiyo-san? I need you to lower yourself to the ground. You are too tall.” Etsudo called to him. Kohaku made no objections and crouched down, and Etsudo was able to measure his sail. Narumi had scanning eyes on Kohaku, a mischievous grin was forming at the corner of her mouth.

As Etsudo was finally able to measure his back, Narumi’s grin became toothy. She rushed in before anyone could react and hopped onto the Spinosaurus’ neck. She laughed, “The first girl to ride a dinosaur!”

Kohaku growled out in surprise by the sudden weight in his neck, he quickly rose up to full height with Narumi along for the ride.

“Whoa! Ah!” Narumi yelped and she gripped Kohaku’s neck for balance, all the while she had a big grin. “Giddy up dinosaur!” She playfully kicked her heels hitting his neck.

Kohaku in response turned his head, he could only see Narumi at the corner of one eye. His eyes narrowed, giving Narumi an unamused stare. Narumi could see his displeasure in his eye, making her giggle more. Kohaku lowered himself down, he was not interested in being a petting animal. Narumi simply stuck her tongue at him and got off.

“And now finally,” Narumi said, turning her attention to Etsudo.

Etsudo’s cheeks started to redden. “Eh?”

“What?” Narumi said. “You said it yourself, this is purely professional.”

Etsudo stood up stammering, “I-I know. I-It’s still embarrassing.”

“It’ll be fine, Morita.” Narumi assured her. “You didn’t look anything like a human last time.”

Minutes later, Kohaku had returned in his school uniform. Finally, the last dinosaur to show, Etsudo Morita. She had blue scales all over and was now standing nearly as tall as Daichi, with feet wielding talons for toes with one giant sickle claw on each foot. Her tail swished side to side, her snout held razor-sharp teeth, and she had three-clawed hands.

“Raptor.” Matabei stated.

Narumi took over Etsudo’s laptop to run her measurement program. Narumi had to admit, the program was fairly easy to use. She was starting to feel like a scientist herself.

“Morita, where did you buy this software? How much was it?” Narumi asked as she kept the camera on the laptop focused on the Raptor to measure her size. The Raptor tilted her head almost like a bird, Etsudo raised her hand up, pointing a claw at herself.

Narumi’s eyebrows raised, understanding what Etsudo meant, “Wait, y-you made this Morita?”

Etsudo nodded, leaving Narumi stunned. “Wow, that’s incredible Morita.” She said to Etsudo. The Raptor’s head dipped in shyness. The laptop finally collected all the data needed, showing how tall and how long each dinosaur was. Etsudo would have her work cut out for her, each individual required separate calculations and all were equally delicate.

Soon after, the group left Etsudo Morita to herself, alone in her family’s mansion. It has always been like this throughout most of Etsudo’s life, on her own in her house. She headed down the stairs into the basement, where the family’s laboratory was. Cutting-edge equipment, made by the Morita family.

Etsudo Morita was the heiress to the Morita family and the company, Morita Industries. Her parents, Kyosuke and Seiko Morita ran the company and they had been prosperous in research and development.

Etsudo’s life consisted mainly of studying and staying at home. While her parents, all too often, had to focus on their work. But the bond between parents and child never waned, Kyosuke and Seiko made sure that Etsudo knew they loved her. Etsudo had the privilege of being introduced to the biotech industry by her parents, and thus her passion for science was created and her grades had always been on top.

She did not want to admit it, but she was eager to work on her fabrics. At last, putting her project to good use. What she did not like, however, was the reason behind it.

She still wanted to wake up from this terrible dream, changing into a dinosaur. She was scared, it terrified her that she along with the others could turn into dinosaurs. There were so many questions they did not have the answers for. What other conditions were their bodies affected by? Just what was GenaTech up to meddling with dinosaur genetic material? How was it even possible?

She turned on the fabric machinery getting to work on her new project item, every measurement and calculation was delicately inputted. While Morita Industries could not find any use for high-expanding coveralls, Etsudo finally had her subjects to test them on. She tried to distract herself from her worries, keeping her eyes on her machine weaving through every fibre and thread to form a fabric. It was not a speedy process, but it was better than nothing.

Then she remembered something, she pulled out her phone to check the time. It was already past midnight. She groaned in annoyance.

Dammit, there's the physical test in the morning. Etsudo was never one for sports, academics and books were her expertise. But physical education had never been her thing.

***

The next day, the girls in Class Two-A were assembled in the school field for their physical fitness test. Etsudo lined up at the standing broad jump station. A physical education teacher had a clipboard recording every student making their jumps.

Etsudo was not bothered in trying, not going for the gold. She intended to just hit the passing mark and be done with it. She stood at the mark, bent her knees, and made a hop.

Right as her feet touched the ground again, she heard the murmurs and gasps behind her. Even the teacher dropped her clipboard in shock. Etsudo finally looked at her distance, her little hop turned out to be a three-meter leap. Without putting any effort into her jump, she had cleared a distance no high school girl could possibly make.

“Ehh?!” Etsudo stumbled back and fell on her butt, which reduced her score to two and a half meters.

Soon after, the girls were on the track to run their laps. As soon as they kicked off, Etsudo got into a jog. Her mind became oblivious to her surroundings and continued shuffling and dragging her feet down the track.

“Morita!” Her ears suddenly picked up someone calling her from behind. Narumi soon caught up to her and the two jogged side by side. Narumi then said to Etsudo, “You don’t think you’re a little too fast?”

Etsudo got confused by what Narumi said. Only when she turned around did she understand what Narumi meant. The two were at least six meters ahead of the group. The girls behind them were already panting their lungs out.

Etsudo finally grasped what was happening, she now had vitality equal to a dinosaur. Etsudo, Narumi, and the boys, they all had it. But that realization only gave Etsudo dread in her heart, she still wanted to get out of this nightmare.

School had ended, but Narumi, Etsudo, and Matabei still had to serve their punishment. Soon, Kohaku arrived at Class Two-A.

“Ah Taiyo-san.” Narumi greeted him.

“Uchida-senpai. Itou-senpai. Morita-senpai.” Kohaku greeted them back and joined them.

“Guess who is here to join us already.” Narumi gave a smug face, she gestured over to Daichi who was wiping the windows with a cloth. Daichi gave a glare at her.

“Turns out that Tachibana-sensei did not buy that cigarette cover-up story he fabricated. She gave him the same punishment as us.” Matabei chuckled as he swept the floor.

“Shut up.” Daichi threw the cloth at him. A quick sidestep from Matabei and the cloth slapped itself onto the blackboard.

Narumi then took her turn to voice out, “Guys. You all should have seen Morita on the track in the morning. She ran faster than everyone without even trying.” Etsudo’s cheeks reddened and looked away from them. She did not like the attention especially when it was regarding her ‘ailment’.

“Eh really? That’s cool.” Matabei grinned.

Narumi eyed everyone in the room and a smile crept onto her face. Five students, five dinosaurs. Raptor, Tropeognathus, Eotriceratops, Spinosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus Rex. Thinking back on how she saved that mother and son in the downpour, her imagination drifted off to all the possibilities.

What else can five dinosaurs do? Her pensive smirk did not go unnoticed though, Kohaku got her attention, “Uchida-senpai?”

“Huh?” Narumi whipped her head to him, “Taiyo-san?”

“What’s on your mind?” He asked her.

Narumi grew a smirk on her face. She went over to the blackboard, picked up a chalk, and began making her drawings. Soon the blackboard had doodles of five chibi dinosaurs. With the Tyrannosaurus Rex in the middle roaring and standing proud.

Everyone else in the classroom took a good look at her drawings.

“What the hell...” Daichi’s mouth sank.

“Everyone, imagine this.” Narumi turned back to them. “What if we can use this dinosaur part of us properly?”

Daichi’s eyebrows knitted in apprehensive confusion, Etsudo and Matabei shared a glance, and Kohaku still had his pensive face.

“A dinosaur saved a mother and her son a couple of days ago, think about what more we can do?” Narumi finally pushed her idea to them.

“Senpai?” Kohaku asked.

“You know, to help people?” Narumi smiled at the group. “Like a superhero you know?”

“As...dinosaurs...” Kohaku trailed. “Dinosaur heroes...”

“Something like that. Yeah.” Narumi nodded.

Silence filled the room for a good moment. The awkward atmosphere was unbearably palpable as they all stared at Narumi.

“Eh?” Etsudo pipped.

“Are you out of your damn mind?!” Daichi shot down the idea without pause. “I am not going to be part of whatever you are planning alright?!”

“Hey, why not?” Matabei said with glee, almost bouncing on his foot. “It’ll be so cool. Save the day? As a dinosaur? Now there’s an idea.” Matabei then motioned to Etsudo, “We also have our costumes ready very soon right Morita?”

“Eh?!” Etsudo squeaked inching away from Matabei. “W-What do you mean?”

“You are making those outfits for us right?”

“W-Wait, please. I am making those just in case that if we change we would still be covered. I-I did not say anything about using it as a hero costume. That’s not what they are for.” Etsudo pleaded.

“Well, now it is.” Matabei added, his enthusiasm was unnerving Etsudo. “Dinosaur heroes in costumes.”

“I-I d-don’t know...” Etsudo timidly said.

“Hey, I got a better idea for you.” Daichi pointed at Matabei. “Why don’t you start a traveling dinosaur circus instead? You can be the ringleader taming and feeding the T-Rex. You’ll be making a fortune.”

“Hah?! I’m not a circus animal!” Narumi snapped at Daichi.

“Wait a minute. Making a fortune?” Matabei asked, he had yen in his eyes. In response, Narumi huffed and threw a chalk at the back of his head. “Oi!”

“A second ago you agreed to the hero idea!” Narumi had her arms on her waist.

“Well yeah sure, that too of course.” Matabei rubbed his head. “But uh...maybe some money on the side?”

“You were actually taking it seriously, Itou?” Daichi shook his head, “You’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”

Narumi could not believe Daichi and Etsudo. The senior was just being an all-around jerk and Etsudo was too scared to take a chance.

“Then what’s your plan, Kurosawa-senpai?” Kohaku finally voiced out.

Daichi’s words stumbled. “Well...I...”

“Why have you been coming here all this time if you’re going to be like this?”

“Because I just needed to know how to control the dinosaur change so I can get my life back on track properly.” Daichi turned to him.

“So your plan is to not do anything.” Kohaku stated.

Daichi figured there was no point denying it, “Yeah, I just want to leave it at that.” Daichi stepped away from them, “I’m not a part of this.”

“I think it’s too late for that.” Kohaku said and he crossed his arms.

“What are you talking about?”

“Are you all forgetting something?” Kohaku addressed the rest.

“What?” Narumi asked the freshman.

“GenaTech.”

Matabei remembered, “Oh crap yeah, we talked about that.”

Everyone was caught unaware when Kohaku finally reminded them. “GenaTech made this happen. You all don’t think it’s a bit suspicious that a biotech company would possess such capability? Why would they possess genetic properties from extinct animals?”

Kohaku then said, “I think they would be onto us already, especially after Uchida-senpai made herself known to the public.”

The classroom became eerie after Kohaku said his piece. A conspiracy in the dark, all because of a very bad school trip. It did not matter if anyone wanted out, they all have a common enemy now.

Narumi was the first to respond, “How much do you know about GenaTech? I mean aside from what the tour guide told us?”

“I did some digging yesterday after we left Morita-senpai’s house. GenaTech has a certain reputation, making outrageous revenues annually. Their research departments are known to have several breakthroughs, but they also have been the recipient of accusations from other research companies. Forums on the internet accused GenaTech of various crimes. Intellectual thefts from other scientists, unethical testing, and unauthorized experiments. But none of these accusations could be proven true. We’re talking about a biotech firm that has more lawyers than scientists.”

“......Shit.” Daichi blurted. “Just what I need goddammit.”

“Then, then what should we do? Uh, should we g-go to the police?” Etsudo asked.

“Whoa! N-No way!” Matabei quickly objected. “The police will tell the world who we are. No way! Absolutely not!”

“But then should we do?”

Narumi, by the chalkboard, looked inwards to herself, her face grew pensive. Narumi pictured the reflection of herself from her window. The face of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Perhaps back then, she would have been terrified about the whole ordeal. Back when she was merely a high school girl trying to get through school. But after what she had been going through for the past few days, she had a much different epiphany.

Some creeps are coming after me. Yeah, try to take on a Rex. Bring it on then. The Tyrannosaurus Rex declared in her mind.

“I’ll tell you what I am going to do.” Narumi said to the group. “I am going to do what I said I would do. And if GenaTech or anybody thinks they are going to try and take me, they better be prepared to fight a dinosaur.” Narumi let out a growl which resonated through the group. The irises in her eyes turned green and the sclera turned black.

“Alright look.” Narumi addressed them. “We all need to know what we’re capable of. Taiyo-san, you could lift up a table with me on top with one hand.” Kohaku looked into her eyes. He gave her a nod of acknowledgment.

“Itou, you are a flying dinosaur, you can actually fly. You just need to know how.” Narumi turned to Matabei and his lips drew a motivated smirk.

“Morita, you can run faster and jump further than any girl ever could.” Narumi said. Etsudo averted her gaze with red cheeks.

“Kurosawa-senpai. You know you can change into a dinosaur. Just think about how much you can help with that.” Narumi added. Daichi gave a conflicting sigh.

Narumi’s eyes returned to normal and she continued her speech, “We need to stick together, and figure out what we all can do as dinosaurs. And imagine what we can do. Who is with me?”

Narumi watched them all sharing glances with each other. Matabei was the first to speak up. “Hell yeah. Let’s do this shit.”

Etsudo bit on her lip, but a quick moment later she conceded. “Okay.”

Daichi gave a groan, but ultimately he had to agree. “Ugh, I am going to regret this. But fine. Fine.”

Narumi turned to the last one, and Kohaku gave a smile. He nodded at her, “I’m in.”

The dinosaurs have been united at last. The pack has been formed.