He spent another hour sobering up before the long awaited finale of the event. The stage rotated slowly, dragging along the silence of the crowd.
"Aaaand now, for the long awaited finale of the night~!"
Laila Vulpix walked along the rotating platform so she'd still remain in the middle. Soon, the cage where Snow was contained was finally revealed, covered by a white fabric. The fox lady pulled on it slowly, teasing her audience.
Celes tensed in his seat. He reached for the remote control at the side and grasped it tightly.
The white cloth falls down, baring the golden cage for everyone to see.
Inside was a young man with white hair, which was filled with black spots in a leopard-like pattern. He had a tail too thick for that small, effeminate body. His figure was measly covered with a red satin cloth that could easily slide off him if positioned incorrectly. He had a blindfold on, too, so he wasn't able to see how much people were seeing him in his almost naked state.
He was beautiful, but the people weren't exactly impressed. Why was it a slave that was the grand finale? Didn't the Ursari brothers know slaves are illegal? And it was just some random cat! They can't publicly flaunt this common beauty ah!
"For this—"
Laila Vulpix wasn't able to say "snow leopard" when she was interrupted by a buzzer. Celes had clicked it as he displayed his numbers.
"T-ten million?!" the fox lady exclaimed, her tail standing on end.
Everyone was equally shocked. Ten million for a common house cat?! What's this, a charity event???
Celes was looking down at everyone, trying to gauge if there would be a higher bidder. There was a man who was about to scratch his knee, but in Celes' panic he thought the man was reaching for his whiteboard. The buzzer rang again.
"Twenty million??!"
Snow was sold for twenty million. It was too easy that Furan Shi couldn't believe it himself. And it was his first auction experience, too. Finally, his boredom had paid off!
Snow only looked small in his cage after hearing twenty million. He didn't mind that he was being carted away to his buyer, but still. Twenty million was no joke. That's even too much for a lowly catboy like him.
He was escorted out of his cage. He held the red satin fabric tighter around his body, and then he was escorted into the elevator.
Celes didn't wait for Snow to be led into his room. He got out himself and ran towards the elevator. He was still feeling a little tipsy, but he wasn't taking his pill yet for some reason.
「 "Don't you think it's strange, Raum?" 」
「 "The only strange thing around here is your twenty million bid . No sane person would bid higher than that, let alone at ten million, all for a slave." 」
「 "Well, true." 」
The elevator doors parted. Celes jumped in and caged Snow into a tight hug. The snow leopard tumbled backwards with him, making them fall onto the carpeted floor. Celes grabbed his blindfold and pulled it off for him before he could fully panic.
What Snow first saw was a cute little vixen in front of him. But then he saw those long bunny ears hidden among his long hair. "A bunny..?"
Celes almost cried. "Y-yes, a bunny…" He carefully spoke. He grasped the other's hands gently and squeezed them. "Hello, my twenty million kitty~"
The accent was familiar, the certain bunny squeak Snow had definitely heard a lot in the past, and yet he pocketed his suspicions into the back of his head. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of this nicely-dressed rabbit. But if it's really… Jinx… then Snow was so glad the bunny ended up being well-off.
The bunny leaned into his ear to whisper something that made his heart stop.
Another bunny, a caramel-haired one, was there to receive him. He was left in the elevator with the other bunny, and before the doors slid close, he'd yelled a name he never thought he'd say again, "Jinx, wait..!"
Celes watched the doors close, before he sauntered back to his VIP room.
「 "Don't you think it's strange?" 」
「 "What have you observed, host?" 」
Celes nodded towards the tinted glass wall, referring to the sea of bidders below.
「 "The Ursari bidders were strategically placed near the elevators. I wonder who's it for?" 」
「 "Ah. Then why didn't you escape with Snow when you had the chance to?" 」
「 "And get him in trouble right when I finally got him? No way." 」
「 "Well, happy birthday to you, Jinx "Celes" Selvan." 」
「 "Thank you, Raum von Corvus corone." 」
Usually, Celes wasn't confident with his own fighting prowess. Even if Raum had complimented him a number of times in the past three years, it still wasn't his forte. The confidence part, that is. He'd mostly relied on his mood to fight, but most of the time he'd just lie down or do other things he's at least confident that he's good at.
Like servicing his lover, or servicing Chai. Playing dress up with the outfits Camilius had bought for him, hanging out with Anton in the form of doing Calculus — the bloody training not included — or just generally living a slacker life in the mafia that doesn't involve killing people, ironically. It's the best life he'd had so far with enough thrill and comfort that he couldn't ask for more.
It was also a fortunate thing Raum wasn't a specific system like those in different realities, as the crow had called it. He can stay here until the body he inhabits expired.
With that said, 「 "host, prepare for a fight scene. I will do my best to supply you with manuals I can install in your mind if you find it hard to fight." 」
Furan Shi was only half listening to the ever dedicated corvid system. He had partly expected for this to happen before coming here. After all, Snow is still an important character in the other parallel story. And most of all, he's still important to Jinx. And maybe to Furan Shi, too.
Although, he didn't know why he didn't bring along Camilius. Perhaps the pitiful sight of his papa overworking himself made him leave behind the python. Or… perhaps it was because he just didn't want to get the python in danger, too. So, instead of contacting Camilius, he contacted his mentor, his ever supportive sponsor, Anton Selvan.
"Celes?"
He'd dialed through his second phone number, but he wasn't speaking. He couldn't risk it. Instead, he tapped his phone enough times to convey he needs help.
"You need rescuing? How odd."
The call ended. Furan Shi dropped his phone and stepped on it, crushing it with his heel as he grinded on it. Still, he wasn't satisfied, so he grabbed a bottle from the side and smashed it down onto the phone.
Time to prepare.
He started taking off his suit. His top first, and then his trousers, leaving him in his sexy red lingerie.
「 "Host, what are you doing?" 」
「 "After all those training, I stupidly focused on choosing the best outfit to qear and forgot to pack my gun. I also don't have my whip. So I'm doing the next best thing I'm good at." 」
「 "Stripping?" 」
「 "Close." 」
「 "I was expecting a full blown fight scene where you'd be outnumbered." 」
「 "Like a gangbang, yeah right. But you should've expected this outcome, too." 」
「 "...I did, but I pretended I didn't." 」
He started taking off his lingerie, dragging it down along his juicy thighs, and down his dmall legs, until he was completely naked. He folded his clothes and placed them down on the lounge nearest to the door, the naughty red underwear on top. He took a step back and briefly marvelled at how perfect he folded his clothes there, all with a small proud smile on his face.
「 "If Jinx wasn't cute, I would have come up with an insult for host for having weird priorities." 」
「 "Didn't know you could be superficial like that." 」
「 "Eh, at least I'm never a kettle calling a pot black." 」
As soon as he heard footsteps outside his room, he morphed into his small beast form.
「 "I'm not fighting all that alone." 」
「 "...but you could've just snuck out with your gang while they carry you in your beast form..?" 」
「 "Can't. Daddy Uno would know." 」
Morphing back and forth from his demihuman form to his beast form and vice versa came naturally to him for some reason, even though he was a mere transmigrator in this complicated world. Instinctively, he knew how to shift from one to another, but he couldn't explain it in words. It was also something he could control with relative ease because he's what's considered a natural prey in this world.
Most predators find it hard to control their shifting, as they leaned more to their human side than animal. They have repressed emotions, which should be an important factor to morphing. On the other hand, natural prey are simple beasts. If they want to morph, they would. They cry if they're sad, scream and throw tantrums if they're angry, ectera.
Some studies suggested it was because predators are more restricted by the society, by the judgements of the people around them, how their prey counterparts easily fear them, so they struggle with morphing, but that could be a story for another day.
Celes hopped towards the side of the door and hid there.
Just then, the door opened, and in came several men in black and Ursari masks, rushing, but stopped when they saw an empty room. Daddy Uno parted them away as he came to the front. He frowned when he saw there was nothing there.
He began sniffing the air, but it only led him to the clothes folded at the side.
"Blasted… motherf-" Daddy Uno stopped himself and grabbed the clothes roughly. He angrily sniffed it, partly because he wanted to, but masked it with his rage.
"He's not out of the building yet. Maybe he hasn't even made it out this floor yet. Search for him now!"
The men dispersed at once, leaving the bear sniffing at the clothes again. He reached for the fallen lingerie and sniffed it, too. Furan Shi internally retched, as he couldn't do that right now in his bunny form. Not when the bear could catch him anytime.
"Ahh, Celes…" the bear groaned, dropping the rest of the clothes and leaving only the red underwear in his hands. He took a long whiff off it again and sighed. "You smell so good, ahh."
He basically stuck the underwear to his face. Ew. As he was, again, sniffing it, he easily caught the little thing move at the corner of his eyes. He smirked, gripping the lingerie tight. "There you are."
Furan Shi started to run away in his small bunny form, bouncing as fast as he could. Daddy Uno followed him outside and almost caught up to him that Furan Shi started chanting ave maria in his mind. He hopped and hopped, pushed his little limbs to work for him and ride the wind. Daddy Uno was running right after his tail, swift but careful on his steps so he couldn't fully catch the bunnny just yet.
He turned a corner suddenly, catching the bear off-guard. Daddy Uno usually has good reflexes, but for some reason, he tripped on his own foot that sent him down. He feared he'd crush the bunny so he swervead his body and met the floor with the palm of his hand. Two hands. One of his fingers got dislocated. He groaned in pain as he let himself lie on the floor.
「 "Ah, the harbinger of bad luck. Lmao" 」
「 "Raum, help me you game bird. Show me the blueprint of this floor..!" 」
He was mostly distracted by how fast his heart was beating at the moment. He had a very good memory, but he's in his little bunny form. He was still a bit disoriented even after transforming with ease.
「 "Alright." 」
A holographic window appeared before his eyes, showing the blueprint of the fifth floor, which was just half of the fourth floor where the rotating stage is. He saw the VIP rooms, the elevators, as well as the stairs. He contemplated whether or not to take the stairs.
「 "I love you, Raum. Muahh" 」
「 "Muah. Take care there." 」
The blueprint also had blue spots on each end of the hallways, moving into each room slowly. They were labeled [Ursari].
Daddy Uno shouldn't be this scary, but the thrill of running away from someone chasing him only terrified his now small form to the core. His prey instincts, or his fight or flight response, was getting triggered. And no, it wasn't his [Fight or FIGHT], unfortunately. He could only do that in his human form.
There was only one dot in the blueprint that was colored red. It was labeled [Nearing death lol].
He stopped. Daddy Uno wasn't chasing him anymore, and when he looked back, the big man was just lying down on the floor, unmoving. His bloood ran cold at the sight.
「 "Is he… dead?" 」
「 "...not yet." 」
But the bunny was being irrational as he was in a very small body. He hopped back to where Daddy Uno was.
His eyes were closed. He wasn't moving. Furan Shi got more scared. The small bunny nuzzled his nose against the other's cheek. He received no response. He started to panic that he morphed back to his human form.
"Daddy..?" he whispered to the bear and tapped his cheek with his hand. "Um… h-hey.."
He tried to pull the man's head to his lap, but only managed to pull him a bit. Ah, he wouldn't really be able to beat this bear in a fight, let alone flip him.
The bear suddenly cinched his waist with his arms and he had no time to react. A squeal barely managed to escape his throat, but that's all he could do. Daddy Uno buried his face into the bunny's crotch and heavily inhaled.
"Ah you- pervert..!" cried the bunny, who tried his best (yeah right) to push the bear off.
「 "Raum, you betrayed me!" 」
「 "I told you I like to keep it spicy. Plus, use your head, alright? Daddy Uno couldn't possibly be nearing death just after that fall." 」
「 "But I trusted you.. :(" 」
「 "I told you I like spicy things." 」
Daddy Uno chuckled, the vibrations of his voice searing a path straight to the bunnyboy's core. "Got you now, Celes. Or should I say… Jinx Selvan?"
He gazed up at the bunny with a perverted smirk. What a sly bear. Celes glared back at him, but again, that's all he could do. Daddy Uno had easily outsmarted him. Maybe bunnies do become dumb when they morph into their beast form.
"What do you want? I have no time for playing games with you, Uno."
"Aww," cooed the big bear. "But weren't you calling me "daddy"?"
Celes immediately zipped his mouth, prompting a good laugh from the bear. Daddy Uno finally sat up, his hands not letting go just yet in case the bunny would escape.
The bunny was so small in his arms, with small shoulders covered by his long hair and his lop ears, down to his petite waist the bear was holding, but he had wide hips for his bunny tail, as well as plump thighs, as all bunnies do. He also had long feet, but Daddy Uno wasn't looking at that. He was looking at the bunnyboy's smooth, groomed fur down there, which basically served as his pubic hair, shaped to a T down to the base of his small, flaccid penis. He looked so well-groomed.
He's the personification of the word "perfection". Daddy Uno had sharply sucked in his breath.
"Eyes up here, old man."
Old man? Daddy Uno frowned. He'd been called "daddy", and then just "Uno", and now "old man"? "Bunny, call me "daddy" again."
"I have a boyfriend, sorry." Even Camilius would rather agree for Jinx to have a harem of pets if he wouldn't associate himself with this old man, who, by the way, was twice Jinx's age. "I'm getting married next year."
"I won't allow that." Daddy Uno wasn't really sure why he was saying these things now. At first, he'd only been intrigued at the mysterious personality that is Celes. He'd dug up some information about the bunnyboy through some moles — which Aleister never ordered to get killed — and found out he was Aleister's son.
He was enamoured just by looking at the black rabbit's picture, and now he's here, in the flesh, right in front of him, nevermind the fact that he was glaring at the bear. He wouldn't be able to escape the bear, anyways. Not when Daddy Uno wouldn't allow it.
"Come on." The bunny pushed again to no avail. "Tell me what you want from me."
"Your body—"
He received a slap for that. He didn't mind it, somehow. He didn't get angry when he was supposed to, as he usually did. If anything, it only tickled him, and the bunny looked rather cute doing that.
「 "You know that didn't hurt, didn't you?" 」
「 "Shh, Raum, I'm having a sweet reunion with Daddy here." 」
"—a-and your soul, sorry," added the bear in the end, chuckling. He couldn't stop staring at him, he couldn't find the will to take his eyes off the beautiful rabbit. "I want you, Jinx Selvan."
"It's Celes to you, Uno," Celes corrected him. Daddy Uno didn't like the sound of that.
"Come on now," the other whined as he pulled the bunny into his arms. "Don't be like that..! Not to me, bunny. Won't you give me a chance?"
「 "Raum, tell me why this escalated quickly?" 」
「 "The bear wants you. I won't say it escalated quickly." 」
Furan Shi didn't know how to tell the other off. Somehow, he turned jelly in front of the bear. He couldn't push him off properly, even though he already had the vinegar-loving Camilius. They'd even planned their marriage next year, from the theme to the guests they'd invite.
"Uno, let go." All he could do was to sternly tell him off. Daddy Uno didn't budge.
"Darling—"
"Who's your darling? I said let go!"
He bunny kicked the man, but his foot was easily caught by the bear. Daddy Uno was too amazed at the other's flexibility. But now, Celes was left vulnerable in front of the big man. The bear pushed him down and bent his leg over his chest, opening him up to the other.
But somehow, he couldn't trigger his [Fight or FLIGHT] skill. They looked into each other's eyes, deep cinnamons against fond ink blacks.
"Uno…" the bunny whined and squirmed slightly.
"Yes, darling?"
"Don't do this."
Daddy Uno eyed him with a serious gaze. "I won't do anything you won't like."
In this position? The bunnyboy clicked his tongue at the audacious bear. "Then, let me go..!"
This was the same bear who taught him self-defense in another life, but he couldn't seem to remember to utilize them on the same man this time. It wasn't a fight scene, just a man one-sidedly longing to own the other, and another who couldn't shake him off for some reason.
「 "I did miss him, Raum. Oh no." 」
「 "Camilius wouldn't like this." 」
「 "Neither do I. Ah, I don't know." 」
「 Ding! A donation! Added "would you be doing something spicy with Daddy Uno~? hehehe" 1000 C points to system wallet. 」
「 "...tell my good sister to go to hell… and then come back thank you for the donation hehe~" 」
"Little bunny…" the bear breathed, grabbing the other's jaws gently with his big hand, "tell me… why do I feel like we have something special between us?"
Celes was only glaring at him, but with plump cheeks being squished by the man's fingers, he didn't look threatening at all. Not that he'd look like it without the squishing part.
"Uno…"
「 Skill [Teary Eyes lvl2] activated. 」
The cute bunny rabbit's eyes watered as he laid cornered under the bear. "Let me go…" he murmured, sniffling right after.
It was Celes' weapon — his cuteness. If he won't be able to beat someone physically, then he'd worm his way in their heart. However, he hadn't accounted for one thing.
「 Teary Eyes [lvl 2] - produces tears that brim in the eyes and threaten to fall, but never do. Enticing sight that makes everyone want to bully you more! 」
The bear darkly chuckled at the adorable sight. The bunny, not only naked under him, but close to crying, too. Even if he felt pity and guilt, they were easily overwhelmed by the strange feeling of wanting to tease the bunny more. And so he answered the call of his instincts and leaned in to lick under one of Celes' eyes, tasting the salty tears that seemed to only taste sweet to him at the moment.
"Get away from me…"
Celes whimpered and moved his face away, unwittingly exposing his neck to the other. Daddy Uno had wanted to bite him there and leave a mark, perhaps tease the bunny more, but he'd already left his promise of not doing whatever the bunny doesn't like, and he's a man of his words half of the time. Now he was that half, as much as he didn't want it.
So he fought off the predatory instinct that had overwhelmed him and leaned away, leaving more space for the bunny to breathe.
"Bunny, I will take you home with me—"
"No, you won't."
It wasn't Celes who had cut him off. The familiarity of that voice made the bunnyboy finally bunny punch the bear's face! Daddy Uno was hit square as he got momentarily distracted by the newcomer, hissing out as he cupped his nose. It was bleeding.
Ah, but the punch was useless. Daddy Uno still was on top of him, no matter how dazed the bear had become from that hit.
The floor began to feel like a thousand different textures all at the same time. The circular windows lined at the side changed shapes, the walls glitched into different shades and hues, and the blood trickling down from the bear's nose, along with his dialogues, were becoming blurrier to Furan Shi, like a mosaic that veils everything he was supposed to sense.
「 "H-h-ho..st.. I-.. s-orryy..y.." 」
The blueprint of the fourth floor appeared in front of him with its layouts morphing into different ones per second. Furan Shi felt sleepy all of a sudden. His eyes feel heavy, and he had no choice but to close them.
Furan Shi fell unconscious.
The bear stood up after seeing the bunny suddenly falling asleep beneath him, fearing he'd really crushed the bunny's lungs or prevented him to breathe. "What…"
Lili stood before them. And he, who had the force akin to the ocean waves raging behind him, prawled on with his hands in his pockets, a casual approach that carried a thunderous feeling.
"Hello, Uno," he greeted with a pleasant smile, which the bear frowned at, "good evening to you. I see you have something there that belongs to me."
"Can I have it back now?"
Daddy Uno was usually strong and daunting. Usually. He was only doubting everything he was tonight, from confronting Celes to now confronting Celes' betrothed, Lili, he kept questioning what it was that's wrong with him for the whole night.
He found himself fearful of the shorter man before him.
"Jinx?" The bear dryly asked with a wry smirk.
"Oh, don't act familiar with him now, Uno."
The neared the python got, the more steps Daddy Uno took back that he didn't realize he was even walking backwards. He felt for his gun in its holster. He pulled it out and aimed it at the other.
"Oh," Lili grinned, tilting his head a bit sideways. "You point a gun at me. Is this Ursari declaring a war?"
He took another step forward, almost reaching the bunny, but Daddy Uno suddenly fired. Lili had doged it one time. Daddy Uno fired again.
It had hit a target. It wasn't Lili. Something dropped down from the ceiling to the floor.
Leviathan's shoulder was bleeding. It was the same spot his cute little nephew had shot three years ago, now shot again by one of the Moreno brothers right when the scar had started to fade. Leviathan was wincing, holding his bleeding shoulder, but he managed a small smirk he directed towards the distraught bear.
"Oh? The freak of the Serpenti?" Daddy Uno remarked, cocking his chin up now that he was faced with another Serpenti. He cocked his gun, too.
"This is war, isn't it?" the runt wolf asked back through his gritted teeth.
The python behind him picked up his bride-to-be, not forgetting to drape over him his coat, and began walking away, but not without a word to his faux uncle. "Don't scare them too much, Leviathan."
And to Uno, he stopped and declared, "Lucifer will definitely hear about this."
He walked away, carrying the unconscious Celes in his arms. Leviathan was left to clean up after him by dealing with this bear. Whether he gets shot again or not, it wouldn't matter anymore. Ursari had sent their message, loud and clear.