Chapter 2

It had been a dream.

I woke with a start and felt between my legs. Nothing there. Nothing that shouldn’t be, anyway.

Relief washed over me. My hands were still shaking as I gulped down two glasses of water before finally calming down.

I really had arrived in the beastfolk world a year ago, in my own body. But I hadn’t managed to hide that I was human. They’d found me out that very day.

Apparently, I’d looked suspiciously relieved as I hurried out of the company building. A patrolling guard had immediately pinned me to the ground with a steel fork.

I’d been flattened before I could move, knocking my head in the process.

The faint smell of blood in the air carried that uniquely human scent.

Almost instantly, the guard who’d pinned me down rushed over in a panic. His voice was three parts horror, seven parts delight.

“A human?”

He patted my little face, then took me straight to the beastfolk police station.

Since I’d just been knocked down with a steel fork and hit my head, appeared to have lost my memory, and couldn’t answer a single question, the officers looked at me with heartbreaking sympathy.

After I filled in a statement, they arranged temporary housing for me.

The next day, the officer handling my case brought me dozens of little stuffed animals and asked which I liked.

Faced with a row of different species, my eyes settled on the beautifully groomed cat in the middle.

I didn’t understand what this was about, but a beastman turning up with a pile of toys reminded me of a human child bringing Barbies and toy planes to a friend’s house to play pretend.

Hmm. That was rather cute.

The young man averted his eyes. A flush raced across his lightly tanned face.

“Ahem… I think the cat’s pretty,” he said bashfully.

I nodded. “Yes, it is.” Then I picked up the little octopus beside it.

“Why’s this octopus so dirty, though?”

He froze, practically grinding his molars to dust.

Damn it. If he’d known this would happen, he’d never have dirtied his rival’s toy to make his own look better.

Now it had backfired spectacularly!

Why couldn’t the toy in the human’s hand be his?

Unwilling to give up, he asked, “If you could keep only one, which would you choose?”

I waved the octopus in my hand and said, half joking, “The little octopus.”

“The cat’s lovely, and so are the others. But they’re all so clean. They must be someone’s treasured comfort toys.”

“This one looks as if nobody wants it. I’ll take this one.”

He looked ready to cry.

He left clutching his toys, utterly dejected.

I’d assumed this was some beastfolk custom for comforting people. A few days later, however, a man with faint shadows beneath his eyes and an aloof expression arrived at my door.

He looked down at me, weary and listless. “Hello. I’m Zhang Fu. The little octopus you picked is a likeness of my animal form.”

“You chose me, but I have no interest in you. I don’t like humans, either.”

“Under the Human–Beastfolk Coexistence Act, I’ll abide by the agreement and live with you for one month. Nothing more.”

I automatically held out my hand. “Huh? Oh… I’m Jiang Qing.”