FSE

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High school isn't easy on anyone. It's a time of self-discovery, when teenagers are eager to step out from under their parents' wings and establish themselves as independent adults. A time of development, insecurity, and conflict.

For a young hybrid, that sense of self is even harder to come by. Torn between worlds in a society where species is so closely linked to identity, finding a place to belong is hard to come by when your peers are more eager than ever to draw those lines in the sand, to say who does and who doesn't deserve to be part of the group.

Even being so fortunate as to have rich parents and to be enrolled in an elite boarding school aren't enough to solve those problems. Bullies will always exist, whether they showed up that morning on a public school bus or drove themselves in a BMW, and they're quite adept at sniffing out weaknesses, more than happy to exploit them.

One day, though, that bully will push too far, and begin a new journey...

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"Fight! Fiiiiiiight!"

Patrick Nyello squawked at the top of his lungs, his feathered hands up to his face in a makeshift megaphone. Not that he needed any help to amplify his voice, the toucan was more than audible from across campus all by his lonesome. His shrill cries alerted everyone within an impressive radius that something exciting was happening and they'd better hurry to come see.

Schoolyard fights always draw attention, and when that yard is the professionally landscaped one of a private academy, it's a show that no student would want to miss. So a crowd swiftly gathered to see what all the fuss was about.

It wasn't hard to find the source. On the fancy walkway concrete, a pair of bodies in expensive school uniforms were tangled up in awkward, uncoordinated combat. One, a jackalope, mounted on top of his foe and flailing his fists as best as he could. The other, a leopard, pinned on his back and mostly trying to get away from those fists, as well as the antlers above them.

"Fuck you, Eli! Fuck! You!"

"Get offa me you freak!!"

The assembled throng was split between those calling for any nearby adult to come in and break them up, and those pumping their fists and cheering it on in the hopes of seeing a bloodbath.

Of course, fights in the real world are rarely as dramatic as those in movies or between professionals in a cage. Aside from one big punch thrown at the very beginning that bloodied the leopard's nose and started the whole thing off, there wasn't much action. Neither knew how to fight, and it left the quarrel looking more like a pair of brothers feuding over a remote control than anything.

"All right, all right! What's going on?"

A gravelly voice rang out as loudly as it could, coming out of a heavyset and rather panicked looking beaver forcing his way through the mob. As soon as he saw the main event in front of him, he quickly grabbed the jackalope by the back of the shirt and tried to pull him away.

"Get off! GET OFF OF HIM!"

"Leggo!!"

The jackalope refused to release the leopard's shirt, even holding onto his tie and starting to strangle the feline. Swiftly, he was forced to drop his grip thanks to a massive bull hoisting him back with the same struggle he'd have used in getting a bag of groceries out of the car. As quickly as it started, the fight was over.

Separated now, the combatants glared at each other. The leopard snorted, wiping his nose and looking at the blood on his hand. The jackalope continued to shout and holler threats at him.

"Try me again! I'll fuck you all up! You're just a buncha little bitches!!" he yelled, voice almost up to a squeal, before being silenced by the bull's massive mitt planting itself over his mouth.

The leopard huffed, pulling himself up to his feet and spitting on the ground, leaving a red splatter. "See? I said he was a problem!"

In between them, the beaver stood with his arms stretched out, doing his best to maintain a distance and get some semblance of peace.

"Hey! That's enough, okay? It's over! Back off, and everyone else, you've all got somewhere to be, so go there!"

After some brief struggling, the jackalope settled down enough that the bovine behind him felt confident in letting his hand fall away. Mercifully, he kept himself quiet, though he kept on staring bullets at the feline.

That leopard did his best to gather himself up and keep himself composed, swallowing hard and dusting his school uniform off. The beaver quickly scuttled over, looking concerned, assessing the damage.

"You need to get to the nurse. Nothing's broken, is it?" he asked, hands unable to decide if they should make any contact with the injured cat or not.

He sniffed, wiping his nose again. The leopard's voice was stuffed, wavering faintly. "You'd better hope not! That... that mutant has no business here! If my nose is broken, I'm suing!" he spat, storming away with his group of friends.

On the other side of the arena, a jackalope stood with his chest heaving, his big ears dropped down on either side of his head, his chin pushed forward and his eyes down at the ground. By now the crowd had dissipated, and all that was left was the beaver, the jackalope, and the bull behind him, still standing guard in a sense.

"You... my office, right now," he said, pointing at the teen before walking off himself.

The final two stood in silence a few moments more. The adrenaline had worn off, and all the drained teenage hybrid had was a pair of sore hands and slacks that would need replaced thanks to the knees scraping on the concrete.

The jackalope pulled himself away from the bull, picking up his bag and gathering up everything that had spilled out of it.

The bovine squatted down, hoping to lend a hand. "Hey, let me help y-"

"I can do it!!" the smaller teen yelped, grabbing everything as quickly as he could and shoving it inside.

"Uh... you all right?" the big bull asked. His voice was deep and his words slow, measured.

"Do I look like I'm fucking all right?" the jackalope shot back, beginning his march across campus towards the administration building.

As he walked, he could feel all the eyes on him. He didn't care. They always stared at him anyway, whispered behind his back. Fuck 'em. Maybe by the time he got back to the dorms he'd find that a half dozen videos had gotten posted of the fight. Maybe there'd even be a close up on that fucking leopard's face. He was pretty sure he was gonna start crying before the fucking beaver broke it up. Fuck 'em all. Now everyone would know he wasn't afraid to fight back.

All he had to do now was hope the principal would at least hear him out. It wasn't his fault. It really wasn't...