FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The two vixens discussed a dozen different topics along the way, most of the time yammering excitedly about how much alike they were in almost every way. As the stereo blasted her favorite music, with her car rumbling contentedly along underneath her, and a new friend in the seat beside her, Ayumi finally felt something she hadn't felt since leaving Japan. She felt at home. Who cared that her apartment sucked and her landlord was an ass? Who cared that her parents hated her and that she was a felon? She had her car, her health, and a brand new best friend. Life couldn't have been much better.

Murasaki suddenly pointed to the upcoming intersection. "There, on the left. That's where I live."

Ayumi looked. "The University of Southern California?"

Murasaki nodded. "Yep. I'm a theater major. I've only got one semester done so far, but I'm loving college life. Freedom from parents, freedom from high school, and freedom from idiots who think that being a little out of the ordinary should be a crime." Ayumi wondered exactly what about Murasaki would make her a little out of the ordinary, and she would have pursued the matter further, but she suddenly had more pressing matters on her mind.

"They have a theater program here?"

Murasaki nodded. "Yeah. Actually, USC is big on the arts. They've got all kinds of performing arts, a big theater community, a-"

"Creative writing?" Ayumi rolled to a stop at the light and looked at Murasaki with a hopeful gleam in her eye.

Murasaki thought for a moment. "Yeah, probably...I think...yeah. I've got a couple friends who are creative writing majors. They-"

"What about international students? What is their policy about transfers?"

Murasaki frowned. "Hell, I dunno. I guess they take them. Why do you ask? What's with all the questions all of a sudden?"

Ayumi drove through the intersection and into the parking lot, looking for a spot to park in. "Because, Murasaki, I've been looking for a school to go to here in the States, but you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a good school nearby that has everything I need."

Murasaki shrugged. "Well, I bet I could help you find a good one that's more suited to your needs. What makes you think USC is the best place for you? I mean, what do you consider 'everything you need'?"

Ayumi found a spot and pulled into it, turning the car off and letting the top start to close again. "Well, it has to be here, in L.A., because I'm not going to deal with moving very far just to go to school. It has to have a creative writing program, it has to have on campus housing, and it has to have you at it." She smiled and looked at Murasaki.

The other vixen blinked. "Why me?"

Ayumi giggled and pushed her new friend playfully. "Because you're the only fur in the entire United States who will put up with me for longer than five minutes at a time."

Murasaki laughed and punched Ayumi back. "Likewise, you nut. I guess I'd have to say you just became my best friend, Ayumi." She smiled slightly and looked down at her paws as she spoke.

Ayumi smiled and took one of Murasaki's paws in her own. "Same here, Mura. In fact..." now it was Ayumi's turn to look sheepishly downwards "...you're the only real friend I've ever had."

Both vixens looked up at the same time. Murasaki reached up with one paw and tentatively removed her sunglasses. Ayumi failed to suppress the immediate reflex to gasp at what she saw behind them. Murasaki's irises were a brilliant, vibrant lavender. They seemed to shimmer in the sunlight filtering in through the windshield, with little flecks of silver in them giving Murasaki a mysterious air of majestic beauty. In all her life, Ayumi had never seen anything like them.

Murasaki smiled sadly at Ayumi's reaction. "Something else, aren't they?" Ayumi could only nod, and Murasaki sighed. "Yeah...they've been...difficult to live with. They're hard to ignore, and in high school, they made me an easy target for anyone looking for someone to tease." Her eyes started to water slightly at the memory.

Ayumi couldn't have disagreed more. "They're beautiful."

Murasaki was visibly surprised. "You mean it?"

Ayumi nodded, and suddenly, she felt a flash of something she'd never felt before. Here, sitting in her car, Ayumi was looking across the center console and holding the paws of someone who saw her for who she actually was, and not who they automatically assumed she must be. Murasaki listened when she spoke, heard what she said, and was perfectly happy to just spend half an hour talking about nothing in particular. Ayumi had no words to describe what she was feeling, she just...felt it.

At the same time, she thought she saw something pass across Murasaki's face that indicated that she may have felt the same connection, but it passed as quickly as it had appeared, and Murasaki suddenly dropped her eyes and turned towards her door, searching for the handle. "How the hell do you get out of here?"

Ayumi shook herself free from her bizarre trance and punched the button to open Murasaki's door. "Button on the dash. It's easier than having to pull a handle." The door slowly inched outward a little before silently sliding upwards, allowing Murasaki to climb gracelessly out. Ayumi did the same on her side and frowned as she closed the wing-style door. Murasaki had already gotten her shopping bag out from the backseat and closed her door, and by the time Ayumi had gotten her car locked and the anti-theft devices activated, Murasaki had already walked several yards away. "Mura, wait up!"

The red vixen slowed down and seemed to take a deep breath before turning around with a smile on her face. "Well, hurry up, slowpoke! I'm waiting for you."

Ayumi smiled, relieved, and caught up with her friend. "What was that all about? You seemed like you were mad at me for a minute...was it something I said?"

Murasaki shook her head as she started walking again. "No, no...I was just surprised, that's all. You caught me off guard." She glanced sideways at Ayumi. "No one's ever told me my eyes were beautiful before. Anyone who's ever said anything about them has insulted me. I guess I just...I'm not used to someone actually liking me."

Ayumi raised an eyebrow. "Liking you? Like...at all?" Murasaki nodded. Ayumi considered this for a long moment before sighing and nodding back. "Yeah...I know what you mean. I guess I'd have to say that no one's ever really 'liked' me before, either. I was always, you know, the 'rich kid.' 'Ooh, her daddy's a big shot businessman; she must get everything she wants!' I mean, it's so insulting when furs assume that just because I'm related to a tycoon that I must be snobbish and arrogant like him!" She had worked herself into a mild rage and had to settle back down again before she could speak again. "You know what I mean?"

Murasaki nodded affirmatively and answered without the slightest pause. "My dad's a pastor."

Ayumi was surprised. "Really? You don't look like..." she trailed off as Murasaki looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Then, it dawned on her and she nodded. "Gotcha. I see what you mean. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Murasaki chuckled softly. "No worries. I actually was wondering if you would say something like that. I don't think you realize just how frequently furs tell me that. 'You don't look like a pastor's daughter.' I guess everyone assumes that just because I spawned from a religious zealot, I must be one, too. Apparently I'm supposed to dress conservatively, act conservatively, and most of all, not be a lesbian." She grinned at Ayumi. "Unfortunately, I'm 'O for three.'"

Ayumi had been wondering for some time. Murasaki had a few mannerisms that were stereotypically reserved for the homosexual female, and it appeared that she was not just acting. "You're a lesbian?"

Murasaki nodded. "Why, isn't it obvious?" Ayumi shook her head. The red vixen giggled. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be. Yeah, I am. I came out last year, actually. End of high school. Actually, funny story...I ruined my own high school graduation."

"How the hell did you do that?"

Murasaki unlocked the door to her residence hall and held it for Ayumi to enter. "Come on inside. I'll tell you the whole story."