Nolan’s gray beanie slides over his pinned-back ears. His hoodie’s hood is then flipped over his beanie.

Nolan gazes himself in the mirror. His sad, sparkling eyes stare back at him, along with his frown. His head appears empty and bald without his large ears accenting it. But the trepidation raging down on him forces him to keep his hands away from his head to reverse his work. He turns around and whisks away.

---

With his head down and hands in his hoodie’s pockets, Nolan approaches the familiar four-door car parked in front of his townhouse. He pulls his hand out to open the door and swings himself inside. He shuts the door closed.

“Hey…”

Nolan peers to his left. In the driver’s seat, Carter is gazing at him, uncertain. He snaps his head back to continue looking down.

Carter shifts the gears of the car and guides it down the street.

---

The restaurant is bustling with the morning crowd. Waitresses route the large establishment with plates of piping hot foods and beverages. Wafting through the air is the warm, sharp smell of coffee entangled with syrup. The sound of clanking and soft chattering fills the atmosphere.

In a booth close to the corner, beside a wide window, is Nolan and Carter. They hand their menus to a waitress with small brown ears before turning to each other from each side of the table.

Right on eye contact, Nolan dips his head. He cradles one hand in another on his lap.

Carter gazes at him with sad confusion. “Why did you lie to me?”

Nolan tenses, receiving the question as a threat.

Carter sighs and leans back. “Look, I’m not mad, I’m just…” He straightens up. “Is okay to feel just” —He pinches his pointer finger and thumb— “a bit disappointed?” He drops his hand and settles back against the booth’s backrest.

Nolan glances at him, capturing his innocent, hurt expression. His shoulders drop before he straightens up to face him.

“I just…” Nolan dips his head with a sigh. “I just didn’t want to be looked down upon because I’m a prey…” He flicks eyes back up at him. “Seeing all you guys on the team as predators, it-it was intimidating and I just wanted to be just like you guys.” He hugs himself, looking aside. “You guys wouldn’t take me seriously if you knew I was a rabbit.”

Carter makes an “o” with his mouth in understanding. “I wouldn’t do that. This ‘prey’ and ‘predator’ label—” He flicks his hand. “—pfft—I can care less about that! What matters for the team is skill. And what matters to me is the personality—”

Nolan gazes back at him. “You befriended me just because you thought I was a bear!”

“How was I supposed to know you were a rabbit? And don’t you get excited if you see another rabbit?”

Nolan crosses arms and casts his eyes to aside. “I don’t WANT to be a rabbit.” He throws sharp eyes at him. “We get picked on as prey all the time by predators like you.”

Carter shakes his head with a smudge grin. “I wouldn’t pick on you—”

“You picked on the poor feral penguins!”

Carter holds his palms out in surrender. “Okay, okay, sure, call me cruel, but that was because they wouldn’t know; their comprehension is gone, so it’s okay.” He reverts his hand to point at him.

“But you, you are a kemonomimi, so you know how to interpret those cruel jokes. With that, I wouldn’t tell them to you. You know, it’s exactly like telling your secrets to your teddy bear; you do that because your teddy bear doesn’t have the ability to tell your secrets to anyone else.” He holds his hands out from sides, concluding his stance.

Nolan holds a scowl at him. “So you won’t treat me any differently just because I’m a prey.”

“Absolutely! And—” He throws a pointer finger up. “I actually think it’s pretty cool meeting a guy rabbit—”

“Buck.”

Carter drops his hand and shoots him a puzzled look. “What?”

“I’m a buck.” He relaxes his expression. “That’s what you call male rabbits.”

Carter’s face lightens. “Oh! Right.”

Nolan holds a hand out. “Like how you’re a boar—”

“I’m a BEAR!”

“Male bears are called ‘boars.’”

Carter pauses, sucking in his rage. “Oh…huh…” He looks to aside and crosses his arms. “The insults weren’t really insults after all…” He gazes back at him. “Well, you’re the first buck I’ve ever met.”

Nolan raises his eyebrows. “Really?”

He nods his head. “Yup. You don’t see any of them in the bear or hockey communities.”

“That’s for a reason.”

“Why’d you pick up hockey though?” Carter folds his arms on the table and leans closer to him. “That’s not a rabbit sport.”

Nolan shifts in his booth and looks at the condiments against the wall to his right. “Because I...don’t...wanna be like other preys…” He looks back at him. “I wanna be like a predator.”

Carter leans back. “Oh...wow....” He raises eyebrows. “Well, not only do you play hockey, you outplay a lot of us predators—” He juts his thumb at his own chest. “—like me.”

Nolan bashfully scoffs with a roll of his eyes.

Carter gazes up. “Say, what would be really cool is if everyone knew you are a rabbit playing hockey and then you can inspire more rabbits to play hockey.” He flashes him a grin, his small ears sticking out from his head.

Nolan slightly gawks at him. “But I don’t want anyone to know I’m a rabbit.”

“But I know.”

He sighs. “That happened unwillingly. I just don’t want anyone else to know I’m a prey.”

Carter shoots his hands out at him. “Come on, you gotta be confident in yourself!”

Nolan leans closer to him with hands on the edge on the table. “I am!” he hisses.

Carter directs his outstretched hand to his head. “So, where’re your ears?”

He drops his arms, giving him a glower.

“How can you be confident in yourself if you’re hiding who you are?” Carter crosses his arms with a flat, incredulous look.

“I can’t expose my ears in this place filled with predators.”

Carter then peers out of from his booth and gazes around. Occupying the dispersed tables and booths are mainly customers with bear ears and tails, along with a handful of those with wolf ears and tails, fox ears and tails, and weasels ears and tails.

Carter continues turning his head until he peers behind his shoulder.

Sitting on the other end of the restaurant at their own table is Elias Pettersson and Lias Andersson, the shikamimis, or deer. Elias, a fallow deer, has large, wide antlers and small brown ears sprouting from his platinum blond hair. Lias, a roe deer, has small, thin antlers and matching brown ears poking out from his blond hair.

“Hah!” Carter whirls back to his friend. “The scorekeepers! They’re deer and they’re right over there!” He sticks his thumb out toward them from his shoulder.

Nolan leans toward the edge of the booth and cranes his head out to capture a wide view of the restaurant. He spots the two blond men munching on bowls of salad while conversing with one another. Their antlers protrude high and proud into view.

He turns back to face Carter with narrowed eyes.

“They’re prey animals...and they’re showing their antlers...here…” Carter holds his hands out. “They’re doing just fine.”

With a huff of frustration, Nolan dips his head.

“I just want you to be truthful to yourself,” he hears Carter explain. “You’re a rabbit for a reason. Own what you got.”

Nolan slides his eyes aside to gaze at the antler-adorned men. They show no hint of fear; they exchange smiles and laughs. One continues eating as another makes extravagant gestures.

A yearning sensation gnaws at Nolan; a yearning to have that freedom. And to have that freedom, he has to take the first step...

Nolan straightens up as he flips down his hood. He then pulls off the beanie, letting his large ears extend into the air and face in front of him. He runs his fingers through them to brush out the soreness.

Across the table, Carter gazes up at them in awe. “Wow… They’re so big…”

Nolan drops his hands, holding an expressionless look at him. His left ear twitches.

“...and beautiful.” He gazes back at him with a delightful smile growing.

Nolan drops his shoulders and looks down with a sigh. “Thanks.” He stuffs his beanie into his hoodie’s pocket.

“I think I found out what’s cooler than having a bear as a friend.”

Nolan peeks up at Carter

“Having a rabbit as a friend.”

A warm smile grows on Nolan’s face.

“Smoke salmon eggs Benedict?” the waitress asks.

Nolan snaps his head to the left, spotting that the waitress has returned with a large black tray carrying two dishes.

Carter raises hand as if he is a student in a class that knows the answer. “Oh yes!”

The waitress slides the loaded plate in front of him. She then turns back to the tray. “Berry salad.”

Nolan watches the small bowl stuffed with leaves and sprinkled with berries being placed in front of him.

The waitress smiles at them. “Enjoy.” She then whisks away.

Carter nabs his fork and knife and begins to cut up one of his eggs Benedict. “And now it makes sense as to why you eat salads all the time.”

Nolan raises his fork, holding a piece of lettuce. “It’s the only thing I can eat.” He nibbles on it.

“And you don’t get sick of it?” Carter pinches a chunk of fish and egg and stuffs it into his mouth.

He finishes up the lettuce sliver. “Nah, we spice it up with fruits.” He takes a blueberry with his fork. “Like this.” He bites into it.

Carter has wide eyes and raised eyebrows as he chews. “Mmmm—!” He swallows. “You’re going like this to the game?”

Nolan halts his chewing, holding his fork with his half-eaten blueberry in front of his mouth.

“As a rabbit, not a...polar bear?”

Nolan blinks at him.

“No worries, I’ll be with you.” Carter shoots him a reassuring closed smile.

“Okay.” Nolan then finishes his blueberry.

Notes