Stumble

Alice enjoyed herself as her bucket was filled to the brim with candy. They sat on a bench for a quick break. She noticed how many pieces of chocolate she got, which made her sad; so Yoshi exchanged her chocolate for candy she liked which made her tail wag happily.

"So, like, is chocolate actually poisonous to you?" Yoshi asked.

"Kinda... it makes me very sick, but it's not fatal. I only seem to have some factors of jackals. Not agreeing with chocolate I guess is one of them."

"Oh, I think you like chocolate a lot, Alice." Belle said smugly.

"What are you yapping about?"

Belle wasn't surprised that Alice didn't get her joke about liking Yoshi. She was used to how dense both were when it came to each other's feelings about each other. The two still didn't know that the other liked them. Belle rolled her eyes and moved on from her chocolate husbando joke.

Belle sat down with them and handed them both water. She noticed Yoshi kept twitching his hand and looking at Alice's head. A perverse and himedere smile grew on Belle's face.

"Hey, Alice, have you ever been a pet before?"

Yoshi flinched from hearing them. He looked over at Belle with a stern look, but Belle could tell he was flustered on the inside. She knew Yoshi wanted to pet Alice, but didn't have very the confidence to ask her. It was a pretty weird question to ask after all. You don't just walk up to your female friend and ask to rub the top of their head. But Alice wasn't your average female.

"N-No..." Alice said in confusion. "You ask the strangest thing, you know that?"

"Does petting excite you? You know, being a dog?"

"N-No..."

"Then why is your tail wagging?"

Alice looked back and saw her tail wagging back and forth rapidly, making her face flush red.

"Hey, I need to say something. This is for both me and the audience. You two like each other, so fuck each other already and end the romance."

"Huh?" they both said in unison.

"... Shoot, I made it awkward, didn't I? Maybe I shouldn't have said anything... Sorry about that... Actually, never mind. I'm not sorry about anything. Now, let me see that first kiss, you two."

"I'm not even focused on you right now." said Alice. "Y-Yoshi, is it true you like me?"

"Yes, I like you a lot. I think you're an amazing, kind, and beautiful person."

"U-Um... Then, would you like to go out?"

"... No."

The words from Yoshi's mouth shook Alice and Belle to their core. Alice was confused. He just said he liked her. Why did he reject her? Belle was even more confused about this.

"W-What do you mean no?" asked Alice.

"You're a wonderful person, Alice... You shouldn't waste your time dating someone like me?"

"W-What do you mean?"

"I don't deserve you. That's what I mean."

"But I..."

Yoshi got up from the bench and grabbed his bucket. He looked up at the night sky and closed his eyes with a frustrated look on his face.

"I'm going home early. You guys can stay if you want."

Yoshi walked away from them. Alice and Belle were left there, speechless. They didn't know how to process anything Yoshi just said.

"A-Alice... are you ok?" Belle asked concerningly.

"Is it weird I feel like crying?"

"... I-I'm sorry. I knew you two loved each other. I thought that you two would fall all over ever each other once you learned about... you know... What was he even talking about? Why would he not feel like he deserves you?"

Alice's nose began to pick up a weird smell in the area. It was the smell of blood. She began to walk to the house at the end of the block. Belle, still confused, followed close behind her friend. They watched as two kids walked up to a house and rang the doorbell. The door opened and the floor, walls, and ceiling looked like the inside of a throat. Suddenly, pinky, moist, skeletal hands came out from the shadows of the interior and pulled one of the kids in like it was out of a horror movie. The other kid tried to run, but he was pulled in as well.

They noticed Yoshi walking up to the house and ringing the doorbell next. When the door opened, Yoshi dodged the pink hands and slashed them with his sword. He then walked into the building itself.

"Should we follow him." asked Alice.

"Is Twitter the worst place on the internet? Yes, of course, we follow! That's an anomaly. It looks to be a high echo class or low aether class."

"Last time we fought an aether class, we all nearly died."

"Yes, but to be fair, we were a lot weaker back then and this anomaly is weaker than that moth anomaly. Plus, Yoshi could use our help. Come on."

The two girls rush into the house before the door closes behind them.