FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Getting the gift Hazard gave her lifted Sasuga's spirit greatly and provided her with the necessary energy she needed to finish all of her tasks for the day. Time seemed like it had flown for her, as hours past without her ever noticing it. With just one working hour left on the clock, Sasuga spend the time tiding the desk up, and didn't sense the coming of a presence entering the office.

"Good day, Ms. Temple," a ratty voice spoke and took the kirin by surprise. She turned around swiftly and did her best not to gasp out loud when she saw it was Ms. Remington, the university's director, standing right behind with her usual exceedingly overused makeup on her lizard-like face.

"Oh! Uh, hello, Ms. Remington!" Sasuga spluttered out while trying to keep her composure. The director stared at her with a lifted eyebrow and Sasuga felt a crawl under her scaled-skin. The iguana plainly looked revolting, as she took a puff from her long cigar, which was kind of ironic because it was prohibited to smoke on the job inside the university. But who would argue with the director? Definitely not Sasuga.

"Hmmm..." the iguana mused as she took a look around the office. "I see that you're doing a good job," she flatteringly said, her creepy eyes scanning her surroundings.

Sasuga swallowed silently, "Um, thank you..."

"Is Mr. Burns available?" Ms. Remington then questioned and the kirin nodded.

"Yes, he's in his office. I'll let him know." Sasuga's hand reached for the phone but was then halted by the director.

"No need. I'll go see him myself. You are excused," Ms. Remington told her with an icy-cold expression and made her way to the supervisor's office without a delay. Sasuga stared blandly at the director as she disappeared into Mr. Burns' office, and wondered what the deal with these mystifying meetings was. As Sasuga came to think of it, that was mostly what she did every time she surprised them with a visit; she asks for Mr. Burns and then dismisses her right after that. Could they be having an affair inside?

"Good grief! Bad image! Bad!" Sasuga grossed out in disgust of the dreadful image she pictured in her mind of those two having a sexual relationship and shook the horrible idea off of her head, trying to block it off by thinking of something nice, like her new cell phone. She picked it up from the desk and put it inside her suitcase before leaving the office without a second thought. The moment she closed the office door behind her, she saw that her classmate, Kyle, was waiting for her in the waiting benches, an anxious look on his feline face. "Kyle?"

"H-Hey Sasuga." Kyle stood up and made an effort to look her up in the eyes. "Ar-Are you ok?" he muttered.

Sasuga blinked at him, "Ok? Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well... you know... you looked really upset earlier, at the cafeteria?" Kyle reminded her and she pouted when she remembered that lousy event at the cafeteria; just as it was all behind her back now and she started feeling good.

"Oh that..." Sasuga frowned. "Don't worry, Kyle. I totally forgot all about it. I didn't let that tightass bitch and her slaves get to me," she comforted him with a confident beam.

"That's great!" Kyle replied in relief. "I was worried about you, and I felt bad... because I couldn't do anything to make them stop..." he then lowered his eyes and dangled his head in shame.

"That's okay, Kyle. I appreciate your help. You're a good friend," Sasuga smiled sweetly and petted the cat's head gently, which made him feel better as he looked up back at her with a pleased smile.

"Thanks!" Kyle purred. "Uh, are you gonna leave now?"

"Yes, I'm all done here!"

"Oh... Umm, well... I wanted to ask you something, Sas," the cat mumbled shyly, finding a hard time saying something as Sasuga looked at him in intrigue. "Do you want... to, like, go out and get a drink or something?" he finally spitted out, feeling his ears were going to pop by how red his face was. Expectedly, Sasuga was surprised by her classmate's offer. He just asked her out, but as a date or just a friendly hangout? She really hoped it wasn't the first, but it was obviously the later. She noticed how they had been spending less time together lately, and maybe he missed that and wanted to catch up. Though she still had that lunch with Hazard to go to, she didn't want to let down the poor thing after all the trouble he went through asking. Besides, she still had about an hour before her lunch with her wolfish friend, and a little drink wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Uhh, you don't have to, anyway..." Kyle uttered when he saw her ponder for a while like that.

Sasuga smiled at him and pinched Kyle's whiskery cheek, "No, I'd like to." The cat's face lightened up bright and his eyes were open wide from joy.

"Re-Really!? Awesome! Um, just give me a minute to get my stuff!"

"Alright, I'll wait for you outside school."

"'Kay! I'll be right back!" The young feline waved to her and ran off as fast as he could, as Sasuga watched him with a concerned smile. She just hoped she was doing the right thing. They wouldn't take that long though and she'd be done before her lunch date with Hazard. Plus, she could call him by her cell phone in case anything unexpected happened; this thing would make them get in touch much easier.

As Sasuga stepped down the university's front stairs, she glimpsed a female skunk having a hard time carrying a high stack of boxes that contained some assorted canned meat. It was Shanya, the jinxed worker at Delfino Bros Co., taking away goods from the university that had their expiration date expired after delivering some new goods in. Unbeknownst to the skunk, there was a big brick lying on her way she couldn't possibly see, that Sasuga noticed.

"Hey, miss! Watch out for that...!" Sasuga tried to warn Shanya, but she was one second too late, as the unlucky skunk's foot stumbled into the brick and made her trip to the pebbly ground, dropping all of the boxes she was carrying. Sasuga winced when she saw Shanya fall off hard, biting her bottom lip regretfully for not warning her any sooner. The kirin then immediately rushed to Shanya's side and sought to give her a hand. "Are you hurt?"

"Owww... Shit..." Shanya groaned as she got up on her knees, but then gasped when she saw all of the boxes scattered all over the ground, wrecked. "Oh hell no! I'm completely screwed! They'll fire me for this for sure! Damn me!" Shanya cried, slamming her fist on the ground in frustration and cursing herself. "This kind of shit always happens! I can't do anything right! Brainless idiot!"

Sasuga felt terribly sorry for the poor skunk and tried to think of anything to help her out. "Um, I'm so sorry. Is there any way I can help?" Shanya looked up at the kirin, as Sasuga reached a helping hand to her, and widened her eyes, stunned by Sasuga's unusual appearance. Sasuga sensed the alarmed look in her eyes and had second thoughts, pulling her hand back in disappointment. She couldn't blame the skunk, though. She had many reactions like that when others saw her for the first time during her lifetime. "I'm sorry again," Sasuga stated apologetically and decided to take her leave.

"H-Hold on!" Shanya suddenly called out to her and stood up on her feet. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean any kind of offense. I should thank you for your concern. I'm just horrible at communicating with people..." the skunk apologized, mending her uniform.

"That's okay! I just hope you weren't hurt or anything," Sasuga said and Shanya shook her head coyly. "That's good. Well, I'm Sasuga," the kirin introduced herself with a friendly smile, reaching out a right hand for a welcoming shake. Shanya looked down at the kirin's scaly hand, and after a little hesitation, returned the shake after dusting her right hand off.

"I-I'm Shanya..." the skunks uttered shyly, feeling up Sasuga's scaly hand, the kirin feeling a bit awkward from that, but her hand must've felt a tad abnormal for her.

"W-Well, Sasuga, you can still help me, if you want."

"Sure! What do you need?" Sasuga openly accepted and Shanya smiled appreciatively.

"I just need someone to help me carry that mess to my van over there," Shanya instructed, pointing to a minivan parked right in front the university entrance, which had the Delfino's logo on its sides. Sasuga nodded, and they both began to work together in carrying the boxes into the back of the minivan.

Some minutes later, Kyle came out the university running, carrying his backpack over his shoulder and looking around for his kirin friend. Strangely, he couldn't find any sign of her, and he was pretty sure she said she'd be waiting for him here. He then heard the shrilling sound of a car engine and saw a minivan driving off in front of the university. He didn't give it any kind of attention though, and continued to search for Sasuga around the campus, but to no use. "Where ARE you, Sas?" he grunted, wondering what could've happened to her.

******************************************************************

"Alright Barzard, you're off duty now," the plant's manager rumbled as he gave Hazard permission to leave from his shift at checking the last shipment that would be sent out tomorrow. "Everyone's gone, so you should be to. You know how I don't like to pay for overtime," the bulldog said grudgingly.

"And I don't like to work them, either," Hazard smirked as he handed the manager the checking pad. With a gruff, the manager took it and went off without saying a word. "Gee, what crawled up his pants?" Hazard mused at the bulldog's attitude, but he shrugged and decided to head off himself; he wasn't the type that would care much about what others' think of him. Moreover, he was already running late for that lunch he was supposed to have with Sasuga and hoped she wouldn't be mad at him. "Oh right. I should give her a call," he thought to himself as he exited the plant, to make sure Sasuga was waiting for him at the café. He pulled out his cell phone, speed-dialed the kirin's number and waited for a minute for her to pick up. However, she didn't. He waited a little longer, and still no reply. Did he dial the right number? He was positive; it was the same he used to call her the first time. He tried calling her again, but this time, as he did, his ears picked up a faint ringing coming from somewhere, somewhere near He pulled the phone away from his ear, keeping it dialing, and listened well. The ringing kept going, and it sounded like a ring-tone, a cell phone ring-tone. Additionally, it was a familiar special ring-tone, one that he quickly recognized. It was the same ring-tone he'd set up himself in Sasuga's cell phone before he gave it to her. Without any hesitation, he followed the sound. Luckily with his strong hearing ability, it wasn't such a hard task, and sure enough, he got closer to the source, the ringing getting much clearer. His eyes narrowed as he sensed that it was coming from inside one of the company's minivans that were parked at the plant's parking lot. Carefully approaching it, he noticed that van's windows were open. He took a peek into it, and to his shock, found Sasuga's suitcase lying on the passenger's seat, the ring-tone emitting from it. She could never be anywhere without it, and at that moment, Hazard's doubts vanished. Something happened to Sasuga. Something bad.

To be continued...