Fuzzy Animal

("I'm trapped here, in this dull room.")

Gray relaxed on top of his bed, tossing a ball against the wall in a repeating motion. Catching it with each bounce, he stopped at his third toss. "This is boring," he commented.

Lavenda sighed, peeling an apple in her hands. She spoke, "Gray, I think it's your fault that you're even in this situation." Gray had a disgruntled gaze upon hearing Lavenda's words. "What do you mean it's my fault? All I did was stand up for my parents and now I've been confined in this room for about a month."

Lavenda made a fist and proceeded to bonk Gray on the head. "You idiot!"

Gray covered his head and rubbed on his wound. "O-Ow! Why would you hit me for no reason?!" Lavenda bonked Gray again. "Are you seriously an idiot? Do you even know what happened because of your actions?" she said in an irritated tone. "No, not really, all I know is that I did something right," Gray replied.

"Your parents had to apologize to everybody in the ceremony, and were deeply ashamed for their whole commotion! What's even more, the trade that was sanctioned between the Kenoble Kingdom and the Swayar family was cut off, so now your father has to apologize to the people in his own family!" Lavenda continued to bonk Gray on the head continuously. "Do you understand now you numbnuts, all because you said that one bad word!" Gray couldn't formulate a response due to the persistent assault from Lavenda.

Lavenda then stood up and handed Gray a plate with peeled apple slices. "You're already three years old and you're already a smart ale, how hopeless are you?!" She then stomped out of the room, grumbling to herself.

Gray took an apple slice and bit into it. ("When did she cut these?")

Then suddenly, a voice is heard from the opened window next to him.

"You wouldn't have been bullied so hard if you knew Boxing," it said.

Gray snapped his head in surprise, seeing some sort of animal that he had never seen before.

("What is this creature?")

("Where did it come from?")

("Why did it sound like Ben?")

These thoughts bombarded Gray's mind as he stared at the odd fuzzy being.

"Sup, it's me, Ben." The fuzzy creature voiced. "W-What! If you're Ben then why do you look like that and where did you come from?!" Gray shouted.

Lavenda kicked through the bedroom door, busting herself in. "Hey, stop being so loud you moron!" Lavenda screamed. She held a stack of clothes that got in her way. "L-Lavenda, what are you doing here?!" Lavenda dropped the clothes onto the ground, with the clothes being taller than her by two inches. Stepping around it, she explained, "Howard suddenly told me to deliver the laundry to your room even though this was such an annoying task." Lavenda averted her eyes to Gray, and then her face slowly shifted to confusion. "Um, by the way, who were you talking to?"

Gray turned his head back to the window, seeing that Ben was nowhere to be seen. "Wait, he was just right here, that fuzzy creature!" Gray said, pointing at the window.

Both Lavenda and Gray lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, which lingered for a few seconds before Lavenda opted to exit the room. "I'll inform the nurse that you're not feeling well. Take care, Gray," she said. Lavenda walked off, with Gray left feeling defeated.

"Hello again," Ben's voice chimed unexpectedly, catching Gray off guard. He shifted his attention back to the window. "And where did you disappear to? Thanks to you, I'm standing here looking like a complete oddball."

"I disappeared within your shadows, that's where," Ben replied.

"My what...?" Gray was unamused.

"Back to topic Gray, I need to tell you that I am truly Ben, but it appears that I'm in the form of an animal called a Quokka." Gray raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "A Quokka? Is that some sort of animal in this world?" He asked.

Ben shook his head "Nope, it's an animal back on earth but for some reason, I've taken this form still." Ben's expression then averted to seriousness, intensifying his voice. "But, I need to tell you something very important Gray, you need to become strong in this world!" Gray saw the look in Ben's eyes, they were filled with determination upon announcing this goal.

"What do you mean I need to be strong in this world? For what reason?" Gray was very puzzled about why Ben wanted him to become strong. Maybe because this world was a dream for Ben as he always talked about trying to be the main character in a reincarnation story.

"Well, for some reason my memories seem to be broken, but all I remember is that training you to be stronger was my main goal." Ben casually said. Gray didn't understand this sudden outburst of shocking information but he had forgotten that this was Ben he was talking to. "Wait, what do you mean your memories seem to be broken? Are you joking around again or are you serious?" he queried.

"My memories are messed up, I can barely remember you, and for some reason, I seem to have a lot of knowledge on this world, but I can't seem to remember why." Ben answered. His face was serious, and this made Gray's heart sink. "And I thought I was able to have someone I know in this world at the very least..."

"Geez, you barely care about me losing my memories..." Ben mentioned. "I mean, all you did was just lose your memories, can't really do anything about that." Gray replied. "Anyhow, I need to make you stronger and I know just what to do to make that possible," Ben spoke. Gray scratched his head. "Ben, I'm afraid that's not possible. In this world, I have literally no talent at all."

Ben paused for a moment, hearing Gray. "You what?"

Gray repeated himself, "Yes Ben, I literally have no talent, I legit have nothing to work with in this world. I'm just a weak 3-year-old who has no magic to work with." Ben sighed and shook his head. "Well, that sucks but don't worry, I'll still train you to be the strongest in this world!" Ben said, raising his arms in cheer. Ben looked pumped up as usual, with determination flaring through his body.

Gray raised his hand. "Um, no thanks. I rather just sleep."

The flame in Ben fizzled out.

"What?!" Ben screamed. "Yeah, I rather just sleep," Gray repeated. "I literally have no powers in this world other than to be a sitting duck, why would I risk my life out there when I could enjoy my time staying here in luxury?"

Ben raised his tiny Quokka hand. "U-Uhm... adventure?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing that." Gray laid down and shut his eyes. "Listen, Gray, you're always like this but you NEED to get stronger. I don't know why but in my memories this is URGENT." Ben stated. "Well, you and your memories can do that urgent business yourselves because I really don't care," Gray responded. Ben's eyebrow twitched. "Gray, you're going to end up like yourself back on earth, fat, because you're too lazy to do anything!"

"No, Ben, you don't understand, You just never give up when someone tells you no, and this is a good example." Gray turned his body in the other direction from where Ben was, covering his ears with his pillow. Gray then felt a strong kick from behind, knocking him off the bed. Sitting up, he clenched his fist while gazing at Ben. "What was that for?!" he hollered. Ben replied with the same energy. "I'm sick and tired of you not trying to attempt anything new because you assume that it won't work. Listen here you moron, you can never predict anything big in life!" Gray angrily threw the pillow that was right beside him at Ben. "Uh, yes you can! I can tell that I'd probably die out there a stupid death because I'm weak. How many times do I have to say this?!"

"Could you predict your body having stage 5 cancer? Could you predict a drunk driver crashing into your car? Could you predict us dying out of the blue?! Gray, you need to understand that life will ALWAYS have obstacles." Gray went silent against his words. He kept trying to brainstorm an argument to respond with. He then just gave up. "Ben, what do you even plan on teaching me to be stronger anyway? As I said, I literally have no magic."

"I plan to teach you boxing!"

Gray's face went blank. "Boxing...? In this world full of dudes who have magic? Um, yeah, no." Ben chuckled, and he then spoke, "You don't understand Gray, boxing is amazing! Magic would have no chance against it!" Gray stood up again and sat down right next to Ben on his bed. "Ben, what is boxing going to do against a literal fireball?" he asked. Ben shrugged and beamed like an idiot. "I dunno."

"Then why would you teach me something so useless?" Gray asked. "Because it's the best bet we have so far. You learn boxing, and you become great at it in this world, why not?" Gray sighed once more hearing Ben's words. "Because I'll just die if I learn boxing, I rather use a sword in this world than use my fists!"

Ben nodded to Gray's response. "Mhm, I see- THAT YOU'RE A PUSSY!"

Gray was stunned. "What...?" he murmured. With Ben turned around, he made a dramatic pause before saying, "That's right... YOU'RE A GODDAMN PUSSY! You can't get ANYWHERE with your way of thinking. Think like a champion Gray, and if you do that, you can win!" Ben jerked around to face Gray once more. "Oh, and also, I'll be completely honest, I legit don't know any other fighting technique other than boxing," he said, shrugging.

"Oh... at least you're honest."

Amidst of their conversation, Gray had remembered something. In a bitter tone, he explained his situation. "By the way, Ben, even if you were to try to teach me, I can't go outside. I'm grounded for cussing at some fat pig in a ceremony." Ben crossed his arms upon hearing this. He had hoped to go outside as they would have way more space to practice than in this small lame room that they stood in. And then, an idea clicked in his head. "Why not just beg for forgiveness?"

"Uh... no." Gray quickly refuted the idea. "I know what I did was right so why do I have to apologize?" Ben sighed hearing this. "Bruh, we can't train in some cramped room like this, we need to be out in the open! Think about me anyways, I am a Quokka, I can't be in some lame room like this!" Ben said, aiming his teeny hands at himself.

"I mean, I guess I could try to convince someone to let us out but how do we explain you?" Gray told him. Upon hearing this, Ben began slowly merging in the darkness. "I can just hide in your shadows." Gray was baffled, trying to touch where Ben had merged away. "So you weren't joking around earlier..."

"Anyways, just go and find someone to let us out!" Ben yelled. "Fine, fine, don't be so impatient." Gray stood up from his bed and approached his doorway. Peeking his head through the room's doors, he saw Howard taking cups of tea back to the kitchen. His monocle looked as sharp as usual, with a very distracting glare. "Howard, can I please ask you to do a favor?" Gray asked.

Howard gave him a side-eyed glare from where he stood, not turning an inch. "Young master, do you understand that you are not supposed to leave your room currently?" Gray gulped before continuing his question, ignoring what Howard had stated. "Howard, please let me go into the backyard of the mansion!" Howard hearing this, paused for a moment. "Young master, do you understand what I had just said-"

"I-I do, but..."

Howard turned his head and gazed directly into Gray's eyes. "But what?"

Gray couldn't think of an excuse. Why did he even do such a straightforward action before even thinking about an excuse?! He felt frustrated with himself. Thinking about frustrations, Ben was also infuriating by how bothersome he was. He appears out of nowhere just to lecture him on why he needs to be strong! But then with that thought, Ben's annoyance gave him a great idea.

Gray closed his eyes and did a huge gasp of air before letting out some strong words. "After humiliating the Swayar family with how weak I was, I can't just sit around and do nothing! I want to train as hard as I can so I am not considered an embarrassment!" Gray nearly cringed screaming this out.

Howard's eyes widened upon hearing this, he then walked over to Gray and knelt down in front of him, reaching him to eye level. "Young master, no... Master Gray, I've been observing you for some time now, and you're such a unique child."

Gray began profusely sweating. ("D-Did he find out that I'm not some ordinary child?!")

Howard then smiled. "You're already cunning and smart by the age of 3 years old, very odd indeed." he then planted his hand on Gray's shoulder. "You already feel the need to bear the responsibility of your entire family as well, but, Master Gray, you are yourself, and you can be great in your own ways, so don't let such a useless burden hold you down." Gray was stunned seeing Howard smile. He had never seen him express any emotions until now.

Howard stood up once more, readying to walk off. "Master Gray, with what I had just said, you are truly amazing indeed. You may go outside now, I'll handle everything from here." As Howard walked off, Ben emerged from Gray's shadow once more. "That was amazing Gray, I never knew you could think of an excuse like that! Hurry up now, we gotta start training ASAP!" Ben began skedaddling away with his tiny paws.

"Ben, wait up!"

Gray continued pursuing Ben as they passed through all of the servants in the mansion. Reaching to the front door, Ben smashed through it, surprising Gray. "You're a small animal, how are you physically able to do that?!" Right after smashing through the door, Ben scurried off into the front of the mansion where he sat and awaited Gray's arrival.

Gray finally catching up to Ben was out of breath. "Are you ready now?" Ben spoke, eating some grass off the ground. "N-No, not really..." Gray stated. Ben, still smiling, said, "Well, that's too bad because we're going in there!" Ben had pointed at the forest that enveloped the mansion.

Gray gazed up with a sense of fear and observed the direction that he was indicating. "What...?"