With Friends like These

"Ruth! Lynn! Chancey! We're here!" I shout out as I ran towards the group of girls who were playing at the neighborhood playground. 

They turned and waved when they saw us, "Yo Ash, what took ya so long?" Lynn said as she waved at us while she hung from the monkey bars. 

Ruth just waved but kept swinging on the swing set, she wasn't much of the talkative type actions were more her thing, but she talked more when it's just me and her since I was her first friend she made outside her family with her sister Lynn being the only other close person she had before me. 

"Hahaha! Come on they got the sprinkler jets working!" Chancey shouted out as even though she was a cat person, she really loved water, and seeing the fun my sister went to join her. 

Now I should give some context, it's not just humans that live on this planet but Demihuman/Beastmen also inhabit this world, Demihumans are people with some animal features where as beast people have more animal looks than their demihuman counterparts. 

Ruth and Lynn are Hare/Rabbit BeastWoman while Chancey is a Cat BeastWoman while the Oakwoods, Marigold and Roxy that mom mentioned are Demihumans as they only have animal ears and tails and for Marigold and Roxy have horns as well. 

Though in the 15th to 16th century from what I read up online their was a massive war that took place all across Africa/Europe/Asia continents where the humans fought against the demihumans and Beastmen which resulted in heavy losses on both sides which put the males of both races to near extinction, though after this the men from the American continents that weren't apart of the war were the remains of the males of humanity along with those in Oceania region of the world. 

But that wasn't what decimated the male population as during the early 19th century a plague spread across the world effecting only men and with only those actually immune surviving the disease itself before I cure was finally found in the early 1930's but even to this day there's still only a 1% population of males worldwide as a result though the Futas that were born from Beastmen/demihumans and the women who modified their bodies to become Futas were the only ones that could stop the death of all of our races as a result. 

Though now adays most futas are natural born though some women do go through the process to become Futas it's not as much as there are strick regulations if a woman wants to do that. 

Only good thing in this world I learned online is that a man can have any number of women as his wives an lovers, both women and futas alike, but I think that was supposed to be a bad thing had that god not interfered or else I.... I really don't want to think what I could be right now and I'm only four as the thought of Futa pedos out their terrify me. 

".... Ash, Wanna come to our house tomorrow?.... We can use the gym.... Mom says it's best to get strong at an early age...." Ruth says slowly as we swing on the swing set together. 

"Sure, though I'll have to convince my moms to see if it's okay." I say back to her, with her looks right now you would think she was a guy with her shirt dark hair, sweatpants, and skull tank top. 

".... Okay.... August will probably come over too, she likes wrestling after all." She says to me which makes me shutter a bit. 

August is a girl who loves wrestling ever since she began to watch Women's Wrestling Entertainment or WWE and MMA fights on tv that she basically considers herself a future wrestler in training. 

And whenever she comes along I end up being her partner when we spar and I get my ass kicked, if I didn't have the bare minimum stats thanks to being Astolfo I wouldn't ever be training at Ruth and Lynn's family gym/dojo as my small kid body wouldn't be able to handle it. 

but with my stats in D it makes my current self have a bit higher endurance and strength but that doesn't seem to make a difference to Ruth, Lynn or August as they can still beat me up even when I try. 

"Ugh, I need to get stronger so you girls don't beat me up all the time." I say as I shake my head in exasperation.

"Well…. You'll get stronger eventually, it's just that Demihumans and Beastmen are naturally stronger from birth." She said as she gave me a shrug which didn't make me any happier hearing that.

"Ugh…. We'll Ruth, will you stick with me until I'm strong like you?" I ask as she's my best bet to getting stronger after all.

"…. Mhm." She just nods as she promises to do that which makes me happy, although I didn't realize at that moment she would take this promise so seriously even all the way to our adult years.

"Hey don't make this Promise without me! I'll help you alongside her as well!" Lynn cut in as she heard our conversation with her sensitive rabbit ears before she launched herself from the money bars with a flip before landing perfectly in front of us both.

Of the two sisters Lynn is the more hyperactive one who enjoys having fun and going out to do things with me and her sister along with Chancey the four of us are close friends.

"Oh look who is playing the runts again? If it isn't Ash and his sister Sarah." I suddenly hear the high pitched voice of a haughty girl from nearby.

"I know that Birdbrained voice from anywhere." I say as I get up and look over at the avian girl nearby.

"Well if it little miss Princess Stella! Come here to ruin the fun as always it seems." I say as I look at her while I cross my arms in annoyance.

Stella Monroe is her name, one of the upperclass girls that live in our area in the mansion district along with Virosika Mayday, Herzha Indigo and Genesis De'Mere as the four rich family's that I only know because of my mother Karen's connections with their mothers who she was close friends with back in her school days.

And Stella's Mother(Futa) was Karen's best friend and well….

"I still can't believe that I'm engaged to a boy like you, even if you have your good looks you certainly aren't high class material." She scoffed as she said that.

She was my fiancée set up by both of our parents between each other, less of a political marriage and more because both her mother and my mother wanted to be true sisters to each other.

Let's just say that back when we first met it didn't end well it was on my fourth birthday a few months back when we met and while the intial contact was fine, when she decided to make fun of how low-class my friends were let's just say cake and red fruit juice stains in a cashmere dress don't mix and we've been at eachother's throats since.

"Well Princess, the feeling is mutual! If it didn't make my mother sad I would have told her to break it off already." I said as I laid my feelings clear to her.

Though even if I did Mother Karen would say to just try and make up between us, but unless something drastic happens, that won't happen anytime soon.

"Grrr! Your so insufferable! I don't know what you see in these girls in the first place! There nothing but a bunch of brutes!" Now later I would find out it's not she has anything against me at all, what irritated her and made her dislike me was because of the friends I have, an upper class looking down on the middle class situation, me being an exception due to the friendship between our parents and her mother(Futa) running a conglomerate making them sit firmly in the upper class.

Hearing that veins popped out of my, Lynn and Ruth's foreheads, but they can't do anything to her but I can, "That's it! I'm gonna have to teach you a lesson in manners Princess!" I say as I lunge at her and our fight starts.

This would be our relationship between the two of us for a long time to come.

*****

More characters added into the Auxiliary chapter for people he mentions and or meets later on.