Roni and Joey: Prologue

Veronica Hale, or Roni as she liked to go by, was sitting at her desk in her room working on her homework for school. She wasn’t normally one to procrastinate, but these past few weeks have taken a great toll on the high school Junior. Leaning back in her chair and rubbing her temples, her hazel eyes drifted to her side table next to her bed, where sat a glass enclosure with a small bed, chair, lamp, and a sideways smartphone playing a rerun of an old anime from the late 90’s. In the chair watching the show sat her best friend Joey.

Joey Calhoun, now Hale, was an unfortunate victim of Smallara. Normally, smallara victims would live with their families as long as they could afford the fees, but, the Calhoun’s were different, to say the least. While being more than wealthy enough to have afforded the fees, Joey’s parents opted to relinquish Joey to Generitech before Roni begged them to let her take him. The Calhoun family was extremely proud and saw underbreds as a blight on society. Prior to Joey falling victim to the disease, he’d get into emotional arguments with his parents, as it was his belief that littles could be just as capable as humans if given the ability to prove it and that the Calhoun company should be doing more to help Generitech. These arguments created a major strain in the relationship, and once the Calhouns had the ability to sever ties with their eldest son and heir to their fortune, they jumped on it in a heartbeat.

Now, while Roni may have been able to get custody of Joey, that didn’t mean his life would be perfect. While Roni loved her best friend and wanted to ensure that he had the best life possible, Mr. and Mrs. Hale didn’t think as highly of underbreds as she did. They had always loved Joey as if he was their own son, and weren’t necessarily against owning one, but the idea that they were essentially people was one that neither could get behind. When Roni begged them to help her save Joey from being shipped to Generitech, the stipulation was that he was to be nothing more than a pet after his metamorphosis into his true form. This created a lot of resentment but, begrudgingly, Roni had to accept as it was the only way to help her best friend.

Roni continued to stare at Joey with a somber expression. While she may have to treat him like a pet in the rest of the house, at least in her room she could ensure that he was treated with the equality she thought her best friend deserved. The bright side of the whole situation is that Roni is Joey’s primary guardian, so once she graduates, she can take him with her when she goes to college. She only hopes that he can maintain his personality until then. During some of her training, there had been rumors amongst the other Guardians in Training that those that catch smallara would revert to a more docile and submissive personality, and though her training little didn’t seem to have this issue, Roni couldn’t help but fear her best friend losing the spark that she always admired.

Deciding she’s done enough of her assignment, Roni stands from her chair, removing her glasses to rub the exhaustion from her eye and rolling her head to loosen her neck, her straight black hair tickling her shoulder blades. She moves from her desk to the enclosure and, with a dimpled smile, gently knocks on the glass to get Joey’s attention. The boy looks up at her with a sideways smile and green eyes, knowing Roni’s done for the night with homework.

“Want to watch that on the big screen with me?” Roni asks, already knowing the answer. Joey stands up and hurriedly walks to the phone to stop the show and looks up at her. “Absolutely!” Joey replies with enthusiasm as Roni gently picks him up from his habitat.

Roni carries Joey to her bed and lays down, setting Joey on her stomach before turning on the TV and resuming the show from where Joey had left off.

“Which show is this again?” Roni asks, not being the most familiar with this era of anime. “It’s yu yu hakusho, they’re just getting to the dark tournament” Joey says happily, enjoying the warmth emanating from his Guardian’s stomach as it raises and lowers rhythmically as she breathes. .

Roni lets out a sigh of contentment listening to her best friend summarize the last few episodes of the show to her, happy to know she can bring him some semblance of happiness despite everything that has happened.

“I’ll help you get through this” Roni thought to herself as Yuske and his friends stepped off the boat and onto the island where the tournament would be held. “You may be a little, but I’ll make sure you have the best life possible. We’re in this together”.