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Long ago, the last cow remaining on earth died. Humanity made experiments on other humans to make hybrid creatures. They didn't use animals, as they didn't want to extinct yet another species like they did with cows. Also, the meat industry had the project to create a meat nobody has ever eaten. The taste of beef that people had forgotten, mixed with the unique taste of humans that people didn't know about. With the milk lobby, they were that powerful.
The vast majority of their results couldn't speak and acted like real cows, as they wanted. But as in any experiment, outliers and unexpected events happened. "Exceptions", "errors", "abominations", or "demons" as humanity called them: the rare cow-humans with the ability to not only speak, but also think like a human.
Bertholdt was one of them. He lived in a farm where cow-humans were treated the same way as cows were. But he had hidden his nature to the farmers, they would kill him if they knew it. He felt all alone in this farm, in the middle of other cow-humans.
One day, many new cow-humans came to the farm where he lived. Bertholdt didn't pay much attention to them, until one of them offered him a flower. Bertholdt was surprised, it looked more like a human gesture than a cow's. He looked around to see if someone could hear him, then whispered to the smiling cow-human standing in front of him:
"Can you speak?"
He shook his head.
"But you can… think and understand things… right?"
The cow-human nodded. Bertholdt was amazed. He took the flower and ate it.
"Thank you. What's your name? O-Oh, you can't speak, I'm sorry!"
The blond pointed to the label on his cow ear. Bertholdt read it.
"Reiner?"
"Moo", he nodded happily.
Bertholdt sat down under the tree he was leaning on. The rays of the sun gently alternated the color of the grass. It was a beautiful day, perfect for Bertholdt and Reiner to graze.
"Reiner. Don't show you can understand more than the other cow-humans can."
Reiner tilted his head and sat down next to Bertholdt.
"There's no place for cow-humans like us. Humans hate us."
"Moo?", Reiner asked, confused.
"They would immediately kill you. They can't take any risk. Cow-humans like us can overthrow them. Also, our mere existence questions their morality too much." Bertholdt buried his face on his knees. "I wish we weren't born… not in a world that is this cruel."
Reiner stroked Bertholdt's arm to reassure him. Bertholdt looked at him and saw a worried face.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
Reiner pointed to Bertholdt with one hand, and made a movement with his other hand that meant "talk".
"You want me to talk? About what?"
The blond cow-human put his finger on Bertholdt's forehead.
"Moo."
"What do you mea- oh! You mean, what's on my mind?"
Reiner nodded. Bertholdt scratched his head, thinking about what he could say.
"I guess I've already told you everything… I have no will of my own, so I don't do any interesting things… I don't know what I could tell you."
"Moo…", Reiner sadly replied. He moved closer to the brunet cow-human and rested his head on his shoulder.
Bertholdt blushed a bit. He wasn't used to tender gestures. In fact, nobody ever has been nice to him. Bertholdt watched how Reiner's cow ears were moving slowly, almost elegantly. He gently caressed them. Reiner made an approval sound in response.
"I wish you could be the one who can talk. I'd love to know your story."
Reiner lifted his head from the tall cow-human's shoulder. He took a branch next to him and started to draw in the mud. Bertholdt distinguished Reiner's face crying. Reiner drew a cross over it.
"I… I don't understand…"
Reiner erased it with his hand and he threw himself into Bertholdt's arms. Bertholdt hugged him back but whispered to his ears they can't be seen like this, as that was a human behavior.
The more days passed, the closer they were to each other. It wasn't always easy to communicate, but the smaller cow-human was very smart to make himself understood.
Bertholdt asked him to explain the drawing he did the first time they met, but Reiner refused. The brunet didn't get why. Reiner drew a heart in the mud instead. Bertholdt looked at the heart, then at Reiner, then at the heart, then at Reiner again…
"Do… do you… like me…?"
Reiner smiled. He gently stroked Bertholdt's cow ear. That made him blush even more.
"Haha… that tickles a bit…"
Reiner laughed as well, with a strange "moo-oh-oh". In fact, the case of Reiner was rarer than Bertholdt's. Exceptions usually knew how to speak.
"You know, life is easier with you. I wish we could live somewhere else, just the two of us."
It was Reiner's turn to blush. He pointed at Bertholdt, then at him, and asked: "moo?"
Bertholdt looked at the ground, unable to answer him while looking into his eyes.
"Y-Yes… I like you too…"
Reiner left him without saying a word. Bertholdt tried to stop him, but he was too fast. "Wait! I'm sorry! Come back!"
He caught up with him, Reiner had his back turned on him.
"Reiner…?"
Reiner turned around with a flower in his hand.
"Moo."
Bertholdt was touched by his gesture. It was the same flower Reiner offered him when they first met.
"Reiner, you scared me!" He laughed as he took the delicate flower to eat it.
"Hey… Have you already heard humans talking to each other about love?"
"Moo", Reiner nodded.
"M-Me too… they put their lips on the other one's lips to show their love."
Reiner nodded again. "Moo", he added.
"Do you want to… try it… with me?"
Reiner smiled and closed the gap between them. He slipped a hand behind Bertholdt's head to make him bent towards him, as the brunet was taller. Their lips gently touched. It was weird for both of them at first, but they both started to like it when Reiner put his tongue inside Bertholdt's mouth.
"You filthy demon!!"
Reiner was forcibly pushed to the ground by three farmers. They hit him, over and over, calling him "abominations". One of them kept yelling "I will kill you all!!". Reiner was crying and screaming, he tried to protect himself with his arms over his head. He couldn't do anything.
Bertholdt was shocked by the scenery before his eyes. Every other cow-humans yelled and ran. But he was unable to move, unable to say anything. He was paralized. Another farmer led him to the barn, leaving behind him Reiner screaming for his life. He turned his head and saw the farmers putting a rope around Reiner's neck.
Once Bertholdt was inside the barn, the farmer made him sit down.
"I am sorry you have to see this. I wish everyone could see how wonderful your species are."
Bertholdt didn't even react, still shocked by what just happened.
"I am Hange Zoe! And you are…", they checked the label on his ear, "... Bertholdt! Nice to meet you!"
Bertholdt kept staring at the floor. Hange stroked his hair on the top of his head.
"Your friend was a different kind. I am fighting for your rights. I want you all to be free." Hange sighed. "That cow-human was condemned the first day he came there. He was transferred here to go to the slaughterhouse not far away from there. The one in his area was closed because of sanitary issues."
Bertholdt's eyes widened. Now he understood Reiner's drawing.
He will be murdered.
The cross over his face. He will be erased from this world.
Hange stood up. "Rest here. I'm going to calm down the other cow-humans. I will check on you tonight, alright?" They said with a reassuring smile, then left him alone.
Bertholdt didn't want to rest. Reiner was beaten up, and now he was going to get killed. He hated himself for letting all of that happen without trying anything to stop it.
Bertholdt made his own decision for the first time of his life. He left the barn discreetly, Hange was too busy trying to calm down the other ones to notice him. He climbed the electrified barrier, it hurt like hell, but he was determined to save Reiner.
He was outside. He felt like he was someone else. "What a strange feeling… I'm barely even scared", he thought. He saw the cows who arrived in the farm with Reiner, all tied with rope around their neck, like Reiner was. They walked towards a truck. "Reiner must be inside!"
He saw the same farmers who assaulted Reiner earlier carrying some barrels into the truck.
"Damn it Eren, I know he was an abomination, but you were pretty violent."
"What are you talking about, Jean? You empathize with them because you have a hybrid horse-human face?"
They were too busy arguing to see Bertholdt. He took the opportunity to slip discreetly into a barrel. They were full of hay to prevent cows from being hungry and making problems because of it.
He heard the voices of the farmers getting closer.
"Connie, take the last barrel so we can go. I'll drive."
"Okay!"
Connie tried to carry it, but with Bertholdt inside, it was way too heavy for him.
"Wait, Jean! Help me with this one!"
Jean rolled his eyes and lifted the barrel with Connie.
"Damn, it's heavy!" Jean complained.
They both managed to take the barrel inside. Bertholdt was relieved. Once he felt the truck starting to get driven, he lifted the lid to see where Reiner was. But there were too many cow-humans!
"Reiner…?" He whispered, too afraid the farmers could hear him. He couldn't even get out of the barrel, it was crowded by cow-humans. He felt hopeless.
The truck stopped. "We must have arrived", Bertholdt thought, so he hid himself again in the barrel. He heard the door getting opened.
"Come on, get out of here", Jean yelled at the cow-humans inside.
Bertholdt glanced through the hole where cow-humans could eat the hays inside the barrel. With less and less cow-humans in the truck, he could see more clearly.
There he was, sitting in a corner, bleeding with an empty gaze. He didn't move.
Eren walked towards him and pushed him by the rope around his neck.
"Stand up, demon. Don't waste my time."
Reiner still didn't move. Eren started losing patience.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, you pathetic slave." Eren kicked him in the face, making him fall on the rough floor. "I said stand up!" Eren continued to kick him.
"REEEIIIINEEEEER!!!!!!"
Eren turned around and saw Bertholdt coming out of a barrel. He didn't have time to think as Bertholdt had already kicked him with his long leg.
"Reiner!! Wake up!!" Bertholdt shook Reiner frantically in panic. Reiner opened his eyes.
"Moo…"
"Yeah!! I'm here now!"
Reiner's eyes widened. He pointed behind Bertholdt.
"Moo!!!"
Bertholdt turned around, Eren was there with a pitchfork in his hands, ready to stab the brunet.
Bertholdt quickly disarmed him and stabbed Eren with it in the chest. He felt a pair of hands around his, reinforcing the stab.
"Reiner!"
"Moo!", Reiner replied with determination. They both nodded, Bertholdt took the pitchfork out of Eren and they left him agonized on the floor.
Connie came to the truck to check what was happening.
"Hey, I heard screams, is everything o-", He didn't have time to finish his sentence as Reiner ran up to him, stabbing him with his horns. Bertholdt and Reiner came out of the truck, they were outside the slaughterhouse.
"Reiner! We need to find the other cow-humans! We will save them!"
"I don't think so."
Bertholdt and Reiner stopped when they heard Jean's voice and the sound of a gun.
"Leave that pitchfork on the floor, turn around, and put your hands up."
They both did as they were told. They saw Jean pointing a rifle towards them.
"I knew this day would come. We can't oppress other people without facing consequences, right?"
Bertholdt and Reiner were surprised that Jean seemed to understand his actions.
"We only want to live at peace", Bertholdt said.
"So do I", Jean replied. "Some of us take the first job's opportunity we have, to survive. It means doing awful jobs like this." Jean sighed. "I've earned the right to live a happy life, along with my wife, my kids, and even my grandkids. Just like you, I guess. But it seems that in this world, it's either you or me."
Reiner was panicking but Bertholdt stayed calm.
"Then why don't you shoot? Is it because it's harder to kill us when we can talk like you?"
Jean clenched his teeth at Bertholdt's speech. "Or is it because deep down, you always knew what you were doing was wrong?"
"You're not the only one to suffer in this world! Stop playing innocent when you just badly injured two men ten minutes ago!" Jean yelled back. Bertholdt walked towards him, leaving a very confused Reiner behind him. He posed his hands on Jean's rifle to lower it.
"But you can't oppress people without facing consequences."
Jean panicked at his threatening aura and pointed the rifle again towards him, ready to kill him for good.
"Don't shoot, Jean!!"
Jean turned his head to see Hange running towards them. Hange had that passionate, scary expression on their face.
"Bertholdt is also an exception!! He's as smart as a human!" They said, grabbing Jean's shoulders.
"I've noticed that! Your cows have attacked Eren and Connie, we can't let them escape!"
Hange looked at Bertholdt with exaggerated sadness.
"This isn't nice!"
"Hange!! I'm serious!" Jean screamed.
"Okay, okay, I got it. Why don't you check on them then? I'll take care of those two."
Jean grumbled an "okay, alright" and left them three alone.
Hange turned to Bertholdt and Reiner with stars in their eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me who you are!! I told you I was by your side!!"
Bertholdt stuttered in front of Hange's enthusiasm. Reiner walked towards them.
"Moo…"
Hange let a scream of joy escape their lips.
"You can't talk but you think like a human!! You two are perfect to show the world who your species truly are!"
Hange explained to them how they could become activists for their own cause. According to Hange, most humans were ignorant, so knowing who they were could change some of them.
Bertholdt wasn't sure about that. For example, Eren knew about them, but he still hated them. Reiner agreed with Hange, because it would get them out of this farm. He never wanted to go there ever again. He also wanted to protect the defenseless cow-humans, like Bertholdt just did.
This day marked the historical date where cow-humans started to raise their voices. Bertholdt met other cow-humans who can speak, though their "dear humans, we're the same as you" speeches made him roll his eyes.
They definitely weren't the same. Cow-humans had never oppressed humans. Still, it was efficient on human children. Slowly, the history of cow-humans and how they were treated was learned at school.
2 years have passed. Bertholdt wasn't satisfied with the state of the world. People like Eren still existed, no matter how many times cow-humans explained their pain. Cow-humans farms still existed in some countries, and even in countries where that was illegal.
He lived in a small house, pretty isolated from big cities. Like he said to Jean, he just wanted to live at peace. He had retired from being an activist with Hange, Reiner, and the other cow-humans. He is now a gardener for the village he lived in. A dream job to him, as he could eat leaves, grass, and flowers. At least his personal life wasn't bad. But he missed Reiner. His friend wanted to be a hero. He wanted to free his people. Bertholdt admired him for that.
He heard the doorbell rang.
"Who's that…" he wondered, as not a lot of people visited him. He opened the door and saw the postman.
"Bertholdt Hoover? I have a package for you."
Bertholdt thanked the postman and took the package... which was a bouquet of flowers. The same flowers Reiner offered him before. A letter was attached to it. He sat on the couch to read it.
Dear Bertholdt,I am so happy to write you a letter for the first time. I learnt to write thanks to Hange. They tried to teach me how to speak, but it didn't work. And to be honest, I'm relieved. I don't want to erase who I am. I think we should all live with our differences. I try to explain my point of view to humans and cow-humans, but it's hard. Cow-human speakers think I shouldn't be fighting for our rights, as if I'm inferior compared to them. They don't get why I am proud of not being able to speak like them.
But I'm sure you understand me. I miss you a lot. I'm sorry for not having written to you before. I didn't want to bother you with my bad writing. I didn't know how to write well… and I didn't want Hange to write it for me. I wanted this letter to come from my heart. I hope you can forgive my selfishness. If you're okay with it, I would love to meet you again. I'll be at the big fountain of your village at 6 pm, the 27th of May.
Sincerely,
Reiner Braun.P.S.: don't eat the flowers, put them in a vase with water.
Bertholdt had teary eyes. He read that letter, again and again, imagining Reiner writing it for him. He hadn't felt that much happiness since a very long time.
The 27th of May. It was today. And it was almost 6 pm! Bertholdt quickly dressed himself with his best outfit: a white shirt with a blue sweatshirt over it, and a pair of black jeans. But he didn't have time to brush his cow ears or to make his horns shine.
He drove to the fountain where Reiner was supposed to be. He quickly got out of his car and started to search for him.
"Reiner? Where are you?", he asked loudly enough so someone near him could hear him.
The place was empty, except for a man sitting on a bench. He was wearing an elegant suit with a hat.
"Excuse me… have you seen a cow-human?"
The man removed his hat to reveal horns, cow ears, and silky blond hair.
"Moo", the man smiled.
"Reiner?!" Bertholdt almost didn't recognize him, even without his hat. He became taller and older, wearing a beard that perfectly reflected his beauty. He was a handsome cow-man.
"Moo-oo", Reiner scratched the hair behind his head.
"You… you changed a lot… you're so handsome…" Bertholdt let the words escape his lips without thinking. Reiner blushed a bit. He took a piece of paper out of his pocket with a pen and started to write.
Bertholdt read out loud: "You didn't change much. Still beautiful."
He became red and started to stutter. Reiner laughed at him. He turned the sheet to write another thing.
"I miss you so much. Do you still want to kiss me?"
Bertholdt tried to calm down while reading it. He smiled at Reiner.
"Yes. I want to."
Reiner stood up and they both kissed passionately. They poured their heart into it, each time brushing their tongues made them shiver in delight. Bertholdt hugged him to deepen the kiss, eliciting a soft moan from Reiner. Bertholdt broke the kiss to catch up air. He whispered to Reiner's ears:
"Do you want to stay with me tonight?"
Reiner smiled, he nodded while tracing a heart with his finger on Bertholdt's chest. It was the only way he had found to say "I love you", without writing it. Bertholdt immediately understood him.
"I love you too, Reiner."