Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was just a nightmare…

It was just a nightmare…

It was just a nightmare…

But the pain… the pain felt so real. It was almost impossible sometimes for him to convince himself that these were just figments of his unconscious, or at worst, memories.

"Из чего этот ублюдок, блять, сделан?!" His vision was tinted with blood. A cut above the brow dripped over his face and mixed with sweat, bringing the taste of blood and salt into his mouth. He couldn’t see out the other eye, it was too swollen. In the red haze, thugs with shaved heads argued over his broken body.

Ever since he was a little pup, Legoshi had been plagued by these most peculiar of nightmares.

All of them took place in a whole other world, a world without animals as he knew them. A world where almost everyone was still in the primitive four-legged forms their ancestors once walked. A world where only one species would ever be graced with intelligence: a strange species of ape-like creatures which called themselves human.

"Добей его уже! Он никчёмный." One of them argued. On the walls of the crumbling khrushchevka hanged a black flag, with a white four-limbed hooked cross. Somewhere deep inside, he knew this to be a vile symbol, something to be spat on and despised.

These humans… They all had their own hopes and dreams, their own worries and peculiar conniptions. They didn’t have any overwhelming instincts, not in the way he knew the animals around him to have.

Yet, the problems… The problems always seemed to rhyme.

" Но мой вождь, он может знать где–"

" Посмотри на него!" The lead thug interrupted, recklessly pointing his pistol around, spittle flying from his lips.

Though this world neither knew intelligent prey nor intelligent predator, that didn’t mean the wars were any less bloody, nor did it mean the peace was any less of a veneer. Hate was alive and well, even if it came somewhere higher than one’s most base fears and urges.

And this hate… It wasn’t natural. It was ideological.

"Я сомневаюсь, что он помнит, когда в последний раз посра́л, а тем более местонахожде́ния корешей! У него череп пробит, блять!"

There were occasions the dreams were more pleasant; little glimpses of watching the heroes and characters he enjoyed clashing on a fuzzy television. Sometimes a muscular human with blond hair, fighting off an evil skeleton. Sometimes a league of intelligent robots, defending humanity from their evil kin. Sometimes, it was wrestlers and fighters, beating each other senseless in a squared ring, over some fancy golden belt.

Other times…

A mind-numbing jolt of pain shot up his spine as his broken legs were kicked by one of the thugs, "Ради бога, мы ему яйца отрезали! И упрямый ублюдок всё ещё не настуча́л! Да пошёл он на хуй, этот пидор!"

They were so vivid that he could almost half-believe them. As if some part of him knew that these weren’t merely dreams, but memories, of another life in another world.

The cold metal of the rusty sledgehammer gently touched his cheek, before being wound back by the one who held it, the biggest, most brutish-looking of all the ugly toothless bastards there.

Then, as his more rational side oft reminded him, it was more likely that these “memories” were a delusion. A product of an overactive imagination, and a remarkably broken childhood, mixing together into a nightmarish stew. A thinly-veiled parody of the world he knew, which he used to escape the here and now.

He spat blood at the thug in defiance, lips pulled into one last rictus grin.

On some days, he didn’t even know who the hell he was… But he’ll be damned if he didn’t survive this nightmare, just like all the others.

With a great whoosh, the sledgehammer came down–

The screeching of steam and the awful stench of copper stirred Legoshi to the land of the living. With tired eyes, he glanced down at his bare, furred form, half submerged in the too small and dingy motel bathtub. The lukewarm water was the color of diluted mud mixed with red wine.

With a toe, he pulled the plug, letting it drain away in a small, filthy vortex. A sharp pain on his left thigh reminded him that his job wasn’t quite finished yet; a square of fur had been shaved away by him, and cleaned of dried blood, but the wound was still open.

Sighing to himself, he quietly bemoaned the state of his fur; it was all stained crimson, and he was going to smell like blood for weeks, unless he shaved it all off.

Pulling himself up with a hobble, he sat himself up on the lip of the tub, wet tail shaking stained droplets onto the plastic covered floor. He reached to the sink, and turned off the small electric kettle. Next to the kettle was a water bottle full of an iodine antiseptic; he gave the bottle a brief shake before using his sharp teeth to poke small holes in the cap, using it to rinse the wound into the tub. Carefully, he retrieved a syringe and a pair of tweezers from the inside of the kettle. Pulling a small bottle of lidocaine from a nearby plastic bag, pulled some with the syringe, tapped away any bubbles, and slowly injected it around the site. Finally, once the numbness set in, he began the long and tedious work of picking out fragments of shotgun shell from the wound.

He ended up in this sort of situation more times than he would care to admit. It was one of the hazards of this line of work; that you might be shot at once in a while. Like any other business of death, being a mercenary wasn’t an easy thing on an animal’s body.

Or, should he refer to himself to the more sanitized term of private military contractor, like those chucklefucks over at Blackwater did? Wait… no… Blackwater wasn’t a thing here; it was part of the…

There he goes again, getting fantasy and reality mixed. It was a wonder people thought he could be trusted with a gun.

…Like those kill-stealing bastards at Everett Solutions did! Yes, that was much better. Fuck those slimy little fucks for undercutting all of his contracts! No-good bunch of spiteful cunts.

He supposed the path to him getting into this questionably legal and very much unsafe career started when he was very young. His mother… his real mother, Leano, wasn’t exactly the most stable around. She was a good woman, and he loved her very much, as she did with him… But her status as a hybrid had left her the subject of much ridicule and torment. And as the scales grew in, so did her mental state fray.

One night, she just couldn’t take it anymore; locking herself in the bathroom, she downed all of grandpa’s sleeping pills and never woke up.

Legoshi still remembered the last time he saw her. He was around five or six, laying in bed, staring out of the window. She walked into the room and crawled onto the bed, engulfing in him a tight hug from behind. The entire time, he was babbling about his imaginary friend from some cartoon or some shit, while she looked down at him with a smile and tears in her eyes. One last kiss on the cheek… and then, gone. That was it.

Grandpa took good care of him for a few years, but that wasn’t to last either. The old man died when he got T-boned by an eighteen-wheeler on the way to the job site. Safe to say, the funeral was closed-casket. He, Jack, Jack’s parents, and the pastor were the only ones able to attend; not even his grandfather’s so-called “best friend” bothered to show up.

And so, there he was, a little boy of eight all by his lonesome.

The foster care system was difficult. Even for a cute doe-eyed little herbivore, it was hard to find a forever home, but for a large carnivore brat like him, forget about it. Apparently, Jack’s parents wanted to adopt him, but the state wouldn’t allow it for some reason that eluded him.

He was bounced from house to house, until, when he was twelve, the state washed their hands of him by declaring that he had been “adopted” and dumped sorry little ass in the black market district.

By some miracle, he lived and didn’t get eaten or ground up into some meathead’s drug cocktail. It was pure luck that allowed him to survive. But, if there was anything positive that came out of that time in his life, it was that the constant danger of living there had forced him to get very good at one thing: taking lives.

“Ssss! Ahhh, fuck…” He hissed as he pulled out a large, sharp fragment from his leg.

…Well, almost very good. His bullet dodging skills weren’t quite up to par quite yet. And could you truly call being able to kill people a positive development?

Really scraping the barrel there, Legoshi…

He was only thirteen when he killed his first animal. A panther, high on bloodlust and a cocktail of hyperdrugs, was running at him like a rabid zombie. He went down after three shots in the head. Strangely enough, even then, he felt a sort of déjà vu at that moment… as if he had done such things before.

By the time he was fourteen, he had made a name for himself among the thugs and the delinquents. From the very beginning, he had found himself a natural with firearms, and experience turned out to be one hell of a teacher, as on multiple occasions, he was forced to use them to survive.

When he turned fifteen, he was tall enough to pass as an adult. With a forged identity and a stolen rifle, he illegally hitched a ride on a cargo ship and traveled around, over in the most unstable, backwards, and savage parts of the world. To anyone who would pay him, he would lend his gun out and kill the poor sons of bitches they pointed him towards.

For the first year, the clients were not very interesting: gangs, small fry warlords, individuals looking to get revenge. But as his reputation grew, so did the scale of his jobs. And slowly, clients grew more exclusive and prominent – corporations, politicians, governments even.

Though, the last tended to be way too red-tapey and choosy for his liking. The Confederal Union of Newfoundland, the country he found himself in now, required that he had a high school diploma or higher to operate his business within their borders. In three months, he was forced to make up for almost a decade without formal schooling and pass a brutally hard test to get his GED.

But, Goddammit, it was worth it! Never let it be said that the Connies didn’t pay well. His bank account was currently sitting at seven figures in Confederal Dollars. Nine, if you converted it into Nihonian Yen. All of that thanks to his clients here.

Almost enough to finally afford some damn ammunition, he joked to himself. It seemed, sometimes, with the constantly rising prices for bullets, that the arms manufacturing companies were determined to price out a humble gun owner like him. Inflation was a bitch, wasn’t it?

When he was finished and the wound was sealed up, he limped out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel around his waist, and plopped his still damp self on the edge of the plastic covered bed. The curtains were just open enough to let the light in, giving him a peek of an endless desert landscape.

He glanced at the TV, and upped the volume.

“And over in Clawhill County, temperatures are expected to reach forty-five degrees, and the Diegotown Metro could go all the way up to forty-six. This week is going to be a hot one here in the Tohono Valley, so make sure to drink plenty of water and stay out of the sun. Over to you, Susan…”

Vrrm. Vrrm.

His phone vibrated on the nightstand. Tapping the screen, he saw it was a notification of a deposit from an anonymous person to one of his offshore bank accounts over in the Caribbean. He unlocked it to check the amount – it better have been enough to tide him over, because this wound from that damn job was going to take a month, minimum, to fully heal.

CUN$5.6 million… Yeah, that was a respectable amount. Especially for a corporate espionage job on behalf of the Horns Conglomerate’s Overseas Branch here in Connieland.

Legoshi glanced over to the bathroom, which was a bloody mess – emphasis on the bloody. He mentally calculated that it would take at least a gallon of peroxide to scrub the floors and walls, tub. And it was going to be a right pain in the ass to clean too, especially with a bum leg.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Legoshi’s ears perked. He turned to the door, “Yes?”

“Police! Mr. Legoshi, we want to ask you a few questions.”

“Do you have a warrant?” Legoshi asked firmly, having played this game before. He reluctantly pulled himself to his feet, “I can put you in contact with my lawyer if you want.”

“Just open the door, Legoshi,”

“Not until you show me a damn warrant in that window over there.”

…

Thump! Crash! Splinter!

Evidently, the local cops were less than amused at Legoshi exercising those petty little things animals called rights, and the door to the motel room was kicked down. Men with badges and guns stormed the room, with a young bull leading the charge.

“Ugh, It’s always the fucking carnies…” The bull only took one look at the bathroom before shoving a pistol right into Legoshi’s face, “Claws behind your head, you sick son of a bitch.”

“Wait! That’s from–” Legoshi tried to correct, only to find himself thrown forcefully thrown onto the plastic.

“Shut the fuck up, predator!”

“I’m not a–” A muzzle was forcefully shoved over his face by one of the other officers, a smug looking mustang.

“I don’t know what the law’s like in the ching-chong rice paddy you came from, but here in these parts, predation carries a life-sentence.” The mustang punched him in the gut as the moose pulled him to his feet. The towel fell away, leaving Legoshi exposed, “Your ugly ass is gonna be locked away for a long, long time…”

You slimy motherfuckers…

Naked as the day he was born, boiling under the scaldingly hot sun, Legoshi was perp-limped over to the police cruiser.

Chapter Text

Fucking small town herbie cops. Why was it always the Yokel Five-O that gave Legoshi the most trouble?

It wasn’t just that they were a bunch of bigoted bastards who had nothing better to do than beating carnivores with batons over speeding tickets. They were corrupt assholes too, not even bothering to pretend that their job was to protect and serve the people. Instead, it was the profits they protected and served.

Kinda funny how that all the jobs in the area, and 90% of the land too, was controlled by one single private entity: a humble little brick-and-mortar mom-and-pop by the name of the Carlisle Carbide Corporation.

Surely there wasn’t a conflict of interest involving this honest business with the law enforcement here, with the same company that had been giving Horns the horns on this side of the pond. The same company Legoshi was hired to “borrow” trade secrets from.

Nooooo! All of it was just coincidence! Honest!

Yeah, right!

The big-boned animal across from him walked like a sheriff, talked like a sheriff, and even had the badge on him… But he wasn’t a sheriff. All he was was a Big Oil corporate thug in khaki, wearing an R. Lee Ermey hat.

“–No, and for your information, sir, I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”

So why bother giving them the respect he so clearly didn’t deserve?

“So, you think you’re being funny, huh?” The aurochs glared daggers at Legoshi, who sat placidly, handcuffed to the table.

Legoshi was having such a wonderful day. He woke up stuck in a cell with half-assed air-conditioning, sweating his balls off, his leg killing him, and he hadn’t anything to eat since last night. The only consolation was that they found him something to wear; an oversized orange jumpsuit that was clearly meant for a bear.

It could’ve been worse. It could have been like that time he was stuck in the Congo, forced to do manual labor while suffering from a double whammy of malaria and dysentery. Ain’t nothing in his life quite managed to suck half as bad as him digging ditches while shitting his britches, and he would very much like to keep it that way.

“About as funny as this nation’s constitution, Sheriff. So, read my lips, because these are gonna be the only words you’ll be hearing from me for a while,” Legoshi leaned back, “I. Want. My. Lawyer.” And unlike George Bush, he intended to keep that promise.

The aurochs sheriff stared for a moment, studying Legoshi’s features… Then, with a wave of his hand, two of his goons were summoned from up behind the wolf and shoved the muzzle in their hands back onto Legoshi’s maw.

“Funny thing about that constitution, Mr. Legoshi. It doesn’t apply to you.” Absolute bullshit, pun intended. This old bastard knew damn well Cyril v. New Antlerdam threw away that excuse in the Confederal Supreme Court almost a century ago, “You are not a Confederal citizen, your passport says you hail from Nihonia. The Land of the Rising Sun...”

Legoshi stared at the old animal, wondering where the hell he was going with this.

“…Don't look so proud, you ugly gook bastard. That ain't a good thing.”

Oh, great, we have a “patriot” on our hands.

While hating on Legoshi for species was a common occurrence, him being hated for his national origin was a rare treat. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

“We have enough of your kind here.” The sheriff declared as he slapped the table.

All of a sudden, the wolf was forced to his feet. Any biting remarks were stopped by the metal keeping his snout shut tight. The most he could do was raise his lips and growl…

…or at least try to. Even after all this time, the expression never came naturally to him.

“A foreigner going into our country and trying to compromise our industry is already bad enough… But to commit the horrific act of Predation in our borders too? Now that is gonna anger a lot of good people.” The aurochs smiled. Despite his teeth being the dull herbivore fare, at that moment, they looked as sharp as a Bengal Tiger’s, “Don’t you worry your big fluffy tail, Mr. Legoshi. You’ll have plenty of time to think about your defense…” He looked to his lackeys, “Take him to solitary. Let him reflect on his sins.”

The correctional officers didn’t hesitate to throw a few cheap shots at him on his way to his new cell.

Another night, another nightmare…

Or, at least he thought it was night. He couldn’t exactly tell what time it was at the moment, as they didn’t have the decency to install windows into this cell, or a clock. They didn’t even bother turning the lights on, ever. The only way he could guess the passage of time was when they shoved slop through the door for his daily meals, and the occasional knocking on his cell door to tell him to shut up and go to sleep.

For all he knew, it might have been 2 p.m. right now instead of 2 a.m., and they were just fucking with him. He wouldn’t put it past the petty fucks over at Carlisle Carbide to order their thugs to do such things; nobody took slights to their nonexistent honor worse than a corporate executive and the mouth-breathers working under them.

Do you know how hard it was to eat, let alone take a piss or wipe your ass with your hands cuffed behind your back? They certainly knew, and they didn’t care.

The solitude had given Legoshi plenty of time to think about his “other life” that he had, or might have had. It still wasn’t clear which was which; there was no clear, unified set of memories, just disorganized fragments revealed to him in dreams, or when he was caught daydreaming.

Moments of combat, moments of boredom. Radio broadcasts, names of politicians, random factoids, and something about the year 1999 on a calendar based on some cool dead guy named Jesus who was also apparently a god. Random shit like that. And, for a childish delusion or a fantasy world, it was surprisingly self-consistent about those things.

One thing was definitely clear, though. Whoever “he” was in the “before”, he was definitely a military man of some type, and that his end was less than pretty.

Which wars or conflicts? Fuck if he knew – it might have been multiple.

Sometimes, he was among a force called the USMC, fighting some ugly asshole named Saddam in the desert. Other times, it was the Polish Foreign Legion, and he was stuck in the middle of something called the Second Russian Civil War.

Don’t ask him what any of those words meant.

He thought it was fucked up how he knew all about some war that never happened, but he didn’t even know his own goddamn name. It was also hard to believe that his mind made all this shit up, if it was indeed not real.

Maybe those churchy folks at the saurian temple were onto something in all their lecturing about karma and reincarnation… Or maybe was just making excuses for his weird mess of a mental headspace.

Fake or not, it did have a real effect on his life, particularly on his… shall we say, unique career choices.

A more rational him would have probably been in an actual school right about now, probably looking forward to a career slaving away in a cubicle. Get married to some wolf chick, pop out 2.1 kids, get a house with white-picket fence, and retire, having contributed nothing to society beyond being another middle-class teat to milk tax dollars from.

Sounded like a dream. Even more than the ones he suffered at night.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Breakfast time, you mangy mutt!” A tray was shoved through the access hole.

Was it time for yet another wholesome, delectable meal of prison slop already?

Oh boy, he couldn’t wait!

It had been a few weeks… Maybe a month or two…

He supposed they already threw away the keys by now. They hadn’t let him out once, not even to take a shower. Legoshi really could have used one right about now; his nose was currently assaulted with the smell of unwashed, matted fur, old sweat, and ripe ass.

The best he could do right now was to make his stay less pleasant for his captors too.

“There’s a place in the sun,~” He made it a point to sing just off-key enough that it fucked with their heads, “Where there's hope for everyone,~”

Psychological warfare was the only weapon that he had in his arsenal right now, and he was feeling extra petty today.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

“I told you to shut the fuck up!”

“Where my poor restless heart's… GOTTA RUUUUUUUN!~”

An amount of time between a day and an eternity passed before something broke the routine that Legoshi had settled himself into.

He was stirred from his sleep when the loud clank of the metal door being unlocked struck his ears. Next, his eyes were bathed in blinding light as the cell door swung open; the only thing his tired vision could suss out was that the shadow looking down at him had a mighty pair of antlers.

“Well, I’ll be damned…” Legoshi muttered, voice weak, “That lawyer was worth a damn after all…”

“Your lawyer has nothing to do with this.” A cold voice corrected, not in Confederal Anglish, but in Legoshi’s own native Nihonian.

One of the cops stepped around the shadow; Legoshi felt the cuffs come off, finally freeing his aching wrists. He couldn’t help but notice the smell of fear wafting off of the boy in blue, not necessarily at him, but at the figure in front of his cell.

“The Horns Conglomerate and Carlisle Carbide have come to an agreement over your… complicated status.” The deer continued, “You will be acquitted of all charges. However, you will also be deported from the Confederal Union, and will be barred from entering Confederal borders unless granted special permission from the President himself.”

Legoshi huffed, “And I was just starting to like it here–”

Thwack!

“–Ow! Fuck!”

All of a sudden, a well-polished boot struck the wolf right on the snout, knocking him to the floor.

“You will not speak unless spoken to. Get up and walk with me.”

“Yes, sir.” Legoshi mumbled as he gathered his wits.

It took a good few seconds to get back on his feet and stand steady. His legs were weak, and as he stepped into the light, the reason soon became obvious. His body was skinny, rail-thin and weak with disuse and malnutrition. His fur was thin and brittle, his claws long and overgrown. In short, he was a wreck.

“Your failure set my company back 45 billion Yen, and the terms of your release cost an additional 23 billion. My patience with you is thin because you no longer represent an asset to me, Legoshi the Gray Wolf. You are now a liability.” The large deer pulled up his glasses, “I do not tolerate liabilities.”

Who the hell was this guy? Talking about… Wait, “my company”?... Oh, shit, this was the big cheese!

Walking beside him was Ogma, the chairman and majority owner of the Horns Conglomerate. Legoshi had never directly interacted with the man, primarily having done business through his international subsidiaries. This was certainly not a good way to meet the boss.

“Essentially, you are no longer an independent contractor. You owe us now. But,” The deer stopped in place halfway down the hall. He turned around and used his two inches of height over Legoshi to stare him down, “there is a way where you can make up for that debt.”

Legoshi blinked, “Please. Enlighten me.”

“My son, Louis, is set to begin his third year at Cherryton Academy two months from now. Lately, there has been an increase of violent attempts against my person, and I fear that these attacks may start occurring to my family as well. Due to Cherryton’s rules as a boarding school, as well as my son’s intransigence,” He spat out that word with the venom of an Inland Taipan, “I am not able to assign my own security detail to him.”

Ogma gave a smile that oddly looked like a little kid’s when they found a loophole in their parents’ rules, “You, on the other hand, are 17 years old.” He stated as a fact.

Now, how the fuck did this guy know that?

Legoshi had been very thorough in scrubbing his past before fully committing to his work. He didn’t let his surprise show on his face.

“You are wondering how I knew that.” Shut up. “Horns has many resources at its disposal. It was trivial to find a copy of your birth certificate, Legoshi, Son of Leano. We even know the identity of your suspected father, if you would like to know?”

No, I wouldn’t, thank you very much.

Ogma kept speaking, “A wolf by the name of Miyagi. He was an amateur model, and now currently works as an adult film star in various productions targeting a homosexual audience.” God, he wanted to knock a few teeth out of that insufferably smug face. Legoshi would have been much better off not knowing that his sperm donor took it up the ass.

“What, you watched some of his movies?” Legoshi teased, hiding his irritation behind a toothless smile.

“One of my staff members did. He informed me – against my will, mind you – that your father was a taker, not a giver.”

Of course, you fucking watched them, you dick.

Silently, as he passed the front desk, Legoshi raised his middle finger at the sheriff. The old aurochs kept his face blank, but the slight huff Legoshi’s ears picked up, as well as the sound of rubber grinding on laminate flooring, betrayed the crooked cop’s true feelings.

Ogma went on to describe the details of the job. To put it simply, he was going to be a glorified dogsbody for his brat for a year, and by the end of it, any debt that he owes to the Horns Conglomerate would be cleared, and he’ll be paid an extra few billion yen on top of it. Not a bad job or deal by any means, better than rotting away in prison, or fighting in some jungle.

But given that Legoshi had been used to getting out of these sticky situations by himself, he had to admit; his pride was a little dinged by needing a corpo to bail his ass out. But still, to haunt around some rich-kid school and watch over some little faun brat, and still get paid by the end of the day? It was practically a vacation!

“I think I might take you up on your offer,” Legoshi nodded, brushing a claw under his own fuzzy chin.

He took a seat on the back of the deer’s limo. Ogma’s guard loaded Legoshi’s stuff, whatever the police station kept from their raid of the motel, into the trunk.

“But,” The wolf raised a hand, “I want to get it in writing first. I know you’re fucking me somewhere in this – I want to check and see if you’re at least using some lube first.”

“Of course.” Legoshi held back a chuckle as the middle-aged deer’s face scrunched slightly at the vulgar metaphor.

For the first time in three years, Legoshi was coming back to his homeland.

Chapter Text

Well, wasn’t this mission already off to a swell start?

As expected, the deportation process was a complete pain in the ass, full of legal bullshit, hoo-hah, and what’s-its. Legoshi had been tied up in the Confederal immigration courts for weeks, until finally, they put him on a rickety old rust-bucket of a jet back to Nihonia.

Seriously, how hard is it to kick out a guy who wants to get the hell out of your country? No wonder they had such a big illegal alien problem.

Unfortunately, a storm would force that flight to take an early landing over in northern Australia, to a small city known as Keo Deudai. As misfortune would have it, a typhoon would strike soon after, preventing any flights from Keo Deudai to Kemonokyo International Airport for a further few days.

Gotta love acts of God just stacking up while your excuses run thin!

And finally, the little rabbit pellet on top of that steaming shit sundae, when Legoshi had arrived at the airport, he had been seized by the security there because some rent-a-cop didn’t believe that he was a Nihonian citizen.

They thought that he was – get this – a literal hyperdrug cartel member, because of the damn tattoos and Nihonian culture’s stupid fucking conniptions over them. God forbid anyone have some self-expression in that society; Ogma had already all but demanded he wore nothing but long-sleeves during his time at Cherryton.

Pah! – If anyone bothered to care, he would kindly tell them to go fuck themselves with a cheesegrater, like he did with those chumps at the airport when he’d called Ogma to prove his citizenship.

All in all, the delays together made him two weeks late to school, and by the time he had hauled ass from the airport to Cherryton’s campus, the school was already in its second class for the day.

At the start of Edo-sensei’s calculus class, when he strolled into class, It didn’t take a genius to notice that he’d become the center of attention.

“Sorry I’m late. The circumstances were a little out of my control,” He apologized on his way through the door; he wasn’t completely without manners.

“You’re forgiven, but try not to repeat it again in the future.” He could have sworn the austere-looking bear that was his teacher winked at him behind those thick glasses, “Your seat’s in the back row over there. Second from the left!”

“Thank you, sensei.”

He took his seat, trying to ignore the painfully obvious hushed whispers all around.

“Another large carnivore? After what just happened?”

“What was the school thinking?”

I swear, it’s like they think I’m deaf.

Teenagers. They were many things, but subtle was not one of them.

Throughout the day, as Legoshi advanced from class to class, he only half-paid attention to the teachers, instead reading ahead on the material to refresh himself. He had already learned most of the material, either from self-teaching through the years, or that last grind to earn that diploma.

In all honesty, he didn’t need high school; he had done perfectly fine without it once he got his GED. Maybe his lack of formal education stunted his social skills somewhat? So what? He didn’t see a return on investment of wasting time, hanging around these window-lickers. Even their rumor mill was, at best, shoddy and unhelpful for intelligence (in both senses of the word).

The thing was, in the world which he inhabited for his line of work, everyone was mostly equal. Equal in that they were all looking for money and contracts. Everyone knew they could all die the same, by tooth, knife, claw, or bullet – so, nobody liked to waste any of their precious on useless fluff.

The social hierarchy was relatively simple too: how much money did you have, how many people did you know, and how good were you at what you did.

But, high school, especially an insular private school like Cherryton, was an arcane realm of unsaid rules and status markers, and deference to animals who didn’t deserve respect, by virtue of tradition and circular reasoning.

At least in the corporate world, which he had gotten familiar with in the past year, the usual ladder climbing and social power plays had solid, pragmatic reasons and naked self-interest behind it.

These rich kids here, they did it for shits and giggles, or for some other petty bullshit they’ll forget about by next week. And they all sucked at it too, and that somehow makes it even worse, because just like at the gun range, you don’t fear the veteran marksman, you fear the greenhorn that didn’t know what the fuck he was doing.

Uuuggggh… – By the time he had made it to lunch, thanks to the incessant whispering, his fucks to give had been thoroughly depleted.

Taking a tray of whatever was being served to the carnivores that day (some sort of tofu stew, fried crickets, and an egg sandwich), took his seat at the emptiest corner of the cafeteria, and prayed to all that was holy that nobody would attempt to engage him in conversation. The very last thing he needed right now was other people, especially morons.

The herbivores seemed to be doing a fine job of that all on their own, with nervous glances being sent his way. Understandable, as he heard from some of the whispers that some kid named Tem got devoured the week before showed up, and nobody knows who killed him. That would be a cold bucket of ice water to the social fabric of any mixed space, let alone a school.

As for the carnivores… the jury was still out on how tolerable they’ll be.

The tofu, as usual, was full of protein, but was otherwise bland as hell. The spicy broth which it was soaked in, on the other hand, was pretty damn good in his opinion. The crickets were nothing too special – very crunchy, with bits of leg and shell getting stuck in his teeth, requiring the occasional tooth-picking with his claw. The egg sandwich was an egg sandwich; what more could be said? The ketchup wasn’t shit?

Overall, 6/10 – it’s rich school food, but it’s still school food at the end of the day, not dinner at the Ritz-Carlton. Legoshi had far, far worse.

“Ugh. Great, that asshole’s taken our spot,” A snivelling voice approached from his left.

“Wait… A wolf? Isn’t that guy the new transfer student, or something?”

“I dunno, man, he looks kinda–”

“Fuck him. He took my seat, I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind.”

C’mon now, was a moment of peace and quiet just too much to ask?

“Hey, you! Lanky wolf bastard! You’re in my seat!”

A paw slammed on his table. Legoshi didn’t look up, continuing to sip his soup.

“Hey! Are you ignoring me!?”

One by one, he started moving items of food off his tray and onto a napkin spread across the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches as a skulk of foxes moves to surround him.

“Look at me, asshole! I’m talking to you!” A small hand slapped his shoulder, claws starting to dig in.

“I’m right here, you don’t have to yell at me.” Legoshi tsked “And my name isn’t ‘Lanky Wolf Bastard’ or ‘Asshole’.”

He took a fried cricket, dipped it in the ketchup and tossed it into his mouth. It tasted like a very chitinous potato chip; the sensation of eating was almost enough to distract him from the fact that the guy touching him clearly hadn’t washed his hands since beating his meat last night.

“Well, excuse me, Mr. Wolf, you’re in my seat.” Small sharp claws started to poke through the shoulder of his uniform.

“Last time I checked, there were no assigned seats other than what side’s herbivore and what side’s carnivore.” He continued, “I got here first, so… How about you, Larry, Curly, and Moe go and–” He made a vague gesture at an empty table near one of the corners, “–fuck off.”

Eyes started gathering from around the cafeteria as the foxes made a show out of themselves. The herbivores looked on in resignation and fright, while the carnivore’s reaction ranged anywhere from disinterest to morbid curiosity to bringing out the popcorn.

A faint huff of amusement blew through the wolf’s nose as he smelt the fear and insecurity wafting off the quartet in front of him, their body language stiffening under his scrutinizing stare.

“What!? You think because you’re big, that means you’re tough shit!?” The leader yipped.

“Tougher than a brick of government cheese washed down with painkillers.”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean!?”

“Ay-ay-ay… So noisy…” Legoshi waved dismissively, “Don’t you know what an inside voice is, Robin Hood? Or are you just gonna keep trying to make me go deaf?”

“I’ll show you fucking deaf!” The leader lunged, teeth bared.

Some of the girls in the cafeteria gave a screech of fright, as Legoshi blocked the red furball with his arm. Teeth locked around his forearm, fangs sinking into the sleeve of the uniform, trying to break skin.

Despite the panic of those around, Legoshi, however, remained oddly calm about the whole ordeal. Turning to no one in particular in the shocked crowd, the wolf merely mouthed out a ‘you believe this shit?’ before grabbing onto his now empty tray with his free hand.

Clashhhh!

The sound of cymbals colliding echoed across the now dead quiet room as a metal tray collided with a growling snout. Those growls quickly surrendered into whining yips of pain, as the fox’s bite lost its grip.

The leader fell onto the floor, clutching his bleeding nose. His frightened comrades hurried to pick him up and scuttle away to God knows where.

Alas, at that very moment, the deaf-blind gimp which the school had assigned to the lunchroom had miraculously regained his senses of sight and sound; just in time to prevent Legoshi from finishing his succulent spicy tofu meal.

“You! Principal’s office! NOW!”

What a truly heart-touching miracle… And Rexmas was still eight months away!

Surprise, surprise. Legoshi was suspended from the rest of the classes of the day for the little kerfuffle in the cafeteria.

Principal Gon – nice guy, to be honest, though a little too preachy for the wolf’s liking – said the matter was out of his hands. School policy was controlled by the board, and the board’s position was that being a participant in a fight, regardless of who instigated it, was an automatic suspension.

If there was any justice in this world (there wasn’t), the fox would have gotten suspended too. Legoshi didn’t hold out hopes for that, though. Not like he cared that much either way. He wasn’t here because of the boring as hell classes and the busywork they needlessly give out, he was here because he had a job to do.

When the final bell rang, the principal let him out of the office a little bit early so that Legoshi could check out the large carnivore dorms, where he will be staying for the next year or so, before club hours started. And yes, because of his circumstances, his suspension didn’t extend to club time.

He didn’t really have a chance to stop by the dorms earlier, since he had to rush to class. But, Ogma certainly had Legoshi’s few possessions moved in by now.

“Wait, is that the new kid? I thought he had been arrested for mauling a fox at lunch?”

“No, dumbass! He was the one getting mauled BY the fox. But he just took it like it was nothing and beat the shit out of the guy. I heard that fox was in the hospital, getting facial reconstructive surgery.”

“Rex… And they let psychos like him just walk around?”

Well, as they say, never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn. Legoshi surmised, shrugging.

Knowing who he was, and how he tended to mix with more interesting characters like oil and water, the rumor mill was bound to be nuts. Already, from that one incident alone, they were making him out to be some sort of super-delinquent, which, to be fair, wasn’t all that far off from the truth.

“Shh! Quiet, man… He’s a canine. He can probably hear us…” Too late. “Let’s just… Let’s just stay out of his way, okay?”

“Good idea.”

Well, at least some people around here had some common sense…

Legoshi glanced at the back of his student ID card after swiping to get into the building, “Floor seven, room one… Shouldn’t be too hard to find.” He mumbled to himself, walking to the elevator.

Stepping out after reaching his floor, he glanced around, noticing that the hallways were relatively empty at the moment. Walking down, Room 701 was the very first room on the right, just around the corner. Mindlessly, he swiped, and tapped in the key combination.

“Oh, you’re back early. I was just…” An unknown voice echoed from the room, soon revealed to be a large white sheepdog, watching some cartoon about giant robots on the TV, “Wait a minute, who are you?”

“Legoshi.”

“Ah! The wolf transfer student! Nice to meet you – My name’s Collot.” The sheepdog perked up, tail wagging, “They moved your stuff over in the bottom bunk over there. It was really heavy too… What was inside those boxes, anyway? Lead pipes?”

Pistols, rifles, spare parts and ammunition.

“That’s for me to know and you to never find out.”

“Oooh~ Mysterious…” Collot cooed.

Legoshi walked over to his bunk and started moving the crates of stuff off of his bed and to his dresser, where both his summer and winter uniforms were already hanging inside. His regular clothes and club uniforms were folded and organized, so putting them away was as simple as tossing each item in the correct drawer.

One of the cases contained his guitar. He was extra careful to put somewhere where he wouldn’t forget.

Beep-Beep-Beep-Beep. Click.

Soon after Legoshi finished putting his matériel away, three more barged into the dorm room.

“Ugh! Does Teruki-sensei ever shut up!” A coyote complained as he stepped through the door. Behind him, a squinting hyena closely followed, “Ten minutes after the bell – TEN MINUTES! And he still wouldn’t stop talking!”

“For a math teacher, that man has no sense of time.” The hyena shook his head.

“Just be glad you don’t have him for Algebra II on first period,” A third voice made itself clear when a fennec fox revealed itself on the shoulders of the hyena, “Every day, I have to choose between getting marked for leaving his class early, or getting marked for being late to Ashley-sensei’s Anglish class.”

“Bro, that fucking suuuuucks!” The coyote echoed.

“Surely, he couldn’t be that bad?...”

“Shut the fuck up, Collot! You only ever had Edo-sensei. Your A-plus tail never had to slum it with the rest of us bread-and-eggers!”

“Wait, guys,” The fennec fox interrupted, “Do I spy with my little eye our mysterious student number six over there?”

“Durham, Miguno, Voss, meet Legoshi the Gray Wolf. Legoshi, meet Durham the Coyote, Miguno the Hyena, and Voss the Fennec Fox.” Collot introduced.

“‘Sup,” Legoshi gave them a wave.

“Bro, I saw you kick that guy’s ass at lunch – You were a fucking machine, man! He was biting you, trying to tear your arm off, and you just went–” Durham mimicked a slamming motion, “–WHAM! Caved in his fucking nose in with the tray!”

“Thank… you?...” Legoshi didn’t really know how to respond to all that.

“Say, where’s Jack?” Legoshi’s ears perked at the name, “Wasn’t he supposed to be here by now?”

“Probably stuck doing Student Council stuff like always.” Collot answered, switching the channel on the TV when the credits ended.

At that moment, a painfully familiar smell struck Legoshi right on the nose. With it, memories of when he was very young came flooding through, but of what exactly, remained unclear… until he saw a golden face staring at him with wide eyes from the doorway.

“...Jack?” Legoshi’s mouth asked without any input from his brain.

In an instant, a golden blur crashed into his chest, knocking him into his bed – “LEGOSHI!!!” – There was a rhythmic drumbeat echoing through the room: Jack’s tail breaking the sound barrier, thumping against the top bunk, while Legoshi’s kept beating the bedsheets.

“Oh my Rex! How are you!? How have you been!? Wherehaveyoubeen? Wheredidyoumovetowhatschooldidyougotodidyougetagirlfrienddidyouget–”

“Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, Jack!” Durham tried pulling the overexcited puppy away, “What the hell are you doing!?”

“It’s fine.” Legoshi assured, “I’ve known Jack since when we were little pups.”

“It’s been so long!” Jack nearly cried as his arms tightened like a vice around Legoshi, “Where did you go!? Don’t you know you how much I missed you?”

Legoshi froze at the unexpected closeness, before slowly returning the hug, “I… I missed you too, Jack.”

More than you will ever know…

“What… What happened?” Jack wiped at his eyes, despite no tears coming out.

“It’s a long story…” Legoshi sighed, sitting up, “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to tell it to you yet, but…”

It all seemed so far away now. A dog pup and a wolf pup playing around and wrestling on the grass, without a care in the world. All the trouble the two of them got into, all the hijinks and shenanigans, mainly on the part of his “overactive imagination” as the grown-ups all so chided.

Where did all that go? When did it go?

Legoshi already knew the answer to both those questions, but he wasn’t quite sure if he could say it out loud yet.

“Then, we’ll catch up when you’re ready.” Jack smiled, patting the wolf on his back.

“I’ll hold you to that.” He couldn’t help it, a faint grin grew on his face as well.

“Say…” Jack turned, around, fishing a plastic container from his bookbag. He opened it, offering an egg sandwich to Legoshi, “Don’t think I didn’t notice how you’re skin and bones under that uniform. You should eat more!”

“Thanks, Mom.” Legoshi rolled his eyes. Yet, he accepted the free food regardless.

He honestly was trying to gain back some mass, and was eating more too. It was just that undoing what was probably months of malnutrition was a very long process. And it didn’t help that seemingly all the food he put into his body went straight into his height; he was growing stronger – stronger than he was even before staying in that cell – but that didn’t mean he stopped looking like a bag of fur and bones.

As he scarfed down the offered sandwich, Jack got off the bed, making an “I’m watching you” gesture. Legoshi just shook his head in exasperation.

Vrrm. Vrrm.

A reminder buzzed on Legoshi’s phone on the bed. Right, he had to go to the clubhouse and finally meet his client. God, why did his client have to choose that club out of all the ones on campus? Why couldn’t it have been something less noisy, like the computer club or chess club?...

Legoshi didn’t dare pretend to know the inner workings of his client’s mind. That way only led to irrationality and madness.

Reaching down to one of the drawer, Legoshi retrieved his club uniform, a plain white tee over a pair of dark red chinos. As he pulled his pants down to change…

“Whoa! That’s a pretty gnarly looking scar you got there. How’d’ya get it?” Durham commented.

Legoshi glanced down at his leg. Indeed, a patch of fur was still missing from his leg from that day.

“Uh, dude… I don’t think we should be…” Miguno quietly pipe up.

Legoshi paid them no mind, quickly pulling up his red pants, and slapping on the white shirt. With his shoes on, he was out the door within seconds.

Slam!

“Oh, uh… dammit!” Durham fumbled his words, ears and tail drooping from the missed opportunity to say sorry.

“Don’t worry,” Jack assured, ever the ray of sunshine, “Legoshi isn’t one to hold a grudge.”

Chapter Text

A bad taste grew in Legoshi’s mouth the instant he walked into the clubhouse; he already knew he was a square peg for this round hole. It wasn’t the fault of anyone in here (well, except probably his client, whom he was still yet to meet). He just wasn’t into this sort of thing.

Legoshi simply wasn’t a theater kid, and no offense, but God willing, he would never fully become one either. The very last thing he wanted was to end up like one of those plastic degenerates on TV. And fame was a double-edged sword, especially in a dangerous business such as his.

Ogma had insisted, when Legoshi transferred into Cherryton, that he’d sign up for the Drama Club, which his son was a prominent member of. He didn’t want to, but pragmatism won in the end, the rationale being that the more time he spent around the client, the better Legoshi would be able to protect him.

The logic was sound, even if he hated it.

“...” A few steps in, and the room went silent, all eyes honing in on him like heat-seeking missiles.

Then, there was some muttering. Whispers started piling on…

“A new member so soon?...”

“Wait, isn’t that the transfer student? What’s he doing here?”

“Heh… I saw him smack the shit out of Ty at lunch with a tray after the guy went feral.”

“Really? About damn time! That arrogant asshole really had it coming.”

“Is he here to replace Tem?”

“Oh! You must be our newest member!” A loud voice cut into all the side chatter and backbiting. Legoshi watched as a pelican with thick glasses hopped off a table and ran up to him, “Come! Come!” he beckoned, “Tell us about yourself.”

Reluctantly, being put on the spot, Legoshi stepped up to the plate. Wilting slightly under the eyes on him, he gave an awkward wave, “Hi… I’m Legoshi…”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“That’s it?” A hippo asked from the crowd.

“Yeah.”

The laconic response elicited a wave of whispers and confused muttering.

What? I don’t know you people. I’m not just gonna give you my tragic backstory for free.

“Uh…” The pelican adjusted his glasses. “Well, I’m Sanu. The black panther over there is Tao; he’s part of the actor's troupe. The…” He proceeded to introduce those who were present to Legoshi. Apparently, just about everyone was there except his client. “And the mongoose over in the corner is Kai. He’s in charge of lighting. So!” The bird clapped his feathered hands. “What are you interested in doing? You can be an actor, you can join the dancing team–”

Legoshi took one good look at the animals who were in those two categories, and immediately decided, “Production crew.”

Fuck. That. Noise.

Knowing himself, if Legoshi was put on stage in front of a crowd, there was a 50/50 chance he would either go postal, or pull an R. Budd Dwyer. Possibly both.

“Production crew! Good choice!” Sanu complimented, “We’re always short on hands over there. How would you feel about joining the lighting team, with Kai?”

Legoshi didn’t know many things about himself, but one thing he knew for certain was that he wasn’t one for the spotlight. Though he would rather stay in the shadows, he supposed it was a fine enough compromise to be the one behind the spotlight rather than the one under it.

“Sounds good to me.” Legoshi made his feelings clear with a crisp thumbs up.

“Great!” The pelican cheered, “Kai! Why don’t you fill in our new friend here on the equipment? I gotta chat with Louis real quick about the latest changes to the script.” He urged Legoshi toward the mongoose before scampering off to God knows where.

It didn’t take long for him to learn the basics of the equipment.

Legoshi checked his watch: it was fifteen minutes before club hours officially ended. And yet, there was still no hide nor hair of his cervine client. Most of the club, including Kai, had already left to get their dinner, yet here he was, twiddling his thumbs, doing jack-all and fuck-shit.

The wolf took a sip of his water sourced from the tap outside. It tasted distinctly of cancer thirty years down the line, if the emphysema or liver cirrhosis from his other bad habits didn’t catch up to him first.

But what did it matter if he hydrated from questionable water sources, smoked, and drank? He was already set on course to dying anyway. So why not die young, while his Johnson still worked and his brain wasn’t spouting leaks from dementia?

And speaking of phalluses with limited cognition, word through the grapevine was that one Louis the Red Deer was exactly what Legoshi was expecting: an arrogant drama queen rich kid high off the sound of his own voice and the smell of his own farts.

Though, that might have been Kai’s biases speaking; Trust, but verify – and all that.

After all, the mongoose was recently “demoted” to being part of the production crew. Legoshi might have to get a second opinion – for all he knew, Louis might secretly be a shy little Disney prince with a heart of gold…

…Yeah, as if!

“Legoshi!” A pelican’s beak peeked through the curtains, “Glad to see you’re still here!”

Legoshi checked his watch again. He was getting pretty hungry and didn’t want to wait around until after the cafeteria closed.

“Sanu, how can I help?”

“Oh, nothing much. Louis just told me he wanted to see you in his office.”

Ah, so the Prince of Cherryton finally deigned to grant his retainer an audience…

“I’ll see him there…” Legoshi got up from his seat, and stepped up to the curtain, before pausing, “...Wait, which room was he in again?”

“The office room. Down the hall, second to last room on the right.” Sanu answered helpfully.

“Thanks.” Legoshi walked out, holding two fingers up, “Peace.”

“Uh…” The pelican waved hesitantly, holding two feathered fingers up as well after a second, “...Peace, too?”

Following Sanu’s words, it wasn’t that hard to find the room he was looking for. It even had a plaque right next to the door with hid client’s name right on it – Louis – making him feel like a little bit of a moron for asking such a dumb question.

Legoshi knocked – “Come in.” A voice that oozed upper class (emphasis on the last three letters) called out. He invited himself inside.

Louis was not alone in the room. He was looming over a goat (Zoe, Legoshi recalled), grabbing at the poor kid’s face. The name stuck out for him in particular because, for some reason, Legoshi could have sworn it was a girl’s name.

“Now, will you try to memorize the Rex-damned script before shoving it down your gullet?” Louis hissed.

“I… I will.”

“Yes, you will. Surely, eating everything in sight is not all that you goats are good for… Right?”

“R-Right!”

Louis stared for a moment, before finally releasing the poor actor, “Get out.”

Not needing to be told twice, Zoe scampered off into the hallway.

Not even twenty seconds had passed since he had first laid eyes upon his new client, and already Legoshi didn’t like him. Something about Louis – Legoshi didn’t quite know what yet – just ticked something off inside the wolf.

Maybe it was the way he spoke down to his junior clubmate, maybe it was the way the deer held himself, as if he was King Shit of the Sewer. Whatever it was, it felt like nails on a chalkboard.

“So, my father had the bright idea of making a carnivore–” The way the deer said that word, Legoshi could almost feel the white hoods and burning crosses oozing out of it, “–become my bodyguard?”

“...”

“I have to say, I am at once both insulted and profoundly baffled by his decision-making,” the deer scoffed. “How many times do I have to tell him that I can handle myself and that I’m not so weak that I need protection? Especially protection from the likes of you.”

Believe me, I don’t like being here either.

“...” Legoshi kept his mouth shut. He didn’t wish to be kicked out of the job and be billions in debt because he couldn’t keep his rusty sewer shut.

“What? Not gonna say anything, doggy?” Louis sneered, “Just gonna stand there, doing the whole ‘silent guard’ act? Even when you only really care about one thing in the end?”

Yes. Money.

Louis stepped forward, grabbing onto Legoshi’s tie with a slender hand, trying to get into the wolf’s face. However, the intimidating factor was slightly diminished by the fact that Legoshi had a half a foot over the deer, and even at his most-starved skinniest, he still had 30 lbs on him too.

“All you carnivores are the same, aren’t you?” A hand brushed up against Legoshi’s cheek, making his eye twitch, “Those predatory instincts, just waiting to unleash themselves on an unsuspecting herbivore.”

What the hell are you doing, Bambi Duke? Is this some sort of faggy love confession?

Legoshi wasn’t really feeling any of that so-called primal hunger that the other carnivores liked to talk about so much. Unlike his peers, there was no inner voice that he had to reign back; nothing screaming at him to tear the throat out of this prey in front of him.

Other than a feeling of mild annoyance at Louis right now, he never felt anything one way or the other about the herbivores in his life. The only feeling of primal hunger he felt right now was directed toward the pita pizzas they were serving for dinner in the dining hall… If it didn’t close by the time this damned conversation was over.

Apparently, that was very, very strange for a wolf.

“What if I offered you my arm?” A finger prodded at Legoshi’s lip, brushing against his teeth, “You’d salivate and happily accept, am I right?”

No?

“Come on now. You are a wolf. Take responsibility for what you are. Quit pretending and show me your true nature,” Louis ordered, getting uncomfortably close, “Bare your fangs.”

Legoshi rolled his eyes at his client’s suicidal idiosyncrasies. He spoke matter-of-factly, “No, it is forbidden for a carnivore to bare their fangs at an herbiv–”

“I’m not just another herbivore!” All of a sudden, a hand was shoved into his maw.

The FUCK!?

Legoshi lost his patience; he grabbed the deer’s wrist and used his superior strength to yank it away from his mouth. He spat on the floor, trying to get the disgusting salty taste of fur and sweaty palm off his tongue, while the deer looked upon him in unbidden terror.

“I don’t know what the fuck your major malfunction is, but if we’re gonna be working together for the next 12 months, you need to knock that shit off.” Venom slipped through Legoshi’s tone as his frustration grew, “I am here because I owe your father a massive debt, and this is the only way that I can repay it. Do you think if I had a choice, I would be here? Wearing that dumb fucking clown suit of a uniform, slumming it with a bunch of prissy, entitled rich kids like you? I had a fucking career out there; sure, it sucked ass sometimes, and I got shot more times than I can count, but at least I was in control of my own destiny.”

“I am not your friend. I am not your slave. And I am most certainly not your personal blow-up doll to take out your carnie fetish on.” Legoshi let go of the deer and stepped backwards toward the door.

“C-carnivore fetish?” Louis sputtered out, before regaining his composure, “You have some balls here saying that to my face, Wolfy. For your information, I am way out of your league.”

You’re not helping your case, buddy.

“Frankly, I don’t give a shit who’s in your ‘league’. I’m just here to take a paycheck and make sure your ass isn’t cut up into a filet.” Ignoring the deer’s bleating of poorly hidden indignity, Legoshi pulled a business card from his wallet. “Here is my number.” He slapped it on a nearby table. “We will meet and discuss our daily schedule tomorrow before club hours. Try not to get yourself killed until then.”

And on that note, Legoshi turned out and made his way for the door. Right as he was about to cross the threshold, he felt a strong tug on his tail. He glanced back and found Louis’s hand grabbing onto its end, as if it were a leash.

“Don’t think that–” Louis started.

“Don’t fucking grab my tail.” Louis’s mouth instinctively clamped shut at the wolf’s biting words. Legoshi yanked his tail away from the dumbstruck deer’s hands. “Good day and see you tomorrow.”

Because Lord knows you already molested me enough today…

Once Legoshi was down the hall and almost out of the Drama Club clubhouse, he spared one last look back. A pair of antlers poked out of the office door; a cervine face stared at him with an unreadable expression.

C’mon Legoshi, you dealt with worse than some perverted rich kid.

Legoshi closed the door, and started walking the scenic route through campus, where his only company were the crickets and trees. He checked his watch.

Damn. Looks like the cafeteria’s closed by now.

With a disappointed huff, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. Looks like tonight was another night where cigarettes and tea-kettle ramen were the only things on the menu.

Chapter Text

“Whatcha gonna do… When Hulkamania runs wild on you, brotherrrr!?” A little voice growled and yipped atop a couch.

Gosha watched with exasperation as a young Golden Retriever pup turned around, only for a gray blur to crash into him from high in the air, knocking him onto a beanbag chair. The little dog tried to fight the little wolf off, laughing all the way, but he was pinned down to the ground by the larger boy’s weight.

Normally, the old komodo dragon would have told his grandson to knock it off by now… But it was Legoshi’s birthday today. The boy was entitled to be afforded a little bit of roughhousing.

A third child, a white-furred fox kit, ran up to the scene, acting as a referee, “1… 2… 3! Hulk Hogan wins the World Heavyweight Championship!”

Gosha tried not to snort as Legoshi got up and did a little bodybuilder pose with those twig arms of his, as one of the boys wrapped a belt (stolen from Gosha’s dresser no doubt) around the pup’s waist. Truly, that boy had one hell of an imagination, to be able to come up with all those silly characters on the fly, like that “Hulk Hogan” wrestler.

Looking at him now, you wouldn’t know that the boy was painfully shy at school, and had few friends. Perhaps the boy had inherited that notorious reptilian reservedness and preference for solitude from him… But Gosha had his doubts that was really the cause of Legoshi’s… Legoshi-ness.

Even from the very beginning, his grandson had been an odd one. Not one time, in Gosha’s memory, had the boy displayed any of the predatory instincts as carnivorous children were wont to do. Whether it was a testament to his discipline, or some other factor, he didn’t know.

Sometimes, something in the boy’s eyes betrayed a sense of unusual experience, of wisdom beyond his years. Yet, most of the time, he was no different from any other child his age; though unusually well-behaved in public, as the other children’s parents oft jealously complained.

Legoshi played all the same games as the other brats, making friends in his quiet little way…

“JUST YOU WAIT, HULK HOGAN! I’LL MAKE YOU LOSE THAT BELT, JUST LIKE YOU LOST YOUR FUR!” Jack, the Golden Retriever, leaped up to his feet and chased after Legoshi in an impromptu game of tag.

…Well, not quite as quiet right now. But still, the boy deserved the freedom and the safety to have an actual childhood. Rex knows the boy had gone through a lot, ever since his mother, and Gosha’s daughter, his poor Leano, lost her battle with her demons.

Ever since that day, Legoshi has suffered these constant, horrible night terrors; no less than at least once a week. Often, the boy would wake up screaming, and Gosha would have to comfort the boy who laid frozen, staring at nothing but what torments him in his mind. He had never been able to get Legoshi to tell him what he was seeing in his nightmares; only a few vague words about something involving a war, and “humans”, whatever those were.

It was in these moments, with his grandson weakly crying in his arms, that Gosha never felt more helpless.

“Uh… Legoshi?... Earth to Legoshi.” Gosha turned, finding Jack poking at his grandson’s face, “You okay?”

Gosha’s heart sank when he saw Legoshi’s eyes starting… well, not at him, but through him. Just like during the worst of the nightmares.

“Hello?…” Jack tilted his head.

Gosha pulled his old bones off the rocking chair, “Jack. Step back.” He ordered, brooking no room for argument.

“Grandpa?...” Legoshi’s lips muttered, while his eyes remained unfocused, “Co tu robią faszyści?”

Then, all of a sudden, Legoshi collapsed into an uncontrollable shaking wreck – a seizure, Gosha’s experience informed. He was barely able to catch the boy in time before his head hit the ground.

Screaming filled the apartment.

Jack was scared… No, that wasn’t quite enough to describe it… He was terrified.

One moment, he and Legoshi were playing and wrestling, and then another, he started just shaking and foaming out the mouth, like one of those rabies patients they showed on those late night medical shows that Mom didn’t want him to watch.

Legoshi’s grandpa, and the doctor too, said it was something called a “seizure”. Jack didn’t care what it was, he just wanted his best friend to get better soon.

“...and you are sure Legoshi had never had a seizure before? Not even an absence seizure?” The doctor, a skinny-looking black bear, furiously wrote stuff down on a clipboard, “Not even an absence seizure?”

“I know what a seizure looks like, Doc. I have first aid training.” Legoshi’s grandpa growled, “Ever since my daughter passed, the boy definitely has suffered from some sort of PTSD, and he has these terrible nightmares… But not this.”

“Did Legoshi have any recent change in his prescriptions?”

“I already told you this. No!”

The bear remained stoic, while his pen whirled around the pages at a million miles per hour. As Jack nervously kicked his legs in the air as he sat down, he felt his father’s reassuring hand squeeze his shoulder.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A gentle knock on the door interrupted the bear and the komodo dragon’s back and forth. The bear doctor glanced over, “Come in.”

“Dr. Michael,” An older tiger woman wearing a similar white jacket as the doctor walked in, carrying a large folder with papers.

Jack squinted to read her badge, but could only make out five words, “Department of Carnivore Pediatrics – Radiologist”

“The results from the emergency CT scan have been compiled. We have found some anomalies?”

“Anomalies?” The bear doctor repeated. Everyone else in the room listened intently.

The tiger woman pulled out some papers, and two launched into a discussion full of words and jargon that Jack didn’t know. He tried to listen as best as he could, but the conversation just slipped him by. Looking around, he wasn’t the only one, as Legoshi’s grandpa and his own parents looked just as confused.

Eventually, Legoshi’s grandpa lost his patience, “Will somebody tell me in plain Nihonian what the hell is wrong with my grandson!?”

The two doctors paused, and looked back at them. The bear doctor cleared his throat, “We don’t have any solid answers yet… But we think that this might be caused by Legoshi’s hybrid ancestry.”

Legoshi’s grandpa froze, eyes wide like fine china at those words, “...What?”

The bear doctor pulled a page from the folder and placed it on his clipboard, showing it to the old komodo dragon, “This is from one of the scans of your grandson’s brain. That right there is part of the amygdala, which regulates and causes many of our instincts as animals. You mentioned that Legoshi had never expressed any predatorial instincts, and hardly acts in line with typical canine behavior?”

“Yes.” The komodo dragon answered, silently urging the doctor to continue.

“That amygdala right there does not belong on a wolf’s brain, and it doesn’t look like it belongs on a komodo dragon’s either. If anything, it resembled more that of a primate’s, like a chimpanzee or a bonobo.”

“A primate!?” Legoshi’s grandpa shouted.

“It's been known to happen.” The doctor explained, “Almost all intelligent life on land shares at least 99% of our DNA with each other, even if most of it is not used or shown. However, when species mix, there are some cases that can lead to… unexpected expressions of genes from an entirely different species altogether. Cases like these have been known to cause some neurological issues during childhood.”

“So, Legoshi has a monkey brain?” Jack asked innocently, “Will he be okay?”

“Jack.” Mom quietly warned.

“Not quite, my boy. But, for this part of it, yes. And right now, your friend seems to recovering just fine.” The bear doctor assured the young pup.

The tiger woman pulled out another page, “But, Mr. Gosha, that isn’t the only thing we found in our scan. If we look here over in the lateral hypothalamus–”

Ring! Ring! Ring! Brrrriiiing!

Before the doctor could continue, an annoying ringtone nearly deafened the room, “Sorry!” Realizing it was his phone, the komodo dragon rushed to pull it out of his pocket, and upon seeing whoever was calling… – “Son of a… Excuse me, I have to take this.”

Legoshi’s grandpa went to a corner, with an angry-looking expression on his face, and put the phone to his ear, “What the hell are you calling me for? I’m at the hospital with my grandson!... What?... It can’t wait?... Oh, motherfffff… I’ll be there. But you owe me, big time, you carrot-munching son of a–” As the komodo dragon pulled the phone away from his face with a snarl, it looked like he was about to crush it with his bare hands, “Dammit, he hung up!”

“What’s wrong?” Dad asked.

“Something came up at one of the job sites. An emergency.” Legoshi’s grandpa sighed, “I… I have to go… Can you watch over Legoshi for me when he wakes up, if I’m not back by then?”

“Of course!” Dad replied, standing straight like a soldier just given orders.

“I’ll be there too!” Jack enthusiastically added.

The komodo dragon glanced down at him, and giving him a weary smile. Jack felt a scaled hand lightly brush against his head, “You’re a good kid, Jack. Legoshi’s damn lucky to have a friend like you around. Take care of him, for me, alright?”

“I will, Sir!” Jack mock saluted.

“Don’t call me ‘Sir’. I work for a living.” And then, the old man was out the door.

That would be the last time Jack would ever see his friend’s grandfather. The old man had died in a car accident on his way to the job site. A few days later, Legoshi would be cleared to leave the hospital.

He stayed with Jack’s family for a week, until a hasty funeral was held in a small temple near Cherryton. That funeral would be the last time Jack would spend with Legoshi before the state took him away.

Every day since then, that broken promise would ache in his heart.

It was the middle of the night and Haru had made the stupid mistake of leaving her phone in the garden again.

Idiot! Moron! Dummy!

She raged at herself for putting herself in this position. Her, a herbivore, walking out in the dark, at Rex-fucking-midnight, because she just had to be too damn distracted from that harlequin rabbit what’s-her-name and her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.

Why did you have to be so fucking stupid, Haru!?

Though that instinctual fear inside her caused her to silently pray that none of the carnivore students were out this evening, the anger and frustration at herself made her shoes loudly grind into the gravel as she marched across campus.

Ohhhhh, Rex! If I don’t die here, the housemother’s gonna kill me!

The cool spring breeze brushed against her fur, causing her to shiver. As she turned the corner, the school fountain now in view, her ears twitched as she faintly heard something.

The strumming of a guitar, to a tune she didn’t know.

“Hey, now, now~...”

Who?...

“Goodbye, Love~...”

She squinted, her eyes struggling in the dark. On the other side of the fountain, she could just barely make out a shape against the flowing water. A large snout pointed at the sky, the outline of hands strumming a guitar, tail peacefully swaying from side to side.

“Didn't know what time it was; the lights were lo-o-ow… I leaned back on my radio-o-o…~”

Haru froze in place, hiding behind one of the pillars. She didn’t want to disturb the scene.

“Some cat was layin' down some rock 'n' roll, ‘Lotta soul,’ he said.~”

She couldn’t move. That voice was keeping her ears hostage. The melody almost made her forget about her worries… her phone… the animals that all pitied her… those idiots that kept picking on her…

“Then the loud sound did seem to fa-a-ade. Came back like a slow voice on a wave of pha-a-ase. That weren't no DJ, that was hazy cosmic jive!~”

She sat down, intending to stick around for a while. She didn’t give a damn that the singer was a dangerous carnivore – she had to listen to this!

“Theres a staaaar-maaaaan waiting in the sky!~”

If she had her phone, she would have been recording by now. But as she didn’t, she let herself just live in the moment, the music washing over her.

Minutes passed by, without her realizing, and before she knew it, the beautiful, captivating song was already over.

“La, la, la-la, la, la, la-la, la, la, la-la~... Ahem!” The wolf clearing his throat snapped her out of her trance, “Heh… Bowie’s always a classic… Should probably go to bed now?... Eh, fuck it. It’s a nice night – I’m staying.”

Slapping some sense back to herself, she ran away from the scene, intent on getting her stuff and get back to the dorms as quickly as possible. Yet, as she scrambled off, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that she was far from the only eavesdropper.

A pair of antlers could be seen sticking out from the other side of the courtyard.

“Eh, fuck it. It’s a nice night – I’m staying…” Legoshi was halfway through pulling a cigarette out of the pack when he heard the crunching of gravel way behind where he was sitting.

The fuck was that?

He turned around, finding nothing but flowing water, and the closed buildings on the end of the campus center. He sniffed the air, his nose faintly picking up the smell of a rabbit of some variety.

Eh… It’s probably nothing…

But, for all he knew, where he was sitting could have been a rabbit hangout spot, or something. He probably ruined it with his wolf smell by sitting here… Sucks for them; he ain’t moving.

He placed the cigarette on his lips, pulled out the lighter, and let the smoke take the worries and anxieties away. The housemother, ugly blue-faced bitch that she was, constantly screeched at him about his bad habits and threatened to have him expelled over his “contraband” and his fur smelling like smoke.

Heh… He scoffed internally at the thought, smoke blowing through his nose.

As if the school would actually follow through with the threat over some shit like that. What were they gonna do? Kick out the guy that was protecting their precious future Beastar? The same guy that the chairman of the Horns Conglomerate was paying literal billions of Yen to keep him on campus? You’re kidding, right?

Money and leverage talked far more than any moral busybody could, and like hell was Legoshi gonna dance the Cigarette Mash to make some hag of a mandrill happy.

Carefully, he brushed his fingers over the varnished wood of the guitar, before carefully bringing it to the open case at his feet. Slowly, like a parent putting their infant child to bed, he laid the instrument on the unblemished bright red velvet, and then closed the case over it, latching it shut.

For years now, he had this urge… this uncontrollable need to preserve something from his “other life”. When he was younger, it was the characters subconsciously bleeding through his imagination during play time.

But now… Now, he found that music was the best way for him. When he was singing was one of the few times that he truly felt like himself… whoever he truly was. Something about those songs… It was special. Nothing like anything he could find here, outside of pale imitations.

So, naturally, with him pouring his soul into it between jobs, he had gotten quite decent at performing it all from memory, if he said so himself. Not really good enough to be superstar material, but enough that he didn’t cringe when he started strumming, opening his trap, and singing.

As he blew out another puff of smoke, a strangely familiar smell greeted Legoshi’s nose.

Briefly, his mind drifted back to his second meeting with Louis, which was significantly more productive than their first. They were able to hash out the specifics of his work, mainly that he would be mostly hands-off, guarding from a distance, unless the deer decided to take a trip off campus.

Him no longer having an antler up his ass over daddy forcing a bodyguard on him helped smooth things over somewhat. That wasn’t to say that the deer wasn’t an asshole – he most definitely was. But Legoshi worked with and protected dickheads before, and a flamboyant drama king wasn’t anything to get his tail in a twist about.

And to be honest, in terms of looks, Louis didn’t look all that bad, either. If anything, he…

…

…

…

What the hell are you thinking, Legoshi?

Snapping out of that train of thought, he turned his attention to the night sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight to obstruct his view. The light pollution from the surrounding city made it a bit difficult to make out most stars, but for the few that he could, it was beautiful.

To let himself live in the moment, and enjoy the peace… It was good for him. Legoshi hoped for more times like this.

Peace and quiet was a luxury, more precious than all the money in the world.

Chapter Text

Louis freely admitted it; he was far from the most patient of animals. When something got on his nerves, he was prone to lashing out a little and being a dick.

As he carried a thick plastic bag full of supplies for the club on his way back to campus, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of irritation every time a gray, bushy tail graced the corner of his vision.

It was already annoying enough having to make an impromptu trip to the arts and crafts store because – surprise, surprise – Mr. Proud Carnivore, Bill didn’t clip his claws and accidentally shredded his costume again during rehearsal.

And, having a wolf constantly trail five steps behind you, practically breathing down your neck with that dumb oversized snout of his... For most herbivores, this would have been a terrifying situation. Yet, for Louis–

“Will you stop that!?”

–It only pissed him off.

“Stop what?” The wolf said flatly.

“Just…” Louis trailed off, stiffening his shoulders and grinding his teeth.

Why did Father force him to suffer this idiot brute? Hadn’t he already proved that he could take care of himself? He carried a gun on him everywhere he went, for Rex’s sake; Louis failed to see how having this buffoon following his every move was supposed to “help things”.

How? Being moral support, as I put a 9mm going through a snarling carnie’s head? Please!

And that wasn’t the only thing that bothered him about the wolf – “Use your words, Louis. You’re a big boy now, not five.” – This flesh-eating parasite didn’t even bother showing him a modicum of respect!

Don’t talk to me that way! You’re a year younger than me!

And boy, wasn’t that a revelation. They didn’t even bother sending in an actual trained adult. They took in a fucking seventeen-year-old brat off the street, gave him a gun, and sent him to Cherryton to become Louis’s problem! Un-fucking-believable!

“Just stay back. 50 meters, minimum.” Louis ordered, turning around and using his hand to try to push the wolf away.

However, despite the fact that the wolf looked rather skinny and underfed for his species, it still felt like his palm crashed into reinforced concrete. Immovable… implacable…

“Can’t do that.” The wolf rebutted.

“Listen.” Louis seethed, “You’re hovering over my shoulder and that’s pissing me off. I already had a long day, and I don’t need you triggering my prey instincts adding onto that.”

“Told ya. No can do.” The wolf shook his head, pulling a cigarette from his mouth – yet another infuriating habit of his – and flicked the ash onto the sidewalk, blowing smoke out of his nose, “The contract stipulates that while off-campus, I stay in close proximity to adequately protect you. I can’t exactly keep you safe while I’m stuck peeping like L.B. Jefferies.”

Who the hell was L.B.– Gah! Nevermind! – Damn dumb mutt and his references that nobody understood…

“I don’t need protection!”

“Yes, you fucking do! You think I’m paid to sit around with my thumb up my ass all day? You are the son of one of the most powerful men alive. Simply because you exist, animals hate you and want to kill and eat you.” The wolf spat out. Yet despite the anger, there were no teeth. No growl, “You being a wealthy herbivore already puts a big-ass target on your back, you don’t need to be advertising yourself to every hungry fuck this side of the neighborhood on top of that. You’re not an idiot, Louis. So, stop acting like one and get with the program.”

Louis’s frustration and irritation rapidly overwhelmed both his instincts and common sense. Reaching up, he grabbed a tuft of fur on the back of the wolf’s neck and force him down to eye level, muzzle to muzzle. The cigarette fell from the wolf’s lips; Louis stomped on it, extinguishing it.

“Listen here, you big dumb buffoon,” Louis glared into the wolf’s wide eyes, “It is my life to waste. Not yours! I’m well aware every day could be my last, and every second I spend around carnivores like you is a coin flip on whether I’ll be eaten. I’m a herbivore; I know damn well what the risks are – far more than you could ever possibly know!” His grip on the gray tuft of fur tightened, “So, if you don’t back off right now, I will make your life a living hell worse than whatever unthinkable fate could ever befall me.”

“Don’t bother. Your daddy’s already doing a good job at that.” The wolf pulled away from Louis’s hold as if it was nothing, and stepped back, “And I have a name, you know. It’s Legoshi – like that Magyar vampire bat actor in those old black and white horror movies? Would be nice if you used it once in a while…” Legoshi raised his hands in surrender. Louis’s eye twitched at the sight of the wolf’s sharp claws, “…But fine! Have it your way! I’ll stay back. It’s your funeral, and my missed paycheck!”

With a huff, Louis simply turned around and kept walking, not deigning to give the carnivore any further acknowledgement. Out of the corner of his eye, as he traveled down the sidewalk, he saw that the wolf had stayed put as ordered.

Well, at least he’s obedient. As expected from a mutt like him…

But strangely enough, Legoshi didn’t act like a typical canine, or hell, even a typical carnivore at all. Louis had seen enough large predators in his life during his time in school, out in public, and even the corporate world his father navigated to recognize those subtle cues. That sharp, calculating glint in their eyes, the unconscious tension in their shoulders, the way they moved with an underlying current of coiled power, always ready to act on a perceived threat.

Legoshi, however, possessed none of that. Despite Louis’s instinct screaming to the contrary, Legoshi’s gaze was far from predatory, rather observing the world with an unnerving, almost casual detachment. Not the typical disgusting innocent puppy cheer mixed with perverted hunger that tended to infect his canid brethren.

The few times he had seen the wolf interact with his fellow carnivores, he had noticed that he rarely bothered with that constant, subtle jostling for dominance. Instead of the expected primal hunger or territorial aggression, Legoshi often met provocations with an almost apathetic calm, a detached indifference that lacked any visible surge of instinct; until, suddenly, an idiot found himself with a broken nose via a tray.

Yes, he watched that happen.

An unreadable ticking time bomb sent to watch over him. Truly, there were no limits to the great Ogma’s genius.

It was baffling. When they first met, Louis had tried to push his buttons, to goad out some feral display, some flash of the "true nature" of a wolf, only to be met with a flat, unimpressed stare, and an irritated yet inconveniently passionless rebuttal. The wolf simply didn't care in the way a carnivore was supposed to care, didn't react with the gut-level impulses that governed his species.

He was just… there. And that caused friction in the air around him for carnivore and herbivore alike. Honestly, aside that golden retriever he occasionally saw his bodyguard with, Louis wouldn’t be surprised if he was the only other animal he talked to on a regular basis.

Not to mention… In Louis’s honest opinion, Legoshi was completely wasted being a meat shield for him.

That night on the courtyard – it was some of the best singing he had heard in his life; leagues above the litany of talentless hacks the radio forced upon his ears.

That song too… That wolf was probably just as good of a songwriter.

Louis spent that night on his laptop, trying his damnedest to find that melody or those lyrics anywhere, but he always came up with zero results.

Truly, it was a shame Legoshi decided to throw his talents away to be a mere bodyguard, content to wilt away and fade into the background.

He would have been magnificent on stage…

The deer’s velvet-covered horns itched at the disappointment. He shook his head, trying to purge himself of these distracting thoughts.

There was no need to get so invested over some weirdo carnivore…

…

…

…Even if that big dumb face of his looked kinda–

Shut up, stupid brain…

When the road grew to an uphill, the academy just barely in view, the sounds of crickets and cicada chirping suddenly went quiet. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up straight as he crossed a dark intersection.

“Hah… Hah… Hah…”

The sound of heavy, raspy breathing. He froze, neck craning back to see what was behind.

A deep pit in his stomach grew when he found a massive shadow looming over him. Putrid hot air blew over his head, a line of drool dripping on the velvet of his antlers.

“So… So hungry.”

That wasn’t Legoshi.

The instant Louis saw claws coming in from both sides, he took off as fast as his legs could carry him.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

The wet sounds of suppressed bullets hitting flesh reached Louis’s panicked ears.

“GRRAAAGH!”

But the thundering footsteps wouldn’t stop. The predator, undeterred, kept on pursuing. And he was catching up fast.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip! Fwip!

“EEEAAT YOU! I’LL EAT YOUUUUU!!!” A warbled growl, screamed through razor sharp teeth.

Louis glanced back, and the sight almost made his fur go white. An impossibly tall and wide lion, shirtless, with mangy, matted fur and crazed eyes honed in on his neck, salivating. His chest and shoulders were soaked in blood, spewing from holes that should have killed him, but by some horrific miracle of nature, didn’t.

“MeeeaAAAT!”

At that moment, Louis and his instinct were one, united in knowing that they were going to die. He could almost see the elevator calling to him…

A hand grabbing at his antler threw him up in the air, almost tearing his head off his neck in a painful jerk. Caught in the beast’s grasp, Louis tried to reach for his gun, under his jacket, only for claws to easily swipe it away, leaving his only means of self-defense to clatter uselessly on the sidewalk.

Before he knew it, a spike of agony overwhelmed Louis. Teeth punctured his thigh, and captured in the lion’s grasp, he was unable to move an inch. A barbed tongue lapped at the blood off his flesh, painfully scraping against his skin.

“Louis!”

Legoshi?

Something crashed into the lion, the teeth’s grip on his leg faltered, dropping him onto asphalt like a ragdoll.

The world spun around him as he watched the scene unfold. The lion, with impossible strength, grabbed the wolf by his scruff and threw him over his head. The wolf smoothly turned midair, landing on all fours, claws scraping a trail through the road.

The lion leaped forward, claws out. The wolf grasped the pistol hanging off his hip, its muzzle long.

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip! Click.

Louis’s breath hitched in terror as three bullets struck right where the Lion’s heart should have been. Yet it didn’t seem to affect the mad beast in the slightest.

“MY MEAT! MINE!”

Legoshi rolled out the way barely in time, dropping his spent gun as he dodged claws intent on reducing him to ribbons. With a smooth motion, the wolf pulled a knife from his boot and slashed at the meat-junkie’s ankles

“Raagh!” Thump!

The lion came crashing down onto his back, the cut-open ankle no longer able to support his weight. The wolf jumped onto him, blade in hand, but the lion rolled over, pinning Louis’s bodyguard to the ground.

“You… YOU–! Guurghkhh–”

Splurt-splat…

But the wolf was quicker, his knife slicing open the lion’s muscular neck like butter. Liters of blood sprayed profusely all over the scene as the wolf kicked the dead animal off.

Spots started appearing in Louis’s vision as he grew more and more light-headed. Darkness creeping in from the edges of his vision.

“Le…go…shi?” He weakly croaked.

Louis cursed himself for his weakness. How pathetic was he, needing the protection of a large carnivore. He hated to admit that the world was right, that he was indeed a typical weak herbivore…

But… Rex… Look where his vanity and pride took him.

“Louis?...” The wolf perked up from his blood-soaked panting mess, “Fuck, Louis!” A red and gray blur seemed to teleport from across the streets, appearing over Louis almost instantly, fumbling with a phone, “I need an ambulance! 10th Street and Cherryton Boulevard! Now!”

“Le… Lego…”

I’m sorry…

Clawed hands on his leg, tying something painfully tight. His tongue started feeling weird in his own mouth.

“Le…”

I’m sorry for being such an idiot…

The elevator… The elevator down to the gaping, fanged maws of hell… It was waiting for him as the darkness closed on his vision…

“Stay with me, Louis! Goddammit, STAY WITH ME!”

So why didn’t he feel the slightest bit scared of the wolf looming over his cooling soon-to-be carcass? Why did Legoshi’s worried gaze make him feel a soothing warmth deep in his gut?

What was this uncontrollable urge to use the last of his strength to pull himself up and lock lips–?

“Fuck! Come on!”

Father… I’m sorry…

He… He couldn’t hold on. He couldn’t…

Tick… Tock… Tick… Tock…

The clock on the wall of the nurse’s office ticked away the seconds, the arms reading 9:31. Legoshi had been sitting here on this undersized plastic chair for five hours now, keeping watch over his charge as he sat stiffly on the bed.

Somehow, even while infirm, Louis was still very much the image of a crown prince holding court, staring imperiously down on his subjects. The instant he woke up, and his wounds were stitched; he had demanded to be transferred back to Cherryton, come hell or high water.

And whatever Louis said, went.

“Louis!” Zoe bleated as he ran in. Behind him, a small crowd followed with worried faces; that of the Drama Club, “Are you okay!? We heard about the–!”

Legoshi’s warning glare made the worried bunch keep their distance from the recovering deer. The last thing Louis needed was a bunch of noise disturbing him.

The leg was fine – the lion’s attempted devouring didn’t nick any major arteries, and it was set to heal just fine. However, he wouldn’t be walking on that leg for a while, and Legoshi had cursed himself for his incompetence.

While it was partially Louis’s fault for impeding the wolf from doing his job, in the end, it was still Legoshi’s responsibility to keep him safe. He had put his client in danger in order to protect their ego; he couldn’t afford to make that same mistake again.

“Before you start with the well-wishes, I’m fine. I don’t need them.” Louis cut in, silencing the goat, “What I need is somebody to play Adler, because, in case you haven’t noticed, the play is supposed to happen three days from now.”

“Well… who else than Louis could possibly play Adler?” A first-year wolf girl – June? Jane? Something along those lines – asked.

“Yeah, Louis is our best actor. Nobody else has the right… je ne sais quoi to play Adler.” The zebra, Ellen, commented.

“What are we gonna do? Are we screwed?”

“Well, I could play him if you–”

“Shut up, Bill.”

“What!? I’m just offering.”

“Oh, Rex! We’re boned. We’re gonna have to cancel the play–”

Slap!

Louis sat up straight and smacked the tiled wall behind him. The clamoring was shut down in an instant.

“I get hurt once, and suddenly, all of you are helpless?” Louis asked, bitterness seeping into his tone.

“Uh, well, no– Uh–” Sanu tried to speak, but the deer wouldn’t let him, turning toward the club’s resident tiger.

“Bill. You’ll be playing Adler.”

“Eh… Huh!?” Bill nearly leaped through the ceiling, “Wait, really!? You’re serious.”

“Did you suddenly become deaf while I was speaking?”

The tiger was taken aback, “N-No?”

“Then you heard me. You’re playing Adler.” Louis shifted himself on the bed as the tiger pumped his fist in celebration, “As for who is taking over Bill’s old role…”

Slowly, the deer scanned the room, locking eyes with every one of the actors standing at the foot of his bed. Then, his gaze locked onto Legoshi, eyes twinkling with a spark of schadenfreude. Legoshi felt his heart sink down to his balls.

The wolf narrowed his eyes at the now-smug deer.

Don’t you fucking dare…

“...Legoshi. That’s you.”

You sick bastard! Is this how you reward me for saving your life!

As the Drama Club erupted in congratulations toward him, Legoshi sat silently in his seat, trying to kill that damn son of a bitch with his glare. Sadly, Louis did not drop dead; instead, he was only given a faint, yet ever so smug smirk back.

Chapter Text

Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.

One foot after the other. Legoshi panted as he kept up with his relentless pace to his destination, a bench on the side of the beaten gravel path.

Relentlessly, the sun baked his fur, the absorbed warmth boiling his skin; sweat was helpless to cool him. No matter how much he panted, the scorching heat never went away; his lungs burned with a growing fire.

His aching legs slowed down to a stop. On the bench were his belongings; he grabbed the large bottle next to his bookbag, flipped it open, and started gunning down its contents: a protein shake. The artificial taste of peanut butter and soy milk soothed his gnawing hunger and thirst for now; and the exhaustion banished any thoughts of the upcoming performance.

God, he needed to get his mind off that damn thing. He had already spent all morning between classes reading the script over and over again until his eyes cried alphabet soup.

Setting the bottle down, he checked over himself. He was, thankfully, growing less skinny by the day, and if this kept up, he would look like an athletic, if unusually tall, wolf by the start of Summer. That is, if his growth spurt slowed down and stopped sucking away all his bulking nutrients.

He sent one more prayer, and another curse for that thrice-damned deer, who was certainly sitting smugly in his bed right now, smiling at the misery he inflicted on Legoshi.

Once again, fuck you, Louis…

A moment of peace passed, occupied with only the sounds of the breeze and the bugs flying around. Then, a disorganized clamor of haggard footsteps and the wheezing breaths of dying men came barreling down the path.

Seconds later, two dogs, a hyena, a coyote, and finally a fennec fox came crashing down, collapsing on the gravel right in front of Legoshi’s feet.

“How!... hah… hah… HOW DO YOU DO THIS… hah… EVERY DAY!?” Jack wheezed, clutching his chest.

Legoshi smiled to himself… He’ll make soldiers out of them yet.

After that little near-death experience, it was no wonder that Legoshi seemed to be able to destroy everyone at gym class. Was he training to be an athlete? How did an animal put himself through such torture every day?

Jack the golden retriever greedily sucked down his water, as he glanced over to the bench. Legoshi just sat there, casually puffing on a cigarette.

Rex, I wish he would quit those things. He knows smoking kills people, but he doesn’t listen!

“Legoshi, bro! You’re an absolute machine!” Durham exclaimed.

“Mm-hmm…” The wolf hummed into his nicotine, spaced out.

As Room 701 canines’ vitality came back with their tortured rest, so did their curiosity over Legoshi. And given that Legoshi didn’t want to be bothered at the moment, naturally, all the attention went towards the animal who knew him best: Jack.

Very quickly, the conversation turned to their childhood.

“So, Jack.” Miguno tapped on the golden retriever’s shoulder, “Since you’re childhood friends with Legoshi, you got any funny stories about him? Was he always Mr. Grumpy Tail?”

Jack looked to his best friends, who simply snorted dismissively and gave silent permission to share.

“Legoshi used to come up with all sorts of crazy characters, back when we used to roughhouse as pups,” Jack thought fondly back to those days. A little wolf and a little dog wrestling on the living room floor, much to the exasperation of his parents, “And every one of them would have these catchphrases and voices too. It was nuts.”

“Like what? Who?” Voss asked, urging Jack to continue.

Jack scratched behind his ear in thought, trying to think of one amongst the cast, “Well… uh… there was the Ultimate Warrior, which was like this invincible guy who wore face paint and beat the crap out of everyone. Like pure cocaine and steroids given animal form. Sounded like he gargled glass every morning, too.”

“Oh really? Can you do an impression?” Collot followed.

“No. No. I tried, many times.” Jack shook his head, “I can’t do the Ultimate Warrior justice. Too squeaky, y’know. Only Legoshi has that kind of timbre.”

“Legoshi!” Durham called out. The wolf’s ears twitched at his name, “Do the Ultimate Warrior!”

Legoshi looked around, “You sure?... We’re in public and there might be herbivores nearby… I could be arrested for making a disturbance.”

“C’mon!” Durham insisted, tail wagging furiously, “Do it! Do it!”

“Alright… fine…” Legoshi got up, putting out his cigarette and dropping the butt in the nearby receptacle. He took a moment, rolling his shoulders and neck, making a few small popping sounds.

Jack and the other canines watched, a giddy anticipation rising in the air.

Then, it happened.

The wolf's posture shifted from its usual stiffness to a proud, almost feral stance. He puffed out his chest, his lanky frame suddenly looking broader, as if fueled by an ancient god of testosterone. A deep, guttural breath was sucked in with a growl – a rumbling so low it seemed to come from underground. His disinterested, droopy eyes flew open, burning with a manic, almost unhinged intensity.

Back and forth, he paced, like a meat-mad predator looking to tear apart the nearest animal and consume their flesh. His feet stomped on the gravel hard enough to cause earthquakes as spittle flew between his hissing, razor-sharp teeth.

“FEAR…” A gravel-and-gasoline roar scraped the air raw. Jack snorted as Miguno, Durham, and Voss instinctively jumped back and huddled together, “FEAR IS AN ABERRATION! FEAR IS THE AIR THAT COWARDS BREATHE! FEAR IS THE FIRST TASTE OF DEFEAT!”

“Holy shit…” Durham muttered.

The Warrior sucked in a boar’s snort, “WARRIOR ONLY BREATHES THE AIR OF THE BRAVE,” He clenched his fists hard enough to turn the air inside them into black holes, and violently shot them up in the air, pushing an invisible barbell, “AND THE WARRIOR ONLY FEASTS ON THE FRUIT OF VICTORY!”

Then, in an instant, the Warrior was gone, and Legoshi slumped back to his normal self, seemingly deflating. For a solid five seconds, the only sound was the wind rustling the leaves in a nearby tree.

“See, I told you. Only Legoshi can do the Ultimate Warrior.” Jack remarked with a proud smile, waves of nostalgia washing over him.

“Where did that voice even come from!?” Miguno wondered, finally regaining his wits, “It sounded like you swallowed a rockslide!”

“It just comes naturally to me.” Legoshi shrugged as Voss and Durham gathered around him with stars in their eyes. Collot simply clapped at the performance.

“He can do more than just wrestlers, too,” Jack clapped the wolf on the back, “Legoshi, do the Dice Man.”

Legoshi snorted, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it. A suffocating, macho arrogance grew in the air around the wolf, who straightened a jacket that wasn’t there, “Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her curds and whey. Along came a spider who sat down beside her and said, ‘Hey, what's in the bowl, bitch!? – Ohhhhhh!’”

Smiles grew on all the boys’ faces; Durham and Miguno were barely able to hold themselves back from cackling like elementary schoolers at the dumb joke.

“Again,” Collot demanded, a smile practically reaching his ears.

“Jack and Jill went up the hill, each with a hundred and fifty. Jill came down with 300! Ohhhhhh!”

“Ohhhhhh!” Jack echoed.

“What a fuckin’ whore… Little boy blue.” Legoshi looked back and forth, “He needed the money!”

“Ohhhhhh!” All the boys vocalized this time, getting with the program.

At that moment, a fox woman and her child happened to be walking nearby, on a path on the opposite side of the clearing they were in. The woman was holding her child’s big ol’ ears shut, giving them a glare with the heat of a thousand suns.

And that just set them all off, far more than the crude jokes could have: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA–!”

It took a good minute for the canines to calm down. Voss was keeled over the bench, his fennec fox frame shaking as he complained that his sides were splitting open. Collot, Durham, and Miguno were all using each other for support like wounded soldiers, gasping for breath between lingering chuckles. Meanwhile, Legoshi sat placidly on the park bench, taking a victorious drag from his cigarette before throwing it away.

After a moment of peace and quiet, it was Durham who had broken the silence, “Hey guys?” He pointed at a structure down near one of the paths that had been long graffitied over.

A payphone? Jack recognized.

“You think that thing over there still works?”

“I don't know, man.” Collot responded, “Probably hasn’t been used in over a decade. Since everyone has their own phones these days and all that.”

“Why don’t we go and check it out…”

Out of nowhere, Jack felt heavy breathing right up against his ear. Legoshi’s nose was inches away from his face.

“Hey, Jack…” A familiar, strained voice greeted him, “Can the Macho Man borrow a couple quarters?…”

Jack turned, “Legoshi…” He said in warning, upon seeing the glint in Legoshi’s eyes. That wolf was up to no good, “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but…”

…But morbid curiosity bade him to grant Legoshi his laundry money anyway. Getting up, the wolf made a beeline for the payphone, the other canines following when they noticed.

“Legoshi, what’cha doing?” Voss asked, atop Collot’s shoulders.

I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?

“On the way to the top, Uh-HUH,” Legoshi rasped under his breath with a wide grin, squaring his shoulders, “Top of the world, YEAH!”

When Legoshi creaked open the rusty door of the payphone, Miguno quietly pulled out his phone, hoping to save the spectacle for posterity.

“Now who should the Macho Man call?…” Legoshi twitched like an addict as he looked around the inside of the poorly maintained booth. Eventually, his bugged-out eyes locked on a message scrawled on the glass in red marker, “‘To learn the truth about the Oppression of Carnivores’ –Yeah – ‘Call this number…’” Legoshi bared his teeth, “The Macho Man’s gonna learn the TRUTH! UH-HUH! Lemme dial these numbers in here…”

A Carnivore Supremacist!?

As the phone rang once… then twice… then thrice… Jack leaned into the booth to be able to hear whoever was on the other line better. On the fourth ring, somebody finally picked up; a scratchy voice came on the other end of the line.

“You have reached the Den of Truth… Speak, brother, and be heard.”

Oh… crickets! What are you doing Legoshi?

"Yeah..." he rasped, his voice creaking. "I'm calling... because I'm in an unjustifiable position... a position I'd rather not be in, uh-huh. And I heard... I heard this is where you learn the truth."

The voice on the other end paused for a second, “Well then, brother, you have come to right place.” Its tone dripped with false sympathy, “That position you’re in… they put you there, didn’t they? The herbivores. They fill our world with lies to keep us weak. Speak your truth. Unburden yourself. What injustice weighs so heavily on your soul?”

“Injustice…” Legoshi let out a shaky breath, “Injustice, Yeah…” He repeated, his voice gaining a slight tremor, the volume ticking up a single notch. "The Macho Man... he knows injustice. He's been pushed down, held back... It's a conspiracy of the highest order... a conspiracy of the grass-munchers! Uh-HUH! Dig it?"

“What the…” Miguno started to whisper, but Durham shushed him.

“U-uh… Yes… yes, I understand completely. They poison our minds from birth. They plant seeds of guilt and shame for our nature.” The voice hesitated for a second, taken aback, “Tell me, brother, when did it start for you? Trace it back to its root. Who made you feel unnatural.”

That was the trigger. The quiet was over. Legoshi’s posture exploded outward, slamming his back against the plexiglass of the booth. The rasp in his voice ignited into a full-throated roar that made the receiver crackle.

“UNNATURAL!?” he bellowed, causing Voss to nearly topple off Collot’s shoulders with a stifled yelp. “THEY DID MORE THAN HURT ME, YEAH! THEY OPENED MY EYES TO A WHOLE NEW DIMENSION, UH-HUH!” Then as quickie as he escalated, his voice lowered again, “It was my babysitter… a markhor goat, yeah… A nanny goat… AND SHE DIDDLED ME, YEAH! SHE DIDDLED THE MACHO MAN WHEN HE WAS JUST A LITTLE MACHO PUP! SHE SNAPPED INTO HIM LIKE A SLIM JIM!”

Oh Rex, he did not just say that…

Durham seized up on the ground, face puffy and eyes practically popping out of his head in his attempt to not laugh.

“Rex… That’s horrible… No, that was a monstrous thing to do. For a piece of herbie filth like that to defile a child’s innocence…”

“Corrupted?” Legoshi licked his chops, “No… she didn’t corrupt the Macho Man, she showed me the path, yeah. A path they don’t WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT! THOSE GRASS-MUNCHING SCUM-SUCKERS–”

“Yeah, let it out brother! Speak your truth!”

“–showed the macho man a new kind of love…”

“Yes!”

“The realest kind of love, the truest kind of love – uh-huh – the love that’s the bee’s knees, the tower of power, too sweet to be sour – the purest love, the brotherly love, the Ancient Greek kind of love – the kind of love that only a REAL MAN could understand! Yeah!” Legoshi raised his hand like a conductor leading their orchestra through the final movement.

“Of course, the love of your fellow carnivores. I understand perfectly–”

“NO!” Legoshi screamed, thundering voice rattling the plexiglass, “NOT THE LOVE OF MY FELLOW CARNIVORES, MEATHEAD! THE LOVE OF MY FELLOW MAN… And his son, yeah. The love between a man and a boy. A warrior and his squire! Building up the next generation of GREATNESS… From the ground up, uh-huh…”

“W-what? What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’ve got your predators who hunt for meat… But the Macho Man, he’s a different kind of predator – yeah – he hunts a different kind of meat. Boy meat…”

Rex-fucking dammit! Are you trying to get us killed!?

“...Are we not all predators here?”

“Wait… You perverted fuck! How dare you call this line!? You’re sick!”

Yet, Jack couldn’t deny it. This was some of the funniest shit he ever saw his friend pull. He desperately held his hands around his maw, trying to hold back a keening whine.

“I’VE NEVER BEEN HEALTHIER!” Legoshi screamed back, spittle flying from his lips and hitting the inside of the booth. “THE MACHO MADNESS IS RUNNING WILD WITH ME! See, I'm just itching to join your cause, yeah. We'll teach ‘em how to be warrior, how to love like warriors, UH-HUH! Yeah! No herbie slimes ALLOWED – ONLY THE PUREST CARNIVORE BOYS THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN!”

After pulling off an invisible pair of sunglasses, Legoshi stuck a finger in his cheek, manipulating it to mimic the wet sounds of the Macho Man’s self-pleasure.

“What the fuck is wrong with you!? Rex, I'm gonna fucking vomit…”

“The cream rises, yeah…” The squelching intensified, “The Macho Man can feel his cream rising… The Cream of his Cock! MISS ELIZABETH!”

“Fucking die! Freak!”

The line disconnected.

Legoshi held the receiver for a moment longer, then slowly, dramatically, placed it back on the hook. He turned, his face relaxing from the crazed contortions of the Macho Man back into his usual stiff expression.

The clearing erupted.

Jack finally lost his battle with composure and collapsed onto the gravel, tears streaming down his face as he howled, his body shaking so hard it looked like a seizure. Durham, already there, curled into a tight ball, weakly slapping the grass as he cried for oxygen.

“Mercy! Mercy! Oh, Rex, make it stop! My ribs!” Voss wheezed between high-pitched, choking laughs. He held onto Collot’s ears for dear life, causing a series of yelps from the sheepdog.

Shakily, Miguno tapped his phone to stop recording, before suddenly folding in half like a lawn chair, letting out a breathless wheeze.

“Legoshi… Legoshi… Please…” Jack whined, reaching his hand out toward the wolf, who had a satisfied smirk on his face, “Please…”

Legoshi crouched down to his knees and got up close to Jack’s ear, whispering, “The cream rises to the top.”

Jack cried out as another painful fit of laughter painfully seized his body. If he were biologically capable of swearing revenge, this would have been the moment he had done it.

Chapter Text

Thwack! Crack! Crack!

It all came naturally to Bill; a bamboo stick wielded in the capable hands of a tiger, who had been harshly trained in choreography for almost two years now – since joining the Drama Club. The more action-oriented roles were always his strong suit, his bread and butter, and Adler was proving to be one in the same vein.

It was almost like he was born for this, to finally have a lead role. All this time, all this hard work…

A confident smile tugged at Bill's lips as he threw a strike at his sparring partner’s midsection, only to be surprised when the wolf deflected it out of instinct.

Crack!

“Huh… You’re better at this than I expected, newbie.” Bill remarked, returning to a rest position and lifting the skull mask up to wipe the sweat off his brow, “Were you part of a kendo club before coming here?”

“I had some experience.” Legoshi spoke in a mysterious tone, his face a blank mask.

One thing that Bill had noticed with the Drama Club’s newest member was that he could be damn near impossible to read if he wanted to. Sure, like with most canids, one could get a general guess of their current emotion – especially from the tail. But for those subtle expressions and postures known to most carnivores?...

…Well, Legoshi sometimes acted absolutely nothing like a wolf. He didn’t even sound like one either, with not so much a playful yip or growl throughout the entire match.

There were many things that could be said about his fellow carnivore, but many of them boiled down to simply, “Legoshi is weird.” – Not necessarily a bad kind of weird. Just weird.

And he hadn’t failed to notice the wolf hanging out with Louis an awful lot; you know, the guy that was prickly around carnivores on the best of days. If Bill didn’t know any better, he would have thought that Louis was purposely introducing competition against him.

But the struggle will only make me shine brighter! He boasted in his head.

Thwack! Crack! Thwack!

And under pressure… He accelerated the strikes, intent on overwhelming the wolf through speed, …even coal can turn into diamonds.

Crack! Crack-crack-crack! Crack-crack!

Not that I’m coal in the first place…

Thwack! Thwack! Crack-crack!

I was always diamonds! I’m just getting more… Diamondier?

Crack-crack-crack! Thwack! Crack!

Where the hell am I going with this analogy again?...

Crack! Crack-thwack!

Nevermind that! I’m gonna win anyway!

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!

After a few more seconds of relentless assault, Legoshi raised a hand in surrender. Bill backed off.

“Good match.” Bill complimented.

“Thank you.” The wolf muttered.

“And there we have it!” Sanu joyously declared, “That, right there, is what I want to see on stage tomorrow!” A feathered hand patted Bill on the back. “Looks like we have a wrap on choreography. Everyone, make sure to go through your lines one more time before going to bed tonight. Good night, you all! Make sure you’re at the auditorium by 4 tomorrow, on the dot!” The pelican continued, making his way for the door.

A series of “Goodnight, Sanu.”-s could be heard peppering the air. Bill gave the bird that was their club president a nod and mock salute.

I’m gonna crush this shit, tomorrow! He declared to himself as absolute fact. You got this!

“So, Bill, what’cha gonna get for some grub tonight?” Tao asked, scrolling on his phone.

“Ehh, don’t feel like going out.” Bill shrugged, “I’ll just eat the usual slop at the cafeteria.” He preferred having the fancy meals after a performance, as a little treat for himself for doing a good job.

“Well, I was thinking we could hit the Tenochtitlan joint nearby and get ourselves a bean burrito…”

“Maybe tomorrow…” A burrito did sound pretty good…

“Sure. I’ll text you when…” Tao paused, “Hey, Legoshi, you good?”

Sniff… Sniff-sniff… sniff…

Bill glanced down, finding a wolf’s snout right next to his inner coat pocket… The same pocket where he usually kept his…

Bill pat down his chest, feeling something small but solid – Oh shit! – he accidentally brought the vial with him! – Stupid! Stupid! – He should have left it at home.

“Legoshi?” Bill played dumb, “What are you doing?”

“Bill, are you injured?” Legoshi asked, pulling back, “I can smell bloo–”

Bill stiffened, “Nature calls! Gotta go!” He turned on his feet and took off toward the hallway.

Behind him, he could hear Shiela shouting, “For the last time, Bill! You don’t have to announce to the world when you’re taking a sh…” Her voice faded, being drowned out by his footsteps.

In the dark bathroom, he tried to catch his breath, but only choked as his nose scrunched at the awful stench coming from one of the stalls.

Ugh… Riz must’ve dropped a bomb before I got here. Yuck!

Click. Creeeeeeeaaakk

Bill’s ears perked; the familiar scent of wolf sweat tickling at his nose, “Oh, following me to the bathroom, huh?” Unable to help, the tiger turned around, fluttering his cape like an anime character, “You got a crush on me now, or what?”

“...” The wolf stared unblinkingly at him.

“Or…” Bill reached into his coat and pulled out a vial, watching as the wolf’s eyes locked onto it with a laser focus, “...Were you looking for this? With that wolf’s nose of yours, I shouldn’t have been surprised that it would be you who would find out. It’s rabbit blood – I use it as a little pick-me-up in case of any emergencies.”

“...”

The tiger started feeling pinpricks on the back of his neck from the wolf’s stare, “Uh… It goes without saying, but it’s not a student’s blood. A senior who’s a bit of a rebel–”

“Are you going to be a threat to any of our herbivore classmates?” Legoshi cut in.

Bill was caught flat-footed, “W-what?”

The wolf narrowed his eyes, tone cold as ice, “I said, do I have to worry about you devouring any of our herbivore classmates?” Legoshi took a few steps forward, “That right there is a gateway habit to hell, and given the threats still at large on campus, I don’t know if I should be giving you the benefit of the doubt.”

“What!? No!” Bill felt a pang of warm anger rise up from within, “What the hell are you talking about, man!? It’s just a little bit of doping – nothing that’ll hurt anyone!”

“...” Legoshi kept his gaze fixed on Bill; his eyes, usually impassive, were now sharp, burning chips of flint.

There was no growl, no baring of teeth, no twitch of a predator’s muscle; nothing that Bill, deep down, truly understood, just that unnervingly calm, assessing stare. The tiger’s indignation quickly soured into a cold dread.

He was used to the bluster and territorial displays of other carnivores, even the subtle power plays. But this? This was different. This wolf wasn't acting like a fellow animal. He was acting like a stranger. Like a… He didn’t know what!

“Bill… Are you absolutely sure?”

Why doesn’t he get it!? A bead of sweat dripped down the back of Bill’s ear, Doesn’t he understand the pressure? The need to be stronger? To feel… something more? He’s a wolf, he should understand the urge!

“Of course, I’m sure!” Bill burst out, his voice echoing a little too loudly in the tiled room. He clutched the vial, feeling its warmth against his palm. “It’s not like I’m going to eat anyone, Legoshi! This is about me! About pushing myself! Unlike you, I’m not content with fading into the background. I want to be out there! And, when I’m out there, I want to be at my Rex-damned best! Nothing less!”

“Alright then…” Legoshi sighed, a sound that seemed more like air slowly leaking from a tire than something that came out of an animal, “Prove to me that you are not a threat. Flush that vial down the toilet.”

Bill scoffed, forcing a bravado he didn’t quite feel. “And if I don’t? What are you going to do, wolf? Lecture me to death?” He puffed out his chest a little, trying to appear a little larger.

The wolf pulled something from his belt, what looked to be a gun and a silencer.

“W-wait…” The tiger hiccuped a chuff as Legoshi twisted the silencer on the weapon, the metallic click eerily loud in the small room. “Did you seriously bring a prop gun with you, thinking that it would–”

Fwip!

Inches away from Bill’s feet, the tile cracked, and a hole was there where there wasn’t before.

Bill’s blood ran cold. His heart hammered against his ribs. His jaw dropped, the words dying in his throat.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck! It’s real! That’s a real gun! – He panicked – He just shot the floor. He almost shot me!

“How’s that for a lecture?” Legoshi raised the firearm dead on to Bill’s chest, eyes dead, “Nix the fucking blood before I start poking some holes into you.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you!?” Bill screamed, immediately, “Are you fucking nuts!?”

“Are you?” Legoshi used the silencer to point at the toilet before retraining it at the tiger’s head, “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“Okay! Okay! I’ll do it! I’ll do it! FUCK!”

His mind raced, blood rushing a hurricane in his twitching ears. He instinctively looked into the wolf’s eyes looking for even the slightest inkling of hesitation or weakness. But he found nothing but a blank stare; no emotion, just cold calculation.

Over a fucking vial of blood, he’s gonna kill me!? Fuck! FUUUUCK! I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die!

With trembling fingers, Bill fumbled with the vial, tearing it open and spilling the dark liquid into the toilet bowl. He watched it swirl down, watching it dissolve into nothingness. Any urges he might have had were gone; the fear made him sick to his stomach.

The only sounds that filled the bathroom now were the quiet whistle of the toilet tank refilling, and a soft breeze blowing through the open window.

“I’m glad we can come to an understanding, Bill.” The tiger turned around, finding the wolf twisting off the silencer and holstering the weapon. He didn’t dare move from his spot against the cold tiles, “Please kindly stay away from Louis until you have your addiction sorted out. See you tomorrow.”

And with that, Legoshi turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Bill alone in the echoing silence, shaking from head to tail.

Bill waited until he couldn’t hear footsteps anymore before daring to get up.

“F-F-Fucking psycho!” He jibbered, “FUCK!”

He didn’t get a wink of sleep that night. And on the day of the performance, the bastard had the audacity to act like nothing had happened!

In a vain effort to reduce the constant nagging aching in his injured leg, Louis leaned more of his weight onto the crutch as he watched the performance from behind the curtains. Even without being directly under their gaze, the heat from the glare of the stage lights still caused sweat to seep from his brow.

With a critical eye, munching on some salt-and-vinegar seaweed chips he got from the vending machine, he watched as blunt prop swords clashed on stage, ringing after every strike.

Legoshi’s movements as the evil spirit were smooth and precise, oozing with a natural talent mixed with what was probably real combat experience. If the wolf was experiencing any sort of stage fright, it certainly wasn’t showing on his face or tail.

Bill, as usual, was competent enough, even with the last minute role-switch to Adler. However, there seemed to be a tired stiffness in his performance that was uncharacteristic with the braggadocious feline.

With a jerky, desperate, movement, Adler threw the supernatural villain onto his back, victoriously pointing his sword at the wolf’s neck, “O vengeful spirit, look at what you have wrought upon yourself. Your fear and anger had only brought you back to me…” Adler leaned forward, skull mask inches away from the canine’s muzzle, “Accept your fate. For only death shall soothe the wickedness of your soul.”

“Tell me, Adler… You may be able to send me back to the fires of Hell,” A smile grew on the wolf’s face, jarring against the unsettling glassy gaze, “But will this bring her back?”

“No…” Adler let out a light growl, “I know better than anyone that death is inevitable. That is the fate of all mortals.”

“Yet, her fate torments you so.” Legoshi let out a haunted chuckle, “That pathetic harlot broke you…”

“Enough talk, spirit. You shall not spread your pestilence upon the living any longer.” Adler raised his sword, “Begone.”

And right as the blade was to come down, the stage light shut off and the curtain started closing. The auditorium erupting into the familiar cacophony of cheers, whistles, and applause which Louis had gotten used to in his time at the Drama Club.

Even with the… setbacks, it was, once again, another successful performance for the club. Which, in Louis’s eyes, was the bare minimum.

Click.

With a flick of a switch, Kai turned on the lights for the backstage, illuminating the area for those not blessed with night vision. Louis found himself settling his eyes upon his canine bodyguard, who was busy stripping off the top part of his costume… which gave him full view of the lean muscles covered in a layer of soft looking fur, criss-crossed with scars all–

Louis shook his head, purging himself of those odd, intrusive thoughts. It was unprofessional to think of such things about a subordinate. Especially one that wasn’t his species, and was a carnivore.

As a young man on the cusp of adulthood, Louis was well aware of his own… proclivities, but that didn’t mean that he shouldn’t maintain some standards.

Looking back, the wolf already had his white shirt back on – That was fast. – and it was clear, based on how it fit over his fur, that he had recently gotten some mass over that lanky frame of his.

Good. It wouldn’t do to have a twig being the only thing between him and certain death. Strong fuzzy arms holding him close, pressing his face against–

Rex, what is up with me today?

Was it the pain medication doing this to him? Idly, Louis’ hand gently brushed over the bandages on his leg.

Before he even realized it, Legoshi was right in front of him, giving him a puppy-ish expression, as if he was about to ask something. But, right as Legoshi was about to open his mouth, a tiger had appeared out of nowhere, wrapping his arm around him.

“Legoshi!” Bill cheered, claws wrapped around Legoshi’s shoulder, “What happened to Mr. ‘production crew’?” The tiger lowered his voice, briefly doing an impression of Legoshi in his pricklier moods, “Look at you! You killed it out there!”

Louis was offput by how sharp the tiger’s smile was – he couldn’t see much of the usual light of victory in those predatory eyes. How unusual…

“Bill.” Louis acknowledged.

Why are you animalhandling my bodyguard?

“Louis!” Bill chuffed, “Glad to see the leg is healing well.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘well’, but it is healing.” Louis replied bitterly.

“Well, knowing how much of a stubborn buck you can be, you’ll be back to your old self in no time.” Bill assured, before turning toward Legoshi, “Wait, I just remembered! Legoshi, didn’t we plan to stop by that Tenochtitlan place for dinner?”

Louis caught a brief wag of confusion from Legoshi, face going oddly blank. The wolf’s eyes narrowed, “Right…”

What is this?...

“I’m famished!” Bill declared, “Why don’t we head out a little early? Just you and me?”

They’re going to fight, aren’t they? Louis groaned internally.

“Sounds… good.” Legoshi reluctantly agreed, going along with whatever the tiger was thinking, “See you around, Louis.”

Fucking carnivore dominance nonsense…

“See ya!” Bill cheered, pulling the wolf closer to himself as he made his way for the door.

Watching them go, Louis felt an odd pang well up inside his chest while watching them. Toward Legoshi, there was a sense of comfort, yet towards Bill, it was… jealousy?

Hold on. What?

Under the shadows of tall branches, claws coaxed him off the trail and toward the roots and dirt. Legoshi had been long expecting this, since he’d injured this tiger’s ego over a little thing of rabbit’s blood.

He was right to be concerned over the habits of Louis’s clubmates, but it only occurred to him now that the context switch away from dealing with hardened corporate security, or dangerous meat-addicts to a simple babysitting job still hadn’t quite set in yet. He admitted it freely, he’d jumped the fucking gun. And now, there was 115 kg of pissed off big cat standing right behind him, ready to pounce.

Legoshi turned around, taking a good look at Bill’s flushed face. Broken pride, demanding to be reclaimed, and the need to prove himself shined behind those onyx eyes. Teeth were bared, glinting in the light of the path lamp, his maw dripping with fierce spittle.

“...”

“...”

No words needed to be said. Both of them knew what was going to happen. It was exactly the reason why Legoshi refused to bring his gun here.

“Haah!” With a jolt of speed, Bill leaped forward, making a wide, telegraphed slash with his claws, which the wolf easily dodged.

Bill spun, roaring in frustration, and charged again. This time, he tried to use his sheer mass to tackle Legoshi to the ground, but Legoshi didn’t brace or try to meet the force head-on; he simply pivoted on the ball of his foot, letting the tiger’s momentum carry him past.

As Bill stumbled to regain his balance, Legoshi’s leg snapped out in a low, controlled kick, striking the back of the tiger’s thigh. The muscle seized. Bill grunted in pain, his charge turning into a clumsy stagger.

The tiger’s stage combat training was showing. His movements were broad, powerful, and designed to look impressive. But they weren’t designed to maim or kill.

Legoshi saw through Bill’s movements, and where his tiger’s instinct led him, and reacted accordingly. Bill swung again, a haymaker of a punch that could have caved in a skull. Legoshi ducked under the arc of the arm, stepping inside Bill’s guard, into the one place the tiger’s long tree-trunk limbs were a disadvantage.

Thump! Thump!

Two sharp piston-like jabs into Bill’s abdomen, just under the ribs. Hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to burst a kidney. Bill choked, the air forced from his lungs in a pained gasp. His rage, however, did not wilt. He shoved Legoshi back and came in again, this time with a flurry of wild, uncoordinated swipes.

Legoshi kept his guard up, letting the blows glance off his forearms, hissing at the scratches. There was a raw, undisciplined power behind the strikes; it was like trying to block a sack of bricks. But there was no technique, no follow-through. It was all wasted energy.

The wolf tried to swipe the tiger’s feet from under him. Bill leaped back, landing onto the gravel path on all fours, panting heavily.

He’s tiring himself out. Legoshi’s mind assessed tactically.

All he had to do was weather the storm, and wait for the inevitable opening.

“GRRAAA–”

That opening came when the tiger overextended on a right-hook claw at Legoshi’s jugular. The tiger’s entire side was exposed for a fraction of a second. Legoshi’s left hand shot out, not as a punch, but as a stiff, open-palmed strike to the solar plexus. At the same time, his right fist, knuckles hardened from years of abuse, drove deep into the soft tissue over Bill’s liver.

“ –ACK!” Bill’s roar died in his throat, replaced by a wet, strangled cough, going green in the face. The tiger’s body started to wobble on his feet.

Legoshi gave him no time to recover. A sweeping kick caught Bill behind the knees, buckling his legs. As the tiger fell forward, Legoshi sidestepped, letting him crash to his hands and knees in the dirt.

As Legoshi stepped back, Bill pushed himself up, leaning heavily against the rough bark of a pine tree, his chest heaving with ragged, desperate breaths. Legoshi watched him try to glare defiantly, the tiger’s eyes were unfocused… and slowly, but surely showing a subtle glint of fear.

Legoshi’s hand moved instinctively to his hip, a motion ingrained from years of checking his sidearm. Bill flinched violently, his eyes widening in genuine terror. “What… what are you…” he stammered, trying to push himself further into the tree.

The wolf’s hand paused, hesitating to grab something that wasn’t there. The situation before him grew in his mind with humiliating clarity; and he almost lost himself in the fight. This wasn’t a target or a threat to be neutralized, it was just a dumb, prideful teenager who indulged a little too much on some contraband.

And here he was, a dumb, prideful teenager too, ready to kill him over nothing.

He had been so focused on anticipating threats after the attack on Louis that he’d seen one where there was only a misguided soul.

His hand closed not on the grip of a phantom pistol, but on the cool metal of his canteen. He unclipped it and held it out. The tiger stared at it, then at Legoshi’s face, his expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief. After a moment’s hesitation, Bill reluctantly took it, his hand shaking as he unscrewed the cap and took a long, desperate drink.

Legoshi walked over to a nearby fallen log and sat down, the tension finally bleeding out of his shoulders. A heavy silence passed between them, broken only by the sound of Bill’s ragged breathing and the chirping of crickets. The adrenaline was leaving their systems, leaving behind only a sore, awkward quiet.

Eventually, Legoshi found the courage somewhere to look the tiger in the eye again. “Why?” seemed to be the only thing Bill’s face was asking.

“I’m…” Legoshi licked the sweat off his chops, putting his hands together, “I’m not a normal student here, if you haven’t already guessed…”

Bill just stared, his brow furrowed. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "No shit," he rasped, his voice hoarse, “Who the fuck carries a gun into school like that?”

The image of a haughty face with antlers came to mind for the wolf. But that was just good sense for a herbivore, as much as it pained him to give such a complement to his client.

The tiger took another sip from the canteen, “What are you, a narc? Is this some sort of 31 Jump Street kinda thing?”

Law enforcement? Me? Legoshi almost let out a dry laugh. If only it were that simple. Alas, his line of work didn’t have any fancy government benefits, “No, I was hired by a third party to protect a student here on campus. I’m a private contractor.”

“Louis…” Bill quickly connected the dots, “Fuck, how did I not see that…”

“I’m not at liberty to say–”

“I know it’s Louis. Don’t bullshit me here.” The tiger huffed.

“...” Legoshi kept his lips sealed, but his eyes told the tiger not to tell anyone. Bill nodded, making a zipping motion around his mouth.

Then, the tiger paused. Legoshi watched the gears turn in Bill's head. The confusion and fascination slowly melted away, replaced by a dawning, horrified comprehension. The pieces were clicking into place.

"Wait a minute," Bill said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "That feral carnivore... the one that attacked Louis... That was you? You killed him?"

Legoshi’s gaze went distant, a brief, bloody image of a life ending flashing behind his eyes. “Yes.” The single word landed with the finality of a 9mm.

The irony was thick enough for an elephant to choke on. Bill, who had just acted on carnivore instinct, was just posturing. Legoshi was the only one here in these woods with actual blood on his hands.

“Fuck, man…”

In Bill’s expression, there was a curious mix of almost-understanding and horror, laced with a faint trace of pity… The pity ground on Legoshi’s nerves. He didn’t need any pity; pity didn’t pay any goddamn bills. But the heat soon dissipated, leaving only the sour taste of guilt behind on his tongue.

Legoshi took a deep, shuddering breath, the words feeling foreign and difficult in his mouth. “Bill… I’m sorry for thinking the worst of you. For… this.” He gestured vaguely at the tiger’s bruised form.

Pomf!

He expected a grunt, or maybe for the tiger to just walk away. He did not expect to be suddenly engulfed in a crushing, one-armed hug. Bill pulled him in, his other hand still clutching the near-empty canteen, a wide, relieved grin beaming down at him.

Huh!?

Legoshi froze, his entire body going rigid. He… Well, fuck, when was the last time he had been touched without being in a combat situation. The wolf sucked in a deep breath, and had to actively force his nerves to calm down at the sudden contact. He was used to grapples that ended with a broken bone, not… whatever this was. It was warm, constricting, and utterly baffling.

Bill let go, patting him hard on the shoulder. “Hey, man, it’s cool. Seriously. I was being a total asshole back there, all hopped up and stupid.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking almost embarrassed. “You were just… doing your job, I guess. A really fucking scary job.”

Tell me about it.

The sudden, uncomplicated forgiveness was more disarming than any punch Bill had thrown. In Legoshi’s experience, beating a man to a pulp didn’t usually lead to people hugging and singing kumbaya; it usually led to someone being put in a pine box.

"Anyway..." Bill's tone shifted, startlingly casual, as if they were already close friends. Legoshi found it hard to comprehend his fellow animals sometimes, “I heard that you're, like, some sort of musician, and that you play guitar.”

“How the hell did you know I play guitar?” The words escaped Legoshi’s lips before his mind could hold them back.

“Oh! Some rabbit girl in my Anglish class wouldn’t shut up about the wolf transfer student being a secret rockstar.” Bill handed back the empty canteen, “And, your scent by the fountain is not exactly hard to miss.”

Legoshi just stared at the bruised, beaming tiger, before slinking in defeat. Somebody was going to find out eventually.

“Mind if I hang out while you jam?” The tiger asked, “I wanna hear it for myself.”

Too tired to argue or question anything, a small, weary smile grew on Legoshi’s lips.

Sure. What the hell? Why not?

He pulled out his phone, the screen nearly blinding him before he quickly swiped down the brightness. He unlocked it and scrolled down to the right contact, tapping to call. The phone only needed to ring once.

“Yello!~” Boundless cheer came through on the other end of the line.

“Hey, uh, Jack. You okay bringing my guitar down to the fountain?”

Around the final bend, Legoshi’s ears perked at the gentle splashing of the fountain. Under the sound of the flowing water, the murmurs of multiple animals could be heard. A small crowd had gathered in the plaza, under the now-twilight sky.

“Uh…” The wolf turned, finding Bill scratching the back of his neck, “I… might have accidentally invited the entire drama club.”

“Accidentally?” Legoshi was skeptical.

“It was supposed to be just Tao and Aoba, but I fat-fingered it and sent it to the group text instead.” The tiger sheepishly explained.

“There’s a group text?”

“Wait, you’re not in the group text?... Shit, did Sanu forget again?” The tiger chuffed, shaking his head in exasperation, “Whatever, I’ll add you to it later.”

Eh, fuck it. Might as well make a show.

When the two reached the plaza, Legoshi caught sight of a golden snout sticking above the gathered crowd, sniffing the air. All of a sudden, a canine blur appeared in front, tail spinning a tornado behind him.

“Legoshi! What took you so long!?” Jack greeted, guitar in hand.

“Bill and I decided to take the scenic route.” Legoshi accepted the instrument from the dog.

“Legoshi…” Jack fussed, causing the wolf to roll his eyes, “What did I tell you about falling off the face of the Earth?”

“You’re not my dad, Jack.”

For one, you don’t look like a gay porn star. Morbid curiosity had overtook Legoshi one night while surfing the web, and now, there was another entry in the long list of things he’d like to forget.

Sitting down on the lip of the fountain, and keeping his tail high to avoid splashing it in the water, Legoshi looked around at those gathered as he tuned his guitar. Most of them were the familiar faces he saw in the Drama Club or in the large carnivore dorms, but there were a couple others whom he didn’t recognize.

A white rabbit who was busy hiding out on the edge of the crowd, for instance, staring at him with wide eyes, while also slowly inching her way towards Jack. Was that the girl that Bill was talking about earlier?

Turning his gaze away before he scared off the small herbivore, Legoshi cleared his throat and started plucking out a tune he remembered from his childhood… His other childhood. The gathered crowd swiftly grew silent.

“Like the pine trees lining the winding road; I've got a name, I've got a name…~” Relaxing slightly, he leaned forward a bit, “Like the singin' bird and the croakin' toad; I've got a name, I've got a name.~”

A small cheer came from near the back of the crowd. Legoshi’s ears twitched at the noise.

“And I carry it with me like my daddy did. But I'm livin' the dream… that he kept hid…~”

Out of the corner of his eye, Legoshi caught sight of Bill holding his phone, recording the entire thing. He gave a slight nod, giving the tiger his blessing to continue filming. Time passed by in an instant, like sand slipping between his fingers.

“Movin' me down the highway, rollin' me down the highway~,” He repeated the chorus one last time, “Movin' ahead so life won't pass me by…~”

The final chord hung heavily in the evening air, vibrating for a moment before it was swallowed by the sound of running water. For a full five seconds, there was only the distant chirp of crickets and the screeches of cicadas…

“Holy shit…” A voice deep in the crowd muttered.

That broke the dam – cheers, whistles, and a cacophony of enthusiastic applause echoed across the plaza. Loud enough, that Legoshi was forced to cover his ears.

“That was some damn good singing!” A black panther cheered.

“Wow, Legoshi is really talented,” Another club member commented, “Not only an actor but a singer too?...”

“Why does he hate being in the spotlight so much?”

“Hell if I know, but Rex, I am jealous…”

“Bro!” Bill damn near gave Legoshi a heart attack when he put him in a crushing hug. The wolf carefully moved his guitar out of the way, lest it get crushed into mulch, “You have got to play at the Meteor Festival!”

“Uh… Well…” Legoshi hesitated, looking back and forth.

But, their expectant eyes broke what little to refuse will he had…

Maybe another small performance wouldn’t be a bad idea.