Chapter 2

Getting past the exterior to Cherryton High School wasn't difficult. The fences were high, but Batsu had been trained to get over much bigger walls back in his city. Once within the campus, he had to be careful to keep himself hidden as best he could. There were only a very very select few land animals who knew about the existence of humans and definitely none here within this school. Even with the challenge of dodging crowds, the best thing he had going for him now was that during the day, students and teachers were free to move around the campus, thus leaving him with open doors everywhere. Good for him, bad for security reviews.

He managed to get within the main building and move through the halls quickly, keeping his face deep under his large hood and the pale, fur-less skin of his hands down in his pockets. 'I need to remember to get gloves at some point,' he thought. Ignoring the hushed whispers and side glances of students around him, he made his way towards the floor where the murder of the alpaca student had taken place. Walking up the last flight of stairs, he came upon a practically silent hallway, caution tape spread across a set of doors to a lecture hall.

Walking over to the doors, he noticed a random array of gifts and flowers left at the entrance. One bouquet was actually from Kaiso's flower shop "The Sea Flower". He recognized the handmade paper and ribbon easily. The note attached to them was simple, a short message reading "Rest in Peace, Tem, Drama Club".

Batsu's jaw tensed as he dropped his head remorsefully. Though death was an everyday occurrence in his line of work, he understood the tradition for memorials and realized that disturbing them was seen as sign of great disrespect for the deceased. Unfortunately, orders were orders, yet that didn't mean he had to ruin it.

Taking care not to disturb anything within the memorial, he used his long legs to step over and grab the handle to the doors. Before he managed to get the door open, a clawed hand grabbed his elbow.

Batsu's reflexes kicked in instantly. He threw his free elbow back into their chest, spun around, slammed his forearm against their neck, and shoved them off the ground towards the closest wall. His pale blue eyes glared back from beneath his hood at ones wide in shock. The adrenaline quickly faded when he realized the animal he had pinned against a wall was just another student, his training filtering through the animal's features in seconds.

The student was a male grey wolf, around his height and slightly slimmer in build, with angled, almost reptilian eyes that had an air of unease and awkwardness behind them, and an overall threatening look that seemed to be forcibly hindered for reasons he couldn't quite place yet. Though no words had been exchanged, it was easy for Batsu to realize there was no threat.

He dropped the wolf quickly, stuffed his hands back in his pockets before they were seen, and lowered his head, "S…sorry…instinct."

"Instinct? Your instinct is a little excessive don't you think?" he didn't sound angry or annoyed as he rubbed his neck, more surprised and maybe even slightly solemn.

Batsu sighed with an almost growl. "I said I was sorry. You could've at least said something before grabbing me like that."

"Yeah, I actually did but guess you didn't hear me," he mumbled and scratched behind his ears before they perked strait up, "Oh! Sorry, I don't think I've seen you here before. I'm Legoshi, second year," he tried to look under his hood, but was halted as Batsu turned away from him, "You a new student?"

'What's with this guy?' Batsu thought, 'I practically assault him and he's trading pleasantries!'

Trying to come off as innocent as he could, Batsu sunk his head down in his shoulders, "N…no…well…it's kinda hard to explain…"

The wolf merely leaned up against the wall he had just been pinned against, eyeing him with a suspicious yet curious tilt of his head, "It's not like I have a much to do right now."

This canine wasn't making his life any easier. He was never going to find a lead on this murder case with him in the way. In his normal missions a gun could solve his problems easy…unfortunately, taking out an innocent student with a pistol shot to the head in the middle of a school hallway would be highly frowned upon.

He sighed internally, 'Sarcastic asshole it is.' "Look, as much as I would love to tell you my whole life story, I actually do have something I need to do. See ya!" before the wolf could even get in a word, Batsu took off down the hall and down the stairs.

Legoshi watched as the stranger left in a hurry, blinking at the speed he took off at. 'Must be a deer or something,' he thought, 'Then again, he was too big to be a deer, and he didn't have antlers.' He put his clawed hand back up to his neck, 'He sure was strong to. Definitely built like a carnivore. And what was with him hiding his face like that?' He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. That guy's scent was an odd one, not a scent he'd ever smelled before, and for a wolf that's saying something.

Flags suddenly went up within his mind. 'Could he have been the murderer back to the scene of the crime?' he thought with a scowl. He had read stories of killers returning to the place of a murder. It was like a kind of verification or something demented like that.

He made sure to file the stranger's scent in his smell library for later, then walked back towards the memorial outside the lecture hall and sat a fresh bouquet of flowers down among the many gifts left. Standing, he glared back behind him, "Whoever you are, I'm gonna find out."

Batsu looked out at the many groups of students wandering around while sitting on one of the benches strewn across the academy. So far, it had been a trial just figuring out what happened to the victim. Police reports were vague, even for the enforcers' hackers looking into the deepest files. In either case, it was definitely clear that the victim, alpaca drama student, Tem, had been viciously attacked and devoured by someone within that lecture hall. He sighed and leaned back against the bench. He'd have to try to get in there some other time to see if he could find anything substantial. The most immediate problem was the wolf.

He had been careless and lost his cool when the wolf had grabbed him, and the look the large canine gave just before he ran off really screwed things up. It had been a glare, and not just an angry glare, a suspicious glare. That wolf would be watching out for him from now on which would complicate things greatly.

While in the middle of internally cursing himself for his social ineptitude, his phone started vibrating and ringing in his pocket.

He recognized the ringtone instantly, "Hello, Kaiso-sama."

"Have you found any leads?"

"Not really, almost got in to see the murder site, but a student caught me trying to get in. It's all in the follow-up report I just sent," he heard his superior sigh, unimpressed, and he scrunched his nose, "You know, you would probably have a much better chance of getting in there than I would."

The sea lion on the other end laughed curtly. "And what would be the reason of having an elite enforcer then?"

He growled through his teeth into his phone, "I wasn't designed or trained for missions like this. You forget what I look like," it was starting to get a little hard to keep his voice quiet, even with who he was speaking to, "Besides, since I was spotted, it'll be hell to try and get back in there without being stopped and…"

"Speaking of which, I was informed to contact the headmaster,"

"What?"

"It took some time and a good bit of storytelling, but I have arranged a meeting with him this afternoon after classes have ended," her voice was unwelcomingly calm.

"Why?" He felt a cold drop of sweat trail down the back of his neck. 'What the hell is she up to?!'

"I'll meet you at the headmaster's office at 7pm," with that, the line went dead.

Looking back at the school, Batsu grumbled even lower in his chest. It honestly could've passed as a full on carnivore growl with how deep it was. Whatever that sea lion and his superiors were planning sure wasn't good. Kaiso may come off to her customers as a sweet, chubby, old sea lion, but Batsu knew better. There was a reason she was the leader of Location 737, and it wasn't for the way she arranged her bouquets.

"Ah, Ms. Kaiso-sama and Mr. Batsu-kun I presume?" the headmaster of Cherryton High motioned to the chairs in front of his desk, "Please, have a seat."

They sat down in a relatively comfy looking office, the large windows to their left illuminating the room with the soft light from the lowering sun. The tiger's tail swished idly and his ears perked as he sat down behind his desk.

"I've heard a great deal about you from Ms. Kaiso-sama," he opened a file, "Batsu...Masayoshi correct?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Strong name,"

"Th…thank you, sir,"

"I must say, having someone of your…background here is going to be quite an honor!" the headmaster paused, "Though, it would help all of us get to know you better if you lowered your hood, son."

Batsu jumped in his seat and glared over at the sea lion next to him. She could read his body language to a tee. 'WHAT…THE ACTUAL…HELL?!'

She just smiled her florist smile, "Go on, Batsu-kun, don't be embarrassed."

There were a few, or maybe a lot, more glances between Kaiso and the headmaster before Batsu finally yielded. It went against all the training he had, but Kaiso and his superiors knew what they were doing…right?

He noted the slight tenseness and twitch of an ear from the headmaster as he took his fur-less hands out of his pockets and slowly reached them up to lower his hood from his human face.

The headmaster's reaction was expected, even though he tried to hide it behind a guise of professionalism.

It was like the tiger was staring at mythical creature, in hindsight it wasn't too far off. With his pale, fur-less skin, round ears on each side of his head, oddly shaped nose, and eyes as pale a blue as the hair upon his head, he was unquestionably the strangest creature the headmaster had ever seen in his life. He might have been seen as relatively good looking back home, but here, under the gaze of an animal who had no idea what a human was, he felt like the ugliest thing on the planet. That is, until the headmaster spoke.

"Astounding!" his one word was filled with both awe and breathless fascination.

Kaiso broke the tension with her soft flipper on his shoulder, "As you know Headmaster Gon-sama, Batsu-kun is a very rare species. One of the last in fact," her closed-eyed smile made him want to punch her across the room, "I hear that Cherryton High has a number of rare students. Though, none quite as rare as my foster-son I would imagine hehehe." What was the punishment for striking a superior again? Year in a hot box? He could handle it…

Headmaster Gon blinked himself out of staring and cleared his throat, "Ahem, y…yes, we are privileged to have rare students attending our prestigious school. And I am sure Mr. Batsu-kun will fit in well here…"

Something started to click in Batsu's brain as the headmaster kept going on about how their school this and their students that. Attending…students…wait…his eyes jumped back Kaiso's knowing grin. She wasn't trying to get permission for him to search the school. She was enrolling him in it!

"I must apologize," Headmaster Gon broke him out of his internal breakdown, "It isn't evident to me by just looking at you, so, um…what do you classify yourself as? It would be best to know if you are a carnivore or herbivore so as to better know where to place you in the dorms."

'What do I classify as?' he looked down at his lap, 'Think, Batsu, think! Kaiso's just gonna stare at you until you answer. Wait! What would best help with my mission?'

"Carnivore, sir," he answered calmly.

The headmaster seemed slightly perplexed, but he nodded and wrote the information down on what Batsu assumed was his transcript. He presumed the headmaster's confusion lied within his lack of claws and fangs, but he technically did eat meat, well mostly fish, (as well as everything else) and his placement with carnivores would put him closer to his target, so regardless of what he looked like, this was his best option.

"Any hobbies or interests? Where you ever in any student organisations at your old school?"

This one was easy, "I was in Drama Club, sir. I never did much acting, but I enjoyed it." The approving smile he earned from Kaiso informed him that he was doing well.

The headmaster gave a big laugh, "HA! With your looks I'm surprised you didn't act! You should definitely try it out," he gave him a suggestive looking glance over his spectacles and winked, "The females always love the new males."

A blush rushed to his face instantly, the color hard to hide without fur to cover it up, "Hahaha, n…no…I…I couldn't! I can't remember lines to save my life! And…and…I even forget my name half the time, hehehe…" if he could sink lower in his chair he would have. He'd take a mob of crazed hyenas with a pencil as his only weapon over this. If looks could kill, the side glare he was giving that old sea lion would have turned her into minced meat!

There was a rise in seriousness from the headmaster as he leaned back in his high-backed chair, "Now, as you know, we recently had a tragedy here at this school with one of our Drama Club students. Tensions between herbivores and carnivores are high right now. Luckily, I personally feel having someone of your...rarity here may potentially calm things down, especially with you being part of the Drama Club. Now, I don't mean to put too much pressure on you, Batsu-kun, but you will most assuredly be a talking point within our student body." 'Great, just shoot me now,' "I hope that in your time here you show the upmost courtesy and respect to staff and students, and that you represent your species in a good light," the tiger pressed his fingertips together with authority, "Do you understand?"

Batsu sat up in his chair and bowed his head, "Yes, Headmaster Gon-sama." 'Shit…'

His new headmaster smiled a wide, canine-filled smile, "Good! Anymore questions?"

Kaiso replied without hesitation, "When is the earliest he can move in?"

'Fuck my life…'

Chapter 2 done! Hope you enjoy it :D