Kris was placed on a bed, IV's through his veins as the panda examined him. Legosi watches in nervousness.
'Please be okay…' The gray wolf thought to himself. A while had passed and the panda then turned his attention to Legosi.
"Your friend will be alright. I managed to extract any remaining meat in his system and inducted some medicine. He should be back on feet sometime soon." Gouhin assured Legosi.
"Thank you, sir." Legosi gratefully said.
Gouhin grabbed the papers for Kris's blood test results that he had printed and read through them. "It's interesting though. He's got quite the appearance of a carnivore, yet he can't handle meat. I also did a blood test on him. Apparently, 70% of his genes are derived from his herbivore parent, while the other thirty percent is from his carnivore parent. That explains his inability to ingest meat; any hybrid who is less than half predator can't digest that." Gouhin mused to himself.
'70% herbivore and 30% carnivore…' Legosi thought.
"Has he told you about this?" Gouhin then asked.
"Well, he has told me about him being an herbivore and not a carnivore. I didn't know whether to believe him or not but I do now." Legosi answered.
"You do huh? Hmph." The panda then brings Legosi to an area with a camera as he sat on the chair, "Alright, I'm gonna ask you some questions, kid. Firstly, what's your name?" He asked as he snapped a photo of Legosi.
"L-Legosi." The wolf quickly replied.
"Legosi, when was the first time you ate an herbivore?" Another snapshot after he asked.
"I've...never eaten one. I was going to but Kris...he stopped me."
"He stopped you huh? Does he know it was you?" Legosi thought about that question. He, himself wasn't sure if Kris knew.
"No…he doesn't. But I do plan to tell him the truth one day."
"So who was the herbivore you almost ate?" Legosi started to feel uncomfortable.
"It was a rabbit girl."
"A rabbit? And a girl? Heh, that's kinda interesting. Did you ever develop feelings for this rabbit? In addition to that, how do you feel now that you know for certain that Kris is more prey than a predator? From how desperate you were when you tried to get him help, it seems like you have some interest in him too. Is that true? Or is that a ploy for you to eat him and the rabbit when the time is right? Do you now imagine how they'd taste?" Legosi was taken aback by these questions.
"...no."
"Heh, you say that now, but if you take away your skin, you're no different from any other carnivore. They're slaves to their feral instincts. That's why the Black Market exists. Follow me."
Legosi was taken to a room filled with a bunch of pictures of other carnivores. His eyes widened from such a sight.
"These are the carnivores who succumbed to their feral instincts. We've got someone who ate his arm off 'cause he couldn't get the taste of herbivore out of his mouth, someone who lost his fur from stress, and someone who inflicted injuries on himself due to self-hatred." Legosi began to sweat a bit, looking at all the pictures in the room.
"Chances of rehabilitation after that point are slim to none." The panda continued, "Also, there are sometimes cases when a carnivore loved an herbivore so much that he ended up eating her alive. So what do you think? You're still young, but the world is filled with problems that you can't afford to ignore. Especially since you're slowly becoming one of them." The panda put Legosi's pictures up on the wall.
"...Who are you?" Legosi had to ask.
"You wouldn't believe me. I stick photos of my patients on these walls, to remind myself that I need to continue my work so that I won't have to put up any more of these photos. I am the psycho-therapist of the Black Market. Simply put, I'm a respectable doctor. Whether I'm an enemy or an ally, is entirely up to you." Legosi's eyes widened again after hearing that, "We should go check on your friend."
Kris's eyes slowly opened as he slowly got up to realize he was laying on someone's lap.
"You're awake." He heard a familiar female voice and looked to see familiar rusty red fur with amber eyes. With that was a warm smile that brought tears to Kris's eyes.
"M-mother…" He said with some shake in his voice as his mother nods. Kris brings her in a passionate hug as he cries.
"It's okay Kris." His mother pets him.
"I miss you so much...everyday I continued to think about that dreaded day...when he...my dad…" Kris choked on his words, "Everything has just been...going downhill every time. My dad abused me...and now I get it from people at school. They all think I'm a carnivore when I'm not. They won't believe I'm an herbivore no matter how much I tell them. And then...the Black Market…" That memory repeated in Kris's head as his eyes continued to be like rain clouds on his mother's shoulder. Kris's mom then has him face her as she wipes his tears.
"I just wish we could've been a family. You and me." Kris's mom then rubs, with her two fingers, on Kris's head. Kris remembered this gesture. His mother called it her "Love Sign" where she takes her two fingers and rubs Kris's head with them.
"It'll all be okay Kris. I know how painful it must be for you to have to go through all this, but you are strong. You can get through this." Kris pulls her into another hug.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine Kris," Kris remembered that as her last words as suddenly she gets pulled from Kris as a red-eyed silhouette drags her away.
"Mother!" Claw after claw, bite after bite, Kris saw all he remembered as his mother just smiled in her final moments. Kris grabbed his head and screamed out, jolting fully awake.
He looked around the room he was in and heard footsteps running. He sat up and saw Legosi running in.
"Kris!"
"Legosi?"
The panda soon came in as well.
"Looks like someone must've had a nightmare."
"Are you okay?" Legosi asked, putting a hand on Kris's shoulder.
"Y-yea…who is he?" Kris asked.
"The name's Gouhin. I gave you some medical care after your friend told me what had happened." Kris looked to Legosi who gave a small smile to him. Kris smiled back putting his hand on top of Legosi's, "While you may seem better, I suggest you stay here. I'll check up on you sometime later. You're free to do a bit of walking around if you wish."
"Alright."
Gouhin made some bamboo tea and sat with Legosi.
"Would you like a smoke?" Legosi refused, looking a bit gloomy.
"What's with that "I'm so miserable" look? Your friend's okay. Is that not good? Such a pain. Look, all I did was give you a reality check. I didn't show you that picture of a one-armed puma just to traumatize you. I'm doing this to help you not turn into one of them. Should be grateful. If I let you sink into that swamp, even with your friend, that wouldn't make me a good doctor would it?" Gouhin explained.
"...You told me it was up to me to decide whether you're my enemy or ally right?" Legosi asked. Gouhin nodded and gestured for the wolf to continue. "How do you see yourself as a psycho-therapist? As "a panda with a strong body", or "a panda who will never eat meat"? Gouhin chuckled at that question.
"That's a pretty intelligent question. We indeed eat nothing but bamboo...but that question is meaningless to me, for I've already abandoned the beast inside me. I decided to become a doctor in the Black Market a few decades ago out of a sense of duty. I fought with many of my patients and almost got killed a few times. A few carnivores were kind enough to help me. All I had to do was make sure I'd never get close to death. So I trained my body and used my bamboo diet to get stronger and more durable. In short, I'm just a doctor with a strong and durable body."
Kris laid on the bed for a while and decided to try and walk for a bit. He made his way near where Legosi and Gouhin were talking and was able to hear what they were saying.
"So what's your treatment for dangerous carnivores?" Legosi asked Gouhin.
"Treatment? Heh, that's simple we're doing it right now." Legosi raised an eyebrow.
"What? But I'm not a patient."
Tch, that's what they all say. That's only because you're developing an interest in that herbivore, Kris! And that's dangerous!" Kris's eyes widened from that.
"But he's still a carnivore."
"Only by appearance. The rest of him is an herbivore and the more you start getting used to that, the more the urge to eat him will develop. Especially if there's a rabbit involved as well."
"What…?!" Kris whispered, "No...he wouldn't...would he…?" Kris then remembered back to when he stopped Legosi from attacking Haru, which ended in him getting attacked and almost eaten.
"What do you know?! Just recently, we became friends and-"
"Shut up you little shit!" Gouhin yelled, making both Legosi and Kris jolt, "Quit acting like you know what's wrong with you when you're just barking like a goddamn chihuahua! Listen to the words of a professional!" Legosi said nothing. Kris felt like stepping in but wanted to hear more about this so he stayed put.
"What you've got inside you are predatory instincts disguised as romantic feelings. It's the worst of them all." Legosi started to think back to the times with Kris and Haru, "It's probably true that you want a good relationship with them, but it's only camouflage for your urge to devour them. You still have time! You have to sever your ties with them before it's too late!" Kris was speechless after hearing every word Gouhin said while still thinking about that night. Could Gouhin be right? Could there really be a day when Legosi finally snaps and kills not only him but Haru? They are herbivores after all and getting a glimpse of how carnivores can lose control...Kris couldn't get it off his mind now. He made his way back to the room, his depression coming back feeling there was no way he could ever be loved. He thinks back to when he and Legosi hung out together, where he was able to open himself up to Legosi. Sure Legosi may not have believed he was an herbivore but it never stopped their friendship. Now those memories were becoming painful even as he wanted to not believe in Gouhin's words. He laid back down on the bed trying to hold back his tears as he heard footsteps to see Gouhin coming in.
"How are you feeling, kid?"
"Much better. How long do you think my fur color will come back?"
"Should be about a couple more days. Whatever you eat, just keep eating it. Here." Gouhin gave him some of the bamboo tea. Kris took and drank. It had kind of a bitter taste but it wasn't all bad.
"Thank you, for everything, Mr. Gouhin."
"Just Gouhin, kid." Gouhin then gives Kris a tube of blood making Kris raise an eyebrow, "It's a sample of your blood. You can give it to the people at your school to let them do a test so they know you're more herbivore than a carnivore." Kris took the vial, "One last thing. I suggest you try to distance yourself from Legosi. You're an herbivore after all, and he's a carnivore. You'd be in some danger if you ever get closer to him."
Legosi and Kris got ready to leave. As Legosi grabbed his backpack, he was greeted by some rabbit porn magazine.
"Use this to check yourself," Gouhin said.
"What?" Legosi asked, wondering where the hell Gouhin even got that from. Kris couldn't see what was going on so he waited outside.
"Hey, I'm serious. This is really one of my medical treatments. If you get stimulated by this magazine, you could just have a unique attraction. But if you're fixated on even a single rabbit, then you're in danger." Legosi takes the magazine and heads out where Kris was waiting for him. They walked off while Legosi was in deep thought. He wanted to forget everything he saw and heard while looking at Kris who seemed down. They soon made it back to the main street where they saw Aoba standing. Kris instantly had on his death glare as Aoba gulped.
"Kris...I…" Kris didn't let him speak as he walked away. Aoba sighs, "I don't blame you."
"What were you doing here?" Legosi asked.
"I wanted to wait for the both of you, especially to be the first to apologize. Seeing Kris vomit like that, made me sick to my stomach. Here I was just wanting to see if he's really a carnivore, but I guess he really was telling the truth, so I don't blame him for being furious, especially since it made me think about the head of the club. Louis...my herbivore friends…" Legosi felt a sense of happiness in him that he began to tear up a bit, "...so I'm sorry this all happened. We should get going." Legosi then looked to Kris who was sitting near a wall. Legosi made his way to him, but when he got closer, he saw Kris was tearing up too. Kris was broken down. He was like a glass mirror that had just been kicked and punched into shards, only it came from the force-feeding. Seeing this brought more tears to Legosi's eyes, the first time seeing Kris cry like that, as Kris was always either smiling or just had a blank look. Even when he tried to express his true feelings, he had always kept them reserved.
Legosi knelt and put a hand on Kris's shoulder comfortingly. Kris quickly looked up, seeing Legosi who pulled him in for a hug. A warm feeling engulfed him as he kept thinking about what Gouhin said about Legosi's romantic feeling just being a disguise.
'No...he's wrong…' Kris wrapped his arms around Legosi, 'This...is real...this is real love.'
Aoba watched as the two embraced and after a while, they made their way back to school.