It had been a few days since I talked to Legosi's grandfather and not much had changed, only I was a little more on edge whenever I would see Riz in the drama club and I was also feeling forlorn most of the time since I was tired of living Legosi's life and wanted to give his body back but the problem is that I had no idea how to do that so I spent the past few days lost in thought until I was doing another night of training with Gouhin.
"Okay, we're after two carnivores who are addicted to gazelle meat and their species are..." Gouhin implied before I spotted the two that we were looking for down below while we were currently crouched on top of a balcony and air conditioners respectively.
"Bearded vulture and leopard, the same two that are down there wobbling slightly but not because they're drunk," I answered before I noticed Gouhin smiling in approval for my good perception until he went to climb up the ladder that would take him to the roof above us.
"I think you can take care of those two while I deal with the patient who ran off earlier," Gouhin told me before he started to climb up the ladder and I cracked my knuckles while rolling my neck around to loosen the tension in it.
"Will do, see you at the clinic," I said until I was left alone, then I studied my targets as they were walking and noticed that there were quite a few people around so I needed to do this quickly as I scanned the layout of the street and mentally noted the nearby alleyways for a fast exit before I stood up.
I jumped and did an acrobatic flip above my targets before landing a few feet in front of them, causing the leopard and vulture to stop walking as my head was lowered and I looked up to stare at them with a focused and intense expression.
"Hey, what's up with you and the hell is up with that look on your face? You wanna fight?" the leopard questioned as he removed his shades with a dark grin.
Suddenly, and without warning, I moved at them with an alarming speed before I swung my foot and sent a nasty kick into the leopard's leg, knocking him down while he let out a yell of pain before I spun around to strike the vulture's throat until I threw him onto the ground with a hip toss and forced two cloths of chloroform right in their faces before they passed out quickly.
"Don't worry, you two are just going to take a little nap," I muttered as I noticed that I was drawing a crowd, causing me to pick up the two carnivores before slinging them on my shoulders and bolting back to the clinic.
Later on, Gouhin had complimented me for a job well done but I wasn't paying attention and went into a room before easily lifting a bunch of small boulders tied together while I was thinking about Legosi's grandfather before narrowing my eyes in a scowl and gritting my teeth in frustration until I yelled in rage and threw the weights at the wall, the stones shattering on impact and causing a crack to form on the wall while Legosi uneasily floated away to a safe distance so I wouldn't turn my terrifying anger on him.
"Um, Connor...?" Legosi asked hesitantly while I was breathing heavily before I let out a tired sigh and sat down before clutching my head.
"God...I wish I stayed dead," I muttered, causing Legosi to recoil at that.
"Whoa, don't say that!" Legosi exclaimed in shock before I glared up at him stressfully.
"I should've stayed dead because this isn't natural, this whole situation for nearly a year isn't natural, and I took everything from you while you're just floating there with everyone unable to see or hear you!
I stole your life, your friends, your grandfather, and you're unable to enjoy the things that you had before I came around so do you have any idea what that's doing to me right now?! Everywhere I go, everything I touch, withers and dies while people suffer because of my actions but people don't care because I'm a 'hero' to them!
I'm no fucking hero so, if I was never born, then my parents would still be alive-" I ranted until I was cut off when a sudden pain exploded after something hit me across the face before my head quickly turned to the right involuntarily, then I clutched my cheek and looked at Legosi in shock while he was glaring at me firmly.
"Y-You bitch-slapped me," I stammered in disbelief and was taken off guard when he grabbed my shoulders and looked into my eyes intensely.
"Yeah, and I'd do it again to get you to stop thinking about yourself in such a manner because you cannot keep doing this to yourself! Listen, whatever happened in your previous life wasn't your fault so quit blaming yourself whenever something happens in this life!
I don't blame you for this whole situation and while I wasn't into all that supernatural crap before you showed, all this has got me thinking that maybe you were sent here for a reason and that is to finally let go of all the guilt and torment that has consumed your life," Legosi scolded before I glowered at him hotly.
"Easy for you to say because you've never seen and done the things I have, so you will never understand what it was like living in that godforsaken hellhole," I hissed menacingly, but Legosi didn't look intimidated this time while he nodded.
"You're right, I'll never understand what it was like going through whatever hell you've experienced, but you can't ever let it define who you are because this is your chance to let go of the past so please don't do this to yourself because it hurts seeing you like this," Legosi told me as he let go of my shoulders and backed away while I sent him a puzzled expression.
"When the hell did you get so bold?" I questioned in confusion and Legosi smiled bashfully while his ear twitched and he rubbed the back of his neck.
"You could say that being stuck with you helped since I'm not as socially awkward and anxious as before," Legosi admitted as I chuckled, then I sighed while I looked up at the ceiling.
"Believe me, I've tried to let it go for thirteen years but it was easier said than done," I said hesitantly before Legosi rested a hand on my shoulder with a calm smile.
"Doesn't mean that you can stop trying, am I right?" Legosi told me until I scratched the back of my head with a tired expression, just before Gouhin entered the room and looked at the damage I caused.
"Dammit kid, don't overexert yourself or you'll tear something and that damage in the wall is coming out of your pay," Gouhin complained as I stood up and put on my shirt, then I followed him back to the living room and had tea with him as I thought about what Legosi said.
"Listen, I understand that you're getting impatient, but your body isn't capable of getting stronger with heavy lifting anymore, and don't forget how well-skilled you are in martial arts," Gouhin lectured as I held a grim look on my face.
"I can't afford to be patient anymore since the killer is a brown bear and, while I managed to knock him down with well-placed strikes at sensitive areas on his body, he still caught me off guard by throwing dirt in my face so I'm sure as hell not going to let that happen again," I stated darkly before Gouhin shrugged and went to his desk.
"But he's just a bear, right?" Gouhin commented as I looked at him dryly.
"A bear who damn near killed me and would've succeeded if I hadn't bitten him to scare him off, not to mention that he could go on a rampage and might kill a lot of people before being shot by police if he decided not to care about getting caught anymore," I pointed out until Gouhin sighed and turned around to look at me.
"Listen, I'm telling you to be patient and you're going to need allies or you'll be crushed by peer pressure alone," Gouhin lectured, causing me to let out a tired groan as I gently rubbed my eyes.
"You have a point, but it's not as easy as it sounds since I'm pressured every day by plenty of problems and now Tem's killer has been added to that list so you can imagine the amount of stress I'm in right now," I muttered and Gouhin looked at me sympathetically.
"Hey, why don't you go out and take a break since you sound like you need it right now," Gouhin offered, then I stood up before stretching and sent him a nod.
"Yeah, a break sounds good right about now," I agreed before I left and found myself sitting outside on a balcony while drinking from a milk box.
"Connor, Gouhin-san has a point since neither of us can afford to be crushed by some stupid pressure and we had an ally once who gave you emotional support, but I have no idea where he is right now," Legosi told me while I scratched my head with a grimace.
"I know, though it's difficult to not be stressed at the moment since the next time I head back to school might be my last day since there's a good chance I'll wind up dead by Riz," I admitted uneasily just before I gazed down at the street below and spotted two lions dressed in black with one of them carrying a sack with something in it.
I narrowed my eyes since something about them seemed off before I stood up and tossed my empty milk box, then I silently followed the lions once I made it back onto the street and used the environment to my advantage until the lions went into an alley before I casually leaned against the corner with my hands in my pockets and I listened to what they were saying.
"How much did we get?" one lion asked.
"Two million...talk about a bunch of dumbasses," the second lion remarked and I heard enough.
'Sounds like they are dealers and it's not my business so I should get out of here before they see me,' I thought, just before I heard more than one person approaching from different locations and turned to see Louis standing next to me while the Shishigumi exited other alleys to surround me.
"You don't have to say a word," Louis said as he was smoking a cigarette, then the two lions left the alley I was standing next to before they rejoined with the others and stared at me with looks of surprise.
"I don't fucking believe it, that guy snuck up on us and neither of us heard him coming so he must be a spy who's really well trained!" the first lion exclaimed in disbelief while I was gazing at the others with a calculated look.
"He might've stolen some information regarding the Shishigumi so what do we do with him, boss?" a lion with glasses asked Louis, who didn't respond and appeared to be studying me as a lion with three scars across one of his eyes went over to one of the two dealers with an irritated look.
"Dumbass, you need to be more goddamn careful with making our contracts!" the lion scolded at the dealer, who grimaced slightly.
"Sorry," the dealer muttered sheepishly, and the scarred lion sighed.
"Just don't embarrass the boss like that again," the scarred lion grumbled before Louis held up a hand to quiet them down.
"Fellas, don't make a scene and leave everything to me," Louis assured and the lion with glasses cleared his throat.
"Want us to search him?" the lion asked and Louis shrugged.
"Sure, why not? Do whatever you please," Louis said nonchalantly and the lion with glasses started approaching me.
"Hey kid, you've been acting very suspicious so tell me why you're spying on us. Did the Madaragumi order you to do it or maybe the Dokugumi?" the lion interrogated as he leered at me, causing me to hold up my hands to placate him but I was also thankful that he and the other Shishigumi members didn't recognize me because of my furcut.
"No, I was just passing by on my way home, so it's none of my business with whatever you guys are doing," I reassured calmly as a lion with an x-shaped scar looked unimpressed.
"You know what, this guy is pissing me off and he's way too suspicious so let's find out more about him," the scarred lion declared as he walked forward and grabbed my jacket collar with one hand.
"I don't like the way you've been looking at our boss so why don't I teach you a lesson to show proper respect," the lion threatened me as he raised a fist to slug me across the face.
"Listen, I have no issues with you guys and don't want to get involved in whatever you're doing but if you attack me, then I will fight back because I have a right to defend myself," I warned while I was mentally swearing up a storm at how things were taking a turn for the worse until Louis stepped forward and held up a hand to stop the lion from attacking me.
"Let him go, he's not a spy and doesn't appear to be a threat unless you start hitting him," Louis said, then the lion let me go and I brushed myself off as Louis approached me.
"Forgive them, they care a little too much about my well being so why don't I make it up to you with some food, dog? I'm going to have dinner with the other members of the Shishigumi and we would love it if you joined us," Louis suggested, and the sinister look he was giving me sent a chill up my spine before I gave him my answer.
After that, I reluctantly accepted the invitation and was taken back to the Shishigumi's hideout before dinner was prepared and I stared down at the plate of meat that was in front of me on the fancy dinner table while the other lions questioned me about who I was, my age, and what job I worked at so I concocted a story to throw off suspicion.
"My name is Takashi, I'm 23 years old, and I work the night shift at a convenience store," I lied smoothly, and the lion on my left clapped a hand on my shoulder while he was grinning.
"You didn't even look scared and faced us down while we threatened you, so you're one crazy bastard that's for sure!" the lion cheered heartily before I sweatdropped at his enthusiasm.
"Yeah...I get that a lot," I muttered as I sipped from my drink and gazed at Louis, wondering why he invited me here since this was the last place I wanted to be and it would get very ugly once the Shishigumi found out who I really am.
"Takashi, eat to your heart's content," Louis told me stoically as he puffed on his smoke and stared at me stoically.
"Yeah, this is the black market, where you can eat as much meat as you want...oh, wait, do you have any herbivore friends? Well, you'd be pretty damn dumb to reject food from the Shishigumi," the lion next to me joked before I sighed.
"Listen, I appreciate that you went out of your way to invite me to dinner, but I'm afraid I have to respectfully decline," I said politely as the lions started frowning.
"Excuse me?" the lion asked.
"You see, I eat synthetic foods as well as fried tofu so I'm sorry if you're disappointed to hear that," I said while bowing my head slightly, causing the lion with glasses to chuckle.
"Heh, you're a strange one alright since our boss is a fine young deer as you can see, but he likes eating meat and he's doing just fine," the lion with glasses commented, and I froze at that with wide eyes while Legosi didn't look any better.
"Ain't that right, boss?" the lion on my right questioned cheerfully as Louis nodded.
"Of course, I'm fine with cannibalism," Louis stated while he ate a piece of meat, horrifying me to the point of becoming nauseous while the other lions chuckled.
"Damn, talk about a big bite so you should learn from him, Takashi!" the lion on my left declared loudly as he slapped me once on the back.
"I'll excuse myself for a bit," Louis said suddenly once he was finished eating, then the lion with glasses looked at him.
"Of course," the lion accepted with a nod before Louis got up and left, then I decided to speak to him personally to get answers but I had to come up with some kind of excuse to leave.
"Excuse me, need to use the restroom," I lied as I also stood up and walked away while I tracked Louis down by scent until I found him standing outside on a deck in the back of the building as his back was turned.
"We are not what we seem, right Legosi? Hey, hit me like you did last time if that'll make you feel better," Louis said as he turned around, then I walked over and gazed at him with a hard expression.
"Senpai, what the hell are you doing here, and did I see you do what I thought you did? I believe you owe me an explanation, don't you think?" I questioned stoically, just before Louis sighed and gestured for me to have a seat before we sat down at the edge of the deck.
"All I can say is that a lot has happened, though I presume that you understand everything from what you saw in there so let me clarify it by confirming that I have allied myself with the Shishigumi as their leader," Louis explained, making me stare at him in disbelief with one of my ears flicking before the guilt hit me and I started clutching my head.
"Oh dammit...this is all my fault, isn't it? This happened because I raided their hideout," I muttered stressfully and Louis glared at me.
"Don't take me for a moron since I wouldn't throw my future away because of you! I knew that you rescued Haru from the Shishigumi but don't you dare think that I gave myself up to the Shishigumi for your sake because I chose this path out of my own volition!
You know what, let's change the subject so you're intimate with Haru I assume?" Louis asked and I looked at him with wide eyes.
"Intimate? No, not really since we're taking it slow at the moment and I don't know if we're dating, really," I admitted while rubbing my arm with a pensive look, then Louis made a face at that.
"What? But you saved her life so did she reject you or something?" Louis questioned dubiously and I grimaced.
"Shit, I don't know...we're still working things out and, honestly, I think she still wants you back...I'm used to a harsh training routine, but trying to figure out how girls think was never my strong point and I doubt that'll ever be easy for me," I commented as I looked up at the night sky with a serene expression.
"You were training here? I did notice that you looked bigger than I last saw you," Louis pointed out before I looked at him and chuckled slightly, then I started frowning and looked at my hands that were resting on my knees.
"Louis-senpai, why don't we just go and get the hell away from here, right now?" I inquired tiredly, Louis staring at me for a few seconds until he looked away with a sigh.
"I can't, the Shishigumi needs me, and not to mention that they respect me," Louis refused quietly before I shook my head at him.
"No, they don't because they're not good people and are only using you until they bring out something terrible from within you, and I can't accept that because this life you're currently leading never ends well," I stated bitterly until Louis smiled at me softly.
"You're still that same old goody-two-shoes but you need to understand something, everyone uses each other in the world of adults for their own benefit so naturally, when I started as their boss, our relationship was purely business but now, we're close enough to pull this off," Louis explained as he rested a hand on my jaw before the barrels of two guns pressed against the back of my head and I looked back without turning my head until I stared at Louis with a stoic look.
"So, you set me up to lure me into an ambush, am I right?" I accused cooly as Louis stood up.
"Don't take this the wrong way because I'm not doing this out of contempt, just wanting to show my dear underclassman a taste of reality," Louis told me while the lions that were aiming guns at me chuckled.
"Don't underestimate a feline's instincts since, if anything out of the ordinary happens to the boss, we'd notice right away and it's perfect for protecting him from murderers like you," a lion taunted as Louis walked past me and I gazed out at the city.
"I think you're aware now that I can never come back because I've already had something terrible from within me brought out a long time ago," Louis stated sinisterly from behind me as I slowly raised my hands and stood up.
"Well, what are you going to do now? Are you going to have them gun me down in cold blood? I think it's you who needs a taste of reality so let me be the one to give you a piece of advice, never assume who I am because that's a fatal mistake," I told Louis coldly before I spun around and quickly attacked the Shishigumi members who had guns with fast and incapacitating strikes before they could react, then I disarmed one of them and grabbed Louis until I pinned one arm behind his back and pressed the gun against his head so that the remaining lions that were still standing didn't pull out their weapons.
"Shit, don't shoot!" the lion with glasses shouted at the others in alarm as I could feel Louis freeze at the sensation of the gun pressing against his head.
"Damn, you weren't kidding when you said that they respected you," I remarked dryly before Louis sighed.
"I know you're not going to kill me because the whole taking me hostage thing is just a show, so if you want to say something, then say it," Louis muttered to me and I hummed thoughtfully.
"You don't know what I'm capable of but I'm sure they already told you, though I'll make this quick so listen carefully...I know who Tem's killer is and he's somebody who's a part of the drama club," I stated and it caused Louis to look back at me in shock.
"What?!" Louis exclaimed in disbelief before I nodded.
"It's true, Cherryton's falling apart without you around to inspire people and I'm doing what I can to catch the killer, but at this rate, the school's going to forget the most important thing and that's where they need someone with your strength," I said as I let Louis go and dumped the mag in the gun before racking the slide to remove the bullet until I also removed the gun slide easily and jumped back while tossing the two parts of the gun.
I fell off the deck and descended down the hill until I landed at the bottom that was in the woods before I bolted, rushing back to the city as I was lost in thought and wondered when this nightmare would be over.
Later on, a three day holiday had suddenly been announced at the academy, only the other canines of 701 and I were busy with homework for the past two days, and Durham was none too happy about it.
"Argh, there's too much damn homework! So much for a holiday because we haven't even left the dorm!" Durham complained irritably while Jack sighed despondently.
"I don't think they meant this holiday to be a time of rest, and we're going back to school tomorrow so I wonder if the teachers will tell us the meaning of this whole thing," Jack grumbled before someone knocked on the door, causing the others to perk up while their tails started wagging.
"I'll get it!" Collot declared as he hurried over to the door and opened it to see someone waiting on the other side.
"Here, this is from the school addressed to every room in every dorm," the messenger announced as he held up a note, then Collot took it.
"Huh, thanks," Collot said before he read the note, then his smile went away until he walked over to us.
"Hey guys, something weird just happened," Collot told us as Voss climbed up to my shoulder and pulled on my face during his ascent to the top of my head.
"What, some kind of incident? Let me see that," I said before Collot handed me the note and I read through it while the others looked as well, then I started looking grim as Jack gazed at me in disbelief.
"Legosi, this is..." Jack trailed off and I nodded.
"Yeah, I know," I replied darkly with a frown while the others were rendered silent by what the note said.
I handed the note back to Collot and made sure Voss got down from me safely until I went to my bed and laid down with my hands behind my head as I became lost in thought, then Legosi flew over and hovered.
"Connor, I can't believe they are actually going to do that," Legosi said in shock, but I remained silent with hard eyes as I thought about how this was reminding me of Tenpenny Tower.
'No matter where I go, stupid shit like this always happens,' I thought cynically as I spent the rest of the day doing my homework, only it wasn't as lively in room 701 as before with the others being quiet and it was eerie as the next day came around with an announcement from the Headmaster Gon telling everyone on the PA system that the school was going to be segregated, as well as interspecial clubs being suspended at the end of the month while I made it to the drama club.
Pretty soon, everyone had gathered together and voted to keep the club going just before Bill and Els showed up and we all looked at them.
"Oh, hey guys, you're late but now we got everybody on board," Sanou greeted before Bill and Els looked at the whiteboard that had the tally marks of our votes before they started looking stunned.
"Is-Is that..." Bill stuttered before Els frowned in determination.
"Put two marks for 'we should continue the club'!" Els demanded and Sanou put down two more tally marks until he started beaming.
"All right, we got everyone so now we need to focus on what to do next," Sanou said as Bill went to stand next to me and I sent him a look.
"Hey, did you have a fight with Els?" I whispered while Sanou continued to talk, and Bill lightly scoffed.
"Hell no, you dumbass," Bill replied quietly before we turned our full attention to Sanou.
As the day went by, I worked harder than before since everyone sticking together is motivating me to keep going as I was heading to my next class and saw a crowd of students gathered around something, then I carefully squeezed my way through while apologizing until I arrived at the front of the crowd and saw that they were looking at the school paper that was encouraging everyone to fight against the school's decision to segregate carnivores and herbivores and suspending all the clubs.
"Connor, the mood in Cherryton Academy is changing," Legosi commented softly, and I couldn't help but smile as I adjusted the straps of my backpack and headed to my next class feeling a tiny bit of hope for this world.
A/N Hey, sorry for taking so long, but I'm back and it looks like Connor's cynical views of the world of Beastars is changing slightly so let's hope that he keeps finding the positive things this world has to offer, so let me know what you think and stay tuned.