Chapter 126 - In the Cells

Atushi woke up the next morning to a very stern panda standing over the bed.

"Kid...Atsushi...that's not something you should do with a gunshot victim."

The buck's ears flicked back as he moved away from Hachirou, who was sleeping peacefully still. "Yeah...it's just..."

Gouhin sighed and stepped back so Atsushi could get up. "I know. I take it you two made up."

"I guess so."

"So...what're you gonna do?"

Atsushi looked back at Hachirou and then to the door. "Go back to the tower. See what's happened." He felt a knot form in his stomach.

"And if it's the worst possible scenario?"

Atsushi shook his head. "I refuse to believe it."

"You'll have to if it happens!" Gouhin's voice rose. "You need to face reality."

The deer wanted to shout back, but he couldn't. He just slumped his shoulders. "I know."

Hachirou continued sleeping peacefully beside him. It was strange, considering he would always try and wake up first when they slept together.

Atsushi pet the thick fur on his cheeks and neck and stood up. "Regardless of what I find at the tower, I need to clean up the mess I made. I just ask that you keep taking care of him...even if I don't come back."

Gouhin's expression was unreadable. "Eat breakfast before you leave. And be careful. The wind is picking up."

Atsushi left the clinic soon after, clutching an umbrella that Gouhin had lent him.

The market was mostly barren, which wasn't a surprise due to the weather. The walk was almost calming. He reflected on the past night's events as well as what awaited him in the future. The steady white noise of the rain along with his steady bootsteps provided some eerie serenity.

Eventually, the tower showed itself to him, and his stomach dropped when he saw the two black cars parked in the back courtyard.

What could be going on in there? What could have happened there? Tons of scenarios flashed in his mind as he stepped closer and closer to his destination.

He drew his gun as he approached the basement hatch, which was closed. He marched down the stairs and down the wet corridor, the drumming of his heart loud in his ears. Atsushi didn't think he'd ever been so relieved to see Kyuu in his life.

The rabbit was stationed at the door again, but it had been knocked off its hinges. She looked down at him as he came up the stairs. "Hey. We got some prisoners."

"How many?"

"Nine."

"Any corpses?"

Kyuu shook her head. "Tanba got scratched up but he's bandaged and disinfected. Resting now. The rest are watching after the prisoners in one of the cells on the floor below the top one."

Atsushi nodded, feeling elated at knowing they all repelled a surprise attack so well. "Hachirou is going to be okay, but he has to stay at Gouhin's for now."

"I expected as much. But you should really get up there."

Atsushi stepped through the doorway and headed towards the stairs, his brain now shifting to a whole different scenario. As he came into the area with the cells, everyone's head turned to their leader, looking well-rested for once.

Louis was in the middle of giving a home cooked meal to the white wolf he encountered outside last night.

Yasashi perked up, now with a very new firearm strapped around him. "Yo, Atsushi! Guess you forgot your phone last night, huh?"

The newcomer blinked, glancing into the cell where nine disgruntled wolves were locked up, Louis inside giving out food. "I...I did." He looked closer, noticing some of the wolves nursing bandaged wounds. "You wasted our medical supplies on them?"

"They aren't wasted," Louis said. "We have plenty."

All the wolves looked up, glaring at the new deer. Atsushi glared back, his Chimera flaring at his feet.

"Wh-what the fuck are with these herbivores?" one of the wolves asked another beside him.

"I dunno but it's fuckin' crazy, man. They're freaks. And they're helping us? It doesn't make a damn lick of sense."

"We're helping them?" Atsushi asked in disbelief.

"Well, more like we're making sure our hostages are safe so we can strike up a deal." Pina walked down the hall, carrying a pitcher of water and a stack of cups.

"A deal?" Atsushi gawked.

"Yes, so we can get these guys out of our hands but also not have them immediately try to kill us again."

Louis nodded. "We have to be strategic about this or else we're only going to keep fighting until we're all dead."

"And has nothing to do with your wolf fetish," Atsushi said, dryly. At that, all the wolves' heads snapped to Louis.

The deer blinked. "I'm not ashamed of it, if that's what you're thinking. Yes, I fuck a wolf often. So? I get more action than Atsushi."

All the wolves scooted away from Louis after hearing that, and Atsushi couldn't help the laugh that escaped.

"Oh, he's not gonna do anything to you guys!" Pina huffed, stepping into the cell with the water and setting the cups down as he started to fill each one. "His husband is just a wolf. That's it. He's not interested in you guys like that."

The buck nodded. "Yeah. I'd rather sleep with who I love."

"What the fuck...WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?" Everyone jumped as one of the wolves, Alek, with his arm bandaged and arrow removed now, shouted. "Where is the band of savage herbivores that mercilessly slaughter carnivores in the market for fun? Where's the fabled 'reaper'? You're all just putting on an act now! This isn't the same group that wiped out our livestock operation!"

Everyone was quiet for a few moments after that, the only sound being Pina pouring water into the glasses.

"Well...animals change!" Midori chirped, having been found safe and sound.

"You think we'll just forgive you, just like that?" the white wolf snarled. "You killed our friends!"

"You sold children," Atsushi spat. "You lot are lucky to even be alive right now. Had I been here last night there would have been a lot less of you in here."

Louis didn't know what to say about that. Blatantly disrespecting Atsushi by saying he never wanted to kill anyone that day was the wrong move. He just kept his lips zipped.

"So, you're the leader?" Hau asked.

"That I am." Atsushi stepped forward. "And I don't intend on keeping you around as mouths to feed. Does your boss know what happened?"

Yasashi stepped in. "We contacted him last night to tell him what happened, and each of the wolves confirmed with him that they were indeed captured. We were just waiting for you to arrive to get it all sorted out. My idea is that we let them go, and in exchange they don't try to pull something like this again."

Atsushi scowled back into the cell. "Then you'd all just go back to doing abhorrent things in the market, like all you organizations do."

The aggressive wolf spoke up now. "We carnivores need fucking meat to keep up our strength."

"So you turn on innocents to get it! You sell children who never had a chance at life! You profit off it!" Atsushi shouted back. "You don't think about the animals you hurt!"

"We're only following orders!" another canine argued. "It's all a fucking web."

"This deery here, Louis. He said the same thing. That he's just here following orders and he's here against his will." Alek glared between the two bucks.

Atsushi scoffed. "Yeah, well, him following orders doesn't end with children being eaten."

Louis shook his head. "I follow orders or my wolf will die. It's simple."

Atsushi took a deep breath. Easy for Hachirou to say he should open his heart to carnivores when they all act like this. "I want you all out of my sight, so I suppose Yasashi's plan will have to do. Get me into contact with their boss."

"Yasashi can do that," Louis said.

The alpaca nodded. "I have one of their phones here. I'll dial him up when you're ready."

"Do it now. I'll take it in the other room."

Yasashi did so, and the buck disappeared with the phone, leaving the alpaca guarding the cell while Louis and Pina served the tied up wolves food.

"Just tilt your head up a bit," Pina instructed, trying to get one of them to drink.

"Fuck you."

Pina sighed. "Hey, c'mon. Don't be difficult about it. You're only tied up for our own safety."

"I don't get why you wanna help us so damn badly after we invaded this place," another one stated.

Yasashi looked down at his gun. "I could drop you all pretty quick with this thing, if you prefer."

"Ugh...you make me sick."

"I'm joking! I'm joking."

"He is. Yasashi is a sweet guy. I don't think he's ever even killed anyone." Pina looked back at him. "Have you?"

Yasashi shook his head. "Nope. I'd like to not."

Louis grinned. "We don't need blood on any more wool."

All the wolves grumbled and still stayed relatively tight-lipped. The white wolf from earlier looked at Louis and beckoned him over with his head.

Louis walked over, standing in front of him. "Yes?"

"Is what Alek said true? That you're here against your will?"

"...Yeah."

The wolf looked out at Yasashi and then held his bound hands up. "You could free us and we could take down that prick and you'd be free, too." The wolf stared intently through Louis.

The deer looked to Pina, knowing what his own answer was but wanting to hear what the sheep had to say.

However, it seemed Pina didn't hear, as he was too busy trying to get the stubborn wolves to drink. "Look, you guys have to be thirsty, right? And I'm sorry for the two guys I hit with my bat but you didn't give me much of a choice now did you?"

The aggressive wolf sneered, looking down at his bandaged hands. "Stop talking to that deer, Niko. Why should we help these freaks?"

"Because if he wants out then we have the same goal!"

"Then they could just betray us after!" Midori inserted.

Niko jolted up and looked away. "Fuck, bitch is so small I didn't see her there..."

"Hey! Name calling is rude!" she whined.

"So is trying to kill us," Pina added. "They're all quite rude guests."

"Shut up, fairy!" another wolf snarled. "You guys threw the first stone!"

"Fairy, ha," Louis smiled. "Insults will get you nowhere."

"We want you guys to go free. Honest. Being holed up with you all during this storm is less than ideal, so getting you out before it gets bad is beneficial to us all," Yasashi informed, swaying back and forth and clearly bored. "No killing, either. We don't want any of you dead and we don't want any of us dead."

"So we're going to have to put our differences beside us," Louis said.

Niko looked back up at Louis. "Were you there when Madarao died? The wolf at the carnivore parts shop?"

"...I was."

"What happened?" His voice was almost a whisper.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Louis asked, thinking back to that day.

"Who killed him? How did he die?"

"Atsushi killed him. He was shot in the head."

Niko looked down, eyes closed, and his lips lifted slightly to expose his fangs. "That fucker...he can't be left alive."

The deer shook his head. "And if we hadn't done anything you would have destroyed the futures of those children."

"Then why kill everyone there when we've all been left alive!?"

"Well, obviously, the priority was to get the children and leave as soon as possible. If it were a kill mission, you'd quite simply be dead."

Niko growled and then huffed, looking away. "He could have been spared..."

"He was in Atsushi's way. And things were...different, at the time."

"He still wants to kill us. I can tell."

"We're trying to change him."

Niko's ears folded back. "That doesn't bring Madarao back..."

"No. It doesn't. And I'm sorry for your loss. I feel the same way about my left eye. And my friends Els and Tem. But I don't wish death on any of the animals that did those things to them."

Niko didn't say anything, and Pina came over with the water. "Will you at least drink?"

Niko looked up and allowed Pina to give him a drink.

Louis looked at his boyfriend, sighing. "That's one of them."

"You guys are ignoring the lovely meal Louis cooked you, too!" Pina complained. "I suppose we can eat it if you don't but he really put a lot of work into it."

"And I cook regularly for my wolf and I, so I know how to please the canine palate."

"You call him 'your wolf' like his name doesn't matter,' Hau spat. "Like an object."

"His name, for your information, is Legosi," Louis spat.

"Don't get between them. Seriously," Pina warned.

"Isn't stopping you from bending over backwards for this Atsushi guy even though he's threatening to kill him," Alek chimed in.

"Because he really will kill him," Louis said. "As with Madarao."

"Atsushi is stronger than he looks," Yasashi then said. "It's best you all just keep your heads down."

Louis looked to the side. "This situation isn't easy."

Yasashi nodded. "So just-"

Atsushi then stepped aside of him, interrupting him. "We're marching you guys out of here."

The wolves looked up. "What'd the boss say?" one asked.

"You're getting back in your cars and getting out of here. We won't bother your organization any more as long as you don't bother us. It's a truce, or rather, a stalemate."

The wolves looked at each other and talked quietly among themselves, clearly skeptical.

"And if they do?" Louis asked, curious.

"Then I'll kill them," Atushi said without any emotion.

"Every one?"

Atsushi nodded and some of the wolves laughed.

"No wonder our boss took that deal! We all get to go free and if we try to attack you again we will win," one of them said.

Atsushi just shrugged. "Believe what you want, whelp. I'll have your hides if I catch another one of your kind around here again. We're keeping your guns too. We'll escort you out."

The aggressive wolf, still unnamed, squinted at him. "And you expect to just keep quiet about what kind of freaks you are?"

"Tell the rest of your ilk about us. Go ahead. Tell them about how you came in armed and were taken out still. By herbivores. Who could have easily killed you if we wanted. Spread the message of the Branded and let others know we're not to be tread upon."

"You talk big for someone who wasn't even fucking here."

"I will be here if you come again, and I will kill all of you." Atsushi stepped aside and beckoned to Pina and Louis. "Come on. Untie their legs and let them stand up so we can escort them out. If any of them make any sudden movements we shoot."

Louis and Pina both begrudgingly did as they were told, fiddling with the knots until they were undone and the ropes were falling at the wolves' feet.

All nine stood up and trudged through the doorway and the four herbivores all trained their guns on them to keep them in line. Atsushi messaged Kyuu to expect them soon.

Louis nudged Pina as they walked along. "This is good, right?"

"If it goes according to plan, yes. If not, then no. You're thinking the same thing, right?"

"About texting Legosi? Yes."

"I meant that you agreed with my thoughts, but yeah you should message him when you can. I'll message Bill, too."

"As soon as we're done with this shit I want to go the cell and..."

Pina's ears wiggled and he smiled, saying nothing.

The wolves were marched downstairs rather unceremoniously. They must have realized that they really were going to be released, and although it was humiliating, it was better than being dead.

The group made it to the cars, where Kyuu opened the doors. Midori was on Atsushi's shoulder, once more.

Once outside, Yasashi used his knife to free the hands of each of the wolves, guns still trained on them to stop them from trying anything. All the while, the rain poured on them and the wind blew their fur this way and that. The wolves got into the cars as quickly as possible to escape it, and once they were all in they peeled out quickly.

And just as quickly as they arrived, they were gone. Everyone's night of hell was over.

Atsushi's shoulders slumped and he turned to face the group, looking absolutely miserable in the rain. "Well...that was something."

"So!" Midori chirped, cheery as ever. "How's Hachirou?"

"He'll recover, but he has to stay at Gouhin's for now." Atsushi ran his arms over his body gently, remembering the touch they shared. "Let's get back inside..."

The Branded went back inside and congregated in the entrance.

"Well, it's been a very long and crazy night, so I'm going to go back to the cells and I'd urge anyone who isn't Pina not to go up there. I also urge all of you to get as much as rest as you can because I assume tomorrow will be major storm prep," Louis said.

Atsushi raised an eyebrow at him. "We'll meet again for dinner."

"Fine." Louis turned on his heel and quickly sped off to go up to his cell, strip, get on the mattress, and text Legosi.

Pina, of course, was hot on his heels. They had all showered that morning, so all the blood was out of his wool, leaving a bandage on his face. "Ugh, this place is starting to smell bad with all the moisture," he commented as he started stripping down to his underwear as well.

Louis laid back on the bed, looking at the ceiling with the phone on his chest. "I'm trying to ignore it."

Pina looked down. "Oh, completely naked, huh? Makes sense." He slid his underwear off and walked over, his injuries more clear now. "What'd you tell Legosi?"

"I haven't yet. I'm trying to think of what I'll say to him." Louis turned his head and looked up at the sheep. "You look a lot better without blood in your wool but...it was admittedly attractive seeing you fight."

"Huh, maybe I should take up MMA or something." He sat down next to Louis and worked to unstrap Kai the leg. "Whatever you tell Legosi, you should make clear that we're safe now."

"I will. Kiss me after you get that off?"

"Like you have to ask." The leg clanked against the floor and Pina laid next to Louis, wrapping his arms around him and fulfilling the promise.

"Mm." Louis smiled afterward, rubbing his cheek. "You saved my poor antlers."

"Losing them three times in one year would be too much," Pina crooned, stroking them.

"I don't know if they'd even grow back after that."

Pina snorted. "Yeah! They'd be fed up, like 'hey, you want me on your head or not?'. Maybe they'd grow fucked up like Atsushi's?"

"Ugh...And to think I used to slave over making them look nice," Louis sighed. He looked down at his phone and sent a text.

Louis: Hey.

Legosi responded pretty quickly.

Legosi: Hi!

Louis: Always amazing to see such fast responses from you.

Legosi: I'm at work with Bill and it's very slow because of the rain

Louis: I'm in bed with Pina. I have to admit, the sound of rain is beautiful here.

Legosi: And that's all that's beautiful about this rain

Louis: Roll credits.

Legosi: Oh wow! The rain stopped! Good job

Louis: Yeah.

Legosi: How are things there? Everything alright?

Louis: We had...a day.

Legosi: Did the storm mess something up?

Louis: Not exactly…

Legosi: Tell me what happened

Louis: Just don't freak out.

Legosi: Not a good way to start this

Louis: Basically the Okamigumi shot Ni and we went out to find him and then they infiltrated the tower while Pina and Roku were there and we had to fend them off. And we did.

There was a long while before Legosi responded.

Legosi: Did anyone die

Louis: No. Roku sustained the most injuries as well as the wolves.

Legosi: Then what happened?

Louis: We tied them up and fed them and gave them water.

Legosi: ?

Legosi: Okay and then what

Louis: We made a deal with their boss to let them go if they never bothered us again.

Legosi: Okay...well that's good. We have the whole Shishigumi thing still though

Louis: I...know. But we're turning the Branded to a more peaceful way of dealing with things.

Legosi: So none of those wolves were killed? What about ichi?

Louis: None of them. Ichi was gone with Ni the entire time.

Legosi: So he doesn't know? Will he be mad?

Louis: No. He came back. He's the one who made the deal with their boss. Everything is fine now.

Legosi: Maybe there is hope for him then

Louis: I really hope so.

Legosi: Did you fight?

Louis: I did. Of course I did.

Legosi: Bill wants to know if Pina fought

Louis: Yeah. He saved me.

Legosi: Bill wants details

Louis: I couldn't find him for a lot of the time but then he fought a wolf on his own and then we saved him and then he saved me.

Legosi: We're glad you're both safe but it's still very worrying

Louis: We're fine.

After that, he sent a photo of he and Pina in bed together, smiling.

Soon after, Legosi sent a picture of him and Bill, looking like they were staring down from the sky. Pina giggled at it. "That's our boys!"

"Our boys," Louis sighed.

Louis: Words haven't been expanded enough to describe how incredible you are.

Legosi: Bill says thanks

Louis: Are you okay?

Legosi: Yeah, why do you ask?

Louis: I just don't want you losing sleep over this. Also...bad news.

Legosi: What is it

Louis: Ichi thinks the tower can handle the storm. He wants us to stay here.

Legosi: I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If it gets really bad you need to leave regardless though

Louis: I might not be able to make it back at that point…

Legosi: Then leave before it gets bad

Louis: I can't…

Legosi: I don't like this

Louis: This whole situation has been terrible, but we've been dealing with it.

Legosi: Sorry. I have to get back to work. I love you

Louis: I love you so much. Bye.

Pina yawned and curled up next to Louis. "Mmm...now do we finally get to sleep?"

Louis stroked his sheep, softly. "You didn't message Bill?"

Pina moaned and buried his face in the pillow. "He saw I was alright in the picture...should be enough, right?"

"Yeah...I guess so..." Louis pulled him closer. "Fighting makes you exhausted, huh? After we fought Riz, I couldn't even tell you how long Legosi and I slept."

"I slept longer," Pina challenged.

"Blood loss doesn't count," Louis teased, nosing him.

"Well, we're lucky that that didn't happen again last night."

"I would have been by your side all night."

"Heh, well, Tanba took that metaphorical bullet for me." Pina curled up tighter. "He...was really nice last night. We haven't talked much but I could tell he was trying to keep me calm as we prepared for the wolves. He also drew attention away from me..."

"Really?" Louis asked. "That's great. I feel like all of the Branded cares deep down."

"They're all good animals" Pina agreed. "Well...Atsushi needs work, but I'm oddly proud of what he did today. Also Ni, or uh, Hachiriou. I don't know anything about him."

"Hachiriou? It's just Hachirou," Louis laughed. "You...were so brave."

"Mmm...well now I'm tired...let's sleep and forget about all of this for a few hours."

Louis nodded, looking at his face just a little longer before closing his eye. "Mm...mhm..."

Pina reached forward and slid his eyepatch off before kissing the scar where his eye used to be. "Goodnight. Or I guess...good morning."

"Good morning," Louis said. "We live to see another day."

"And with any luck, we'll continue to."