"Thank you for accepting my invitation and I'm sorry if it's such short notice, Juno-san," I said after Juno and I sat down at a table in one of the school's rest areas and Juno shook her head as we had lunch together.
"Oh, I don't mind at all so what did you want to talk about?" Juno asked and I sent her an intense expression.
"I wanted to ask if you saw anyone in the drama club who had a large bandage on one of their arms and if it looked recent," I said and Juno hummed with a thoughtful look before she shrugged.
"No, I haven't seen anything like that as far as I recall so sorry if that disappoints you," Juno told me and I frowned slightly as I came to a conclusion that only made sense and it wasn't something that I was happy about.
'Shit, the killer must be covering up the injury with his sleeve so that he wouldn't draw any suspicion, but I do remember that he looked like an ursid when he attacked me and the only bear I know of in the drama club is Riz so he might be worth investigating,' I thought and returned my attention to Juno.
"Don't worry, it's fine and this is going to sound like a strange question, but what do you know about Riz?" I inquired and Juno blinked at that.
"Riz from drama club? Not much since he tends to keep to himself most of the time even while he helps out with the heavy lifting, but he's nice from what I've seen...hey, why are you asking these strange questions?" Juno questioned in confusion as I finished with my lunch and smiled at her.
"It's nothing and it was nice talking with you, but I have to get back to the art department since we large-breed carnivores are going to be busy cleaning up the practice room so I'll see you later," I said as I stood up and walked away with one hand up to say goodbye while the other held the brown paper bag full of trash until I dumped it in the bin and continued with my day.
Later on, I had arrived at the drama club and was lost in thought as I helped clean up the practice room while I was thinking about what I had learned during my investigation until my thoughts turned to Riz before I frowned distractedly as Legosi was also looking lost in thought.
"Connor, I can't stop thinking about Riz and how everything is starting to point to him being the killer, which makes me wonder why he would do such a horrible thing," Legosi said and I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.
"We don't know that Riz is actually the killer since I can't prove that right now and nothing is linking him to the murder yet, so we shouldn't start pointing fingers at him unless we find enough concrete evidence that proves he's the killer...but we do know that the killer is an ursid and that narrows things down a bit but there are hundreds of bears in this school alone so that still makes things a little difficult, though we just have to keep investigating and hope that we find something," I muttered just before Bill passed me and paused to send me a look.
"Hey, quit mumbling to yourself and get back to work," Bill reminded me and I continued putting heavy boxes away as I looked back and saw the others working hard while Tao was struggling to lift a box.
"Fuck, this is heavy so what the hell is in this thing?!" Tao grunted strenuously and Bill came over to take the box out of his arms.
"Leave the heavy lifting to Bill the great Bengal tiger and keep cleaning, you feather-weight panther," Bill boasted with a smug grin and Tao sent him a dry look.
"Okay, you try it smartass," Tao retorted and Bill took the box, only he was having trouble lifting it and growled as he tried to pick up the cumbersome object.
"Damn, you weren't kidding!" Bill wheezed as he struggled to lift the box until Riz walked over and effortlessly lifted the box before he rested it on his shoulder.
"Don't push yourselves, cat boys," Riz remarked until he walked away with Bill and Tao sending him unamused looks for the 'cat boys' comment while the smaller students marveled at Riz's strength as I kept gazing at the departing brown bear and noticed that he was the only one who had his sleeves down, which made me slightly suspicious but it wasn't enough to suspect him of being the killer.
"Damn, brown bears are something else and Bill looks weak in comparison," a mandrill commented and Dom chuckled.
"Yep, he sure as hell does," Dom agreed and Bill started looking offended.
"Hey, I'll have you know that a carnivore's strength isn't decided by the strength of their arms, but by their jaws and that's one of the unspoken rules between us carnivores," Bill retorted while Dom tilted his head with a puzzled look.
"Jaw strength? How is that measured?" Dom asked in confusion before Bill smirked.
"I'm glad you asked Dom-senpai, so let me start by explaining that it's all done through a respectable game-" Bill started to explain, then he was cut off by Aoba who had a look of alarm and I knew why.
"Bill, are you out of your damn mind?! You know it's forbidden to talk about that game for a reason because you'll scare the shit out of the herbivores for even speaking about it!" Aoba hissed and Bill scoffed.
"You don't get it, do you? Felines always have to be the best carnivores around!" Bill snapped irritably and I tuned out the argument that was starting while I felt like groaning from Bill's stupidity.
'Really, talking about the jaw war in front of the herbivores in such a manner? Okay, that dumbass needs to shut his mouth before he scares the shit out of the herbivores and causes them to distance themselves from us,' I thought dryly as I carried a box to one of the storage shelves.
The jaw war, a game that's a stimulating test of strength between two male carnivores where a strip of tape is put on the floor and the carnivores bite down on some rope while the both of them were on opposite sides of the tape until they start pulling and you can only win by pulling hard enough to where your opponent's head crosses the tape, but the problem is that a live game of jaw war looks pretty disturbing and that's why playing it in public with herbivores watching is completely forbidden.
Hearing Bill talk about having Dom and the other herbivores spectate during the game as he placed a strip of tape on the floor made me want to face-palm at how much of a moron he was being right now as I sweatdropped at how excited the male carnivores looked right now, then I held the bottom of my muzzle with one hand and frowned thoughtfully since I didn't see the point as to why jaw war was seen as entertainment to the other carnivores while I remembered playing tug of war with Dogmeat once and I felt depressed that I was never going to see him again since he died taking a bullet for me, then I was snapped out of my line of thought when Bill suddenly pointed at me with a fierce glare while I was taken aback by it.
"Hey baldy, first up is you and I so let's settle the score right now!" Bill demanded and I sighed before sending him a deadpanned look at how he still won't let go of the fact that I beat the shit out of him on-stage.
"Um, how about no since I'm not interested in this type of thing," I said dryly and Bill scowled at me.
"I didn't ask for your fucking opinion because everything that comes out of your mouth is a damn lie, not to mention that you're still the same crazy bastard who kicked the shit out of me in the stage performance months ago!" Bill shouted while he sat down and put the rope in his mouth as I pinched the bridge of my muzzle in exasperation while I walked over and sat down in front of him with the tape between us until I grabbed the other end of the rope and put it in my mouth.
"Okay, what the hell are you going on about?" I grumbled while I was less than eager in doing this until I realized something.
'Wait, if I win this and go up against the other guys, then I should be able to find out who the killer is once I pick up his scent after I memorized it when he attacked me,' I thought and felt more determined as my eyes narrowed into a steely glare and Bill grinned.
"Well, you look ready to compete so what happened to not being interested in this type of thing?" Bill taunted with his words slightly muffled thanks to the rope in his mouth, but I didn't fall for it as we both started growling quietly as my muscles became tense and my fur started bristling before the match started.
I quickly pulled forward into a sharp yank and much to my shock, as well as everyone else's, Bill was launched into the air and went flying past me across the room while he before he landed onto the floor face-first with a cringe-worthy crash while nothing but silence permeated the room with the spectators just staring with their mouths gaped open in stunned disbelief as the rope fell out of my mouth and I just reached up to feel my jaw as I tried to figure out what happened, just as Bill groaned and sat up until he looked at me with his eyes bugged out like I had two heads.
"No fucking way...you just launched me across the entire goddamn room so how the shit did you do that?! No wolf on this planet is that strong so how the fuck did you do that?!" Bill exclaimed incredulously as I stood up with my eyes wide, then I noticed a strange transparent glowing blue cord that went from me to Legosi after it suddenly appeared and the unnatural aura surrounding him made me more than a little unsettled as I backed away.
I just panicked and ran out of the room while everyone called out for me, but I ignored them and fled into the male dressing room before resting my hands on my locker door and hyperventilated as I tried to calm down from experiencing something completely impossible since wolves aren't supposed to be that strong and it was the blue cord and Legosi glowing slightly that was scaring the shit out of me.
"Connor, what the hell just happened and what is this cord that's connected to us?" Legosi questioned while he was looking more than a little freaked out and I just looked at him.
"I don't know...I just don't know," I admitted and Legosi flew over to mimic his way of patting me on the shoulder, only I felt something solid touching me and we both froze at that while Legosi started tentatively patting me before he quickly flew back with a startled gasp.
"Connor, I felt that...I genuinely felt that!" Legosi yelped in alarm and I was struggling to figure out what was going on until my eyes laid on an empty soda can that was resting on a bench and I decided to test something.
"Legosi, try and see if you can knock that can off the bench," I instructed and Legosi looked at me warily, only I encouraged him with a nod and Legosi gulped before he flew over to the bench and swiped at the can.
We watched in collective silence as the can was sent flying off the bench and went flying into a wall before it bounced off of it and landed onto the floor with a loud clatter, just before Legosi looked at his hands while I was trying to comprehend that Legosi can now move things and I was unnaturally strong before Legosi looked at me with an expression of complete nervousness.
"Connor, what's happening to us?" Legosi asked and I couldn't give him an answer since it was apparent that we were changing and growing stronger, but I had no idea what will happen to us next and it scared the shit out me so I decided to keep the knowledge of my new jaw strength from Gouhin once I met up with him as I managed to calm down and decided to head back to the practice room.
After that, I had told everyone that I was done for the day and left before anyone could respond until I headed to Gouhin's place and we took a walk through the black market before arriving at a bar that serves meat and taking our seats at a table until we ordered beer and started chatting about how things were going.
"So, how has your investigation been going into finding your friend's killer?" Gouhin asked and I sighed as I gently rubbed my eyes.
"I have a few leads and need to focus on them while I had narrowed down the killer's species to an ursine," I answered and Gouhin hummed thoughtfully.
"Well, that would make sense based on your description of the doors to the crime scene being smashed open forcefully, especially if our killer had started neglecting his daily medication since bears are required to take special medicine to prevent themselves from getting too strong to the point of easily ripping someone in half," Gouhin surmised and I nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, so if the killer started neglecting his medication, then he could've killed Tem unintentionally before his instincts took over and he ate what was left," I theorized and Gouhin smirked.
"You know, you could be an excellent cop if you decide to make a career in law enforcement once you graduate from school and become an adult," Gouhin commented before I scoffed bitterly.
"The hell with that because the police don't give a shit about what happened to Tem and listed him off as another 'unfortunate tragedy' or they would've arrested the killer a few days or two weeks after the murder, which makes me wonder how many more herbivore murders had been covered up by the police and the mayor all in the name of some bullshit peace," I spat darkly and Gouhin made a face at that.
"Kid, you really need to be a bit more optimistic but that's not important right now since you know why we're here?" Gouhin questioned and I nodded.
"Yeah, to start the next stage of my training," I replied and Gouhin smiled.
"Exactly, so what do you see around you that looks off?" Gouhin inquired and I leaned back in my chair.
"Striped hyena on my six who shows the later stages of meat addiction and is currently gnawing on a bone of an herbivore he killed before he moves on to his next victim since the meat he's ordered can't satisfy him anymore," I pointed out and Gouhin grinned.
"Good work, I've been tracking him for days and he's leaving so it's the perfect time to capture him, now come with me and watch how I capture at-risk carnivores," Gouhin told me before we finished our drinks and stood up, following the hyena who's left his table and exited the bar until we continued following him and found ourselves on a roof overlooking an alley while we watched the hyena that was below us.
"Legosi, how is your jaw strength at the moment?" Gouhin asked and I tried not to look tense as I shrugged.
"It's fine, so why the odd question?" I questioned and was startled when Gouhin suddenly grabbed me and I was thrown off the roof, letting out a panicked yelp as I righted myself and landed into a crouch to lessen the impact as the pain wasn't as bad as it could've been if I might've hit the floor face-first while I stood up and sent a nasty glare up at Gouhin, who looked surprised at my graceful landing.
"You dumbass, you can't just throw me off a roof like that and I'm glad that I'm trained to land into a crouch to lessen the impact or that would've hurt like hell since I'm not a feline that's designed to survive long falls!" I retorted hotly with a tick-mark and Gouhin appeared to have shaken off his surprise before he started looking stoic, just as I discovered that the hyena had noticed me and I became tense as I stood up.
"I know, you're a young canine who has learned to suppress his instincts but what you should be asking yourself is how do you plan on fighting him?" Gouhin told me as the hyena twitched with glowing red eyes while his mouth dripped with excess saliva.
"Who are you? I smell the scent of a young little puppy dog so I'll settle with some dog meat...you see, it's actually difficult to kill herbivores since they have really strong limbs like that one who had a lot of fight in him and gave me some nasty bruises," the hyena rasped as he unbuttoned his shirt and showed me his chest that had ugly purple bruises showing.
"Connor, I really don't like the way he's looking at you," Legosi admitted uneasily as the hyena started letting out feral growls that rumbled out of his mouth while his fur bristled.
"Their limbs were made to resist us so, if I get serious, then they're no match!" the hyena snarled while letting out the infamous giggle his species is well known for, telling me that he was about to attack as I got ready to defend myself.
The hyena lunged at me and I sidestepped out of the way before sending a kick into his abdomen that knocked him to the ground before he got up and swiped at me, causing me to quickly deflect the attacks and retaliate with fast vicious strikes to his kidneys, solar plexus, stomach, and liver before finishing with a roundhouse kick that collided against his head and the hyena spun around from the force as he hit the ground, then I approached to quickly knock him out when he suddenly lunged at me and I was forced to raise an arm when he bit down on it.
I gritted my teeth in pain but I noticed that his teeth weren't getting in all the way and saw my arm was thicker with more muscle and veins popping out as the hyena struggled to get his teeth out, surprising the hell out of me and Legosi from what I could see until I raised my arm above my head and the hyena was lifted effortlessly as I realized something.
"I see...my limbs as well, huh? Why is it that carnivores look the same when they bare their teeth? Also, I'm not a dog...I'm a wolf," I declared as I lunged forward to bite down on the hyena's leg and he let out a muffled yell of agony as I ripped him off my arm before swinging him with my head and he was knocked out when he collided against a wall with an imprint being created by the nasty impact.
I looked down at my hands with a stoic expression and clenched them as I concluded that something was changing inside me either because of the connection between me and Legosi growing stronger or something else was responsible, but I looked up to see Gouhin appearing stunned by what I just did until he shook his head and gave me a thumbs-up before I responded with a single nod.
A couple of days later, I continued the next stage of my training by helping Gouhin capture at-risk carnivores so that he could rehabilitate them and I was also using my training grounds to test my new strength, discovering that I could use my arms to lift a large solid statue and bend a metal pipe no problem while my jaws were powerful enough to crush steel and I was simply shocked that I was unnaturally strong and the thought of it made me realize that I had a big advantage against Tem's killer since I could easily overpower him, but now I was out with Gouhin again as we were after a red fox that attacked a zebra and Gouhin had me wait in the shadows to ambush the fox if he got away from him.
"Alright, kindly come to my clinic so that you can recuperate and do it for the zebra whose ass you just bit unless you want me to break your jaw by hitting you again," Gouhin warned and I saw the fox grinning darkly as he licked at the blood coming out of his nose from the right hook Gouhin gave him.
"What a harsh society we live in and is it so wrong to bite some herbivore's ass to control my appetite? It was just a little nibble-" the fox started to comment and was cut off from saying anything else when Gouhin attempted to capture him with a net, forcing the fox to quickly dodge and sprint into the alley where I was waiting while he also taunted him.
"Heh, that big guy's...never going to...get through these...walls," the fox gasped as he kept running until he reached my location, where I was perched on the railing of a fire escape and stood up to get ready.
"He wasn't alone, buddy," I announced before jumping off the fire escape, catching the fox completely by surprise and startling him as I tackled him to the ground and kept his head pinned with one hand to prevent him from biting me and my knee on his back while my other hand had his arm behind his back as the fox struggled to get loose.
"Shit, where the fuck did you come from?!" the fox yelped and he let out a cry of pain when I put pressure on his arm since he wouldn't hold still.
"Quit struggling or I will be forced to hurt you," I warned sternly and when he didn't comply, I lifted his head and bashed it against the ground to knock him out while also making sure I didn't kill him by accident because of my new strength.
After that, I clasped a muzzle around his snout and restrained his wrists with zip ties before carrying the fox back to Gouhin until we walked back to the clinic together and I proceeded to practice with a wooden dummy as Gouhin watched.
"Nice work, it would've taken me twice as long to bring him here without your help so, with me training you and you helping me with my work, it's like killing two birds with one stone," Gouhin complimented and I finished up before letting out a slow breath and backed away until I turned my attention to him.
"Grim saying aside, I'm glad that I'm well-trained in martial arts or I'd be getting work-related injuries and everyone in drama club would start getting suspicious as to why I would keep showing up looking like a tiger's scratching post...anyway, there's something I've been meaning to ask you," I said and Gouhin arched a brow.
"Yeah, what is it?" Gouhin asked curiously and I was about to say something that had been on my mind when someone knocked on the door and one of Gouhin's patients entered the room with a gym bag.
"Dr. Gouhin, before I leave, I just wanted to say thank you for helping me," the lynx told the panda, who perked up and smiled.
"Oh, I see you're finally ready to be discharged and have you stopped seeing those bone-in meat nightmares?" Gouhin inquired and the lynx nodded.
"Yes, I have," the lynx answered as we all headed to the entrance of the clinic and left the building until Gouhin handed the lynx a CD and two small packets of pills as we came to a stop.
"Here's an electronic music CD that'll help suppress your predatory instincts so always listen to it before you go to bed and take your medication twice a day but if you start getting the shakes, get yourself to a bathroom quickly and avoid eye-contact with any herbivores on the way," Gouhin instructed and the lynx smiled with his eyes watering slightly as he bowed his head.
"Doctor, thank you so much for your kindness and I'll never forget it," the lynx stated gratefully before he started to leave as Gouhin waved at him.
"Don't worry, you're okay now so be confident and if you find yourself not feeling well, then you're free to come back here anytime!" Gouhin called out to the lynx while I was frowning thoughtfully and the panda looked at me.
"Before you ask, that was someone who killed two ferrets while he was in a deranged state of mind so he did a great job recuperating, so what was it you wanted to ask me?" Gouhin questioned and I crossed my arms while looking troubled at what I just learned.
"I've had something on my mind for a while now and what I've noticed that you've never reported any of your patients to the police after they've killed someone and that man killed two ferrets, which makes him a murderer so isn't it dangerous letting him go?" I asked and Gouhin simply stared at me with an unreadable expression before he sighed.
"Legosi, I'm a bear and I don't want to play hero by demeaning other carnivores...it was pure coincidence that I was born a panda with no desire to eat meat so I don't think it's right that I have more opportunities than others just because of that fact, which is why I enforce my brand of justice by confronting carnivores head-on and get them the help they need.
I'm not going to lie, this job is very dangerous and it made me leave my wife and cub while I also lost my right eye and most of my back fur," Gouhin explained and I made a face at that.
"That is a lot of personal information I'm hearing right now," I pointed out and Gouhin frowned before looking away.
"Sorry that I've never told you, but what you need to understand is that the world isn't so simple that punishing criminals will make it a better place, and any carnivore can change if they want to while I want to be the one that helps them change," Gouhin told me as the sun started rising before I sent him a look and turned away.
"You might think that way and convince yourself that it is the better option, but the cruel truth of the matter is that some people are unredeemable and unable to change for the better...trust me, I learned that lesson the hard way," I said hollowly with a haunted expression before I walked away from Gouhin and headed to school while being nothing more than lost in thought.
Later on, I was in one of the academy's study rooms and studying for my upcoming test as I was frowning and looking focused while writing down answers, then my thoughts drifted to what Gouhin said and recalled all of the people I've killed over the years who were capable of things far worse things than what I've done until I scowled at nothing in particular and felt peeved at how Gouhin thought he could fix people with therapy when some of them might've taken advantage of that and most likely killed again for years without getting caught because chances are that a few of his patients are psychopaths and manipulated Gouhin into thinking that they were well again and continued killing while getting rid of the evidence and cleaning up the crime scenes.
While I was busy brooding about how Gouhin was being slightly naive in wanting to fix people who are long past broken, I picked up a familiar scent and was surprised when Haru suddenly showed up and sat down in the chair across from me.
"Hey, so a guy friend of mine wants to hang out with me tonight and long time no see," Haru said and I perked up when I realized that it had been a while since I last saw her, but hearing how she was going to hang out with a guy friend of her peaked my interest.
"Likewise, so how have you been?" I asked and Haru shrugged as she gazed at my short-furred appearance.
"I've been doing okay and I'm liking your new fur cut since it makes you look like a businessman," Haru complimented and I smiled slightly at that.
"I'm glad you like it because I had been thinking of trying something different and figured that a fur cut would be it, so who's your friend because now you've got me curious," I commented and was taken aback when Haru huffed and looked away with a peeved expression.
"Ah, what's it to you? Don't act like my boyfriend just because we slept together once," Haru retorted and I was a little insulted as I furrowed my eyes at the attitude.
"Whoa, I was just curious about who your friend is and you didn't have to act like that, so what the hell is going on with you?" I questioned and Haru sent me a nasty glare with a tick-mark.
"What the hell is wrong with me?! I've been sending you text messages for the longest time and you either reply once or ignore me altogether, not to mention that you always avoid eye-contact with me whenever we pass by each other and you're not even at school in the evenings!
I-I just miss you and I really hated that you thought I still had feelings for Louis while you just assumed my feelings and got away from me to satisfy your ego...I know that when we walk together, our step sizes are different but we still walked in the same direction, so why is it now that you're going to places far and unknown to me?
I really hate feeling so lonely and is it over for us?" Haru wondered as I could see her looking hurt and it made me feel guilty that I was pretty much avoiding her while I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck as my eyes softened regretfully.
"Shit, I'm sorry Haru-chan because I didn't mean to make you feel neglected but the reason why I've been distant is that I've been following up on my promise to get stronger, and what I'm doing is very important even though I miss you as well," I said and Haru frowned at me.
"But I don't want us to be distant with each other, I still want to spend the rest of my life with you," Haru stated and I reached over to clasp her hand with both of mine.
"Well, I'm happy to hear that and I know it seems like I'm avoiding you but I'm doing this for you so, please, just wait for me a little longer," I reasoned gently and Haru looked uncertain until she nodded reluctantly.
"Okay, I will," Haru said hesitantly until I let go and she left the study room while I was left to my thoughts after that.
A/N So, from what you all can see, the story is starting to drift from canon completely since I have a few things planned that you won't expect like the night club scene where Legosi and Connor encounter Melon for the first time and I will change events during that scene to something similar to what was seen in the movie Collateral starred by Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise to make it more intense, so I'm sure you know what I mean by that.
As for Connor's newly unnatural strength in his limbs and jaws, as well as Legosi able to move things now, the part with Legosi moving and touching things is already explained as their connection getting stronger and Connor's strength is something I took inspiration from the video game Murdered: Soul Suspect where the Bell Killer was inhumanly strong to the point of throwing someone across a room and easily bending a metal bat without straining themselves so things should be getting interesting in this story from now on and I hope you like the changes I've made so far.
Well, let me know what you think and stay tuned.
