"What you're doing here? This area is just for members."

"Well, I hope you don't mind that I came for the emotional support. Ain't you nervous though?"

"Just a bit... I'm at the club for the second year, but this role is the biggest thing I've done yet. So... thanks."

"Anything for my favorite zebra."

"Are you implying that you actually talk with other zebras?"

Durham couldn't help the laughter that escaped from his muzzle. Ellen chuckled, busying herself by adjusting her dress while waiting for everyone else to arrange themselves properly. The coyote admired her presentation dress, although the bland olive color of it didn't make her beautiful eyes or stripes any justice.

The last days before the first Adler's play had been rather uneventful. Durham had to cope with a moody Jack for few days, which was basically the labrador sulking into self imposed silence. He tried to apologize several times, but Jack kept dismissing his concern, alleging it wasn't Durham's fault that Shiira have people in her life. The coyote couldn't help but wince every time he thought about the way Jack spoke, the sorrowfulness in his voice was disturbing to say the least.

Durham was starting to realize the fact that he didn't really know much about any of his roommates before Cherryton inclusion. Each of his roommates have their own peculiarities, ranging from shy and modest to bold and confident. Jack has been the only one to know more about Legosi since they went far back as kindergarten. Miguno, Voss, Collot and Durham knew almost nothing about the other. Durham thought he understood his roommates better even with just two years of friendship. He is immensely thankful for having such good friends in his last student years. Yet, he wished he knew more than what he saw so far.

"Hey, you alright? You're spacing out on me." Ellen asked worriedly. Durham shook his head dismissively.

"Nothing to worry, just... thinking about what happened few days ago at the cafeteria."

"Oh, you mean about your friend, huh... Jack was it?" She guessed as she reminded that particular awkward event. "I know you didn't want to talk about it but, why did he ran off? It was super weird."

Durham ran a head over his head, unsure if he should even bother saying anything to her. He trusted Ellen enough, but a promise to Jack is not something he took lightly. Besides, they weren't exactly safe from prying ears, several stage members were nearby as they hurried themselves for the first act. Durham saw Louis in his Adler costume, the coyote had to admit he looked very impressive and felt a bit jealous that the deer would be the one taking Ellen's hand through the evening. Durham hoped this act wouldn't cause the zebra to be enamored again.

Durham still couldn't understand what Ellen saw on Louis. The few days the coyote would spend watching Ellen and her friends practice were accompanied by a rather condescending deer that was starting to get on his nerves. A remarkable feat considering it took a lot to irritate the coyote. Now, Durham knows he promised Louis that he wouldn't aggravate his club members, but there was nothing in that promise that included the deer himself. He took great joy on pissing off your highness whenever he could, which was justified by each time Louis decided to be an ass to someone for no good reason.

"I will tell you later." He promised. "Also, what's up with that dress?"

"What about it?" Ellen asked, looking herself over while wondering if there was something amiss. "It looks fine to me."

"You mean it looks ugly as hell." He chided much to Ellen's fury.

"Yeah, well! I guess I can't look decent enough for your t-

"Calm down. I'm not saying you look bad with it, just that it doesn't make you any justice. Why is such an important character of this play dressing like a commoner?" He inquired, hoping that his explanation would relax her nerves somehow. Ellen sighed.

"Fine, that's fair I guess. Sorry for snapping so quick." She apologized. The response wasn't the one that Durham expected.

"Say what? Apologizing so soon? How come I'm not in the hospital wing yet?" He joked which earned a laugh from the flustered zebra. "Ha! I made you laugh about your own behavior! Now I won the bet."

Ellen stared at him with incredulity. Both of them had indeed made a bet if Durham could make the zebra laugh about herself. Ellen thought it was beyond silly but accepted anyways. The coyote never specified what the winner would get and she was slowly starting to regret not asking.

"Urgh, whatever. Silly bet anyways." She replied morosely. "What do you want?'

There was a glint in Durham's eyes that Ellen found herself noticing more and more as she kept spending more time with the daring coyote. He clasped his hands, although he seemed really unsure about what he was going to say. A few of her stage colleagues were already taking positions at the backstage. Dom approached her alongside Els and Shiira.

"Hey! What's going on? You should be behind the curtains already Ellen." Shiira's commanding voice reached towards them with authority. She eyed both of them with suspicion. "I don't know what's happening here but it sure can wait for later. Why you're even here Durham? You're not part of the show."

"Of course not. Have you seen my facial expressions? I would never had any day of peace with all the fangirls that would chase after my tail." His mocking reply earned him an eye roll from the cheetah. "And if you must know, I'm here to show Ellen some support. It's a big deal I guess."

"Support?" Shiira regarded him with confusion. "What you're talking about? Ellen played this role last year. She did just fine."

Durham could only stare as he absorbed her words. Ellen slowly walked away, her reaction looking far too conspicuous for his likening. Did Ellen just lied to him? For what reason?

"Huh, well. We all make mistakes, I guess." The coyote replied, glancing at the zebra with worry. "I should get going before my king arrives here and makes another lecture about me being disrespectful to upperclass or whatever."

"He's not wrong." Shiira said firmly. "You're being rather annoying to him and strangely nice to almost everyone else. I really don't know what's up with you both, but you should respect him nevertheless." Durham could only dignify that with a snort before answering.

"I might do that the day he stops seeing me as a rabid creature that could attack at any moment. I will give him credit though, he actually stands his ground and faces me instead of cowering away. I respect him enough just for that. Ellen, on the other hand, is just bloody amazing and Herbivores should be more like her."

That compliment surprised both females. Ellen kept looking away but now blushing furiously, Shiira stared at him more thoughtfully.

"That sounds very biased towards her. Unless..." The cheetah's eyes widened as she came to a sudden realization. "Durham, you're not... I mean, that deep in?"

The coyote winced at the crude slang. Thankfully Ellen wasn't any wiser of what that meant. He was also taken aback by Shiira figuring it out so quick. How did she do that? Most students were usually complete clueless about the signs of someone being interested into another animal. They never understood that concept very well until the last year of school. Was he being too obvious?

"What gave it away?" Durham asked nervously. He felt his grin faltering for a moment, gone was his relaxed stance, replaced by a rather fidgeting canine. Shiira was noticeably worried as she regarded him with utmost seriousness.

"It's not exactly my first time experiencing the signs of desire." Durham huffed. She was only partially right.

"And how you even learned about this?"

"It's not my really my wish to say you this, but... I have been through some moments that I'm not really proud of. Not that I had much of a choice..."

Shiira looked extremely downcast for a moment. Durham felt a surge of sympathy at the display of sorrowfulness. He was immediately aware that this display was implying that Shiira was another club member with a difficult background on her. Ellen glanced towards them, the conversation had her curiosity peaked, but a rather agitated Dom came around and dragged her towards the stage along the rest of the cast, leaving both Shiira and Durham alone for few minutes.

"Hey, Shiira." Durham called. The female raised her head, looking at him expectantly. "I won't pretend I understand whatever you've been through. Yet, I had my fair share of issues back then, you have a friend on me if you need it. Your business is no one else's." She chuckled bitterly at that.

"I appreciate, but it's a bit late for secrecy. Almost everyone knows it. It's... not a good thing that have on you, especially around males. I'm very thankful for being where I am. The director was very kind for offering me a place to actually be someone. This club felt like home like nothing else ever had and still does. I have my reasons for wanting things to work out, I don't go around being rough for the sake of it. I want us to succeed."

Durham could've hugged her if he had the courage to do so. This girl had been through some really nasty stuff, if the way her voice wavered several times wasn't enough indication of it. At least he could understand her ways a bit more thanks to this small talk. It seems talking was doing wonders for each problematic person he faced so far.

'I wish Louis would be that simple. It's like talking with a broken record.'

"They are like a family to me, so I worry about them a lot. When Tem died... that hurt so much. Not only because of his loss but that all my Herbivore friends started giving me looks and treating me as if I was the one who did it. It was... hard. I felt betrayed that they would think of me like that. I cared for Tem as much as I care for anyone else in this club. Ellen wasn't talking with me and Els had been avoiding me constantly. Although, for whatever reason, Els came around pretty quick. Ellen, Mina, and Jully were still not talking with me, but Ellen just then came around a few days ago. I think it was thanks to you. She does talk a lot about how you irritate her. Yet, she doesn't mind having you around for whatever reason. I really don't know how you managed to get Ellen to come around the fact you're a Carnivore, but I'm glad you did. She started talking with me again, even apologized for the way she behaved. Juno joining the club recently helped to lift up the mood greatly. She's a really nice girl once you get over her naivety." Shiira ended with a humored huff.

"Eh, what can I say? I'm even more stubborn than I give myself credit for. Not that I mind. Ellen is worth the trouble." Durham replied confidently. Shiira wasn't so sure.

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself into Durham. An Herbivore and a Carnivore? It's not that isn't unheard of, but the dangers of such mix are not simple enough. I love Ellen as much as a sister. I don't want to see her getting hurt."

The coyote bristled at that. He hated when people insinuated that he would even dare to do such a thing.

"What makes you think I would ever hurt her?! I lo- huh, do care about her a lot! I won't ever lay a claw or teeth on her!" His heated reply came out with a slip that he was pretty sure the cheetah noticed. 'Fuck me and my stupid mouth. I shouldn't lose my cool like this.'

"It's not you that I'm worried about, but whoever killed Tem."

That got his attention for good. Durham had forgotten that the technicality of Tem's murderer still being on the loose being a pondering factor on their safety. He crossed his arms, glancing around to make sure they were alone, thinking carefully his next few words.

"Who you think that did it?" Shiira sighed, this wasn't by far her favorite topic to talk about.

"Everyone is almost sure it was someone from inside the school. I might go further and say it was someone from inside the club, as much as it pains me to think it's true somehow." She frowned. "I would tear the bastard who did it a new one if I find out the truth."

"How many members this club has?"

"Thirty one. Actually thirty, I forgot Tem isn't... well. Thirty."

Durham nodded, his mind was racing with excitement and worry. A part of him was screaming for him to not get involved, but a bigger part of him, that mostly developed under the care of a police officer, found the prospect of doing detective work rather intriguing.

"How many are Carnivores?" He asked while trying to not sound too eager. The cheetah hesitated while trying to remember all the members.

"There's Bill, Tao, Aoba, Riz, Legosi, Kai, Frank, Shan, Nim, Juno and myself." She said slowly. "Pretty much very few of us are Carnivores."

"Huh, I wouldn't dare to go into details, but it's safe to assume that predation cases have something very in common in all of them."

"Which is?"

"The predators are always considerably bigger than their prey, so it's easier to subdue them. Imagine a small Carnivore like a fennec fox trying to attack a larger Herbivore like a giraffe or an elephant. No way, no how."

"That can't always be the case." Shiira replied in disbelief. "I know of cases of dogs attacking horses and gazelles, those are mostly around the same height."

"True, strength is the decisive factor in such situations. Although it makes a huge mess since their victim wouldn't be as quick to subdue nor go out without making a lot of noise. Whoever killed Tem was quick on it and knew how to keep it controlled, and this is what scares me."

"What do you mean? Are you... saying that whoever killed Tem knew what he was doing? It wasn't under the influence of instinct?"

"What I'm saying is-

Durham was interrupted by the arrival of a rather agitated peacock.

"Shiira! What you're doing here? You need to supervise the crew on the backstage! Hurry up!" The bird urged her with a wave of his huge wing. The female looked embarrassed for a moment before acknowledging her colleague.

"We can talk later." She said while looking back at Durham on her way out. "Just make sure to not discuss this with anyone else."

"Yes ma'am." Was Durham's reply followed with a salute. Shiira laughed at his response.

"Too bad you're into Ellen. You look quite the catch." She said before disappearing behind the doorway. The coyote stared at the spot where she once stood, perplexed that she actually had such impression of him.

'At least I can rub it in Collot's face next time he teases me about dying a virgin.'

While Durham was distracted with dirty thoughts an unannounced mammal made her way towards the coyote inconspicuously. The sound of her footsteps was barely audible but Durham's long ears managed to intercept the vibrations nevertheless.

"Don't you even dare. I don't think you will like if if I throw you across the room." He warned severely, fully aware that the newcomer had the intent of making him jump in fright. A feminine disappointed sigh followed his warning. He recognized it instantly and turned to face the familiar face. "Juno, never took you for one to scare other people."

"Well, you looked very distracted and I couldn't just let it pass." She replied sheepishly, lacing the fur on her check with a clawed finger. "It's been a long time since I played with anyone like this. I didn't make many friend during my initial teenage years or even kindergarten."

Durham felt skeptical that some highly sociable person like Juno couldn't make friends. Unless the places were she frequented were heavily populated by Herbivores. Juno's circle of friends grew at a rather exponential level. The amount of people in the school that know who she is has become absolutely frightening, her popularity among the Herbivores is also gigantic, to the point even some of Louis admirers were being torn about which one they liked the most. It was unheard of a mammal becoming this important into the social field so quickly.

"I would say you have plenty of friends now." The coyote pointed out with a chuckle. Juno didn't seem very enthusiastic about it.

"Yes, but most of them are just following the words of those few animals I've been nice towards ever since I got here. Even then they weren't really caring much about who I was, aside being a Carnivore." Her saddened tone made him feel for her. It will not ever be easy to be a Carnivore, no matter how much of a great person you are. "You, on the other hand, is a really true friend that told me what I had to listen. No lies, no false expectations, just the truth of what our society suffers through."

Juno spoke these last few words rather passionately. Durham wasn't sure how to reply so he went for the automatic response.

"Huh."

"...so, why you are here?" Juno asked quickly, pretending to ignore the fact his response felt really lackadaisical. The coyote shrugged, internally relieved for the change of topic.

"Just came to wish a friend good luck. She's got quite a big role after all. Well, not that I know really, I never watch those plays. At least never had a reason to."

Juno opened her mouth but shut it quickly. There was clearly something she wanted to say, but kept stopping herself as the silence that followed dragged on for a whole minute. Durham watched her struggle with certain apprehension.

"If there's something you want to ask just do it already. I don't feel like wasting any more time. I promised Ellen I would watch her acting."

"Y-You did? When?" Juno asked, the news surprised her since Els and Ellen had been sharing their time spent with Durham. Although Ellen had been very hesitant to talk about the coyote as of late. Juno wasn't sure what happened but something made Ellen anxious.

"Like you even should know. Seriously Juno, being popular doesn't make you omniscient aswell." Durham chided, looking very crossed by her words. The wolf quickly apologized, fully aware that Durham didn't know about the gossip that went around about him. "Fine, apology accepted. Now, what's been bothering you? Just spit it out."

"Huh, I was kinda wondering if... well, you have been really close to Ellen and I, huh... not sure what to think of it."

So that was it. Juno was also noticing the coyote being rather close to the Herbivore, Durham wasn't sure how he was going to answer to those type of questions. He didn't need to bring himself unnecessary attention.

"You think it's wrong? Look me in the eye and tell me what I'm doing is atrocious and I should stop." He challenged. The wolf stared back at him, her eyes locked into his, her mouth opened slowly to channel her thoughts outwards.

"I... can't say it's wrong, just... I'm worried, for both of you. I would be too scared to try anything with an Herbivore." She admitted. Durham let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He really liked Juno, but it would've been extremely painful to hear from her some sort of negative feedback.

"That's fair I suppose. Don't worry about us. We will get around eventually and, hey... Juno?"

"Yes?"

"Can you... not tell her about... you know." The coyote requested timidly. Juno's soft smile was a blessing for him.

"Of course. I will leave this between you two. I wish you luck Durham."

"Say, what about you and Legosi?" He asked, which in turn made Juno's smile falter.

"I... don't know anymore. Legosi seems very distant every time I try to talk with him. It's almost like he's trying to ignore me or just really doesn't care. That's... confusing." Durham shrugged.

"Who knows? He might be gay and hasn't told anyone yet." The coyote suggested. Juno looked like someone just told her that she would die in the next few hours. "What? It's not really that far-fetched!"

"That... never really occurred to me." Juno looked absolutely shocked to the core. "I guess I jumped to conclusions too quickly again."

"Yeah, well no one's perfect. Say, wanna come with me to the stands and watch the play? It's getting dull being back here by ourselves."

The wolf's ears perked at his invitation. Her previous dramatic realization expression replaced with excitement.

"Of course! Can we get some snacks too?" Durham looked absolutely dumbfounded by her request.

"Eh? Okay, now let me start explaining few things to you again."