Author's Note: Dear Lads and ladies

One more chapter after this one and we are onto the epilogue. I can't believe how far we have come. I'm sorry for the little pause but after Kaibutsu i needed some time for myself, and i had a few friends over and what not. So sorry for taking my time but I really needed to clear my head for a moment.

Next chapter will be a complete wrap up for Louis and after that the last scene in season 2. What will follow will be an epilogue and then an Author's addendum. Be sure to not miss the epilogue for wholesome fun and the Addendum for closing words by me and the trusty editors.

Once Season 2 closes we will move on to the final part of the Rewrite. Season 3…

(Song recommendation: Undertale ost - Fallen Down Reprise) to be listened to when they enter the stage.

Editors: SuperAverageFoxyboy, The Dude who Likes Tanks

Enjoy!

-Portal

Chapter 33: Goodbye Father

The first thing the backup officers did was confiscate the gun and check on the still unconscious and battered Strightman. They asked a few questions and none of which mattered much. The picture was clear from the scene. Riz had attacked them and it had taken enough effort to take him out.

"Are you ok sir?" The officers practically flocked the antlerless buck. Louis felt uncomfortable in a crowd of animals around him for the first time in his entire life.

"I am, I got a text from Juno over there and knew that Riz was attacking students and when I came here he was- excuse me please take a step back." Louis held his hands out, urging the officers to take a step back.

"Are you sure you are ok sir? In the case that the carnivores here were involved in harassing you we would be willing-"

"Stop right there, what does this have to do with me? I just got here." Louis was starting to get angry at the nerve of the officers simply insinuating that he was the victim in the situation. The Stork before brushed over his forehead.

"Well sir, you understand that knowing that you are herbivore in a situation involving Carnivores is due cause for concern-"

"No no no, stop…" Louis shook his head grabbing at his forehead.

"I don't have much to tell you other than that the wolves over there know more than I do." Louis peeked past his fingers to see the bird still unrelenting.

"Are you sure s-"

"YES, now please tend to them." Louis snapped at the idiots masquerading as Policemen. The stork needed another few seconds until finally moving over to the two wolves and tending to their witness account.

A few minutes later the group was sitting in the back of an ambulance, Bill laying strapped onto a medical bed with an IV bag filled with blood. He had hurt Riz the most and paid for it with his left arm.

Legosi and Juno talked in their nearly delirious ways due to the shock while Louis sat opposite of them and simply mulled over dealing with the police. It seemed like such a bizarre idea that a situation of being on the same grounds as an actual murderer and his only thought was how he dealt with the shoddy behavior of the police.

"I think I know what I will do." Louis said into the room of the ambulance and the two wolves looked at him.

"You talked about things changing Legosi… I think that's what I need to do. Be that change for the good of the world. I'm sick of how they treat us, and how the savage ones prove them idiots right. I don't want to live in a world governed by idiots, and if we know how to do it better and then show them… I'll go into politics." Louis seemed like a light went off in his head at the simplicity of the choice and how long it needed to him to finally realize just that that was the solution to his problem.

The two wolves opposite of him looked at him tiredly, none of them having the energy to properly respond to his moment of resonance. Louis thought that he might have been overly eager.

"On second thought we'll probably talk about that later." Louis was answered with reassuring silence as the only noise remained to be the rolling of the wheels outside of the car.

"Thank you for saving us again." Legosi croaked from his seat, the deer leaning forward.

"If you wouldn't have distracted him I wouldn't have any moment to use the situation. And without you being close to Pina we wouldn't have known it was Riz to begin with." Legosi didn't even respond to the reply to his compliment as his eyes became transfixed at the window above Louis's head.

Silently Louis observed the wolf's line of sight and looked at the window above Legosi to see what exactly was going on outside. Silently Louis sat there stunned as thick white snowflakes brushed past the windows signaling the long awaited turn for winter.

"I don't think there could've been a better moment for snow than today." Legosi silently hummed almost, his voice just barely above a whisper. Juno looked up at the windows and joined the others in silent astonishment.

It was as if nature itself understood what they tried to do and what they would bring.

The car stopped shortly after and the paramedics opened the back doors, carrying the tiger over to the Doors of the Hospital. The two wolves were brought to rooms on their own, having broken bones to be corrected.

Louis beside his non-existent antlers had no ailments to procure. He simply wandered after the paramedics into the hospital and then straight for the waiting room. Surprisingly enough in the late hours of the dark and treacherous day that had been today the waiting room was completely empty.

Louis walked between the rows of Chairs and sat down opposite of the door. He sighed as the day went by in his mind in playback. The day on which all hell broke loose had to be the day where he told his father that Haru was pregnant. Sometimes he thought the Universe had the most cruel sense of Humor there was but then again… the friendliest animal he ever met was also one of the most fearsome species there was.

Louis grabbed in his pocket and swiped through his contacts until seeing the face of the mother of his soon to be born child.

He tapped the screen and held it up to his ear.

"It's Haru. Leave a message after the beep." The voice mail was a welcome surprise to Louis. After all, explaining today's events might just make her faint.

"Hello Snowflake. A lot of things happened right now… sorry I couldn't make it home-" His hand felt for the little box in his pocket the ring inside was bought in secret. "-but I have a lot to explain tomorrow… I love you."

He hung up and put the phone back into his pants pocket, bringing the little box to his eyes. It was a simple Platinum wedding band, a single modest sapphire in the middle hold. He knew anything more fancy than that and she would reject wearing it. She never was one for brandishing anything outside as modest and mature as she was. Perhaps it was just that maturity that he needed. A person that knew what ridicule felt like while keeping the cool head in dealing with it.

He remembered the night where he had recruited Legosi and Zoe for a midnight practice. On his way through the campus he saw the three girls with that damned water bucket.

He might have not had the vigor then to stop them, but he went to her to try and console her. Yet to his surprise it simply didn't phase her much if at all. On their way to the gardening shack they had talked about Mizuchi and her posse trying over and over again to get to her. The reasoning behind her animosity and all the other girls' contempt for her.

It was a long and winding road of conversation, but it was enlightening to his perspective. He thought at a later time to see how someone so vulnerable was so resilient gave him hope for his own case. That anyone seemingly vulnerable can be strong under their pelt.

After everything it probably was just that moment that made him fall so madly for her. She was one tough little rabbit that knew just how important an emotional armor was and just how important it was to slip it off in the right moments.

He placed the box back into his pocket and went over the words in his head again. Although he did know that in the moment of it he would probably forget it all and still say the right things. Being quick on his feet when it came to words was his specialty.

His eyes went from looking plainly at the room to looking at the doorway, a multitude of footsteps walking down the hallway outside of the waiting room. A few moments later the face of a fellow deer peeked into the room. A middle aged fellow wearing a doctor's coat with an extra tuft of hair adorning his face in a spike hanging off his chin.

"Mr. Louis! Oh thank god you are here…" The voice of the doctor was relieved and still a bit unsettled.

"What's the problem? Is Bill ok?" The Doctor shook his head dismissively.

"No no, Mr. Bill is fine, it's something entirely different." His eyes darted around from one place to the other before finally once again coming to Louis.

"Mr. Oguma has been delivered to this hospital after a car crash and he's in critical condition… we don't think he'll make it."

Louis found in a spectacular moment of inner control that he simply stood up from his seat and walked forwards, the inner explosion entirely hidden from the outside world.

"Which room?" He stated matter of factly, stoic in both tone and expression.

"Right this way Mr. Louis." The Doctor who Louis now finally recognized as Oguma's attending Dr. Cassidy led him down the corridor up two flights of stairs into the third floor.

His room was pure white, so clinically white that Louis thought to himself he would soon have a headache. But although the featureless hell around him was already irritating enough, the most harrowing thing was the shape in the bed in the center of the room. Oguma's face was filled with tubing of all kinds, the machines beeping signaling his continuous brain activity, blood flow and breath.

Louis in a complete monotone approached his father, seeing only his eyes underneath the medical equipment. It looked like he had become one with the machine, no longer a single stab of self autonomy inside him to the point that even his ability to breathe was dictated by the whim of machines.

"Could you leave us alone for a minute." Dr. Cassidy nodded behind the deer and left the room quietly.

The wind blew outside, thick white particles of snow brushing past the window coating the world in soft white masses and inside stood Louis before his father who seemed to be more dead than alive. Louis fleetingly heard the car crash explanation but now it only made him feel guilty.

His expression of himself, his stupid little roll of the dice had just killed his Father. A Buck he hated most of his life and yet now he felt a sickening feeling nestled deep in his stomach. He felt empty and ashamed. His perversion had killed someone…

"I'm sorry Father… I'm so sorry." Louis silently cried to himself right where he stood. Not daring to come closer or touch him, which would surely be a greater disgrace than everything that had come before.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything." Louis continued to cry, failing to properly console himself before the dying shape in the bed. What a worthless little herbivore

"I'll marry Azuki… I'll sire a pureblood heir and I will lead the company… everything you wanted." A weak hand grabbed onto his jacket and pulled him close to the bed. Ripped out of his spout of sadness he looked into the eyes behind the tubing.

Eyes so ripe with sadness and yet determination that Louis didn't know how to react. In the next moment He saw the other hand raise itself off the bed and grab onto the tube sticking in his mouth. With a few tugs the tubing came out of his mouth and the monitor began to obsessively beep.

Oguma gasped for air and failed to grab a steady rhythm, taking breaths out of order in rapid succession. When the beeping had already sounded for a few moments and Louis was sure the nurses would crash into the room, Oguma looked at him and began speaking.

"I… died… for you…to live… your… life." Labored and creaking gasps broke up every word, all his strength on keeping his breathing going. Louis held onto the arms of his father who seemed to oddly calm down now.

"You will be… a father… something I... never was…" A tear streamed down Oguma's face and his son's face was just as drenched by tears. Oguma reached for Louis's face, looked at him and smiled one last time.

"Live… your life… be the… father… I never was…" And right then and there Oguma had spoken his last words. The touch of Oguma's hand left Louis' face as the shape sunk back to his bed. Oguma croaked and wheezed and then quietly closed his eyes. The nurses crashed into the room a few seconds later, crowding around Louis and Oguma laying on the bed.

The last thing father and son had done was hold hands tightly.

Louis stumbled out of the room, Doctor Cassidy storming after the nurses nearly knocking into Louis. He didn't pay him any mind, the words of his father still in his mind.

He wandered up the stairs and onto the roof common area, the cold wind bristling past him with patches of snow on benches and tables. Louis walked to the edge and held onto the ice cold railing as he peeked past the white patches across the city, the day having turned to a pitch black night.

And with the last remaining amount of clarity of mind Louis had he spoke into the open wind, breathing icy clouds while doing so.

"I forgive you."


Bill opened his eyes to pure white. Just as soon as he had opened his eyes they were shut again, trying to get used to the light. After a moment Bill could finally start to see the contours of the room in the daylight. It was a pristine white room with little decorations here and there, pumpkins and the like to signify Halloween. Yet a single look outside told everyone that Winter had come early, most everything being coated in a layer of snow.

Bill moved in his bed, feeling pain in his abdomen. The wounds of the fight would not go away easily. As he thought of it there was a strong tug at his interest to look to the right.

He steadied himself in his bed and readied himself. There was of course fear over how he would react but he couldn't change it now. He had made choices and had ended Riz, if it cost him a limb or not.

Bill turned his head and looked at his right arm, half length of his right arm with the rounded end bound in white bandages.

He found that he could still feel his missing arm and even tried to move his fingers, his mind letting him see imaginary fingers flick upwards. Yet beside a little twitch along in his arm there was nothing to see. In order to stop a monster he had to pay for it with a pound of flesh.

He moved his stump over to himself and thought that the prosthetic would look quite impressive. He smiled faintly and thought of his angora goat waiting back in school safe and sound.

After Bill had completely woken up he simply looked for the bed controls. They were on his right side, meaning he had to turn with pain raking through his side. Yet with a bit of effort he pressed the button for the seating position. The pillow from his head fellow into the crutch of his back. He grabbed it and placed it on his lap.

He looked around the room and thought again that in the bigger picture he had nothing to really be mad about. The lost appendage was a price he had paid and that was that. For peace he would've given anything.

After a little while the doors opened and in walked Dr. Cassidy in tow with three animals that Bill recognized instantaneously.

"Hey guys." Bill greeted his friends walking in after the white coated adult.

"Hi Bill." "How are you doing?" "You've taken quite the beating haven't you." The wolves and the deer said among each other.

Bill happily greeted them back as a white skinned hand grabbed for the closing door and shimmied himself through the small opening as the door closed just behind him. At first Bill was surprised to see Pina, not expecting the boisterous white sheep to have the time to meet with them. But after the moment passed he simply greeted the dall-sheep all the same.

"Hey Pina…" he raised his right arm only to realize that he simply had shaken the stump. He let it fall to his side again and made a small wave with his left arm.

"You sure missed all the action haven't you?… I'm glad you're ok…" He looked at the room.

"I'm glad you all are ok. You've really beaten Riz… thanks to you all of us are safe." Pina answered, looking quite humbled in their presence. No shred of arrogance in his gait or posture.

The room remained silent, glances of sympathy showering him. And still he felt good. He had paid his dues.

"I should've protected you better… That you lost your arm is all my fault." Legosi looked at the ground in shame, his entire chest and abdomen engulfed by bandages.

"I think you have your own share of wounds to care about. Let my arm be my thing to worry about… I guess I could get a hook now." Bill joked, the rest reluctantly laughing. The tiger looked over at Doctor Cassidy who seemed to be a bit surprised by the extreme levity of the case. Had they been at the scene just a bit earlier so could his arm have been reattached but now it was irreparable. And yet the tiger seemed joyous about just that.

"What bad news do you have for me Doctor? You don't have to be scared of me anymore, I'm practically armless…" This time only Bill laughed and even his laughter died down after a while. It seemed that the seriousness of the situation was a little more than Bill's ability to joke could cover.

"Well go on, I can guess what's wrong with me." Bill let himself sag downwards a bit, letting his arms lay against his body. Dr. Cassidy flipped through his chart and started the process of reading through the number of injuries that Bill had survived, following hospital protocol like a robot following its programming.

Most miraculously his skull had actually stayed intact, surviving the full pressure of the Bear's jaw.

"It was a stroke of luck that Mr. Legosi attacked the bear when he did… it wouldn't have taken much longer and he would've pierced your skull." The dry retelling of the events made Bill just realize how ludicrous all of this was. But as much as that he knew already. All he wanted now was to see his lovely little sheep.

"Where is Els?" Bill asked after Dr. Cassidy finished and the entire room's atmosphere suddenly changed drastically. The sympathetic and worried glances turned to abject terror and grief. They looked between themselves, only Dr. Cassidy looking at the tiger in complete soberness.

"She's…" Legosi began but couldn't finish, Bill staring holes through the wolf.

"What?" His mouth was agape, his features resembling a shocked ghost. None of his friends could keep eye contact with him. The Buck in the lab coat looked straight into his eyes.

"I'm sorry Mr. Bill, but one of the bodies In the community room has been positively identified as madam Els."

The room turned darker as Bill's eyes fell, his head wanting to do nothing but scream. His left arm grabbed for his forehead.

"I let her die…" The memory of the screams ran through his head, the endless screams on the side of the door. Now he imagined the angora goat laying on the floor in absolute terror staring at Riz, her eyes filled with tears as she begged for mercy…

And yet he killed her anyway. I was too slow.

"I let her die, oh rex I let her die…" Bill sobbed, tears floating down his cheeks. He couldn't remember the last time he had cried. It was too far back to remember. Maybe once when he was eight, or maybe once when he dislocated his shoulder during box practices when he was fourteen. But he just couldn't remember the last time that true emotional anguish completely steamrolled him and everything he stood for.

His hand was before his face, shielding his eyes from them. He wanted to sink into the floor and die right then and there, wishing that Rex would just let his heart rip itself to shreds and spare him from the great pain of letting his first true crush die.

He didn't react when he felt a hand on his shoulder but he knew instantly who it was. Legosi silently accompanied him in his anguish, letting his hand rest on Bill's shoulder.

He continued to cry even after the next set of hands touched his shoulders. Juno and Legosi from the left and Louis and Pina from the right. He continued on so in the group for a while, the group sharing in their anguish over the lost lives. And somehow even in his pain Bill found a single point of at least partial solace.

He wasn't alone. Not anymore.


A Few Months Later

Bill looked down at his metallic arm, a stark reminder of the fight he had had. Going back to school had been weird after resting in the hospital for a month. He knew that he had missed some things in the curriculum and that he would have to catch up to his classmates but that was something he was already prepared for.

What struck him as strange was that after returning they stared at him when walking by. But not in a way that would make him feel like an outcast or a weirdo. They looked at him like they looked at posters of their favorite superheroes, idols or whatever celebrity that Bill didn't care for.

He had heard the title they had given him. "The one armed avenger" can make this anymore campy.

He snickered to himself as he remembered that turn of events, but most specifically he thought about Els. He had cried terribly when he heard the news, but later on he had slowly gotten around to accepting it, with his friends by his side. When he looked outside in the snowy coldness of December and saw the white hills of snow everywhere he couldn't help but remember her wool.

But he swore something to himself. He wouldn't delve into the guilt until it destroyed him, no he would know how to better deal with his emotions.

At her funeral he showed up later in order to let her family mourn in peace. To his surprise her parents had stayed longer than the others. They thanked him for ending Riz before he could kill any more students. He accepted the compliments with simple thank you's and short worded terms of gratitude, but kept most thoughts to himself.

After they left he stood in front of her grave for perhaps an hour or two. He lost track of time, and he didn't dare to check his phone when he left the graveyard. He didn't want any distractions to invade his thoughts. He deserved that moment for himself.

He swore up and down that whenever he thought of her he would keep in his mind that he would do whatever he could do in order to better the world. This world had started bleeding a long time ago and no one had bothered tending to the wounds.

Now he watched his muscles tense and the prosthetic hand closed. His arm eased up and the hand opened again. It still hurt some days but he found that to be the least of his troubles. The thoughts were straining to manage and it was hard to stay positive some days.

But he knew that he would have to persist. That he would have to be strong, for her… for all of them.

Bright light shone into his eye, making him blink. He looked across the row of seats in the theater between him and the source of the light. The entire theater was filled to the brim with animals attending the ceremony of today in honor of them. The official Beastar title ceremony.

He looked across from him to see a familiar Zebra hold a small metal necklace in the light, reflecting off to him. She smiled at him from across the room, a coy and cheeky smile of unknown origins. At least Bill couldn't pinpoint what she could mean.

All he did know was that he found her way prettier than when he normally looked at her. Bill exchanged long eye contact with Ellen and he thought back to Els' grave.

I will make sure no one will be hurt any more. I promise that Els. And then Bill smiled back.

Meanwhile in the seat beside him sat Legosi who straightened his tie. He wore a pristine long-sleeved white shirt with a specifically picked dark blue tie. His Blue vest above it and his Green uniform jacket as the last piece to his full uniform.

All of them wore their full Uniforms, even Juno wearing her white Academy jacket over her uniform. Although they all looked like they were taking the titles in stride the overall feeling of dismay against the school's abysmal security measures existed among them.

Louis most specifically was angry with Gon leading the Ceremony but sensibly kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to ruin the event for anyone else and he realized that it was a morale booster for the grief stricken school that had just lost even more students. He muttered about not wanting to be a hero but kept most thoughts to himself, and no one talked to him about it thankfully.

Juno's fur had returned to its usual reddish brown. She hadn't had any more nightmares since Riz's untimely death, even if she regretted that he had to die in retrospect. They all had talked about how the death of his was just as much a tragedy as it had been triumph. In retrospect they all realized that it was to be expected to see an outcast act in part to how he was treated.

The last member of the pack to earn the title of Beastar straightened his tie and pulled down his jacket making it all fall better into place in the process. He had thought long and hard about what he wanted to say and how he wanted to say it. He knew what he thought but he also knew that how he said it would be a very important thing too.

Change needed the ability to let people know what went through one's own head. He had to have a cool head for the proceeding, and a clear thought in mind.

The Tiger headmaster of the school walked up to the Microphone-stand standing lonely in the middle of the stage. He tapped the microphone, cleared his throat and took on the politician's posture. He stood straight as a candle while keeping his hands squarely on the stand, only using it for a few vague and sparing questions.

"Quiet down now, we have a ceremony to attend." The room quieted down with the dimming lights and the booming voice. Legosi simply observed the tiger begin his long rambling talk about responsibility and Heroic qualities and all other forms of flattery that wouldn't hold up in the long run. Only one of five Beastars ever managed to become a sublime Beastar.

Role models turned to idols to be praised and worshiped like gods among mammals. It all felt so pretentious and fake when one thought about it. But on the other hand it was a moment of opportunity. A chance of being an agent of change, of being able to do something themselves that normally would only be given to politicians.

"Now please, a warm applause for the Beastars!" The group rose to their feet and wandered upon the stage. Unlike the times prior to this where he felt like a winner when walking up the steps to the stage or standing on it… he now felt cheated somehow.

They stood in a straight line and looked at the applauding animals in the seats. Reptiles, Avians, marsupials and mammals all looked up at them like they looked at heroes in their favorite mangas and comics.

The talk of respect and so forth continued with Gon singing their praises high and mighty. And then after an eternity of simply prelude Gon was handed the documents by an assistant.

They were framed within oaken boards with a plexiglass cover before them. The Documents were stamped by the All organism council, the United Academic Board and the School Council. Three vibrant different colored stamps above three lines of signatures of all of the leading members of each council.

Their Names were right under the Head of the Document. Official Beastars Title

Legosi looked at it and felt like Riz was staring right back at him through the glass, the reflection showing a very tired and bruised wolf.

"I paid for that document with my Life Legosi. And you will never be able to forget that. That is my parting gift to you… the Beastars title." Legosi heard his mind speak in Riz's tone of voice, yet he questioned if those would be the words the Bear would choose. He could hear him curse a lying inferior from the grave, or perhaps silently accept the reason behind his demise.

He would never know, and what he thought when he died would be a secret between Riz and Rex, for the rest of eternity. But what Life would turn out to be back here on earth was in their hands now. Legosi looked at the crowds and saw many faces he recognized. Collot, Durham, Miguno, Voss and a golden retriever looking at the stage with admiration.

There was Dom, Kibi, Fudge and Kai. There was the acting team and the dancers, most specifically Ellen smiling at them.

What Riz thought will never be mine to know… but what they feel will be all of my worries for the rest of my life.

"Now I'll let the students of the hour have a moment to speak to all of you." Gon stepped aside and looked at the young Beastars. His eyes looked specifically at Louis and with a sigh the deer took a step forward only to suddenly feel a hand on his shoulder.

Legosi stood before him, his hand gently placed on his shoulder.

"Let me do it." Legosi smiled at him. Louis couldn't help but think that he now truly looked like an angel in the light, nodded and stepped back much to the surprise of Gon and the audience.

Legosi stepped up to the stand and looked at the rows of seats. The many faces of admiration and love that now looked at him. Legosi took a deep breath and slowly released the breath through his lips. He released all memories that haunted him and let them fly in his head for a moment. Thank you mother, Thank you Riz. Without you I would never stand where I now stand.

"I believe that Riz only became what he became because we treated him like a monster." The audience's faces turned to cold shock as they stared back at the wolf on stage. He was pretty sure the faces behind him were also shocked at his choice of words. He firmly held onto the stand.

"I mean it… How would you feel if you were forced to take pills so that your physical appearance wouldn't frighten others? How would you feel if everyone outside of your own species turned a blind eye to you and treated you either like a frightening monster or like an idiot." Their faces started to reflect shame, others showing anger.

"He did terrible things because he didn't know how else to treat others. That's how he thought the world worked. I am not blaming his victims for dying by his hands, they aren't guilty of anything. None of you are guilty of anything." The faces of anger persisted but lesser so.

"But if we don't change then there will be more. If we keep treating large carnivores like savages just waiting to devour herbivores… and so I ask only one thing from you, not as a Beastar but as a student of this school." The faces now seemed to await his next words.

"Forget about Claws, fangs, Stripes, dots and Patches. Forget about long ears, tails, feathers, fur, or scales. Forget it all. I want you to go out there and hug each other, play games, trade cards and be happy to be among your friends. I want you to all be as kind to each other as you are kind to your most trusted and cherished friends… I want you to be happy that you exist among so many animals of different species… I want you all to be a school again, not two factions at war."

The many faces of animals all looked at the stage frozen in time. Legosi turned around and walked towards Louis. The many faces still beating down on his back.

Legosi spread his arms, the oak frame falling to the floor clashing against the ground in a thud causing gasps in the crowd. And then he engulfed the deer in his arms, gently hugging him as the entire audience gasped in collection.

"Thank you Louis." The deer was still standing like a candle, surprised at the actions of the wolf. A second later there was a second thud as Louis's wooden frame fell to the floor as the hands carefully hugged the lean frame of the wolf.

"Thank you Legosi." Louis replied as they broke the hug. The wolf, smiling at the deer.

He then turned to Bill and instantaneously his arms were around the tigers shoulders. The tiger being quick to return the favor, his metal appendage patting the wolf's back. The frames on the floor had now become three.

"Thank you Bill… without you we would have never beaten him."

"Don't say that tough guy, it was you who continued to bash his face in after he made me armless." Both carnivores broke the hug and smiled at each other. Legosi patted his shoulder and turned to the last member of the lineup.

The wolfess looked at him with a wondrous glint in her eyes, the amethysts sparkling strongly in the beaming headlights. Legosi approached her with a firm step and the fourth and final board fell to the floor as Legosi dipped her down and kissed her.

He could hear a faint cheering from the crowd while the heartbeat in his ears drowned out the rest of the noise. He smelled a bouquet of roses and knew that this was the way things were meant to go, nothing else made sense. He broke the kiss and pressed his head at hers, his frame shielding her from the audience.

"Thank you… for everything."

She looked at him with dreamy eyes.

"Everyone would've done the same for a hybrid like you." Legosi exchanged looks and felt his heart race. He bent down and kissed her again before breaking the contact and stepping in line, grabbing onto Bill.

They all stood in line arm in arm beaming at the crowds who still looked like they were unsure what to do. Legosi whispered something to Juno, then to Bill who whispered to Louis.

After a short moment the four broke the hug and wandered down the stage laughing and giggling, leaving Gon on stage to be confused by the proceeding.

"Snowball fight!" Legosi shouted at the top his lungs as the four ran up the stairs in a rush to the doors, the many faces in the audience watching them in confusion. They reached the top in record time, bursting through the doors into the cold outside world painted in white leaving the theater in complete silence While they jumped into the snow.

Left in the Theater was the rest of the student body confused and dazed by the words of the wolf. They looked between each other in complete confusion.

"Wait up Legosi!" the shouts sounded up from below. A blonde dog ran up the stairs. He smiled from side to side and panted heavily as he jumped up the stairs nearly tripping over himself as his tail wagged wildly.

After that slowly more and more Animals started leaving their seats running for the open door until no one but Gon was left in the room. He looked up at the doors and sighed seeing the frames on the floor.

He went to pick them up and thought that he would have to give them personally to them later, while the words of the wolf still went through his mind. He smiled to himself.

"Perhaps these kids will be the ones to change something after all."


Bill limped past the open gate, only sparingly using his injured foot. He had nearly forgotten completely that a certain Doctor Gouhin was owned a warm thank you for his services. After a fifteen minute walk to the elevated train platform.

He sat waiting for another five minutes and then was in a random seat in the train driving down the hill on which Cherryton stood. He kept his thoughts to himself as animals stared and one even asked for a photo. He obliged happily while keeping the fact to himself that he didn't like the photos that had made it into the papers.

It didn't take longer than half an hour before his stop as the still in his uniform clad tiger left the train and limped down the stair cases, his prosthesis grabbing onto the handrail on the side of the stairs.

When he saw the black archway signaling the start of a lesser part of the town he felt right at home. Over the last months this place had become his second home and he had grown familiar with the layout.

He may not know every nook and cranny but he could reliably find his way from one side to the other of the tightly built cobweb of alleyways and market strips.

Bill found that more eyes than usual were on him when he entered the Black market, a mixture of fear and respect among them as his limping showed vulnerability. Some carnivores laughed, those that were scarred and battered by life's lessons. But he didn't pay them any mind. They were speciesist bottom feeders that reeked of alcohol as much as they reeked of blood.

Soon he found his way to the snow ice-cold little city yard between the concrete blocks of sanity as Gouhin called the two Storage units blocking any view to his clinic from the main market strip.

He walked forward and left footprints in the snow on the gray bricks lining the floor. He walked up to the door of the clinic where he had resided halfway for the better part of a year and knocked on the door.

"Hey kid." He heard the all too familiar voice behind him. He turned around to see the Panda stocked full with supplies on his back.

"Hello Gouhin." Bill replied seeing the Panda already studying his missing arm.

"He got you pretty good huh? Come on, let's get inside."

"Yeah, it's freezing out here." Bill replied following his mentor into the warm clinic. Gouhin took his bag off and placed it leaning against the wall, grabbing the bamboo strands on the top of his bag and placing them in a cupboard.

"Tea?" Gouhin asked without looking at Bill, still stacking supplies in his cupboards.

"That would be great." Bill replied, resting his prosthetic on the table. The metal limb was just a placeholder until his arm had healed around the socket placed against his stump. A new model would replace the rudimentary frame strapped to his arm. A model with in-built electric pads on the hand to send electrical impulses into his arm to simulate the sensation of touch. Sponsored by the Horns Conglomerate.

Gouhin placed a cup in front of Bill, his metal hand just a small bit before the cup. Mentor and apprentice exchanged looks for a moment before Bill raised himself up right and moved his arm. The metal arm moved over the table, only stoic shifting coming from the lower arm. The metal fingers slowly got into range around the cup and with a concentrated breathing out Bill tensed his muscles and the hand closed around the cup.

With utmost patience Bill lifted his prosthesis and led it to his mouth. His lower arm turned along the axis of the elbow joint of the metal frame and slowly shifted closer to his mouth.

Until finally the rim of the cup was at his lips and he turned his upwards, holding the cup in place with his lips. After taking a large gulp Bill moved his prosthesis above the table again, releasing the cup safely onto the table. Gouhin nodded approvingly.

"How long have you been in physical therapy already?" Bill smiled at Gouhin's question.

"For four weeks, ever since getting the arm in the first place." The prosthesis moved up and very lifelessly waved from left to right.

"Been getting more familiar with it every day. If it keeps going I can finally wipe my ass with my right again." Bill chuckled and to his surprise Gouhin joined in laughing.

"You're one hell of a kid. Loses his arm and still has the vigor to make jokes about it… Since when did teens get so feisty."

Bill silently looked at Gouhin without a smile. The Panda's smile disappearing after a moment.

"When the world treats you a certain way you either give up and suffer or learn to bounce back." Bill stated and left the room in silence as Gouhin just observed him. The Panda simply observed the tiger in calculation, taking in the words of the young apprentice.

"But anyway, I'm not here to complain… I wanted to thank you for training me. Without your help, I would've never had the strength in order to beat Riz like I did." Bill was rewarded for breaking the silence by Gouhin answering with a smile.

"Before we get to being sentimental I have a gift for you." Answered Gouhin and grabbed into his coat pocket while Bill looked at him in confusion. His gloved hand reemerged with a folded document.

He carefully unfolded it and placed it before the Tiger, grabbing for a pen on the table and placing it beside it.

Bill needed a moment to read the document before looking at Gouhin in disbelief.

"I'll need your residence, phone number and banking details… time to make you an official employee of this little clinic." Gouhin stated proudly. Bill couldn't help but smile in eager happiness.

"Thank you a lot sir, it's a massive honor." Gouhin deflected Bill's gratitude with a raised hand.

"Drop the sir and keep the gratitude, I have to thank you for being a worthy partner and excellent apprentice." Gouhin watched Bill write down his information on the official document with his very jittery prosthesis. After he was done he reached out his prosthetic arm and opened his hand. Gouhin observed it for a second and shook the metal appendage.

"I promise I won't disappoint you."

"I'm sure you won't" responded Gouhin, knowing that he was right.