It was late at night. Lee and Oscar were out of bed, whispering to each other. The Harlequin rabbit looked very concerned. "You really think it's him?"

Lee nodded. "There's nobody else it could be. Five minutes after I leave this room, wake him up, and tell him where I am. Tell him that if he doesn't show up in the next ten minutes, I'm going to smash it, along with his phone."

Oscar sighed. "If you're sure."

Lee left the room carrying a bag containing the blackmailer's most prized possession. There was no chance the blackmailer was going to allow something so valuable to be destroyed, he would come for sure. Lee went to the shower room and put the bag on a bench. In the bag he also had the blackmailer's phone, just in case he tried to use that to release the video.

He stood by and waited. His threat was not an empty one. He was more than willing to smash something that belonged to this prick. Even petty revenge would be acceptable.

The door to the shower room opened. Lee glared at the blackmailer. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Into the room came an angry-looking angora goat, Theo. The goat growled. "I don't know what you're talking about! But if you lay a finger on my laptop, I'll report you and make sure you get expelled."

Lee snorted. "It'd be worth it just to get back at you. I narrowed it down to two suspects, you and Alfred. But youslipped up. You described what the guy who tried to kill Ibuki looked like despite the fact nobody in the school should have known that. Even Icouldn't tell he was a feline." The chimera pointed a finger. "That leaves you. You were on the lighting crew so that meant you were up there and were one of the only people that could see him."

The goat scoffed. "What do you mean nobody else in the school knew? As soon as I had the chance, I told security the assailant was a feline. So I'm not the only one that knew that."

Lee chuckled and shook his head. "Like I said. There's only two suspects. And do you really think I believe security would tell Alfred? I don't know what your motive was, but I knew youwere the only person that could dig up information on my dad. So why don't you just tell me why you did this to me?"

The angora goat fell silent before sighing and adjusting his glasses. "You seem to be under the impression that this is something personal. There aren't many carnivore-herbivore hybrids. One of the few documented ones was a psychotic mob boss. You'll excuse me if I had concerns."

Lee growled. "So you treat me like a criminal because of how I was born? Even worse. You were so petty that you recorded me masturbating and threatened me with it? How is that not personal?"

Theo scowled. "You lied to us. You pretended you were a rabbit."

Lee snarled and stormed towards the goat, whose expression turned to that of great terror. "I ama rabbit! You could have talked to me. You could have told me what concerns you had. But instead, you stabbed me in the back and tried to intimidate me."

The frightened goat tried to open the door, but the chimera lunged forward and forced it closed, trapping Theo in the showers with him.

Lee got inches away from his face. "I did my homework too, you know. I found your BeastBook profile. Your mother was part of Drama Club with my dad. She was scared of him at first, but changed her mind and became good friends with him." He shook his head. "Sad that her son didn't inherit the same open-mindedness. Instead, she accidentally raised a conniving little bigot."

Lee pointed at the bag. "Your laptop and phone are in there. If you want to show the school that video, go ahead. I won't beg you not to. I'm not going to cower in fear of you. I'm not interested in living my life under your thumb."

Lee glared down at the goat as he opened the door. The chimera stormed out, leaving the goat behind to reflect on his actions.

The next day, Theo had become despondent, something was clearly weighing on his mind. Lee awaited the blackmail threat to be carried out. Yet the angora goat hadn't done it yet.

The group met back up in the Gardening Club. Olivia smiled. "Good work, Lee-kun. I suppose he wasthe most likely suspect."

Esther didn't look as enthused, in fact, she looked concerned. "What if he puts out the video anyway? You sure I shouldn't rough him up a bit?"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Violence would be pointless and get you into trouble. He has online backups of the video, I'm sure."

Oscar nodded. "If we got violent over that video, all that would do is prove Theo was right to distrust Lee-kun. I really hope we change his mind."

The twins were sitting on the floor. Viola was holding her brother's hand as she painted his nails. Sebastian scoffed. "You need to do more than change his mind."

Viola nodded. "After what he did, he owes you, at the very least, an apology."

Lee shrugged. "Who knows if he'll even regret it. I can somewhat understand his concerns. I'd be alarmed if my roommate had the opportunity to turn into the next Melon."

Olivia shook her head vigorously. "Melon wasn't evil because he was a hybrid. He was evil because he was a deranged sociopath. There are plenty of other animals capable of just as much, if not more cruelty."

The group of friends was about to disband when Olivia grabbed Esther's arm. " You'renot going to Drama Club yet. You're horrifically behind on your homework, so you'll be staying here for a bit."

Esther's ears drooped. "Aww…"

Lee and the twins made their way to Drama Club. When they arrived at the practice building, there was a note taped to the door.

"Due to recent events, the Drama Club will be temporarily suspended until those responsible for the assault in the auditorium are found and arrested. If by the end of the month they are not found, Drama Club shall resume."

All three of them groaned.

Sebastian sighed. "Well, so much for that."

Olivia sat at a table in the Gardening Club shed. "What do you think, Esther-chan?"

Esther rubbed her chin in contemplation. "Hmm… One seventy-two?"

Olivia nodded. "You're catching on."

The tiger blushed. "Th-thanks."

Esther gulped as she stole a quick glance at the lab's chest. She wondered if she should have gotten a different tutor. But she really wanted to get to know the lab better. While they were friends, the two were never super close. Olivia's smarts put the two a world apart. The lab was so much smarter and more refined than her. Esther wished she could have that brain.

Olivia pointed at the next question. "Now this one is long division, but I'm willing to bet you can handle it on your own."

The white tiger nodded as she looked over the problem. She did the math in her head, somewhat cursing her slow mind. She wished she could think faster instead of wasting the lab's time.

"I thinkit's two-hundred thirty point six seven."

Olivia nodded. "You're massively improving. I think you'll be able to pass at this rate."

Esther grinned. "It's thanks to you, Liv-chan!"

The lab looked a tad embarrassed. "Th-thanks."

Esther's expression turned a bit sad though. "Do you think Ibuki-kun will be okay?"

Olivia sighed. "I hope so. I was concerned enough about someone blackmailing Lee for being a hybrid. Now there's a killer on the loose as well. Cherryton is more dangerous than I thought."

Esther wasn't happy with this turn of events. She just wanted to hang out with her childhood friends. But somebody was out to hurt Ibuki. She felt so angry. The deer-wolf did nothing wrong at all. It wasn't fair.

Olivia noticed Esther staring off into space and looked concerned. "I'm sorry things turned out this way, Esther-chan. Some people are just extraordinarily bigotted. There's nothing that can be done."

Esther sighed. "Yeah."

After several more questions, they eventually decided they should stop for now and the two girls went back to their dorms.

Ibuki stood behind the practice building, watching Lee from afar. He was under orders from his father to be around him. But that didn't mean Lee needed to see him. He sighed wistfully as he considered how badly he had probably treated the other chimera over the years. He knew he should go talk to him, but didn't have the courage.

Ibuki's ears twitched as somebody opened the door to the practice building behind him. He turned to see Ben coming out of the building before locking the door. He turned towards Ibuki and looked at him with surprise. "Oh, Ibuki-kun. Drama Club is suspended."

Ibuki nodded. "I already knew that. I guess I'm just kina loitering."

Ben shook his head. "You were almost killed, Louis-kun. You really shouldn't be out here."

The deer-wolf shrugged. "Dad just told me to be around Lee."

The elephant looked in the direction Ibuki just was and spotted Lee talking to the twins. Judging by his face, they were flirting with him again. Ben turned to Ibuki. "Why are you so far away, then? Wouldn't you be safer by his side?"

Ibuki sighed. "I don't really get along with him. I'm just sticking around him because I have to."

Ben sat on the ground, getting on eye level with the much smaller deer-wolf. "Why don't you get along?"

Ibuki looked remorseful. "We used to be friends when we were little. Then I started to hate him. I don't know what it was. Something about his attitude pissed me off." He looked away sadly. "But he saved my life yesterday. I'd be dead if not for him."

Ben nodded. "That isquite the predicament. In my opinion, being kinder to him is a good way to repay him. You have a way to start over with a clean slate."

The deer-wolf looked contemplative. "I guess I could. But what if I just make him hate me even worse?"

The elephant shrugged. "It's better to try than to just stand on the sidelines. If you truly appreciate him saving you, then you need to show it. Cowering from social interaction isn't a good idea."

Ibuki closed his eyes as he mulled Ben's words over in his head. He opened them again and looked at the elephant. "I need to think it over. But thank you."

Ben nodded and stood up. "That's all you need to do. I'm glad to have helped." The elephant smiled before walking away.

Ibuki looked back at Lee, who was walking back to the dorms. The deer-wolf sighed. "Maybe."

Due to Drama Club's cancellation, Lee decided to just go back to his dorm early. When he went inside he found nobody there but Theo, who was using his laptop while sitting on the floor.

The goat looked up at the chimera as he walked in. "Lee-san. Watch."

Theo flipped the laptop around so the screen faced Lee. There was an open folder with a video file. The video, judging by the icon, was Lee in the shower. He had it highlighted.

Theo pressed the "Delete" key. Then he went to the desktop and emptied the recycling bin. The chimera looked surprised. He didn't even ask for this and it's happening.

Next, Theo went onto his Zoozle Drive account. Uploaded to the cloud was a backup of the video. He deleted that as well.

Finally, the goat showed him his cellphone. He was in his gallery app and had a checkmark on the video, indicating that he selected it. He pressed a button with three dots which showed a drop-down menu with a "Delete" option. With that, he finished the job.

"That's everything. I don't have any other backups."

Lee was about to reply when he noticed the goat's eyes were tearing up. "Forgive me, Lee-san. When I figured out what you were I was so s-scared." Theo wiped away his tears. "I woke up one night. No reason, really. I just do it sometimes. I saw you leave the room with Oscar. I was curious, so I eavesdropped on your conversation. When you said you had a nightmare where you ate someone…" The goat started to tremble and continued to wipe the tears away, sniffling. "You were right about me. I'm just a backstabbing bigot. F-forgive me."

Lee stared at the goat before smiling. "I don't blame you for being afraid. What you did was wrong, but you do sound sincere. So I forgive you."

The goat looked up in surprise before smiling and wiping his tears away. "Th-thank you, Lee-san."

Lee walked over and sat down next to Theo. "However, if you really want to make it up to me. Then I have a favor to ask of you."

The goat nodded. "Anything."

The chimera's expression turned serious. "Use that computer of yours to help me hunt down the guy that tried to kill Ibuki-san."

Theo's sad expression faded, replaced with a cocky smirk. "You got it."