Fen trembled somewhat as he found the entire room staring at him. He shook his head. "I-I don't know what you're talking about! Why do you even think it's me?"

Ibuki scowled. "So you're not going to be honest, huh? Fine. I smelled blood on Jo-chan's coat. The only bleeding that happened in that room was from Ceci-chan's injured ankle. And youwere the one that picked her up and took her to the nurse's office." He pulled a plastic baggy from his pocket. Inside was a dirty bandage. "Just to be sure, I had Esther-chan bring me this so I could have it tested. It isher blood on the coat."

Jolene glared at Fen. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Would you like to explain yourself, Fen?"

The panther gulped. "I… I'm so sorry, Jo-chan. I didn't want to do it. But I had to."

Esther raised an eyebrow. "Had to?"

Fen nodded. "I got a letter with a… photo. A really bad photo. It told me to go to a secret spot and slip the cigarettes that were left there into Jo-chan's coat. If I didn't, the photo would get leaked."

Olivia sighed. "It was a photo of you having sex with another male student, wasn't it?"

The panther looked shocked. "H-how did you know?"

Esther turned to Olivia with a knowing look before looking over to Fen. "Do you know who left the note?"

Fen shook his head. "I-I don't know. But the other guy in the picture with me, it'd be reallybad if people found out he's gay."

Olivia adjusted her glasses. "Do you have the note on you?"

Fen shook his head. "There was a box of matches with the cigarettes. The note demanded that I burn it after finding the Paruboros." He turned to Jolene and bowed deeply. "I was a total coward. I can't apologize enough, Jo-chan."

Jolene gritted her teeth. "So because you got threatened by some note, your first course of action was to try and get me fired."

The panther looked up sadly. "Jo-chan, I d-"

Jolene snapped at him. "Shut up."

Fen recoiled in surprise.

The sheep shook her head. "Count yourself lucky that I was already forced to ban a different club member. Because I'd have you out of here and suspended in a heartbeat otherwise. But this club has been shrunk enough because of her, so I'll go easy on you."

The panther gave a sigh of relief. But tensed up again when Jolene's glare got more intense.

She approached the feline, who was somehow intimidated by her despite being twice her height. "You will be banned from all acting roles until further notice. And you can expect much more cleaning in your future."

Fen lowered his head in shame. "O-okay. I understand."

Esther snarled. "And you better bet I'm gonna tell your sister about this!"

The panther's eyes widened and his fur stood on end as he looked at Esther with fearful and pleading eyes. "N-no! Please don't tell Lin! Esther-chan, I'm begging you!"

Ibuki sighed as Fen fell to his knees and started groveling at Esther's feet. The deer-wolf decided to leave.

Lee noticed his boyfriend exiting the room and followed him. "How did you get the blood on that bandage tested? Did your dad pull some strings with the cops?"

The deer-wolf chuckled. "Nope. I didn't test it at all. It was a bluff."

The wolf-rabbit laughed. "Nice!"

"Still, I'm more than a tad disappointed in Fen-senpai. I was impressed when he stepped up and took Ceci-chan to the nurse's office. But trying to get Jo-chan fired because he was scared of a photo?"

"Where do you think that photo came from?"

"I'm fairly certain Meredith is responsible. It wouldn't be the first time she's had photos taken of a gay couple having sex. And we know she despisesJo-chan."

Lee nodded. "Is there anything we can do about it?"

Ibuki sighed. "Now that Fen-senpai burned the note, we can't do a damned thing. We have zero proof it was her."

Lee's ears drooped. It probably was Meredith. But was there really no way to prove it? The chimera growled in frustration.

The deer-wolf stopped walking and looked at his boyfriend with concern before hugging him. "I get it. It pisses me off too. That woman seems intent on tearing this club apart. But we need to calm down for now. Hopefully, we can find something on her in the future."

Lee still looked glum, until his boyfriend put a hand on his cheek and kissed him on the lips.

The wolf-rabbit's heart was racing as he felt the heat of the deer-wolf's body against his. Being around Ibuki always gave him a fuzzy feeling. It was love to him, but to people like Meredith, it was just a perverted lust. As if their love were somehow inferior to a straight couple's.

The wolf-rabbit calmed himself down. Now wasn't the time to think about that. He can't let that old witch ruin this moment. He allowed himself to just get lost in his passion. The important part was that he was lucky to be dating someone as smart and stern as Ibuki. He appreciated the deer-wolf for many, many reasons.

The two pulled their heads away from each other.

Ibuki blushed and smiled. "Do you think I can tell the faculty I went home for a bit again? I'd love to spend another night with you." He sighed wistfully. "If only we were together back then. Sorry again for shoving you, by the way."

Lee blushed as well and chuckled. "Don't worry about that. But I'm not sure we can get away with that more than once." His eyes shifted around. "But if we diddo that, you're only talking about cuddling, right?"

The deer-wolf smirked. "Of course that's what I'm talking about. Although, I wouldn't mind getting back at those damned roommates of yours by keeping them up all night."

The wolf-rabbit laughed awkwardly. "They aren't bad guys, y'know. They just wanted to tease us a bit."

Ibuki chuckled. "Don't worry about that. I'm just kidding," The deer-wolf started heading for the carnivore dorms. "Good night, hun."

Lee grinned. "'Night!"

Esther was staring out the window. She could see Lin and her brother standing outside on the grass.

The female panther was clearly yelling at him and looked absolutely livid.

Fen, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

The white tiger almost felt bad for him.

Ceci looked depressed. "I can't believe Fen-senpai would do something like that. I thought he was a nice guy."

Mila shrugged. "Sometimes nice people do bad things. And he wasbeing blackmailed."

Hikari shook her head. "That's no excuse for trying to get someone fired. What he did was cowardly and selfish."

Esther sighed. "I'm wayangrier at Meredith for putting him in that situation. I guarantee she's behind it. I just can't prove it."

The tiger watched as Lin stormed off, leaving her brother looking guilty and distressed. It seems her hour-long scolding was over.

Esther gritted her teeth as her mind was overtaken by thoughts of getting back at Meredith. Then, an idea came to her. What if she gave that old crone a taste of her own medicine? The tiger could try getting her hands on a pack of Paruboros as well and make the faculty think Meredith was smoking on campus.

She pondered this for a bit before admonishing herself. She didn't want to stoop down to the same kind of dirty tactics. What can she do instead?

Lee was lying down on his back in bed, on his phone yet again.

Lee: "One of my clubmates tried to get Jo-chan fired by putting half a pack of Paruboros in her coat. Apparently, he was being blackmailed."

Haru: "Seems that club of yours can't catch a break."

Legosi: "What was he being blackmailed with?"

Lee: "A photo of him having sex with another guy. He was worried about it getting leaked. We haven't seen the photo though. The blackmail letter told him to burn it."

Haru: "Oh boy. Yeah, I already have a good idea of who the blackmailer is."

Lee: "We don't have any way to prove it was her though."

Legosi: "Well, it's unlikely it WASN'T an adult. You need to be 20 to buy cigarettes. So at least you can narrow it down to someone past that age."

Haru: "Maybe? I've had to chase away students that came to the roof to smoke."

Legosi: "I guess shifty adults sell them to children. They're pretty expensive though. I can't imagine a student giving up half a pack just to get someone fired."

Haru: "Destroying your lungs is an expensive habit I guess."

Legosi: "I think Louis-senpai once mentioned smoking them when he was with the Shishigumi. He said it was really difficult to avoid coughing up a lung."

Lee: "I believe him. Those things smell awful."

Lee: "By the way, I watched Pina pepper spray a couple of bovines that he got expelled."

Haru: "What were they expelled for?"

Lee: "A friend of theirs assaulted Jo-chan. He got expelled and they decided to toss rocks at Pina's kids before he left."

Legosi: "Awful."

Haru: "Wish I could've been there to see them get maced. I bet it would've been funny."

Lee: "It WAS funny."

Lee: "Honestly, they got off easy compared to their buddy. Trevor-senpai snapped his horns off and he cried like a little baby. It was pretty pathetic."

Legosi: "A lot of horned animals are very proud of them. Especially male horned animals."

Haru: "They don't grow back either. He'll probably have to wear fake horns now."

A thought crossed Lee's mind. If Jolene is biologically male how did she get rid of her horns? He remembered in the pre-transition photo Ibuki showed him that she used to have them. If Lee were to part the wool where the horns should be, what would he see? Would it be impolite to ask?

Legosi: "I'm sure that bull did some cruel things. But I don't think anybody deserves permanent mutilation."

Lee: "Still self-conscious about your scars? 'Cause I think the one above your eye is pretty cool."

Legosi: "There is nothing cool about having scars."

Haru: "I think it's kinda sexy. Gives you a 'tough guy' vibe."

Legosi: "There is nothing sexy about having scars either."

Legosi: "Lee, I know you like fighting, but PLEASE try not to get a scar just to look cool."

Lee: "Hey, I wouldn't get one on purpose. But if I had one like yours, I wouldn't be complaining."

Haru: "It's almost time for dinner. We'll talk to you later, hun."

Legosi: "Bye, Lee."

Lee: "Bye, guys. Love you."

Lee sighed as he put his phone away, then he heard the door open and somebody walked in. He smelled Oscar and Alfred. But Oscar didn't smell sweaty for once. The chimera got out of bed and recoiled in surprise.

Oscar looked terrible. He was covered in bruises, had pieces of tissue in both nostrils to stop a bloody nose, and had a black eye on the white half of his face that was so bad it was nearly swollen shut.

Lee approached the rabbit with great concern. "Oscar-kun? What the hell happened?"

Alfred snorted. "Some assholes were harassing that girl he likes. Then he charged in to stop them and got knocked out. I found him unconscious after they left and the girl was calling for help so I took 'em to the nurse's office."

The chimera gave Oscar a stern look. "That's a reallyreckless thing to do. What were you thinking?"

The rabbit looked ashamed. "I-I just wanted to help."

Lee crossed his arms. "Why didn't you get a teacher? Don't tell me you were trying to impress her."

Oscar sighed. "I… I don't know what I was thinking. I just got really mad and rushed in."

The chimera shook his head. "Just don't do something that dangerous again."

The rabbit bit his lip angrily. "Why? Because I'm weak and pathetic? Because I'm not as big and as strong as you?"

Lee was surprised by the harlequin rabbit's sudden hostility. "Oscar-kun I-"

Oscar gritted his teeth and glared at Lee. "As if you'reone to talk, Mr. Superhero! You're the only one allowed to try and help people?! Huh?!"

Alfred scowled. "Oscar-kun! That's enough! Back down!"

The rabbit's ears drooped. "I-I'm sorry, Lee-kun, I just… need to be alone." Oscar climbed into his bunk and pulled the curtain.

The chimera and zebra shot each other concerned looks. But they agreed wordlessly to leave him alone for now.

The following night, the curtains closed for the last time for the current play. Jolene sighed, looking relieved to be done with it. She mumbled to herself. "Never change the script again."

Pina chugged a water bottle. "Well, that's that then." He turned to his children and smiled. "It's time for me to go. Viola, take care of Sebastian."

Sebastian sniffled. "I-I'll miss you, Daddy."

The celebrity hugged his two children tightly. "I'll miss you two even more." He released them before turning his attention to Lee. "Sorry I haven't really spoken with you outside of acting. You didn't do a bad job either, Lee-kun."

The chimera blushed and laughed after getting a compliment from a world-famous superstar. "Th-thanks."

Pina got closer and looked Lee over before chuckling. "You look a lot like your father. Ugly as Hell."

The chimera was shocked. Where did that come from?!

The Dall sheep walked away.

Lee glared after him and mumbled under his breath. "Dick."

Ibuki chuckled. "That's a lotof people's sentiment." He wrapped an arm around Lee's shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The wolf-rabbit blushed again.

Jolene approached them and giggled. "You two area cute couple. But I need to speak with Ibuki-sama privately. It's very important."

The deer-wolf smiled and released his boyfriend. "Talk to you later, hun."

Lee grinned. "Yup! Bye!"

Ibuki walked off with Jolene.

The wolf-rabbit looked around the room. Esther and Olivia weren't there. The white tiger must be changing out of her costume and the lab went along for the company. Lee made his way to the locker room and was surprised to hear his phone ringing. He opened the locker and pulled it out immediately, putting it to his ear. "Hello?"

An unfamiliar male voice came over the phone. "Hello. Is this Lee the uhh… wolf-rabbit?"

"Yeah, it is. Who am I talking to?"

"I'm Dr. Ryan. I'm calling to inform you that your father is in the hospital."