Chapter 55 - Come To An Understanding

Once more, Louis arrived at the entrance to the black market, waiting for his escort, humming.

Animals walked along on the opposite side of the street, leaving him alone as he stood. It took a few more minutes for him to realize Ichi had not given him an exact time to be there and Louis had no way of directly contacting any of the members.

The buck blinked. What to do...What to do…

The deer remembered his call history, finding when Ichi had called him and then calling him back. The voice on the line informed the buck that the number he tried to call was unreachable.

Louis blinked. He guessed it made sense. Ichi obviously would want to stay as hidden as possible. He sighed. Well, he had his gun. Time to go through as quickly as he could.

He took the path he remembered, mostly sticking to shadows, alleys, and sometimes residential streets. It was odd imagining anyone living back there, and none of the living accommodations were very well kept. Unlike in the rest of the city, noon seemed to be the low point here.

However, that didn't mean it was deserted. Up ahead on the path were two carnivores talking to each other. A black bear and a komodo dragon, and there wasn't any room to walk past them without either noticing him.

Louis made no noise as he passed, keeping his hand on his satchel. He could feel their gazes latch onto him. One of them shouted, "Oi!"

The buck ignored them, walking quicker.

"You lost? Or are ya sellin'?" the other one shouted.

No response from the deer.

Louis' prey instincts soon told him their eyes were off him. Good. Now he just had to-

He turned the corner and ran into something, causing him to recoil. After gathering his bearings he saw himself in the company of three finely-dressed wolves, the one he had bumped into wearing a pelt over his suit and smoking a cigar. Despite their seemingly high status, they all gawked at the deer that had just ran into them.

Louis stood there, looking at them all. "Gentleman."

The center one regarded him with his squinted eyes. It was clear he was on the older end of the spectrum, and his fur was black with tinges of gray. The wolf to the left of him was white and the other was a gray wolf with markings similar to Legosi.

The black wolf brushed himself off. "Fawn. This pelt is deer, you know. If you had sullied it, I would wear you next."

"Fascinating. It looks very nice on you."

The three continued to stare some more, and it only broke when the black wolf burst out laughing, dropping the cigar to the ground. He turned to, what Louis assumed to be, his subordinates. "Check out this kid! Not even scared!" He turned back and stepped into Louis' personal space, looming above him and growling slightly as he made eye contact.

The herbivore grinned. "That's a lovely growl you have there. Does it always sound that way or does it change the more you do it?"

The growl stopped and the wolf laughed out loud in his face, some of his saliva getting on him. It smelled of smoke.

"Get a load a' this guy!" The dog stepped away, allowing the other two to observe. "Not even afraid! The balls on this kid!"

The other two wolves tried their hand too, leering down at Louis and growling, showing their teeth as well. Neither were as tall as Legosi, Louis noted to himself.

Louis smiled. "Oh wow...What a range of growls. Just beautiful."

Their eyes went wide and they joined the black wolf in their laughter, which sounded like rough, rapid barks, their tails wagging the whole time.

The deer leaned against the wall and smiled, crossing his arms. "Wonderful laughs, too?" He gasped. "And those tails!"

The lupine trio gained composure, eventually, straightening up their postures and ties. The black one stepped to the side and offered Louis the passage forward. "Well, off you go, sir."

"Thank you. Have a good day." He began continuing forward again.

"Well that was fuckin' weird." he heard one of the wolves say.

"I thought you were gonna gut him after he started talking to us like puppies," the other remarked.

"Naw, that'll be for some other animal to do. Let's get goin'."

Louis smirked. Pretty wolves. He continued on his way.

The rest of the trip occurred without incident, and soon that dilapidated tower appeared again. Louis took the small path on the side to the back, like the previous times, only this time, in the small yard, in the back, there sat a buck, dressed in black, sitting on a tree stump with one leg crossed on the other. He was looking down, busy with his hands.

Louis walked up to him. "What are you up to?"

Ichi looked up, his expression soft before returning to the usual stern. In his hands were his knife and a bit of wood. "Greetings, Shi."

"You whittle?"

The older deer looked down at his work. "I do."

Louis sat down on the edge of the stump. "That's interesting. I never pegged you as someone who'd do such a thing."

Ichi glanced over to where their legs were touching. "I like art."

"Cooking is like art. That's why I like it," Louis said.

"Cooking, huh? You should make us all something sometime..."

"Should I? I'm not sure." He kicked his legs a bit. "I didn't think you'd be out here alone like this, either."

"You should." Ichi went back to his whittling, revealing what appeared to be the start of a deer skull, minus antlers. "And why not?"

"I thought you'd be in there, taking charge like you do."

"We're all afforded our free time," Ichi said, sounding like he was reading a script. He moved away slightly so his arm could move freely without hitting Louis.

The deer looked down at the ground. "Makes sense, I guess."

"I knew you'd make it here in one piece," the other buck remarked.

"I guess that was some sort of test?"

"You could see it as such." Ichi held his work out in front of him, letting the sun hit it at different angles. "I'm glad that the black market is unable to claim you again."

"Wouldn't you be sorry if it did."

Ichi brought his work in progress back to his knife. "But I knew it wouldn't."

"Of course you did."

"We were both brought into this world by the fires of hell. It only makes sense." Ichi pocketed the piece of wood and stood up.

Louis chuckled. "So dramatic."

The group leader sighed and looked away. "Come on. Let's get the day started."

"Alright." The buck stood up and followed him.

Once again, they entered the hatch and walked through the underground corridor. Louis didn't know how to feel when he felt the trip becoming familiar.

Hachi was at the door this time, and they nodded to the couple as they came in.

Louis grinned. "Hello, again."

"Are you good out here, Hachi? Or do you need to switch? I know you like long shifts here, but you've been out for five hours, now." The other deer crossed his arms.

Hachi shook their head, waving their hands.

Louis hummed. "I'm excited to wear the outfit you made me again."

Hachi put their hands on their cheeks, blushing.

The deer continued grinning. "Really. It's so comfortable and it looks good. You really did a good job."

They looked away, bashfully, and waved them along.

Ichi chuckled as they entered the main building. After the door closed, he turned to Louis. "Wow, you really have a way with words. I'm not sure the last time I've seen them like that."

"I guess it's a sort of...silver tongue."

"And it works on herbivores, too. Very interesting." Ichi turned on his heel and began to walk away. "I'll be on my way, now. You should find Roku and find out what's going on tonight."

"To my cell, first, of course," Louis grinned.

"Yes yes," the leader waved his hand casually as he walked away. "I'll be in my office if you need me."

"Alright." The deer made his way upstairs and gathered everything, once again putting on his outfit and the vial of blood, then venturing off to find the Yahya fanboy.

On the way, he spied Kyuu leaning against a crude windowsill, looking out.

Louis stopped, observing her. "Kyuu? Are you okay?"

The rabbit's head shifted to him, her large eyes upon him. "Yeah. You really like that outfit, huh."

"I mean...I have to wear it..."

"Not when you're not out on a mission," Kyuu pointed out. "Although, you have one later, so it makes sense. You'll need to wear your mask as well."

"Yeah...So are you okay?"

"Yes." She looked back out the window.

Louis came closer. "What are you up to?"

"Looking." The view outside was unremarkable, overlooking the black market from a bit of a low angle. Below was the small yard Ichi had been sitting in just before.

The deer blinked. "Uh...At?"

The bunny grumbled. "Do I gotta be lookin' at something in particular?"

"Sorry. I should be on my way, then..."

"Yeah."

He made his way out, quickly, searching even more for Roku. Coincidentally, the horse was just the animal Louis ran into next. He was sitting in his cell, a box pulled up to the bed he sat on. On the box was a piece of paper he was studying.

"Yo," Louis said, coming in. "I'm ready for our mission today."

Roku glanced up at him, and then seemed to remember he should be annoyed. "Yeah? How can you be ready if you don't know what's happening?"

"I'm ready to know what's happening, then, of course." Louis looked around for somewhere to sit.

The large herbivore seemed to notice this and groaned, moving aside to make some room on the bed.

Louis sat next to him. "Don't worry. It will be a good mission."

The horse looked at him, doubtfully. "Have you ever done anything like this before?"

"Surprisingly, yeah."

"Really."

"Yes. We took down the killer at school."

"Killer at school?"

"There was a murderer at school that killed two of our friends and kidnapped another...We put a stop to it."

"Hm." Roku turned back to the paper, which turned out to be a map. "Sounds like the story of a Beastar in the making."

"Ha...I was going to be."

"Really, now? Lemme guess: you fucked up your chance by marrying a male carnivore."

"Actually, no. That wasn't it. I just decided to quit."

"Fuckin' serious? You got that far and dropped it? Why?" It was clear to Louis already that this seemed to cut the equine deep for some reason.

"I wasn't happy. Simple," Louis shrugged. "I mean, I was already suicidal before, but having that weight on your shoulders and everyone's eyes on you...It's hard."

"...That makes sense." The horse deflated like a balloon. "That pressure must be hard on a kid."

"My father wanted me to be this perfect animal and I just...wasn't. I can't solve everyone's problems if I can't even solve my own. I've always felt trapped in a box my whole life. Sometimes, I still do." Unless I'm with Legosi...

Roku nodded, although he didn't look happy. "So, you were bought out of here by a guy that wanted you to do whatever he wanted?"

"...Yeah. That's exactly how it was."

The other animal chuckled. "Ichi's right. He was better off not being chosen. Guy like him in your shoes probably would have killed the old man."

Louis buried his face. "He's trying to be better. He is better."

"Hm. Good, I suppose. What's he think about your wolf?"

The buck turned. "You don't want to hear about that."

"You're a weird kid," Roku stated, ending that conversation. He then turned to the map. "Alright, let's go over this."

The deer looked back. "Alright."

The horse pointed to a spot on the map, which Louis now noticed was hand drawn. "This is the tower and this red line here is the path we're taking. I take it you're not familiar with this area."

"You made this? Wow." Louis blinked. "It looks good. And no, I'm not really familiar with this area."

Roku stifled a laugh. "Pshh, no way I drew this. Thank Juu for that."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Real good photographic memory in that tiny brain of hers."

"Hm. So you are all parts in a working machine, then? Each person has their own talent that helps the group."

Roku considered this. "We all have our specialties, and there is some overlap. But no member is expendable. Seems like that's what you need to prove."

"I doubt Ichi would let me be expendable, unfortunately."

"Hell no, he won't. He's obsessed with animals with brands. You'd think you guys piss gold or something." The gruffness in his voice sounded resentful.

"But me, specifically. I don't understand it."

"I think it's because you're the same species and grew up similarly." Roku turned back to the map.

Louis just hushed about that. "Go on."

"How good are you at jumping, Shi?" the white stallion asked, bluntly.

"I don't jump very often so...not?"

Roku groaned. "Well, the path to the point we're going to stake out is on a rooftop so we're gonna need to jump between some gaps. Guess I'm carrying you, then. You look like you weigh nothing, at least."

"Oh boy. That will be interesting. We're like...superheroes."

Roku gave him a side eye. "If you think lying under a blanket all night looking at a building is superhero work, then knock yourself out."

"Is that what we're doing? Goodness."

"Yeeep," the other herbivore sighed. "Tonight is the night they get their shipment in, we think. We'll be able to deduce if kids are probably part of it."

"That's good, at least. I'll make sure I stay quiet..."

"And go to the bathroom before we leave. Don't wanna use my jars."

"J-jars? Eugh..."

"Yeah! So take care of it beforehand!" Roku's finger then branched from their spying spot and followed a dotted line. "Now, if we're spotted, somehow, this is the most optimal path to escape. We'll need to jump down a fire escape."

"I just hope we don't have to fight…"

"Just leave it to me if it comes to that. I know you just started training yesterday and still don't have your antlers." Roku turned to look at Louis and started to laugh.

Louis nodded. "The hospital took them away when I got admitted, even though I just got them back."

Roku reached up and touched one of the growing appendages. "They're so round and velvety! I'm just imagining Ichi growing these! God, he'd look ridiculous. He probably wears fake ones when he sheds."

"I usually do, actually." Louis seemed unfazed.

"Well, what happened to them?"

"I'm not ashamed anymore."

Roku turned back to the map. "Must be easy on the neck, at least. Anyway, this operation is quite simple. We go to that spot, hunker down, watch, and leave once dawn breaks. Feel free to fall asleep, because I'll be awake the whole time. Better let your wolf know something came up with your 'job', though."

"I will, I will. And don't worry. I'll do my best to stay awake."

Roku nodded, still looking at the map. "Any questions, kid?"

"It seems easy enough."

"Correct." The horse reached forward and rolled the map up before checking his watch. "We'll want to head up while it's still light out, since the black market is less active during the day. I'd say we leave at 5 PM. That's a little less than four hours. Meet me in the lobby, then."

"What should I do while I wait?"

Roku stood up with a grunt, slapping his hands onto his knees. "I don't fuckin' know! Figure it out."

"Okay." The deer got up. "Uh...see you soon."

Louis left, feeling his stomach rumble. Oh right, he hadn't eaten lunch before he departed home. He made his way to the kitchen, remembering where it was and finding no one there. He didn't want to take too many ingredients. What to make...

The items in the kitchen were extremely random, for lack of a better term, indicating either a cook who liked to experiment, or was creating a wide array of tastes. Some of the food and ingredients, on closer inspection, were actually past their expiration date.

Louis decided he would make vegetables with rice. He got to work, trying not to make too much noise or cause disruption. He even found an apron nearby that was a little too long for him, but it worked, and reminded him of home…

"I see you took my suggestion."

Louis jumped, seeing Ichi standing in the doorway. The buck blinked, turning back around. "...Yes. I did."

Ichi strolled in, slowly. "What's on the menu?"

"Rice with vegetables. I didn't want to use too many ingredients..."

The mysterious animal held his hands up. "Oh, don't feel like you're imposing! This kitchen is a community space. Anyone can bring ingredients in for others to use, although it's mostly Juu and Hachi."

"But I didn't bring anything, so..."

"That's fine." The other buck found a seat and lowered into it, crossing his legs. "Besides, you're going to share, right?"

"I wasn't planning to..."

Ichi's ears wilted. "Well, that's a shame. I came here for nothing..."

"You came here to eat? Or to find me?" He grinned and his tail flicked.

"I came here to try your cooking, of course. So, both."

"How did you know I was in here?"

"You mentioned cooking earlier, so I figured it'd be how you'd kill time before the mission." Ichi looked around the room with an almost carefree motion.

"There's no way you could have known."

Ichi scoffed. "What? It's entirely reasonable for me to have known."

"Not sure about that."

Ichi looked down at his nails. "What do you think of tonight's operation?"

"I think it sounds like I'd rather have someone I could talk to."

The buck chuckled. "It'll only be around ten hours. I'm sure you and Roku can find something to talk about."

"He doesn't like me. At this rate, I'd rather talk to you for ten hours. At least you'd have something to say and I can laugh at your weird laugh or something."

"Hm." Ichi looked away, resting his hand on his chin.

"What?" He moved about as he worked.

"Just thinking. I'm sure Roku will warm up to you."

"Maybe...I don't know. Like I said, I don't think he likes gay animals."

"Really?" Ichi shifted his legs. "We never talked about it, so I guess it never came up."

"Eh...I should just learn to shut up anyway. I talk too much."

"You do." Ichi punctuated this with a small laugh. "I never would have thought you'd be such a chatterbox."

"I just have a lot to say! Yeesh."

"I can't imagine you were always like this. I mean, you didn't learn to speak until much older than you should have."

"Well, my father almost immediately taught me how to speak once I was adopted. Then...he made me practice public speaking often and I was the most popular student at school..."

"So you talked a lot at school?"

"I did. I was the lead actor in the drama club, after all." He said this with a smile.

"Ah, that makes sense. So, you're just acting now? Acting like you enjoy it here."

"I knew you would say that."

"Is it true?" Ichi's legs crossed the other way again.

"When you smile, is that just acting?"

Ichi cocked his head. "Why would you think it is?"

"Because I used to be like that."

"I have emotions, Shi. I smile when I feel I should."

"So do I."

Ichi just nodded, continuing to watch the other deer cook.

"It's not an act. I like it here...so far."

"Well, if that's true, then I'm glad. I just hope you won't shy away when our work gets dangerous."

"Dead or alive, I'm fine with either, I guess."

"You won't die, I'm sure of it." Ichi stood up and strolled over, peering over Louis' shoulder with his eyes squinted.

The buck continued working. "Hmm?"

"How long until it's done?"

"Not too long. We have to wait for the rice to cook..."

"'We'? I thought you weren't sharing." Ichi gave a smirk.

"Ugh. I'm not going to just deny our leader food..."

"Smart."

After it was done, Louis and Ichi both had a bowl of rice with vegetables. "It's probably not the best, but...it's lunch."

Ichi sat across from Louis and took a bite, his mouth twisted thoughtfully while chewing. "More spices or condiments certainly wouldn't hurt it."

"If you had it," Louis teased.

"We should make a list, then. There's more to running this operation than just missions and espionage. I have to make sure this place is livable, too." Ichi took a bigger bite this time.

"There's some salt over there, if you want me to get you some."

"You didn't even put salt in it?" Ichi asked, a look of what Louis assumed to be shock on his face.

His answer was simple. "Nope."

The leader sighed and got up to grab some. "You always eat this bland?"

Louis rolled his eye. "I'm not always this stingy, that's for sure."

Ichi came back and sprinkled the salt over his meal. "I want to see you go all out some time. Juu mentioned a particularly good smelling curry..."

The buck blinked. "Did she now?"

"Of course." Ichi took another bite, and then another.

"Is it no longer trash?" Louis smirked, looking down at his bowl.

"It is food. Thank you for making it."

"Tsk." The chef looked to the side.

"What are you going to do now?" Ichi asked as he pushed the now empty bowl away.

"Finish my food, most likely. I eat much slower than you." He took a bite.

Ichi rolled his eyes. "I mean after this. Will you train more?"

"Perhaps. I'm not sure, yet."

"How are you feeling from yesterday's training?"

"To be honest, just a little sore..."

Ichi stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't push yourself too much, but the training is a good idea. A gun can only get you so far."

"I know...I'm going to do my best," Louis said, with determination.

"Well, at least you'll always have a spot here as a chef," Ichi reassured with a smirk. "Maybe your Chimera can even help with that."

"What do you mean?"

Ichi's face went deadpan. "I was joking."

"If you can call it a joke."

"Yes, it was. You're just too stubborn to laugh," Ichi fired back.

"I bet I laugh way more than you do."

"You'd win that bet." The other buck withdrew his arm and took his bowl to the sink.

Louis chuckled and continued eating.

"Well, I'm off to find Roku. Have fun doing whatever you choose to do." The green-eyed deer gave another casual wave as he slipped out of the room, leaving Louis alone once more.

The buck finished, in no time, and then made his way to where he had trained last time, deciding to practice what he had learned the day before.

Unsurprisingly, the alpaca was in there, doing some jumping jacks, which honestly looked pretty funny because of his long neck.

"Oh. Hey. Shi. How's. It. Going?" San's words lined up with each time his feet planted on the ground.

Louis smiled. "It's going well. Looks like I'll be seeing you every time I come here. Thank goodness."

San stopped and wiped his brow. "Yeah, well, physical activity was always the thing that kept me entertained the most as a kid, so I just always keep up with it. Gonna join me?"

"You're pretty skinny for someone who trains so much."

"I figure that's because of how I was raised. We were raised. We all kind of got stunted. You're kind of short for a red deer, Kyuu has early onset arthritis, and Ichi's antlers never grow in properly." San threw out a punch and then a kick. "Doesn't mean I can't kick ass. My frame means I'm harder to hit."

"Then let's hope I never have to fight you!" Louis laughed. "Then again, you're too cute for me to want to even try."

San turned to him, clearly surprised by the comment. He then smiled so wide his eyes closed. "Aww, thanks! I promise I won't use my looks to hurt you!"

"Ah! My heart!" Louis clutched his chest. "The smile! Noooo!"

"I could always wear my mask when we train to prevent that. Anyway, let's get to it."

After training, and still panting, Louis said goodbye to San with a smile and grabbed his gun, suppressor, and satchel, then returning down to the lobby to meet Roku for their first mission.

The horse was leaning against the wall next to the door, wearing his custom Hachi-made outfit. Unlike Louis, Roku's outfit covered all of his body in black but was still form-fitting and flexible. The pants tucked into some dark running shoes and the collar of the top was larger than usual and seemed to be made of a more rigid material. It was folded down at that moment. In his hands, he held an alligator mask and a fairly large backpack sat on the ground at his feet. He leaned off the wall when he saw Louis approach.

The buck was holding his own mask. "Before we begin, do we wear the masks the whole time?"

"We'll wear them until we get into our spot and go under the blanket. Then we'll take them off, otherwise, we would probably go crazy." Roku reached into his pocket and took out a flip phone. "Here, this is from Ichi. Every member's number is in here."

Louis took it. "My burner phone. This is only for calls within the group and emergencies, correct?"

"And only if those emergencies involve contacting someone within the group, yes. Oh, yeah." Roku reached back and pulled out some wire. "The charger. Did you go to the bathroom and everything?"

"Yes, I did. And I assume there's no messaging anyone in the group, correct?"

The large animal shrugged. "Do what you want, although, I doubt you kids even know how to text on one of these things."

"Alright, then. I'm ready if you are."