Chapter 93 - With Love, Comes Results

Louis set an alarm that night to wake up at 7. And wake up he did, rousing Legosi from his sleep. After grabbing a few things and putting what he bought the day before in his satchel, he bent down next to his husband. "This is it. I'm going to go with Nori to watch him eat meat today."

Legosi smiled sleepily at him, eyes barely open. "Mmm, and have your first time with Pina. Good luck."

Louis nuzzled his nose. "Thank you, sweetheart. Don't forget, Bill after work."

"Don't worry. If I forget, he definitely won't."

"Mhm! Well, I'm off!" He kissed his lips.

"Byyye," Legosi's sleepy voice came as he headed out.

The whole way to the tower, Louis had bouts of nervousness and excitement, but mostly excitement. Pina clearly missed him and he couldn't wait to see his boyfriend again.

Upon arrival, he noticed that Ichi and Ni were standing outside. He moved closer and hid to listen to what they were saying.

"It's definitely summer now," the other buck sighed. "I hate not being able to wear coats and jackets."

Ni looked at the sky. "I don't care for the heat. You've seen me wear hoodies."

"I don't know how you do it. You're so warm when you hold me."

"Is that a problem for you? I'll try and hold you less," the goat said.

Ichi hammered on the goat's strong back with his fists. "Stop being evil!"

"It's what you said," Ni pointed out. "You don't like the heat."

"I like your heat," Ichi corrected.

"We make quite the heat when we fornicate. You sweat a lot."

"Thanks for the insight, Chirou," Ichi laughed.

"Yes, Atsushi." Ni paused for a moment and seemingly took a breath before speaking again. "Do you ever feel like you're neglecting your Branded members? We are alone very often now, not even working."

Ichi blew a raspberry. "You, me, Roku, San and Juu are laying good groundwork for the Okamigumi operation. It's good that everyone else is letting loose, don't you think? Everyone is happier than they've ever seemed. Even Nori, recently."

"I've noticed. That is good. Animals getting along will boost morale. But do you ever want to stop the operation and just be with me? I'm not saying you should but I'm curious what's been going on in your head."

The deer was silent for a moment. "It's been on my mind, when the market is completely gone. I'd like to."

"But what about before that? Do you ever want to just walk away?"

Ichi sighed and looked away. "I...know I shouldn't. But I do wonder sometimes..."

"You can tell me. I feel like that's a life you want."

"I know...but it's selfish. There's still herbivores suffering out there that the authorities will continue to ignore. Carnivores that are taking advantage of herbivores."

The serow turned to him. "You don't have to care so much. This Okamigumi thing could get you hurt and I'm not keen on losing you."

"I won't get hurt. But yeah, I know how upset you get when I get papercuts." Ichi stroked his face.

The goat looked into his eyes. "I'm being serious. You know that I feel things because of you now. If you turn away you don't have to look back. Let everyone else deal with it."

"Who else? San and Kyuu can't do it. You'd be with me. Roku? He lives in Yahya's shadow." Ichi turned away, folding his arms to his chest.

"That's my point, Atsushi. Who cares who does it? We can leave and we don't have to worry about that. We'll take the money that we have here and go buy a place and get jobs and have normal lives. Something."

The buck wiped at his eyes. "Stop it right now, Hachirou. I mean it. You know I can't."

The taller herbivore looked to the side. "Yes, sir."

Louis took the awkward silence to approach them, acting as he had never heard anything.

Ichi's ear lifted and he turned. "Oh, welcome back. Early today, Shi."

"Yes, I'm feeling rather good and eager to begin training. Is that alright?"

"...It is. Just hope Shichi is up for it. He was quite tired yesterday."

"I will go to his cell and ask him if he's feeling alright. Is everything okay?"

Ni was just watching him.

"He went out for a little sabbatical over the weekend that tired him out." Ichi stood up straighter and walked forward. "You two have really seemed to hit it off. Is he the reason you've been in higher spirits?"

"It is. He really understands me. It's like having a good friend in the tower, which makes it all the more bearable."

"That's good. It seems you're getting along with others aside from him, too. It's good for you to bond with fellow herbivores."

"Alright, I'm going to go bond with my fellow herbivores, then." He didn't waste any time before he walked past them and began making his way to Pina's cell, wondering if he would still be sleeping. Laying next time sounded really nice and it was still really early. But it was a big day.

The tower was quiet, which he noticed as he walked. It was almost...peaceful, which he liked. Most of the animals were most likely still sleeping anyway. The deer finally arrived at Pina's cell and peered inside.

The sheep's back was to him, his locks of wool falling across his huge pillow which held the heft of his horns. He wasn't moving, aside from soft breathing. Just as Pina had predicted yesterday, he was asleep.

Louis smiled and came closer, removing his satchel and setting it down next to the bed, then sat down on the edge, looking down at the sheep. He was so beautiful and so peaceful. The buck reached his hand out and stroked down his arm. "Mm..." After removing his shoes and pants, he got into bed next to him, wrapping his arm around him and pulling him close, then closing his eyes, just enjoying the quiet moment.

Pina moved, slightly, sighing and moving his arms to entwine with Louis'. "Good morning sunshiiiine. The world says hello~" he practically sang, albeit quietly.

The deer said nothing, smiling lightly. It would be rather funny if it was some other animal doing this.

Pina rubbed his hands up and down the arms holding him. "You tired?" he asked.

"Mmm, yeah, but who cares..." Louis pushed his muzzle into his neck. "I didn't want to wake you."

"I know," Pina said with a soft giggle. "Just asking cuz...y'know we could just nap for a bit."

"If you'd like. It's our day..."

"Mmm, yeah. My day starts out by napping with you, only..." The sheep suddenly shifted so he was facing Louis. His pretty eyes were clearly tired, but his smile was wide. "Your fur is a mess," he joked.

"It is?" Louis started smoothing the fur down on his head.

"Yeah. You left in a hurry, am I right?"

"You were in distress. I needed to save you. There's cause for leaving in a hurry."

"Ah, yes. My prince." Pina moved forward and kissed him softly. "Hmm...one of us is supposed to wake up now I think...let's change the story."

"Change it by...falling asleep?"

"Yeah, and if we can't fall asleep we can cuddle." Pina brought his leg up to wrap around Louis.

The deer sighed. "Either way, cuddling is happening." He rubbed the sheep's leg softly, thinking about...that night.

"Cuddling happening." Pina nestled into him. "Mmm, so what's today gonna be like?"

"Interesting," Louis smiled. "Learning about meat-eating, our date..."

"Super fun training where nothing happens," Pina added on.

"Super fun when you're with someone you care about."

The sheep stroked Louis' face. "Aww, I care about San too! I'm glad we agree."

"I'm glad you knew what I meant."

"I'm glad you love my sense of humor." Pina kissed his eyepatch.

Louis rubbed a hand in his wool. "So, this meat-eating date. 3 herbivores and an omnivore. It could be dangerous."

"It'll be during the day and we all can kinda kick ass. I don't think so." Pina made a thoughtful face. "If Ichi were to find out...that'd be the worst-case scenario."

"We have to make sure we don't let that happen with everything we have."

"Yeah. Nori's so excited. It's hard to believe he's addicted to killing, and I can't believe that our lives got to a point where we actually met someone like that." Pina brought his hands up Louis' antlers.

The deer continued. "I still can't believe it, either. I don't want anyone to die today or any blood to be shed."

"Yeah, it's a turn off for sure," Pina commented, tracing his finger along the surface of the antlers.

"Of course you're thinking about that," Louis whispered. He leaned down and grabbed his satchel, then held it to Pina. "Look inside and see if you like what I bought."

Pina sleepily reached in and brought some of the stuff out, causing him to smile. "Yeahhh, this is the stuff I've been missing. I'm glad you called me so you could get the right stuff." He reached in again and pulled a bottle of lube out. "Definitely like this."

"I came prepared," Louis stated.

"Imagine trying to keep it a secret. What you were planning tonight," Pina laughed. "Not against me."

"That's why I didn't even try." Louis felt some nervousness creep in. "Are you excited to make me look pretty?"

"Oh, definitely~" Pina put everything back in the bag and set it aside. "Hmm, I don't think I'm going back to sleep now."

"Why not? Too excited?"

"Yeah. I'm too worked up now and also I'm hungry." Pina gave him a quick peck. "Let's go to the kitcheeeen."

"What did I get all comfy for then?" Louis pouted.

"Hmm, okay, we can lay here for a bit more. How did therapy go, by the way?"

Louis laid back down. "It went well. We...never did that essay, after all."

"Hmm, that's a flaw you both have, then," Pina poked the deer's nose.

"We told her about...us. You and I. Legosi and Bill...It felt good to talk about."

"That's good! Did she think it was good?"

"She did! We're still young and I can't help but think it's the kind of thing animals our age would do. I mean, how do you grow older and stay this attached and playful?"

"I think it's possible. Being boring and strict is for straight people." Pina reached around to rub Louis' back. "And I see us all sticking together for...well...forever? I'd like that."

Pina's smile faded. "You think something could break us apart?"

"I don't know. We're still young and we make reckless decisions," Louis explained. "I'm thrilled, but we have, hopefully, so many years ahead of us."

"Well, I'm holding onto this as long as I can," Pina declared.

"Deal."

The time for training soon came and Louis and Pina made their way to the training cell. "We have arrived."

"Long time no see!" San chimed.

"Yo." Kyuu offered.

"Yeah, I had to drag him back by the antlers, but he's here," Pina smiled fondly at him.

Kyuu snorted. "Says you, the guy that just takes off to go on a hike that renders you immobile the entire day."

"It was only two days!" Pina reminded.

"Even after all that training, he can't handle a two-day hike," Louis laughed. "Can he even handle training today?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

San laughed, softly. "Well, we'll start off slowly and warm up like usual, so if your tired body will get used to it."

They all sat down and began to do their stretches.

"Say, why doesn't anyone else do this?" Pina questioned.

"Lazy," Kyuu stated, simply.

San cleared his throat. "Everyone trains in their own way. We just do it together because, well, we've been doing it since we were younger. Also, we never had to train other animals to summon Chimeras before this."

Louis nodded. "It's always so thrilling to do all this training with no results."

San laughed nervously. "Well, not to suggest this, but if you were to do it every day you'd see something happen, I think. Maybe try doing it at home?"

"I guess," Louis shrugged. "How will we warm up today?"

"With the same stretches as always," the alpaca informed. "Now let's begin."

The trio let San lead and Louis had to stop himself from stealing glances at Pina, so he just turned away. The warmups transitioned into the more general exercises, as well as the sparring. Louis and Pina could barely keep themselves from laughing as they went at each other. Finally, Louis was the one to pin him and he made sure Pina knew he was happy that he finally won a sparring match.

"No fair," the sheep spat. "I'm worn out from...activity."

"Hiking," Louis rolled his eyes. "I still won. This still counts."

"It counts." Both San and Kyuu agreed.

"I'm disabled too," Pina muttered as he sat up, rubbing his arms.

"Disabled?"

Pina lifted his pant leg to reveal the prosthetic. "You forget?"

"You've been doing fine so far! Don't use that as an excuse just because you lost."

"It's true, Shichi. You usually win. Stop being a sore loser," Kyuu said, voice dry as usual.

"But I'm so good at it." The sheep spun and struck a pose, causing San to laugh.

"Oh man, you guys are a riot!"

Louis snorted. "Let's move on to the 'summoning' if you can even call it that."

"Of course. Just as always, Shi." San stood in front of the buck, as usual, intending to be the target of the possible Chimera.

Louis stood his ground. He was ready to look ridiculous while making wolf poses.

"Alright, now bring forth your past, as usual," San commanded.

Louis closed his eye and thought hard about everything. Being trapped in the Horns Conglomerate, fighting Riz, breaking up with Legosi, losing his eye...That same weight he always felt when he revisited these times set upon his chest.

"That's it. Keep on going."

Finding out Shogi's brother was dead, Legosi getting attacked by Riz and needing to be treated by Gouhin, the numerous times he almost took his own life due to the pressure...It all flooded back to him, swirling around his mind.

"You always look so silly trying to look big like that, Shi," Pina giggled.

"It's necessary for the summoning," Kyuu replied without missing a beat.

Pina's voice rang in Louis' head. His flowing thoughts changed and suddenly he was thinking about Legosi's voice, and Bill's voice, Gosha's voice, his father's...All of the people he cared about. And then his mind was running down a waterfall, thinking about all of the help he had been given throughout everything bad that ever happened. Legosi saved his life, Bill stood up to Riz, Pina got himself into a cult for him...

These thoughts were making him have an overwhelming sense of warmth and safety as he realized that no matter what happened, those he loved would always be there for him. They always have been. Pina was right there now. Legosi was waiting for him at home. The deer was feeling so much love he felt like he was overflowing with it.

Without even feeling himself do it, the buck transitioned into his wolf pose, pretending he had claws on his and holding them up while putting one foot back.

"W-woah..." San backed up a bit, and his gaze went over the buck's head.

Kyuu gasped at the alpaca's reaction. "Did he...?"

Pina had stopped giggling and was now staring intently, unable to see anything other than San's reaction.

"Sh-Shi! Shi you, you've summoned it! It's...it's..."

Above San was a Chimera of the likes he had never seen. It took the form of a wolf, but atop its head were a set of magnificent antlers. His and Kyuu's were simply forms of carnivores, while Ichi's was something else entirely. But now was his first time seeing a hybrid Chimera.

Louis kept his eyes shut. "What does it look like?!"

"It's a hybrid! Deer and wolf!" San announced, voice disbelieving.

"W-what do I do now? How do I use it?" Louis asked.

"First, open your eyes," San instructed, voice calming down.

"Eye," Pina noted.

"Uh, yes. Sorry. Open your eye."

The deer did, slowly, looking at the three animals in front of him. "Okay?"

"I-it's still there. Okay, uh, try focusing your attention on someone else," San suggested.

Louis moved and looked at his boyfriend. "Like this?"

In a moment, Pina suddenly bore witness to the deer/wolf apparition. "W-woah, Louis! How are you fucking doing that?"

"I-I don't know! I was thinking about all the bad things I've experienced and then I started thinking about everyone I care about and how much they've helped me and how good they make me feel."

San and Kyuu's ears both folded back as they exchanged looks. Shortly after, the bunny recovered and stepped forward. "Show me, Shi."

Louis slowly faced her. "It's really still there?"

She looked up, her eyes wide. She nodded.

"Uh, stay there! Let me call Ichi!" San took his phone out and brought it to his ear.

Pina could only watch with, well, a sense of pride? He had seen Louis at this for so long now. He deserved the fruits of his labor, even if the purpose of those fruits was yet unknown.

"Yeah, it's San! Get up here! Shi's done it! He's-" San stopped talking as he brought the phone down. "He hung up."

Louis swallowed. "I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing."

"Is it hard?" Pina asked, curiously.

"No, not really..."

San gawked while Kyuu just forced some air out of her mouth with puffed cheeks. Before anyone could say anything else, a cacophony of footsteps was heard on the concrete floors.

Louis turned toward the entrance. "That doesn't sound like only Ichi..."

Alas, it wasn't. The buck stood in the entrance, stance wide, flanked by Ni and Roku as the rest of the Branded poked their heads in.

Nori was the first to speak, as always. "Ichi was moving like hell so we followed him. What's going on?!"

"Show me!" Ichi demanded, eagerly. It was the first time Pina or Louis had seen him smile so wide.

The other deer swallowed and looked directly at him.

Ichi looked up, his smile growing wider until his mouth was open. And he was laughing.

"Th-that's a hybrid Chimera. A hybrid. And you're holding it so steady and clear!"

"U-uh...yes?"

Hachi's hand was on Nori's shoulder as they looked on. For some reason, they felt some sort of dread at knowing that Ichi got what he wanted.

"I want to see, Shi," Roku announced. He looked to Ichi. "May I?"

Their leader nodded. "Of course! Shi, try to focus your attention on each of them and maintain what you have now!"

The deer sighed as he continued focusing, turning to the Branded members one by one as he showed off his antlered canine Chimera. "What do I do? How long do I have to hold it?"

"It's best used as a distraction during battle, so the longer the better," Ichi said, still smiling.

"But right now?" Louis huffed.

"Hold it until you can't anymore!"

Everyone cycled through, witnessing Louis' Chimera and commenting on it, everyone seeming impressed aside from Ni.

"Is it supposed to make you kind of tired...?" Louis asked.

"It takes stamina, yes. You must have a lot, though! You barely seem to be exerting..." Ichi turned to the sheep now. "Shichi! How's your progress?"

Pina rubbed his arm. "Uh, still working on it..."

"Hmm..." Louis breathed a bit heavier. "It's getting a bit harder."

"Hang in there, Louis!" Nori called.

"Don't overexert yourself," Pina warned.

Juu giggled. "It's so freaky! I love it!"

"Yeah, you're doing really well!" Roku encouraged.

"Mmm...it's getting harder..." Louis whined. "I think I can stop."

"Stop, then," San instructed.

"How?"

"You mean you can't stop?" San asked, concerned.

"I don't know!" the deer said, turning and looking at him. "I'm done thinking about it!"

"Stop doing the pose." Kyuu pointed out.

The deer straightened out and turned to her. "Is it gone?!"

"Yeah, now it is."

He bent over and put his hands on his knees. "Phew...I finally...Finally did it."

Ichi came over and pat him on the back, enthusiastically. "I knew it! I knew you could do it!"

Louis panted, lightly. "That was unreal. I can't believe I had that power."

"It's the power innate to us who bear the mark," Ichi informed, pacing around the room. "It was very impressive for your first display."

"So what do you want from me now?" Louis looked up from his bent position.

"Keep at it. And Shichi must summon his as well. Perhaps you can help him with it?"

"I can," the buck nodded, turning to Pina. "If that's alright with you." Though, there was uncertainty in his eye.

"Of course. We'll keep going at it." Pina winked subtly after this.

Louis exhaled with a huff and then turned to everyone. "Well, you got what you brought me here for. Happy?"

Nori came closer. "Good job, Louis." But he clearly had a 'be careful' look in his eyes.

"Very happy," Ichi confirmed. "You may take the rest of the day off if you wish. Remember you should fill your blood vial again soon." And with that, Ichi and Ni carted themselves off.

Louis blinked. "Day off? Really?"

"Hah, well he's happy! Take it as a good thing!' San suggested, patting Louis on the back.

Nori grinned. "So...day off, huh? We should celebrate, you know."

Hachi came closer and nodded, agreeing.

"Oh, that could be fun!" Roku commented, coming closer as well.

Nori turned around. "Why would you wanna come, old man? You're just gonna be grumpy about me hanging out with Hachi more lately."

Louis swallowed. "I'm sure you can talk about this."

Hachi stepped back so they wouldn't be involved.

San and Kyuu exchanged glances. "Uh, depends on what you guys wanna do, I guess," the alpaca said. Pina had just covered his face with his palm.

The horse rolled his eyes. "Really, you're gonna bring that up? You used to not hang out with anyone but me so I thought you liked me, but now Hachi's your best friend suddenly and I'm left by the curb. Niiiice. Forget it." And just like that, Roku was gone.

Nori's ears went back. "Ugh, he's just acting...stupid..."

Hachi was looking in the direction Roku left, biting their lip.

"Well, what were you guys thinking? Fun time in the rec room?" San suggested.

Louis looked down at Nori. "You need to fix that first. Do you remember what happened last time you got worked up? You can't keep having these kinds of relationships."

Nori looked down. "He's already mad at me, what's the point?"

"This is the first step. If you show him you still care by voluntarily going to talk, he might realize it."

"Do you still want to be his friend?" Pina asked.

Nori's ears perked. "Yeah! I do! It sucked seeing him look so upset...but..." Well, he couldn't talk about how he needed it to be just the ones who knew he ate meat out with them.

"Talk to him later, then," the sheep suggested. "But for now..." He looked around, noting only San remained aside from the group in the know.

Louis smiled at him. "As nervous as I am about what Ichi will have me do with this, thank you for being my teacher."

San grinned widely. "Oh, it's no problem! Really cool Chimera you have there! So, what were you guys gonna do?"

Nori sighed. "We actually had a plan already. Me, Shichi, Shi, and Hachi would go out and have dinner when Shi finally summoned his Chimera." He wondered if the alpaca would buy that.

"Oh! I see. Well, I hope you guys have fun! Let me know if you ever wanna hang out." The alpaca headed out, although his shoulders sagged a bit.

Louis' ears went back a bit. "Okay. We have our group. Let's go before I feel any worse."