A few years ago, neither Nobu nor Hinagawa thought that the premises of an old bankrupt factory would be so suitable for setting up a lair. Nobu, as usual, was preoccupied with his own thoughts, oblivious to the opinions around him. The building appeared too large and dilapidated to the badger, but his closest and most loyal follower insisted that if they wanted to build an underground empire, it was wise to secure a fortress in advance. Indeed, the concrete behemoth, which had been intermittently repurposed for canning lines or makeshift shelters for numerous vagrants, mostly sat vacant, unable to withstand active raider competition. However, now with Nobu having at his disposal two dozen good fighters, and nearly fifty animals somehow involved in their numerous connections to the black market, all obedient to Nobu — occasionally, he mentally praised Hinagawa for his foresight. The dull african wild dog had proven to be quite the astute carnivore.

Sturdy wooden barracks had grown up in the workshop, a medical station was set up separately, adapting a semi-ruined warehouse section, and goods — living ones or some other crap — were stored in the former office spaces on the ground level. Out of the old director's office with a window spanning the entire wall overlooking the workshop Nobu had fashioned a conference hall, while he himself took the distant office of the deputy as his personal den, installing both a hatch to the ground floor and a new door frame with a sturdier jamb, reinforced with old bricks.

Nevertheless, like a big boss, the honey badger didn't enjoy sitting in the office. He hardly even changed his style of clothing, although now, in addition to his usual attire, he wore a thick jacket made of leather with armored plates on top. As the leader of a gang known as the Slaughterhouse, he considered it fitting for his status. Moreover, most outsiders wouldn't recognize the tanned leather on sight, assuming the clothing was made of synthetic material.

But the police were aware of such practices, so on those rare occasions when Nobu ventured beyond his territory, he dressed much more modestly. However, within his realm of control, the boundaries expanded. The gang had steadily raised the curve of crime in the city for a couple of years now, and sometimes it seemed to him that there was no force capable of dealing with them. Some animals dared to resist and ended up dead, like the Madaragumi clan, while others had to live in fear. There were, of course, neutral territories, gray zones where a balance between darkness and light was maintained, but the Slaughterhouse devoured most of them with an insatiable appetite. Now he walked through the long corridors towards the back entrance, where Chon Hee awaited him with urgent news.

From the room they had converted into a dining area, a fragment of conversation reached them:

"Come on, you forget that Voices is just a bird, Soldier will easily take him down purely due to his mass."

"Exactly, just a bird, agile and fast! Moose may be cumbersome and strong, the main thing is not to get caught…" the invisible interlocutor heatedly argued.

Nobu smirked. Hardly did these bandits belong to anyone's guard — at least, not from the faces being discussed. The two deadliest beasts in the Slaughterhouse had no subordinates. The power balance as it was — another equally dangerous but less threatening Makoto had a squad, Atsu continued to saturate the space with sensors as many as they could get, Pibb could kill, but more often than not, Nobu used him for reconnaissance, as well as Chon's animals, and Dwight was never considered among the fighters.

Nevertheless, the discussants were right. Both, in their own way. Personally, Nobu doubted that Soldier would manage to reach the condor in direct combat; the bird's attacks resembled a mad and unpredictable dance, always ending in the opponent's death. However, if the moose were to land just one blow, he would break half the bones in the bird's body.

He certainly didn't bother confirming anyone's correctness. A soaked-to-the-bone flying squirrel awaited him at the doors with a worried look. Nobu tilted his head questioningly.

"What's the matter?"

"Boss, we've got problems. Minor ones, but problems that need to be reported in person, yet… for some reason, you weren't informed," Chon Hee said unpleasantly. "That idiotic director from the Academy trespassed onto our territory near Pete's shelter, shot two and wounded Yamada, but Soldier swears he shot him."

"Gon? He seemed reasonable to me. Was the body found?"

"That's the problem. There are still traces of blood where the skirmish happened, but the body's gone. My guys searched within a three-block radius, doesn't seem like he could have gotten up and walked away."

"Maybe he was wearing a bulletproof vest?"

"No, there's quite a bit of blood, not even the downpour could wash away all the traces near the dumpster," Chon Hee shook his head, taking out an oversized revolver from his bag. "He attacked with this, Yamada got scratched badly."

Nobu felt a dark anger rising in his chest. He gritted through his teeth:

"So, firstly, we won't get the batch of live goods next week, nor ever, secondly, we've lost two, and thirdly, remind me, please, we don't even know if he's dead in the first place?"

"Maybe the bums dragged him away, boss. This riff-raff doesn't care who they eat."

"And of course, it didn't occur for Soldier to shoot in the head."

"Well… it's not particularly vital for his survival," the squirrel remarked acerbically. "That's why he falters at every step."

"Lately, he's been more trouble than help," Nobu growled. "The scene at Negoro's, according to Makoto, looked like humiliation."

"I'll have a word with Negoro," Chon said coldly. "Rationally."

"It won't matter if he's not getting the goods himself. We crushed him, perhaps now he'll be afraid to deal with drugs altogether."

"And lose money?"

"Sometimes the risk outweighs the profit."

Chon Hee chuckled and waved his hand in the air:

"Boss, you underestimate the greed of animals. Maybe you think too highly of them."

"Amusing," Nobu nodded without a hint of a smile. "Alright. Maybe we should just kick the Soldier… sky-high. If the rain intensifies further, get the animals off the streets."

"I've already cleared them, boss."

"Good. You're free for now."

Releasing the scout and tactician, the badger headed back. Then, remembering something, he glanced at Hinagawa, who was diligently typing something on his laptop, slowly poking at the keys with his fingers. The glasses didn't help — looking over them, the dog couldn't appear smart even for a split second.

"Hina!"

"Y-yes, Nobu," he flinched and turned his head towards the entrance.

"Bring those two from the basement cells to the brothel. How much for the young tigress?"

"I need to cross-check with the records. It seems twelve… or thirteen," Hinagawa scratched his head. Nobu waved his hand:

"Fine."

"And what should we tell Gon?"

"We no longer have our lovely tiger," Nobu shrugged, holding his fingers like a gun. "He came to rescue his family, ran into ours, managed to shoot two idiots, but lost his skates too. At least, that's what that idiot of the moose says… but the body hasn't been found yet. So, if he suddenly shows up alive… well, we kept our word, didn't we? Plus, we'll get a small compensation for the attack, that's all."

Hinagawa shook his head, hurriedly making notes with a pen on the nearby sheet, simultaneously experiencing both fear and admiration for the boss's sinister pragmatism. He wrote an order much faster than typing.

"I-understand. You want the young one yourself?.."

"I'm not sick," Nobu grimaced as if from a toothache. "And I don't have complexes, I like mature females. Just transfer both to Caddy's care. By the way, the price for that one will be three times higher, if we talk about pure profit. Pity, it wears out quickly."

The wild dog flinched and averted his gaze. He didn't particularly like the whole kidnapping scheme, but to go against Nobu… besides, they already traded in drugs, weapons, herbivores for food. What difference would it make if one more sin was added to the long list or not?

"Boss!"

"Yes?" Nobu turned to the door. Each of his movements was threatening, provocative, as if it wasn't just an ordinary squirrel flying in without knocking, but a police squad.

"I've been thinking… if the tiger is no longer around, maybe we should take over the supply of goods ourselves?"

"Explain," Nobu frowned.

"Among the addicts who buy 'pearls', there's an official from the city administration. He surely has acquaintances in the prefecture's management. Maybe… we could fit one of our own beasts in Gon's chair? Our guy, you know?" Chon Heе asked.

"Hm… are you sure everything will go smoothly? As I understand, they might appoint someone from the teachers, then our activity will look very suspicious. Not to mention that regardless, the threads will lead back to the Slaughterhouse."

"If we act fast enough, change orders, and ideally – the beast itself, then we won't get caught. But it's up to you, boss."

"So you're suggesting we first send some request from here to the prefecture to fill the vacancy, then kill the new director on his way here and swap the documents?" Nobu squinted. Chon Hee nodded:

"I always said you were smart, boss."

"You'll be licking boots to someone else. If you want to take down the school so that teenagers occasionally disappear, and it doesn't attract the authorities' attention in any way, I want to see a perfect plan, a damn strategist. Got it? Not this 'let's swap, kill, and everything's fine.' Besides, about the junkie, did you think about what to do with the 'mother of pearl' itself?"

"There's about twenty-five pounds left in the warehouse," the squirrel shrugged his wet shoulders. He hated days when he had to work 'in the field' himself, but they happened from time to time. "We release it little by little, at a price one and a half times higher than before."

"Alright. If Negoro doesn't find a new supplier… we'll find a new Negoro," the carnivore said with a wicked grin. "The old one won't be needed by that time."

Pina had gotten so lazy and immersed in blissful sleep that in the morning he called a couple of animals and cited feeling unwell, thus protecting himself from attending classes. The night storm was gradually subsiding outside – now it was just rain, albeit quite intense. To his great regret, such idleness bore its fruits – while Sisu was still asleep, curled up in a wildly twisted cyan fluffy ball of colossal size and smiling even in her sleep, the ram descended downstairs and discovered that yesterday he had almost made no progress in cleaning up the mess.

He flicked the switch, invoking the magic of electricity – and, oh, miracle, the lamps finally lit up. Although the polished planks still looked quite unpresentable. There were still dirty puddles on the floor from their yesterday's revelry. Here and there, as if mockingly emphasizing his efforts to tidy up, they were almost erased and smeared with no less ugly streaks. Pina cursed and, sighing, went back to the storeroom.

The key turned in the door just as he began cleaning. The eyes of the Dall's ram met with a familiar sight – the gray wolf, now in a thin black jacket with a hood and with an indistinct bundle under his arm, silently entered the club. However, the expression on his face looked… dreadful. As if someone close to him had suffered a tragedy.

"Hey, Legoshi-kun," Pina said, waving his hand. "Is everything alright?"

"No," the wolf replied briefly.

"What happened?"

"Pina, this… isn't a conversation for two. Although the whole school will know today or tomorrow."

An uneasy feeling touched Pina's insides with icy fingers.

"Just don't tell me there's another one…"

"No. It's not like with Riz. Worse. Although," Legoshi hesitated, "I don't know if it's better or worse. Gon is dead."

"Director Gon?!"

The wolf lowered his head and flattened his ears:

"Y-yes."

"What… but how? Where?" Pina exclaimed, astonished. Another deep, powerful sigh.

"In the black market."

"Damn…"

What the hell was he doing there in the first place? The ram instantly understood the implications of Gon's death for both the school and himself personally – the least of which was the death of the club. Final and irreversible. And then there was segregation, a new unclear candidate for director, the dissolution of some classes or even the entire school… but, worst of all, Gon was married. And his family was left without a husband and father. And Pina cursed himself mentally for remembering that last.

"What was he doing there anyway, by the Rex's sake?"

Legoshi said detachedly:

"We had a few theories. Those who found the body were… my friends."

"…how did he die?"

"He was shot. And he likely had a revolver, from which the director fired several shots. We don't know exactly what happened there, perhaps the police will eventually intervene and clarify the situation."

"They won't clarify," the ram said with unexpected bitterness. "The black market is a realm of darkness and lawlessness."

"I know," Legoshi said without looking up.

"It's strange that out of all the animals, it's only you."

"Not only me. I called Louis, he said he'd come to the club soon. Juno could also benefit from hearing this, but let her study. Why aren't you in class?"

"I'm sick."

"I see… and where did these puddles come from?"

"That's the reason why I'm sick," Pina said grimly, though he was a hundred percent healthy. "I went out for a walk last night, came back wet. Want to judge me?"

The wolf silently shook his head. He was slightly wary of the size of the puddles, of course, Sisu must have gone outside too… but without electricity and in the storm that raged last night, hardly anyone could have noticed them.

"Where's Sisu?"

"Sleeping."

"Not feeling well?"

"Don't tempt fate. Can you imagine how many tissues and what size we'll need?" the ram said through forceful laughter, vigorously waving a mop. The mood wasn't right for jokes – rather, it was the remnants of former bravado, along with pieces of a mask unwilling to come off his face.

However, Legoshi remained impassive. He only asked:

"Need any help?"

"No," the ram shook his head, "I inherited it, so I'll clean it up. Just make sure nobody else finds out I can hold a mop willingly."

"Alright. I won't tell anyone."

Hours passed. The cleaning finally came to an end, and Pina climbed back into the attic, taking a large, heavy laptop with him, connecting his headphones to it while the dragoness continued to sleep peacefully. Legoshi mechanically tinkered with the spotlights, wiping the glass and carefully hanging them back in place. Of course, there were only a few of them in the small club, but it seemed the wolf was on his fourth or fifth round already – he looked so out of sorts. Finally, the locked door creaked again. Louis burst into the building with an umbrella. After… that incident, Legoshi rarely saw him move so fast. Raising his eyes upward, the deer spotted the wolf and nodded to him briefly instead of greeting him. Lips pursed, grim look and composure. He asked:

"Where?"

"Not here. Near Gouhin-san's clinic last night," Legoshi replied, heading for the stairs. After they faced each other, Louis pointed at him with the folded umbrella:

"Are you sure he's dead?"

"Yes. I saw the body."

"Holy hell," Louis muttered under his breath. "Who else knows?"

"Overall or among the five of us?"

"Both."

"Only me, Pina, and you. I met him here a couple of hours ago."

"That piece of sheep should be in class if he doesn't want to get kicked out for failing," Louis said angrily, then waved his hand. "Alright. Anyway, the whole school will know by tomorrow. Did you call the police?"

"Gouhin-san said he did. The director was shot, three bullets, all into the body, he bled out and tried to crawl to the clinic… but didn't make it," the wolf's voice grew significantly quieter towards the end of the sentence.

"Besides Gouhin, does anyone else know about the death?"

"Bill, San…"

"Bill? Wait, San? Third was there?"

"Yes, he works as an assistant to the doctor."

Louis hit himself on the forehead with his palm:

"Stupid horned head, they're almost like blood relatives. Anyone else?"

"Erm…"

"Legoshi. Speak."

"M-Melon."

"Melon was there?!"

The wolf raised his hand up and forward:

"Yes, but… it seems he calmed down a bit."

"Legoshi…" the deer said in amazement with almost round eyes, which were already large enough, "I don't know how your system of understanding and forgiveness works, but this guy killed a bunch of innocent people. He ate meat, which seems to be unacceptable according to your standards. He wanted to kill Haru."

"And almost killed himself that turf war night."

"I don't care! It wouldn't redeem even a single percent of his actions, and now I hear that you were drinking tea over the corpse with them! Along with… Bill! Also, by the way, a guy once caught in meat eating."

"Louis…"

"What?!"

"…you ate meat. And killed," the wolf said sadly.

"Are you comparing me to him?!"

Legoshi took a step forward, then, hesitating, took another step and hugged Louis, embracing him and quietly said:

"I'm sorry. I don't want to argue with you. But we… need to do something."

Louis slowly raised his hand (which was difficult, considering Legoshi's strong embrace) and patted him on the back:

"Apologies accepted. But I stick to my position. No matter how cute this psycho may act now, he's dangerous."

"He's not our main concern right now. Let's go, sit down," Legoshi waved his hand towards the platforms, releasing his friend. The deer said, looking aside:

"Do you think this could be a direct blow to the school?"

"I don't know, Louis," the wolf replied quietly. "I'm bad, very bad, just both terrible and useless at such criminal games. I n-need your help. I don't want to risk everything I have — not only my job at the Academy, but also you, Haru… and the other three."

Louis sighed heavily and sat down, putting his hand on Legoshi's shoulder:

"I don't like the current situation. And the fact that you're once again planning to play the arbiter of justice, apparently. However… thank you for asking for help when you really need it."

The wolf remained silent, not even wagging his tail. His thoughts clearly wandered in the darkness far from the conversation.

"Gouhin's death will hit everyone, Louis-senpai," they heard a voice from above. Pina stood, leaning on the railing, and with an expression on his face looked at them. "Not that the problem we're facing belongs solely to Legoshi."

"What do you suggest, Pina? Hello, by the way," Louis said dryly.

"Do what's in our power. Protect the club, protect the animals at the school, protect Gouhin's family. If I got that part clear."

"Hm. Not a bad idea. I can send a couple of security guards to keep an eye on his house, in case someone decides to exacerbate the damage."

"Damage," Legoshi murmured with a slight hint of reproach.

"Kill them too. Sounds better?"

"…N-no."

Louis continued:

"But our private security company isn't big enough to assign a bodyguard to everyone. Rather, it's a small and slightly militarized squad with elements of special equipment. After Oguma's death, many resigned, but many remained."

"You have a lot of resources, Louis-senpai. And it's up to you how to use them," Pina shrugged. "All this just makes me angry."

"Exactly angry?"

"Yeah. It annoys, irritates, infuriates. If I were a carnivore, I might already be ripping throats with my big, sharp claws on the black market."

"Or lying dead…" Legoshi raised his eyes to him, the ram just shrugged:

"Or that. Don't give an F."

"The question is, how can we secure the school," Louis said aloud. "Besides the fairly obvious additional security. Although, Cherryton Academy hasn't been attacked yet…"

"But they could start," Pina ruthlessly concluded, glaring with rage in his blue eyes out the window. The deer looked at him intently — as much as the distance allowed — and said calmly:

"Strange to see you like this."

"Like what?"

"Involved. What's happening with Riz, judging by what you said, seemed to you like some kind of fun and dangerous game."

The Dall's ram hesitated with his answer, then ran his finger along the throat:

"And what's stopping them — whoever they are — from now catching each of us individually? Besides, Louis, Legoshi — doesn't the death of Director Gon put everything at risk in general? Starting from the very existence of the school? I bet the Ministry of Education has accumulated the finest dossier on us in dark tones. An elite school, Rex tear it apart."

"Louis is right. We need to think about how to secure the school," Legoshi said and stood up. "I'm going to the laundry room."

"Why? By the time you get there, your clothes will already be washed five times," Louis reasonably retorted.

"I need to talk to certain someone."

In the laundry room, however, the wolf found no one. No matter how much he knocked on the walls, no matter how much he called — he even climbed upstairs and checked the ceiling for any case — the six-eyed specter of Cherryton stubbornly refused to appear. Rokume, the huge snake who served as the only known school guard, remained silent. Perhaps she had been fired over the past year, or perhaps the snake was simply elsewhere.

Nevertheless, Louis would have said in any case that such guardian was monstrously ineffective — and he would have been right. It didn't prevent Tem's death, nor Pina's kidnapping at one point.

Legoshi returned and, without giving any explanations, began to discuss with the other two animals what they could do to strengthen the security of the Academy. Legoshi couldn't wander around the school looking for Rokume now, so for the conversation he locked himself in the president's office with Louis and Pina. When Juno came, she almost cried upon hearing the tragic news — and all four of them concluded that there was no need to spoil Sisu's mood. She, being insightful but naive and relatively delicate, didn't start asking why they were in a bad mood, but simply tried to cheer up her friends as much as possible. Pina thawed fairly quickly, although he didn't regain his former carefree mood, but her attempts had a weak effect on others.

The club members who showed up at four o'clock clearly sensed something ominous. Or they themselves were in low spirits due to the long power outage, although barely a day had passed.

But Louis didn't rush with the rehearsal. After all, the whole school would know in a day or two, so why not dedicate his wards now?

He stepped onto the small stage and glanced at the group of animals — some were memorizing the text, someone standing by the far wall was discussing another urgent topic, Tao and Kibi were just fooling around, Tsutomu and Eri Watanabe were sitting by the far wall, exchanging meaningful glances. Although Kibi should definitely be in the dressing room right now… it didn't matter. Legoshi and Juno stood aside, Pina aimlessly paced in circles, periodically looking around — they were waiting for him to speak.

Louis cleared his throat:

"Sooner or later this sad news will reach you… and most likely it will affect school life. Not that I'm glad to be the first to inform you of the awful news, but I have to do it. Director Gon has been killed."

Even those who didn't pay much attention to his speech a second ago froze. There were several cries of horror, Bryson, crumpling the sheet with his lines in his fist, slammed it into the palm of his other hand, roaring:

"How?! What kind of creature…"

"He died in a shootout near the black market," Louis grimaced slightly, but they didn't need to know all the details. "How he ended up there and got caught in the crossfire, no one knows yet."

"Poor director… but what will happen to the club now?" said Fumiko, looking down. If some of the animals looked depressed before, now the drama club was crushed and ground into dust by such… "news."

"I don't know. But I've come up with a plan," the deer replied. "I'll try to get a seat on the board of trustees — which, given the recent grant from Horns, won't be an overly difficult task — and I'll keep an eye on things, not letting them shut down the theater club. However, you may not come tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Hell will break loose here for a couple of days. In school, I mean."

"What about Saturday?"

"On Saturday, all actors and dancers will gather. Kibi, have you already taken measurements from everyone?"

"Yes, and we sorted through the old costumes," the little anteater said sadly. "But what's the point now?.."

"There is a point!" Juno shouted angrily. She jumped onto the stage and squeezed her fist emotionally against her chest:

"If we stop now, then why did we even start? We'll dedicate this performance to the memory of Director Gon, no matter the circumstances of his death! He wouldn't want us to abandon it as soon as we've begun…"

"Right," Goro nodded. Hippo Dolph agreed:

"Juno is right. However heavy and nasty it feels, we'll manage. Somehow, the theater club always gets hit harder than others…"

"That time the whole school received a hit. But it only makes us stronger," Legoshi chimed in. Surprised, the animals turned to the usually reserved wolf, who then hesitated:

"I probably shouldn't speak like that… not being a student here anymore."

"Let them try," an angry voice sounded from behind. The serval's eyes sparkled — she came with Tsutomu, although today was scheduled for an acting day, and heard such… "news." "If they try to intimidate us in any way, it won't work!"

"But who said there are any 'theys' at all?" Tao doubted. Goro said thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest:

"The black market is a dangerous place… but my heart tells me that the director didn't end up there by accident."

Louis nodded in agreement:

"And that brings us to another question. If anyone happened to talk to the director in the last few days, please let us know. It's very important."

"They say he seemed to have gone mad…"

"Yes, I heard that too."

"Rumors won't help," Juno said. "Think and tell the others from the club, those who aren't here today — if you suddenly remember something important, something strange and unusual, tell me or Louis. It's important to understand not his state of mind, but why would ever someone do that."

"Okay, Juno-san."

"Alright."

"I'll tell Nora, we have neighboring rooms."

"And I'll tell Yuki and Kobayashi, we have a biology class together tomorrow."

When the noise subsided, Louis raised his hand, calling for attention. He said:

"But just in case, if something serious and dangerous changes… don't go alone. Move from club to club in pairs, threes. Each group should have a carnivore or a strong animal. Is everyone clear?"

The minimum safety requirements clarified, and the subdued and worried animals began to leave. Mostly in groups, but one pair still remained in the large hall. Tsutomu looked strangely at Pina, who was sitting on the windowsill and hadn't said a word during the entire meeting, then approached him. Eri stayed behind, watching.

"Pina-senpai… I thought it wasn't that important. Until I heard about the director."

The ram looked at him sadly and slightly puzzled:

"I have nothing to do with Gon-san's death, Tsutomu. Why would you suddenly think…"

"No…" he hesitated. "It's not quite… We need to talk, preferably alone."

"Alright," Pina shrugged and jumped down from the high perch. "Let's go to the changing rooms, no one will be there today anyway."

After they locked the door — somehow the female serval also ended up inside the men's changing room by some magical means — Pina crossed his arms over his chest, trying to look like a white lion.

"I'm listening."

"The windows in my room face the campus front. Last night I saw something. And Eri did too," Tsutomu said laconically, looking anywhere but at Pina's eyes. Surprisingly, Eri shook her head negatively, as if she wasn't quite sure if she saw anything at all. He grinned, "Congratulations to you both. It's called 'physical intimacy,' and it's highly valued by animals. Mostly."

Tsutomu became even more embarrassed. "No, we haven't… not yet…"

"Then I won't rush with congratulations for now," Pina forced a smile, twirling his locks around his finger. Unfortunately, he understood what the conversation would be about, and roughly every second he reproached himself for his lack of foresight. However, if he managed to get the kalong to confess sufficiently, there would be no need for an interrogation, and Pina was good at making somebody blush. He turned to Eri, "And did you see his 'something' too?"

"I don't have as good night vision as Tsu," she shook her head, not understanding or pretending not to understand what the ram was talking about. He sarcastically smirked, "Then you should repeat… in the light. We have convenient showers if you need…"

"Pina-senpai…" Tsutomu murmured. "No matter how much you try to steer the conversation away, I'll still ask. I recognized your silhouette even through the rain and darkness. But that… the being that was with you. Who is it? What's the strange coincidence with what happened?"

Here it is.

"I don't think such a beast would need a gun to kill," Pina sighed, covering his eyes and tilting his head back, horns almost hitting the wall. Tsu whispered to Eri on the side, "I told you!.."

"I haven't confirmed your suspicions yet, young actor. And, let's say, my nocturnal visitor is not only my secret. However, there's no threat. Neither to the club nor to individual animals, and as for Gon — she has an alibi."

"She?!" Eri exclaimed. The cat nervously twitched her tail, but said nothing more. Pina shrugged, "There, my talkative tongue leads the situation closer to the point of no return. Wait in the hall, please. I need to ask something. And not from you two."

Curiosity gnawing at them, they still left the changing room, and the ram, burying his face in his hand, found the strength to take out his phone and send Louis a short message:

Pina: i messed up oopsie X_x

The response came after a minute.

Louis: I know. Legoshi told me about your nocturnal escapade. I suspected someone would see you, so I insisted on Sisudatu's safety. Come outside, we're under the shelter on the porch.

Pina: im scared

Louis: That's good. Fear is a great motivator not to do it again. Come out.

Pina: u r probably mad. and putting periods. just like that.

Louis: I always write like that. Coe out, don't be an idiot. If I wanted to shoot you, I would've done it on the first day, during the auditions, when you annoyed me the most.

Louis: Pina it's Legoshi. Louis just doesn't want to enter the club with a cigarette

Pina: how did u manage to take his phone away at all? =)

Louis: Are you coming to our meeting today, Pina, or not?

Pina: comin ill change into dry pants and be there

When he stepped out onto the porch, the deer was indeed calm. And he was indeed smoking, although as far as Pina remembered, smoking on school grounds was strictly forbidden.

"I thought you didn't smoke," he said, standing next to Louis. Legoshi sat nearby, watching the backs of the animals hastily dispersing in the rain.

"I thought I've quit, until this morning," Louis sarcastically replied, flicking the cigarette aside. It flashed with smoke and disappeared into the bushes. "And then Legoshi's call, and everything went downhill. As usual after Legoshi's calls."

"I was pulled out of the house in the middle of the night. And I wouldn't say it was for trivial matters," the wolf said deeply. Louis turned his head slightly and fixed a stern gaze on the ram.

"Who?"

"Tsutomu. Possibly Eri, but she didn't see it herself," Pina sighed. "Last night I thought it was our perfect chance."

"To mess up?" Louis snorted. "Well, thanks for not inviting a reporter from the school newspaper."

"My bad, didn't think about it. I'll definitely invite one next time."

"And what do you plan to do?"

Legoshi intervened, "They need to be told. Any excuses will only raise more suspicion."

"Grrrrmmmm…" the deer unbelievably put his hands to the head. "Let's just randomly involve her in the next scene, and tell the curious ones that it's a high-tech decoration."

"I hope that was irony. And I hope it was only directed at me," Pina said coldly. The deer threw:

"That's my way of dealing with the crappy news that keep coming one after another. Alright. If there's no other way — though I don't see one myself — let's go arrange a little attic presentation."