Everyone has a though night's sleep occasionally.
Louis has been having a lot of them lately. Ever since Tem died, to be honest.
However, he was not one to let his problems show to others. He could not afford to show any weakness. So, he would never allow anyone to know of the dreams he has been having.
Dreams of his past.
Dreams connected to the number four tattooed on the bottom of his left foot.
Dreams of the time when he was nothing more than livestock. Nothing more than an herbivore who was bred and raised in a small cage on the Black Market, to be sold to carnivores to be devoured.
This was his fate. He was nothing more than food. That was why the carnivores who bred and kept him didn't bother to teach him anything. He didn't know how to read or even to speak by the time he was four. However, they did, for some reason, gave him clothes to wear. Perhaps because they would feel more comfortable by having the children not be naked. The same reason why they gave them sedatives to make them sleep before they were to be devoured, so they could convince themselves that what they did was not that wrong.
However, Louis would not end up being eaten.
Instead, he would be taken in by a rich herbivore who could not have children of his own and decided to resort to buying one from the livestock of the Black Market to be his heir. His son. And, from the many male fawns available to buy, he ended up picking up the one whose ID number was four.
However, this was not an easy path for little Number Four, as the adult deer, as scary as any carnivore, decided to give him a test by giving him a knife and literally tossing him to the wolves.
Louis was supposed to fight his way out. That was impossible, was the conclusion that the red deer could take when he looked back. Perhaps that was why, when he saw all those carnivores coming to him, the little fawn instead held the blade to his own neck, ready to kill himself before any of them could claim his life.
This seemed to convince Oguma that he was worthy, because the adult then pulled him back into the elevator and got him out of there, telling him that his name was now Louis, and that he was destined to change the world.
From that moment on, Louis left his past as livestock behind, and he has been stepping on it ever since, and would continue for the rest of his life. However, that was not to say that his life was easy now that he was the heir of a rich man.
He needed to struggle to keep up with everything that was new to him. From having to interact with other herbivores to learning how to speak properly, and then everything that came after it. All of it preparing him to both be the heir of horns and the next beastar.
Yes, his life was never easy.
And yet, it seemed some thought it was.
"You have been pampered and protected since the day you were born! You know nothing about going through hardships!"
Never before had Louis wanted to say something back to someone as bad as he wanted to say something back to that hybrid.
However, he had not said anything.
He could not.
There was not way he could admit his shameful past to the hybrid who glared down at him with ferocity. There was no way that he would admit to that powerful carnivore, strong enough to snap him in half only with the pinkies of two of his four hands, that he had been born so weak and pitiful that he needed to be bought in order to survive.
His pride didn't allow him to admit such thing to anyone, let alone to someone who was clearly so much stronger than him.
Even if only physically.
However, on that moment, back on the backstage, Legoshi showed more than just physical strength, as he glared at him with the hatred of a carnivore who was on looking at someone who he truly considered his enemy.
Legoshi had been looking at him the same way as then lately. And this time it was because of a girl, as Louis had already figure out.
That was the look of a carnivore who looked down on him. The look of a carnivore who thought that Louis did not deserved what he had.
That Louis was nothing more than a little herbivore who got lucky to be born in a position of advantage.
Louis had faced a lot of looks like that since he arrived in Cherryton, where all the carnivores considered themselves better than him and could not accept for an herbivore like him to be better than they were, or even their equal.
Once more, Louis felt the urge to go straight to Legoshi and tell him a few things right to his face.
However, he decided against making a scene and confronting the hybrid directly.
Instead, he would be allowing his actions to speak for him.
He would prove that he was as strong as any carnivore. That he could change the world if he truly desired. That carnivores were not the only ones who could change things with their strength.
He would create a peaceful world for herbivores everywhere, where no one would have to be looked down and pushed around by carnivores again.
Where no one would have to worry about being devoured again.
A world where Tem would not have had to die...
Legoshi was, once more, walking down the same hallway.
He was going there because he wanted to visit Tem's grave.
Maybe because he hoped that, once more, Tem would be able to give him some advice.
The alpaca had been a great listening ear whenever Legoshi was having some trouble. And he never had any problem to give Legoshi some advice. Sometimes his words could come out as harsh, as Tem was used to say what he thought, and he was overly honest with people, even though he did apologize if his words ever came out as rude.
He had given Legoshi some good advice whenever he needed. Whenever Legoshi had a problem or a doubt that he didn't felt like sharing with Jack, Tem was the one to who he went to. He was a good friend that Legoshi knew could give him some good life advice if he needed it.
Like on the situation he currently found himself on.
Not only he was in love with an herbivore, but an herbivore who loved someone else.
Yes, for Haru did loved Louis. She made it very clear when she said his name on that night on the festival.
When Legoshi was saving her from being kidnapped by some crazy lion, she had Louis on her mind.
He was her choice, and Legoshi knew it now. Just like he knew that she would never see him as anything more than a friend.
He felt like kicking himself for ever believing that it would be anything else.
How could he think that a pretty girl, a beautiful purebred like her, would ever love a weirdo like him.
It was enough to make him feel like an idiot.
Guess in the end, I am not good enough... Legoshi thought sadly.
That was a moment when he really needed an advice, and he already got one from Jack. However, his advice was mostly something cryptic that Legoshi was not sure if he even understood, although Legoshi could feel it was a deep and strong insight.
Tem's advice would have been much more straight on.
Perhaps that was why Legoshi was going to his grave now, as if he was going to visit Tem and ask for his advice once more.
He was not expected to see Louis in there.
Is he... leaving flowers...?
Legoshi looked as Louis left the bouquet on Tem's grave, before he got up and turned to leave. He only gave a few steps before he stopped as he caught sight of a familiar face standing on his path.
"Oh, it's you." Louis said to the hybrid, as Legoshi continued to look at him. The deer gave a few more steps towards him. "What do you want?"
Legoshi only looked at him for a few moments, and then his eyes widened.
Suddenly, the hybrid was rushing forward, his lips curling as he bared his fangs.
Upon seeing that big carnivore lunging at him, Louis first thought was to reach out for his gun, which he always kept under his clothes, and use it to defend himself. He only reached the handle of the gun as Legoshi yelled:
"Get down!"
The hybrid propelled himself, practically jumping in Louis direction.
The deer only had time to pull his gun and point it at the hybrid... when Legoshi went right past him and tackled a leopard that was sneaking behind him.
Louis blinked, and then he turned around, to see the two carnivores wrestling into the ground. Legoshi, with his bigger lion-like frame and superior hybrid strength was able to put the leopard in a hold rather easily.
All the while, Louis could just look in shock, his gun still on his shaking hands as his mind registered and processed what happened.
Legoshi had just saved his life.
"Let me go!" The leopard said, as he was forced into a sitting position by the hybrid behind him, which now had an arm around the feline's neck and the other one putting his arm on a lock. "Just let me go, you freak!"
Legoshi growled at the feline as he squeezed ever so slightly.
"You tried to kill Louis!" Legoshi said at him, and he then started demanding the leopard to tell him why he tried that.
"What are you? Louis' bodyguard?"
"Why did you tried to attack him!?"
"Me? I was hungry!" The leopard said, "Just trying to snack a bit, you know how this goes. You might be a freak, but you are a carnivore too. Don't you want to take a bite out of him too? We can share."
Legohsi growled at him, and now he looked ready to bite at the leopard instead.
"Alright, alright! I'll speak!" The leopard said, knowing that the hybrid meant business by the look he had on his eyes, which's pupils had change into vertical slit. "A group of carnivores here in Cherryton is planning to maul Louis!"
"What!?" Louis said, as shocked as Legoshi was for hearing this. The leopard, on his end, glared at him.
"Why are you surprised?" The leopard asked to the deer. "You should already expect carnivores wanting to kill you, with how much you clearly think less of us!"
The aggressiveness on the leopard's voice caught Louis completely off guard, and he continued:
"Being a carnivore is hard enough as it is! We can be arrested or expelled for any stupid reason, and we always have to tread like we are stepping on eggshells with you herbivores! One step out of the line and we are screwed! And herbivores like you still look at us like we are the bad guys only because we fail to live to the expectations that you set up for us! As if we don't spend every waking hour of our time trying to fit on what you decided was the perfect carnivore behavior!"
Louis could only stare at the leopard, too shocked to say any of the calm, collected and sharp retorts he would have in a moment like that.
"Are you say that there are others!?" Legoshi demanded. "There are other carnivores planning to attack Louis!?"
"I am honestly surprised that you didn't know." The leopard said to him. "I thought that someone would at least have thought of inviting you to be part of the plan, since you are so big and on the same club as Louis. You would have been the perfect inside man."
"You..." Louis said, finally being able to find his voice again. "You... you are all... planning to kill me?"
The leopard looked back at him, his gaze hard once more.
"Yes. Before the Meteor Festival, when you are scheduled to be officially appointed as a new beastar." The leopard said, "Things are hard enough for us as they are. With someone like you, who doesn't even try to hide how much you hate carnivores, becoming a beastar, our situation would only get even worse. Who knows what you might do once you have influence over how society goes? Maybe you will side with that political party that wants to force all carnivores to wear shock collars..."
Louis once more lost his voice.
There was nothing that he could say back to those accusations.
Did... did the carnivores of Cherryton really thought that of him?
"You really hate carnivores, don't you?" Juno's words resounded on his ears while the deer could only look at the leopard who glared at him as if he had personally hurt him or someone whom he cared about.
"...people like you make life even more difficult for carnivores like us when we already go through a lot."
Meanwhile, Legoshi was also looking at Louis, seeing the change on the herbivore's expression, seeing how heavy it was becoming now.
"Senpai..." Legoshi said, looking at the deer.
The leopard noticed his distraction and used it on his favor.
Legoshi barely saw the fist that connected with his snout, suddenly and hard enough to cause Legoshi to fall back and let go of the leopard, who then proceeded to escape.
He thought of maybe charging at Louis. After all, this was the whole reason why he was caught on the first place. Because he decided it was a good idea to try and attack Louis before schedule and make a name for himself by being the one to take him out.
However, as he saw the deer still had a gun on his hand, he decided against pushing his luck. So, he only ran around Louis and then down the hallway, completely avoiding him. Louis, still shocked by everything that happened, didn't even came to consider pointing his gun at the leopard and keeping him from leaving.
He just stood there, looking at the direction that the leopard went, while Legoshi got up.
The hybrid was soon asking if Louis was okay. The deer did not answer. He seemed to be deep in thought, and Legoshi could only look back at him.
"Do I... really pass this idea?"
This question caught the hybrid off guard. For a moment, he thought Louis was asking him a question. However, it seemed that the deer was talking more to himself.
"Do I really give others the impression that I hate carnivores?" Louis said, "To the point where carnivores would want to kill me just to keep me from becoming a beastar?"
"Senpai?" Legoshi asked. Louis, as if suddenly remembering that he was there, looked his way.
"Am I really that detestable?" Louis asked to the hybrid, and Legoshi looked at him. The question was so sudden that the hybrid was unable to come up with an answer to it.
Louis took that silence as his answer.
"A beastar is supposed to stand above all of society's prejudices, and work in favor of creating a better future for all animals..." Louis said, "And here I am, making the carnivores fear for their future and want to separate from the herbivores instead of coexisting with them..."
He sighed.
"Am I even worthy of being a beastar...?"
Legoshi looked at him, surprised, and then he said:
"You are."
Louis looked at him with surprise, as the sureness with which Legoshi said it caught him off guard. Just as what the hybrid said next:
"Louis... you are an inspiring animal to anyone who meets you." Legoshi was looking at the deer as he spoke those words. "You are strong enough to hold on even when you are in pain. You can stop a fight between two carnivores. You can be a leader when people need you..."
Legoshi looked over his shoulder, at the bouquet that Louis has brought to Tem.
"And you are still bringing our dead friend flowers so long after he passed..." He said, and then he concluded:
"You certainly deserve to be a beastar... just like you deserve to have the girl we both want."
Louis could only stare at Legoshi in surprise, as the hybrid looked back at him.
"You are what society really wants. An herbivore who is brave, beautiful, strong... and pure." He looked down. After a moment of silence, he lifted his head to look at the deer. "And, if there are really some who want to hurt you... then I won't let them."
He looked at the deer deep in the eyes.
"Louis-senpai. I will protect you." He said to Louis, all seriousness of the world on his voice. "Not only because you are my senpai, but because you are worth it. Because you deserve to become a beastar... and you deserve Haru..."
Louis could only stare at the hybrid. This was not something he had been expecting to hear from him, and he certainly didn't know how to answer to it.
How could that guy say something so corny with such a straight face!?
After a while, Louis recovered a little, and he then said:
"I... appreciate it..." Louis said, placing his gun back under his clothes, and started to walk away.
"By the way, Haru and I... we are not really together..." Louis said, and this surprised Legoshi. "So... if you are really interested on her... well, don't be afraid to go for it."
Louis could not think of anything better than this to say, and he just walked away, leaving Legoshi planted in place, looking at him go.
They are... not together? The hybrid could not hope but think. Wait, did they... did they broke up?
While Legoshi had this altercation back at school, Ibuki was unaware of it, as he was too busy taking care of the house.
This was part of his routine. Cook and clean had become something that came very naturally to him. It had been embarrassing at first, for a proud male lion like himself to be doing house chores. He could not avoid it, as his pride as a king of beasts felt wounded as he was now acting, quite literally, like a domestic house cat.
This was certainly shameful for most male big felines.
However, as time passed, Ibuki found out that there was nothing wrong with being house-oriented.
To be fully honest, the feeling of taking care of the house brought him peace.
It certainly had nothing to do with the past that he left behind. He was not hurting others, nor he was doing anything illegal. He was looking after the ones he loved, and this was something that brought the lion nothing more than joy.
That was why he had a smile on his face as he looked after the house, from cleaning the table to mopping the floor, all the while his daughters, who just came back from school, were sitting on the couch watching some of their favorite afterschool cartoons.
They seemed so happy doing something so simple, that Ibuki really could not help but smile a tad bit wider as he looked at them.
Who would have guessed that a simple, everyday domestic life would ever bring a man so much fulfillment and happiness?
Perhaps it was exactly because it had nothing to do with the terrible past that Ibuki would rather forget, a past that once brought him pride, but that eventually proved to be something that Ibuki would dread with every ounce of his being.
But, that was over.
Ibuki had a family now, and a completely different life. His past would not come for him.
At least that's what he prayed every single day...
However, sometimes even the best of routines could be interrupted by something unexpected. In that case, it was a sudden phone call from Ibuki's own wife.
"You want me to go to the Meteor Festival?" Ibuki asked. "Now? But, I am kind of busy now, can't you sent one of the guys? Or maybe someone else?... Oh... I see. So, it has to be me, huh?... No, no problem at all. Is just that... someone will have to watch over the kids, and today is the day your dad stays until late helping that place he volunteers to... No, no! It will be okay! I'll think of something. Don't worry. I'll figure everything out, you can count on me... Alright. Love you. Bye."
With this, Ibuki hang up, and he sighed. Now, where he was going to find a babysitter at this time of day?
Suddenly, as if someone up there was hearing to his prayer, there was a ring on the door bell. Ibuki went to answer that, and he soon met a familiar face on the other side of the door.
"Da'ruba duba ba'uba." Said the spotted seal wearing a shirt, shorts and sandals on the other side of the door as soon as Ibuki opened it. The lion looked at him for a moment, and then he tried to say something:
"D-duba uba... uma... uhhh..." The lion, however, soon gave up, and he only said:
"Hi, Sagwan."
"You still have not mastered Seaspeak." The spotted seal said, with a heavy accent, which he still had even after years of living on land. "Have you been practicing like I told you? You need to be able to speak fluently in case you ever need to speak to a sea creature, Ibuki."
"Yeah, you told me that." The lion said to him. "Good to see you, by the way."
"I was coming back from a work translating a conversation between a swordfish and a bear, and I passed close by your neighborhood." Sagwan said, as he reached for his back pocket. "So, I decided to bring this to you while I am here."
He then passed something neatly packaged to Ibuki.
"Very fresh."
Ibuki looked at it, and he picked the package from the seal's hand. For a moment, he looked at it, feeling the smell that was coming from that, which quickly made him start salivating.
How he craved that smell, as well as the taste...
He couldn't do it.
He just couldn't do it.
How could he think that he could do it?
There was no way he could.
Not living among herbivores.
Not with the type of past he had.
Ibuki had been confident once he came out of jail after his parole was approved. He was confident that he would be able to pull it out once he was out, since his time in jail was mostly uneventful, to the point where he really thought that his time on the Shishigumi actually left him with no lasting memories.
However, he was proved wrong as soon as he was out.
Seeing Leano for the first time in five years was more than worth all the time he had to wait. Meeting his son for the first time ever and hugging him on his birthday made everything worth it.
However, those nice moments were soon overshadowed by the growing urge on the lion.
Years of eating meat, especially living meat, made it that he would not be able to easily reintegrate himself to society. Perhaps even more than his long criminal record, which made it nearly impossible for the lion to get jobs of any kind.
It was manageable on prison, where he had guards watching him, doctors who would accompany him if he had a crisis and would even give him mint for the episodes, and where there were only himself and other carnivores.
Now, however, he was out. He was out, surrounded by herbivores and with no one other than himself to reign him in if he even started to lose it.
It was too hard.
It was just too hard for Ibuki, and it became harder to resist the urges with each passing day.
Just the other day, he was walking on the park with his five-years-old son. The first time they ever walked together, and they crossed paths with a bull who had wounded his knee while jogging. As soon as he saw the blood, Ibuki nearly lost it.
Right then and there, while still holding his little son's hand, Ibuki nearly lost it. He was just barely able to hold himself back.
What if he hadn't? What if he had lost control and attacked the bull with Legoshi right there to see it all?
This question would haunt Ibuki for a long time to come.
Just like the idea of what would happen if he got worse. He heard of carnivores who, unable to handle their own cravings, ended up turning on their own families. On their own spouses and children.
The very idea filled Ibuki with dread.
Today he just had another one. He was, once more, trying to get himself a job, so he could do his part in helping provide for his family, so they would not be totally reliant on Leano's father. However, this one went as bad as it could.
His interviewer, a deer, of all possible species, was carelessly filing his nails and ended up piercing himself and bleeding.
Ibuki had always loved venison. It was his favorite meat. As soon as the familiar smell of deer flesh reached him, Ibuki started drooling.
The deer interviewing him was unaware of it. At least until he checked his computer to see Ibuki's application, and then his eyes widened, the color draining from his features.
Ibuki knew right away that the deer had just saw his record, which included "multiple predation offenses" with a huge flag in them. He looked back at Ibuki and saw him drooling as he stared at him.
The deer pulled out a stunt gun and threated to shock Ibuki if he didn't leave his office that same instant, fear clear on his eyes. Ibuki left immediately, not because of the threat, but because he could now barely hold himself back.
He ran out of that store and as far as he could, until he arrived in a sidewalk by the shore, where he quickly sat on a bench, burying his face on his hands.
This was bad. This was very bad. He could not go on like that. He felt the cravings get too strong. He needed meat. He NEEDED it! However, there were no places he could get it. He would be dead in five minutes if he dared to show his face around the Black Market. At this rate, he would end up attacking an herbivore out of hunger.
Worse yet, he would end up turning on his own family out of frustration unless he found a solution.
*pop*
He didn't knew what to do.
He couldn't do it.
He just couldn't.
*crunch* *munch**munch*
How could he think that he actually could?
Did he actually thought he would be able to live a normal life?
Rex, how foolish he was!
*crunch* *munch**munch*
Yahya was right. Someone who did the things he did could not live among normal people. He should just have stayed in jail. He should've... He... he should...
*crunch* *munch**munch*
Ibuki's nose twitched. A smell reached his nostrils.
A delicious smell.
Slowly, the lion lifted his head from his hands, his nose sniffing into the air, as he tried to find out where that smell, which made him drool buckets, was coming from.
It was right by his side.
Ibuki didn't noticed when that animal sat by his side, but now his attention was entirely on him.
Ibuki heard that seals could live on land, as they migrated from the sea for a variety of reasons. This was, however, his first time seeing one of them up close. The spotted seal, on his end, didn't seemed to notice that the animal sitting by his side was looking at him, and he simply continued to eat from the lunchbox on his lap with a pair of chopsticks while looking at the sea.
After nearly a minute, however, the seal finally looked to the side.
Most animals would be weary of a big carnivore looking at them with drool dripping out of his mouth. This seal, however, was not like most land animals.
"Hello." The seal said to him in a friendly manner. The lion looked at him, blinking.
"My name is Sagwan." The seal said, "What is yours?"
The lion, however, did not answered to that. Instead, he lifted a shaking hand.
"T-that..." He said, pointing at the lunchbox, filled with small cubes of a brownish-pink coloration, roasted and salted. "W-what is that? I-it smells delicious..."
Drool was coming out of his mouth copiously as Ibuki asked that question. The seal looked at him, before looking down on his food.
"Oh, this?" the sea creature, called Sagwan, said. "That's tuna."
"T-tuna?" Ibuki asked.
"Yes, tuna. It's a fish." Sagwan said, speaking it without any kind of reservation. He then picked another one of those delicious smelling cubes of cooked fish with his chopsticks.
"You are a lion, right? A carnivore, like me." Sagwan said, and he then held the tuna cube to the lion with his chopsticks.
"Here, have a taste." He offered, and Ibuki could not refuse it.
He allowed himself to be fed like a child by the spotted seal, and he chewed on that piece of fish. Of tuna.
It was the most delicious thing Ibuki ever tasted on his life.
More delicious than venison.
Ibuki could smell the scent coming from the package. The delicious smell of tuna. It was as good as the first time he smelled it, back on the day he and Sagwan first met.
Meeting Sagwan certainly changed Ibuki's life. The spotted seal managed to offer Ibuki an option. He offered him a way to be able to sate his cravings without having to resort to meat.
And Ibuki would forever be thankful to him for this.
Sagwan himself said it was no big deal, that it was no problem for him to get him tuna back from the sea. Even though he had to abuse of his status as a spotted seal a little bit to be able to get two slabs of tuna a week for his lion friend for the last twelve years.
And he even went as far as to give Ibuki a lot of advices on how to cook the tuna to make it delicious. It was by following those advices that Ibuki became good enough at cooking that he could cook fish-free meals for the rest of his family.
After all, he didn't want all his children to start eating fish, out of fear that it could lead to the same complications as those of eating meat. Besides, if news were to spread that his family ate sea creatures for lunch, Ibuki knew that there would be complications with the neighbors.
The people of the sea could be okay with having their brethren eaten due to their philosophy where life and death were both meaningless, but the people of land had a different opinion on any animal being a carnivore's meal.
"Thank you, Sagwan." Ibuki said, and the seal told him that it was okay.
"So, I guess I will be going." Sagwan said, "I will tell the other guys that you are doing okay. Come to visit any time. They would love to have you to have a drinking party in the Hidden Condo again. Bogue is still thankful for that conversation you two had and that helped him get over that writer's block."
Ibuki could not help but rub the back of his head as he remembered that event. This "conversation" that Sagwan was referring to was nothing more than a discussion that the bear started with Ibuki and that ended up with Ibuki pinning him down and growling right on his face. That was the first time in years Ibuki bared his fangs at anyone.
Apparently, being pinned and threatened by another, slightly smaller but physically stronger carnivore helped Bogue, who wrote stories under the penname of a female snow bunny, to get the inspiration he needed about how a small herbivore would feel upon being threatened by a carnivore.
However, as Sagwan was about to leave, the lion stopped him.
"Sagwan, do you have any compromises for today?"
"Not really, I was just going to stay at home for the rest of the day."
"I see. In that case, would you mind staying here at my home for a while?"
"Hmm?"
"I have to go out to do a favor for Leano." Ibuki said. "Something related to her work. Could you look after the twins for a while? I promise I will take just one hour at most."
"Oh, sure." Sawgan said, "You know I don't mind looking after your children. I did that with Legoshi for a year before his sisters were born."
"Yes, sure." Ibuki said, "Just remember that you can't take off your clothes here, okay?"
"Yes, I know the social rules." Sagwan said to the lion. "You get your clothes off when you are on my apartment, and I always keep mine while in yours. Also, I don't speak about death or about eating other animals while I am here."
"Is just that there are some things the girls are still too young to understand." Ibuki said to the seal, who nodded and said that he totally understood.
"Dad! Dad! Can you make us a snack?" Said a small voice as two pairs of feet ran across the house in direction to where the Lion was. Immediately, Ibuki turned around, looking at his coming sisters while hiding the package he was given behind his back.
"Hey, girls!" Ibuki said happily, as his two daughters came and stopped before him. "Guess who just appeared to make us a surprise visit?"
He then gave a step to the side, exposing the animal who was hiding behind his big frame.
"Uncle Sagwan!" The twins said, as the spotted seal walked forward, and greeted them the same way he did with Ibuki.
"Da'ruba duba ba'uba."
"Duba uba pupukutu'ku!" Chorused the two twins, showing that they had a greater mastery over Seaspeak than their father.
"Girls, I have to go out for a while to do a favor for your mother." Ibuki said, as he removed his apron and hanged it on the clothes rack by the door, from which he also picked a jacket. "Uncle Sagwan will watch you while I am out, okay? I'll be back in an hour. Behave and don't give him too much trouble, alright?"
"Okay, daddy!" said Zana to their father.
"Uncle Sagwan, can you make us a snack?" Zora asked, and Ibuki closed the door behind himself.
He still had the packaged tuna on his hand, as he could not risk the girls sniffing it. He just placed it on his jacket's pocket as he started walking.
Legoshi and his friends from Drama Club are on the festival... Ibuki thought as he took the path that would lead him to the city's square, where the Meteor Festival was being prepared. Maybe I'll stop to say hi to him...