Moving through the hallways at night proved to be hard. The security on the school increased since Tem's death. The teachers started patrolling the hallways more.

Legoshi had to be extra careful to move past them, as he was sure they would be asking him questions if they found him lurking around the hallways past curfew. Legoshi was not sure if he would be expel caught, but he was sure that he would be in trouble, so he was doing his best to avoid the teachers.

It was particularly bad when he had to sneak past a wolf teacher who nearly caught his scent. Luckily, Legoshi had been standing downwind, and the teacher was, apparently, coming down with something, considering the way he was sneezing. He ended up moving past Legoshi without catching him, so this allowed the wolf student to move past him and continue his way in direction to the entrance of the auditorium.

He soon was arriving, and he saw two familiar figures standing there.

Legoshi knew Zoe from Drama Club. However, like most members, Legoshi didn't knew him personally. Legoshi was mostly busy with his work as a stage hand, and he didn't really talked with the members of the acting team, but he did knew them from sight and by name. Zoe was included in this. He was that goat who was always tripping on his words when he talked to others. Most thought he was dumb, but Legoshi knew that he was just shy. Kind of like himself...

The other animal with him certainly didn't had this problem. If there was an animal who looked like he belonged on the stage, this animal was Louis. The red deer was certainly an animal in the school that everyone looked up to, both because of his strength, which was visible for everyone to see, and because of his amazing presence that made everyone look up to him. Everyone said that he was "an example for all herbivores of Cherryton".

No surprise he was almost sure to become a beastar as soon as he graduated.

Legoshi approached them, and they both were soon noticing his presence. First Zoe, who called him by the name, and then Louis, who turned when he heard Zoe talking.

"Ah. There you are." Louis said as he saw the wolf approaching. "I was starting to think you were going to stand us up."

"Sorry." Legoshi said as soon as he was before Louis. "I had a little trouble to get here. There was a pair of teachers talking by the entrance of my dorm and I had to-"

"I don't care." Louis said, cutting the wolf off before he could continue. "Now, what I need you to do is very simple. You just stand in here and keep watch. If you see any teacher coming this way, you go inside and warn us. But don't you go getting scared over anything and interrupting us for no reason. I really need to get Zoe to memorize his lines. Think you can do that?"

Louis looked intently at the wolf. Legoshi thought that he should say something against this plan. A part of him still thought it was a bad idea for them to be out this late without permission. That he should try and tell this to Louis so he would get the deer to reconsider and have them all return to their dorms before they could be caught and get in trouble.

"I..."

"Hmm?"

The words trailed on Legoshi's throat as he saw the glint on Louis' eyes. Louis could be an herbivore, but he knew how to be scarier than most other big carnivores Legoshi knew. He certainly knew how to intimidate Legoshi with a single look.

"Yes, senpai." Legoshi said, looking down, and Louis then said:

"That's a good wolf. Do a good job and maybe I'll buy you a treat when the night is over. Let's go, Zoe."

With that, Louis made his way into the auditorium, opening the doors that he, as the star student of the school and lead actor of Drama Club, had. Zoe hesitated before following him, casting a glance of Legoshi as the wolf looked down, before going in when Louis urged him to come.

The doors closed, but not locked, and Legoshi was left alone on the outside. Where he would proceed to watch over the place.

Sighing, the wolf turned around and just stood guard, looking at the void. He paid very close attention to the possible approach of any teacher. He would be there for a while.


"Louis-senpai?" Zoe asked, and this caused the red deer to look in direction to the goat, who had a worried look on his face.

"You think it is good to leave Legoshi out there? I mean, if he gets caught by a teacher, won't he be in trouble?"

Louis looked at him as he spoke:

"Yes. But not as much as us."

"But..."

"Legoshi is a big-sized carnivore, even though he doesn't acts like one." Louis said, cutting Zoe the same way he did with Legoshi just a minute ago. "Carnivores are unruly by nature. I'm sure the teachers will take that in consideration, and will probably let Legoshi go with a scolding and a warning. He will be fine, as long as he doesn't panics and gives us all away. Believe me, he will be in far less problem than the two of us."

Louis spoke as if he knew exactly what he was talking about. However, Zoe was not sure. I mean, Legoshi was a carnivore, alright, but this didn't necessarily meant he would be in less problem due to be out of his dorm this late. Zoe would not be questioning Louis, though. He didn't wanted the deer to get mad at him and grab his face again like he did earlier.

Louis scared him way more than Legoshi ever did...


She waited.

In silence, she waited.

Without moving, she waited.

Inside that bathroom stall, she waited.

With her knees close to her chest, she waited.

Wearing nothing more than her undergarments, she waited.

That was all Haru could do at a moment like that.

She was supposed to be at her dorms already. It was way past curfew and she was still out of her dorms. However, she didn't cared.

Apparently neither did her roommate, considering that she didn't sent her any message on her phone asking where Haru was or when she was coming back.

She probably thinks I'm with a boy. Haru thought to herself. Sighing as she remembered what happened earlier.

Of course, she knew that Mizuchi hated her. She knew that she resented Haru because of her boyfriend. Of course, it had not been Haru who approached him first. He was the one who was all over her due to them sitting close to each other on class. Haru remembered how shameless he was when flirting with her. He even said to her face that she was much cuter than his girlfriend.

Of course, Haru could have turned him down, looking in hindsight. But, that is not the case here.

The case was that Haru had not expected Mizuchi to actually go as far as to throw water at her. Well, Haru hoped it was just water...

No way Haru could walk back to her dorm like that. It would be embarrassing for her, and it would mean another point in favor of Mizuchi. Haru would not let that resentful, scorned girl have the satisfaction of knowing she humiliated Haru like that.

So, that was why Haru was there, and why she had hanged her uniform on the door of the stall, waiting for it to dry up enough so she could walk back to her dorm. It would be bad enough if she was on the girls restroom. However, that one was close. There was a problem with the plumbing and the whole restroom ended up flooded. And, since those restrooms were built for the small guys like Haru, this meant that the little girls needed to either use the male restrooms or try and going into the female restrooms for the bigger animals, what was nearly on the other side of the campus.

Haru chose the former.

She sighed to herself, before she checked on her dress, touching it with her small hands. It still felt slightly moisty, but, on the other hand, so did her own fur.

Yeah, it will do...

Haru thought to herself, as she picked her dress and started to get dressed again. Once she was fully dressed, she heard the door of the restroom opening, and then heard someone's steps on the tiled floors.

She groaned. Who was using the restrooms at this hour? Was it one of the teachers? She would be in trouble if they caught her there.

She would have to wait until they were gone.

With this in mind, she stayed on her stall. She stayed in there and waited.

She waited and she listened.

She listened to the sound of one of the taps opening. The sound of running water. Then something being placed into the water.

The water continued running for a while. To the point where Haru started to find it strange. That was when she opened the stall door slightly. Only enough to take a peek.

Now, like we already said, this was a restroom made having the smaller animals in mind. Animals around the size of a bunny, a squirrel, or even a mouse. Those were the types of animals who used that restroom.

Not that huge blue bird, who was currently kneeling before one of the smaller sinks as he was placing something into the sink and soaking it, before rubbing it using both of his feathery hands.

What is he doing here? Haru thought as she looked at this big blue bird. Then it hit her. Wait, is he shirtless? Is he... washing his shirt? Seriously? And he is doing it in this restroom? Couldn't he at least have gone to one of the restroom for bigger species to do this?

She continued to watch from her hiding spot. She could see the blue bird rubbing his shirt as he soaked it into the water from the taps. Then, he paused, and then started to use the water to something else.

Cupping his hands, he let water build up on his hands before he would bring it up and splash it on his shoulder. As he did, he shivered, and a sound of pain escaped his beak. Haru blinked.

What is he doing...?

She said, and she opened the stall door a bit more to take a better look. Due to the position, she could not clearly see the side of the bird's body. However, she could see the mirror. And what she saw...

A gasp escaped Haru's mouth before she could stop herself, the stall's door creaked a bit loudly as it opened, causing the bird to turn on her direction on surprise.

For a long moment, Dom and Haru only looked at each other.

Now that Dom had turned to her, Haru could see better what she had seem in the mirror. She could see now that she made no mistake.

His shoulder was covered in blood! And the blood seemed fresh, and it went all the way from his shoulder to his elbow.

Not only that, but now that he was looking her way, Haru could take a better look on his body. The bruises were all visible through his blue feathers, as they had a purplish tone to them. They were on his chest and stomach, and even on his face. One of his eyes was swollen and blackened, as if he had been punched really hard on the face.

Now that Haru looked carefully, she could also see the tears. She could see, on the light of the restroom, the clear tear tracks that ran down the bird's cheeks, coming from his black beady eyes.

For a long moment, the two animals only looked at each other. The kneeling Dom looked on the eyes of the standing rabbit, who had her hands covering her mouth as she looked at him in shock.

"I..." Dom said, looking back at her. "I... needed to clean my shirt..."

Dom was referring to his shirt, which was still on the sink, under the running water. The shirt that was dirty with blood. As dirty as his feathers.

"Your shoulder..." Haru said to him, looking at his wound. "What happened?"

"I-I got hurt." Dom said, trying to recover. "I-I just needed to get cleaned... Wait, what are you doing here? This is the males' restroom."

"Nevermind what I'm doing here!" Haru said back to him. "Why are you here instead of the infirmary! That wound looks bad! And you're still bleeding!"

"I..." Dom said, casting a glance at the wound on his shoulder, and seeing that there was still blood coming out. Dom had always had a problem with blood clotting. Any bleeding took way too long to stop. He found it out nearly four years ago...

"I... just need to clean up." Dom said, holding his shoulder as the blood continued to drip from his wound. "Before I go back to my dorm. So I don't make my roommates worried."

"You need to get this wound checked!" Haru insisted, looking at him.

"I just need to clean up." Dom said to her. "It's okay, it is not as bad as it looks. I just bleed a lot. It will stop bleeding and I'll be fine, I promise."

Haru looked at him, as the peafowl looked back at her, and he said:

"I just need to clean up a bit. Maybe bandage it with something..."

"Well, then let me help you with that, then." Haru said, and she was walking to the peafowl before he could stop her. Dom tried to talk the bunny out of it, but she was not listening to him. In no time, she had taken her little scar and improvised something that she could use to help.

She just had to open another of the sinks and drench it with water before taking it to the peafowls shoulder. She wiped the blood off his feather, having to rub it to make some of the blood that had dried up come off. However, his wound continued to drip blood as she cleaned it, but it was coming less and less.

"It was bleeding a lot more ten minutes ago." Dom said to her, as he gestured to both his arm and to his shirt, which were matted with the blood. Haru only told him to "hold still" as she continued to clean the blood that was coming of the wound, and she was able to make it relatively clean enough for her to take a good look at the wound beneath his feathers.

"That's a nasty wound." Haru said, "How did that happened?"

Dom looked at her, and he hesitated.

"I... I was..."

"You tell anyone and you're dead! Do you hear me!?"

"I was... not as careful as I should have." Dom said finally.

"Careful how?" Haru said, looking at him.

"I... I was not attentive to my surroundings." Dom said, what was not entirely untrue. Haru looked at him, and then she looked back at his wound. She saw the way it looked, especially when she put her hand close to it, and then it occurred her.

"Are those... claw marks?" She asked, looking at the peafowl. "Did a carnivore did this to you?"

Dom said nothing, as he looked away.

"Where you attacked?" She asked, and the peafowl once more answered with silence.

"Well, you need to tell a teacher if that's the case!" Haru said to him, but Dom was quick to say:

"No!"

He said it so suddenly that it caused the bunny to flinch. Dom soon said:

"I... I'm fine. There is no need."

"But, if a carnivore attacked you..."

"I am fine." Dom insisted. Haru looked at his shoulder as he spoke that. There was more blood coming out. "I will be fine. You don't have to worry. Really."

Haru looked at him, and she saw something on his face. Something that she recognized. Something that was eerily familiar to her.

"Did they... threated you?" She asked, and Dom didn't said anything to her. He didn't had to. The look on his eyes as he remembered the words of the lion said it all.

Haru looked at him, and then she also said nothing. She just went back to cleaning his blood with her scarf, drenching it in water from the sink and rubbing it over his shoulder, doing her best to clean the blood off of him.

"There was a reason?" Haru asked as she cleaned the blood. Dom looked at her. "Did they said why they were attacking you, or did they just did it out of the blue? I mean, I don't think that someone would to it for no reason. Not even a carnivore. Unlike what they say on some tv channels."

Dom looked at her.

"How dare you breathe the same air as me, you disgusting piece of crap!"

"He... didn't really liked I was there." Dom said, and Haru looked at him.

"And he decided to attack you?"

Once more, silence. Dom's silences could speak even more than his words. Haru took it in as she cleaned his blood.

"And you are not thinking of going to the teachers?"

"No." Dom said, "They won't do anything about it."

"How do you know?" Haru asked.

"I just know." Dom said. He was sure that the teachers would not help him.

The ones on his old school didn't...

"I see..." Haru said to him. "And, this carnivore... do you think he will do something like this again?"

"I'll find you and I'll kill you, you disgusting invert!"

"I'll keep clear from him in the future." Dom said to the bunny. "That should be enough."

"What if it is not?" Haru asked him. "What if he decides to look for you?"

Dom said nothing for a few moments. Haru continued to look at him, until the peafowl eventually said:

"I'll be fine." He sounded nearly as if he was saying that to himself, rather than to her. "I'll be fine."

Haru continued to look at him, and then she sighed.

"I still think you should talk to a teacher." She said, as she continued to clean the blood from his feathers, it was coming out nicely. Luckily, the blood was not too dry, otherwise it would have been a real pain to get it all out.

"It will do me no good." Dom said to her, she then said:

"You sound like you're speaking from experience... did something like this happened before?"

"Yes..." Dom said, before he could actually think about it. "In my old school..."

Dom looked at her. She looked back at him. Neither of them said anything for a long moment, before Dom eventually said:

"What are you doing out so late?"

"What are you doing out so late?" She asked him after a brief silence, and Dom answered:

"I'm the head of the Drama Club's stage crew. We were closing the club for the night."

"Oh, I see..." Haru said, "Wait, wasn't that alpaca who was eaten a member of Drama Club?"

Dom looked down.

"Yes, that was Tem. He was one of the actors." Dom said sadly. And Haru looked at him.

"This carnivore who attacked you... was he a member of your club as well?"

Dom shook his head.

"No, I never saw him before today."

"I see..." Haru said, "And, he attacked you because he didn't like you for some reason..."

"Yes." Dom said, "There was something about me he just didn't liked. Just like in my old school. He just... didn't liked a certain thing about me."

"And they used it as an excuse to pick on you." Haru said to him. "That's really the worst."

Once more, the two animal's eyes meet. For a long moment, they looked at each other. As they looked at each other, something formed in between the two animals. A mutual understanding. Like, on some deep level, they understood that they each knew what the other had gone through.

This animal went through the same things I did… was the thought that each one of them felt on that moment. Call it a deep seethed instinct. The kind that two animals would have when meeting on the wild and could know if the other was a member of their own group, capable of sharing common feelings that would allow them to share a certain form of bond that could be mutually beneficial to the two of them.

Proper words didn't needed to be traded between the two once they reached this understanding. Not for now, at least.

With this, neither of them said anything else, as Haru finished cleaning the blood from Dom's feathers, and then she looked at the wound, which was still slowly leaking blood.

"You should really go to the infirmary." Haru told him, but Dom shook his head. He didn't wanted to have to bother the medical staff at this hour. He didn't wanted to have them pay so close attention to him and to start asking questions about how he got those wounds. The threats of the lion were still far too fresh on his mind. Besides, this would put Dom himself into attention, and the peafowl didn't wanted that.

Not now.

He didn't wanted to go through all of that again...

He just continued refusing it, even when the bunny continued trying to convince him to go see the nurse about that wound, to get it properly treated. After a while, he finally convinced the bunny to let it go by saing it was too late and he didn't wanted to bother the nurse. However, she still advised him to go to the infirmary in the morning and have it checked.

"Don't worry." Dom said, "I'll just deal with it myself once I'm back on my dorm. We have a first aid kit, I can handle it."

"Fine. Just let me do a little thing for you, at least." She said, and she placed her tissue, already reddened with the blood she cleaned from the peafowl's feathers, into the wound of the bird, wrapping it around his arm like an improvised patch. Dom looked at it, before he turned to her.

"Thank you." He said simply, and the bunny only nodded back at him. Then, Dom continued to clean his shirt, and then he squeezed it hard to get most of the water off, before he put his shirt once more. After all, he could not go back to his dorm bare chested, right?

"Think you will be okay?" Haru asked him, "Going back to your dorm so late at night? They say it is dangerous to go out at this hour."

"I'll be okay." Dom said to her, "If the teachers stop me, I'll just explain to them I'm a member of Drama Club and I stayed till late closing the club before heading to my dorm. What about you?"

"I'm small and sneaky." The bunny said casually, "I'm sure I can get back to my dorm without anyone seeing me. You don't have to get worried about me."

This was enough to Dom. With this, the peafowl thanked the bunny for the help she gave him, wishing her a good night before going on his way. Haru also wished the big blue bird a good night, before she went back to her own problem at hand.

"Oh, man..." Haru said, as she saw the small red dots that now were on her white dress, as result of the blood that ended in her while she cleaned the peafowl's wound.

"I gotta get this cleaned up..."


She was so nice to me... Dom thought, placing a hand on his arm, feeling the tissue on his shoulder, over the still-fresh wound. The kids of the sewing club were nice to me like her back on the day... but, that was before the video...

Yes, everyone on his previous school was nice to him. They liked being around him. Dom had long noticed that animals who are physically beautiful tended to be more popular. This was the same for him. I mean, he was a peafowl.

However, it seemed even being good looking was not enough to help him keep his popularity after that video started circulating.

All of a sudden, no one wanted to be around him anymore. All of his friends abandoned him. And all of the praise on him and his appearance turned into insults and jeering.

"Oh, it is that bird..."

"Let's keep away from him."

"Did you hear?"

"I heard he seduced Jalen-senpai."

"Disgusting."

"He always seemed normal. I guess freaks like him have a way of hiding."

"What if we throw some tomatoes at him?"

"Don't come near us, you perv."

"I heard his parents are divorcing because of him."

"Why do people chose to be like this?"

"He is sick."

"I don't want to be near him. He might try to convert me."

"Did you saw how he nearly cried when he saw what we wrote on his locker? Man, that was priceless!"

"This is a problem with upbringing. His parents didn't taught him how to be a proper male."

"Maybe he just needs a lesson to straighten up. Lets ambush him and beat him up after school..."

Dom remembered all of it. He remembered all he heard the others say whenever he was around. People thought he couldn't hear them, or they didn't cared if he heard or not? To this day Dom was not sure.

However, he knew that he could hear all of their words. And if that was only what he heard when he was close enough, he didn't even wanted to imagine what they said when he was not around. It was just too painful.

Everyone was saying those things.

All of the students. And also some of the teachers...

People who Dom knew. People who before were all over him speaking how beautiful his feathers were. People who he thought he could trust.

Who he thought were his friends.

"Don't you ever dare to come near me again! And you can keep this stupid bracelet!"

Dom stopped. His body shook. He could feel his eyes starting to get moisty.

No. Dom thought. Not now. Not right now. I don't need this right now.

Dom took a few gasping breaths, choking back the tears that were threatening to come out. He knew that, if he allowed the first tears to come out, then many others would follow. He didn't needed this now.

Once he recomposed himself, Dom put himself to walk again. All the while, he thought about how it all started because of that video.

Because he was not careful enough. Because he didn't noticed that someone was spying on them.

That was the reason why his entire life crashed down. Both on school and at home.

It was all because of that video.

And now the video was back.

It came back to haunt him and ruin his life a second time.

Dom really hoped it would not be like on his previous school. He prayed it would not be like on his previous school. He didn't knew of his spirit would be able to handle it...

As he walked, he failed to notice where he was going, as he moved in direction to the fountain...


They've been inside for nearly an hour... Legoshi thought as he paced back and forth in front of the door. At this rate a teacher might come our way... if they catch me out at this hour, what am I supposed to do? Should I give them some excuse? I don't want to have to lie to a teacher, but I also don't want to tattle on Louis and Zoe, they both would be in trouble. I could tell them I just wanted some fresh air. Would they suspend me? What if they expel me? What would Grandpa say?

Legoshi was pretty much lost on his own little world, when a sound caught his ear, causing him to look over.

The chirping was small and subtle, but his sensitive ears caught it. It didn't took long for the wolf to catch sight of the source of that sound.

"Oh, hey there." Legoshi said, as he kneeled to the small cricket. The small thing was just there, chirping with the movements of its legs, while Legoshi looked down at him, slowly reaching out for him and allowing the thing to climb into his finger.

"What are you doing out here so late?" Legoshi asked, looking at the small thing as he spoke to it as if it could understand him. "Well, I guess you could ask me the same thing, right? At least you would not be expected to say anything if they catch you." Legoshi joked. "Actually, I think they would hardly see you if you remain real quiet."

The cricket chirped, as if laughing at Legoshi's comment. Legoshi was able to smile at the thing, and he once more saw himself wishing he was able to understand this unique language bugs used.

However, his attention was quickly diverged from the cricket as a smell reached his nostrils. A smell that made his nose twitch, taking more of this scent inside his nasal cavity, and then it would make its way to the wolf's brain.

Once it reached, it had an effect on him.

His eyes widened as his pupils contracted. His muscles tensed under his fur, which all stood on end. His lips curled as Legoshi's features scrunched and his teeth bared.

The cricket hopped out of his finger and fled. Its primitive brain telling it that now it was time to flee in order to survive, for now there was a source of danger nearby.

And this source of danger was no other than Legoshi, who squirmed as the smell he was feeling had a strong effect on him. A smell Legoshi was not use to feel. A smell that would, in most occasions, have a strong effect on any carnivore who felt it.

The smell of herbivore blood.


Dom took a feathered hand to his shoulder. He could feel the tissue the bunny wrapped there starting to get moisty and warm with the blood.

Why do my wounds take so long to clot? Dom thought to himself, as he took in his surroundings. He was near the fountain. Dom looked at it.

There was a fountain like that on his old school... Well, not on the school, but on the park right in front of it. And he often went there after classes... with...

"I plan to propose to you here one day. Not now. Later, when we have both graduated from school. I'll bring you here and I'll propose to you. I'll buy you the biggest, most beautiful wedding ring you ever saw. And I'll fill this entire park with dahlia flowers just for you. It will be great. Until then, you wait for me. As soon as we have both graduated, I'll ask for your hand in marriage."

But... he never did.

He never proposed.

In fact, he never spoke to him again.

Was it all a lie? Did all of the promises meant nothing?

Did their love meant nothing?

Once more, Dom found himself fighting back his tears.

Does love really endures hardships? Or is it fickle and weak enough that true hardships end up killing it? If it is able to endure, then what we had was not true love?

Dom rose his head, looking around. He hadn't noticed how misty it was today. And neither had he noticed the red glow of the moon until that moment...

If love is truly so weak, how come everyone is always speaking of how beautiful love is? How it trumps over everything?

Dom felt a shiver run his spine. His feathers puffed as something on the back of his mind made him go into alert.

Maybe love is only strong when you are with someone who is worth the effort of loving. Maybe, if the person you claim to be in love with is not worth it, then the love quickly dies.

His heart started speeding up. His legs started shaking.

Does this means... I am not worth it?

Dom slowly turned his head, looking at something beyond the mist.

Where they all right? The other students? Those teachers?

My father?

He froze as he saw something at the distance. A dark figure crouching.

Am I really a worthless failure?

Just because I can only love males?

He saw it's eyes. They were red. Primal fear coursed through his veins as he saw those eyes glaring at him.

This feeling. Is so strange. And yet. So familiar. My heart is beating. I'm sweaty. I'm feeling dizzy. It is like the first time I saw him. But... it is different.

Dom have a single step back. Every instinct of his body was telling him to turn around and run. To flee from there as fast as he could.

"Look, he is crying!"

"That's right! Just run away, you stupid fag!"

"A true male would not run from his problems! This just proves you were never a male to begin with!"

Not a male... is it true? I'm not sure. But, one thing I'm sure. The first time I felt like this. The first time I felt my heart beating like this was when I saw his face. When I saw his smile. When our eyes met.

That was the day when I felt alive.

Like now.

The figure tensed on the distance, Dom's own muscles tensed in answer.

I felt alive. I felt like this because of him. Because he paid attention to me. Because he saw me. Because he noticed I was there and he saw who I was. He made me feel like my presence in there had a meaning.

The figure leaped.

Like I had real value.

Dom turned around to run.

When I was with him, I felt like I had a purpose. I didn't felt like I was only existing. For the first time, I really felt like my existence had a purpose. That it had a meaning. That I was more than just a bird who existed to be a pretty little decoration. Like I was not a disappointment to everyone.

I felt valued. I felt treasured. He looked at me and saw someone who meant something to him. He saw someone who could be by his side. Who he wanted by his side.

He saw someone with true value.

Dom ran, while the figure flew through the air on his direction. He could not run fast enough. The figure crashed on him.

Then... it all ended. The kindness and care on his eyes vanished. All of a sudden, he was not looking at me with fondness and desire. He was looking at me with resentment and contempt. The same look on my father's eyes when he looked at me.

I lost meaning to him.

I lost my value.

Did I ever really had any? If I had, would he have changed like that?

They stumbled into the ground. The two figures were a mess of arms and legs as they rolled into the ground.

Just like that, he was gone from my life. With him, all of the value I once felt vanished. He didn't needed or wanted me. No one else did. Not even my mother's love could make me feel like someone actually valued me. That someone cared for me.

No one else made me feel like him. No one else could make my heart pump like when it did when he placed his eyes on me and smiled.

They stopped into the ground. Dom was on a sitting position, while the one who tackled him was kneeling behind him. One strong arm around Dom's torso, pinning his arms to his sides, while the other hand had went and wrapped around Dom's long neck. Not choking him, but keeping a firm grip.

Until now...

Dom was looking up. The hand on his long neck forcing him to bend it and look in direction at the sky. At the moon shining above him.

This feeling. It is familiar. Like the one I had when he looked at his eyes. It is not the same though. This feeling is different. However, it makes my heart pump the same way. It makes my body shiver the same way. It makes sweat pour from my pores like it did back on the day.

And it is all because of you.

The figure behind him had am arm firm around Dom's body. Pulling him closer. Strong, and yet firm. Like an embrace. That arm was so strong. Like his arms had been.

You... who are you?

The figure behind him was breathing. Dom could feel his breathing. He could sense the warm of his body as he pulled Dom close. He could feel him shaking.

Or was it Dom himself who was shaking?

You are someone I know? Someone I met before? Someone I never met? Someone I was destined to meet?

Do you see something in me? Like he once did? You are pulling me close to you. You must be feeling something, right? Are you shaking from excitement? From nervousness?

Are happy for being here? For finding me? Like he once was?

Do you feel elated by being here with me, like he once was?

If you do, then I'm happy.

This means someone else sees value on my life.

Dom could not scream. He could not cry out. He could not even whimper. And it was not because of the hand gripping his neck. It was as if his voice had died inside of his throat. All he could do was look up and shake, as he looked at the beautiful moon.

So, whoever you are, whatever you want to do to me, I don't mind. I welcome it. All I ask is for you to show me this means something.

Show me this is not just a sham and that you will not leave me alone.

Show me that I can mean something to someone, and that they can value what I mean to them. Show me that I can have some kind of meaning into the life of someone else.

Please... just this once... just once before I die...

The moon was shining so beautifully on the sky above...

Make me feel that my life is not worthless.


And, this concludes this chapter, hope you have all enjoyed.

About this chapter, I tried to be loyal to the original plot. I tried to do the fountain scene like it was on the series, with Legoshi's tackle being accompanied by a philosophical reflection of the animal he is tackling.

Also, I changed it from being just the smell of a herbivore to being the smell of the blood of this herbivore. I think it would make more sense, for the smell of fresh blood would probably have more effect on Legoshi than merely sniffing an herbivore. It would appeal more deeply to his deep seethed instincts, and be a better trigger.

Also, Dom and Haru bonding as fellow bullying victims. I plan to explore it in this story.

So, until next time.