AUTHOR'S NOTES ~

ReadingBeta: I'm sorry to disappoint you. There will be only one bed scene(kind of), without a too graphical description. This story is not about it, if u know what I mean.

"I'm not looking for friends. It's pointless. Friends are gifts of fate"

Principal Gon carefully listened to the humans, and then he listened to Mr. Wilson. The case was very clear, even without eyewitnesses. Bill had beaten Kurt, as evidenced by the handkerchief he used to stop the bleeding from his nose. Now, it was Legoshi's turn to testify.

''Legoshi, is that true?'' Principal Gon asked.

''Yes, Mr. Principal. Bill knocked over the bucket of water first and then attacked the human.'' answered the wolf.

''I see.'' said the principal, and then turned to Bill. ''What was that supposed to mean, Bill? What was driving you at that moment? Do you realize this isn't just a school fight? You attacked an employee of the Academy. It was all racially motivated, was it?''

Bill had nothing to say. All he could do was stand there and listen.

''I'll put it this way, Bill. I'll reprimand you for encroachment on Mr. Wides' health. If this happens again, you will have to deal with the police. You're free to go.''

''Yes,'' Bill said and walked out of the office.

''Phew, my God. Mr. Wides, please accept my apologies for this incident. I promise you this won't happen again.''

''I sure hope so,'' Phil said in Kurt's place. ''If he ever harms Kurt again, I might not be able to hold myself next time.''

Principal Gon, adjusting his tie and swallowing nervously, said:

''Y-yes, we hope you won't resort to using brute force, Mr. Fobes. Legoshi, thank you for helping our employees. You are all free to go.''

The trio left the office and stopped nearby.

''Thanks for your help,'' Kurt said to the wolf. ''If it hadn't been for you, my face would be in pieces.''

''Oh, it's nothing. My name is Legoshi, by the way.''

''Nice to meet you. I'm Kurt Wides.'' said the human and shook the wolf's hand.

''Phil Fobes.'' said the taller human, and shook Legoshi's hand, and then turned to Kurt.

''Listen, Kurt, why don't you go to the cabin and get some rest? I can work alone in the meantime.''

''Okay, I think I'll rest until dinner and then come back and continue cleaning.''

''Let's go, I'll walk you.'' Legoshi said, and together, they went out into the street.''

''I... I've wanted to meet you for a long time, but I haven't dared. By the way, how old are you?''

''I'm 18. Phil will be 20 in two weeks.''

''Seriously? Are you guys really our age?''

''Yeah, right. Phil and I should have been in college a long time ago, but instead, we're here.''

''Is it true that you humans are an endangered species?''

''Yes, we are. Unlike the others, we have always been few, and we are becoming fewer day by day. Now, there are only a few thousand of us.''

''That's horrible! It's hard to believe that some unknown species is about to disappear. What is wrong with this world? I'm sorry if you don't feel comfortable talking about this.''

''It's okay, we're used to it.''

During the short conversation, Legoshi and Kurt had already reached the small cabin where the humans lived. During this time, Kurt's nosebleed had stopped.

''Thank you for the conversation and for walking me home. I appreciate it.''

''Sure, no problem. See you later.'' Legoshi said with a smile.

''Yeah, good luck.''

Kurt rested on his bed for a few hours and then went out into the Academy's courtyard. He checked his phone but found nothing new. Music, movies, apps, and games that don't work without the internet were all the same.

Kurt decided not to go to dinner and would continue cleaning the premises. This time, Phil chose to stick with Kurt and not let him go far. Throughout the cleanup, the humans saw Legoshi several times in the company of his roommates. Bill was now avoiding both humans and the wolf.

A sudden girlish laughter caught Kurt and Phil's attention. They saw the noble deer Louis passing by. He only took a quick glance at the two tall, furless creatures and went on about his business. But something inside Kurt still said that there was a particle of interest in the fleeting glance of this noble deer.

By nine o'clock in the evening, all the cleanup work was completed. Phil left early, he wanted to exercise on the small playground near the dormitories. Kurt walked around the premises again before closing the back entrance door and heading toward the cabin.

It was getting dark outside. Kurt had only a few steps to walk home and go to bed. But for some reason, the feeling of danger and tracking made his heart beat harder and his legs shake. It was like a typical horror movie: the victim walking somewhere and the monster following behind. Kurt really didn't want to turn around. He only wants a chance to reach the cabin. But an invisible force made him turn around.

He saw Legoshi. But his eyes were blood red, and his glare... it was as if he were looking into his soul. The chains of fear hardly shackled Kurt. And the wolf kept staring at him as if trying to pull out his heart and soul through his eyes with those same chains.

But when Legoshi blinked just once, his eye color turned back to normal. The tension faded, and the shaking in Kurt's body stopped. Now it was the same Legoshi, the new friend who helped him today.

''Hi,'' said the wolf, handing Kurt a plastic bag. ''I bought some apples for you. Humans eat apples, right?''

''Uh, yeah, sure, thanks. I'd pay you for them if I could. But I don't have any money.''

''Oh, no, you don't have to. It's a gift.''

Kurt reluctantly took the plastic bag. They stared at each other for a few more seconds just like that.

''I'm sorry, Legoshi, I just can't. W-wait a second. Uh... take this,'' Kurt said, handing a rectangular sheet folded in half in the wolf's paw. ''Consider it my gift. But don't brag about it too much. Or Phil and I might have problems later.''

''Of course, thank you,'' Legoshi said with a smile.

''See ya,'' Kurt said, heading to the cabin.

Legoshi watched for a long time as his new furless friend moved away from him.

Afterward, the grey wolf walked over to the nearest traffic light and unfolded the piece of paper. He had never seen anything like this before. The paper was a pale green color. There was a number five in every corner. Just to the left of the middle was a picture of a man who was human, like Kurt and Phil. Below that was the inscription "Five Dollars", and at the top was THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. "The United States of America? What exactly is it? Five dollars? Dollars... Wait, it's a human money? Kurt gave me their money. That's unbelievable. I didn't even know they printed their own money instead of yens. Who are you, humans? Eh, never mind. Thank you so much, Kurt. I'll be sure to keep this priceless gift."

Kurt had to work late because he hadn't finished mopping one of the floors. The lights were out, and there was only a dim streetlight shining through the window, illuminating the room. Phil was probably nearby.

Kurt put down the bucket and started washing the floor. All seemed to be going well, and he used some lemon-scented and apple-scented detergent to make the floor sparkle.

At one point, Kurt realized he was only stirring up dirt instead of cleaning. He dipped the rag back into the bucket, wrung it out, and tried again. The water became dirtier. The disgusting smell from the bucket reached his nose. Puzzled, Kurt dipped his fingers into the bucket. It was no longer water but some black substance.

When he realized it was anything but not water, the liquid gradually filled the bucket and then overflowed, covering the clean floor. A sense of nausea rose in Kurt's throat and he stepped back. He turned away to avoid seeing it.

What happened next couldn't be called normal. A few meters away from Kurt, something huge broke through the wall and entered the corridor. The cloud of dust that rose from the impact made it difficult for Kurt to see anything clearly at first. However, when the dust had settled, Kurt saw it.

It was Legoshi. But not the one he knew. This one was so tall and angry. And he's a freakin' giant! His eyes, mouth, and paws were covered in blood. The wolf was on all fours. This giant, grinning jaws reminded Kurt of the Godzilla movies. And there was something in his jaws. It was Phil! He was in his jaws, already dead. The bitten off part of Kurt's friend fell to the floor. The nausea got even worse.

Meanwhile, the monster Legoshi continued to stare at the little human. Kurt quickly turned around and ran as fast as he could. The monster ran after him.

As Kurt turned down the hallway and then ran toward the door at its end. It took him only a few seconds to arrive at it. Above the door, was the sign "Welcome Home" glowed brightly. However, Kurt didn't pay much attention to it and had no time to do so. Instead, he just ran into the door.

Behind the door, there was not the typical Academy classroom. It was not even the city in which Cherryton Academy is located. In front of him was a muddy field with black clouds in the sky and grey-green fog everywhere. This fog made it difficult for the human to breathe and see clearly. He saw Soldiers walking by with rifles and gas masks, but they didn't notice him. He ran towards a door in the middle of the field.

Behind the next door, the scene was no less terrifying, but it was also easily recognizable. He saw a concentration camp where Nazis shot prisoners of war, but none of them saw or paid any attention to him.

Walking through the next door, Kurt saw a lot of grass and trees. Helicopters were flying overhead, and paratroopers were landing on a clear field. One helicopter, however, was shot down by missiles. It made a few turns in the air before falling with a huge explosion. One of the back propeller blades hit a poor soldier at great speed, cutting him in half. The soldier fell to the ground, with his insides spilled out.

Kurt ran into the next door. He saw a gas station, and it was nighttime. This place feels extremely familiar to him. He saw a woman run out of the store and rush to her car. Suddenly, two gunshots rang out, and the woman fell lifeless to the ground, bleeding to death.

''Mom...?'' Kurt said, his eyes brimming with tears.

He turned around. The giant Legoshi was already looming over him, ready to devour him. But there was nowhere else to run. And the sign above the door read that he had already "home".

NEXT DAY

It was a nightmare. Since they appeared here, Kurt has had non-stop nightmares night and day. There's no end to this. They are so long and agonizing. Every day, he wakes up with tears in his eyes.

Phil came out of the shower and, looking at his friend, said:

''Good morning, buddy. Are you going to shave? You're already getting stubble.''

Phil found the only way to shave in the morning. The animals here use scissors to trim off some of their overgrown fur. But the concept of shaving the beard in the morning had never existed here. There were no razors for that in this world. So Phil found a way out. As it turned out, he managed to hide "6X4" in his Mercedes skillfully and then take it. It was a Soviet bayonet knife for an AKM assault rifle.

As Phil said, he bought this knife not only for self-defense but also for practical purposes. For example, it can be used to cut wires or barbed wire. Who knows in what ordinary situations it might come in handy.

Anyway, In the mornings, after sharpening the knife on a sharpening stone, Phil would shave off the stubble for himself and Kurt, who was afraid to use it. Such extreme shaving rarely ends without cuts and blood. By the way, Phil once said that he had bet other amateur hockey players that he could shave himself with a skate blade.

After breakfast, humans got down to their only task: cleaning up. After the cafeteria, Kurt and Phil moved back into the corridors. Soon, the reсess began again.

Kurt, busy cleaning, reached the small hallway to the closed auditorium. For some reason, Kurt hadn't seen this place in the past few days or hadn't paid attention. The double doors were heavily dented as if kicked in with a huge battering ram. There were lots of flowers and newspapers on the floor near the door. In the middle was a portrait of a friendly and smiling alpaca.

''You don't know?'' said suddenly appeared Legoshi. ''His name is Tem. Recently, a terrifying tragedy happened behind those doors. An unknown carnivore chased him in there and tore him apart and then devoured him.''

''What? Seriously?'' Kurt asked.

Legoshi nodded. Kurt set aside the mop and picked up a newspaper with a photo of a smiling alpaca.

Night. Blood moon. The Dark Academy.

Tem ran through the dark, illuminated by the bright red moonlight shining through the windows. It seemed only that shade of red was the only signpost by which the alpaca could run toward salvation...or death. Pain tormented his left arm. The sight of blood made him nauseous, and so he tried to look only forward and run. Run anywhere to hide from it. But the monster's shadow was approaching fast. The monster could feel his fear and smell his blood. All that remained was to catch up to the small herbivore, and then it was up to claws and fangs.

Tem ran up the stairs into the dark void of one of the classrooms.

Closing the door and crouching on the floor, he tried to hold back the onslaught of his pursuer. It was already here. A blow on the door! Tem managed to hold it back. Another blow! Once again, the alpaca was able to keep the door closed.

''Are you seriously going to eat your classmate?!'' Tem shouted. ''We took classes together!''

The third blow on the door was stronger than the previous ones. Tem didn't have the strength to hold it. The impact sent him flying forward. Rolling down the steps between the rows of desks, Tem stopped in the middle of the auditorium. Every part of his body hurt now. For a few seconds, he could see the silhouette of his pursuer. The doors slammed shut, plunging the room into darkness.

'' Are we nothing but food to you carnivores? '' Tem said, stepping back.

Tem was left alone with the monster in complete darkness. He had stepped on the remote control of the projector by accident. A bright light flashed overhead, temporarily blinding him. Shielding his eyes with his hand, he saw the monster's silhouette. It was there, coming towards him, snarling and ready to taste his flesh. Only the feral instincts drove him.

''You carnivores are all monsters!''

A slobbering, toothy maw caught up with Tem. It was over quickly, and the killer was gone. The alpaca was left there gutted and covered in blood.

''Oh... Jesus... Holy damn!'' Kurt couldn't hold back a tear, his hands sweating and shaking as he read such terrible lines of the newspaper, and in the end, he dropped it.

''Hey Kurt, what's going on? Are you alright?'' came Legoshi's voice.

Human looked up from the floor and saw the worried wolf before him.

''Yeah, I-Im alright. I just can't believe someone could kill someone and devour inside the academy.''

''Are you sure that you are alright? Maybe you should see a doctor? You're turned pale. Is it normal for humans?''

''Y-yeah, sure. It happens sometimes... it's nothing.''

''Okay. Then I'll go. Classes start soon. In fact, you and Phil should join us at lunch. My roommates want to meet you, too.''

''Sounds good, really. We'll be there,'' Kurt said to the wolf with a smile.

Legoshi smiled back as well and patted the human on the shoulder in farewell.

Meanwhile, Louis was making his way with a flower bouquet toward the door behind which Tem had been murdered and devoured in cold blood. He had seen and heard part of the conversation between Kurt and Legoshi.

«For days now, these furless creatures have been raising more and more unanswered questions for me,» the noble deer thought.

«They are calm and friendly, like herbivores. But then, why do they disgust me as much as carnivores? Because they feed on the portions of carnivores? Or is it because of their appearance? It will remain a mystery until I get to know them better. But that doesn't matter now. I need to honor the memory of Tem.»