At the end of the school day, students went to their dormitories. But for the Drama Club, work was just beginning. Soon, they would perform a play, which they needed to prepare especially carefully.

Louis and Bill rehearsing the fight scene. At first glance, it is clear how slow and awkward the tiger's moves are. At one point, trying to parry from above, Bill cries out in pain, drops the stick from his hands, and grabs his sore shoulder.

''Damn it, Bill, are you going to practice your moves normally today or what?'' Louis said in a frustrated voice, crossing his arms over his chest.

''Gah, I'm sorry,'' Bill replied, struggling to lift the training stick. ''That cretin... human. He clasped my arms so hard when he pressed me to the floor. He almost dislocated them. They still hurt.''

After taking one look at Bill and shrugging, Louis responded:

''I don't care. It's only your fault there,'' he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a towel. ''Go fix your arms, Bill. You have two days for it. It's in your best interest to make it as soon as possible unless you want me to find a replacement for you.''

''I get it,'' Bill replied.

Having gathered his stuff, Louis exited the Drama Club. He was clearly unhappy because Bill couldn't practice appropriately due to his injury. Louis always strives for perfection, and unexpected situations like this easily frustrate him. Only the best become Beastars, mistakes are not allowed.

Bill was also furious, partly at himself and partly at human. After Louis left, he hit the wall with a stick to release some tension, but the pain crept back into his shoulders again.

''Grrr damn you, janitor,'' Bill hissed.

''Listen, Bill,'' Aoba the bald eagle approached the tiger, ''I think you really need to see a doctor.''

''Yeah, I will. Maybe tomorrow.''

Legoshi watched this situation from above, resting his hands on the railing after finishing up his work. The wolf never felt drawn to acting. He didn't like being in the spotlight. On top of it, he had no desire to play any role, even the lead one.

His mind was occupied with thoughts of the rabbit girl. His mind's eye flashed back to the image of her, and wherever he went, those thoughts remained with him. He could not escape them, no matter how hard he tried.

''Well, well, well. What do we have here?'' It was Kai, the mongoose that Louis had recently transferred to the production crew. ''Louis will kick him out if he won't fix his arms. Geez, he's gonna freak out so bad.''

Feeling hatred towards the tiger for his recent antics, Legoshi turned away and said:

''He got what he deserved. He thought Kurt was an inferior creature to be mocked.''

''Man, why do you care about these 'humans' so much? Do you really like spending time with those baldies...''

''You have something against them?''

''Actually... no. But I think they are hiding something. Just think, unknown creatures suddenly appear in our town. And there's no word about them on the internet or in storybooks. And you really see nothing wrong with it?''

Legoshi answered nothing. At the moment, he was unpleasant about this conversation with Kai. It wasn't the first day he'd heard students slinging mud at humans.

''Think about it,'' Kai said and walked away.

Legoshi watched Kai until he was completely out of sight. The wolf leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest.

'What can they hide?' he thought, pulling Kurt's gift of a human bill out of his pocket.

But he sees there's no human anymore on that bill. Instead of a human face, he saw her. Haru. She looked at him with a smile. Instead of 'Five dollars', now there's been writing 'Prey'.

''No-no-no.'' He squeezed his eyes closed and crumpled the bill.

'Stop it! I'm not the one of those!'

A few seconds later, the grey wolf opened his eyes. When he unfolded the bill, he saw it was back to normal. Familiar picture of a human and the writing 'Five Dollars' back in their places.

''Phew...'' exhaled Legoshi and tucked the bill back into his pocket.

Just as Kurt wanted, he and Phil quickly cleaned all the rooms after dinner in time. Phil went to the cabin to charge his tablet and get some exercise.

In room 701 of the dorm, they were greeted with great warmth and hospitality. At first glance, they could see how cozier the canine's room was than their cabin. And this was even though six students were living here. The walls were painted yellow-green, and the floor was neatly parquet. The beds were set directly in the wall and covered with curtains. The room itself was pretty small.

Phil pulled out his iPad Pro, the most powerful tablet by Apple. He uses its 1 TB of memory only to store match videos and movies.

He chose the most usual of last year's NHL games on his tablet: Colorado Avalanche vs. Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil put his tablet on the table, around which Legoshi and his friends had already gathered. Phil and Kurt sat beside and watched the game without much enthusiasm. They already knew how this game would end.

"I understand that Colorado and Toronto are city names?" asked Collot.

"Yes, that's right," replied Phil. (not exactly, Colorado is a state, of course).

The match has started. The start of the game was always slow. The players study each other to find the right tactics. The actual game begins when a quarter of the first period has passed. NHL stars don't need much time to warm up. The excited players started to accelerate.

The first goal was scored in the 17th minute of the first period, ending 1-0 in favor of the Toronto Maple Leafs. There were also several dangerous moments at the gate.

However, the second period was more interesting and exciting than the first. In the middle of the second period, with only two minutes left, the Colorado Avalanche scored three goals against the Maple Leafs.

Meanwhile, the group of canines were discussed about the game with interest. Miguno said that the game is very complicated. Voss said that he liked how cool the equipment looks. Jack asked Phil what the logos on the sides of the arena meant, like Reebok or Kruger Products. Phil happily explained that Reebok makes clothes, and Kruger makes paper. As for Legoshi, he was just watching an unknown sport without saying much.

During the third period of the game, happened the only, but not insignificant, brawl. The Maple Leafs were already losing 3-1, and everyone was on edge. After passing the puck into the opponent's zone, the Colorado Avalanche's forward collided with the Maple Leafs defenseman, which made him angry, of course.

The defenceman hit his opponent with the stick in his chest, which completely pissed off the forward. He threw his stick on the ice, took off his gloves, and gestured, 'Bring it on.' Of course, such a challenge only fired up the Maple Leafs defenceman, and he pounced on the Colorado Avalanche's forward.

''Why are they fighting?'' asked Jack, the golden retriever.

''Well, fighting in hockey is one of the old traditions and, for some, an integral part of the game. It happens a lot. I told you hockey was an emotional show. Here's proof. Hockey players freak out about anything during a game.''

''Guys, look!'' Durham said. It seems like the goalie is fighting with the opposite player, too.

Indeed, after taking off his gloves, the Maple Leafs goalkeeper charged at a Colorado player at full speed and knocked him down. Only then did the referees start separating the fighters until the other players began fighting, too.

''That push was harsh,'' Legoshi said. ''If it wasn't for the helmet, he might get brain damage.''

''That's not rare,'' Phil answered. ''There have been situations where players have been carried off the ice on stretchers.''

Soon, the game was over. However, a few minutes before the end there was another case of dirty play: the Colorado Avalanche goalie was apparently sick of having one of the opposing players constantly looming in front of his eyes and obstructing his view of the game.

At one point, when he was again passing in front of the gates, the Colorado Avalanche goalie hit him on the stomach with his stick, which made him shrink and fall to the ice. And only because the referees were around did another fight not happen.

Anyway, the game ended 3-1 in favor of the Colorado Avalanche.

''That's all folks. It's a typical match in hockey,'' Phil said and put the tablet away.

''That was great. But to me, the game is too traumatic,'' concluded Legoshi.

''It's a very unusual game. Thank you for showing us, Phil,'' the canines thanked him.

''You're welcome. I have many more hockey games on my tablet.''

''Phil,'' Kurt turned to his friend, giving him a slight nudge on the side. ''I think we should get going. We'll have a lot of work tomorrow. Thanks for having us, guys. See you tomorrow.''

After saying goodbye and shaking hands with the canines of room 701, humans left the dormitory and went outside. The time was already 10:45 PM.

On their way to the cabin, Kurt was bothered by one thought. Thought that their new friends might soon find out too much about them. He decided to talk to Phil about it, but he started from afar.

''Phil, do you understand what you've done?'' Kurt asked.

''What I've done? I just showed them a hockey game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Toronto Maple Leafs,'' Phil answered. ''What did I do wrong?''

''Well, you did everything alright. But I'm worried about something.''

''What exactly?''

''You showed them a game in a 20,000-seat stadium in Toronto. And it was packed to capacity. Did you forget about our secret?''

Phil looked questioningly at his friend. Kurt looked away and exhaled irritably.

''I told them that humans are an endangered species. That we are just a few thousand in number. And by a 'few thousand', I meant something between 3-5 thousand. At least, that's what I thought when I was come up with all that crap. But whatever. I mean, there's no way those 20,000 people in that stadium look like a few thousand.''

''Relax, man,'' Phil said. ''They didn't care how many people were there. They were most interested in watching the game and the hockey players.''

''Maybe you're right. We got lucky this time. But still, we lie too much. And that is just part of the problem. Recently I...''

Kurt stumbled when he remembered that moment when he gave Legoshi five dollars.

'Oh, crap! I shouldn't give him that damn bill. I did something really uncalled for. What was I thinking? Well, okay, calm down. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone.'

''What's wrong, Kurt?'' Phil asked.

Shaking his head in disagreement, Kurt replied:

''Nothing. Just... don't show them hockey games anymore. Don't show them anything.''

''Why?''

''They don't need to know much about us. If this keeps up, they'll soon catch on to our lies. At lunch, they asked too many questions I couldn't answer honestly.''

Kurt fell into thought again:

'They'll find out. Jesus, they will find everything out. What will we do then? And that deer, he sees further than others. It seems he has doubts already. Oh hell, how I want to go away from this damn place.'

''C'mon, don't worry. Just think, who really cares about us here? Only Legoshi, his friends, Principal Gon, and Mr. Wilson as well. Everyone else avoids us. Anyway, we need to go. It's a great time to get some rest.''

Quickening their pace, they headed towards their cabin. Yet, Kurt couldn't shake the thought:

«Hm, avoids us? Louis's actions don't seem like avoiding. Eh, hopefully in a few months, we'll be able to pay for the damage and we'll finally be free from that prison. But there's one problem that could be fatal. I have absolutely no memory of where is this tunnel through which we arrived here. Plus Phil's Mercedes will never drive again. And even if I did know where it was, without a car, we'd have to get to the tunnel for several hours, if not more. And on top of that, we'd have to get through that Ghetto and the Black Market. What's the Black Market is, anyway? Goddamn it, I'm thinking about the wrong thing! How the hell are we supposed to get out of here and back home if I can't remember where the tunnel is?»

Meanwhile, Phil was busy with his thoughts:

«I don't even know how to tell Kurt. First of all, I don't remember where we came from. I mean, we get here by the tunnel. But where is it? And that wolf girl, Juno. Jesus, she is so beautiful! Do I like her? No-nono, that's impossible. We're from different worlds, and it's just not meant to happen. Maybe I like her as a friend? Yeah, right, just a friend. But... Oh my god, but why am I shaking so much? It's... it's so wrong!»